@Thenomain said in General Video Game Thread:
But DA2 isn't a story. DA2 is a bunch of stories.
Exactly.
It should come to no surprise that BioWare's (arguably) most-lauded game in the two trilogies mentioned was Mass Effect 2. The success there was the myriad of story lines, which were united under a somewhat ignominious plot about people getting harvested by the Collectors (relative to the Reaper threat). ME2 was calculated to lead to the denouement of ME3, and while we can quibble about the effectiveness of the storytelling in the latter I do not think there is any argument that the introduction of new characters and elaboration on old ones really made ME2 the best of the series.
DA2 follows the same mold. Having an all-new protagonist is jarring, but it is a deliberate choice after DA:O and DA:A, which tied up the Warden's story nicely. You have a bunch of characters united under a common thread: the Champion. Setting aside Varric's unreliability as a narrator, one of the undercurrents of his storytelling is that there was no single event or character that led to the destruction of Kirkwall's Chantry. Everyone has a part to play in it, something that Varric even admits. DA2's narrative, to me, is clearly trying to play on ME2's success, and I believe it succeeds in doing so.
Where DA2 differs is in the progression of the story, which is divided into three separate periods. These periods are like seasons; and playing through the game felt like going from one episode to another of the Champion's allies and frenemies. Your choices as the player have a profound effect on how each "season finale" plays out, e.g., whether Fenris turns on you. This sort of "series" storytelling is similar to The Last of Us, which is divided into seasons (literally).
Then, finally, there's the introduction of the Arishok, who is probably BioWare's best villain (in my opinion). DA2 breathed life into the Qunari and the Qun in a way that DA:O did not. I doubt that anyone did not appreciate or empathize with the Arishok and his "dilemma", or those who wanted to join him. Tallis fills in even more of those gaps, showing the side of people trying to escape the fatalist-communist regime. The Arishok has the best lines, and the best moments. He attracts people to his side through a mixture of cold ferocity and faithful dedication, promising the certainty of purpose as defined by a holy book, and he commands a legion of deadly warriors bolstered by that purpose.
And now, people may have some insight as to why I like the Sanctified so much, and whence I draw inspiration. "I am here to satisfy a demand of the Dark Father you cannot understand."