Discuss.

Muahahhaa...you don't know what you've gone and done.....

Let me preface this with a small introduction, and perhaps some context as to where I approach gaming from. I'm a cranky old lady who's been earning a living for 20 years with nothing but a moderate knowledge of the English language. I'm a tabletop RPG, sci-fi, fantasy freak living comfortably in my alter-ego as a suburban-living corporate drone. And I have the hand-eye co-ordination and reflexes of a tortoise on Xanax.

When it comes to RPGs, actual gameplay mechanics are truly secondary to me. I mean, as someone who's spent countless hours with Neverwinter Nights, Oblivion, Fable and Mass Effect, I found the controls of DA: O to be intuitive, easily mapped and accessible to my only-semi-opposable thumbs - drag spell/skill/item into slot where it's easily found, master zoom in/zoom out feature, Crazy-Glue thumb to space bar for pausing and voila! The absolute joy to be found in the gameplay mechanics is when you stumble across those spell combinations, or particular skills that allow you to wander through the land of Ferelden rejoicing in your own bad-assery.

Using the party rogues to sneak, disable traps, shoot some one-hit kills, and lure unsuspecting darkspawn into your winding trap of death ... priceless. Watching your mage take out an ogre with a cone of cold/stonefist combo ... priceless. Making your husband look at you with a touch of fear for a week after an accidental slip of the phrase 'ice-fisting' ... priceless.

Speaking of bad-assery - and really, aren't we always? - one of my RPG pet-peeves from the moment I first plugged in TES: Oblivion has been level scaling. What FUN is it to level up, find the best armour, and improve your spells if every creature this side of the swamp is still stronger than you as you advance? While it's obviously important to make sure there's always a challenge to the game, one should always be able to experience the sheer joy of wading through puddles of virtual gore and slicing your way through hoards of fodder while singing a sea shanty. DA: O's endgame, in particular, accomplished this very well. While full of dozens upon dozens of slayable target practice, the encounters are also sprinkled with just enough impale-you-on-your-own-petard challenge to make each victory a real celebration.

I am somewhat amused by the amount of complaining around the lack of a PC voice in DA: O, especially as I'm not quite senile enough to have forgotten the whingeing around the prospect of a fully-voiced PC in Mass Effect. ("Ohnoez! It's not MY voice! It will break teh immersionz!!" ... etc. etc.) That said, every time my Elven mage opened a door and said "On it!" my instant and uncontrollable response was, "These darkspawn are TOAST, because REVAN is gonna kick their ASSES!!! Whooot!" ... and so on...

The graphics are, perhaps, a step back from something like Mass Effect or other next-gen console games, but I was playing on PC, so I didn't notice that much. My only complaints were the occasional frame-rate stutter, as well as the freakishly large hands and bad teeth on each and every character. Seriously...get these people some Crest Whitestrips.

Now...for the meat, the gravy, and the dessert. Story. Yeah, I'm a BioWare fangirl. Let's get that out of the way. (Or, perhaps...BioWare Fangranny ... or some such thing.) But the reason I'm a fan, is because the stories they present to me continue to blow my mind. Dragon Age: Origins is no exception. The characters and companions that followed my wacky elf from one end of Ferelden to another had me laughing out loud, getting misty eyed, and raging wildly at my computer screen. Adventures had me thinking about issues like honouring the war veterans who put their lives on the line for us, about choosing duty, love, honour or faith, about the ties that keep families together and the lies that drive them apart. I couldn't resist constantly returning to my paramour for kisses, and nighttime cuddles, and to my friends for advice and colourful commentary.

Now, let it also be said that I'm a huge, huge fan of endings that aren't necessarily pulled from the arse of Walt Disney. I love a story that leaves me feeling like I've been kicked in the gut a few times, and let me tell you, I've been thoroughly pummelled through this experience. In my mind's eye, I seriously have a raging, screaming elf who's being carried away over the shoulder of a large Quanari while hurling incoherent obscenities on the entire congregated population of Denarem. And thus the legend of the Mad Grey Warden begins.

Haha I'm a BioWare fanboy in that case.
Played and loved all of their games so far.

Dragon Age is a game I'll be playing for a while and won't forget.
It's landed in my top 5 games easily and will be there for quite some time.

I totally agree on what you mentioned about the ending.
That's what I love about the Wester RPG's vs the Japanese or Asian RPG's.
In those you always get the girl and save the world, with all your friends happily in line.

I killed Eliana for dripping some dragon blood in Andraste's Urn and at the end I got trolled by Morrigan (I will get you eventually damnit!) who stole my old god possesed kid.
You actually get a slightly more grim ending if you want to.

Deffinitly game of the year for me.
The sooner the make a prequel or more DLC the better!

I was a bit skeptical when I first popped the game in, but lordy, how awesome it turned out to be. I loved all the morally ambiguous choices the game presented, rather than a linear, pre-mapped path of good and evil. And Morrigan. God, I think I'm in love. She's by far my favorite Bioware character; she revels in her cynicism and egocentricity, which, to me, is a major win. I'm quite tired of the archetypical "damsel in distress" prevailing most fantasy media.

As for the general gameplay, I found it a bit hard to grasp at first. Mainly, I couldn't figure out how the hell to plot out tactics. I spent most my time cycling through the party members and spamming potions, rather than being a clever bitch and meticulously setting up the dooms of my foes with traps, bombs, and all manner of deadly goodness. Oh well, I still managed.

Oh, one last thing: Asschabs! I love you, Oghren.

Edited by Neuroshock, 2 year(s) ago