Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Children of all ages! Welcome back to the Assassin's Den!
Now, I know I reposted my review on DA:O from my old livejournal, but to be honest, I was acting like a fanboy, rather than a reviewer. I did that one back before I knew the history of EA and what they had done to other companies. I didn't know what they did to Origin Systems (creators of Ultima and Wing Commander) and Virgin Interactive (and how they killed the infamous Thrill Kill). I'm looking back at this game without the hope of a fanboy, after seeing what EA has done to the once great Bioware in the subsequent four years.
With that said, DA:O is considered to be "the spiritual successor to their critically acclaimed Baldur's Gate series", and I can see why this is said. It feels a LOT like a 3D version of Baldur's Gate 2 would. The environments, the combat system, the character models; they all look like what you'd expect were Baldur's Gate were on (then) next gen hardware.
That said, this IS Bioware's IP, so no Drow, no Illithid, no tieflings or Aasimar, no orcs, and no Bhaalspawn. Instead, we have a new setting, new racial interactions and a new wealth of lore. For example, elves are second class citizens in this setting, instead of an "elder race" like you see in the DnD setting.Human society revolves around "the Church" and oppresses anyone with magical talent, and dwarves exist in a state of constant conflict with the darkspawn. I won't get into any of the lore, because after 4 years, you can find it in plenty of places on the internet.
However, it is the darkspawn that DA:O is focused on; a new Blight has begun, and Duncan, the Warden-Commander of Ferelden, is looking for a new recruit. It is here where you go through the six origins; 2 dwarven, 1 human, 2 elven, and the mage, which can be elven or human, since dwarves can't do magic. All 6 origins happen though, since this game, and the Witch Hunt DLC, gives you indication that they all happen, and, had Duncan not intervened, the potential Warden would have died (or ended up imprisoned, in the case of the Magi Origin).
This game has 3 classes, but you can take on more of the DnD archetypes with the specializations. For example, Bard, Ranger and Assassin are all Rogue specializations. A mage can become a cleric with the Spirit Healer spec, as well as a shapeshifter, and a Warrior can easily become a Berserker. This game also introduces you to several of its own specializations, like Reaver, Templar and Champion for Warrior, Blood Mage and Arcane Warrior for mage, and Duelist for Rogue.
Anyway, the classes operate as expected; Warriors can use all weapon styles, but have no AOE or ability to undo locks or use stealth. Rogues are restricted to dual weapons or bows, but are great DPS with backstab and stealth, and can unlock detect and take down traps, but also has no AOE. And Mages are still glass cannons, dishing out massive direct damage, debuffs, DOT and AOE, and the ability to heal your allies, but unless you take the Arcane Warrior spec, keep them out of melee.
But what separates this game from DnD is that armor isn't restricted to class, nor are weapons (except the mage staff, obviously). Armor is based around the strength stat (unless you're an Arcane Warrior), so are two handed weapons and most one handed weapons. Dexterity how you boost damage with your bows and daggers. And unlike Baldur's Gate, you don't need Dexterity for "to hit".
This game follows the Blight, which I won't get into, since it will take forever to fully explain it, and you can find it anywhere on the internet by now. But the basic gist is something similar to what Shepard does in ME3; gather allies to throw at the Archdemon. But there's more to the political situation, which I will not go into, since that would spoil the game for you, if you haven't played it yet. And if you really want to be spoiled? You can find it anywhere on the internet.
The characters are well written, and I love listening to the interactions between the party when you are walking around the map and you hit a "conversation spot". You've got Alistair, a human warrior templar/Grey Warden who is the bastard son of King Maric, Leliana, a bard from a foreign land, Zevran, an elven assassin hired to kill you, Wynne, a mage of the Circle who specializes in healing, Oghren, the dwarven berserker, the mabari warhound that you either save from the Blight disease or (if you are a human noble), comes with you from the start, Morrigan, the Witch of the Wilds (who features prominently in the DA:I trailer) and Sten the qunari, whose peole have become the bane of DA fiction ever since DA2. (Make no mistake, I like Sten. I just hate the people that brainwashed him.) I could rant for days about the qunari, but it all stems from four things; their "convert or die" mentality, their COMPLETE denial of personal freedom, their enslavement of mages, and their use of qamek for those who will not convert, but are too useful to kill. Qamek forces those it is used on to become a living zombie, something that actually exists in Haitian voudoun. This is a horrifying thing, so whatever "good" the qunari might have achieved with their society, this reprehensible tactic says, to me, "we are evil, we will crush you underfoot and enslave you, and we must be destroyed before we turn everyone into zombies". Fuck the qunari.
Sorry about that. And in all honesty, I didn't hate the qunari in this game, because all we knew about them was from Sten. Who is not evil; just brainwashed. And while he's not exactly deprogrammed when the game ends, he is SOMEWHAT open to new ideas. Just not enough to abandon his evil brainwashing society.
