I loved the first Dragon Age. It was not a perfect game by any means, nor are any, but I played through it several times and loved nearly everything about it. The combat was a little weak, but could be strategized and was ultimately satisfying. There was some truly awful DLC, but that was balanced by other, excellent DLC. The story was magnificent and sweeping and exactly what I look for in a fantasy role-playing game, and the characters...oh the characters. I will probably never forget Morrigan or Leliana, two of my favorite characters of all time, and I'm still waiting for whatever conclusion comes about regarding Morrigan's potentially evil child...(my child!)

The point is that I had high expectations for Dragon Age 2, a follow up to one of my all-time favorite video games. When it came, out, around this time last year, I found myself disappointed, so much so that I didn't finish the game. Yes, this is a crime and I will pay for it. I hopefully made amends in part this weekend by putting the game back in and wrapping it up (apparently I was only about two hours from the end...). The strange thing is, I found myself immediately wanting to replay the whole thing. The feeling reached such heights that I went and bought all the DLC and then started up a new game. Now? I'm finding myself incredibly engaged in a way that I do not remember being before. In fact, the feeling is more reminiscent of the original Dragon Age, which surprises the hell out of me and makes me wonder what it was I disliked so much during my first playthrough.

There are some obvious points of reference for why I'm enjoying it this time. For one, I'm playing as a woman, and Jo Wyatt's voice acting is considerably better and less annoying than male Hawke's. I also just enjoy watching the female Hawke interact with people more, in part because I left her appearance as default. The male Hawke I'd made looked...funny, as most player-made character creations do. I'm also playing as a mage this time, instead of a rogue, which has made the combat much more enjoyable. Their approach to battles is a mixed blessing. It's more action oriented than the first game, but the result of this is more button mashing in an almost God of War style, but without the complications. This is particularly evident playing a melee class, thus why playing as a mage is more enjoyable. I have more control over my party, which sounds strange as I can control anyone at any time, but micro-managing every little action like that just breaks whatever flow the combat does have. As a mage I can keep people alive and roast mother effers all in back to back seconds.

I'm also enjoying the DLC, which adds some desperately needed new areas to the over-used territory from the main game. Running around with Felicia Day as the assassin Tallis was quite enjoyable, even if the disappointment of not being able to bring her into the game proper largely overshadowed it (got to make out with her though!). Legacy is also proving interesting, and I'm assuming I'll enjoy the Exiled Price stuff. I'm also trophy hunting, which adds a large chunk of play-ability to any game, and there's a platinum coming my way...

In the end maybe it's all timing. I read Asunder not long ago, and it references events from Dragon Age 2, and there's a new machinima-style movie coming out next week that's set parallel to the game as well. I think I may have also been getting back into WoW when DA2 released, which ruins nearly any game I am trying to play.

Regardless, finishing the game and now playing through it again has shown me, in a larger sense, just what the team at BioWare was trying to do with this installment, and I actually respect much of it. It has its problems, which I'll get to, but in a big-picture sense it's actually very ingenious.

The first game was set in Ferelden and involved a Blight, caused by the awakening of an archdemon (which is basically an old god slumbering beneath the earth). This archdemon took the form of a dragon, thus Dragon Age. The events were epic and chaotic, and changed the land around it. For the second game, they transitioned to Kirkwall, a city basically between Orlais and Ferelden. As the events of the third game will likely occur in Orlais, this makes some sense. It also makes sense as a catalyst for events that will bring all three games together. The mages and templars play a big part in the history of Thedas, the world in which Dragon Age is set. Mages were responsible for the first darkspawn and the initial awakening of the first archdemons. The events of Dragon Age 2 reveal a chasm in the mage/templar relationship, something hinted at in the first game but not fully explored because of the bigger things happening. In the sequel, it explodes, and by the end of the game you have mages and templars warring all over the three lands. As the Champion of Kirkwall, Hawke is center stage for these catalytic events, and depending on your decisions, plays a big role in determining how they play out. I like that BioWare attempted to show the decisions of one man or woman in a bigger picture, the trouble is they focused too much on Hawke and not enough on the bigger events. I feel like something crucial was missing to convey to the player just how vital he was to shaping the rebellion in one way or another at Kirkwall. But maybe that's all my own perception. Part of the beauty of BioWare games is how much different of an experience each person has.

How they could have done it differently, I'm not sure, and the way in which they did it certainly works out in the bigger picture. Dragon Age 2, whether you like or not, is a great segue into the third game, which I believe will be all about the mage and templar war and how it ravages Orlais. I think we'll see the return of Hawke and the Warden, who both go missing after the events of their respective games, even if they won't prove to be playable characters. I hope we'll see Morrigan somehow deeply involved, given that she is a mage, and a power-hungry one with a potential archdemon child at her beck and call. It could be beyond amazing if they do it all properly (and hopefully make the combat more enjoyable).

To sum this all up; I'm happy. It depressed me that I didn't like Dragon Age 2 when it released, and I know I wasn't the only one. It was like losing a limb, a limb with a talking face that told you how handsome and smart you were. Now the limb is back and he's scarred up but he's content and reassuring and I can't wait until he grows a third hump.

What a weird way to end this blog.

originally posted at http://adventuresinpopcult.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/revisiting-dragon-age-2/