Dragon Age is Epic!
So my father got Dragon Age: Origins for Christmas. When I'm home, I often like to watch him play computer games, but this one caught my interest and I decided to try it out for myself.
Now, normally I don't play RPGs, especially party-based ones (fighters or visual novels are my favorites), but Dragon Age is basically a spiritual successor to Baulder's Gate, and I loved that game, even if I didn't get very far.
My current character was very basic starting off: a (female) human fighter, but I can't really see myself playing as anything but a fighter, so it worked out well. I named her Eodra, after my LARP character, and I've got her dual-wielding swords.
The first part of the game was pretty basic, combat-wise. It took a bit to get used to the tactics/talents setup, and took a bit longer for my chronic saving behavior to kick in, but once I had a full party set up and started out on the main quests, I really fell in love with the game.
I really like a lot of the NPCs, and there's a wide range depending on how you want to play the game. So far I've recruited five out of eight of the NPCs, and trying to refine the mechanics of my party.
Alistair is my favorite of the NPCs, a human fighter who I've got tanking. He's also the character I'm trying to romance. I was surprised, reading some of the writer's comments, about them drawing inspiration from Whedon characters (Xander and Mal), because he always reminded me strongly of Marcus Cole from Babylon 5. No wonder I like him so much...! ^///^
Morrigan is a combat mage, one of my strongest hitters, and she's been a staple in my party since I acquired her. However, her alignment of something close to evil (or at least chaotic neutral) strongly goes against my natural desire to play my character as a paladin--anytime I do something good, she gets mad and me and disapproves. :/
Leliana was the fourth (and final) member of my party. She's a human rogue, who also happens to be the gay option for female player characters, so I considered romancing her before Alistair completely won me over. She's useful for grabbing loot from locked chests, and has some skill as an archer, so she was my last party member (you can only have four active party members at any time), unless I need someone specifically for a quest, in which case I switch her out.
Right now I'm in the middle of one of the four main quests available to me right now. It's a bit of rough going, especially because Plot separated me from my party members, and I have to fight through all manner of nasties to get back to them. It's pretty tough; this was the first time I have actually died in Dragon Age, and its happened at least three times since I'm on my own again.
While combat in an RPG-style game is still something I'm working on getting good at, the dialogue is easy for me to navigate for my desired results. Whether its to raise NPC approval or move a quest in the way I like, its nice to be really good at something in this game. ^^; Comes from playing visual novels.
Speaking of visual novels, I went ahead and bought Kanon for the PC. It might be a bit difficult to install the English patches, but its a game I've really wanted to play for a long time, and will be my first time playing a full-length Japanese VN. I'm probably going to do the Mai route first, as she was my favorite in the anime, but Ayu or Shiori also appeal to me.
Well, that's it for now.
Now, normally I don't play RPGs, especially party-based ones (fighters or visual novels are my favorites), but Dragon Age is basically a spiritual successor to Baulder's Gate, and I loved that game, even if I didn't get very far.
My current character was very basic starting off: a (female) human fighter, but I can't really see myself playing as anything but a fighter, so it worked out well. I named her Eodra, after my LARP character, and I've got her dual-wielding swords.
The first part of the game was pretty basic, combat-wise. It took a bit to get used to the tactics/talents setup, and took a bit longer for my chronic saving behavior to kick in, but once I had a full party set up and started out on the main quests, I really fell in love with the game.
I really like a lot of the NPCs, and there's a wide range depending on how you want to play the game. So far I've recruited five out of eight of the NPCs, and trying to refine the mechanics of my party.
Alistair is my favorite of the NPCs, a human fighter who I've got tanking. He's also the character I'm trying to romance. I was surprised, reading some of the writer's comments, about them drawing inspiration from Whedon characters (Xander and Mal), because he always reminded me strongly of Marcus Cole from Babylon 5. No wonder I like him so much...! ^///^
Morrigan is a combat mage, one of my strongest hitters, and she's been a staple in my party since I acquired her. However, her alignment of something close to evil (or at least chaotic neutral) strongly goes against my natural desire to play my character as a paladin--anytime I do something good, she gets mad and me and disapproves. :/
Leliana was the fourth (and final) member of my party. She's a human rogue, who also happens to be the gay option for female player characters, so I considered romancing her before Alistair completely won me over. She's useful for grabbing loot from locked chests, and has some skill as an archer, so she was my last party member (you can only have four active party members at any time), unless I need someone specifically for a quest, in which case I switch her out.
Right now I'm in the middle of one of the four main quests available to me right now. It's a bit of rough going, especially because Plot separated me from my party members, and I have to fight through all manner of nasties to get back to them. It's pretty tough; this was the first time I have actually died in Dragon Age, and its happened at least three times since I'm on my own again.
While combat in an RPG-style game is still something I'm working on getting good at, the dialogue is easy for me to navigate for my desired results. Whether its to raise NPC approval or move a quest in the way I like, its nice to be really good at something in this game. ^^; Comes from playing visual novels.
Speaking of visual novels, I went ahead and bought Kanon for the PC. It might be a bit difficult to install the English patches, but its a game I've really wanted to play for a long time, and will be my first time playing a full-length Japanese VN. I'm probably going to do the Mai route first, as she was my favorite in the anime, but Ayu or Shiori also appeal to me.
Well, that's it for now.