I absolutely adore how Neve looks like she might pass out if she expresses a single emotion lol. But she obviously cares very deeply underneath that stoic exterior. It's nice to see that type of character as a woman since it's usually the grizzled male detective. Also don't know if you noticed but for companions they'll have Conversations, Outings, and Quests. Quests are gonna be the longer more involved ones and the other two are usually shorter. It helps to get an idea of how long something might take when you're choosing what to do. And you don't need to bring them to the location, they'll be standing there waiting even if they aren't in your party. It's quite handy!
My opening to the cobbled swan case was very different since i saved treviso. I didn't get that cool cutscene with the song! Finally Neve picks up on all the hints Mapoqun has been putting down! And again, thank you Mapo for being open-minded and level headed about taash's identity storyline ❤️
Also something about Taash's personal struggle with gender identity being so relevant, and some people criticizing why it's so present in dialogue and even present in the game's progress... Well, I'm not non-binary myself or trans but I can understand that for ANYONE going through such a big self-discovery process, as Taash is, and finally being able to experience coming to terms with their own person, farther away from the influence of their mother, that self discovery journey will - for sure - be a HUGE thing on their lives. And yes it will come up frequently when you get to see them in their "off hours", talking to others, or stumble upon their journals as it happens ingame! And since the game forces Rook into a position of "Mentor" to the whole team, it's super understandable that Taash would look to them to go through those matters, as they do try to search for answers talking to other people, like Neve, the Shadow Dragons, Isabella or the Lords of Fortune - so yes in theory you could just ignore that if you don't like it at the cost of not bonding with your teammate and leaving them as a weak link. Like Mapo said, it's not there for everyone - it's for the people who resonate with that. And if you can have some empathy and just... listen and let the person be what they want to be in order to live their life more hapilly and fully, like Mapo does listen, then you have a stronger team for it.
its crazy cuz ppl will be like “its the end of the world why does this matter?” but personal epiphanies like that when your end is near have been a big thing both in media and the real world forever. ive never seen anybody bat an eye at people who are at the end of their life suddenly having some sort of religious “coming to [Maker]” moment, but the idea that someone who may die soon might want to do so having realized who their true self actually IS is an issue? just odd. there are writing hang ups throughout the game for SURE, but grifters dont really focus on that, they just use them as leverage to hate on non-issues.
God, you just can't hate a game with Simon Templeman in it. His lines are always amazing. Funny thing, before this game, i didn't even think Templeman could use the F-word.
The Taash scene in the cave is sweet. Yep it ends up showing no progress in the dragon investigation😅 but yeah, it was just an excuse for bonding. Sweet, just the same!
The Neve almost kiss scene is really sweet 🥹 I adore Neve and all the other companions, really. They are all genuinely kind, despite the trauma of their past.
The Neve romance seems sweet, are you ready to adopt 20+ wisps together though :-p I like the different reactions and approaches the companions have with romances.
My canon/favorite playthrough is a full Antivan Crow game (Crow background, Spellblade specialization, Treviso saver, Lucanis romance) but Neve is my close second favorite romance in the game. I like her character a lot, one of my favorite with Lucanis and Emmrich.
lucanis is the longest wait for a romance and i'll think you'll see why that likely is davrin, emmerich and neve seems pretty normal tassh and harding are a lot quicker not sure about bellara since i have not seen her romance/bits of her romance yet though she's on the list for me i went from not really being interested in her to her being one of my favorites by end game
It's interesting seeing Mapo address the "modern", "modern terms about gender" versus "old ways" in society because yes, Tevinter society has its own ways of being modern and being antiquated, and as a fictional world it is plausible despite if you like the writing style or not here. I have my own criticism of how the writing felt at times but... for me it's not too weird to imagine we're seeing a new angle on how the people of northern Thedas are dealing with gender matters and how that could be something that's been changing lately, considering we have a 10 year gap from DAI (where we already had Krem and Dorian), and a 20 year gap from Origins.
I haven't done the romance with Neve yet, and she was always a good character to be around, but I really like how that romance is developing in your playthrough. It feels very much in line with her character, and the fact that she takes a bit of time to become more vulnerable makes those moments feel a lot more earned. I think also getting that Taash romance scene last episode and getting to see some of the differences is great for the playthrough. Super excited to see Bellara's stuff next episode!
