Assassin's Den Reviews: HuniePop

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going to tackle a game I bought yesterday, a tile based puzzle game called HuniePop!

I know, I know. I'm both late to the party and admitting things about myself that people think should be kept quiet.  The former is simple; I only found out about it when I happened upon the playthrough of Suzie Berhow-Hanson, best known for her work on Game Grumps, her own channel Mortem3r, her defunct animation channel Meeperfish, and where I found about this game, her let's play channel, KittyKatGaming, where she did a let's play with her husband, Arin Hanson, best known as Egoraptor and one of the founders of the Game Grumps. 

As for the latter, I take a view similar to the late Justin Carmical did about porn in games he reviewed; it's there, but it's not the focus of the game.  It's a reward for doing well, something to look forward to at the end of several well done matches.

Now, the gameplay is a tile swiping game where you match 3 or more tiles of a similar shape and color in an attempt to gain a certain score before you run out of moves.  You have tiles that increase your score multiplier, tiles that allow you to use special items that give you bonuses for the duration of the match.  You also have tiles that give you extra moves in the round.  But avoid the broken heart tiles, as they drop your score heavily, depending on how many got matched and how much you're upgraded.  It's basically bejeweled, so if you've played bejeweled, you can play HuniePop.

The second focus of the game the dating sim aspect; your opponents are 12 girls (2 requiring you to perform a specific action to unlock them) that you are trying to...date. You give them gifts and ask them questions, and all around build your relationship with these girls to gain new outfits and hairstyles and gain experience points to spend on upgrades so each individual match can be easier.  Defeat them the requisite number of times and have your 4th or 5th time playing them be at night, and you play them one final time, but with some different rules. 

And I can't beat around the bush anymore; then porn aspect.  Yes, there's porn in this game.  Defeating the girls has them texting you pictures that start pretty innocuous and get more lewd as you beat them, ending up with their final picture, the one you get for a successful sex scene, which is, as stated already, the same tile matching game, but with different rules.  Although, in that game, you're playing against the girl in her underwear, and as you get near the end, the most that you see is her taking her bra off until you win.  And THAT is when you get the most lewd picture of them all.

I'm not going to lie; I enjoy this game.  I enjoy the puzzles, and I enjoy the porn.  I won't deny it.  But I will say that I wouldn't have gotten interested in it where it not for a woman getting me interested in it.  I had scene it advertised on Steam and it mentioned on youtube, but had it not been for Suzie playing it through and enjoying it with her husband, I would have never given it a look.

However, I cannot recommend this game to everyone.  If you have kids in your house, don't let them play it or let them see you play it.  Plenty of time for a kid to discover that stuff themselves as they get older.  If you don't live in an open minded household, don't play this game.  It would be a hard sell that you're playing the game for the puzzles when Bejeweled is available.  But, if you're in the perfect household, where you don't have kids to explain things to and have open minded roomates/girlfriends/wives, then check it out.  The uncensored version is 10 dollars on http://www.huniepot.com/, or the slightly censored version on Steam for the same price.

Until next time, stay beautiful freaks!

SWTOR Character Tales: New pictures

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I bring you updated armors and weapons for my characters in my stories.

Took a bit of credits from multiple characters on the GTN to get these outfits, but I like the way they look when I'm running around.  Makes them more unique, you know?

Anyway, look forward to my final post on my Dragon Age Retrospective, as well as new chapters in my SWTOR Character Tales and Mass Effect story.  Until then, stay Beautiful Freaks!

Dragon Age Retrospective: Flemeth

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, we tackle one of the most important characters to the lore of the franchise, Flemeth.

I'm not going to lie; I had a whole analysis of Flemeth and Mythal, weaving Mythal's pantheon and Flemeth's personality into each other.  But then the Trespasser DLC happened, and that threw everything I was going say into chaos.  So it changes my analysis slightly.

Flemeth's story starts in ancient times, before the Veil was created, where a part of her was known as Mythal. Mythal was a powerful mage.  She was so powerful that she, among the others the other members of the Evanuris, became known as a general, then an elder, then a queen, then a god. She was immortal, like all elves, was the mediator and protector of her people.  She was known to settle disputes between the other Evanuris, calming rage, saving them from their own folly in order to protect the innocent caught between them.

However, according to those who lived during that time, Mythal was murdered by the other Evanuris. This enraged Solas, by then stigmatized as "Fen'Harel, the Dread Wolf", and caused him to create the Veil and trap the other Evanuris in the Fade.  However, this had the effect of cutting off the elves from their immortality.

Solas entered Uthenera, the sleep of the ages soon after, but Mythal, now freed from her corporeal form, wandered the land, looking for her own means to gain both vengeance and protect her people.  It took her thousands of years, but she finally found a vessel; Flemeth.

