Dragon Age Origins

I had heard great things about Dragon Age 2, but I dont remember seeing much about Origins. So I decided to download it and start playing.

This game is great and I enjoyed almost every bit of it.

What I really liked about this game is that you can pick which Origin story you want to play. You can be a casteless Dwarf, a Human Noble, a Dwarf Noble, Dalish Elf, or a City Elf. And maybe some other things.

I decided to play the City Elf. Now what was fun about this was that Dragon Age took a different take on Elves in general. While the Dalish are a bit more traditional, the ones in Cities are pretty much the slums. Elves in an Alienage(the elves residence in a city) are destined to pretty much live a life of poverty and are servants. From what I gather most of the Origin stories are actually rather grim. I have yet to play them all, but I am looking forward to it.

Also you can be treated differently depending on the Origin... or well I think. I do know that if you choose Elf you are often looked down on. But I dont think it really matters.

The City Elf Origins starts you off on your wedding day, unfortunately its not to your true love or something you have actually met. Turns out Elvish society is still on the whole arranged marriages. Forunately for you, you do get a beautiful bride... sorta. Soris, your cousin, gets a rather uh ugly bride.

Things go wrong and Shianni, another cousin, hits a human after he was intruding in and talking about taking the women for some entertainment. Things kick off from there and eventually you go on a quest to kill the son of an Arl... I guess thats a noble or some Lord. Not sure. Either way its not to good. But I had fun killing him anyways... especially after I learned he raped Shiani. T

Anyways you are recruited... against your will but you really have no choice anyways... by the Grey Wardens. A group of people who fight Dark Spawn. Which are... well their the evil dudes you kill often enough. The Chantry, the Church I guess, has their story on the origins and everyone else just pretty much knows that they are never good news.

Eh if you decide to play you will have more then enough time to talk to all sorts of people who will talk about it.

From however you get recruited/join the Grey Wardens your story unfolds.

Now what i also really like is that you can literally shape Ferelden with your decisions. You get to pick who will be the next Dwarf King and I believe if you pick Human Noble, you can become King yourself... or if you are a female character and romance Alistar you can become Queen.(so I read. Only played through once so far)

Alot of your decisions can effect how the game will play out. Whether you save a town from a horde of the undead or you can abandon them. You still have to go through that part of the game later... its just going to be a bit harder.

Not all of your decisions seem to effect the fate of Fereldan.

While your actions can effect the outcome of the game, you can also change whether or not your companions like you or not. Once you get high enough approval you can actually sleep with a few of the characters(and with Leliana, you can sleep with her even if you play a female character)

Approval is relatively easy to get. Just talk to them every so often and say the 'right' things. You can give them gifts. Also some of your actions, such as defiling a sacred object, can get disapproval(or if you are Morrigan, you decide to help just about anyone) Though I actually think a couple of characters can turn on you if you do something horrible while they are in the party.

But the main quest lines I believe can also be done differently. I just played it as the Good Guy. So i tended to do the right thing. But I am probably going to play it as a more evil character and see how differently the story plays out if I abandon Redcliffe or if I decide to not end the Werewolf curse.(assuming I can. dialogue options suggest that I can)

So this game really does have multiple reasons to play through it more then once.

One thing I was worried about playing was the Tactics. Theres a screen where you can predetermine how your companions react in different situations. Since it was my first playthrough I wasnt sure how I should level my other companions, what their tactics should be. Easy mode probably would have been much easier if I had bothered to have Leliana defend Morrigan more. But since it was easy I could just rush into battle and leave my other companions to do their own thing. Aside from Morrigan healing.

There are also a bunch of different companions you can get or not get if you prefer. In fact I would have skipped right over Leliana if I hadnt been reading the DA wiki. Which would have been a shame. Because Leliana turned out to be one of more favorite companions(and also my characters love interest) She started off very much a more religious character claiming the Maker(God) had sent her a vision about helping me. But she turns out to be more then just a bard. Leliana's Song(a different campaign you can download) was short but fun. It also revealed alot about her past and what kind of girl she really was back in her homeland. It was also rather amusing since she was the first character I romanced and it turns out we both at one point killed a bunch of people at that Arl's palace in the Elf origin story. She is easily one of the more interesting characters.

Then there is Morrigan. The daughter of an infamous Witch of the Wilds. Shes very much against the Chantry and doesnt believe in the Maker and... well I think Rex would approve of her. lol

My other companion I chose to go with me was Alistair, a fellow Grey Warden, and someone you really dont have a choice in whether or not he tags along. But thats ok because you can just leave him at the party camp if you prefer someone else. But I also really liked his character. Not to give any spoilers away, but I once had a conversation about whether or not he has had sex. I was discreet about it and wa sasked if I had ever licked a pole in winter. Although he does get a bit depressed if you bring up Duncan or any of the other grey wardens.

There are also other companions, some have to tag along for atleast a short while, but I think you might be able to dump them. Once I had my team: Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, and myself I didnt really pay much attention to the other companions I recruited.

It was actually rather fun talking to my companions every so often. You learn a bit about them and about the lore of the game and some of it is actually really amusing.

ANother thing is that sometimes your comapnions will talk to eachother while you are exploring a city or doing whatever. One conversation between the dwarf companion and Allistar was hillarious. Someting about 'polishing' the old blade.

While I doubt I'd actually change the party in a different play through. I think it be fun to just go around with different companions to hear their conversations.

Sadly so far in Dragon Age 2... they killed this aspect of the game. Only played 20mins(to see if my computer could handle it. Some lag on lowest settings but not unplayable) Which is a shame really. because it was actually fun.

...

Also some of the battle cutscenes are amazing, and the soundtrack isnt to bad. That is if you enjoy the occasional high fantasy like songs... though it does seem to play the same tune over and over again.

Hmm.

Yeah I think I covered everything.

Its a really great game. Looking forward to my second playthrough and maybe my third. I am really interested in seeing how differently things can turn out. but atleast I got the ending I wanted. I saved the day and lived and I get to go traveling with Leliana.

Anyways if your reading this and it at all got your interest up. I suggest trying it out. Though I would have liked to have seen mentions of the smaller sidequests at the end of the game. I mean I remember making it so some relative could stay with my characters father instead of going to Ostagar with her family. She said she didnt like the idea of being around a bunch of human males who havent seen a female in awhile...

But she was never seen again(neither was my bride to be actually)

So small stuff like that would have been nice if they were mentioned again.


Still a great game overall though.

Ok im done rambling.

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Awww shucks. Oh well I will always have Dink Smallwood(have you tried this one?)

aww that sucks.

No I havent. Going to check it out though.