Posts Tagged ‘Dragon Age: Origins’
Struggling with Dragon Age II
I’m really struggling to enjoy Dragon Age II, which is really bothering me as I absolutely loved Origins. I’m having trouble putting my finger on what’s so different about Dragon Age II to Origins that’s preventing me from experiencing the same level of engrossment, because there’s nothing drastically different between the both games, right?
I’m hoping it’s just because I’ve not been able to put any decent amount of consecutive days into the game, which is what a RPG really needs. It needs a steady stream of your attention so you don’t lose your footing, which easily happens in games as big as Dragon Age.
Shit. I always said I’d never become one of those people who lets work and social activities come between me and a good RPG. But maybe Dragon Age II isn’t that good, because I certainly can’t foresee this happening with Mass Effect 3.
The Final Word On Dragon Age
My name is Ashley, and I’m a Dragon Age addict. You can assume from my Tweet that not only did I finish Dragon Age: Origins, but I was absolutely blown away by it, especially the ending. Which is funny, as I had approached this game with such apprehension. Why? Given the pathetic year of gaming I had experienced in ’09, I wasn’t quite sure my attention could hack a heavy Bioware RPG. I was wrong. By about 73 hours. Heck, I’ve probably done more gaming the past couple of months than I did the entire duration of 2009. Anyway, I’ve talked in some detail about Dragon Age, so I don’t want to reiterate anything that’s already been said, yet I still want to ramble on about what a beautiful game this is (of course, not in terms of graphics…).
Very few of my readers appear to be hardcore RPG fans, so it is safe to assume this post will largely go ignored. However, if any of you are reading this and remotely curious about the wonderful world of Ferelden, continue reading, because I’m determined to highlight how amazing this game is, even if it is only to one person.
What’s An RPG Without A Good Story?
Dragon Age: Origins Initial Impressions
Okay, so I told y’all (I really can’t get away with saying that what with my Scottishness) that I’d be whoring Dragon Age: Origins up until Mass Effect 2′s release, which is now only a mere 8 days away. Well, work and life are doing what they do best and getting in the way of some serious gaming, so I haven’t played as much of it as I would have hoped. I’m about 30 hours in, however, which has given me a good enough feel of the game to share my initial impressions. 30 hours in and this is initial impressions? I hear you cry. Yep, it’s the crazy, nonsensical world of Role Playing Games.
The Devil Is In The Details
In my eyes, a significant portion of what accounts towards a successful RPG is the detail. The devil really is in the details, and the sheer scope of thought that goes into forming the foundations of the world you’ll be spending so much time in never ceases to amaze me. My Dragon Age: Origins adventure as a City Elf, Buddeigh (do you see what I did there? Huh? Female Buddy the Elf?), is currently sitting at the 30 hour mark, yet I still find myself often overwhelmed as I navigate through a deeply rich and scripted world.
My Early 2010 Gaming Schedule
A couple of people found it amusing when I casually mentioned my loose gaming schedule I’m attempting to follow. I guess this is one of many sad attributes that explain my prolonged singledom. If I don’t plan, I find it slightly unnerving not knowing what releases are ahead and how I can strategise what games to play around any up-coming titles. Take my current situation; it’s a bit of a busy one with various games vying for my attention, but with a degree of planning I should be able to coincide everything perfectly and have minimal overlap. Yes, I’m that geeky.
Christmas has just passed, and, like you, I’ve added a few new additions to my video game arsenal. To be specific, I currently have Lego Indiana Jones, Batman Arkham Asylum, and Dragon Age: Origins fresh in their wrapper. At least all three were until I decided to play Dragon Age: Origins. You see, it would have been a quick and dirty run-through of Batman (I’ve heard the story isn’t particularly long) if Mass Effect 2 wasn’t released less than 4 weeks away. Make no mistake, the Mass Effect sequel is taking well deserved priority in my schedule, and so I have to plan around that. Comprende?
This becomes tricky considering I stick to one game at a time. If a game has a story, which most do, I’ll see it through from start to finish without interruption from another game. I can break it up by playing something casual a la Trials HD or Battlefield 1943, but to swap between, say, Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 would kill me. This is why I need a schedule!
Aside: My Dragon Age: Origins Character
I was lucky enough to get Dragon Age: Origins for Christmas (thanks, Phil). When it comes to character creation I’m fairly unadventurous. I always stick to playing as a human, which is stupid given I am a human in real life. Surely I should be willing to try something different given that gaming is all about stepping out-with your usual boundaries? This time I made a conscious decision to try something new. I’m a freakin’ elf warrior people! A City Elf to be exact.
What are you playing as?
’09 Fails To Be A Good Gaming Year For Me
2009 was to be the year my concentration for gaming dwindled to a considerable low. People say that gaming is a hobby you inevitably grow out off, but the fact I returned to it on my 19th birthday after a 4 year hiatus, and have since spent a lot of time doing, proved to be the opposite for myself. However, something odd has happened to me over the past 12 months, and I find myself notably less excited about gaming than I ever have been. Where did it go wrong, and why?
On January 25th, my birthday, I found myself having “the talk” with a guy I was seeing. You know the talk, the awkward one where you’re furtively investigating how serious you’ve become, whether you’ve made the leap to exclusivity or are still seeing other people. For whatever reason, having a boyfriend who didn’t game meant that I also paid less attention to my Xbox, especially as only a few months earlier I had finished with a guy who was as big a gamer as I. It was at this point I was playing Skate 2, the follow-up to one of my favourite games of 2007.
Skate 2 was meant to have me as hooked as the original, especially as Black Box had done a great job of building on and improving the foundations of Skate. Somehow it failed to be the game that had me itching to finish work just so I could freeskate around San Vanelona, which was odd as it was undoubtedly an improvement over the original. It wasn’t logical… I loved the original, and now I was playing an improved version of that, so there really should have been no reason I was struggling to get excited about Skate 2. Yet I was. Even though I had put my inability of getting hooked on Skate 2 as a direct result of my new relationship, it was to set the unfortunate tone for the coming year.
The Tomb Raider series means a lot to me, and while I admit it has lost its footing in recent years, I’ve always stuck by Lara. The latest Tomb Raider, however, has been completely re-imagined and – at some points – doesn’t even feel like a TR game. It’s a welcome change, though, and has me well and truly hooked.