Game played: Dragon Age: Inquisition
I love roleplaying games, always have, ever since I was introduced to Baldur's Gate. I had been playing table top roleplay with friends before, so I was familiar with the concept of RPG's and the setting of Baldur's Gate. Now, to my great shame, I have never finished any of the Baldur's Gate games, nor have I finished Planescape Torment (which is also fantastic). I am just a casual and these games are rather difficult. I need more healing potions than the once they offer at the start.
So when I heard that Bioware had developed a new game that was inspired by those games, I knew I had to play it. My boyfriend (who is currently my husband) bought Dragon Age: Origins on PC and he was raving about it. However, the gameplay mechanics on PC were to intricate for me (I really am a casual gamer). I only really started playing it when we moved in together and bought a PS3.
i must say, I adore Dragon Age: Origins. I think it is still the best of the Dragon Age games. The party members are well rounded and memorable, the gift system is a nice touch. The dialogue is well-written and it was a stunning game for its time. I have been replaying the game after Dragon Age: Inquisition, and it still holds up. (I played Dragon Age: Inquisition on PS3, since we did not have a PS4 when it came out. We do have a PS4 now, so we bought it for the PS4 as well.) Origins might not look as good as Inquisition does, but it is still beautiful. And I prefer spamming healing spells and regaining health and stamina after battle, but that is just me.
However, I must not forget to mention Alistair, who has always been a great part of my enjoyment of Dragon Age: Origins. I just love him and I love to romance him. I have played Dragon Age: Origins several times, and I always romance Alistair. He is quirky, adorable, cute and his dialogue is well-written and fun. In my first playthrough, I did take a few steps in the direction of romancing Zevran and Leliana, but it never was as engaging as romancing Alistair. I think the way he is written just speaks to me, personally. It is all a matter of preference.
My husband actually makes fun of me romancing Alistair. He did not like the character very much. Whenever I point out that I think that I think he and Alistair have quite a few similarities, he just brushes it away. (They do, and it is not just because my husband is tall and blond.)
I remember my first playthrough very well. Especially its ending. I was playing a Dalish and had made Alistair king. Our romance was complete and it was time for the final battle. I did not have Morgan perform her dark ritual. I took Alistair with me in my final party and we were facing off with the Archdemon. I intended to have my character deal the final blow, but the game had decided otherwise and King Alistair sacrificed himself to save my characters. I was shocked! I think I cried through the whole credits. When my boyfriend (current husband) came home from shopping, he was confused to find me in tears and when he laughed when I told him why I was crying.
I actually once wrote a paper for a philosophy course which delved a bit deeper into the fact that sometimes we have feelings for fictional characters. I think I should dig it up someday and reread it (and its sources).
I guess the point is that I never forgot to do Morrigan's dark ritual after that playthrough...
I only finished the other Dragon Age games this year. I started Dragon Age: Awakenings because I knew I wanted to play the other games and, of course, I had to do it in order. Awakenings is indeed a good addition to Origins, a fun and quick playthrough. The additional party members are not as well rounded as in Origins, but still likeable and interesting. It was a good thing to play Awakenings before Dragon Age 2 as it is a good introduction for Anders and Justice.
However, Dragon Age 2 was a bit of a let down in comparison to Origins. The character were not as well rounded, because there were fewer possibilities to interact with them and fewer dialogue options.Though the gameplay mechanics were simple, the lack of customization of your party members was a shame (this weekend, somebody told me he preferred games like Skyrim that do not give you a party, because he does not like all those options for customization, so I guess not everbody would complain about the lack of customisation).
The story was okay, if a little bit too predictable. You know exactly where the story is headed.
What bothered me the most was the fact that Hawke was actually not really a part of the story. What I mean is that the epic deteration of the relations between the Mages and the Templars would have happened even if Hawke had never made it to Kirkwall. I think even the Qunari would have left, if Hawke had not been there. In Origins and Awakenings the Warden plays an incredible important part in the story. If the Warden hadn't been there, Ferelden would have been ripped apart by civil war and a darkspawn invasion. In Awakenings, the Warden prevents another, smaller invasion of sentient darkspawn. In Dragon Age 2, Anders would have blown-up the Chantry with or without being in your party, with or without Hawke's existence. The only important thing Hawke did was taking Flemeth's amulet and restoring her to power with Merill... This is the only real influence this character had on the overall Dragon Age storyline.
Apperently, many fans have criticized Dragon Age 2. It is not without its merits, but I don't think I will ever play it again
Bioware took the fans' criticism to heart when they developed Dragon Age: Inquisition. In addition, they had looked to other franchises, notably The Elder Scrolls. Now, I did try to play The Elder Scroll games. They are very engaging, but the open world gives me too much freedom to go to the difficult parts of the world at level one and die. So... not for me. I did watch my husband play the games and I must say I found them very entertaining.
I did lose my way at the beginning of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Everything before the attack on Haven, I apparently did everything out of order. So I was quite overlevelled when I actually started the main quest. I put 120 hours into this game, because I'm a completist. I did everything that was possible for me to complete in this game. (I'm not good at jumping or walking straight on narrow pathways so a few small side quests were out of my league). Anyway, this game was loooong, but I know that was partly my doing.
The characters were great and I was actually glad to see Varric return, because he was without a doubt the best thing to come out of Dragon Age 2. The conversations were lively again, finally some characters to get invested in. And even a possibility to see Alistair again! The game has also great replay value thanks to the DA keep. The story has different branches and choices you have made in previous game and Inquisition do influence the story heavily. All in all a good sequel for the Dragon Age games.
