My love for Dragon Age : Origins (and thoughts on DA2)
By armaan8014 38 Comments
*Spoilers may lie ahead, also a LONG blog*
I have lately become obsessed with Dragon Age and it's world. And since this is a video game site, I thought I'd blog about it!
It's pretty funny how I became a fan of the game. I waited like crazy for it to come out, but when it was released, I was too busy with my final exam for HS preparation to play it.
It came out in November, And I got to play it only by late March 2010. In between my study times I would sometimes check out videos and pics of the game, and couldn't wait to play it.
Then came the time that I finally got finished with my exams and started playing it. At first I kinda had mixed feelings. I wanted to like it but the point and click gameplay turned me off a little bit. But then I got adjusted to that, and started enjoying the game. I enjoyed it so much that I mentally placed it in my top 10 fav RPGs list.
But then after around 40 hrs of playing it, and after reaching the Deep Roads, I kinda got tired of and angry at the game. The length was crazy. The difficulty was insane (on normal). The game was just unfair at times. What's more surprising, is that I almost never made it out of the Deep Roads due to irritation. The game dropped to the bottom 5 of my list due to this. But I hung on till the end.
And I'm glad I did.
What the game did best was, it gave you an entertaining and long experience throughout, and playing most of the game was a pleasure. But then, THE ENDING
Oh god... the ending. So goddamn emotional. So epic. So mysterious. It was like you're given a chocolate as a present and the second you take a bite, you're gifted Disneyland :P
The end immediately shot the game right up to the second spot, just under The Witcher. (Spoiler alert!!) Seeing Denerim burn was so awesome. Seeing all of your party fight the Blight was amazing. And most of all, the victory cutscenes in the end were just perfect.
But what made it all so mysterious and kinda sad was the Epilogue. ESPECIALLY Morrigan's disappearance. That was just so fucking strange. Oh.. that moment.
And in my playthrough, Harrowmont died. I felt really sad and guilty about it. And now, Alistair was the king. I'd always liked Alistair, so it kinda felt sad that he wouldn't be traveling with us in our upcoming adventures, but then I placed all my hopes on DA2.
And thus, about 65 hrs of DA:O ended. And I was left feeling shaken. But I wanted more. I didn't want to be separated from that beautiful world. That beautiful story, and amazing music.
So then I went and made two Tribute videos for the game. (They're inside the spoiler tag)
Watching these tributes makes me feel even stranger now. As a rule, I never play any story focused game more than once unless I really want to. This made the experience even more realistic. Watching these videos now just reminds me of that beautiful time when I used to play this amazing game. Especially the part in the first video where he sings "Soon, someone will put a spell on you" and Morrigan walks towards the player, proposing to him the idea of the dark (?) child.
By the time I had finished DA:O, the expansion pack, Awakening had already come out. I thought I'd take a break and catch up on the many other games I had missed out earlier. Around the start of July, I started Awakening. And I'm still playing it atm. (and so is my friend, we both love DA!)
Then just today, I started and finished the official DLC, Leliana's Song. Oh, what a fucking great DLC. Made with perfection. If anyone wanted to know more about Leliana's past, they would have to look no further than this. I thouroughly enjoyed hearing and playing Leliana again.
And then I was finished with it, and the credits started rolling. And this music started. And as soon as I realized that it was going to be another truly beautiful piece of music that would haunt me for months, I said "no.. don't do this to me.. " and then just got lost in the song:
So this is how I finished the DLC, and then heard the song, the result of which is this blog. And due to which I have permanently lost my mind over DA. Also, the game probably sits on top of my list now!
Talking about Awakening, the game is extremely satisfying for a fan like me. I got to import my character, and it's awesome to get back into Fereldan. What saddened me though, is that I wasn't able to have more than a two minute conversation with Alistair, and none of the older party members (ESPECIALLY LELIANA) came back.
"But that's OK", I thought. "Dragon Age 2 is on the way, I can then get back into the great game, and will be able to meet the older characters, proper. We'll probably search for Morrigan, with Lelliana by my side, and the strange and sad feeling I got from leaving the DA:O world behind will go from my heart, giving me peace!"
BOOM
"No" said Bioware. "Fuck off" They continued. "Mass Effect 2 turned out to be one of our greatest successes yet, and even though you didn't like it as much as everyone else did, we'll make DA2 along those lines"
Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
Ok, maybe I'm over reacting a little, but the following points are why my everything is crying:
1. No save import: WHY? Such a beautiful world. So much to do. Morrigan to search for! What about Lelliana? What happened to everyone? I wanna know and get back into it!
2. New Character: I don't need no Hawke! I want my City Elf Darrian, who became a Grey Warden! That's me!
2.5 New character is voiced: Now this, THIS completely kills it. Putting voice into him is completely Mass Effecting it. I don't need that. That disconnects me from the character. Now I'm just watching someone else's story!
3. New console - centered combat: This is exactly what confirms to me that my other points are valid. They're not trying something new, they're just trying to please the remaining audience with a formula that worked. So much for tactical fighting now, let's "get into the action". Wow, the fighting's gonna be awesome.
I know I might be mistaken, but I have a very bad feeling that the franchise might be undergoing Dumbing-down. The PC version was the best goddammit! Don't change the game because of that!
4. Small fear-art style: As of now, the graphics look like a joke. Hopefully, that's a result of the game being in early stages of development.
Of course, all of my fears could possibly turn out to be not what I am fearing, and Bioware might surprise me with an equally beautiful game. I certainly hope they do.
(PLEASE SURPRISE ME!) Also, hopefully Hawke will have SOME little connection with the first game. Since he escaped the Blight, he might stumble upon old party members as they will be in the same time scale. I hope Morrigan or some other member meets us and joins our party.
If you read all the way till here, GOOD JOB! It's 1am here, my head's spinning, and I wrote all of the above in a half conscious state (and am pretty proud of myself :D )
So how do you feel? Were you as affected by the first game as I was? Share any fears about the second? Let me know!
Armaan