This is the first sight that greats you when you open the game. Spoiler note:
This is a bit of a misdirection of where the main source of conflict arises behind the scenes of this title while the first game does spoil slightly that it's a war torn story with death on the battlefield imminent this image would infer that you would be seeing two sides vie for for control and you would either be able to pick a side or be able to watch it unfold. This does not happen and is more to the pile of questions of what and how much was left on the cutting room floor to push it out per EA's demands.
After which you're graced with a slightly more colorful image of what looks like the overlooking cliff shore with a geographic bird of prey with wings and a jagged sharp head dark and only light from behind from a sliver of light peaking from the desolate landscape picture.
Welcome to Dragon Age II. The country is overrun with a hoard of monsters lead by an monstrous dead god dragon. Too bad you're not the hero of this story. You fled with your family to escape to a place called Kirkwall in the Free Marches. Here's how it goes down:
Before we begin I want to add a little disclaimer to this game journal. This playthrough was inspired after me and a friend had a retrospective discussion on the first two games and lead me concluding that without meaning to the team at BioWare might had made the game a near functional nonbinary experience. Now it is not perfect nor am I trying to rewrite the narrative into any agenda it's just now with more gender awareness and terminology to articulate the feeling I can finally explore why this game felt less personified to my roleplay experience despite having more choices to talk and imprint a persona and your character given voice acting.
Another full disclosure is yes that while I am nonbinary in how I see myself and interact with gender this game did not have a hand in that decision nor was it really a part of any awakening. I played with this title a bit more expirementing with persona choices, gender play and the rivalry/friendship meter of your companions. My expressions, thoughts and opinions do not reflect a greater whole of nonbinary players nor does my experience match that of other players with this idea of narrative choice in mind. Okay? Let's talk birds.
Absolutely! I want people to question and even challenge me about how or when I feel something is gender related or even just the story or mechanics. I want people to be free to comment and I'll respond separately from the main journal pieces.
Alright I guess we really do need to start at the beginning and luckily we have our storyteller!
I do hope they'll give him a nice chair to recite his tale. And below we have a key player who won't mean a thing in this game so you'll have to wait til next game to see why she had to manhandle our dwarf.
We start like any self respecting fantasy war drama in the heat of battle, after we choose our class we're thrown into battle and trust me this choice will be the only real one to matter in the whole game plus your level of enjoyment. After a few waves and even an ogre a dragon appears and torches the battlefield and
Okay after that interruption we finally choose how our main character looks like: for this run I did customize my Male Hawke's look but I did go back to collect the opening screenshots with default Garret Hawke, I also did customize so I would have a chance at feeling the roleplay even though I don't see gender playing a big role enough to matter I wanted to put forth some effort. Also I will be replaying as Female Hawke but with probably less degree of detail until a certain point, both will have the same preset of The Martyr in the events of the game Dragon Age Origins.
Starting off here is the Hawke Family; to the back left is mother Leandra, foreground is default M/Hawke from behind, center right are twins Bethany and leftmost is Carver. Our family has fled their home of Lothering in the Kingdom of Ferelden (In the first game you can visit Lothering before it's destroyed) which has been overrun by darkspawn (corrupted souls that obey a giant old god dragon per Blight; an historical apocalypse that occurs every few hundred years), monsters that slay all in their path, their presence decays and rots all it touches. We follow them as they flee into the desolate wilds (get used to this color palette) and also run into two other escapees.
A soldier and templar couple. Another stab of why your class is the only thing that matters as despite being saved by the Hawke Family he still wants to put the apostate mages in custody.
In this world magic is feared by all human kingdoms with one exception. Magic is governed by the main religion The Chantry which is to say mages are blood micro chipped and locked away in housing under templar watch called a Circle. Templars possess the skill to combat magic and subdue mages that flee the Circle of that kingdom, or are born outside the Circle's watch referred to as Apostates (who are considered dangerous to the Chantry) or if they turn into demons (I'm not going to explain that here).
Putting the aggression aside both parties agree to put survival first than try to arrest the mages and risk another fight which leave both worse off and without backup. Then we do reach to the clearing Varric's tall tale started with but much less heroic or easy mode you're given both waves and the ogre not a fabrication arrives.
But in the desperate scramble your younger sibling steps up to protect your mother and dies in the claws of the ogre. No matter the gender you pick if you're a mage Bethany will die and if you're a rogue or warrior Carver will die, each meant to lock you in this constant state of being aware of the plight of mages.
