Welcome back, my beautiful freaks, to the Assassin's Den! Today, I begin my retrospective on the Dragon Age series! This game was the final game to be in development before Bioware's former holding company was bought by EA, and it shows in terms of quality; the story is awesome, gameplay is top notch, lack of noticeable bugs, and lacking the more annoying practices that EA games exhibit.
It was said that this game is a spiritual successor to Bioware's Baldur's Gate franchise, and it really feels like it. It has all the things you'd see in an old school Bioware RPG, but without the Dungeons and Dragons license.
Now, unlike Mass Effect, I don't own the books, so I'll just remark on their importance to the narrative and when they introduce important characters.
Stolen Throne takes place during the Ferelden war for independence from Orlais, and follows the adventures of Loghain and Maric Therin, father of Cailan and Alistair and future King of Ferelden. We are also introduced to Flemeth, who becomes extremely important to the storyline.
The Calling brings back Loghain and Maric, and introduces us to Fiona, an elven Grey Warden mage, Duncan, a Rivaini Grey Warden, and the Architect, whom we later learn is the High Priest of Urthemiel, the Archdemon of the Fifth Blight, though this is a fact that he has forgotten, and thus, only thinks himself an intelligent darkspawn.
Now, Stolen Throne set up the world we are to deal with, and illustrates why Loghain hates Orlais as much as he does, but is not as important as the events of The Calling. While Stolen Throne gives us two characters who will be important to the games, The Calling introduces several; Duncan, Fiona, the Architect and Alistair, even though this information isn't directly stated in the games. It is, however, stated in an outside canon source, much like the information about the Architect being one of the ancient magisters.
Anyway, the game. 30 years into the Age of the Dragon, the Architect awakens Urthemiel in a supposedly botched attempt to sever him the darkspawn taint, and starts a new Blight. Duncan, now Warden Commander of Ferelden, is forced to recruit new Grey Wardens, and has a chance encounter with 1 of 7 people; Cousland, Mahariel, Amell, Surana, Aeducan, Brosca or Tabris, better known as the 6 Origins for you to play as (Amell and Surana are the human and elven mages, respectively.)
Now, I'm not going to get into the story, because this game was released in 2009; you can find the story easily at this point. I am, however, going to cover the gameplay.
This game is the most dynamic when it comes to playstyle potential; this is the only game where a warrior can use a bow or two weapons, for example. Hell, a mage could use a bow if you put points into dexterity. In fact, only the mage staff is unavailable to all classes. Same with armors, in fact; everything's tied to your stats.
However, each class does have 4 specializations to make them unique, and once you unlock them, you have them for all time. (You'll see why I'm calling this out later.) You unlock them via one of 3 means; a book, performing a certain action in game, or through a trainer. For example, to get Templar for a warrior, you have to gain enough influence with Alistair for him to train you, but to get Reaver, you have to perform a certain action during the Temple of Sacred Ashes quest.
That said, each specialization adds layers upon the class you were playing, and increased replayability, giving you reasons to try different combinations. Do you want your warrior to do extra damage against spell casters while having the ability to buff your allies and debuff your enemies? Do you want your rogue to be able to strike your enemies vital areas while being able to tank? Do you want your mage to be able to heal and resurrect your party while still be able to cast while your mana is out? You can do all these things and more!
And this game even gives you a way to challenge yourself; if you're a rogue, you can literally solo the game after you hit level 12. All you need is 22 cunning and 4 points in the lockpicking skill, you don't need to carry any other party members. Not the most fun way to play, but it does give you an interesting challenge.
Awakening adds 2 new specializations per class, allowing you further customization options for your characters. One of my favorite builds at this point, for example, has me taking Battlemage at this point, allowing me to freeze any enemy that comes too close, and gather mana from the battlefield. Combine that with a Blood Mage and Arcane Warrior from the base game, and I've got a monster damage dealer who can survive anything.
Now, I'm going to tackle the DLC missions. Some are more worthy than others. Darkspawn Chronicles is a what if scenario, where the PC Warden somehow didn't survive the Joining, and shows how Alistair made it to Denerim. You play as darkspawn commander who leads his troops through Denerim and up to the top of Fort Drakon, where Alistair and his party are fighting the Archdemon. It's interesting to play as the bad guys, is kind of tough, and after completing it once, you get a tier 7 longsword to use in Origins, and one more to use in Awakening. I don't really play it all that often myself, though.
Leliana's Song is another "outside the main game" campaigns, where you taken on the role of Leliana and 2 others and go through the events that led her to the Chantry. They don't match up exactly with the story she tells in Origins, but it's a good one nonetheless. This also gives you an item to utilize in both the main game and expansion, but you have to gather its parts in the DLC in order to unlock it. That said, I play this every time before I start up the main game, as a sort of "prequel" before the actions of my Warden.
Now, the next three DLC mission packs are to be played during the game; Warden's Keep, The Stone Prisoner and Return to Ostagar. Warden's Keep and Stone Prisoner are day 1 DLC, which I don't like, but at least Stone Prisoner is free. Stone Prisoner introduces a companion, Shale, and 2 quests to complete. Shale is also integrated into the main game completely, which means she was likely meant to be in the main game, but was removed for space. Warden's Keep, however, is premium content; it introduces a base of operations, an armor set, 2 new abilities per class, and either a longsword or a greatsword for you to use. Return to Ostagar is just that; a return to the Ostagar map, though it is now covered in snow. Here, you gain an armor set, sword and shield, and a sword and dagger set, that all change based on the level you get them, and can be upgraded as you gain levels. You have to do something specific to get them upgraded, though, which differ based on the platform on which you play.
There's also a stuff pack that allows you to cheese the influence system with gifts. Not much more to be said, but I use it, because I hate the influence system.
Finally, we tackle the DLC mission packs that are in continuity with Origins and Awakening. Golems of Amgarrak is a mission pack that brings you back into the Deep Roads and is pretty much an item hunt; you go in, perform certain actions to unlock items that are both very good in stats and very good in resale value in both Origins and Awakening. That said, it is a good challenge, and it does introduce a boss monster that appears in DA2.
And then there's Witch Hunt. This one IS important to the overall plot, in both this game and upcoming ones, and actually ties into 2 of the origins and factors in whether or not Morrigan was romanced and whether or not the Dark Ritual at Redcliffe was performed. Hell, they even reference a throw away line in the epilogue of Origins if Morrigan was romanced but the Dark Ritual was not performed! And when you consider that the majority of the information in the epilogues are thrown out when inconvenient to the plot of the next game, that's something.
All in all, this is my favorite of the three. Yes, the combat was improved in 2, and the classes were made more distinct, and the influence system was pretty much marginalized in 2 (which is something I like; I absolutely hate influence systems in my games.), but it does a lot of things right that the next two entries stumble on.
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