Since it’s fresh in my mind from other tumblr posts, did you know as much as I love the mages’ side of the conflict, in recent play throughs I’ve come to appreciate choosing the Templars more.
Two reasons; one is because of gameplay. Having the mages as your primary enemy throughout the game is much easier to kill than the armored to hell Templar mutations with the red lyrium chucks and all that.
And for the other… Well, gaining Barris as an agent for the inquisition has some nice flavor from war table missions. And then there’s the better (in my opinion) introduction for Cole.
See, you can meet Dorian before you chose Templars or Mages, which I found really great.
(I think it’s kinda shitty that there isn’t a meeting similar to that for Champions of the Just, I stumbled into it without realizing that was the start of the mission, not an encounter like with meeting Dorian and Fiona)
So, again, you can meet Dorian before you chose who to side with. Which gives him showing up before Corypheus’s forced to warn Haven more meaning. It makes sense, oh hey, we met this guy, he showed up to warn us!
But siding with the mages, Cole shows up and his completely new. Who’s this guy? Is this a trap? Show we trust a perfect stranger?
Choosing the Templars introduced Cole in his element, trying to help you escape from your own mind. Classic Cole, and it lets you know from the start that he’s … a little more than just some kid with daggers.
And then there’s the story line of finding out more about Calpernia and her trying to free slaves. Got me right in the heart. I need to refresh my memory on that whole quest line before I ramble about it, though.
So then, Cole joining the fight made more sense after he’d help you escape the demon’s clutches, and that absolutely hilarious scene with him popping up in the middle of the war table….
Anyway, my point is, I came to love the elements of choosing the Templars over the mages. Even though I sympathize with the mages just a liiiittle more than the Templars, the mages’s side of the storyline felt like it lacked in post-In Hushed Whispers story content. (Though the Red Thedas we see in In Hushed Whispers inspired a nightmare or two in me and some amazing angsty scenes to write…)
If there’s anyone out there that has more perspective on the mages’ side of the storyline they wanna share, come to me and we can talk about it! ;3 I’m not one to bash or hate for seeing a different side, and maybe there are things I missed that makes the mages’s side have more depth.