Flemeth was an Alamarri in the time before Ferelden was a nation.  According to the story that she told Morrigan, she had been married to a minstrel named Osen.  However, Conobar Elstan, Bann of Highever and cousin to the Howes of Amaranthine, had been enchanted by Flemeth's beauty and offered Osen a choice; money for Flemeth.  Flemeth urged Osen to accept; whether she had loved Osen or not, she had been cold and hungry for too long. 

However, Conobar bartered with coin he did not have, and had Osen slain so he didn't have to pay him.  This enraged Flemeth, and, as an Alamarri mage, she called to the spirits to aid her.  The spirit that came to her was Mythal, the ancient elven "goddess".  Mythal would give Flemeth power, in exchange for revenge against those who killed her and to protect the world from itself.  They merged, technically becoming an abomination, but were more like Wynne than Anders, and killed Conobar and his men, save for his captain of the guard, Sarim Cousland, and retreated south to the Kocari Wilds, to learn to control her newfound power and to learn just what merging with Mythal truly meant.

Now, I'm going to stop here for a moment and say that yes, a lot of this is conjecture.  Solas says very little about Mythal once he is revealed to be the Dread Wolf, and the in game legends of Flemeth differ slightly than from what Morrigan tells us.  What's interesting to note, however, is the Flemeth holds importance to 2 of the origins in the first game; the Couslands would have never become nobles if it were not for Flemeth killing Conobar.  Their entire line, their struggles and victories are all made possible because of Flemeth. 

She's also held in high esteem as Mythal, even though the Dalish don't know it, and as Asha'bellanar (the woman of many years in Elvish).  As Asha'bellanar, Flemeth is known as a benevolent, if temperamental, being to be respected and feared.

Anyway, Flemeth goes on to have a hand in many important events and interacts with many important characters.  She speaks to Maric Therin and Loghain Mac Tir, and informs them of the upcoming Blight.  She saves the Warden Player Character and Alistair, and sends them off to combat the Blight.  She rescues Hawke, Aveline and the surviving Hawke sibling and sends them off to the Free Marches with an amulet which allows her to resurrect herself after being slain by the Warden (potentially. Otherwise, we don't know what it does if you didn't kill Flemeth).  She aids the Inquisitor and her daughter to combat the ancient magister Corypheus through both the Well of Sorrow and either giving them a dragon to combat Corypheus' dragon, or giving her daughter the power to transform into one.

She also takes efforts to implement plans beyond her appearances.  That amulet that was mentioned previously mentioned was part of a contingency play in case she is killed.  She also sent her daughter Yavanna to help bring dragons back from the brink of extinction, which Yavanna claims to be "the heart of the world".  And finally, she sent Morrigan with the Wardens she rescued to use a ritual to claim the soul of the Old God.

However, as far as we know, we will never know exactly what Flemeth/Mythal's plans were, as she was murdered a second time, this time by her old friend Solas.  He absorbed her power to do whatever he is planning, but there is hope; the amulet that Hawke brought to the Free Marches.  Were some knowledgeable individual perform the same ritual that brought Flemeth back in DA2, she could return once again, though not as strong as she had been. And that is where we're at now.

But before we go, let's take the opportunity to take a look at the clues that Flemeth and Mythal are the same being.  First is her first appearance in the novels; it is the Dalish that bring Marric and Loghain to her.  This is tenuous at best, I know, but it helps establish a tie between her and the elves.  The next is her connection to dragons; between her ability to transform into one, the fact the Mythal is depicted as a dragon in some of elven artwork of her and Flemeth sending her daughter Yavanna to protect dragons shows a strong connection to the creatures.  Third is both Flemeth's DAO concept art and her appearance in DA2 and on.  Pay attention to Mythal's statues in her temple in DAI. Looks a LOT like Flemeth, doesn't it?

Finally, what I find most interesting is how everyone is wary of Flemeth, and she, while cryptic, is actually one of the most honest and upfront characters in the franchise.  And she's a LOT more benevolent than we're led to believe as well, helping others even when it doesn't benefit her directly (though she does find a way to make it benefit her, but I digress.)  And while we don't know what her plans are, I can almost guarantee that they are a LOT more benevolent than Solas' plan to tear down the Veil and mass murdering the majority of the population of Thedas, due to them being "not people" to him.

Next entry will either be me wrapping up the series, or comparing the Dragon Age series to the Mass Effect series.  Until then, stay beautiful freaks!

Dragon Age Retrospective: Inquisition Companions

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, we tackle the companions of the, as of right now, final game in the franchise.

Now, since this game is the final game in the franchise, their future fate is unknown. So, I'm going to change the "Fate" entry to a "Lore Importance" tab.  Also, as with DAA and on, there is an item to redo a character's skills, so I'm basing their role on the weapons they start with.