Personally I think it's a great choice though you have no horse in this race if you play warrior or rogue the story will thread this line of questioning of: Is Magic inherently dangerous to warrant such extreme measures to contain it that you blur the line of morality in the name of safety or do you side that magic should be self governed by it's users and any attempt at containment is inherently dangerous in itself? A mage Hawke might be more inclined to side with mages as the question pertains to them personally but a non-mage Hawke might be inclined to swing this way as well if not only for their sister who might end up in Kirkwall's Circle as well as having several encounters that can persuade them to the plight of mages or also agree that containment is the better solution.
After the fight for your lives your mother berates you for allowing your younger sibling to charge off by themselves no matter how you reply but the ogre part was true then what about the...
So maybe Varric wasn't full of shit. A dragon does swoop down, breathing out cones of fire on the darkspawn, ripping and tail lashing until the dragon leaves nothing behind in it's wake and lands to reveal...
Yeah this game while the devs might have wanted this to be a title you could theoretically start in the first in the series they really throw stuff at you like a pop quiz to make sure you remember lore the first game established to get you up to speed right away and if not there's info dumps disguised as questions Hawke can ask and get some brief light info to easily digest for them to get the picture to move on. This is Flemeth the famed Witch of the Wilds a very big deal in the first game and in the third game but not so much here, so take it as a cameo. She offers the party safe passage to their destination to a port town to catch a ship to Kirkwall provide they deliver a trinket to the Keeper of Dalish Elf camp located near Kirkwall in the Free Marches.
So I said other than gender you can only pick class in this game, the rest of the series you're given more races to play as, elves are one of them. Elves in this world usually have one of two backstories they either live among humans in walled ghettos called alienages where they can be with their own as prejudices still run high with humans making integration slow and hostile. Or live among Dalish camps, elves that fight to cling to their old ways before the wars and enslavement by man. Slavery still goes on Tevinter but the rest of the world has at least began to disdain the practice in all but name as elves are still favored to be in servitude than free or armed. The "Keeper" mentioned by Flemeth is the leader of clan of Dalish that reside in the Free Marches. It's honestly fascinating seeing these two sides of culture from the same race both built by pain and trying to preserve themselves as a people despite so much destruction and displacement that it really shows some writers did take their sociology classes seriously without flattening or demonizing the other.
You agree as the story goes but first you need one more bit of lore drop and a bit of character building. As Ser Wesley the templar husband of Aveline (I didn't name her in the first post?!) who joined your party now lays dying as he fought too much with darkspawn blood getting in his system and the taint spreading fast. He will die but either turn into the tainted creatures you've been killing before or die from the taint alone and he wishes for mercy. You can tell Aveline to put down her husband herself, tell her to decide his fate or you can take up the blade. All will be the first major choice in how fast you swing her into rivalry or friendship which I'll be honest it looks like the gameplay favors friendship more than rivalry.
The narration bounces back to Varric and Cassandra and we get drawn animation cutscenes I swear are locked at 480p as a quick summary of the travel. And what a lovely city we're heading to it's architecture was a marvelous soul crushing sight as historically it was a slaver outpost, mine, quarry and port under Tervinter rule and it's most bloodiest spot in it's history. I would be more impressed if the camera allowed me to dip and scope out the city fully than just a near top down view at all times! But at least they know to move the camera with cinematic sense for cutscenes and dialogue.
I swear I never got to see the statues fully until the final battle. Now the party on dry land you still need to find your way into the city as your mother's brother (Uncle Gamlen) can only bargain his sister's passage back into the city probably only by her birth alone leaving you to chose which company you will sign on to pay your bribe in either a smuggler or a mercenary but don't think the choice will matter, it's only flavor text for the next chapter by maybe 3 or 4 characters, but it's a seed in how Hawke will make a name for themself in this new place to call home.
Interestingly it was the same engine of Dragon Age Orgins the Eclipse engine but modded and updated to better HD capabilities which is hard to tell with how grey and muddy it looks. Honestly with Darkspawn it's a downgrade.
The Sims series from what I can tell of 3 anyways is modded RenderWare like GTA Vice City. Which makes sense of all the ragdoll physics and item holding but man did it age.
Grabbed a screenshot from a youtube video for Origins as I couldn't be arsed to download my own copy atm. Very much when games were starting to use in game models more than glossy cutscenes rendered differently for their story beats.
After a year of working off the debt into the Kirkwall we come back to see the Hawke siblings being rejected from enlisting on an expedition and then the older Hawke gets pickpocketed. Fortunately the purse snatcher gets shot by a smooth dwarf and we get back our money.
