Topic: Dragon Age: Origins -> Update: DAO Ultimate joins GOG

[Pugnate]

Yea I do most of my battles while controller her as well. Sometimes I have to ninja pause it though.

[Quemaqua]

Funny, everyone loves her... I barely even use her.  She annoys me.

[iPPi]

I don't use her because my main character is a mage, and I like taking Wynne with me as a healer... if I bring Morrigan as well, then that'd be 3 mages.  It isn't a good combination, generally speaking.  You also lose the ability to lockpick as well without Leliana or Zevran. 

I suspect I will use her when I play through again as a warrior or a rogue though.  The mage abilities are quite powerful.

[Pugnate]

Yea I think both of you have your main characters as mages, so it would be redundant to have her in the squad.

Like iPPi, I have one tank (Alistar), one rogue (my main char. who is a ranger/archer/lock picker), one defensive mage (Wynne), and one attacking mage (Morrigan).

Like I mentioned earlier several times, Wynne and Morrigan make a great team. By the time they are done casting blizzard, earthquake, grease, crushing prison, the group of enemies are often easy pickings.

Some of the game's dialog is quite funny though..

At some point in the game you will get...

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imprisoned, and then must pick two party members to come after you. You can pick any two party members, and the dialog is absolutely hilarious when your picked members try to get past the guards. Yes, you can even have the dog do the talking.

[PyroMenace]

Funny, everyone loves her... I barely even use her.  She annoys me.

Heh, yea I felt the same going through on my first time, had to use her though since she was the only mage I had for a while.

[Quemaqua]

Her personality is funny and stuff, but again, I sort of hate the character design in this game.  I don't know what the hell they were thinking when they drew up her outfit.  And she's like a stick with two balloons for lips.

[Pugnate]

Yea I think they were trying to make her sexy and it all went wrong.

On the bright side she doesn't have giant boobs.

[Xessive]

Yea I think they were trying to make her sexy and it all went wrong.

On the bright side she doesn't have giant boobs.

I'm just glad she's not a stereotype.. Her appearance anyway.

[Quemaqua]

And what's with the fucking eyeshadow?  Weirds me out.

[Xessive]

And what's with the fucking eyeshadow?  Weirds me out.

Yeah, I just chocked that up to living outside of society and not knowing how to use make-up. Alternatively, it could just be poorly applied wilder body paint. I think she would have been cooler if they had made her look more savage, maybe some face paint.

[PyroMenace]

I have no problem with the way she looks, I mean its the typical exploitive-female-in-a-video-game look. Her top is nothing but jewelry and a red sash for crying out loud. But her character is well written and well voiced so it makes up for the outfit. Even though I did find that her view on things to be different from my character I still thought she was interesting.

[Pugnate]

I like the way she looks, but I just don't like the outfit at all.

The voice acting is excellent though, as is the dialog.

[MysterD]

I like the way she looks, but I just don't like the outfit at all.

The voice acting is excellent though, as is the dialog.

Claudia Black does a hell of a job as Morrigan, I must say/type.

Hmmm...she also voiced Chloe in Uncharted 2.

[ScaryTooth]

I love Claudia Black...

I think she is one of the few women that can pull off that "I'm a women and also bad ass thing." Like Sigourney Weaver in Aleins.

Black played Officer Aeryn Sun in Farscape...I've been a fan of hers ever since...

[MysterD]

I've never watched Farscape.


EDIT:
Oooh, she was in Pitch Black. Yeah, that was an awesome movie - which is easily the best of the two Riddick flicks.

[Pugnate]

She is very good as a voice actress, but unfortunately she isn't very pleasing on the eyes. You can't tell from some of her pics...

Farscape I saw all the seasons because of Scary. For the longest time, I pictured Scary as the main dude from the show.

Early on, I was disappointed with the show. I think the reason was that I got to it well past its expiry date, and the special effects were quite bad. And while the main characters were pretty good (except for the white haired chick on left of that pic; she was pretty poor early on), the random guest starring cast were pretty uneven.

Having said that, the show was pretty endearing. I think the main reason was the characterization. The main characters were well written, and were multidimensional with believable flaws. They argued, acted like asses etc.