Name: Cassandra
Race: Human
Class: Warrior, Sword and Shield
Specialization: Seeker of Truth, though her abilities are represented by the Templar spec
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: Yes, male only, though flirting with her as a female gains approval.
Special: Cassandra is one of 3 companions that you are required to recruit, due to her importance to the plot. She is also 1 of three Divine candidates.
Lore Importance: High.  As a Seeker of Truth, Right hand of the Divine and member of the royal house of Nevarra, she brings a great deal of lore to the table.
Remains in the party?: Yes, the entire game, though you can choose not to take her with you post game if she's Divine.

Name: Varric
Race: Dwarf
Class: Rogue, archer
Specialization: Artificer
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No
Special: Varric is one of 3 companions that you are required to recruit, due to his importance to the plot. We also finally get to meet the namesake of his crossbow.
Lore Importance: High.  Varric was involved in the events of the Legacy DLC of DA2, thus his knowledge of Corypheus is the greatest.  He also brings knowledge of the surface dwarf merchant's guild.
Remains in the party?: Yes, the entire game

Name: Solas
Race: Elf
Class: Mage
Specialization: Rift Mage
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: Yes, female elf only
Special: Solas is one of 3 companions that you are required to recruit, due to his importance to the plot.
Lore Importance: High. Solas brings a great deal of knowledge of spirits, elven history and magic.  Also, as Fen'Harel, he is among the elven pantheon, and is important to the background lore as well.
Remains in the party?: Yes, though he leaves the party permanently after the end credits.

Name: Iron Bull
Race: Qunari
Class: Warrior, Two hander
Specialization: Reaver
Recruited at: Storm Coast
Romance?: Yes
Special: Iron Bull's personality changes slightly based on his personal quest, as does his dialogue in the ending.  If you side with the Bull's Chargers, he remains the same. If you save the dreadnaught, he becomes a little more like Sten from DAO.
Lore Importance: Medium. He brings in information about Qunari society, but he is not the only source of knowledge we have in the franchise. Also, his recruitment can be refused, so nothing he brings to the table is vitally important to the plot.
Remains in the party?: Yes, the entire game.

Name: Blackwall
Race: Human
Class: Warrior, Sword and Shield
Specialization:Champion
Recruited at: The Hinterlands
Romance?: Yes, female only
Special: Blackwall is the only companion that lies about who he is; he is not a Grey Warden, nor is he really named Blackwall. That said, his fate is entirely in your hands in the end of the game; he can be left in prison, he can be held to his lie, he can be sent to the Grey Wardens to become one, or he can be pardoned.
Lore Importance: Low.  He brings in information about the Orlesian military, and he his recruitment can be refused.
Remains with the party?: No, unless you bring him back.

Name: Sera
Race: City Elf
Class: Rogue, Archer
Specialization: Tempest
Recruited at: Val Royeaux
Romance?: Yes, female only.
Special: Sera can be kicked out of the party at multiple occasions, though if you don't kick her out during cutscenes, she returns at the ending party. 
Lore Importance: Low.  She brings no information about the Friends of Red Jenny beyond what we already knew, and brings nothing new about elves.  Her recruitment can also be refused, so nothing she brings in is plot important.
Remains in the party?: Yes, unless you kick her out.

Name: Vivienne
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: Knight Enchanter
Recruited at: Val Royeaux
Romance?: No
Special: Vivienne is one of three Divine candidates. 
Lore Importance: Medium. She brings information about the Circle of Magi that we didn't have before, and information on Orlesian high society. However, her recruitment can be refused, so nothing she brings in is important to the plot.
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game, though you can refuse to bring her with you after she becomes Divine.

Name: Dorian
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: Necromancer
Recruited at: Redcliffe/Haven, depending on who you side with
Romance?: Yes, male only
Special: Dorian can leave the party at extremely low approval, but only if you hit him.
Lore Importance: Medium. He brings information about Tevinter society, and he gives you several war table operations that give you lore about Corypheus. However, you can refuse his recruitment.
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game, unless you hit him.

Name: Cole
Race: Spirit of Compassion
Class: Rogue, dual daggers
Specialization: Assassin
Recruited at: Therinfall Redoubt/Haven, depending on who you side with
Romance?: No
Special: Cole's personality changes based on your actions during his personal quest. He can either become more like a spirit, or more humanlike.  These affect him to the end.
Lore Importance: Medium. Cole shows us how spirits think and feel, and he brings in lore about Rhys and Evangaline.  However, his recruitment can be refused.
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game, though he will leave if you drop his approval too low.

