So I was checking the mail Friday afternoon and was pleased to find my copy of Dragon Age has finally come in the mail. AWESOME! I unpacked the game, popped it into my laptop and proceeded to install and play it. Needless to say, it has been a huge step up from the 360 version that I grew fond of. It was like playing a completely different game, and it was an even sweeter experience because I haven't played the game in months.
 
I started out with the Human noble background as a Warrior. Figured I'd start simple. I'm playing through the game making all the good decisions first. I find it difficult to take the evil path in any game for some reason, and believe me, I'm far from a good person. I just don't like to see death and suffering when I can do something to prevent it. I only take the evil route usually once when I get a game and all the rest of my playthroughs have me playing as a good character. 
 
For my party, I'm using Morrigan, Leliana, and Alistair for the Redcliffe stuff and then probably switching out Alistair for Sten when I get to the Urn of Andraste quest. Then I'll probably head to the Circle Tower to get that pain in the ass Fade quest out of the way. Afterwards I'll probably do the Dalish elves/werewolves dilemma and then go to Orzammar last. For some reason, Orzammar is the hardest out of all the quests for me, just because you go so deep into the Deep Roads and are battling Darkspawn for hours upon hours before you finally get the hell outta there. Despite that, it's my favorite because the first time I played it, I was totally on the edge of my seat. My final party for the Denerim battle sequence and of course the final boss battle is probably going to be Shale, Wynne, and Leliana. Shale is the best tank in the game (she'll take on the Archdemon head on with me at first), Wynne for healing, and Leliana for some ranged damage. 
 
So as you can clearly see, I love the game. I actually like it more than both Mass Effect games because of its sheer size and how deep the characters are. Granted, Mass Effect boasts some pretty good characters of its own (Thane and Jack were particularly deep to me) but for some reason the first time I beat Dragon Age it just felt like what an RPG should be. It just brought me back to the old days, when me and friends sat around and argued over what to do and say in Baldur's Gate, or more recently when I was so engrossed in KOTOR. I can only run the graphics and texture details at medium for my laptop or it becomes very choppy, but I could care less. I play it for the storyline and the sense of accomplishment it gives you after completing a long quest. Bioware really did right with this game. I'll probably write a review for it this upcoming week.
 
In other business, I logged quite a few miles running this week. More than I expected. I completely lost count, despite the fact that I'm supposed to be keeping track of my miles, but it's probably around 25-30. I can't remember how far I ran yesterday but I put in about five and a half today, which isn't as much as I'd like but chalk it up to my stomach cramping about halfway through. I took it easy the rest of the run. I hope to be ready for some type of mini marathon in the summer. My cardio right now is excellent. I barely get out of breath as long as I keep a slow to moderate pace. It's my calves that are giving me the most problems but I figure I have to get back in the swing of things because it usually happens at the beginning of cross country and track seasons anyway. 
  
Alright, so I'm done boring you with this blog. Hopefully some of you read it. I got basically no comments on my last blog. Big props to cap123 for commenting on it and generating some discussion. Good shit my boy, good shit. I'll probably have some stuff to bitch about in my next blog, so stay tuned.