Plus all the main actors did a good job... and even the chick who played the white haired alien improved somewhat later.

The other thing was that the makeup and stuff was fantastic. It was all handled by Jim Henson, and thus felt similar to the Star Wars trilogy. That little alien creature on the bottom left not for an instant felt like a muppet or something.

The newer Star Wars trilogy was very entertaining, but felt bloodless partly because the late Jim Henson's company wasn't making a contribution... so you can imagine that Farscape had plenty of soul in that regard.

I really can't remember any of their names because my brain is terrible, but the main character was probably the best. His romance with Claudia Black was really well handled, and never felt milked or anything. You'd think he would have been drawn similar to the Han Solo archetype from Star Wars, but he was quite different. He was actually painted as a genuinely nice guy with a big heart, who took everything with a sense of excitement and humor.

He was basically an astronaut from our time on planet earth, who somehow ended up in space and discovered that it was full of various forms of technologically advanced intelligent alien beings. The writers of the show were smart enough to make him behave exactly like any of us would in such a situation -- with tons of enthusiasm and excitement. I guess that's what made him such a memorable character, because watching him on the show, I almost felt it like it was me, or a buddy.

There were some great moments in the show.

One was when he ended up on this planet that was full of beautiful people who were constantly making out and getting it on.

He looked around for about five minutes as if he were at a candy store, and then exclaimed:

I LOVE THIS PLANET!

Anyway, I really went on with this. Overall, it was a memorable show, but a lot of the episodes were weak. While the main characters were strong, many of the episode plots were quite underwhelming.

[MysterD]

Pug,

Is it me, or does Tempest spell (even though it's a lightning spell) feel like the new Cloudkill?
Just the huge range radius and damage it does period repeatedly...is crazy.

It basically wiped-out my own party and almost an enemy's party, in one battle...

[iPPi]

It appears the DLC 'Return to Ostagar' has been delayed indefinitely.  It's not clear as to what is causing the delay. 

Also, it looks like the Awakening expansion will be available for download or purchase for $40.  Let's hope there's a lot of content in it to justify its price tag.

[Pugnate]

D my mages are nearly maxed out and I haven't even touch some of the high level spells like tempest, so I don't know.

iPPi, that really sucks. I was really looking forward to it and even added money to my account in advance. I bet they found some game crippling bug in the 11th hour?

But that expansion seems to be quite expensive. Let's see.

edit:

http://www.neoseeker.com/news/12733--update-dragon-age-awakening-expansion-announced-with-trailer/

Rumours of the "Awakening" Dragon Age: Origins expansion have turned out to be true Electronic Arts confirms to us today, along with full details and assets.

First off, the new content appears to be a standalone expansion (we've inquired with the publisher, so check back), and will sell for $40 USD on consoles and $30 on PC. Pricey, but you do get quite a bit for the money.

"Awakening" is writen and designed by the same team, and brings players into a fresh new area called Amaranthine, infested with an "evolved, intelligent breed" of darkspawn, or neo-darkspawn, if you will.

You'll also face off against the Inferno Golem and Spectral Dragon (it wouldn't be a Dragon Age expansion without more dragons), re-spec your character if you like (notably, a feature already available with PC mods), see a higher level cap, new spells, abilities, specializations, items, and five new party members. Indeed, the big fight may be over, but you know how these things go, at least when there's DLC and expansions to be had (not that we're complaining).

Story-wise, you'll be rebuilding the ranks of the Grey Wardens (a new base called "Vigil's Keep" will be provided for this purpose), discovering just how those darn darkspawn continue to fester, resolving the conflict with the mysterious "Architect", and enjoying other content not yet noted. A cool option here is continuing with a character you've already made, or starting fresh as a new Grey Warden from the neighbouring land of Orlais.

$30 for the PC version and rolling fresh new characters in an entirely new city doesn't sound so bad.

[Pugnate]

Well looks like you can continue with your old character -- thus the level cap raise -- though you have the option to roll anew.

Trailer... looks good... but where is Manson's 'music'?

