BioWare has longterm plans for its fantasy RPG series Dragon Age.The future of BioWare has been a bit nebulous as of late. While the company’s attention seems to be all focused on 2018-bound and new IP, Anthem, BioWare still has some franchises that have been near the center of gaming in the last decade.One of these IP, Mass Effect, apparently is being put on ice following the mess that was Mass Effect: Andromeda’s launch earlier this year in March. But BioWare also has the Dragon Age franchise. And while the most recent entry in the series — Dragon Age: Inquisition — was a bit divisive for a variety of reasons, it did propel the series further into the front of the industry’s mindshare, racking in a large amount of game of the year awards in 2014.But what is the future of Dragon Age in a post Anthem announcement world? Well, in short, pretty good, as BioWare apparently still has a long plan for the growing franchise.Speaking to a fan on, Dragon Age boss Mike Laidlaw revealed that his team already has ideas for a “theoretical” Dragon Age 5.Further, when the question of whether or not the fantasy RPG series once had a set conclusion was raised, Laidlaw responded: “There is no planned ending for DA.” This can be taken a few ways: one, if you’re a fan of the series, the idea that Dragon Age might not end anytime soon is awesome news. On the other hand, if the IP takes a turn for the worst (similar to Mass Effect) and is potentially thrown in the waste bin without a satisfying conclusion to the series: well that would suck.In the same response on Twitter, Laidlaw adds:“There is an evolving plan that tends to look two games ahead or so.”This type of two games ahead mentality isn’t something new for the franchise either. The antagonist in Dragon Age Inquisition was featured via Dragon Age 2 DLC. And if you played Inquisition’s marvelous epilogue DLC Tresspasser you would have seen a blatant and tantalizing set up for the inevitable next entry in the series, aka Dragon Age 4.Speaking of Dragon Age 4 (or whatever the next installment will be titled) while neither BioWare or EA have formally announced anything, it’s no secret that, as revealed by writer Alexis Kennedy.
Meanwhile, Laidlaw himseld has said in the past as well that more of the.
BioWare has already plotted out 'theoretical' Dragon Age 4 and 5Tevinter is coming.Tom PhillipsNews EditorMass Effect might have been put on ice and all recent attention diverted to Anthem, but BioWare still has a long plan for its Dragon Age franchise.Dragon Age boss Mike Laidlaw told a fan on his team already had ideas for a 'theoretical' Dragon Age 5.' There is no planned ending for DA,' Laidlaw said, in response to a question asking if the fantasy role-playing series once had a set conclusion.' There is an evolving plan that tends to look two games ahead or so.' This long-planned focus is evident in the games themselves.
Dragon Age Inquisition's Big Bad Corypheus was first featured in Dragon Age 2 DLC. Meanwhile, Inquisition's excellent epilogue DLC Trespasser amply set up the forthcoming Dragon Age 4.' Thus, I could tell you what -could- be in a theoretical game five,' Laidlaw continued, 'if there were a theoretical game four happening.' BioWare and EA have yet to formally announce Dragon Age 4 (which will likely be named something different when finally revealed), though it is an open secret the core Dragon Age team within BioWare have been working on the series' next project for some time.Eurogamer previously chatted about, of Sunless Sea fame. He didn't say the words Dragon Age 4 - but then he didn't really need to. It's reassuring to know BioWare has plans for the future of Dragon Age, after the rocky year the company has faced so far. Mass Effect Andromeda launched in March to underwhelming reviews.
Last month, BioWare's Montreal studio was formerly closed and its staff transferred elsewhere within EA. And while another Dragon Age is widely anticipated, BioWare has its head down on big new IP Anthem. Anthem is not due until next year, so it's unlikely we'll see the next Dragon Age until 2019.All of which means that story plans may well be changed, as new ideas surface. 'I strongly believe that if you try to hold to a rigid plan that is a decade old by the time you reach the end, you are wasting ops,' Laidlaw concluded.Let's hope we see the next Dragon Age sooner rather than later.
