Here ye be spoilers.
"Oh look another Dragon Age 2 thread it's not like we haven't seen a million of these hur hur hur hur..." I've got news for you buddy boy this is thread number one in a series of Dragon Age threads I have planned.
These threads are to be discussed with my fellow gamers and to come to as a unanimous as possible so it can be posted on Bioware's constructive critisism thread on their forums.
If you recognize my name it may be because I make quality threads (or so I've been told.) So stick along for the ride I might just open your mind a little.
Let me start by informing all of you that I'm straight, I played both my male Hawke and my female Hawke straight so I'm assuming that the gay female romances are the similar to the straight male romances. In my main playthrough my male Hawke romanced Isabella but this was due to her being the lesser of three evils. I'll start chronologically:
Aveline, now I'm sure my intital reaction was the same as most other people's: "My word, that woman isn't very attractive-- woah, that was pretty badass; oh I guess she's a party member now."
Aveline is average, she's a refuge who's trying to escape a desperate situation and trying to make the best of what has happened. She's lost her husband, she has no home, and she's barely scraping by with her guard job. She's very down to earth eventually getting over her husband's death and moving onto other pastures if you choose to leave her unromanced.
She's a bit of a bland character and she's not hot she's not even particularly good looking. On the other end of this spectrum the Females have Sebastian (exclusive I may add, he's the only 100% straight character in this game.) He's lost his ENTIRE family, has a thirst for vengance but is bound by his vows to The Chantry, he is of royal blood, and to top it all off he has one of the hardest moral decisions of Act 3. (It's criminal that 9 out of 10 players have to drop seven bucks for one of the Bioware's best written characters.) Aveline has a shallow threat of leaving you if you side with the mage's which is negated by the fact that it's ridiculously easy to max out her friend score any rival points can be easily regained by completing whatever quest that pissed her off.
Moving on, the romance that I pursued was Isabella.
Isabella is a slut, this was introuduced along with her debut in Dragon Age: Origins she was bi-sexual from the beginning which is more than I'll say for Anders (which I'll address in the Story thread.) I'll leave you with this; if you retcon a character's story just so you can add a gay option for him then there is something wrong with you writing team.
Isabella is arguably the only attractive female companion in your party in DA2, if you want to argue that I'm totally and undeniably wrong that's what this thread is for. Her personality is somewhat shallow, the pirate with a heart of gold. Bioware copy and pasted Captain Jack Sparrow and turned him into a chick with breasts larger than her head. It was a nice twist that she screws you over in Act 2 if you haven't totally friended or rivaled her by then but by then you should realize that the game was going to be bumpy if you haven't invested heavily in your companions. The one thing I like about Isabella is that she was written to be bi-sexual from the start and didn't just have the gay option stapled on at the end. Otherwise she's just a meh character.
Lastly I want to talk about Merril because she's a mixed bag.
I like Merril, hell she's a great companion I really wanted to romance her and the reason I didn't was not a fault of her character but Bioware's reworking of the series's art style. Seriously every Elf looks like an Albio Na'vi diagnosed with severe down's syndrome. (No offence intended to those who have or know somebody with down's syndrome but every Elf character has the defining head characteristic that let's you know that someone has the mental condition.)
Have a look yourself
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/150/f/2011/086/f/b/orsino_from_dragon_age_2_by_lucius007-d3cn8ki.jpg
http://bitpunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Merrill2.jpg
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110214144929/dragonage/images/b/b7/Hawkeandmerrill.jpg
If they had stuck with the Human with elf ears look of Dragon Age: Origins most people would have jumped for Merril instead of Isabella. Instead we have a character with stick thin legs and arms, a boney torso, and a head that is ridiculously out of proportion for its body.
Her story is unique but predictable only the most delusional would believe that her quest wouldn't land her with a first-class ticket on the plane to Fuckedville.
To wrap this up there is no strong female companion; Aveline is generic and unappealing to the eye, Isabella is a blatant character archtype, and Merril is plagued by poor artistic decisions.