I think you missed something still at the blighted dragon area sorry, you took the boat back by the chest but there is a small area to the left with some codex/letter stuff you might like (:
Dude! The Cobbled Swan case is so much better on this path, the other version is severely watered down, because the city is blighted AND the Venatori are in charge.
I really hate Taash's questline. As you even said her quests arent even quests half the time its just a cutscene and I'm getting cucked out of a dragon hunt wtf. Theres three parts to it which is qun vs rivain, gender identity and the bad guy. And they did not combine these three to a coherent arc imo. It just jumps from one to the other at random. The Qun vs Rivain thing basically never gets explored but then thats the thing you are supposed to decide for her. Its frustrating because Rivain is the one place where the Qun is actually one of the major religions? And they have the one peaceful Qunari settlement but I dont think this game even brings it up at all. Taash an Emmrich's personal quests are the most removed from the actual story of the game imo but at least Emmrich had what felt like the most impactful decision at the end. Davrins is the most relevant but I hate the decision you make for him lol. Basically all the personal quests pissed me off one way or another but Taash's was by far my least favourite cause it felt like a first draft and like they forgot to add gameplay to half of it.
I made the same mistake the first time I played the game lol. About the lack of expression in Rook voice that's the usual problem with the male voice actor he's flat expressionless the female voice is way better I had the same problem with the ME trilogy couldn't stand to play as maleShep it was awful. I really don't understand how they almost always manage to pick bad male voice actors.
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I have still missed loot in the Dragon arena...I will go back once more in episode 20! The loot saga continues
Btw check neve’s relationship with you in the companions tab
I absolutely adore how Neve looks like she might pass out if she expresses a single emotion lol. But she obviously cares very deeply underneath that stoic exterior. It's nice to see that type of character as a woman since it's usually the grizzled male detective.
Also don't know if you noticed but for companions they'll have Conversations, Outings, and Quests. Quests are gonna be the longer more involved ones and the other two are usually shorter. It helps to get an idea of how long something might take when you're choosing what to do. And you don't need to bring them to the location, they'll be standing there waiting even if they aren't in your party. It's quite handy!
My opening to the cobbled swan case was very different since i saved treviso. I didn't get that cool cutscene with the song!
Finally Neve picks up on all the hints Mapoqun has been putting down!
And again, thank you Mapo for being open-minded and level headed about taash's identity storyline ❤️
What happens in the other version ?
Neve's romance story is beautifully written. She has such high walls, and slowly, you will be able to climb those walls as Rook.
And that’s it in terms of interesting companion stories
Also something about Taash's personal struggle with gender identity being so relevant, and some people criticizing why it's so present in dialogue and even present in the game's progress... Well, I'm not non-binary myself or trans but I can understand that for ANYONE going through such a big self-discovery process, as Taash is, and finally being able to experience coming to terms with their own person, farther away from the influence of their mother, that self discovery journey will - for sure - be a HUGE thing on their lives. And yes it will come up frequently when you get to see them in their "off hours", talking to others, or stumble upon their journals as it happens ingame! And since the game forces Rook into a position of "Mentor" to the whole team, it's super understandable that Taash would look to them to go through those matters, as they do try to search for answers talking to other people, like Neve, the Shadow Dragons, Isabella or the Lords of Fortune - so yes in theory you could just ignore that if you don't like it at the cost of not bonding with your teammate and leaving them as a weak link. Like Mapo said, it's not there for everyone - it's for the people who resonate with that. And if you can have some empathy and just... listen and let the person be what they want to be in order to live their life more hapilly and fully, like Mapo does listen, then you have a stronger team for it.
its crazy cuz ppl will be like “its the end of the world why does this matter?” but personal epiphanies like that when your end is near have been a big thing both in media and the real world forever. ive never seen anybody bat an eye at people who are at the end of their life suddenly having some sort of religious “coming to [Maker]” moment, but the idea that someone who may die soon might want to do so having realized who their true self actually IS is an issue? just odd. there are writing hang ups throughout the game for SURE, but grifters dont really focus on that, they just use them as leverage to hate on non-issues.
I love this version of the Cobbled Swan Case. I absolutely love the lounge singer vibes.
God, you just can't hate a game with Simon Templeman in it. His lines are always amazing.
Funny thing, before this game, i didn't even think Templeman could use the F-word.
The Taash scene in the cave is sweet. Yep it ends up showing no progress in the dragon investigation😅 but yeah, it was just an excuse for bonding. Sweet, just the same!