SPOILER WARNINGThis post talks about the end game events and so it will be full of spoilers. If you have not finished the game yet, I recommend skipping this post entirely. Unless of course you don’t care about getting spoiled, or Dragon Age for that matter.I have to say I really enjoyed the twist at the end of Dragon Age.
It was a very dramatic moment, more so because of my choices in the game. Depending on how you play the game, the last few scenes before the final battle may or may not be very emotionally charged.
What got me the most was Morrigans proposal and her ultimatum. But let me give you some background first.Throughout the game I relied on Morrigan to be my offensive mage. I used Wynne as a healer/buff specialist, my main as a tank and I speced Leliana as Assasin to act as my secondary tank and DPS. This worked extremely well, but Morrigan was always the lynchpin of all my strategies. Having two squishy mages in the company required me to do a lot of clever crowd control. I would always control Morrigan directly, and allow the rest of characters fall back on the tactics, unless I needed them to do something specific.
I got pretty good at freezing enemies, putting them to sleep and otherwise cock-blocking their advances using magic. As a result, the bitchy, selfish witch of the wilds was my most important character in the whole company.
If Wynne was incapacitated, I could still survive healing my characters with potions. If I had to leave Leliana in camp, I could still win most of the combats – I would just have to forget about opening any closed chests. But whenever I lost Morrigan things would become bad real fast. Oh hai Morrigan, so nice to see you in my room. I'm totally hoping you are not going to betray me, break my heart and totally fuck everything up for me.To put it plainly, I needed her. I needed her very badly. Without Morrigan, there would just be no final battle.
Without offensive magic the Archdemon would easily walk over my party. Not only that, but she grew on me. Most people hate Morrigan but I sort of enjoyed bringing her along on all the missions.
Not everything she said was stupid or annoying. Sometimes Morrigan was a much needed voice of reason. Sometimes she was just amusing, always trying to be as unpleasant as possible. In fact, I loved the scene when she admitted that despite her best efforts, she inexplicably fell in love with me and that it is stupid, disgusting and irresponsible.
Then she gave me a ring that would allow her to stalk me, and make sure I’m not sleeping around or anything. Oh, Morrigan – creepy, evil to the core, but you got to love her.Imagine my shock when she approached me with her insidious deal the night before the final battle. Actually, shock is a wrong word here.
It’s not like I was surprised. It was a very Morrigan thing to do. I half expected her to do something evil at one point or another. So I was not surprised when she offered the deal. At any other time I would just brush it off and tell her to go to hell. But she picked the exact moment when I needed her. She knew that I had to give in to her, and so did I.
There was just no other way. I fucking needed that bitch, relied on her and she played me like a pawn for her own selfish needs.You see, at the end of the game it is revealed that only a Gray Warden can kill the Archdemon (aka. The final boss). If anyone else was to slay the beast, it’s soul would simply enter the body of the nearest Darkspawn and immediately transform into it’s true dragon like form and continue fighting. The thing was virtually immortal, and unstoppable.
Gray Wardens however found a way to kill it. They would expose themselves to the taint, and become part Darkspawn themselves. As a result, the Gray Warden delivering a killing blow on the Archdemon would technically be the closest Darkspawn. But unlike true Darkspawn who are mindless beasts and empty vessels, a Gray Warden would have a soul, and could not be taken over by the Archdemon. Instead the attempt to do so would destroy both the Archdemon and the Gray Warden who killed it. In other words, the only way to destroy an Archdemon was to sacrifice a Gray Warden.You as a player have a choice to sacrifice yourself, or Alastair (or Loghain if you spared his life earlier).
In my play through I killed Loghain and convinced Alastair to marry Queen Anora. He was going to be the king, and preserve the royal dynasty and hopefully keep the shifty queen from doing something stupid. The people needed him, and let’s face it – I genuine liked the character. I knew I couldn’t let him sacrifice himself – even though he wanted to.