Say "Hello" to Varric our biographer. He heard us get rejected by his brother and gives us a solution onto getting on board, by being a partner. He gives you a goal of 50 gold to scrounge up and then he joins your party. Honestly it's a good narrative stop gap to get the player explore the city, take on quests, find loot and recruit party members. I have a minor complaint that when you explore the city you randomly find random loot that ends up belonging to a random citizen you can return for some cash. Narratively you don't know who you can return it to for money which is a shame because this can be easily fixed with overhearing them complain about a missing item that plants the seed in Hawke's mind (as you hear everything from casual racism to whines about the Viscount not seeing them) or just chantry board postings like Origins before. Now I'm off to be a good citizen and collect my party by:
Helping out the local friendly guard you can't romance.
Helping an abomination, I mean a very broody mage Grey Warden who probably likes a view of the ocean, soft candle light, a cat conveniently locked out for the night, and soft lute playing. Ignore the glowing bit here this is Anders a party members you pick up after talking with Varric at the bar about your plans for the Deep Roads and that you need a map or a guide, cue us hunting down Anders into the seedy undercity of Darktown. After some talk we (non) negotiate an agreement of do me a favor of sneaking out a mage from the circle and I'll give you the info and you can guess how well that goes. After that mess you now have access to very good healer if I wasn’t already doing that role and a foil to character we haven't been introduced to. Anders is an interesting character to look back on as his own and all his actions are built and controlled by his trauma being a mage in it's oppressed system under the guise of control and safety but at the same time you can't help but want to tell the guy to shut the hell up as much as it's bad as it is a system he and Hawke have their freedom to think about try not to compromise that asshole.
And we can now go back to the illegal clinic to circumvent that loss and anger by flirting with the abomination. I have to give credit to the writers here having the balls to try to redirect this mage pouring his heart out about his hate of the Templars emotionally killing his friend and past lover to be interjected by Hawke wanting to side step it for flirting round 2. This is also one point in gendering from Anders that I'm going to check if it appears while playing FHawke but here's the screenshots.
I do like the confirmation of him asking if a Male Hawke if he's cool with being with men before him, even though realistically this would be almost a non question with how much of a slut I make my Hawke sometimes that it's good that he asked everyone was on the same page here.
So we haven't fulfilled our end of the bargain for our safe passage from Flemeth, out to the Wounded Coast we go to give the amulet to Keeper of the Dalish camp up there. Why Hawke didn't try to sneak away up the cliff side to give the amulet to elves within that first year of serving your debt I have no clue. But for our troubles we get a cute elf mage that no matter the playthrough I can't bare to harden into a rival. Merrill like Anders is another mage to test you and the world about magic users, freedom, and the danger they possess. Quick Mage lore dump: Mages with their magic awareness grants them greater access to the Fade another dimension of reality that demons/spirits reside. This makes every dream a battle ground for the mage's body.
Right away we are given quests that do show the main pulls of conflict of this game's story, it's a good seedling right now but I'm not looking forward to having to balance the rival/friend meter of my companions, somehow it's a little harder this time around than just me trying to appease my companions I'm very committed to a fair hard ass M! Hawke. A young man being plagued by demons in his head that his mother begs us to find him, a fate that if he wasn't found would have lead him to being an abomination (Possessed by a demon/spirit) and killing innocents before the Templars would find him and kill him. A point that mages need on an institutional level to be taught to on how to control themselves and resist temptations to avoid becoming a mindless monster. Now here comes another conflict here is how that institution is governed and we see here some Templars have gone missing, you go on a chase for clues from watching his former Templar friend come back an abomination that attacks Cullen (who has been a romantic tease the second time in this series) and follow up another lead to the local brothel, maybe he should have been more dedicated to the sword than the one in his pants and he wouldn't have been targeted. Find the prostitute, get nothing from interrogation, nearly get Hawke's throat cut by their own blade thanks to her blood magic manipulating the body. Luckily being a mage means Hawke can break it, interrogate her proper then kill her or as I though was a better punishment sent her back to the Templars. You kill the ring leader who plotted this scheme of Templars possessed by demons (which yes mages are susceptible to possession but it's not limited to mages) and if you have an abomination expert on your party Merrill or Anders can confirm he is demon free or you can just reason since he wasn't released he wasn't possessed yet but you could tell Cullen he shouldn't take the chance. Either way leads to another quest in the next Act.
Alright I'm finishing up on all the quests. I'm not a completionist but I'm trying to complete everything this time around to see if I missed anything in this game 12 years ago which looks like I did for some. Like the movement of Aveline's face to be a point that she might have really liked the thought this guard calling her a beautiful sight covered in the blood of thieves that jumped him in a set up to pass along information the Capitan of the Guard was privy to for profit.
Remember gamers this man is the one who stole your harden, warrior Capitan waifu and he was too dumb to realize she was interested in him until Hawke spills it out.