Dammit, there I go again with the fanboy rage. Let's see, something else to tackle...
Ah, yes, the gameplay. This game is about tactical combat, and controlling the battlefield, but in a different way than Mass Effect. It all depends on what classes you bring into battle. Each companion is built for a specific playstyle from the start, though some are more customizable than others. Mostly because you get them earlier in the game, but I digress.
Anyway, the best way to handle the battlefield is to have an individual who can unlock things, a healer, a tank and a DPS. All of those roles can be filled by the PC, so whom you bring along depends on what class you chose; mages can't unlock things for example.
The game's story continues with Dragon Age: Awakening, which brings in new characters and is in a new setting. It takes place 6 months after the Archdemon is destroyed, and you are dealing with the clean up of the Blight. It brings in Anders, an apostate healer, Velanna, a dalish mage who left her clan, Nathaniel Howe, the son of Rendon Howe, Sigrun, a casteless member of the Legion of the Dead, Justice, a spirit from the Fade stuck in a dead body, and the returning Oghren. All but Justice become Grey Wardens, though Justice inhabits the body of a dead Grey Warden. So this expansion pack is about rebuilding Ferelden's Grey Warden and dealing with the last vestiges of the Blight. If you start the game without importing your DA:O save, the game uses Bioware's intenal canon and brings in a Warden-Commander from Orlais. And that brings a level of politics that you don't get if you import your character from DA:O. If you import your character, however, you're heralded as the Hero of Ferelden, and the choices you made in DA:O are reflected in this game. I won't get into what choices those were, since those are plot points in DA:O.
This game also has several DLC packs; Warden's Keep, The Stone Prisoner, Return to Ostagar, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana's Song, The Golems of Amgarrak and Witch Hunt. All introduce new items into the main DA:O and DA:A campaign, but some of those are more fun than others. Warden's Keep and The Stone Prisoner are day 1 DLC, and both cost money now. Stone Prisoner gives you 2 new quests, and a companion. Warden's Keep gives you armor that upgrades depending on your level (and can upgrade if you either sell it or put it in the party chest you get once the questline is done), and the best sword in the game. Return to Ostagar gives you an armor set, a sword and a shield, as well as the weapons that Duncan carried. All of these items tiers' are dependent on your level, and can be upgraded the same way. And all three of these DLC packs are only playable from inside your Origins' save file; no import for these three,
Leliana's Song and The Darkspawn Chronicles are self contained stories, and both give you items for both DA:O and DA:A. Leliana's Song is about how Leliana ended up in the Chantry, which, while conflicting with the story she tells you in game, is a good buy. Darkspawn Chronicles is a what if story; you play as a darkspawn during the assault on Denerim, but during events that happen if the PC Warden didn't survive the Joining. You gain a tier 7 sword for both Origins and Awakening, but in all honesty, I find this one boring.
Golems and Witch Hunt continue the story, and happen after the events of Awakening. Golems happens first, and gives you some VERY good gear in Origins and Awakening that sells for a LOT in both games. You control the Warden (or Warden-Commander, if you played are importing your Awakening save file), and are essentially doing a dungeon crawler.
And Witch Hunt? It is a "trip down memory lane"; and it means more to the DA:O Warden than the Orlesian Warden-Commander. The plot? You got news that Morrigan is back in Ferelden, and you want answers. And if you romanced her? You have a personal stake in it; she's got your son.
Now, this game isn't without flaws. One thing that really bugs me is what I like to call "origin specific taunts". When you choose your character's voice at character creation, you pick how the voice sounds in the game, and there is a specific list of taunts for the voices. Problem is that the taunts are the same across the board. Which is fine for the Human Noble, Mage and City Elf; they all have pretty much the same culture. But for the Dalish Elf and dwarves? I'd have liked to hear references to their culture; usage of the elven language and invocation of the elven gods for a Dalish, for example. But this is a minor gripe, and since I'm not normally paying attention to battle taunts, it's not that big a deal.
All in all, this game and the expansions it has are a fun game, but under NO circumstances should you buy this new. EA owns Bioware now, and under NO circumstance should you give more money to them than necessary. Which is why I advise you to NOT buy the Darkspawn Chronicles, for example, and why I tell people to buy a subscription to SWTOR, but not cartel coins. Bioware deserves the quiet death it is in for as soon as possible, so we have more good games to remember than bad ones.
I know this took a maudlin turn compared to my initial review four years ago, but let's be serious; Bioware's golden days are over. We're not going to see games like DA:O and DA:A again.
And no, this isn't going to turn into another retrospective. DA2, while fun, pisses me and a lot of others off, and I am not looking forward to Dragon Age: Inquisition, because it focuses on something I have no interest in playing. This game set is the only one I fire up with any regularity, and to be honest, this is the way I want to remember Dragon Age.
I'll review something else soon, but for now, Happy Gaming!
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