I made the decision to kill the fucking Archdemon myself before I even left the room. I was determined to be a hero and a martyr – to die a heroic death.Then Morrigan approached me with her proposition. She offered to save my life in exchange for a little favor. She knew this ancient ritual that would allow her to “capture” the soul of the Archdemon. All I had to do was to impregnate her that night. Do to the fact that I was a Gray Warden the baby would be tainted, and thanks to the ritual it would act as a vessel for the Archdemon. Upon delivering the final blow, the demons soul would seek out the unborn baby and enter it instead of me.
Morrigan would then leave and raise the baby on her own. This is probably the one time during the game that you actually should not sleep with Morrigan.In other words, the Wicked Witch of the Wilds wanted me to help her create some super mutant baby with a soul of an old god. Some sort of an abomination hybrid, that would be not only scary but also insanely dangerous. She wanted me to allow her – the half-feral, half-insane, deranged, despicable evil bitch to raise this super powered demigod on her own. It was crazy.
More than that – it was fucked up. There was no way I could agree to such a bargain. It would be irresponsible and stupid to say the least. It would cheapen everything that we have accomplished up until this point.It was a cowards way out. No noble hero would ever agree to such a deal. It was like selling your soul to the devil. What good would it do to defeat the Archdemon and survive if Morrigan was to give birth to that same evil, and likely unleash it upon the world once again in few short years.
Hell, the reborn Archdemon would probably be worse than the original. It would now have human form that it could hide in and years of tutelage under Morrigan that would allow it to blend in among humans. So naturally, I declined and Morrigan told me to bring Alistair to her room instead. She would try to get him to make the deal.Fucking whore!Seriously, I actually got angry at her for doing this. I really liked the idea of her softening up a bit by traveling with my character, and perhaps starting to appreciate normal human relationships. But she was determined to go through with it – despite anything that might have transpired between us in the past. And if no Gray Warden agreed to fuck her that night, she would simply leave.Yes, my main offensive mage.
The linchpin of most of my battle strategies. The one person I desperately needed for the encounter with the Archdemon would simply walk on us. Without her, we would die. Buy side vs sell side.
Harriman Dragon Age 2
Well, not die – but the final battle would be very hard and very annoying. She knew that full well, that bitch. I could either agree to her fucked up deal, or forget about ever even reaching the Archdemon and saving the world.
She played me, and I could do nothing to stop her.Reluctantly, I agreed. I felt dirty, betrayed and angry. Also guilty as hell. During the end game celebration I could not stop from thinking how fucked up this whole thing was. Everyone was congratulating me on my heroic deed, and thanked me for saving them. If they only knew what I did.
I didn’t save them. I actually doomed them all. But there was nothing I could do. I had to smile, wave to the adoring crowds and play the role of the Hero of Ferelden for the time being. But I knew that sooner or later Morrigan would show up again. I only hoped I had enough strength left by then to fix my mistake and kill that unholy hellspawn we created if and when it became a threat. Alistair delivers an inspiring speach, while my character feels dirty for making the deal Morrigan.Few games have caused such an emotional response in me.
I guess this is a testament to the excellent writing that went into this title. Bioware deserves kudos for designing such a deliciously evil twist at the very end of the game.
This whole exchange with Morrigan is what did it for me. That one instance turned Dragon Age it from a good game to a great game. Morrigan forcing me to do this creepy deal is probably going to be one of the more memorable moments in my gaming career. Seriously, I can’t remember when was the last time a game actually made me throw my hands up in the air and curse one of the characters out as if they were real and could hear me.Of course, if I chose to play a mage character this scene would have much less impact. As a mage, you I would likely spec my character for offensive magic making Morrigan completely redundant. Having her leave before the final battle would not be game breaking.
Hell, it probably wouldn’t even be that meaningful. I’d probably say “good riddance” and just continued with my plan of becoming a heroic martyr. But that’s not what I did, and I’m happy that the things unfolded the way they did. It made Morrigan insidious, manipulative and truly memorable character despite her many annoying qualities.What did you choose during that scene? Did you refuse her offer?
