What I'd Like To See In DA Three. (The rest of this post will not rhyme.)

In which I make silly geek-demands that I have no business making.

It was like passing through the tail-end of Willy Wonka's Boatride of Terror: the day when I realized that I'm completely over Dragon Age 2. It was a great fucking day, brought about by BioWare's admission that, hey, the game wasn't all it could've been, that they'd be taking fan feedback seriously and trying to appeal to fans of DA:O a little better. (If you read between the lines, you could also kinda see them explain that some of the changes they made to the franchise were done because they absolutely had to. Possibly even forced to. Possibly. Doesn't matter anyway.)

They've promised a bigger, better, and richer experience with the inevitable sequel, using a proposed map for the next game, which is about 4 or 5x the size of Ferelden, to drive this point home (and they apparently also highlighted the map for DA2, which was about the size of Rhode Island compared to the other two maps).

Yes, talk is cheap, especially after BioWare went on the offensive after the release of DA2, but I don't know; the way they've talked openly about their mistakes, acknowledging the specific little things they could have done differently or better, that really got to me. It was like the BioWare I had supported had finally resurfaced after two years of Facebook games and shitty DLC. Maybe they have, maybe they haven't. We'll see. But the important thing is that I'm hesitantly pulling myself back onto the bandwagon. Kudos to Mike Laidlaw for accomplishing that with his openness and professionalism; it really goes a long way... David...

Anyway, with the load of ideas that have been thrown around by both BioWare and the community, I've thought up a small list of things I'd like to see in the sequel. Some are negotiable, and the inclusion/exclusion of some will probably keep me away for good. Don't mean to sound high or mighty or insinuate that I am in possession of a high horse, but knowing what I know now, I wouldn't have bought Dragon Age 2 on release, so I'll be on the lookout to ensure that doesn't happen again.

1. Multi-Purpose Dungeons (And Dungeons In General)

BioWare have already stated this wouldn't happen again (and also stated the dungeon snafu was one of the things that may, or may not have been, forced upon them), and they've already proven they're not as open to this strategy by releasing DA2: Legacy minus anything resembling that accursed place. But just because they're trending toward variety doesn't mean they shouldn't up the quality of the dungeons while they're at it.

The dungeons were on my list of things that needed to be improved from Dragon Age: Origins. The Deep Roads were arguably the most frequented locations in the whole game - hell, they pop up in both of the books, too - but they weren't very pleasing to the eye. In fact, they were downright bland at times. Lots of claustrophobic tunnels with very little variety beyond which direction they led you.

Why can't these dungeons look a little more stunning at times? Why can't they bleed the lore that's been put behind them? Wouldn't it be great to turn a corner in The Deep Roads and walk right into some long-abandoned capital city of the dwarves? I don't know. Maybe even less dungeons and more unique locations would be a better solution. Whatever they decide, I'd like better visuals, more detail, and fewer places that feel like an honest-to-goodness maze, like Kirkwall.

Also, less Kirkwall.

2. Kirkwall

Seriously, anything resembling Kirkwall will drive me right up the wall and into Bethesda's arms. Look at Kirkwall like Eidos Montreal looked at Deus Ex: Invisible War, as everything that should not go into a sequel.

3. Armor

This has been brought up a lot on the DA Forums, and it's been interesting how much this has made me think. BioWare want to stick with their decision to give companions "iconic" looks, which is what Dragon Age 2 did with mixed results. They essentially cut the player's ability to customize their companions with the armor that could be found along the way. It didn't work because: 1) It meant that unless you found an upgrade for your character, almost all of the armor you looted in the game was useless. 2) Your companions, with the exception of Aveline, wore the same outfits for ten years. 3)

...Wait. What were we talking about? Dragons or some shit?

Oh, yeah. It meant that you had to live with BioWare's shamelessness for the remainder of the game. It was something I wasn't very fond of in Mass Effect 2 and its implementation in Dragon Age 2 didn't make a believer out of me.

But even though BioWare are opting to keep this system, they're going to expand upon it, granting each companion several sets of "iconic" armor, along with reintroducing the time-honored system of customizing your companions' stats. This means that while you can't alter their appearance, you can still equip them with armor and mess with their stats. Giving a companion boots with +2 stamina won't change their boots visually, but they'll still have that +2 stamina.

I went over this in my mind, trying to figure out why BioWare was just soldiering forth with this system with such abandon. But honestly, this system makes sense to me. I'm going back in my mind, reliving the 3d BioWare games that I've played (KotOR, Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect), and I can't really remember any armor sets that I particularly loved. I pretty much stuck with the Sith Master Robes in KotOR, the Spectre Armor in Mass Effect, and I wasn't really satisfied with any of the rogue armor in DA:O until I played through Awakening and found the Blackblade Armor.

The customization was always there, but the visuals for the various armor pieces were typically bland, or they were just copies of other armor sets with different colors added. There's a reason for this, though. (I think!) Let's focus on Dragon Age: Origins, and let's say you want to make a set of armor to be used in-game. First you have to design it, write the stats, and model it in-game, but then you have to re-model it to fit the body-types of elves, dwarves, and humans, because unless there are restrictions, all of the races can wear most of the armor. Then you have to remodel that set again to fit the body-types of female elves, dwarves, and humans. So, to make one set of armor in DA:O, you essentially have to make it six times over.

This probably explains why Sten just looked like a bigger human, so they wouldn't have to make each armor seven times.

Thinking of this, and then realizing, "Shit, they usually try and cram a lot of items into the game, too," and "How many other RPGs have customizable companions... or even companions, for that matter?" made me much more open to these "iconic" looks. It frees up the developers to focus on giving companions various looks that make sense within the context of the game, along with unique body-types, and also hopefully gives them more time to focus on the armor sets for the player character. Hopefully. All of this hinges on BioWare's commitment to this system. If it's one big cut corner like Dragon Age 2 was, then I see no redeeming factor there.

And I do hope this system is not applied to the player character. If I find some silly-looking boots that are clear upgrades, I want to have to live with that!

4. Set Character

I did not like Hawke in any way. I didn't like his prefab backstory, how he went on autopilot during the time jumps, and I didn't like his family or his rise to power. (Or that silly blood mark across his face that was never freaking explained!) I didn't like being forced to care about him either. Your sibling dies in the first five minutes: So fucking what? Mass Effect gave you more wiggle room in terms of character creation than DA2 ever did, and the Dragon Age series is the one out of the two that traces its roots back to D&D!

A set character worked for Mass Effect, it worked for Deus Ex: Human Revolution, it worked with The Witcher 2, but it doesn't work (and hasn't worked) with the Dragon Age series. Dragon Age: Origins was unique, in that by the time you got past Orzammar, you could have a character that was almost completely incomparable to a character of another playthrough. The origins made the game an interesting, entertaining, and completely replayable experience. I would hope that DA3 brings this back in some way. Keeping the voiced protagonist, which seems to be the preference of the majority (unfortunately), kinda ensures that a Dragon Age game with multiple playable races isn't very likely.

Even so, multiple origins for a single race wouldn't be out of the question, would it? I don't know; having all that freedom to define my characters the way I wanted was what made DA:O one of my all time favorite games. Losing that freedom in DA2 was heartbreaking. I would love to see it return in some form.

5. Party Banter + Me

Someone brought this up in the forums, and David Gaider said that they're playing with the idea. If so, I would definitely like it. What it seemed like they said concerned the party banter, and being able to somehow contribute to it. That would be a great freaking idea. And heck, it doesn't even have to include the player character; how about if Fenris and Varric say that they're gonna play cards at The Hanged Man that night, you can actually catch them there and drop in on their game. The party banter in DA2 always made me feel like the NPCs were playing a better game than I was.

6. Character Design

After a lot of thought, I think they were on the right track with the redesigns made in DA2, but I still think they need a little tweaking. The elves, specifically. They just weren't very consistent; some bordered on cartoony, others looked like Greys, and at least one looked like he missed the bus to Final Fantasy XIII. The other races worked out pretty well, though.

7. Thedas

This is the big one for me.

The world of Thedas has very rarely felt all that immersive. If it's not the near-barren world zones that ruin the feeling, it's all the load screens you have to pass through to get anywhere. If it's not the uninspired level design, it's the day/night toggle. The Dragon Age Scenario has just never been a place that made me stop and awe at the scenery, take in the sounds, or force me to explore everything. BioWare have gotten by in recent years by crafting stories and situations that kinda make you forget that you've already been down this brown tunnel or that Orzammar only has one path running through it.

