Finished WotR for the first time. Thoughts, feelings? Spoilers obviously.
Went Azata for my commander, who was based off a pathfinder tabletop campaign that I’ve been in for about a year now. Azata was... probably not the route I would’ve gone with him if I played true to his character -- personality-wise he’d probably be closer to angel > legend I think.
But also uh, dragon. Aivu is adorable and I loved her. Best part of the Azata path by far. Also absolutely ridiculously strong. Watching her strip buffs off Areelu and Baphomet/Deskari/Areshkagel with her caster level 35 dispel was absolutely hysterical.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the tonal dissonance of Azata during the crusade. Like I get the whole freedom loving hippies thing but I had chosen Azata largely because (dragon aside) it seemed like the natural choice for a chaotic good character. Silly things that are also kinda charming/badass aside (the treants, the mimics), like... is the middle of a crusade where hundreds of thousands are dying REALLY the best time to urgently call the commander back to ask him whether it’s better to make a shiny mosaic or an edible statue??? C’mon... But I can see it fitting for like a bard or something.
Ended up with positive relationships with all my surviving companions.
I completely fucked up Wenduag and Lann’s storyline somehow. I’m actually not entirely sure how I fucked up Lann’s since I did every step of his character quests, but he would’ve died during his personal mission without me going against his wishes. And he guilts me like the entire time about it too like, bud. Buddy. Listen. I would’ve just let him do what he wants if he weren’t part of my core party. Ultimately I wasn’t a huge fan of his character, though. Wenduag died during her betrayal in Alushinyrra and she was ALSO a core member of my party SO!! Apparently I just am bad at keeping my Neathers alive ig.
I actually found Wenduag to be the far more interesting character between the two of them -- I really liked how perceptive she was in her banters, but my character also... would not have tolerated her beyond the bare minimum necessary I guess. I wasn’t surprised she backstabbed me ngl but I did like her.
I found Lann kind of... eh I guess? I can see they were going for kind of like an Alistair Dragon Age or Eder PIllars of Eternity with him, but he really did not have the dorky charm of either one imo. I can’t quite place my finger on why I felt that way, since I usually find those kinds of characters charming. I think he was just a little too determined to die and shockingly callous towards other fringe minority races (like whenever Woljif mentions his struggles, or Arue who is genuinely trying). I would’ve thought he’d be a little more sympathetic, being a fringe minority race himself I guess? Just ended up not feeling it with him.
Killed Camellia. Sorry Camellia stans. She uh. Sure is something. I would like to do a playthrough to see What The Fuck Her Issue Is at some point, but my character this playthrough would not have tolerated her ahah.
Nenio is fine. I thought she was funny. I actually am maybe in the weird minority that kind of enjoyed her personal quest. Owlcat needs to make their puzzle interface a bit less of a nightmare, but it wasn’t so bad. I didn’t bring Nenio too much because I prefer spontaneous casters, but her phantasmal killer/weird spam is hilarious and great. I was pretty neutral on her over-all.
Daeran had a lot of depth and I was not really expecting that? I mean, I really love charming unapologetic assholes when it comes to characters (which... y’know, I was kind of expecting Camellia to grow on me because, yeah, they are both kinda in that camp, but Camellia was just... not even a little charming about it). He was definitely my personal favorite companion. I also really loved how foppish his VA sounds. Also his romance route was really surprisingly sweet.
I love Woljif that’s my rude son. I would’ve used him a lot more if he didn’t have hardcore class/skill overlap since my commander was a rogue. But still, immediately adopted. Fight me. That’s my boy.
Ember is charming. I know her character is kind of polarizing with people finding her a little too Miss Perfect Everyone Listens To Me and people who would defend her to their dying breath. I think they struck a fair medium with her character. If I remember correctly, The Redeemer Queen is actually part of Paizo’s canon trajectory of Nocticula’s character arc. I thought it was a really neat easter egg thing to include. She was part of my core party and she was my boss melter.
Seelah’s such a good girl. I loved how she’s kinda chaotic for a paladin. I kind of wish she had a little more confidence in herself as the story went on, but her big sis energy was super sweet imo.
Regill is excellent and I think everyone tends to like him. My character caused him constant headaches. I made him ride a triceratops into battle. Go gettem, little man.