Now I'm minding my own business and I pick up a request to recapture some stolen goods, the chest empty and I feel set up and so I'm leaving the hideout and I'm jumped again and this time it looks like the ringleader is about to come out with reinforcements and then those reinforcements will come out of the shadows to join when man in black armor and anime white hair passes him to approach us and then rips prices this man's chest from with his hands. Already know this man will be broody, enjoy dark humor, launch several fanfics of, will long for the past he can't go back to because of a wrong that wasn't even his fault, squat in a mansion that the owner will not bother to kick him out of and would unironically be wearing something Gackt or T.M.Revolution would have worn in their heyday of peak mid 2000s. His name's Fenris, a runaway slave from Tevinter who now tired of running wanted some help in taking on his pursuers and his former master.
Of course he wasn't home as Fenris is obviously a party member we're meant to be able to pick up so he offers up his blade while he bides his time squatting in the manor. Also he's voiced by the same guy who voiced Balthier in FFFXII, a fact I did not need Wikipedia to confirm what my maiden's heart already knew. Also fun fact Hawke's brother Carver is also the same chap that voiced Dagran from The Last Story a character that would also slide into the same description I gave Fenris. Now picking up my new friend I still remember he gives me interesting dialogue choices when I have to handle Qunari quests and you're gonna be seeing these guys so much. I think I'm gonna dedicate the next part to just feels and literary dumping on themes that might be very spoiler heavy but the game is over 10yrs old so only spoiler tags are going to be for the lore dump.
Nice imma play this if it’s below 15gb
I’m not being facetious I’m being entirely sincere.
Your reviews are making me wanna try it out. Seems super interesting! Might make it my first proper WRPG. (Although I know some WRPG fans get pissy on what does and doesn’t count as one)
I think Ultimate edition on Steam with all the DLC is around 9Gb. Back then people learned how to optimize their new HD games before releasing them. Full disclosure it's not just a WRPG (Usually I reserve those for dungeon crawlers like Ultima) but a CRPG with tactics to asign your party members than just the computer chosing the best option based on parameters like "fight defensively, fight recklessly, or fight with reason." You have to set up past the 4 or 5 tactics option they'll preset for you. Also remember to upgrade your party members as soon as they join. I went through the whole Act 1 I've been reviewing without updating the weapons or accessories to anyone except Hawke. I made it harder just by being lazy. MaybeI should dedicate the next post to combat woes.
I think Ultimate edition on Steam with all the DLC is around 9Gb. Back then people learned how to optimize their new HD games before releasing them. Full disclosure it's not just a WRPG (Usually I reserve those for dungeon crawlers like Ultima) but a CRPG with tactics to asign your party members than just the computer chosing the best option based on parameters like "fight defensively, fight recklessly, or fight with reason." You have to set up past the 4 or 5 tactics option they'll preset for you. Also remember to upgrade your party members as soon as they join. I went through the whole Act 1 I've been reviewing without updating the weapons or accessories to anyone except Hawke. I made it harder just by being lazy. MaybeI should dedicate the next post to combat woes.
That’s pretty cool! You make it seem pretty appetizing. It’s in my library right now, so I’ll probably eat it as a main dish, cuz there’s no side dishes I have in mind, or desserts. It’ll be a three course meal all it’s own once I begun starving for WRPGs, or crpgs.
So taking a look at the pic above and looking at the bar below you can see the party portraits have shift below than off to the right (i think was the first game) and right above the hockey bar. A great new look to check your cool downs and see OH MAKER FENRIS IS DYING and quickly either drag the heal over the party member's face or hit the key and click on your target on screen on the portrait. For my first real CRPG that demands my mouse coordination it's not as bad after the first 3 hours. Finally found out clicking right mouse button and dragging back gives me that camera control I was looking for 9 hours ago but hey now I can give you more scenic shots.
Looking at my bar you can see my build for mage Hawke and I am the party healer, which in itself is hilarious in how I RP as M! Hawke who is aggressive and assertive but fair and diplomatic at times. So you see this man tell you "Get on with it," or "This better be worth my coin," but be gentle to a concerned mother asking strangers if they've seen her son. Same guy is threatening thugs in the undercity and healing and reviving the crew it's a shame they don't have healing lines with their battle cries like: "You are not allowed to die when I'm here," "Stop sleeping on the job," "Maker has to ask me for your soul first," or "Thank me later by not dropping next time."