Name: Josephine
Race: Human
Class: Diplomat
Specialization: None
Recruited at: Haven, though she is not brought into combat
Romance?: Yes
Special: Josephine's personal quest ends the same way, though how quickly it ends can be determined by you. 
Lore Importance: Medium. She brings information about Antiva and the political situation of Thedas.
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game

Name: Leliana
Race: Human
Class: Rogue, archer
Specialization: Bard
Recruited at: Haven, though she is not brought into combat
Romance?: No, and she remains romanced by the Hero of Ferelden if she was romanced in DAO.
Special: Leliana is one of three candidates for the Divine. Her personality also changes based on your choices when dealing with her.
Lore Importance: Very High. Between being part of your party in Origins, her work a bard under Marjolaine, her work as Left Hand of the Divine and her work as the Inquisition spymaster, Leliana is very important to the events of the game.
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game

Name: Cullen
Race: Human
Class: Warrior, Sword and shield
Specialization: Templar, though he has likely lost most of the abilities when the game starts
Recruited at: Haven, though she is not brought into combat
Romance?: Yes, female human and elf only
Special: Whether or not he begins taking lyrium again is determined by you, as is whether or not he takes lyrium for the rest of his life. If he takes lyrium after the game ends, that locks you out of the romance. 
Lore Importance: Medium-high. Cullen was involved in both DAO and DA2, and has seen the abuses of both the mages and the templars.  He brings in a great deal about life as a templar
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game

Name: Morrigan
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: Shapeshifter
Recruited at: The Winter Palace, though she is not brought into combat
Romance?: No, and she remains romanced by the Hero of Ferelden if you did so
Special: Morrigan can come with either a human Kieran, an Old God Baby Kieran or without Kieran at all.  Kieran's reactions toward you also change based on whether he's human or carries an Old God Soul.  She can also turn into a dragon if she drank from the Well of Sorrow. 
Lore Importance: High. Morrigan brings in elven lore, as well information on the life of a Witch of the Wilds.
Remains in the party?: Yes, though she and her son leave after the credits roll.

Name: Krem
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Specialization: None
Recruited at: Haven, though he is not brought into combat, and only if Iron Bull is recruited
Romance?: No
Special: Krem is transgender, which means he was born in a female meat shell with a male soul.  He gives players a positive representation of what trans people are like. He brings in several war table missions, and his fate is determined by your choice in Iron Bull's quest. 
Lore Importance: Low. He brings in information about Tevinter lower classes, but he won't be a part of the game if you don't recruit Iron Bull.
Remains in the party?: Yes, until the end of the game, but only if he survives Iron Bull's mission

Now, I'm leaving Flemeth off this time, since I've got a whole entry on her coming.  Until then, stay beautiful freaks!

Dragon Age Retrospective: Dragon Age Inquisition

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I tackle the final game in the Dragon Age series to be released on the Xbox 360 and PS3, Dragon Age Inquisition!

But before that, I'm going to bring up the comics and books that happen in between and their importance to the plot, and the characters they reference.

The Silent Groves brings in King Alistair (though the game implies that Warden Alistair goes through the events of these comics as well), Isabela and Varric to adventure through Antiva to rescue Alistair's father, King Marric.  During these events, they meet Yavana, one of Flemeth's daughters, who is trying to help bring back the dragon population.

Those Who Speak picks up where Silent Groves leaves off, where they travel into Qunari territory, and we learn that Isabela's connection to the Qunari is deeper than we thought.  They also meet the Sten that fought alongside Alistair and the Hero of Ferelden during the Blight, though he is now the Arishok.  We also learn why the Blood of Calenhad is so important.

From there, we are led into Until We Sleep, which ends the saga started in Silent Groves, and shows how Alistair rescues his father and kills the Magister who held Marric in stasis with Qunari forces aiding his assault.

Next comes the third novel, but first in the Mage-Templar War era.  Asunder introduces Cole, Rhys, Evangeline, brings back Wynne, Shale and Leliana, and shows how the Tranquil cure is learned about and how Cole kills Lord Seeker Lambert. It also shows how Wynne gives up the Spirit of Faith that has "lived" inside her since Origins to Evangeline.

The Masked Empire brings in Empress Celene, Grand Duke Gaspard de Chalons, Briala, Ser Michel de Chevin, the demon Ishmael, and brings back Leliana and Teagan Guerrin, assumed to be the now Arl of Redcliffe, since that's his position in DAI.  This one shows the events that are hinted about during the events that we see during Inquisition at the Winter Palace.

And I'm going to mention the Dragon Age Keep, a website that you can set up a world state based on decisions that you "made in the previous games" to shore up your continuity for your playthrough.  And while I'm still irritated that there's no save game transfer for the 360, PS3 and PC, the fact that the game was released on both the Xbone and PS4 as well as the 360 and PS3 made it as necessity. Especially since Bioware has cut off DLC for the 360 and PS3 recently.