[MysterD]

Well looks like you can continue with your old character -- thus the level cap raise -- though you have the option to roll anew.

Trailer... looks good... but where is Manson's 'music'?

Where it belongs - NOT in THIS game.

[iPPi]

I finished it up today.  What a great game.  There appears to be quite a few different ways this game can end as well, so I think I might play through from one of the close to the end save files I made.

[PyroMenace]

That's awesome ippi, I'm curious what the choices you made at the end, here's what I did:

Well I finally finished it the other night, I can say I completed most of the side quests and my final time was just over 80 hours. This was such an amazing RPG, definitely ranks up there with the best I have ever played. It was a little tough at first and there was a bit of a learning curve getting used to the combat and trying to think tactically more than I usually would for this kind of game but the experience has been truly rewarding on so many levels, from its combat to the very rich and in-depth story. The story was very enjoyable if not a little typical and formulaic but its implementation of how you fit in the world and how the choices you make can change it was something much more engrossing in Dragon Age than any other Bioware game I have played, though keep in mind I haven't played anything from Bioware pre-KOTOR.

Anyhow, theres lots of big stuff that happens in the end that can really fuck with you, decision wise stuff. You can go to the Bioware social network stuff and see all the choices I made as it even tracks all that which I thought is pretty neat. But I'll explain my reasoning here.

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So all the major shit goes down starting with the landsmeet, and the big decision is whether you want to keep Alistair, or take Loghain. That choice was brutal for me, but the thought process of it was that Alistair was a character I never really used much, nor did I really learn anything about him except for the fact he seems more to be of a passive personality. In the end I really couldn't pick him as King over Anora, and the punishment for Loghain to take the trial of the Grey Warden seemed fitting to me. Though betraying Alistair still made me feel like shit and was seriously considering reloading and taking it all back, though I guess betraying is too harsh of a word because I didn't really betray him, it was all his decision to leave so I stuck with it viewing it that way.

Then theres the issue with Morrigan, that was an easy one for me, I turned that bitch down flat, the idea of her having a god child to raise on her own seems like the most foolish thing I could possible think of considering she was raised by such an evil witch of a mother. I just couldn't seriously trust her. So she leaves, like a selfish bitch, to have all of us deal with the darkspawn without her, which made me even happier about the decision.

Then at the very end when the other Grey Warden explained the consequences of killing the arch-demon, it automatically clicked after that, Loghain will redeem himself through this, and that was the plan I had wanted. So it all fell in place after that and I was pretty happy with it.

[iPPi]

My playthrough clocked in at 63 hours, with most side quests completed.  I was level 22 by the end of the game.  Here's what I did:

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I made the choice to have Alistair duel with Loghain, so Alistair automatically executes Loghain after the fight ends.  He was my main tank throughout the playthrough, so I thought it kind of fitting that that happened.  (I happened to make a save prior to entering the Landsmeet so I can easily change my choice.)  Anora refuses to marry Alistair for murdering her father, so I decided to rescind my promise to have her rule and make Alistair king.  He reluctantly agrees, but after the Landsmeet it's quite clear he didn't want to be king.  With some persuasion he grudgingly agrees as long as I assist his rule.

Then you find the bombshell of what is necessary to kill the archdemon.  Morrigan presents the option, and though my character plays the 'righteous' role throughout the game, I sure as hell didn't feel like sacrificing myself to kill the archdemon and went through with Morrigan's ritual.  In the end I decided to look for Morrigan, but the ending doesn't reveal whether or not your main character will find her.

I made key saves so I can get all four endings easily.  I made one right before the Landsmeet so I can choose between Alistair and Loghain, and I made a save prior to entering Redcliffe castle, so I get the choice to decide upon the ritual or the sacrifice.  It's just somewhat daunting that the final battle is 3 hours in gameplay length. 

[Pugnate]

Man, I still haven't finished it yet. I am at the final stages of the 'meet'.

Anyway here is the expansion interview:

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/105/1058713p2.html

It does sound awesome.

[PyroMenace]

Yea Im totally excited too, I think if it comes out to be 30 hours of content I will be happy. They also mention that the Return to Ostagar DLC has been delayed to the end of this month.