"Oh look another Dragon Age 2 thread it's not like we haven't seen a million of these hur hur hur hur..." I've got news for you buddy boy this is thread number one in a series of Dragon Age threads I have planned.
These threads are to be discussed with my fellow gamers and to come to as a unanimous as possible so it can be posted on Bioware's constructive critisism thread on their forums.
If you recognize my name it may be because I make quality threads (or so I've been told.) So stick along for the ride I might just open your mind a little.
Let me start by informing all of you that I'm straight, I played both my male Hawke and my female Hawke straight so I'm assuming that the gay female romances are the similar to the straight male romances. In my main playthrough my male Hawke romanced Isabella but this was due to her being the lesser of three evils. I'll start chronologically:
Aveline, now I'm sure my intital reaction was the same as most other people's: "My word, that woman isn't very attractive-- woah, that was pretty badass; oh I guess she's a party member now."
Aveline is average, she's a refuge who's trying to escape a desperate situation and trying to make the best of what has happened. She's lost her husband, she has no home, and she's barely scraping by with her guard job. She's very down to earth eventually getting over her husband's death and moving onto other pastures if you choose to leave her unromanced.
She's a bit of a bland character and she's not hot she's not even particularly good looking. On the other end of this spectrum the Females have Sebastian (exclusive I may add, he's the only 100% straight character in this game.) He's lost his ENTIRE family, has a thirst for vengance but is bound by his vows to The Chantry, he is of royal blood, and to top it all off he has one of the hardest moral decisions of Act 3. (It's criminal that 9 out of 10 players have to drop seven bucks for one of the Bioware's best written characters.) Aveline has a shallow threat of leaving you if you side with the mage's which is negated by the fact that it's ridiculously easy to max out her friend score any rival points can be easily regained by completing whatever quest that pissed her off.
Moving on, the romance that I pursued was Isabella.
Isabella is a slut, this was introuduced along with her debut in Dragon Age: Origins she was bi-sexual from the beginning which is more than I'll say for Anders (which I'll address in the Story thread.) I'll leave you with this; if you retcon a character's story just so you can add a gay option for him then there is something wrong with you writing team.
Isabella is arguably the only attractive female companion in your party in DA2, if you want to argue that I'm totally and undeniably wrong that's what this thread is for. Her personality is somewhat shallow, the pirate with a heart of gold. Bioware copy and pasted Captain Jack Sparrow and turned him into a chick with breasts larger than her head. It was a nice twist that she screws you over in Act 2 if you haven't totally friended or rivaled her by then but by then you should realize that the game was going to be bumpy if you haven't invested heavily in your companions. The one thing I like about Isabella is that she was written to be bi-sexual from the start and didn't just have the gay option stapled on at the end. Otherwise she's just a meh character.
Lastly I want to talk about Merril because she's a mixed bag.
I like Merril, hell she's a great companion I really wanted to romance her and the reason I didn't was not a fault of her character but Bioware's reworking of the series's art style. Seriously every Elf looks like an Albio Na'vi diagnosed with severe down's syndrome. (No offence intended to those who have or know somebody with down's syndrome but every Elf character has the defining head characteristic that let's you know that someone has the mental condition.)
Have a look yourself
http://th09.deviantart.net/fs70/150/f/2011/086/f/b/orsino_from_dragon_age_2_by_lucius007-d3cn8ki.jpg
http://bitpunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Merrill2.jpg
http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110214144929/dragonage/images/b/b7/Hawkeandmerrill.jpg
If they had stuck with the Human with elf ears look of Dragon Age: Origins most people would have jumped for Merril instead of Isabella. Instead we have a character with stick thin legs and arms, a boney torso, and a head that is ridiculously out of proportion for its body.
Her story is unique but predictable only the most delusional would believe that her quest wouldn't land her with a first-class ticket on the plane to Fuckedville.
To wrap this up there is no strong female companion; Aveline is generic and unappealing to the eye, Isabella is a blatant character archtype, and Merril is plagued by poor artistic decisions.