BioWare has made some of the most best-selling RPGs of all time, yet it's a company like CDProjekt (with only one previous game to their name) that brings a populated world to life, with NPCs that have jobs, actually perform those jobs, and go home at night. There are conversations, day/night cycles, lush environments, and the lore is always making an appearance. Then you have Eidos Montreal, whose first game ever just happened to be Deus Ex: Human Revolution. My point being, I don't see why BioWare has never tried to go the distance when it comes to their RPGs, specifically with Dragon Age.

Mass Effect has definitely made the attempt. Places like the Citadel from ME1 and Omega from ME2 definitely had some work put into them. I would hope the DA team puts forth equal effort for the eventual Dragon Age 3.

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So, I guess the main point of this article is: I'm dearly hoping that the DA team will actually, I don't know, try and make an RPG worthy of their reputation... and budget. You'd think that a company with six studios to their name would be able to create a product that aspires to rise above stuff like this.

Hear Me Out: Why I'm Not So Sure You Should Buy Dragon Age: Legacy.

I don't recall anything this epic being in the game. That's the one I wanted to buy!

God, here I go again. Like the Energizer Bunny riding a broken record or something stupid like that. Four months after the release of Dragon Age 2 and I still feel like I need to bash on it in some way. But you know what? I can't help it. It cannot be helped, and I cannot help it. So, here we go with this week's edition of: I Hate You, Dragon Age 2: I Hate You So Damn Much. (Working title.)

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Hi - this is Buch, I'll be writing in this different font - and I'll be adding my comments to this post, being as I am the only Bioware fan on Earth who enjoyed (parts of) Dragon Age 2.

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Essentially, what I want to say regards the upcoming release of the first real add-on for Dragon Age 2 since its release: "Legacy." Nope, not useless weapons and armor, but an actual story. A story that (as far as I know) partially involves delving into Hawke's family history by way of a Grey Warden prison, which was just fantastic to hear. It's good that we're going to get back to Wardens and darkspawn. You know, since they spent the entirety of DA2 letting you know that, from here on out, we're all just gonna do our darndest to forget that abysmal prequel, Dragon Age: Origins, and all of the emotional investment fans might have tied up in it and get on with our lives.

'Cause that worked out well.

At this point, reeling the Wardens back into the picture and throwing you up against the very-familiar waves of darkspawn seems like a bit of a cop-out, which, I know, is a terrible thing to say after all that criticism. It's a damned if you do, damned if you don't kind of scenario, but whatever.

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This will look I'm interrupting for the sheer sake of it, but - to hell with Darkspawn. As it were. I adored Origins too, way more than the sequel, but after a minimum 40 hours fighting those three or four identical darkspawn sprites, I was utterly sick of them. To me they seem like astonshingly lazy enemies - a literal horde of repeated guys, the big guy and the little guy, who are just... kinda like orcs except they're demons or whatever. Dark-spawn? Yes, that'll do.
I'm going to far now, but I got bored of them pretty fast and I don't want to be fighting them anymore from now on. One the Blight ended, that ought to be the end of the Darkspawn on the surface. I feel that any plot otherwise would cheapen the Warden's accomplishment.
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But as per the inefficient title of this entry: I'm really not so sure people should be buying "Legacy." Even if you liked it. Lemme explain. There are two types of people this add-on is targeting: the people who liked the game and the people that were critical. The fans and the critics. It's doing this by expanding upon a part Hawke's story (a part that was never once referenced in the game, but whatever), appealing to nostalgia for the prequel, and attempting to right some of the wrongs that were in the main game. Okay? Okay.

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Okay. Honestly I'd call myself a critic too. I really liked the first two thirds, but I don't think I'll play through them again, not for that payoff.
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The fans probably won't care in any case. As long as this is continuing Hawke's story, they'll be content, which isn't a bad thing. If you like it, you like it. The critics might like that they'll be getting back into the fight with the good ol' darkspawn, and that they'll be exploring Grey Warden history to boot. They also might like that some of the main(ish) criticisms from the main game have been addressed, as in you won't be bogged down fighting off waves of enemies, and the dungeon will actually be brand new. That is to say, the multi-purpose dungeon from DA2 won't be making an appearance.

Upon first glance, that doesn't sound like an unreasonably bad add-on. Given the backlash that arose after DA2's release, this was probably the most logical route to take toward building up the franchise's damaged fanbase. But I'm here to convince you not to buy this thing, and I've already rambled on awhile, so let me lay down my case before I forget what I'm doing here.

BioWare Dislikes You Right Now

This is directed at both the fans and the critics. BioWare doesn't seem to be very fond of its own fanbase right now. Hyperbole? Exaggeration? Both?! Probably, but it's the only way I can explain what happened to DA2 and the post-release reaction. The game was not finished. It doesn't matter how much you liked it, because it doesn't change the fact that BioWare delivered fans of DA:O half of a game.

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Two thirds of a game.
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When I played Dragon Age: Origins for the first time, it freaked me right the hell out. I had the difficulty set too high, and I hadn't played a real tactics-based RPG since the Knights of the Old Republic series was still new. In my mad rush to get through the game, I literally skipped over everything outside of the main quest. I just couldn't bring myself to do it, because I got my ass handed to me more times than a... donkey farmer? Anyway, I rushed through the thing. How long did rushing through DA:O take me? 33 hours!

With DA2, I told myself that I wasn't going to make the same mistake. I was going for full completion this time around, and I pretty much accomplished this. After doing every single sidequest available (minus the high dragon fight), I finished the game in just under 30 hours, if I remember correctly. Try completing everything in DA:O in under 30 hours; that just ain't gonna happen.

DA:O had several cities from opposite ends of Ferelden, each with their own histories that spanned thousands of years. Histories that the game allowed you to explore and influence. DA2 has one city that doesn't change in ten years, the history of which is about as deep as my old above-ground pool. So, the content not only diminished, but it also got weaker. You could argue otherwise, but I'm not gonna let ya.

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Plus Kirkwall only had one pub. And its Elven Alienage consisted of one room with a tree on-loan from a Dreamcast game, thus making the city less diverse and worse-drawn than Denerim - one of several large locations in the first game. This time I don't even want to argue otherwise.
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So, why would BioWare, after delivering a product to such acclaim, turn around sell you a sequel that took a fifth of the time to develop in comparison to its prequel, with much less content? The only obvious answer being: because they knew fans would buy it blind. Why else would they offer a special edition of the game that could only be obtained by pre-ordering it three months in advance? Not only that, but the embargo on useful information about the game was lifted only a month before it was actually released, which I would say pretty much displays a lack of confidence on their part that DA2 would sell well if they had showed it off earlier.

So, BioWare sold us an inferior product, and it's very likely that they knew what they were doing all the while.

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Actually I would put-in here that Dragon Age 2 was never intended to be an inferior product. For whatever reason, Bioware just prefer these Mass Effect dialogue wheels now and their named, voiced protagonists, and they clearly tried at first. If they hadn't wanted this game to be good, they wouldn't have made it so different to their usual style, taken those risks. I suppose I could be wrong and Bioware could have used Kirkwall for the simple reason of saving space, or the political conflict instead of an enemy for the reason of time constraints, but I can't see it. Not to that extent.

This is the core of my defence right here. Not all the while, Knight. They tried to make this one a little bit different from their usual 'band of heroes led by the last-of-the-whoever off to save the world from the monsters by visiting four places' schtick. They tried to create this soap-opera feel with characters who have homes, jobs and secret agendas - and hell, I loved Aveline and Varric, just for their conversation.
And moreover, they were trying to set up some kind of trilogy or series or something with Hawke. They failed utterly, and it's clear that they rushed the game's finale in a manner than I call insulting. But I think they started this thing with big ideas.

This is all I've got.
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The fans complained (many of them, anyway, if the official forums are any indication), and the response on their part was pretty harsh/hilarious, all things considered. Never once did they answer for all the blatantly-cut corners, such as the multi-purpose dungeon, the-city-that-never-changes, not being able to equip party members, or how it's always sunny in Darktown. Things that were so applauded in DA:O, but failed to make an appearance in any form. I would also throw the lackluster ending and most of the party members onto that pyre, but meh.

But it doesn't matter, because they knew we would buy it. And I did! I got the "BioWare Signature Edition" and played through the extra, reskinned multi-purpose dungeon. For a signature edition, no, it wasn't representative of what BioWare is still (I hope) capable of. And then here comes "Legacy."