To be honest though, I am doubting a little its going to be out by march. I'd probably bet this is going to be a mid summer release.

[iPPi]

With Mass Effect 2 coming out at the end of January, the Return to Ostagar DLC appears to be poorly timed if it is indeed planned for the end of January.

[Pugnate]

Just finished. One of the greatest games I ever played. What stood out was the fantastic combat, the combat mechanics, the skill system, and of course the companions. The way the companions were developed was fantastic. The ending was just brilliant.

There are so many ways you can end the the game, and it makes for lots of motivation to do a few more replays.

Haha I made key saves as well, but I agree wtih iPPi:

It's just somewhat daunting that the final battle is 3 hours in gameplay length. 

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I told Morrigan to bugger off, even though it was obvious she cared for my character. It just felt wrong to create a demon child for my character's safety. But then 15 minutes later, I realized that the game felt strangely empty without her, considering she was my attack mage. So I reloaded that bit and had a look at what she had to say again, and she talked about the baby have the essence of the god before the darkspawn taint... so I decided to be selfish.

In Baldur's Gate you learn that you are a god, and later start to develop godlike powers. I wonder if in a future installment, you play as Morrigan's child or something.

And Pyro:

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Then at the very end when the other Grey Warden explained the consequences of killing the arch-demon, it automatically clicked after that, Loghain will redeem himself through this, and that was the plan I had wanted. So it all fell in place after that and I was pretty happy with it.

Wow... I suspected as much, but that's awesome.

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You know, at the landsmeet, when he talked about his reasons for ditching etc., I started to sympathize with him.

[iPPi]

I ended up changing it to casual difficulty so I could get to the endings more quickly.  On casual it takes about an hour to get through the final battle.

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I saw what happens if you sacrifice yourself -- if Alistair is king he will make a statue for you so you are forever remembered and that your sacrifice would not be in vain.  Much of what happens afterward is the same as the other endings.

I then tried to see what would happen if Alistair made the sacrifice.  Anora becomes king and you become the hero of Ferelden... and Alistair seems somehow forgotten completely.  There's like no mention of him by Anora and your party members (except for Wynne).  Sucks to be him.

I still have to do Loghain's ending.

[PyroMenace]

I actually didn't mess with seeing the various endings that much, I just like hearing what others did.

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I thought it was cool that you could get Alistair to duel Loghain, I didn't think of that option and its something I might have went for.

I'm actually picking up on my second play through, I'm pretty much just messing around with this guy. I had an idea for a group setup and its working out well. I basically set most of my characters up as tanks and do some area of effect spells. For instance the walking bomb spells are absolutely devastating against large groups of enemies clustered together and since my party member have high constitution they take minimal damage. Right now I have Morrigan and Shale with me at all times, Im using Morrigan's shapeshifting abilities which are completely awesome if you max them out, her bear form is powerful, and I have Shale specced as the main tank and its a bit ridiculous how much damage he can take. Then I usual switch a member out between one of the rogues or Alistair, Sten, or Oghren. Im also giving Morrigan all the healing spells in case things go bad she can shift back to mage and do some support. Probably my groups main weakness would be situations where enemies are spread out. Also not having a rogue around is a pain without their lockpicking and trap detection, I cant seem to put Zevran to good use since he can't take much damage, Im thinking of making both him and Leliana archers.

Also as far as the codex stuff goes, in contrast to Que, I actually love it, more so than Mass Effect. I'm so in love with this game's world now, I even bought the 2 Dragon Age novels available off amazon. We were discussing in IRC that it was just our preference of books is what made our attraction to said universe. I mostly read science fiction so Mass Effect's story was something I was all too familiar with, but having not read much fantasy, Dragon Age pulled me right in easily.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I think that's a big part of the divide.  Both games are awesome, regardless.

[iPPi]

I played through all the origin stories now and knowing what ends up happening in the game, each origin story is very cohesive in how it weaves itself into the overarching storyline.  It's very well done.  However, they do seem a little short.  I could have sworn that the mage origin story was about 2 hours in length, but I was only getting 40 minutes out of the other origin stories.  It could have been there were no more tutorials and I may have skipped ahead on some dialogue... that could have shortened it. 

