Foreword:
I am typing this article out tonight for a few reasons. One is just for me to put out into the uniweb how I feel about the Dragon Age series of games. Two is to provide some feedback to Bioware, the developers of Dragon Age, who are starting development of Dragon Age 3. This could be a great article to read if you are interested in the series, but be warned, there will be spoilers galore. I am not going to use this article to uphold Origins and bash DA2, but I will compare them. Now, this may get long, but on with the history, good points, and bad points of my favourite games series by my favourite game developer.
Dragon Age: Origins (the good stuff)
The title of the first game in the series. Not only does it make sense as the first game in the series, but also the very unique and complex basis of the main character(s) of the game. Origins let's you select 1 of 6 distinct opening stories, depending on the race and background you choose. The choices are human noble, Mage, city Elf, Dalish Elf, Dwarf commoner, Dwarf Noble, and gives you specific bonuses to skills and strength, along with class selection (excluding the Mage story). Beyond all of the regular RPG stuff, Bioware puts its story-telling genius twist on race selection. The whole opening story, between 1 and 2 hours of game play, is entirely unique. Up until you meet the leader of the Grey Wardens, a group of warriors whose soul purpose is to quell the blights of the darkspawn and kill the Archdemon. That may all be mumbo-jumbo if you haven't played it, but it is the basic quest of the game in the fewest words possible. But even after this point, the entire game plays differently by your choice of "Origin". Each race has its own quarrels with other races. Each race looks down on another, and each race is ignorant of the ways of other races.
The way David Gaider and the team of writers at Bioware structured this game is fantastic. What better way to encourage replay? I myself have finished it three times completely, including add on DLC's and the expansion pack Awakening, and have two other files I'm working on, all unique in themselves. And it's more than just creating a new face, or wearing different armour. It is so hard to explain, yet so familiar and close to my gaming heart. But each time I've started and played a file, it has been a different experience. To say that is only because of the opening stories and "racism" would be a lie. Although those are some of the main selling points, the class selection and skill trees are very well designed. Some may say class selection is restrictive, but I spent so much time playing this game to discover every aspect of it, I would beg to differ. Choosing different skills opens up different paths of the story. Choosing different dialogue options affects more than the way your companions feel about you, whether it is a romance or a rivalry it, opens or closes different quests or missions in the game. It can result in the elimination of a companion, the loyalty or disloyalty of a companion, or the romance and romantic quests of a companion. All of your choices significantly effect the way the game plays, and ultimately plays out in the end. THAT is great story writing. THAT is what role-playing games should be.
The whole part that helped make the story so epic was the scale of the quest you were on, uniting the races and factions of a country torn by civil war, under siege by the darkspawn and the archdemon. Each area of the world where a certain race lived had its own big story to tell. Gaining the loyalty of the mages required you to enter the fade. The dwarves required you to go deep beneath the earth. The elves needed you to explore and ancient, forgotten ruin. Redcliff needed you to retrieve the ashes of the bride of the Maker, and potentially encourage the worship of or the slaying a high dragon. And these are only the main quests. The size of quests varied greatly, which provided that epic story feeling, along with that hero-of-all feeling.
Now, putting the great story telling aside, I will outline the great aspects of the game play. I always said the combat mechanics were realistic, slow, but more realistic. If you put it next to Dragon Age 2, it looks incredibly slow, but I appreciate that it felt so real. Each kind of weapon felt the way it should, heavy felt like it took a lot of weight to swing, as was the case with the lighter weapons. Taking a step back from the combat, I applaud it. The only criticism I have, which I think they knew since they fixed it in DA2, was the mage combat. Rogue and Warrior were realistic, the mage was boring and slow, and you felt like a limp noodle.
Crafting was well plotted, but I wish it extended further than making poisons and potions. The option to have a weapon maker or armour maker craft things from materials you found is all well and good, and I really wouldn't even care to see it changed in DA3. After playing Skyrim, though, I realize how much I love crafting weapons and armour myself at a forge. If they incorporated similar ways of making items and consumables, I would not protest. At the same time, I found in Skyrim that being able to make whatever I wanted left me leaving great items in chests, and took away my curiosity of looking for items and chests. Something DA never did to me. Now, I don't want to spend the entire time comparing DA to The Elder scrolls, but I know the guys at Bioware have been playing it.
Swapping out newly found equipment was very fun for me, as was equipping my companions. I got to choose their skills and abilities, what they wore, and what they used for weapons. Totally customisable team mates, I really appreciated that, especially when DA2 took the option away.
