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argurotoxosI haven't even played the game and I've read most of the fanfic from the first 12 pages of AO3 that are under 8k words, sorted by kudos count. So this is the rush when you find a new pairing. Loki/Thor has spoiled me for great art and lengthy relationship-focused world-building fic, but then again, I realize that if you only read certain Loki/Thor fic (especially Jotun Loki AUs, which are my favourite), you will be disoriented, and possibly disappointed, by the actual canon.
Also, I know I haven't played many modern games, but the facial expressions are fantastic. The eyes! The mouths! Characters that actually move their lips when they speak! (Okay, that last one is probably only noteworthy if you play Thief.) I can ignore imperfect collision and hands sometimes going through legs.
(For more Fenris/Hawke without, you know, playing the game, there's a nearly hour-long video of a male mage Hawke and Fenris in a friendship romance here. I imagine writing Hawke is a bit like writing JC Denton for Deus Ex -- everyone's Hawke or JC is different because of how they chose to play him.)
Even though I like the characters and the relationship, I'm not sure if I'll actually play Dragon Age 2. My experience with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. has taught me that even if a game has a lot of things that are important to me and I enjoy (exploration, atmosphere, a sense of isolation, dark ambient music), if the gameplay doesn't suit me, it's hard to retain any interest.
On a sidenote, Vampire the Masquerade: Redemption is probably the closest game I have to Dragon Age; I recently reinstalled it and have played about two hours. The only fan patch I added was upgraded textures for Prague. The third person POV threw me off badly at first, but I was surprised both how much I remembered and that the game seems to hold up to my first playthrough. That said, Redemption gameplay is definitely not the type of gameplay I usually go for . . . but somehow I enjoyed it anyway. Is it just because of its connection to Vampire: The Masquerade? The best comparison I have is to the Dynasty Warriors games, which I have fond memories of because I played them with my best friend.
