Teetering On The Edge

Well, I found a brick wall, and that wall is named Kolgrim.


Things were cooking along nicely in Dragon Age: Origins.  There were some ups and downs, though even the bad stuff turned out to be positives in the long run.  I can't stress enough that this game is the first in a very long time to knock me right on my ass and question the power of the Dork Side.  This resulted in me bringing some old, half-forgotten habits and concepts back out to play. 


We're talking about things like saving after each mob, sneaking and inching into every room hoping the bad people don't show up and eat my dudes.  I'm normally a paranoid gamer when it comes to saves, but this time I might not be paranoid enough.


On the bright side, I've managed to get something of a grasp of this game's tactics, though there is a bit of a snag here and there keeping me from getting my ducks in a row.  Unfortunately, I've found a nasty boss (or maybe even sub-boss) encounter that invalidates practically any formation planning and even seems to erase buffs while dumping the party in the middle of a group of heavy hitters with ice mage support.  Getting randomly frozen is no fun.


But other than that, I'm having a blast so far.  I picked the Dwarf Noble origin, and had a good laugh at the default name.  I'm a warrior named Duran in a game with multiple possible starting stories.  That's a reference I thought would never see the light of day.  I've managed to tear my way through things, and thanks to some proper dungeon crawling I wound up with the Warden Commander armor set fairly quickly, plus a lucky break handing me Starfang very early.  So at least the gear side of things is getting squared away.  I'm going to break off from the main questline again (damn you, Kolgrim) and get some sidequests and more DLC stuff out of the way. 


Read.  Prepare.  Grind.  The Harvest Never Rests!

The Age of the Dragon

Holy crap.


I finally buckled down and decided to unleash the Harvest on Dragon Age: Origins, and I've found something pretty special.  First off, it is by and large the hardest RPG I've handled in a very long time, presenting a level of danger and challenge rivaling even some of the old-school nastiness I've encountered way back when.  It is no exaggeration that this game has already handed me more TPKs--in two days--than any other RPG I've played since I returned to the controller, and possibly any RPG I've played ever.  Things might get a bit less one-sided later on, but so far it has been a tale of desperate victories (or getting ganked) with lots of casualties and frantic potion-chugging. 


It's also pretty awesome so far, with all sorts of things to do and stuff to plunder.  I can't say I've played a game with multiple currency values (copper, silver, and gold) and actually requiring containers for crafting potions and poisons.  And your decisions have weight, beyond even relationship values, allowing your choices to make a discernible difference on outcomes.  They're not just cosmetic or cutscene differences either; what you do and who you decide to aid (or not) can put you down some very different roads, and while they all lead to the same final battle, the aftermath can and will be quite different.  The obvious 'good' choice may well not be the best choice, with the game's emphasis on themes of determination, pragmatism, and plain ruthlessness. 


There's just this whole air of actually stepping up and becoming a badass, and showing you the circumstances and consequences without being preachy or satire.  There's a stark bluntness about the whole affair, but it doesn't detract from the positive sides of heroism, idealism, and standing against evil.  It's good to know that even in grimdark games, there can still be heroes.


Oh, and you get a dog.  Granted, it's a big tough mastiff that can fight bears and abominations and demons and stuff, but for you and (most of) your companions, he's just a big puppy and acts like it.  It's hilarious.