I know I already talked about dialogue, but I want to talk about the mechanics of it. In Origins, the main character is silent, you choose a sentence, and the character being spoken to takes that sentence as it is. I know its not flashy, and now that they made the main character of DA2 have a voice, they won't revert, but I preferred it. It felt more like he way saying the dialogue I chose, because he didn't go off saying something I didn't choose. It was more immersive, and more than just a Benign choice, humorous choice, or renegade choice, it was a sentence you knew would directly effect the person receiving it.
All of the DLC's for this game added so much to the story. The side story ones that allowed you to play as other characters were very entertaining. I especially liked being a bad ass darkspawn and killing everyone I grew to love in the game. The ones that added to the main story line as new marks on the map were epic. The addition of Shale the stone golem added a whole new aspect when discovering the place where golems where forged. Golems of Amgarak was intense, very puzzle oriented, and very Gorey and violent in the end. Although I did have a problem with the return of the Harvester in DA2, but I will get to that. Witch hunt was supposed to bring closure, but raised yet more questions and left huge doors of opportunity for DA3. I would love nothing more than to see a confrontation between Flemeth, the witch of the wilds, and shapeshifter who could become a dragon, and her daughter Morrigan and her son, the son of the main character, the Grey Warden. I get goosebumps just thinking about it.
On a side note, particularly the area known as the Fade, the world where dreamers go when they sleep. In Origins, part of the main quest line involves entering the fade by the hand of a Sloth Demon. You have to fight, puzzle, and shapeshift your way through 5 main areas, 3 areas where your companions are being held, and the final stage. The world of the fade is bizarre, anything is possible there, and nothing is as it seems. Demons haunt you, as well as all of your worst fears from the real world. I have talked to other players who immensely disliked this quest. I cannot understand why. It is completely different from the rest of the game. It can be confusing, frustrating, and puzzling, but that is what I liked about it. Once you piece all of the different shapeshift forms together and figure it out, slay the sloth demon holding you there, and wake up, it you feel like a hero in more than one world.
Awakening
Awakening was an expansion to Origins, and took place after the event of it. I loved the additional skills and perks, new characters, and the story was very compelling. This expansion really made me feel powerful, and at the same time made me scared when I had to escape prison without my equipment. The return to the fade was great, helping a spirit of Justice posses a long dead grey Warden. I also loved the story taught so much about the darkspawn lore. It was difficult, scary, and added a good 18 hours to the game, and I have nothing bad to say about it that I didn't say about the main game. It did lend a lot of story to DA2, which I really appreciated when playing DA2.
Dragon Age 2 (the one everyone hates on)
My obsession with Origins made my excitement for Dragon Age 2 even more. As did a lot of people's. But I can't say anything about DA2 without saying how much people bagged on this game. Quite unfairly, if I may add. Although I did not enjoy it as much as the first, I could never say I didn't love it all the same. I do see players points on things they don't like about it, but not to the extent they take it. I really believe that people in general are floaters who drift through life never able to form their own well formulated opinions on any matter. They rely on the ones who choose to voice their opinions on a matter. And unfortunately, most people who do so are negative whiners. I am not going to use this chance to bash DA2, but rather point out its upsides and downsides.
The story telling in DA2, even against the setting it was dropped in to, prevails again, thanks to David Gaider and team. I know what they intended to do with the game, and I applaud it. But I think it was a little over some peoples patience levels. The game takes place mostly inside a big city, where you are destined to rise to power from nothing but an immigrant. You do get to exit the city and go to places like the top of a mountain to seek out Dalish Elves, or a coastline to kill Qunari and bandits. Or a mine to slay dragons. And my favorite, down in to the deep roads to find treasure. It sounds like a lot, but those areas played a small role in the 35 hours of game play. I didn't mind very much, because it was all told in such compelling story. But on the other side, I will say my harshest bit right here. I don't know if environment designers got lazy or ran out of time, but certain tunnels and buildings were used over and over again, but meant to be a completely different area. That was the main problem I had with this game. I know they hired new environment design, so I really hope we see a wider horizon of areas in DA3 like we did in Origins.
I know it goes against the whole idea of the story, and would change so many things, but I was let down by not being able to choose my race. I could change Hawke's face and change his first name, but every time I play it through, he or she is going to be a human. And the whole aspect of people treating me differently based on my race is gone. One point that encouraged replay in Origins.
Combat mechanics were so sleek and smooth, and so much faster in this game. I would say the entire pace of the game is faster, too. Which is maybe why the main game is about 20 hours less time than Origins. It was all flashy and great, but I would almost say I would like to see the warrior and rogue slowed down a bit, but the mage should stay close to the pace it is. In Origins, the mage was so dull, but in DA2 the mage is my favorite class to play as. You really feel like the power of the elements is at your disposal, and no one better mess with you.