Even if you liked DA2, it was not the game you could've gotten. TES IV: Oblivion sold very well, but I don't think any of us are expecting Skyrim to be Call of Duty with swords. DA:O sold very well (not Oblivion well, but very well regardless), and I wasn't for one moment thinking that DA2 would become a super-linear God of War wannabe. There were redeeming features, yes, but then again, Two Worlds had some, too. So, yeah.

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There is an argument that Mass Effect 2 was just Gears of War with dialogue trees.
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By purchasing "Legacy," you're telling EA and BioWare that how they handled DA2, both before and after, was okay, and that it'll be perfectly acceptable to do something similar with the inevitable Dragon Age 3. Again, even if you liked it, it doesn't change the fact that BioWare tried to screw with you for quick money. When someone tries to steal your wallet, you don't give them $20 for the effort.

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One final note from me - that's a very interesting name they went for. Dragon Age 2 Legacy. I wonder if Bioware are trying to save exactly that? Well if so, fair enough, but.... Jesus guys, that game's ending really sucked. $20 or the Sterling equivalent seems like a lot of money. I might have paid that price for some kind of patch that replaces the third act of the story with one that makes a modicum of sense. But not to go fight freaking darkspawn. I can do that in the Deep Roads. Or in Origins. Or my nightmares.

Even I won't be buying this one unless there's something special about it. Bioware can do special with DLC, but they have to really care about it. They can do crap too.

Having looked at the adverts for the new DA2 DLC... nothing stands out. It looks distinctly like a dungeon with some nonsense about Hawke's incredibly dull family thrown in, and a nice new sword. I'm not calling you a liar, Bioware - and I'm really looking forward to whatever new games you put out - but I think DA2 is buried now. So start again, hey.
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Whew, hopefully that''ll be the end of these rants, eh? =D

Hear Me Out - Dragon Age II: Legacy

"Call me Captain Kirkwall."

It's odd that Dragon Age: Origins had such a profound effect on me -but it totally did. Wandering Ferelden as one of the last Grey Wardens in the nation, trying to save the world with a group of companions that happened to include a perpetually-smashed dwarf and a witch that Ayn Rand would probably wink at was just an amazing experience. One of the best in my gaming life this side of Knights of the Old Republic.

All this to say: Dragon Age II is still pissing me off. I didn't think it was possible to be so frustrated over a video game for so long, but here we are, what, almost four months since release? I'm still peeved! I look at my little "shrine" where I have my copies of KotOR I & II, my Darth Revan action figures (Thank you, Chris!), and my first copy of DA:O, and I wonder... Why isn't DA2 up there?! How, in the name of all that is excellent did the sequel to one of my most favorite games become something worth getting rid of?! Bioware, I can't believe you've done this!

To my credit, I did play the game twice to make sure, and the decision was made: I don't like Dragon Age 2. Not strictly because it was an average game, but because it was a terrible sequel. It lacked the polish that BioWare games are known for (recycled dungeons), it completely kicked fans of the first game to the curb ("Who the f**k is the Warden?"), and had probably one of the worst endings in the history of ever.

I could go on, but I won't. So how does a fan of DA:O, who ultimately feels stiffed by BioWare's recent antics in the realm of Thedas, react to a new add-on for DA2 that supposedly addresses fan complaints concerning the game? My first question is: Which complaint? There are so many they're practically Legion. But, in any case, it's sort of a weird situation, and I guess whether or not I actually buy it will depend on a few things: primarily the reactions from people on the official forums (who, like me, are still up in arms); if BioWare pleases that crowd, then they must have done something very right.

Another thing would be the price point. I don't want to sink another 15 to 20 dollars into a game in the hopes of finding some redeeming value in the DLC. I'm not necessarily saying that they should give it away for free (though that would certainly be a great gesture to their fanbase), but I'm hoping they slap a reasonable number on there. And the rest is all in the details, I guess.

In truth, I really do hope that BioWare has been serious about this. I want this to do good, and be some sort of pseudo-redemption for the company and for the franchise. A ridiculous standard to hold it to, I guess, but that really is what it has to be for me. It has to be good if I'm ever going to be excited about Dragon Age ever again. It has to blow my preconceptions about it out of the water, and it has to prove that BioWare really have been listening.

But while I continue to hope, Obsidian is close to putting out an add-on that I'll be buying immediately. So there's that.

Dragon Age 2's ending: The Last Straw

We're talking about Dragon Age 2. Again.

This will be, I think, the fourth review of Bioware's DA 2 on this site alone. I will make my actual review very quick and then get onto the point of this article - constructive criticism. Yes it will be as smug and deluded as it sounds.

So, a very quick review of a game I'm very interested and emotionally-invested in. This sequel tries a lot of new things to break away from the traditional Bioware RPG plot, and for the most part I think it succeeds beautifully. I absolutely love the party-members and Hawke's relationships to them - they really felt more like friends and less like quest companions. I think the linear, framed narrative is restritive but spectacular - balancing emotion, plot and subtle recurring themes and motifs in a way I've never seen in this medium. I was hooked. And the combat - superb. I prefer it over any combat system Bioware have put out before.

However... the setting is very poorly designed and far, far too small. The opening to the game (excluding the framed narrative, I would say) is a confusing, dull, poorly-structured mess. And the ending...... well this is what I want to talk about. It killed the game for me - it's broken, short, rushed, meaningless and involves very little role-play. It is - don't pardon the pun, it's awesome - an abomination.

Seven out of ten, but only just.


But what I wanted to blog about is how easily this game could have been saved. I finished the game yesterday and spent an hour or so yelling at the walls about how I, or any fan, could have written a better ending in a day.

So - in order to calm myself down - here's an idea or two for a more competent ending. I'm not saying I'm about to write anything good here, but I guaruntee it will be better than the final, appropriately-titled quest in Dragon Age 2 - 'The Last Straw'. I'm going to try and make this pretty close to the real ending, except for the very first bit. My spin on the tale begins when....

* Flemeth returns. At the Bone Pit, as soon as the high dragon dies by your hand, another one appears. Your weary party is frightened but determined, and you sigh deeply when the dragon transforms into Flemeth, who laughs haughtily. She warns you that your role as Champion is about to be truly put to the test, and that you will have to strengthen yourself and your principles before the day is done. She slinks off in human form. Returning home, you find Bodhan and Sandal leaving your estate for Orlais. They are pleased to have seen you before they go, and they say their goodbyes, giving you one last chance to enchant, buy and sell. There is a note from Orsino or Merdith, begging you to rush to the Chantry.

* You arrive outside the Chantry, to find Meredith, Orsino and one or two templar bodyguards. The two (who, incidentally, really should have been introduced to the plot in Act 1 or 2) are arguing personally and bitterly. Orsino wants to call out the Reverend Mother. Both are armed and it looks like a duel is about to break out. You attempt to either reason with them or goad one on, but just before the reaction you attempt to foster either dawns or fails, Anders shows up.

* Anders makes a speech about Mages' rights. A good speech. A good speech that lasts more than five seconds and is actually very moving. Hell, maybe his voice cracks. Something soft and kind that makes you weep for the mages no matter what your alignment. And then, Justice appears in his eyes. Anders glows blue and gets pissed off. If you have a friendship you can attempt to calm him down, and if you romanced him, you can try even harder. He falters but doesn't stop yelling. The player starts to realise that the dividing line between Anders and Justice / Vengeance has blurred - you hear them both speaking with one mouth, but they clearly agree. They want blood. If you romanced Anders, there is dialogue explaining how this happenned behind your back. Hawke is either hurt, proud or angry.

* At this, Anders makes his move and performs a spectacular, non-demonic spell which completely destroys the Chantry, including several innocents and the high priest. And the player understands how he did it! For a moment, we let the horror of what has happened sink in, then a crowd slowly begins to arrive. Meredith is understandably enraged (not because of a magic sword but because the Chantry just exploded) and invokes some kind of rite, which would massively reduce the personal freedoms and legal rights of all mages in Kirkwall, some kind of Spanish Inquisition-type affair. Orsino is outraged, refusing to let his people accept responsibility for the actions of a single terrorist, and then goes further to demand that the Templars give up control of the city and grant more freedom to mages. They both argue, loudly, dividing the crowd, both making good points. The Champion's party-members arrive too, one by one, appearing behind Hawke and adding their voices to the row.