Sosiel! My boy! It’s nice to see a soft lad in a video game. I know generally people find him kind of boring, but I was really invested in helping him get his brother back, and I was pleased that I did manage to get Trever back in the end. I dunno if it’s just me, but his voice lines sound weirdly... loud? In comparison to the other characters. I kind of wish that he had a bit more development (from what I understand from a friend, he gets a lot more development if romanced? My character did not date him.) in general. I think that he could’ve benefited from a few more banters or conversations. Still, he’s a good boy.
Trever is.... fine? Glad I got him back for Sosiel. He basically had no dialogue for the rest of the game. I was told that he gets a few more scenes if Sosiel is romanced. I uh, basically forgot about him. Poor guy.
Arue is adorable and kinda dorky. I will probably use her over Lann in a new playthrough unless I grit my teeth and recruit Wenduag over Lann which feels weird to justify unless I play an evil or just straight up chaotic character, since Wenduag is pretty up front about being a total psycho. But anyways, back to Arue. I found her story pretty sad. WIsh we could’ve helped her Azata friend, but also that guy was... pretty beyond saving I guess.
Greybor....... is fine. I like how Ember brings out his dad side. I was actually delighted that he mentions Daggermark and the River Kingdoms, since in the tabletop campaign, my character is actually from there, so I think that added to me liking him. But his character is pretty one-note over all, and I can see why people don’t like him. If it weren’t for the extremely niche fact that I have a very soft spot for Daggermark in particular, I think I would’ve found him much more forgettable LOL. Every time he brings up the assassins during council meetings I’m just like :) that’s my home town!! Daggermark represent!!
My main team was my commander (half orc pure rogue knife master, River Kingdoms Daredevil), Ember, Seelah, Sosiel, Daeran, Lann. Occasionally I swapped Sosiel out for Regill or Lann out for Arue. Sosiel replaced Wenduag when I was forced to Unlife her :’);;;;;
Over-all very fun game. I thought the difficulty spikes were a little weird sometimes Mythic Vavakia Vanguard In A Random Cave is more powerful than any demon lord let’s be real.
I ended up meeting the (asinine at certain points) requirements to do the ascension ending. which was ultimately what I went with. Areelu ascended as well, since we can’t leave my hot mom behind.
Also hello????? Areelu Vorlesh is turbo hot holy shit. I felt so attacked. By her existence. Her VA is so, so good. I absolutely adored sinister tiger mom Areelu Vorlesh. I can’t believe she is my mom. Blessed.
Trying to avoid rambling on about my own character too much. Mostly he was a kinda rude chaotic good/neutral. He kinda toed the line between those two alignments tbh. I enjoyed it for the most part and felt like I could play him pretty true to his personality, though I feel like he would’ve absolutely told Galfrey to shove her fist up her own ass during the conclusion part of the Midnight Fane arc and then fucked off back to the RIver Kingdoms LMAO. But it’s fine, I understand the story must go on HAHA.
Speaking of Galfrey, I wish they had gone a little further with her character. She’s supposed to be this hyper-competent queen/commander of armies, but then in the plot, you pretty much spend your time cleaning up her messes, and then she just kinda yells at you for being Not Good Enough. I don’t gotta take your sass, woman! I didn’t even want to be here!!!!!! The complete dissonance between like when I’m retaking Drezen and she’s like YOU’RE A GR8 COMMANDER A++++++++++ and then when I took the midnight fane (early, because Azata path. And I had no casualties!!!) where she is like HOW DARE YOU!!!! BAD!!!! SIT IN THE CORNER AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’VE DONE!!!! Was like!! OKAY??? UH.... SORRY YOU DIDN’T GET A SLICE OF THE PIE I GUESS??? WHATEVER??? SUCKS TO SUCK?
I wanted to like her more than I did, I think, but who she’s supposed to be narratively did not match up with how she was portrayed through the story if that makes sense.
Also Anevia and Irabeth forever <3. Adored those two. Their relationship was so sweet and also Anevia’s big character reveal delighted me beyond words. Honestly the queer rep in this game made me so, so happy.
Loved the game over-all. Excited for a second playthrough when I have time. Wanna draw some more fanart, too, when I have time...
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