Now, as for Inquistion itself, it comes in with things coming to a head; Orlais is in the middle of a civil war, and the Mage-Templar war has been in full swing for years, and Divine Justinia V, formerly Revered Mother Dorathea from the Leliana's Song DLC, calls for a peace conference.  However, Corypheus, the ancient Magister from the DA2 Legacy DLC, has other plans.  One unlucky person, the player character, manages to spoil Corypheus' plans and ends up in the Fade with Justinia, though only the PC escapes.

This sets up the beginning, where you choose your class, gender and race.  This game brings back in Elves, Dwarves and introduces Qunari as a playable race, as well as the boring humans.  (Why people would want to play as a human in a fantasy setting is beyond me, but I digress.)

As for the classes, they retain their DA2 combat roles; Rogues are either 2 daggers or bow, Warriors are either two handed weapon or weapon and shield, and mages are still the most dynamic, though mages have been revamped again to suite the new specializations.  No longer do they have a close attack that uses their staff; a melee ability is reserved exclusively to the Knight Enchanter spec.

Inquisition brings in crafting, which gives you much better weapons, armors and runes than what you normally find as drops.  I'm not a fan of crafting, but with some war table missions giving you crafting materials in less than 10 minutes, it's not as painful as it could be.

What is painful, though, is how specializations are handled.  No longer are they permanently unlocked, and in order to get them, you have to take on a mission from the war table, then talk to the trainers, then gather crafting materials for their special item, and only then can you take on a single specialization.  And it must be done EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. They are NOT permanently unlocked for you like they were in the previous two games.  This feels like a step backward to me, and I'm not willing to try out every single on my player character to see what I like due to this fact.  No, I tested out the specs on companions, figured out which one I like and which one was easy to get, and then take that one on.  So that means that I only go with 1 rogue spec (Tempest), 2 Warrior specs (Templar and Reaver), and all three mage ones, since I have yet to play a mage where I didn't have all the crafting mats I need when I get to Skyhold.

Speaking of Skyhold, that has stuff that needs crafting as well, to "beautify" the keep.  In addition to the crafting resources you get from war table gathering missions, you've got to pick up logging stands and quarries, and if you don't know where to find them, you could wander the maps for days.

So yeah, not a fan of crafting.

One other thing that irritates me is the war table itself.  I get that they are trying to illustrate the weight of decision.  But when you've played the game several times and know the results you want, it becomes tedious.  It also makes me play with the system clock to bypass the real world time the game wants me to wait.  I don't know about anyone else, but I am not going to send a favored adviser onto a mission that takes 24 hours without doing this.

What adds to this annoyance is that several of these type of missions pop up after completing an important story mission.  Finish recruiting the Templars or Mages? Get a lot of these. Finish the mission with the Wardens? Get a lot of these. Winter Palace? Ditto. I've spent almost 2 hours playing with the system clock just to get those war table missions out of the way and back to what's actually fun. 

And let's not forget that MANY war table missions are part of chains that sometimes give you nothing to little from most of them until you get to the end.  Yes, there's tons of flavor text and many former companions show up via this flavor text.  Aveline, Zevran, Sebastian, Tallis...these people show up in flavor text, which almost feels like a slap in the face if you liked them the most.

So yeah, there's a lot that I hate about this game.  And when I'm putting up with this stuff, I'm honestly wondering if the fun stuff is worth the boredom.  Especially when you consider the load times.

I'm not even joking. On my version of the game, I've waited through several minutes of load times when areas change, with only a few seconds to read the tips and flavor text before the screen goes to black.  This is one of the reasons I spend as much time as I can questing in an area without leaving it; I'm trying to have as much fun as I can while I can before the boredom takes over.

The thing is, when it's fun, it's fun. The story is great, the combat system is awesome, the characters are realistic and dynamic, and the choices we make as a player character actually matter now.  Hell, even your specializations are brought up by your allies and NPCs.

But honestly, this is my least favorite game in the series.  All the problems and all the boredom that I have to slog through makes this game the least enjoyable to play.  That said, it's still better than a lot of RPGs on the market.

Next entry will be on the important characters, then a full entry on Flemeth and her importance to the history of the franchise.  This will be followed up by a wrap up for the series.  For now, stay beautiful freaks!

Dragon Age Retrospective: Dragon Age 2 Companions

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! It's time to tackle the companions and important cast members of DA2!

Name: Bethany
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: None at start, Force Mage in Act 2 and 3 DLC and if she rejoins your party
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No, she's your sister
Special: Bethany starts with a preexisting slant toward Friendship. Near 75%, in fact, so unless you take the effort to piss her off, she'll begin the slow slide into friendship long before you finish Act 1.
Fate: Bethany's fate is tied to your class and your decision at the end of Act 1. If you're a mage, Bethany dies at the end of the Prologue. If you're a warrior or rogue, she survives to enter Kirkwall. If she lives, her fate in Act 2 and 3 are determined are by your choices with the Deep Roads. If you do not take her, she is finally captured by the Templars and becomes a Circle Mage. There, she retains her sunny disposition and takes on a position of influence in the Circle, teaching young apprentices.  However, if you take her into the Deep Roads, you MUST take Anders along if you want her to survive.  From there, she can become a Grey Warden, and shows up at the end of Act 2, and again in Act 3 if Nathaniel Howe shows up.  From there, she can rejoin your party at the end of Act 3 after you choose your side.  As a Warden, Bethany's perspective darkens drastically.  If she lives, she can also be brought along in both DLC packs.