* Suddenly, Hawke is forced into a decision. Orsino and Meredith's weapons come out, simultaneously, and the player must leap in to save one of them. Hawke is given a choice of dialogue to make his position clear as he lunges, and give one side his support. The party he sides with is struck, surprisingly, not by his/her opponent but by an anonymous dagger or fireball from the crowd. A riot breaks out - mages, Templars and sympathisers battle, with Aveline's guards vainly attempting to break the fights up. The player fights a group of mages or templars, and the fight moves toward the Gallows, spreading throughout the city as it goes. If Hawke does not have a strong friendship with a party-member who disagrees with his decision (Fenris, Bethany, Carver or Merril, say) then he or she leaves to fight for the other side. Whichever leader you supported, Orsino or Meredith, is seriously injured but alive, and is carried to safety by sympathisers.

* Anders runs, a victorious but broken man - but Varric stops him with an arrow, through the leg, perhaps, or pinning him to the wall if that's not too cliche. Hawke takes a moment to speak with him, and the various party members demand that he should be killed, put to purpose on the team, imprisoned or even allowed to go free. If Hawke has a friendship with him, there is an emotional scene where we realise just how far Anders and Justice have fallen in the pursuit of their goal. If Hawke has romanced him there is a very emotional conflict. Hawke can, if the player is careful, convince Anders to repent, and separate from Justice - OR to convince Justice, now Vengeance, to take the body completely and aid you against either side. You must decide Anders' fate - to come with you and attempt to atone, to come with you and then go to the dungeon / be made tranquil, or to die. If he dies and was romanced, Hawke kisses him before killing him.

* Then there is the inevitable fighting. Hawke and his remaining crew battle their way through hightown, lowtown and the docks before reaching the Gallows. Along the way they mainly fight Templars (not an army of demons) if you sided with the mages, or mages (not an army of bloody demons) if you picked the Templars. Maybe there are even some dialogue choices where you can try to save commoners or something.

* When you reach the Gallows, the first thing you find is more fighting. You fight your way to the base-camp of the side you championed - a massed gang of mages or the bulk of the Templars. With no leader they are scared and outnumbered. Hawke delivers a moving speech - a long one, with several directions the player can take it in - and leads them out of the stronghold. At this point, if a party-member left earlier, s/he returns with a gaggle of mages or Templars in tow. Mirroring the earlier fight with the Arishok, there is a duel. The new enemy fights you, does not go down in three bloody hits like Fenris did for me yesterday, and falls. Then begins a war of words, where Hawke and the beaten companion try to convince one another to join them. Hawke can draw on their past to convince them at the last moment, and s/he dies either as a bitter, betrayed foe or a grateful friend. Then there is more fighting as his/her followers attack. Then there is a little rest where you can speak, one last time, with your party-members. If you have a love interest who is still alive, s/he steps up to kiss you before you go. Bethany or Carver, if they are a friend, apologises to Hawke.

* Finally, Hawke fights the personal guard of either Orsino or Meredith - whoever remains. Orsino absolutely does not suddenly use blood magic, but some of his followers do. There are demons, and they animate the forlorn statues of tortured mages that decorate Kirkwall. If you fight Meredith, the mages on your side animate the staues to fight a vast army of Templars. When all is said and done, there is one more duel. Your opponent, Meredith or Orsino, does not become a monster of any kind, but rather shows a more sympathetic, human side than we have seen from them so far. Between rounds of combat, there is dialogue where you debate the themes of the game. The foe is defeated - either killed or admitting defeat and going into exile. The survivor - Orsino or Meredith - reappears, still wounded. They bitterly regret allowing the conflict to escalate so much, and thank you, offering fabulous rewards. The player chooses whether to accept, granting them the Viscount's crown, or to execute/exile them himself, making himself the new ruler.

* We then return to Varric, who gives a long, long, description of the consequences of all Hawke's decisions to the Seeker. The Ferelden-bred peasant sirrah Hawke has made Kirkwall his home, and truly earned the title 'Champion'. The dark old city-state is now safe from bandits, the Qunari and the Chantry/Circle infighting, thanks to its strong and fair/powerful hero / Viscount.
If the player sided with the mages, then they are granted great freedoms in Kirkwall and eventually Ferelden and beyond - Hawke (and, controversially, Anders) becomes a hero and a new age of magic and co-operation dawns on the Free Marches, the Templars' numbers dwindling.
If the player chose to aid the Templars, then they an the Chantry regain control of Kirkwall and gain strength throughout Thedas. Mages and non-believers are restricted heavily, but a new age of peace dawns. Kirkwall becomes strong and builds an Alliance with Starkhaven. Instances of blood magic and rogue apostates drop sharply, and many lives are saved.
And if the player chose to rule Kirkwall himself, then we get something in the middle. Varric tells the story based on choices and allegiences Hawke made during the game.

And so ends the story of sirrah Hawke and the magic dispute in the Free Marches. The Seeker is surprised and impressed.


Well I feel a lot better now, anyway. Thanks for reading.

If you're slamming a fist on the table and crying, 'Bullshit!' after reading my version, then well... yeah, I hear you. It's just that - the above is genuinely what I expected to happen all the way through the third act. When the real ending came, I was as shocked as I was disappointed.

The reason I had such a negative reaction to this game, or at least the last few hours of it, is simply because I had such a positive view of the middle. I adored about 80% of this game, and I was crushed by that trainwreck of an ending.

The real question is - what would you have done differently? How would you have ended this game, or even begun it? If, like so many people, you felt let-down by Dragon Age 2 - how would you have liked to see that game play out? Do let me know in the comments here, or on the fanfic forum I moderate!

-

Oh. And Bioware? I will work for minimum wage if you want me on DA3. Just saying.

Also - this.

Dragon Age 2: Redeux (My Second Playthrough)

My overall opinion of Dragon Age 2 shifted dramatically once I started my second playthrough, when I realized just how little was changing, how little effect I had on what was going on. I went from "passive approval" to "passively aggressive" concerning this game BioWare delivered, and I found no shortage of people who ended up hearing my rants about the game. (Even if they had no idea what Dragon Age was!) But, you know, I pressed on. I continued with my second playthrough, if only because I wondered just what might happen if I played fast and loose with my mage in Kirkwall. Would the templars eventually be forced to haul me off to the Circle or something to that effect? Would it make me a target in some other way?

In short, just how much really changed my second time through? (Possible spoilers ahead.)

The first obvious change was that Bethany bit it instead of Carver. The reason for this being that if you play as a mage, the majority of your companions would end up being mages if Bethany survived, and vice versa with the two melee classes. It's a shame that I only had as much attachment to the ill-fated sibling as I usually do with Jenkins at the beginning of Mass Effect 1. Maybe less; he really wanted to show the Alliance brass what he could do... and I admired him for that...

R.I.P.

Anyway, this provides most of the changes for the first act, since now we're going down into the Deep Roads for Hawke's sake, rather than Bethany's, even though that really wasn't something I'd choose to do. Ever. But I played a long for a while, did the fifty or so quests that pad Act One and got through without much changing, aside from Carver's banter about... things. He always seemed to be frustrated at everything I did, but I never could quite grasp why. Even after he disappears at the end of Act One, none of it really made much sense.

Act Two was a little different. There are some quests in Act One that come back to bite you in Act Two, so I went out of my way to make sure that I responded differently to each one. But on the whole, everything pretty much ended up back where it was before, and I got the same quests under different contexts. For instance, there was one quest that made you decide whether or not to send this mage to the Circle or to the Dalish. Last time, I chose the Dalish, this time I chose the Circle. To my surprise, you're stuck with the same quest to bring him back from the Fade in Act Two, with only one line changed to tell you that he's with the Circle. It didn't make much sense to me. I know there's the illusion of choice, but why layer on a bunch of choices that ultimately amount to nothing?

And I also noticed something else that was a little interesting. Dragon Age 2 really, really wants you to be thrown into moral dilemmas, to the point where it manufactures them based on how you respond to things. Like with Varric's brother, you get to a point where you can either spare him or take revenge on him. The first time I faced him, I wanted revenge, so I chose any response that made Hawke gung-ho to kill the bastard. That certain party member's response was something like, "No, Hawke, I can't do this! I thought I could, but now that I'm here... I just can't kill him." The second time I hit that part of the game, I was feeling a little more generous and voted to let the guy live, and, likewise, that certain party member changed his tone. "I can't let him live, Hawke. After all he's done, I'm not gonna let him walk away!"

