Finished Dragon Age 2 a few weeks ago, and being the narrative design snob I am, I had some fairly extensive criticisms mostly centering around the game’s ending. This post is loaded with spoilers and it’s meant as an alternate design document for the final hour or so of the Dragon Age 2 main campaign, so click below the cut if you’ve finished the game or don’t care about spoilers:
So the ending for Dragon Age 2 – structured within a frame narrative, no less – is actually set up at the end of Act I and the Deep Roads expedition. Hawke and his companions find a lyrium idol that induces some sort of madness (don’t they all) and it ends up being responsible for betrayal and death.
And then, with the exception of the great wealth you amass in Act II, it’s put aside and tucked into a little drawer.
We certainly get hints of it through Varric’s personal quest and the swift escalation of Knight-Commander Meredith from kind-of-nuts zealot dictator to batshit crazy… zealot dictator. But the idol itself magically reappears, forged into Meredith’s sword, and is a very convenient excuse for her being completely off her rocker.
Now, if I missed something in sidequests along the way, feel free to correct me. I became complacent about them toward the end since I wanted to finish the main plot. But if the actual support of this plot device was entirely developed through sidequests in Acts II and III then it’s still a failure to me.
My issue with the ending (and keep in mind I sided with the mages and was playing a rogue; your mileage may vary) is this: Why should I care? Yeah, she’s a menace. But if Anders hadn’t forced my hand I probably wouldn’t have made a choice. In fact, I was tempted to side with the Templars just because of how pissed I was at Anders. Game mechanics – specifically knowing I’d have to kill him and would then have no healer – made my choice for me, but I found Anders’ particular means of conflict resolution far more compelling.
In fact, I’d prefer it if the game ended there.
Now, that’s not to say I wouldn’t want some alterations. But the entire struggle in this game is seen in Anders’ character progression. Oppression, fear, vengeance, doubt. The road to hell really is paved with good intentions. Why not use what’s already there?
What I propose is a complete restructure of the final hour of the game, starting from the point Anders blows up the Chantry. At this point, the Big Bad becomes Justice/Vengeance. And why shouldn’t it? This is a threat to the Mages, Templars, the city of Kirkwall, and – being that it exists in Anders – it’s something Hawke is invested in.
After the Chantry incident, Hawke can choose to allow Anders to be taken into custody or fight his way out and help him escape. If the latter, it’s sure to be quite the battle. I’d expect the First Enchanter would not turn on Hawke even though Anders is essentially running the name of mages through the mud, so that leaves the Templars. Tone it down a bit, but make it still wave-dependent.
Now, Vengeance – being a demon – wouldn’t be sated by Meredith’s death and it would certainly reel against being imprisoned. You see what I’m getting at here. Vengeance as the end boss of Dragon Age 2, but maybe with a twist. After all, how do you separate him from Anders? Do you even bother?
One thing I missed from DA1 was the ability to portion out your teammates at the final battle. It’s also something I absolutely loved in ME2. They have this great Friend/Rival system in DA2, so let’s use it! One final mission that involves all of your companions as you try to save or destroy Anders. Everybody has cards they can play and wheels they can grease, but how effective they are depends on their Friendship/Rivalry score.
agreed on most of your points
it was fairly weakly written, ending was horrible
I completely agree. The plot threads throughout Dragon Age 2 seemed disparate, and loosely connected to the final ending. The one potent theme was the threat of possession and the temptations of the Demons. The stakes were raised after it’s revealed that even a non-mage may be possessed. A better ending would have included Meridith as the penumbral possession, to which Anders is the final conflict; a more compelling dramatic connection i.e. that he is your friend (or even your lover). You must either kill your friend/lover or doom Kirkwall, and mayhaps the world, to the wrath of Vengeance. A delicious sacrifice.