Name: Carver
Race: Human
Class: 2 handed Warrior
Specialization: None at start, Templar Mage in Act 2 and 3 DLC and if he rejoins your party
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No, he's your brother
Special: Carver starts with a preexisting slant toward Rivalry. Around 65%, in fact, so unless you take the effort to pander to his viewpoint, he'll begin the slow slide into Rivalry long before you finish Act 1.
Fate: Most of Bethany's entry applies with Carver.  If you're not a mage, Carver dies at Lothering. If you take him into the Deep Roads without Anders, he dies. If you take Anders, he becomes a Grey Warden.  If you don't take him, he becomes a Templar.  However, his personality is the opposite of Bethany when it comes to which organization he joins; he feels better about being a Warden than a Templar.


Name: Aveline Vallen
Race: Human
Class: Sword and Shield Warrior
Specialization: Guardian, making her a tank
Recruited at: Starts in your party
Romance?: No, but you can flirt with her
 Special: Aveline will not leave your party unless certain specific conditions are met; she has to be a Rival at the end of Act 3 and she can't be married to Donnic. Furthermore, you have to side with the mages, and Fenris has to remain with your party.
Fate: Aveline is one of the most important figures in Kirkwall, as a guard/guard captain.  In Act 2, she could potentially marry Donnic Heydr. In Act 3, whether or not she married Donnic determines how her personal quest goes.  Depending on certain choices at the end game, she may return in a War Table mission text in DAI.


Name: Varric
Race: Dwarf
Class: Archer focused Rogue
Specialization: Marksman, which is a bard-like ability that makes him better with his crossbow.
Recruited at: The start of Act 1
Romance?: No
Special: Varric cannot leave the party at all, due to him relating to the story to Cassandra Pentaghast.  Varric is the only one with a weapon that upgrades with his level, his crossbow Bianca.
Fate: Varric returns in DAI as a companion.  His specialization changes between games, though.  He also appears in the comics with Alistair and Isabela.


Name: Anders
Race: Human
Class: Mage
Specialization: Vengeance, which is a combination of Spirit Healer and a damage buff
Recruited at: Act 1, just after being revealed as an Abomination at the Chantry
Romance?: Yes
Special: Anders can leave at several points in the story; in Act 2, at the end of his personal quest, and in Act 3, in the same type of situation.  At the end of Act 3, Anders can be killed after he blows up the Chantry.
Fate: Anders does not show up in DAI, though he is mentioned by Hawke if he survived, as well as whether or not Hawke approved of Anders' actions.


Name: Merrill
Race: Elf
Class: Mage
Specialization: Dalish Pariah, a combination of Blood Mage and Keeper from DAA
Recruited at: Act 1, on Sundermount
Romance?: Yes
Special: Like Aveline, Merrill has certain conditions to actually leave the party; first, you must not talk to her after her act 3 quest.  Second, she must not be at 100% Friendship/Rivalry.  Third, you must be a Rival of Anders. Finally, you MUST side with the Templars. Only then will she leave the party.
Fate: Merrill is mentioned by both Varric and Hawke in DAI, and the romance is remarked on by both.


Name: Fenris
Race: Elf
Class: Two handed Warrior
Specialization: Tervinter Fugitive, a Templar/Spirit Warrior like specialization
Recruited at: Act 1
Romance?: Yes
Special: Fenris can leave the party at many points in the game; first time is in Act 2, if you refuse his personal quest twice.  Second is in Act 3, when you can give him to his former owner. Finally, if you side with the Mages and he's not 100% on the Frienship or Rivalry meter.  He's also the only companion who never learned how to read.
Fate: He does not return in DAI, and is only mentioned if Hawke romanced him.


Name: Isabela
Race: Human
Class: Dual Wielding Rogue
Specialization: Swashbuckler, which is essentially Duelist
Recruited at: The Hanged Man Bar in Act 1
Romance?: Yes
Special: Isabela leaves the party at the end of Act 2.  But she only returns if her Friendship or Rivalry is at at least 50%.
Fate: Isabela returns in the comics take place between DA2 and DAI. Interestingly, her role in those books shows us the first female qunari.  She also returns in DAI as a DLC multiplayer character.