Interesting.

The one thing that undoubtedly changed in Act Two was the romance, but that was a given. My Male-Hawke-Rogue romanced Isabela during my first playthrough - which might not work out to well for me in the long run - while my Fem-Hawke-Mage decided she had a thing for elves, and ended up romancing Fenris. Now, my reasons for doing this were twofold. 1) I think Fenris is the best thing to come out of Dragon Age 2, followed closely by Varric, followed closely by nothing. 2) Fenris really doesn't hide his hate for mages during his companion quests and regular banter throughout the game. I thought it would be interesting to see if he would actually fall in love with an apostate without a word for it. To my surprise, he does have something to say about it.

But only once.

For the most part, Fenris, whose whole reason for existing is to seek revenge on all things magic, just ends up not giving a flip that Hawke is a mage. It's just so funny to watch him dive into these tirades about the evils of magic, of mages, of the abominations they collectively create, while my mage just kinda stands there in the background, possibly pretending like she hadn't just heard what she thought she heard. "What does magic touch that it doesn't spoil?" he says, looking Hawke straight in the eyes. If only there'd been a *cough* option.

Act Three has been something to behold. Lest we forget (or haven't played yet), this is where everything comes to a head. The mages and templars are finally having it out in small ways: a slow build to the inevitable final battle between the two. The slap fight before the battle royale. A mage, an apostate even (possibly even a blood mage depending on your spec), has just become the Champion of Kirkwall after having saved the troubled city-state from the qunari threat. This merited such renown that a statue was built in Hawke's honor, and Kirkwall has become a place where everybody knows her name. They have all felt Hawke's influence because they're alive, and they're alive to feel that influence because of Hawke. She is Paul Revere, George Washington, and Keanu Reeves all wrapped into one.

But that's just not enough to put any part of the mage/templar debate to rest, apparently. Meredith and Orsino both talk to me like I've never casted anything in my life. Scratch that, Meredith did say one thing about my mage-hood (as a threat) and then went about lecturing me about the dangers of magic. Even Anders (during that certain collect quest) talks to me like I'd never known the plight of the mages firsthand. That I just couldn't understand. Ugh.

To summarize, I've made the discovery that Dragon Age 2 just doesn't change much (to state the obvious, after this long post). The decisions that the game poses aren't really decisions because, in the end, most players will end up at Square One, plus or minus their romance option. I can think of very few decisions (aside from the kill or not to kill missions) where your choices actually have a lingering effect. In fact, thinking about what will import over to DA3, I can't really figure out what they'd do!

Best case scenario here: BioWare learned that they can't pull something like this on the fans who have supported them for so long. The unfortunate thing is: we know just a little too well what they're capable of, and when they turn in a product that isn't up to snuff. Dragon Age 2 isn't up to snuff, and I hopefully won't be saying the same thing about Dragon Age 3.

Game Review: Dragon Age 2 - Part 2

Part One can be found HERE. Or two posts down.

The Gameplay: "Lightspeed too slow?!"

Thinking back to games like Knights of the Old Republic and Dragon Age: Origins, I don't ever remember putting the controller down and saying to myself, "You know, this game would be a metric shit-ton better if every time you pressed a button, something awesome happened." In fact, out of all the criticism I saw leveled at DA:O, and in between the dozens of "Game of the Year" awards KotOR received, I don't recall there being an overwhelming outcry for frantic, can-hardly-keep-track-of-it action.

Does that mean I don't want it now that BioWare have given it to me? Not necessarily. I don't want to be the one to complain about an improvement, but that's what I'm here for. There was a long list of things that I wanted to see improved in a sequel to DA:O. Better environments, better armor, more weapons, a better inventory system, a continuation of the veritable carpet of loose threads that the story left open for a sequel. Not to mention how a third of the game is spent in loading screens. It's like BioWare saw the list of things that I wanted to see improved and picked the one at the bottom of the list.

But let me take a step back and take a look at the combat from a positive perspective. Accounting for the fact that the auto-attack option was (and still is) intended to be integrated into DA2, I'll say that I really found myself enjoying the combat for the most part. If I had to describe this production in one word, it would be "zazz," because BioWare really wanted to draw in a gaming demographic who like to do cool things and look cool while doing it (i.e. God of War, Dante's Inferno, CoD). The combat in DA2 has a lot of zazz.

"Jumped by penniless thieves? CHOP 'EM IN HALF!"

As a rogue, smashing on the attack button (you have to smash it) will send you flying across the battlefield, plunging your blades into your enemy's chest, and drawing a fountain of blood from him in the process. If you've played the demo, you've seen this in action. It looks bloody magnificent, and things only get better when you start growing your talent tree. When BioWare said, "Fight like a Spartan!" they didn't mean in any historically accurate sense, because, you know, they really didn't fight like Hawke tends to. No, BioWare meant, "Fight like those kickass Spartans from fucking 300!" and this is closer to the truth, though I don't remember seeing a phalanx in there anywhere...

So, the combat certainly looks great and feels great. I remember groaning aloud when I tried it out for the first time, but it grew on me. Not to say I prefer it over the "old way" though. With so much happening, with the difficulty curve on the easy side for the most part, it's easy to find yourself disregarding your talents in favor of just smashing the attack button. As a mage, I certainly find myself doing this constantly. The thing about the Old Way: it was manageable. It required you to get tactical, and that's what I enjoyed about it.

This New Way is enjoyable. I personally loved seeing Hawke disappear into the shadows and reappearing behind an enemy for a backstab (it's pretty much "shadowstep" from WoW). But you lose a lot of the depth that the Old Way had. Hawke kicks ass from Day One, with all the zazz that can be pumped into a character without making him seem like the Maker Himself. The Warden had to earn his skills, moving from boring, old, and basic auto-attack to skill after devastating skill, and had to deal with the agonizing feeling of being rewarded for his efforts with talents that only rival those of Hawke's Day One adventure out of Lothering.

In the cloud of chaos and zazz, Hawke's New Way lost a lot of the depth and that rewarding feeling that the Warden's progression had. After a while, I wasn't even looking at which skills and talents I was picking, and much to my surprise: it had almost no effect on how I played. I still beat the game and looked damn cool while doing it. Stick that in your well-earned pipe and shove it, Warden.

The Characters: "The Enemy of my Enemy has boobs."

If there was a saving grace for Dragon Age: Origins, it would be the characters and how you interacted with them. Like 'em or not, each character had a good reason for being who they were and, more importantly, where they were. Buch and I have been talking a lot about KotOR lately, and if there was one thing I noticed, it was: it was so easy to believe how each of those characters ended up on the Ebon Hawk. It was a friendship between many, formed by necessity, cemented by a common goal. DA:O had something very similar going on. It gave me the same "dysfunctional family" feeling, which I loved.

The story of DA2 is a cluttered mess. Most of the quests have as much meaning as your typical World of Warcraft grind. The combat is fun, but a tad more shallow than I would've liked. The characters were why I wanted to get through the game. That's not so much the case anymore.

The party members that you pick up throughout the game have nowhere near the depth that DA:O's line up had. This is probably because you can only truly interact with them a handful of times throughout the game. If I had to pick a number, I'd say somewhere around five or six at the very most (maybe a little more with your romance option). I was truly sad when I went to go talk to Fenris at his mansion and discovered he was just a blank slate. There was no dialogue option whatsoever. I would've been happy with a "I'm in the middle of some calibrations" response!

There was no party camp. There was no Leliana's song moment. Heck, Varric is supposed to be this self-proclaimed storyteller and I don't remember him telling one story. Mass Effect 2 had better character interactions, let's put it that way. Each of the characters tell you enough about themselves to avoid being marked as cliches. Fenris, I think, is the only exception, though this is probably just because he was acted so brilliantly. His backstory boiled down to: "I was a slave, I want revenge, and I also hate mages," but his voice told you everything you wanted to know.

I think the mabari hound in DA:O had better characterization than any of the party members in DA2. Might be taking that a bit far, but I'm on my second playthrough and no one's given me any reason to think otherwise.

"Wait! Alistair! Don't leave me with these people!"

Hawke: "Someone's Champion."

