Strongly agreed that was better than either Stolen Throne or The Calling. The problem is...that's really not saying much.
The story was predictable and formulaic. Quest. Walking, walking, Fade, walking back, surprise, nothing's what you thought it was, random romance, ending that's a setup for the next game. The conclusion was exactly what I expected from what Varric says at the end of the game: the Circles rise up and some of the templars go rogue to chase after them. For that matter, "Your precious Chantry's fallen to pieces and brought the entire world to the brink of war" pretty much sums it up.
I did like the cameos, especially Fiona (I just about died when she called out Elthina) and Shale; Wynne was the same sanctimonious biddy she's always been AFAIC. The new lore about the Tranquil was interesting, and definitely puts the Anders/Karl scene in context. And Cole was kind of interesting once it became clear that he wasn't just Abused Kid Template #27.
Unfortunately, I really didn't care about most of the other characters. Rhys was frankly boring and slightly whiny. Evangeline's about-face seemed to come out of nowhere. Adrian was a two-dimensional harpy whose betrayal was obvious from miles away. And Lambert...dear sweet Maker, could he have been more of a cardboard villain? He made Meredith look complex.
There were also a couple of WTF? moments, like Wynne's Staff of Plottiness that was there and gone with no real explanation. And I couldn't figure out why, knowing what they knew at that point, Justinia was all, "Sorry, we're making you Tranquil again." Shouldn't it have been clear by then that death is more merciful?
My take-away is that the novel format doesn't play to Gaider's strengths. His best characters rely on the dialogue-tree format; when he has to spend all of his time in their heads, they come across as kind of flat, at least to me. Same with the romances. In game, there's an interaction with the player that generates the result. In all of his novels, I find myself scratching my head wondering why the hell these people suddenly fell in love, and why I should care.
To sum up: Meh. Not the worst $9.99 I've spent by a long shot, and a reasonable way to spend the most boring day of the year at work, but I've read better fanfic.
It wasn't that bad...but lord, it wasn't good
The story was predictable and formulaic. Quest. Walking, walking, Fade, walking back, surprise, nothing's what you thought it was, random romance, ending that's a setup for the next game. The conclusion was exactly what I expected from what Varric says at the end of the game: the Circles rise up and some of the templars go rogue to chase after them. For that matter, "Your precious Chantry's fallen to pieces and brought the entire world to the brink of war" pretty much sums it up.
I did like the cameos, especially Fiona (I just about died when she called out Elthina) and Shale; Wynne was the same sanctimonious biddy she's always been AFAIC. The new lore about the Tranquil was interesting, and definitely puts the Anders/Karl scene in context. And Cole was kind of interesting once it became clear that he wasn't just Abused Kid Template #27.
Unfortunately, I really didn't care about most of the other characters. Rhys was frankly boring and slightly whiny. Evangeline's about-face seemed to come out of nowhere. Adrian was a two-dimensional harpy whose betrayal was obvious from miles away. And Lambert...dear sweet Maker, could he have been more of a cardboard villain? He made Meredith look complex.
There were also a couple of WTF? moments, like Wynne's Staff of Plottiness that was there and gone with no real explanation. And I couldn't figure out why, knowing what they knew at that point, Justinia was all, "Sorry, we're making you Tranquil again." Shouldn't it have been clear by then that death is more merciful?
My take-away is that the novel format doesn't play to Gaider's strengths. His best characters rely on the dialogue-tree format; when he has to spend all of his time in their heads, they come across as kind of flat, at least to me. Same with the romances. In game, there's an interaction with the player that generates the result. In all of his novels, I find myself scratching my head wondering why the hell these people suddenly fell in love, and why I should care.
To sum up: Meh. Not the worst $9.99 I've spent by a long shot, and a reasonable way to spend the most boring day of the year at work, but I've read better fanfic.