The gameplay has again changed, which means more strategy is necessary. No more spamming healing and resurrection spells, nor more regaining health and stamina/magic after battles. Although this seems daunting, I can assure you it is manageable, because I finished the game. I even completed the sidequest in which you had to hunt all high dragons in the game. I am definitely going to replay it, when I have some time (and when I have finished a bunch of other games that are on my to do list).
So when I heard that Bioware had developed a new game that was inspired by those games, I knew I had to play it. My boyfriend (who is currently my husband) bought Dragon Age: Origins on PC and he was raving about it. However, the gameplay mechanics on PC were to intricate for me (I really am a casual gamer). I only really started playing it when we moved in together and bought a PS3.
i must say, I adore Dragon Age: Origins. I think it is still the best of the Dragon Age games. The party members are well rounded and memorable, the gift system is a nice touch. The dialogue is well-written and it was a stunning game for its time. I have been replaying the game after Dragon Age: Inquisition, and it still holds up. (I played Dragon Age: Inquisition on PS3, since we did not have a PS4 when it came out. We do have a PS4 now, so we bought it for the PS4 as well.) Origins might not look as good as Inquisition does, but it is still beautiful. And I prefer spamming healing spells and regaining health and stamina after battle, but that is just me.
However, I must not forget to mention Alistair, who has always been a great part of my enjoyment of Dragon Age: Origins. I just love him and I love to romance him. I have played Dragon Age: Origins several times, and I always romance Alistair. He is quirky, adorable, cute and his dialogue is well-written and fun. In my first playthrough, I did take a few steps in the direction of romancing Zevran and Leliana, but it never was as engaging as romancing Alistair. I think the way he is written just speaks to me, personally. It is all a matter of preference.
My husband actually makes fun of me romancing Alistair. He did not like the character very much. Whenever I point out that I think that I think he and Alistair have quite a few similarities, he just brushes it away. (They do, and it is not just because my husband is tall and blond.)
I remember my first playthrough very well. Especially its ending. I was playing a Dalish and had made Alistair king. Our romance was complete and it was time for the final battle. I did not have Morgan perform her dark ritual. I took Alistair with me in my final party and we were facing off with the Archdemon. I intended to have my character deal the final blow, but the game had decided otherwise and King Alistair sacrificed himself to save my characters. I was shocked! I think I cried through the whole credits. When my boyfriend (current husband) came home from shopping, he was confused to find me in tears and when he laughed when I told him why I was crying.
I actually once wrote a paper for a philosophy course which delved a bit deeper into the fact that sometimes we have feelings for fictional characters. I think I should dig it up someday and reread it (and its sources).
I guess the point is that I never forgot to do Morrigan's dark ritual after that playthrough...
I only finished the other Dragon Age games this year. I started Dragon Age: Awakenings because I knew I wanted to play the other games and, of course, I had to do it in order. Awakenings is indeed a good addition to Origins, a fun and quick playthrough. The additional party members are not as well rounded as in Origins, but still likeable and interesting. It was a good thing to play Awakenings before Dragon Age 2 as it is a good introduction for Anders and Justice.
However, Dragon Age 2 was a bit of a let down in comparison to Origins. The character were not as well rounded, because there were fewer possibilities to interact with them and fewer dialogue options.Though the gameplay mechanics were simple, the lack of customization of your party members was a shame (this weekend, somebody told me he preferred games like Skyrim that do not give you a party, because he does not like all those options for customization, so I guess not everbody would complain about the lack of customisation).
The story was okay, if a little bit too predictable. You know exactly where the story is headed.
What bothered me the most was the fact that Hawke was actually not really a part of the story. What I mean is that the epic deteration of the relations between the Mages and the Templars would have happened even if Hawke had never made it to Kirkwall. I think even the Qunari would have left, if Hawke had not been there. In Origins and Awakenings the Warden plays an incredible important part in the story. If the Warden hadn't been there, Ferelden would have been ripped apart by civil war and a darkspawn invasion. In Awakenings, the Warden prevents another, smaller invasion of sentient darkspawn. In Dragon Age 2, Anders would have blown-up the Chantry with or without being in your party, with or without Hawke's existence. The only important thing Hawke did was taking Flemeth's amulet and restoring her to power with Merill... This is the only real influence this character had on the overall Dragon Age storyline.
Apperently, many fans have criticized Dragon Age 2. It is not without its merits, but I don't think I will ever play it again
Bioware took the fans' criticism to heart when they developed Dragon Age: Inquisition. In addition, they had looked to other franchises, notably The Elder Scrolls. Now, I did try to play The Elder Scroll games. They are very engaging, but the open world gives me too much freedom to go to the difficult parts of the world at level one and die. So... not for me. I did watch my husband play the games and I must say I found them very entertaining.
I did lose my way at the beginning of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Everything before the attack on Haven, I apparently did everything out of order. So I was quite overlevelled when I actually started the main quest. I put 120 hours into this game, because I'm a completist. I did everything that was possible for me to complete in this game. (I'm not good at jumping or walking straight on narrow pathways so a few small side quests were out of my league). Anyway, this game was loooong, but I know that was partly my doing.
The characters were great and I was actually glad to see Varric return, because he was without a doubt the best thing to come out of Dragon Age 2. The conversations were lively again, finally some characters to get invested in. And even a possibility to see Alistair again! The game has also great replay value thanks to the DA keep. The story has different branches and choices you have made in previous game and Inquisition do influence the story heavily. All in all a good sequel for the Dragon Age games.
The gameplay has again changed, which means more strategy is necessary. No more spamming healing and resurrection spells, nor more regaining health and stamina/magic after battles. Although this seems daunting, I can assure you it is manageable, because I finished the game. I even completed the sidequest in which you had to hunt all high dragons in the game. I am definitely going to replay it, when I have some time (and when I have finished a bunch of other games that are on my to do list).