I like Mass Effect, but not for the same reasons why I like DA:O and KotOR. In DA:O, you had a name, but no one used it. Your name and your past only defined your character as much as you allowed them to. Everything else required, dare I say, imagination. Watching my Warden disappear into that Eluvian with Morrigan was a very emotional moment for me. It was clearly an end of some sort, and one that I welcomed - a "and they lived happily ever after(?)" kind of thing. It made me realize just how much I had invested into him during his time as a Grey Warden. It was a nice send off.

Hawke, on the other hand... I don't know.

Having a voiced main character, to me, can never offer the involvement than a mute would. It feels like I'm playing a pre-made character instead of properly assuming a role, as the genre would dictate. Just like Mass Effect feels more like a Shepard Simulator than an RPG, DA2 feels like a Hawke Sim, with the caveat that you have much more control over what Hawke says and does. Not that it matters much in the end.

A few hours into the game, I was really warming up to Hawke. Being able to inquire on a wide array of different things during a conversation was a nice touch. If there was something I wanted to ask or say, there was usually an option for it. Most of all, the divide between what I wanted to say and what actually came out of Hawke's mouth was much less drastic than in Mass Effect. Like in Alpha Protocol, the conversation usually proceeded how I'd envisioned it to.

Hawke isn't better than the Warden to me. They're not even in the same goddamn ball park, but I definitely got used to him as my backup character, I guess. But I do wish he'd stop saying things out of line, and I also wish that he could express his opinion in more than just three tones. Could BioWare not think of more emotions?

If there is a major flaw with Hawke (besides the fact that voicing the main character takes up a lot of space on the disc and a large chunk of the production budget, which ultimately leads to less content for something that, I think, is a gimmick), it's that your choices just do not matter in the long run. You are destined to become the Champion of Kirkwall, and you will, indeed, get there eventually. There are no multiple endings and there's a very small chance of you comparing your game experience with someone else and discovering significant differences. All of the choices that you make - the choices that you will certainly put a lot of thought into - will ultimately amount to nothing. At the 11th hour, as the final battle looms, you will be forced to make a decision that determines how everything will play out.

There is no middle ground. There is no negotiation, nor will any of your previous decisions affect it in any way: Mages or Templars. I was completely flabbergasted when I reached this point in the game. For a game, for a company, that places so much emphasis on choice and consequence, there wasn't much of either when all was said and done.

When the credits rolled (they glitched, I wasn't able to hear the song), I felt like this is where the game really should've started. Hawke became the Champion of Kirkwall, though I honestly did everything I could to avoid it while I played. The world was his oyster, but nothing came of it. A cliffhanger ending, which left a sour taste in my mouth after dealing with the Assassin's Creed endings for a year. I'm tired of cliffhangers...

Is Hawke's story ends here, I could live with it. If it continues on into the unfortunately-named Dragon Age 3, I'll be disappointed to hear that BioWare couldn't (wouldn't) extend the same courtesy to the Warden. I would've followed the Warden until his Calling.

In Summation: "The Theory of Yes and No."

I now look at Dragon Age 2 in the same way that I looked at Fable 3, as a game that improved on all the wrong things, and ultimately ended up falling short of the very high expectations I had set for it. To say it's a bad game would be a lie; it's not a bad game. If you take a look at the few RPGs that have been released in the last couple of years, DA2 is certainly near the top of that list. Heck, I'd go so far as to say that if you didn't care much for DA:O, you might really get into DA2. But that really touches at the heart of the issue.

All of what you've read here is completely subjective and very, very biased. Dragon Age: Origins, as I've said, is one of my favorite games: bested only by the two games that changed by life forever. I've read both books, bought the game twice, and played all the DLC. I even have Morrigan and Sten posters up on my wall here. Biased. Dragon Age 2 had every reason to succeed. It was being created by one of the premier RPG producers in the industry, it boasted lore with enough depth to make Oblivion blush, and was using as its foundation one of the most successful RPGs of all time. Dragon Age 2, as it stands, was not the game it should've been.

I'd never ask BioWare to make a game to my exact specifications, but I would ask that they (at the very least) respect what made Dragon Age: Origins a hit in the first place. It was made abundantly clear: in the way much-loved characters are given token cameos; in the way the events of Ferelden are minimized to some foreign incident; in the recycled dungeons; and how in a series that made a name for itself by harking back to the classics of the genre, such slights against its roots are not only implemented, but celebrated... BioWare didn't respect the property or the people who gave BioWare reason to make enough DLC for DA:O to justify an "Ultimate Edition."

It's interesting to watch Dragon Age 2 hit the shelves the same year The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is due to be released. If you had asked me during that time between when I'd finished DA:O and when I started to hear details of DA2, I would've said that Dragon Age 2 would be the one to watch. That BioWare would surely put out an RPG that wouldn't merely be an alternative to TES, but a full-on competitor. But here I am telling you that, at the very least, Dragon Age 2 bested Fable 3.

I'll be waiting for Dragon Age 3, if only to see if BioWare will (this time) really listen to their fans. To me, Dragon Age 2 seemed like a bad experiment, which is not what I thought the sequel to one of my favorites would amount to.

3 out of 5 Stars

Game Review: Dragon Age 2 - Part 1

The time has come and gone: those few days after a BioWare release where everything shuts down, I grab myself a few bottled drinks and some junk food, and distance myself from society as much as possible. Though, this time was arguably a bit different.

Dragon Age: Origins. I've talked about it and its coming sequel quite a bit over the last year. I harbor no illusions of DA:O being a "perfect game." In fact, there were parts of it that were downright frustrating. But I still came away in awe of what I had played. "Inspired" might be the right word, actually. The characters, the lore, the story (clichéd, perhaps) all of it made a big impression on me. When I was finished, I felt like I'd just woken up: a feeling I'd not had since playing Knights of the Old Republic for the first time.

So, I patiently awaited a sequel, buying the expansion, all of DA:O's DLC, and both books in the meantime. I cannot tell you how excited I was when it was officially announced. I know the DA:O had a rocky start with an overly-long development cycle, and it sounded like BioWare was going to put the time into DA2 to make it a better experience all around. I started to imagine the possibilities, where we'd be going next.

Then I saw the trailer, learned all about Hawke, and how DA2 would have almost nothing to do with its predecessor. Gah, my heart broke that day. It was like losing KotOR 3 all over again.

So I waited to hear more news, and when more surfaced I really didn't like what I was hearing. It didn't sound so much like they were making a sequel to DA:O, but a reboot instead. New land, new main character, new party members, new combat system, an emphasis on zazz. No, no, no. Nothing about that stuff made any sense at all.

After several months of brooding, I eventually broke down and made the decision to buy the game. I wanted to see for myself: what BioWare had done to the series. I also had a gift card, so I didn't have much invested at any rate. So, I get the game, bring it home, install the long list of DLC I'd somehow accumulated, and get the game going. To my outright surprise, this game has me very torn. Part of me thinks that this is definitely one of the better RPGs that I've played in some time, and another part of me thinks that DA:O, as well as its fans, deserved better.

The Story: "The Man (or Woman) Who Would Be Champion."

"You've got red on you."

You take on the role of Hawke, a Fereldan refugee who will someday become the Champion of Kirkwall; with Kirkwall being a large city-state on the coast of the Free Marches, north of Ferelden. How you become the Champion is unclear, but a dwarf named Varric is intent on sharing "what really happened" with a templar who happens to be interrogating him. So, as you progress Hawke's story, you're really progressing the story Varric is telling the templar. A framed narrative, in other words. A story within a story.

This is an interesting way to play out the game, but it has just as many faults as it does benefits. In terms of benefits, it certainly puts emphasis on everything you do. Much like the Warden of DA:O, it feels like every little thing you do is building up to something much greater than yourself. It's also pretty damned entertaining to see how Varric embellishes the truth from time to time, and whether or not he sees you in a positive or negative light.

A downside to this is that there are several "jumps" in the story. Years will pass at certain parts, which means that Hawke will suddenly know someone or something that you do not. That means that you'll inevitably be left swinging in the dark about certain things for a time until you're allowed to catch up. And surprisingly, nothing really changes in the world after these time skips, save for the dialogue. Although everything looks the same, someone will eventually make the comment of, "Wow, how crazy were those three years, Hawke?"

Even Fable III changed up Bowerstone City after the years had started to pass. I'm wondering why DA2 couldn't even manage to move things around.