Name: Sebastian
Race: Human
Class: Archer Rogue
Specialization: Royal Archer, which gives him abilities that are like Shadow in DAA
Recruited at: Act 2 chantry, but you need to complete his first personal quest before recruiting him
Romance?: Yes, female only, and only if you never touched, or even shown any interest, in the other romance options.
Special: Sebastial will leave the party if Anders is spared at the end of Act 3. This is unavoidable, regardless of your Friendship or Rivalry settings.
Fate: Sebastian returns as War Table Text in DAI.  If Anders survived, he becomes extremely antagonistic toward Kirkwall.


Name: Tallis
Race: Elf
Class: Dual wielding Rogue
Specialization: Infiltrator, most like Assassin
Recruited at: Start of Mark of Assassin DLC
Romance?: Yes, but you can only kiss her if your romance option isn't in the party
Special: Tallis is contained entirely in her DLC, and you can choose to leave her behind once you find out she's a qunari spy.
Fate: Tallis returns in war table text if you choose to have Iron Bull save the Dreadnaught.

And now for the important characters;

Name: Cullen
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Specialization: Templar
Recruited at: Does not join party
Special: If your Warden is a mage, he knows them. If the Warden mage is female, he had a crush on her.
Fate:Cullen returns in DAI after seeing what evils the Templars can commit in this game.

Name: Samson
Race: Human
Class: Warrior
Specialization: Templar
Recruited at: Does not join party
Special: He aids you in 2 quests; 1 in Act 1, another in Act 3.
Fate: If you choose to recruit the mages in DAI, Samson returns as your rival.

Name: Flemeth
Race: Human based, hard to properly codify until all information is revealed
Class: Mage
Specialization: Shapeshifter
Recruited at: Does not join party
Special: Too much to detail. I will handle that in an entry about her alone.
Fate: Integral to the plot of the next game.

Now, here is where I would tackle specializations, but this time, they're easy; you get access to 3 in total for each class, they require no unlocking, you gain them at level 7 and 14.  As for what they are;

Warrior: Templar, Reaver and Berserker
Rogue: Assassin, Duelist and Shadow
Mage: Blood Mage, Spirit Healer and Force Mage

Also, other than keeping most of your party in your party at end game, the companion's disposition with dealing with you gives their specializations buffs based on whether they are friends or rivals.  For example, Anders gains buffs to his damage output if he's a friend, or a boost to health regeneration if he's a rival.  And they're all like this, some better than others for your purposes.  Merrill has a buff to her blood magic if she's your friend, which is beneficial if you use her as a blood mage.  Aveline's a better tank if you're friends with her. 

Next up in the retrospective is DAI, though I will mention the importance of the comics and novels and their placement in the timeline next. Until then, stay beautiful freaks!

Dragon Age Retrospective: Dragon Age 2

Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I'm going to go into what many consider the worst game in the franchise, Dragon Age 2!

Dragon Age 2 is highly rated by the gaming media, but panned by fans. Why is that?  Well, the game had a short development cycle; less than a year, in fact.  It reuses the same areas over and over again to compensate for it, and they streamline a lot in order to fit the schedule.  I also think that one of the things that a lot of gamers feel that it was build from the console up instead of being a PC focus like Origins was.

But with that said, this is the game that I have the most fun playing.  Yes, you can tell that the development time is rushed, but what's in the game is polished.  The combat system is fun, and the classes are far more focused, limiting the warrior and rogue to specific combat styles, while still giving the mage a dynamic building ability.

In this game, the warrior is either two handed weapons or sword and shield only, and focuses on 3 stats; strength, constitution and willpower.  Armor is tied to the strength and constitution stat, so those are you main stats.  Willpower gives more stamina to utilize your skills more often.

Rogue is dual wielding daggers or bow focused, and focuses on dexterity, cunning, willpower and constitution.  Now, in this game, you don't have an unlocking skill, so cunning is the stat used to unlock anything, you need to get this as high as possible if you want to be the only party rogue.  And since armor focuses on dex and cunning, you'll want to focus on those first.  What I do is focus on Cunning primarily until I get to 40, which is what you need to unlock the hardest locks, then go 2 in dex and 1 in the other skills to make up for the character's "squishyness".

Mages are more focused, but also more survivable. Their focus is on magic and willpower, with constitution to buff your hit points.  Armor focuses on magic and willpower, so that's where your focus should be.  And the best thing about mages this time is that they have a melee attack; when enemies get up and close, they essentially use their magic stat to damage enemies in melee range with your staff.

And honestly? I'm very glad that they streamlined the influence system, giving bonuses to both extremely high and extremely low approval.  And, with the exception that is Isabela, whom you have to get halfway through either the Friend or Rivalry meters (which I will cover in my entry about each companion) by the end of act 2 if you want her to return to you, it's pretty easy to get them to max by the end of the game if you're consistent, as no leaves based on approval like they did in Origins.