Of the six origin stories, the dwarf noble and the mage ones are the best I think.  It could be because the main quests end up involving those two areas and the characters a lot more.  The Dalish elf one was probably the worst.  It was also the shortest and doesn't connect to the main storyline.

[Pugnate]

Really, the mage one is the best? I have heard that it alongside the Dalsih elf is the weakest?

But I have heard good things about the Dwarf noble storyline as well.

[iPPi]

If I had to rate the origin stories it'd be like this:

1. Dwarf Noble

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You basically play as one of the children of the king and get betrayed by Bhelen and kill Trian accidentally and get exiled.  If you played through the main story as another character and arrive at Orzammar, the fight for the throne by Harrowmont and Bhelen is one of the key quests, so it ties into the main storyline very, very well.  Gorim, a dwarven merchant in Denerim follows you around as you play through the origin as well.  I'm actually interested to see his reaction when you reach Denerim and meet him again afterwards.

2. Human Noble

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Arl Howe's treachery is revealed early on.

3. Mage

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You get to know Jowan, the blood mage you meet in the Redcliffe estate, and he plays a big part of the poisoning of Arl Eamon and teaching Connor magic.  If you play as a mage, you get some interesting dialogue choices when you meet him again.

4. Dwarf Commoner

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You find out why Jarvia's the leader of the carta in Dust Town.  That's about it.  You also impersonate someone in the proving, which is kind of interesting, since it is mentioned in the Dwarf Noble origin as well.

5. City Elf

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You meet Shianni, and that's about it.  Nothing really interesting happens at all.

6. Dalish Elf

There is no correlation to the main storyline in this origin.

[MysterD]

I made my way to the battle....

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...Of the doppleganger party. Damn, I got the snot beat out of me.
Must go back and try again...

[MysterD]

I made my way to...

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Jarvia.
Man, Jarvia and her party is kicking the shit out of me and my party!

[Pugnate]

http://kotaku.com/5453665/the-best-role+playing-games-of-2009

[MysterD]

http://kotaku.com/5453665/the-best-role+playing-games-of-2009

Dragon Age is awesome.
I really can't wait for DAO - Awakening expansion. Bioware has always seemed to set the standard for RPG expansions - i.e. BG2: TOB and NWN: Hordes.

It's really gonna be interesting to see what will be The Best RPG of 2010. If The Witcher 2 makes 2010, I think that RPG could be the one for me...

EDIT:
Steam's already taking pre-orders for DAO - Awakening (Expansion) at $39.99.
Steam version of DAO is required for you to go after Steam version of DAO - Awakening, of course.

[Pugnate]

A great review:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/arts/television/04dragon.html?sq=Dragon%20Age&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1262617222-PUO7o7zYPWVqUTi7kp8eJw

He highlights exactly what I love about this game so much.

[MysterD]

A great review:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/04/arts/television/04dragon.html?sq=Dragon%20Age&st=cse&adxnnl=1&scp=1&adxnnlx=1262617222-PUO7o7zYPWVqUTi7kp8eJw

He highlights exactly what I love about this game so much.

Awesome article. Thanks, Pug.

DAO is my new crack. Despite getting the shit kicked out of me in some of the bigger and tougher battles - i.e. I still ain't beat freakin' Jarvia! - I often come back to the same battle numerous times, trying my luck. And often, losing. If I win - feels like its by the skin of my teeth w/ barely any health and one or two party members conscious. With many other games, I just would've shut the game OFF by now and took a break from it - i.e. like I often do w/ Grand Theft Auto titles, when frustration sets in.

But, DAO's got so much other things going on and so many quests to do - i.e. like the Elder Scrolls games - I'm just come back to this tough area and battles (like Jarvia) at another time, when I have more levels and better equipment behind me.

When my vid card died, Torchlight took over. Since I got my video card back, I've not even looked at Torchlight - it's been for the most part, DAO. A few times when I got frustrated w/ DAO, I went to other games like Street Fighter 4 or GTA4, for a small time period. But, it's eventually, not too long later, right back to DAO.