Anyway, the main plot, if it can be seen as much, revolves around a conflict between templars and mages. For those who need a refresher course, the templars are a religious organization, whose sole purpose is to keep a short leash on mages of all kinds. The reason for this being that mages naturally disrupt the fragile border between their world and the spirit realm, and too much undue disruption can result in a demon being brought into the world, which is no good. Tensions are always high between the two groups, but Kirkwall has become a veritable Salem, Massachusetts on a larger scale.

I guess that's not necessarily the plot, more like the conflict. There really is no solid story, and if BioWare intended there to be one, it doesn't really shine through the mound of random quests this game is loaded with. If it's supposed to be about Hawke's rise to power, then that, too, is somewhat lost in the shuffle.

The Quests: "They're not called 'chores' in a fantastical setting."

"Where even collecting herbs will end with you killing someone."

As soon as you find yourself in Kirkwall, you'll find yourself drowning in quests. Once you're settled, the goal is to get yourself and your sibling a position in the next excursion to the Deep Roads, the ancient ruins of the dwarven empire. This is to keep your sibling (or yourself, if you're a mage) out of reach from the templars, who have been cracking down hard on mages lately. You're denied the position, but a dwarf named Varric claims he can get you in. It's just gonna cost you quite a bit of money. Fifty sovereigns to be exact.

This is what the first third of the game revolves around: getting money. Doesn't seem very glorious or epic, I know. The first third of Dragon Age: Origins had you bear witness to the Battle of Ostagar, the evacuation of Lothering, the demon at Redcliffe, etc. But there's nothing wrong with a story of smaller scope. Indeed, most of DA2 will focus on the politics of the city of Kirkwall, and the quests you're soon after hit with are a vehicle for getting yourself acquainted with it. I was particularly impressed with the way humans, elves, dwarves, the Dalish, and the Qunari all had their place, their own pull on society. It certainly makes for a playground of ethical choices over the course of the quests.

But despite your choices, you're pulled invariably toward an ending that is certainly more set in stone than that of DA:O. Once you approach that moment in the game where you're literally forced to choose between mages and templars, you'll see how little control you've had.

I'm all for quests. I'm all for having a lot of them. DA:O had a lot of them and so does its sequel. Unfortunately, what DA2 does not have is pacing. As soon as you're given your money quest, you're hit with a laundry list of quests/chores. You'll be hit with them so fast, you'll forget how you got them, what their overall point was, and why they were significant. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if there was even the slightest amount of pacing. Remember in the last game, how you actually had to walk places? That's pretty much gone. (I'll come back to that later.)

As you're burning through the quests, you might see that some of them are actually pretty impressive. The writers from DA:O have clearly returned, but that doesn't mean you won't still get swamped by "go here, kill them" and "go here, collect these" quests. I kid you not, some took all but a minute to complete. Some will play out like this:

"I need a man killed dead."

"All right, let's do this."

Walk around the corner, kill a guy, walk back.

"Dead man's dead."

"Jolly good."

Pick up another quest, repeat. But, as I said, I don't dislike things like this. I used to play World of Warcraft a lot, after all. But I just prefer some pacing. To a point, it almost feels like you're on autopilot, with the quests and whatever meaning they might have passing you by in a blur.

--

Okay, I've pretty much been 90% critical of this game so far. Can't help it, that's what I do. But the game does have some redeeming factors that'll make it worth playing for DA:O fans. I'll see if I can't cover those on the next post.

Part Two of this review can be found HERE.

BioWare Release: Dragon Age 2

It's been arguably one of the shortest sequel turnarounds ever, but, to me, it's felt like forever. I love Dragon Age. I love the world of Thedas, I love the characters, I love the story BioWare allowed me to create for myself through Dragon Age: Origins. Hell, even the books were pretty good! (Well, they were okay.)

Tonight, Dragon Age: Two gets released in North 'Merica at midnight. I'll be there, waiting to get my hands on the "BioWare Signature Edition" so's I can jump back into where I left off. It goes without saying, this sequel has to live up to some very unfair standards; and on top of that, has to deal with all of the preconceptions (rage) that have been building up since the sequel was announced.

I'm not happy about Hawke, I'm not happy about the singular dungeon that the game supposedly has, I'm not happy that I can't customize my party's armor and weaponry, and I'm not happy that if this game flops, it'll be a very long wait for a sequel.

Dragon Age: Origins is one of my most favorite games, bested only by KotOR and World of Warcraft out of the long line of titles that I've played in my twenty-two years of gaming. I really think BioWare took too many steps in the wrong direction when they planned out this sequel, and it's been tough to watch one of the premier RPG creators in the industry make a conscious decision to stop making the kind of games that made the company such a hit in this industry in the first place.

I paint a grim picture (it's a hobby), but I've yet to play anything beyond the demo. As of writing this, there are nine hours remaining until the game launches. From there, I'll probably keep playing until daybreak, sleep, and then get right back at it. A review will probably be up here and Amazon within the week. Until then, my fingers are still crossed.

Here's lookin' at you, BioWare. >.<

First Impressions: Dragon Age 2 Demo

Yeah, this is a week late. My Xbox Live Gold subscription expired a few weeks back, and I've had little reason to renew it. (Though I do miss Netflix and BC2. A lot.) But I digress...

EDIT: [Hello readers, this is Buch - the other writer here on the blog - hijacking so that I can offer a few comments. I'll be using this font, and square brackets. I should say that I actually downloaded the 'Dragon Age 2' demo on the day, and started so many blogs about it, but could never decide what I wanted to say.]

I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to download the demo for Dragon Age (Where's the colon and subtitle?) 2, since I'm not the biggest fan of spoilers, and BioWare loves to let a bunch fly just before a release. But I gave in. My curiosity has been building for over a year, and I just had to know: Just how bad did BioWare fuck up?

Sorry for cursing.

[Knightfall curses all the time.]

After playing it, I'm finding myself very, very, very, very torn. Visually, the game is a lot better. Gameplay-wise, it's also much better in some respects. But there are a few things that really made me say aloud, "Are you fraking serious?" I think Dragon Age (Why is there no colon?) 2 is going to do its share of pleasing, while bringing a bit of backlash upon itself at the same time. Of course, the game will probably sell very well, and get tons of acclaim thrown its way, so while I might go off on a rant here, I'm very certain none of it will be changed in time for DA3.

[I agree that the character models and general graphics are strongly improved. But one of the things I noticed was a general poor quality in design. During the demo's few scant levels, the backgrounds look very dodgy to me. Just blank, dark, empty post-battle fields. I was reminded strongly of my first approach to Kvatch in 'Oblivion', and how much more affected I was back then. The backgrounds were dull, that one character has inappropriately brightly-coloured hair. The bad hair was one thing I was sure would be fixed in this game I'm not sure I'd say this game looks a lot better.]

The Pros:

-Combat: Ever since the game was announced, BioWare have been emphasizing that, this time around, you'll be able to "press a button and something will happen." Very vague to those of us who were already familiar with the concept of cause and effect. What they really meant is that, now, when you use one of your spells or talents, it connects. Your character won't start freaking out or slowly maneuver into position.

No, when you hit the backstab talent, Hawke immediately jumps behind the enemy and backstabs. There's no delay, there's no assuming the position (giggity). When all is said and done, it's really nice. Reminds me a lot of World of Warcraft.

[It's so good to see that the combat has not been dumbed-down - or at least, only to a very small extent. Personally, I preferred the old semi-turn-based method, but this works too. And it does feel great not to have three misses in every five attacks. There are a couple of other little touches about combat - archery is no longer underpowered, thank goodness. You can hit people with your staff or bow if they get too close, and there are cool little combat animations for everyone.
Bloody mages, however, are still bloody overpowered.]

-Character Design: I've interacted with a number of characters, and so far each of them have looked unique from each other. Not only that, but male and female body types have been refined, so that a woman with a full suit of armor doesn't look like a man, and a man with a full suit of armor doesn't look like the Incredible Hulk. Skin textures are better (a lot less shiny), and proportions are more realistic. Definitely an improvement in this regard.

There's also a lot of boob action going on. I feel that I should mention that.

-Goddamn Action: There have been a load of cutscenes, but characters seem much more animated. They interact with each other, gesture as they speak, and there's a lot more drama to it. So far, it's been refreshing. It was not uncommon in DA:O for a party of characters to just stand there, moving only their head and a single arm the entire time. And I haven't noticed any repetition in their movements, so that's something.

[The only thing that does bother me here is that the dialogue / cutscenes seem to be very, very similar to 'Mass Effect'. 'Mass Effect' of course has incredible cinematic, dramatic qualities, so it's no bad thing. But it does make Dragon Age 2 seem less unique, which I picked up on a lot and didn't like.]