13:33 I can just imagine Rana standing there like blegh, you gotta do this right here, right now?
Good morning from Finland. 😄 Coffee, Mapo and The Veilguard. 😄
He almost found 1 of the Orbs
The Neve almost kiss scene is really sweet 🥹 I adore Neve and all the other companions, really. They are all genuinely kind, despite the trauma of their past.
The Neve romance seems sweet, are you ready to adopt 20+ wisps together though :-p I like the different reactions and approaches the companions have with romances.
My canon/favorite playthrough is a full Antivan Crow game (Crow background, Spellblade specialization, Treviso saver, Lucanis romance) but Neve is my close second favorite romance in the game. I like her character a lot, one of my favorite with Lucanis and Emmrich.
lucanis is the longest wait for a romance and i'll think you'll see why that likely is
davrin, emmerich and neve seems pretty normal
tassh and harding are a lot quicker
not sure about bellara since i have not seen her romance/bits of her romance yet though she's on the list for me i went from not really being interested in her to her being one of my favorites by end game
It's interesting seeing Mapo address the "modern", "modern terms about gender" versus "old ways" in society because yes, Tevinter society has its own ways of being modern and being antiquated, and as a fictional world it is plausible despite if you like the writing style or not here. I have my own criticism of how the writing felt at times but... for me it's not too weird to imagine we're seeing a new angle on how the people of northern Thedas are dealing with gender matters and how that could be something that's been changing lately, considering we have a 10 year gap from DAI (where we already had Krem and Dorian), and a 20 year gap from Origins.
We’re trying to escape stuff like that in video games not be drowned in it
Classic wispblock there :)
I haven't done the romance with Neve yet, and she was always a good character to be around, but I really like how that romance is developing in your playthrough. It feels very much in line with her character, and the fact that she takes a bit of time to become more vulnerable makes those moments feel a lot more earned. I think also getting that Taash romance scene last episode and getting to see some of the differences is great for the playthrough. Super excited to see Bellara's stuff next episode!
I think you missed something still at the blighted dragon area sorry, you took the boat back by the chest but there is a small area to the left with some codex/letter stuff you might like (:
Dude! The Cobbled Swan case is so much better on this path, the other version is severely watered down, because the city is blighted AND the Venatori are in charge.
Never knew that(I saved dock town in my playthrough). Now I wonder if there are quests in Treviso that's much better if I saved the city.
@AlyxMSC I guess we'll see next episode, if "Bloodbath" is different then we'll know.
afaik you just dont get the inner demons quest at all if you save minrathous. i dont remember any other changes.
10/10 Harding impression👌
Manfred and Assan are my favorite characters, haha 🥰🥰
Love the return of the VA to Loghain 😁😁
Will cause all sorts of iceberg theories
1:35:13 “we could kiss… 😏” was soooo me when i played lmaooo. like whats stopping us now neve?? i just said we could have anything 😭
Time for the finale for my Rook, will be stalling a bit
Trick Weekes said they mostly wrote Rook to have like 0 game lmaooo
56:37 HoF: all too easy
I really hate Taash's questline. As you even said her quests arent even quests half the time its just a cutscene and I'm getting cucked out of a dragon hunt wtf.
Theres three parts to it which is qun vs rivain, gender identity and the bad guy. And they did not combine these three to a coherent arc imo. It just jumps from one to the other at random. The Qun vs Rivain thing basically never gets explored but then thats the thing you are supposed to decide for her. Its frustrating because Rivain is the one place where the Qun is actually one of the major religions? And they have the one peaceful Qunari settlement but I dont think this game even brings it up at all.
Taash an Emmrich's personal quests are the most removed from the actual story of the game imo but at least Emmrich had what felt like the most impactful decision at the end. Davrins is the most relevant but I hate the decision you make for him lol. Basically all the personal quests pissed me off one way or another but Taash's was by far my least favourite cause it felt like a first draft and like they forgot to add gameplay to half of it.
I made the same mistake the first time I played the game lol. About the lack of expression in Rook voice that's the usual problem with the male voice actor he's flat expressionless the female voice is way better I had the same problem with the ME trilogy couldn't stand to play as maleShep it was awful. I really don't understand how they almost always manage to pick bad male voice actors.
Wispblocked smh
😂he missed it again
I fucking love the top comment he left about it too!