This game gives a lot of it's abilities and modes which can range from increased battle speed, increased damage, auras that regenerate health or stamina than flashy moves you might see now adays. Which is fair for the genre, it is a computer table top rpg with old school paper mechanics in mind of buffs, percentages, bonuses, elemental bonuses, immunities, resistances and armor value and ect. so you're encouraged to strategize with this mindset in mind. Which is a little interesting since I remember a game dev wanting to simplify the battle as Press X for awesome which I only see in the mages with how the basic attack being 1 2 3 simple blast then 4th beat ends in a flare.
It's a bit of a nice road down the middle of flashy for the melee without questioning of why are they nearly flash stepping across the map, is that magic? And if so why is magic considered dangerous that they need to be locked up when this ninja pirate on the battlefield cross the one edge to the other unseen? Also I'm glad for the freedom in more branches than just a handful and the rest locked behind specialization classes that required doing some extra homework of finding out how to unlock them. Not truly better than Origin's battle system but improvement in what they probably wanted to do the first time around.
Besides they needed to integrate that new Friend vs Rival mechanic and to have that tied to the party member's battle prowess is a interesting one if a bit boring in that it's not as beneficial to be a rival than a friend in nearly all cases. But if you don't tick them firmly into a side you're still given access to their own specialization tree that probably needs to be filled out before you try specializing them in their respective classes to suit your needs.
BTW we're in the Deep Roads, old Dwarven roads that once accessible are now usually teeming with darkspawn that it's left old cities below the mountains and underground and treasure left unclaimed.
Getting the money for the expedition isn't that hard, I remember only buying a few potions and spilling out to near 90 gold at the end of finishing all quests and looting corpses. So you have enough to buy potions, poisons, upgrade everyone's equipment and maybe try a rune enchantment? I almost never did until act 3 but if you do run out there is a quest from a Dwarf who will fund you the extra 50 gold to continue on with the catch you pay double next act (but you can kill him to get out of it).
It's straightforward and a nice change of scenery from the greys, beige, sand and dark winding mining cave the rest of the dungeons are for the rest of the game. Can't get lost here or miss out too easily on loot or chests. The architecture of the Dwarven road is a nice return to Origins to me even if they're not the same place. In the first screenshot you can see huge statues that line the walls those are Paragons, statues of Dwarves that achieved greatness and honor that rewards them and their house in glory. Nearly living gods they become and honored in life and death. But later down the line the roads give way to a cavern of crystal (Lyrium?) deposits and no Paragons which is confusing almost like the Dwarves either worshiped someone/something other than the Ancestors (Paragons are considered them reborn or living wisdom from them). But in Origins the Dwarven historians (Shapers) aren't immune to biases and can by the Assembly or Royal pressure remove unfavorable history or knowledge of the thaig you explore.
Finally find some treasure an idol on a table made of pure lyrium which Varric hands off to his brother who locks you and your mates to avoid sharing any of the find.
Bastard. Anyway we need to find a way out so we can thrash the pipsqueak. Fight some Darkspawn but then the rocks themselves come alive to attack us, Rock Wraiths new and never seen again. You later meet with another abomination masquerading as a rock wraith who will hold off the attacks if you accept a deal but I don't deal with demons so he got the sword.
Come home a self made man, rich and ready to pull your family from the slums and you come home to find....
What the absolute shit Carver. So the little brother tired of living in his big sib's shadow decides to take up with the Templars. Aveline did have a hand in keeping his application rejected so he thought the only way out was through the them, (maybe she had good reason Carver). He didn't stand out in the mercenary/smuggler group that paid your bribe in the city, he didn't get a chance at distinction as a soldier during the Blight as he fled with the family, he didn't get Daddy's training as he wasn't born a mage, all he has is his name which was in honor of the templar that helped their father escape to be with their mother (Discovered in quest for the family will). Makes only sense for him in a family of magic with that same road denied to him, he chose a path to meet its opposition finally be seen as equal in mettle.
Note: this is only one of three ways Carver's life is altered after Act 1. Bethany shares 2 of the same fates if she lived.
But I don't know Carver, didn't Cullen tell you it wasn't a fulfilling role?
But live your life brother, just glad you're out of my shadow. It was getting annoying hearing your pathetic muttering and whines than taking charge and trying to be my equal.
![Mathias Ramondo - Dragon Age Origins - The Cousland Story [ndYpFeInY3s - 1035x582 - 0m23s].png](https://gaming-heaven.net/data/attachments/1/1775-118bac9dfe2201fceabf34e5dab04b98.jpg?hash=zPdaQXQOHh "Mathias Ramondo - Dragon Age Origins - The Cousland Story [ndYpFeInY3s - 1035x582 - 0m23s].png")
I made it harder just by being lazy. MaybeI should dedicate the next post to combat woes.