I do like the new abilities and skills. The skill trees were much easier to follow, and overall where an improvement to the first game. Except that the rogue could no longer train enough to use two longswords at a time instead of just two daggers. I felt like that gave me something to push my level up points for. It was so cool when I finally could equip 2 big swords.
The two-handed weapons were exaggerated. They have almost a Soul Calibur feel to them, which looks cool, but takes away from the realism of Origins. Exaggerated weapons makes it feel gimicky, and so does exaggerated breasts. I was surprised by how big Isabella's boobs were in this game, and was kind of put off by it. It is not essential for all female characters in the game to have enormous chests. Let's scale that back in DA3, please?
Equipment choices were downsized in DA2, taking away the ability to choose what your companions wear. You can unlock new outfits for them by completing their individual quests in each act of the game, and some by purchasing them from merchants. I do see what they tried to do, but I really disliked it. I found so many cool things in the game that I couldn't equip because of my class selection, and couldn't equip it on any of my companions. The weapon selection is still great. Some weapons are found or unlocked specifically for a certain character, just like in Origins. And also like in Origins, you can equip weapons on your companions pertaining to their specific class. I did appreciate, however, that the DLC weapons leveled up with the character. Very inventive, and when you pay for a weapon, you don't want it to become useless after gaining a few levels.
Seeing the old characters from Origins was really nostalgic. It had a sense of connection. Talking to Anders about him and Justice was really endearing, but by the time I met Zevran it seemed like they were relying on the nostalgia and the success of Origins. The one biggest return I felt was completely out of place was the return of the Harvester. Having played Golems of Amgarak so many time, I know that the story around the first enchanter become the Harvester did not fit in. I didn't like it. It should have been left where it was. Or brought back in the way that Amgarak ended.
The steps of the quests, the matter of the 3 acts in the game, and the fact that it takes 7 years to complete the game, skipping 3 years every year, all in the matter of 30 hours, was disconnecting. I would have rather seen all of the events lead to my rise to power in 3 years, or after gaining allies from areas further away from Kirkwall. The quests themselves were all very great in themselves, but they hardly made any sense all together. One thing had no effect on the next, and all of my deeds were random. Other than making friends or enemies of my companions. What I'm trying to say is the quests were not as climactic or relevant as they were in Origins, but as I said, were all great and compelling by themselves. Story writing saved the day in this one.
I found character relation and conversation much better and more complex in this game. It still held the same dynamic as the first, choosing one thing might make one companion like you, and one companion dislike you at the same time. But DA2 relations made more sense. One thing I hope to see return in DA3 is being able to have a conversation with my companions outside of their homes. The great thing about Origins was that all your companions lived in the camp with you, and you could chat with them whenever you wanted, wherever you happened to be.
The DLC's for DA2 were exactly what the game needed: epic side stories that took you outside of the close quarters of the rest of the game. Legacy was great, anything to do with the Grey Wardens and darkspawn lore is fine by me. Mark of the Assassin, starring Felicia Day, was also a great way to get away from the rest of the game and discover something new. I loved the environments in both, and the new enemies were very creative.
All of that being said, Dragon Age 2 was a great game. I really liked it, despite the few flaws. Story writing is a strong suit of the series, and saved this game. But I really hope to see a wider horizon of areas, characters, peoples, and alliances. I want a more epic, fluent feel of the story. An urgency, similar to that in Origins, and also the Mass Effect series. A bigger destiny, a larger goal than just being a great guy. I know the Chantry was at the start of its collapse at the end of 2, but it did not seem like something I directly effected. I guess what I am trying to say is I want the same feeling I got from Origins, with the mechanics of 2. Yes the game looked amazing, played amazing, and felt amazing, but there's more to RPG's than those things. Let's remember what Origins did as an RPG.
Let's make get another game where we gather allies from across the land to unite against the collapse of the Chantry, or aid in freeing the mages from oppression, but let's give the choice to the player. Let's encourage replay value with different races, and differing stories based on those choices, and bigger choices in general. Let's spend more time killing darkspawn, slaying more dragons, and spending more time in the fade. All with the main goal clear to us all, uniting a force against, or for the chantry. Keep gripping us with the story, the dialogue, the characters, and the lore and back story. Keep doing all of those things you do so well, Bioware, but with a loftier goal ahead of us. Let's conclude the events left open in the end of DA2, without continuing the story as Hawke. I could say so much more, hoping someone important is taking the time to read this, but I will leave it at this. I know Bioware will do the right thing and learn from the mistakes of both games. Show us what the fantasy world with the greatest lore ever created can do. Thanks, Tommy out.