-Talent/Skill Trees: I like that the trees have been cleaned up a little. There seem to be just as many as there were in DA:O, but it's loads easier to find what you are looking for. Plus, there's a greater variety, so it's likely you won't be putting all of your points into one single tree. I know, for the most part, that was the case for me.

Also, it seems like there are fewer sustained spells, which I like. Playing as a rogue, I just wanted more attacks, but I was constantly loaded down with buffs and things like songs. Save those for the mages.

[Well-said.
One gripe I have with the skill trees is that almost all of the skills I saw were very familiar. It's pretty much the exact same set of abilities as in the original game. This seems lazy.]

-Visuals: The first part of the demo takes you just outside of Lothering. Though, I didn't know that part of Ferelden was that barren, the place does look nice. There's more color, better shading, and the overall sense of ambiance is more pronounced than in DA:O, where there were times you could swear you were looking at a still image.

-Armor: One of my main gripes with DA:O was that no matter what piece of armor you found, epic or no, they all looked alike. In DA2 there seems to be a greater variety, which makes my heart smile.

-References: There were only a couple direct references to Dragon Age: Origins, but they really did get me excited. I really think this game is going to live or die for me based on how well it honors all that I managed to pull off in the first game. And seeing Flemeth again was awesome. She looks much more like a Witch of the Wilds now, and Kate Mulgrew really knocked it out of the park this time. She was amazing.

[Yes, but the very fact that Flemeth looked so different - at the same time as the original game was set - really annoyed me. Already we're retconning the original. This bodes ill. I know, I know she can shapeshift.]

The Cons:

-Hawke: Though I'm warming up to the concept, I still think a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins would have been so much better with a greater emphasis on character attachment. Hawke's backstory has already been written. He's human, he's got a voice that isn't yours, and he's already a Champion. I just feel like there's very little room for role-playing in that equation. I would have loved to be an elf again, or even a qunari! We could have spent the story living in the aftermath of your Warden's actions, but now we're completely circumventing it.

I'm not so disappointed anymore, since the story is actually shaping up rather well, but I do feel an echo of what I was feeling as I played through Fable III: that this is a major missed opportunity to really capitalize on what made DA:O great and very replayable. Only time will tell (a week, to be precise) how I'll feel about DA2, but I think BioWare is getting too caught up in letting you play someone else's story instead of letting you feel like you're creating your own.

[This is my main worry as well. I really do fear that 'Dragon Age: Origins' will be the last new game I'll ever play with proper dialogue trees and a silent, personalised main character with a name and backstory I made up.

Of course, as I mentioned earlier, that's not to say that the cinematic 'Mass Effect' style isn't wonderful. I just wish Dragon Age would continue along as it began. Hopefully it will remain more of an RPG, and parts of the character and story, like the inventory and combat, will stay basically the same.]

-Hack and Slash: I groaned very loudly when I hit the A button to attack and Hawke slashed once, then stopped. Let me say this: stuff like this only works with a game like Fable, where the gameplay is so simple that you can easily get through the game without worrying about health or mana, etc. But when I have to worry about health, stamina, cooldowns, party members, and crowd control, I do not want to do all that whilst smashing the A button a billion times during a fight.

[And it gets bloody tiresome if your character, like my archer, is stood still at the back of the fight. Your thumb is going to get tired playing this.]

I've lost track of my health several times already, and actually died once. Died! In the demo! I think it'll get tiring after a while (I'm kind of tired of it already) and I think the whole thing could've been handled with a lot more zazz. I seem to remember there was mention of an auto attack option, ala WoW, DA:O, and every other f*%king cRPG in existence, and if so, I'll be okay. I don't know why they thought doing this by default for a 30+ hour game was a good thing, though.

-Hawke's Voice: I'm not a big fan of what I've heard so far. Male Hawke definitely sounds better than Fem Hawke, but I'd rank them both below Mark Meer at his ME1 worst. And I really don't get why they even give us the option to choose what Hawke says if s/he is just going to go off on his/her own tangent during some cutscenes, anyway. There were many instances where he would talk at random and say things that I would never say.

[I must leap to the game's defence here. I seem to be the only one who thinks so, but the male Hawke sounded pretty good to me! He's not the best actor Bioware ever hired, but I thought he was good enough. He is certainly more impressive than Mark Meer as Commander Shepard! The female actor wasn't terrible, either. Not as good as the bloke, for sure, but.]

-How you gonna act?!: Despite the fact that BioWare were very aware that fans were annoyed with how they could not predict how Shepard was really going to react when they picked a certain option on the dialog wheel, they've somehow managed to make it even worse here. There were many, many times when I'd pick an option that made no sense, and it alluded to something that also made no sense.

After this one character dies (kind of a spoiler) I chose an option that stated: "She won't be alone." Immediately, I was thinking, "Why won't she be alone? Like, spiritually or on the battlefield? Are we going to kill a bunch of darkspawn to keep her company up there?" But no; Hawke says, "At least she'll give father some company."

What?! That doesn't even make any sense! No one's spoken one word about Hawke's father since the demo began. How would I know that? Or that Hawke would say anything about his father? And so the divide between character and player knowledge widened, and I didn't like it.

[In an odd way, this is actually something I like about the dialogue in 'Dragon Age 2' and the Mass Effect series. It makes the player feel like he's in Hawke / Shepard's head, making snap decisions. I think the reason I like it so much is because it reminds me of 'Fahrenheit' AKA 'Indigo Prophecy', which gave you a few seconds to speak, and one or two-word clues.

It makes you feel as if you're really having that conversation. Just as in real life, there's no time to carefully plan out your words. You think of vaguely what you want to say, commit and see what comes out of your mouth. If Hawke / Shepard says something you didn't intend, you feel annoyed and try to backtrack, with limited success - just like in real life. Even though I would prefer DA2 to continue the style DA:O used, I really do like this feature.]

-A word in edgewise: Hawke's not given nearly as many opportunities to speak as the Warden did during DA:O. I kept waiting for my turn to speak, only to hear Hawke say something I didn't want him to. Again with the disconnect.

-Leveling: This might not amount to much after a while, but it quickly got annoying that I was leveling up once every four or five minutes. Which meant I had to pause the game, mess with my stats, mess with my skills and repeat for every other character that leveled along with me. I liked to put a lot of thought into where each of the points are going, so having to do it every few minutes made me grind my teeth a little.

Also, though I really like the layout of the skill/talent trees, they really don't give you many options at first. Though I had like six different trees and a ton of different options, only one or two were unlocked. So I didn't really get to see the "in-depth customization" side of it.

-Party Members: While I'm glad you can still mess with their stats, I'm not very happy that you won't be able to change their armor, especially since there seems to be a greater variety now. That's just the anti-RPG right there. I didn't like that they did that with ME2 and I still don't like it now. (Ten bucks says there will be plenty of alternate costume DLC though.)

[And you know I'll be buying every pauldron of it! Oh WHY must you be so tempting, DLC. I think the fact that I'm betraying myself and all players makes me want that alternate armour even more.]

So! That was my experience with the demo. Had to replay it (which I didn't want to do) because it glitched one of the quests, so now I'm well-versed in the opening moments of the game. Hate that. Despite my gripes, I'm still going to give Dragon Age: Two a fair shot. I still think this whole thing is a missed opportunity, but I know that it'll have a good story nonetheless. I just wish BioWare would stop playing it safe.

[I can't add anything to that - Anthony put it better than I could there. And yet here I am, taking the last word.

Dragon Age: Twenty Two and a Half will be set in Thedas (an in-joke for 'THE Dragon Age Setting'), and thus I will love it. The pirate girl looks rather silly and exploitative, but I'm already in love with the dwarf narrator. I have my doubts about the storyline and loyalty to the original game, but I do now know that there will be lots of cute little touches, good voice acting overall, and one completely new, and welcome, addition to the Dragon Age experience - cinematic storytelling.

When the seeker cried 'bullshit', immediately ending the prologue, shattering my understanding of the scene and very cleverly silencing all the questions I'd been preparing, I stopped criticising the demo for a moment and just enjoyed the scene. Our beloved 'Origins' never did anything like that (except maybe when Leliana started singing).

But that moment was comparable, and it happened in the first few minutes. If the full game keeps up that pace, we'll be laughing.]