However, there is one big problem with DA2 that I figured out after watching an episode of Big Bang Theory with my father; in that episode, they pointed out that Indiana Jones had no impact on the plot of Raiders of the Lost Ark, since the Nazis succeeded in getting the ark in the end and were all killed anyway, and I realized that, in DA2, Hawke was pretty much the same way.

Hear me out on this; say that Hawke didn't trust Varric in the beginning.  I know that, for the sake of the game, Hawke has to, but let's pretend that Hawke didn't.  Varric would go and make the money he needed himself, and get the maps from Anders himself, since he was the one who brought up Anders to Hawke.  He'd then go on the expedition into the Deep Roads, get betrayed by Bartrand, and either get out of there himself or not survive the betrayal.  As for Hawke, they'd either go back to the one they worked for in the prologue, or, if a mage, they'd in Bethany's shoes if you don't take her into the Deep Roads. In fact, I think Carver would join the Templars regardless.

As for the companions, without Hawke bringing them together, I doubt Varric would have shown any interest in Anders after finding our he's an abomination. Aveline would still end up as Guard Captain, because I doubt she's sit on her hands about her mission if it was up to her.  Isabela wouldn't end up in Varric or Hawke's circle, nor would Fenris, as they require assistance from Hawke. That said, Isabela would have still done her "chantry meeting at midnight" thing and gone her own way. Fenris, however, does not raid the mansion, as there's no indication that he does if you refuse the quest.

As for Merrill, I assume Hawke would go to Sundermount, release Flemeth, take Merrill to the city, and then leave her be, as Hawke would be busy trying to either protect themself or Bethany from the Templars.

Now, Act 2 changes very little without Hawke's intervention.  The Arishok has no one they respect, so anything that happens around the Qunari would just piss him off without anyone attempting to calm him.  Isabela still goes after the Tome of Koslun, and without Hawke giving her a reason to return, she'd be gone, just like she is if you don't have high enough approval.  However, there are three important figures that would take on the Arishok at the end of the act; Guard Captain Aveline, First Enchanter Orsino and Knight Commander Meridith.  They would marshal their forces, take the Vicount's Keep, and kill the Arishok and his Qunari forces.

Other companions fate would be as follows; Anders would still go after the Templar with the Tranquil Solution, and would still kill the mage girl. Aveline would likely fail to woo Donnic, and Varric, if he lives, would kill his brother when he raids his house.  Merrill would go get the Arulin'Holm and finish her mirror, but only after arguing with Marethari.

Interestingly, I can see mage Hawke involved in the attack on the Vicount's keep, since they'd likely be in Bethany's position, along with Carver fighting alongside Meredith.  However, Warrior or Rogue Hawke would likely be defending any home they built after Bethany is taken to the Circle, and would have MAYBE gone after Bethany, if they knew she was in danger at all.

Act 3 wouldn't really change at all.  Anders still blows up the Chantry, and Meredith still declares the Right of Annulment.  The only real difference is that the Templars succeed if Hawke isn't there to defend the mages.  And that means that mage Hawke (because it is HIGHLY unlikely that Carver would be right there at the right time) or Bethany dies at this point. 

As for the companions, Aveline still deals with her quest, though the events would be the ones where she never married Donnic.  Varric would once again raid his brother's former estate, but without Hawke there to influence him, he'd keep the idol.  As for Merrill? She'd still go to the demon to activate the Eluvian, and would encounter Abomination Marethari.  Without Hawke to help here, there'd be two outcomes; either she'd die at the ends of the demon, who would then attack the Sabrae clan and force them to kill her, or Merrill would kill the demon, and would subsequently be killed by her former clan.

As for DLC, Mark of the Assassin would go off without a hitch, since at the end, Duke Prosper doesn't care for what the Tal-Vashoth Salit gives him and kills him anyway.  So truly, nothing Hawke or Tallis did there mattered.

However, Legacy DOES require input from Hawke.  In order for Inquisition to happen, Corypheus requires Hawke to release him though that blood ritual at the end. And I can actually think of some easy ways to get Hawke involved; Act 1 is easy.  They would use their contacts via Gamlen or their chosen prologue employer to track down the Carta dwarves, and go off to wake Corypheus.  In act 2 and 3, it's even easier; the Carta attacks the Circle, either to get Bethany, or Hawke and Carver.  If it's Hawke and Carver, the solution is simple; send Hawke and Carver, along with a compliment of Templars to investigate.  However, if Hawke is a warrior or rogue, I guarantee that, after being attacked by the Carta themself, they'd be going to check on Bethany.

Even despite its problems, though, DA2 is my favorite game to play, if not experience.  It's not a Bioware fan's RPG, but if you keep that in mind, it's a good time throughout the game.

Look forward to my entry on the companions, and stay beautiful freaks!