Only everyone was talking about Dragon Age Origins.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a BioWare fan, and such fandom stretches back to watching friends play Baldur's Gate on a shitty TV in an equally – if not more so – shittier dormitory, brief flirtations with KOTOR, Neverwinter Nights, and Jade Empire, and then coming in late to class due to Mass Effect. So, I'm not a super fan in comparison to some, but I got enough love to become supremely (playfully) jealous of the hours my friends were clocking in while I was enslaved by a NaNo WriMo deadline. I guess I can't complain too much. I did get a novel out of that... one I haven't touched since, but anyway!
So, I impatiently watched all of my friends get laid, get loots, and get general auras of sheer pleasure just from talking about the game. Seriously, everyone was all a-glow. I didn't know whether to ask them how much they enjoyed their first kiss, or when the baby was fucking due. I needed to play this, it needed to happen, and the month just wasn't going by fast enough. Finally, I got my hands on Dragon Age Origins and let me tell you -
I had a great time.
Dragon Age Origins
What was so weird was that I approached the game exactly the same way I approached Mass Effect. There was a moment of hesitance, like the game had to court me to eventually play it full tilt, hours on hours, getting dehydrated, catheter, IV to supply nutrients, sponge baths, etc, the list goes on, so forth, all of which resulted in an ass only second to the ass I had at the end of Butt-Numb-A-Thon. Although a majority of my thoughts were favorable to picking this game up as soon as possible, I have to admit there was a shadow of a doubt. Cool. Mass Effect with swords and crossbows... whatever... and...?
All the big floppy teets I could ever hope for?
Who am I kidding? Dragon Age Origins is really its own game with the familiarities of a BioWare game you've come to expect. And it's not that half-handed new Harry Potter movie expectancy either, it's full on BioLove and believe me, the game will take care of you in many, many ways.
Unlike Harry Potter...
The learning curve to this game took me juuuust a minute. Had to hold my own in a couple fights, explore the inventory a little bit, make some poisons, make some potions, make some traps, only use the potions, etc. The radial menu operates differently from Mass Effect, with content usually varying from person-to-person, instead of everyone's talents/specializations condensed into one menu. BioWare has a lot of confidence in its players, they trust them with mechanics a bit complex to really digest right away (especially without the help of a solid tutorial), but once you get a handle on it, the pay off is an involving and intuitive combat. Sometimes I have some issue with games where one button is my key attack, but here in Dragon Age Origins you can assign multiple moves to two sets, and then access more of your abilities and specializations in the radial menu. I like that, and meeting this challenge is gratifying when you get the swing of things.
Get it? He's swinging the... and... ahem, right. Moving on.
The combat in this game, in my mind, does not top the combat in Mass Effect with the exception of your A.I. knowing which way to attack. That's a big fix that I am an even bigger fan of. Still, encounter areas, ambushes, charges, they're all fun to play, except that if one Darkspawn off in the great blue yonder gets a whiff of the fight, you'll remain locked in combat until the last SOB falls. This is a bit aggravating, but becomes less of a problem the more you level up. Your villains run the board between Darkspawn, bandits, assassins, and a very heavy metal looking Loghain. What they all have in common, beside an insatiable urge to kill you, is an extremely high blood pressure that will have you painted in so much blood by the end of the encounter you'll look like you just lived through the most epic fight ever with Jackson Pollock.
Jackson Pollock has one speed: blood.
Beyond the combat, the inevitable dungeon crawls are pretty generic, and the layout mediocre. However, the environment is taking a not-too-surprising backseat to all of the interaction, story elements, A.I., and combat which make up a bulk of the game. So, when you aren't spelunking through these dungeons, you head back to camp and engage in a social tug of war with your brothers and sisters at arms that will result in you either being ostracized or significantly laid. Now, I say significantly because about every sex scene you'll encounter in this game will see you re-enacting the intimacies of King Gerard Leonidas Butler and that British chick from Ripley's Game a la 300. Multiple positions, varying sexual tableaux and... by the way, and this is just something subtle I picked up along the way, if you're a chick anyone you do it with will pretty much guarantee you a one way trip to losing your butt-flower. I'm sure Leliana would have followed suit given the proper “accouterments”. All the while the music love child of Howard Shore and Enya lives, chanting you through what looks like an experience somewhere between awesome and freakay.
At least it gets switched up a lot, that's considerate.
It's hokey, but damn if it isn't really addicting. No, not the sex – there are groups for that which I know... er, am aware of – but the general interaction with your allies is really riveting, a perk I have come to expect from a BioWare game. There is real substance to these characters, and their histories are intriguing. Dialogue requires just as much strategy as your fights do. Since Mass Effect, the boys and girls in the conversation department have upped the challenge. You need to pay even closer attention to the characters around you, and you really do need to pace yourself in the decision making department because the whole game will ultimately be affected by even the smallest conclusions. Seriously, I put my controller down at one point and started actually weighing the pros and cons of a certain situation. I only ever do that – in real life – when something like a kidney has to be donated, or when a waiter peeks over his notepad and says: “Soup or salad?” The internal debate triggered is just that occupying!
VS!
… Do my priorities seem odd there? Hm.
Anyway, if you're a fan of BioWare, if you're a fan of fantasy, RPGs, and looking for a video game project to occupy your time for the next couple weeks, and then some if you're like me and are planning a second run through, pick this one up! I think it's a huge undertaking to make an RPG that has junkie-levels of replayability, but BioWare certainly makes it look easy thanks to their uncanny consistency. Mechanics are a bit wonk, and if BioWare ever broke that habit of making little to no tutorial the mechanics probably wouldn't come across as wonk, but there you have it. BioWare is very receptive to their audience, and have promised some changes for Mass Effect 2, but really are still very stubborn with certain functionality habits. Fine by me, I have yet to be disappointed by them.
P.S.
I played a Dalish rogue elf, and I named my Mabari wardog Oliver Reed.
Good boy! That's a good Oliver Reed!
Replayability 1
Design 1
Story 1
Sound 2
Gameplay & Mechanics 2
Score: 7 out of 10
An overall awesome presentation makes up for generic environments that could have been made a little more exotic. There is solid replayability, including a story and well-vocalized characters that will bring you back for more. Some mechanics were stronger than others – crafting vs. enchantment, potion and poison making vs. trap making, list goes on – which I wasn't the hugest fan of, but what the hey. These things are pretty minor in contrast to another major accomplishment on BioWare's part. Well done!
Stay tuned for the dish inspired by the game! Campfire stew, Mabari crunch, and maybe even a little bit of that good ole Lyrium.
Bravo, Rae. Looking forward to hearing more about this Campfire Stew...
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