i think one of the things i loved the most about DA2 is how it all happened in one place. i liked that things were so political, i liked seeing hawke's life--and the lives of their companions--change over the years. i especially liked how every story-line, even the ones that seemed inconsequential, were all tied together in the end.

it doesn't stand up to da:o, but i don't want to compare them because it feels unfair. but i will say that even if the entire game sucked, it would all be worth it just to see alistair towards the end and hear him talk about his wife back in ferelden, my grey warden <3

after botw i knew i needed to look at totk as a separate game from the rest of the zelda series, bc while both are very good, they dont feel like zelda games usually do, which lead to me being initially disappointed in botw when it first came out. getting to go into totk knowing it would be more like botw than it would be like all the previous zelda games made it the delight that it is.

its truly amazing how everything from botw was taken and improved upon. the same map was expanded and made to feel new, new mechanics that are vastly more useful were added (although i do miss my remote bombs, still), and getting to play in a world where people recognize link has a special kind of charm that makes me think of the oracle of ages/seasons games.
i am very easily swayed emotionally, so towards the end i was crying pretty hard. even if the game format isn't classic zelda, the characters are still the same, and i love them all so very, very dearly.