I'm not sure what a gameplay-wise retcon would be... perhaps the removal of certain enemies from the game like the desire demons?IOwnTheSpire said:Out of curiosity, what retcons are you talking about? And when you say it has almost nothing to do with the later games, do you mean gameplay-wise, story-wise, something else?Oroboros said:-Dragon Age 2-onwards: The retcons, gameplay and tonal shifts that the Dragon Age series has undergone makes my complaints about the Mass Effect series has undergone pale in comparison. I have always had an iffy relationship with the Original Dragon Age- It was distressingly derivative of a number of other IPs, and the MMO-lite game mechanics never sat well with me for a supposed 'spiritual successor' to Baldur's Gate. But I think The solid plot (best one from Bioware in a long time), considerable side quests, different prologues (origins) and a considerable feeling that your actions mattered. The sequels threw pretty much everything of value about the series out the window as far as I'm concerned. the Dragon Age of the first game has almost nothing to do with that of the later games IMO, which is HUGE check against it in my book.
But I have noticed quite a few lore/setting-wise and story-wise wise to be found.
Lore/setting wise, the introduction of qunari with horns would be an obvious one, which weren't even alluded to in the first game. The drastic redesign of the Darkspawn in DA 2 would be another highly visible one. In the story, there are characters who come back from the dead, numerous seemingly momentous decisions to be made that ultimately amount to nothing as soon as the next game comes around, no matter what your epilogue said-the boons you can ask of the ruler of Thedas at the end-for instance. And of course lots of nonsense changes for no particular reason or for cheap drama (anything related to elves, pretty much).
The setting itself has shifted rather dramatically aesthetically and tonally to the point where it really doesn't much resemble the Dark fantasy pastiche of Game of Thrones, Wheel of Time, Warhammer Fantasy and LoTR set in Medieval Europe that was the first game. Overall it felt like being railroaded (to use an rpg term) Not explicitly, but it got pretty noticeable when nudging up against the boundaries Bioware set up. And at the same time from game to game the setting was becoming less like the one that attracted me to the series in the first place. I have a lot of the same complaints about the Mass Effect series, actually. But the transition was much faster and drastic in DA for, me which made it worse.
Hope that helps explain my position on my dislike, a little bit.