I think they probably changed Minthara's hair because they thought it was too close to Novice Brynna's haircut, you know the other Absolute gal who the PCs run into probably right before they run into Minthara, and who had the exact same Absolute Haircut... just in auburn red instead of white.
Brynna? Who is this? I tried to remember for a long time before I realized. Obviously she's not very memorable. The hairstyle is really similar, but it would be better if Larian changed it at Brynna's and not Minthara. Larian can swap their hairstyles in patch 6
And take away this strange makeup. The blue color also suited her better, made her more visually pleasing.
In any case, as a player, I am pleased that Larian decided to pay attention to Minthara, most likely they wanted to get feedback and are reading all this carefully. But it's better if it concerns quests and additional content, why change appearance what everyone already liked. Combined with her old hairstyle, she looked very good in blue armor, why do we need a new Dragon Age Inquisition? There were already all the "innovative" ideas about how female characters should look like, you see how the players did not like it.
Moreover, we are not talking about some hentai clothes etc, it was just much more pleasing to the eye. And this is important, given that this is an important character and a future companion that the player will often look at.
Imagine how the players would react if Larian decided to suddenly make Shadow Heart bald or with a mohawk and change her entire appearance. Who cares that this can be part of her rebellious nature and the consequence of complex internal contradictions. Or make Astarion more like Nosferatu...
All companions should be aesthetically pleasing.
In any case, if Larian decides to leave the current version of the appearance, it will be acceptable only if they came up with a very cool and long story with Minthara, where for some reason this particular version of the appearance will be more appropriate, and leaving the previous one would be REALLY inappropriate. The developers will have to work hard to keep the Fan club of Minthara not only did not decrease, but became larger! Will Larian be able to take on such a challenge?
If Larian just change appearance for no really good reason, it can be a big failure.
Minthara's face looked more natural in the first iteration and that really is the worst thing about patch 5 Minthara in my opinion; and I think that stands out the most of all; the voice actress does such a good job that seeing Minthara's facial expressions as she talked and during the cutscenes was very exciting; but the patch 5 garish eyeshadow really diminishes the effect of her facial expressions; less makeup creates a sort of seriousness in a visage I think; more genuine and less artificial; I think that's true in the real world too; we all remember that famous scene that some have been playing over and over again or at least before patch 5 for months now; when she says "tonight you are mine" and the game does a close up of her face and personally the impression in my mind was something akin to "what did she just say!?" and her facial expressions, the voice acting and the atmosphere in general was really surprising to me at the time; some might ask well what is the effect of giving Minthara not only an increase in eyeshadow but garish silver eyeshadow at that?
In my opinion it makes her as a character seem less serious and honestly somewhat silly; as I stated in an earlier post Minthara is basically presented as a rough and tumble lass and a zealous cultist and by what we can see from patch 5 regardless of how difficult the journey, the fight, or the circumstances; one thing that she never forgets to do is to apply a large coating of bright silver eyeshadow around her eyes; she dazzles the reshade and heavy bloom effect users with magnificent radiance; surely this woman keeps stockpiles of silver eyeshadow at the ready in the Shattered Sanctum; I'm not even joking; what else are we supposed to think?
I perceive in the patch 5 iteration of Minthara a worrying attempt to beautify an NPC by increasing the makeup on her face and this was a method that was used in Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age Inquisition and a couple of other games that I can't remember offhand; where in my opinion some of the characters' natural beauty and faces were occluded by makeup; this is especially foolish when one considers the fact that Larian used real life models that they based in game faces upon and that is both wonderful and realistic; but when those same faces are slathered with garish makeup we can't actually appreciate the natural beauty of those faces now can we?; so even with real world scanned faces; the facial aesthetics can still be ruined through bad makeup choices and I really hope that doesn't happen.
Her hair is not as much of an issue as her makeup in my opinion though it does seem to be oddly neat for a crazed woman; it seems somewhat like a professional cut; maybe she has a goblin hairstylist who keeps it that way; the first iteration generic hairstyle seemed like something one might see on a crazed cultist; it seems ruffled, messy, and perhaps something that was self-cut at one point; though I do understand they want unique NPCs to have unique hairstyles, I would prefer if they gave her a messier, more discordant hairstyle; as of now David Bowie's hairstylist has traveled to Faerun and I suppose that's sort of interesting in it's own way.
That said the juxtaposition between her garish makeup and her what many might consider typically more masculine hairstyle; creates a conflict; are they trying to make her seem pretty or are they trying to make her seem more like a tough lass who can put on some armor and scrap; they cut her hair and yet increase her eyeshadow; it creates a situation in my opinion where players become confused; as though they're receiving mixed messages; and raises the question what does Larian want her to be aesthetically?
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