And if you did, how did it impact the end game content? Let me know in the comments. I chose to let Loghain sacrifice himself as a way to redeem himself, it’s the only fitting end. Alistair is still alive though unable to claim the crown (this was the boon I asked of Anora), and still whiny as usual (no I won’t let him join us so he can die instead of us! Oh wait).Obviously the fact that you depended a lot on Morrigan for your battles gave her proposition an unexpected twist. My first playthrough was with an offensive mage and Morrigan seldom had an use in my party (mostly Wynne, Zevran, Sten), so I had no problem letting her leave and didn’t miss her one bit.On my second playthrough (human warrior), I took her deal because I was playing the ‘evil’ way (side with reavers, werewolves, templars, behlen and keep the anvil), and it seemed fitting to be the father of a god child and king of the country so that she meets a few armies of templars on her way out;).
Good lord did I go through the same moral conundrum!! The only difference was that I was playing an entirely “morally sound” playthrough and didn’t have Morrigan along for much of anything (although I wanted to).What made the decision difficult for me was that I had a romance with Leliana, and Morrigan knew it. After I began selecting lines that were questioning and rejecting her offer, she played the card of how I was going to leave Leliana a widow!! She was right!! Was it fair to my woman to knowingly (and selfishly??) give my life for the good of all Ferelden??I burned a hole in my carpet pacing, trying to figure out what was the “best” option for my heroic, selfless dwarven Warden.I ended up talking to Alistair and convincing him (which is GREAT dialogue “Okay, let’s go and get this over with.”), but when I brought him to Morrigan, it gives you the option of saying forget it. And I did indeed forget her proposal. Morrigan got angry and left.
I brought the armies to save the day at (the Battle of Minas Tirith / Mount Doom) Denerim, and yes, subsequently perished. But at least Alistair knows that I had had an out and chose not to take it!Leliana, by the way, was heartbroken. The story was written that she sang a world-renowned ballad about her loss and then she left after one memorable performance, saying she will see her love once again. (What does that mean??).
@:Yeah, I talked to Alastair too and it was hilarious. But then he was so crushed by what I was asking him to do, I told him to forget it. I just couldn’t go through with it. Also, I really didn’t want Alastair to sacrifice himself – especially since I did all this work to install him as a king, and marry him off to Anora. Yeah, he didn’t think he would be a good leader, but I was convinced that he would do fine. He would lead the armies and she would tend to state business.
Also, I didn’t want his “first time” to be with Morrigan.I also was in relationship with Lelianna and this just added the insult to the injury. I really felt dirty for spending the last night before the big battle with the evil witch instead of her.Then again, the ending was actually heart warming for me – but bittersweet. Alastair became the king, and Anora was his queen. Wynne became a court adviser to the crown and my character got Arl Howe’s land properties and settled down with Lelianna.You actually get to talk to all your party members one last time before you exit the palace to wave at adoring crowds who from now on call you “The Hero of Ferelden”.
Oh man, I’m with you, this rubbed me the wrong way all over.This just happened to me 10 minutes ago and now I’m just like “screw it”. I told Allistair he didn’t have to fuck anyone he didn’t want to.I’m so sorry you didn’t get your pity fuck, Morrigan.I’ve played straight through this game the last few days, and just like you, I put a lot of responsibility on Morrigan to hold the line.Now she goes and lets me down when I need her the most.What a whore. I came straight to google and typed “morrigan left me what a bitch” and came up with this.I don’t even feel like finishing the game. It’s worth it. The bittersweet ending that you get when you give in to Morrigian was quite emotional for all kinds of reasons.:)@:Actually, same here – I messed around with Morrigan at the beginning, but then broke up with her and romanced Lelianna. But I think there is a glitch in the game (or maybe it’s intentional) that if you keep giving presents to Morrigan she can still fall in love with you even after you break up with her.So Morrigan actually confessed her love to me and gave me that creepy stalker ring (funny scene actually) while I was shagging up with the bard girl.:). I actually really liked Morrigan!
If you consider that she was raised without human company (other than Flemeth, which you can’t count) and totally brought up under the influence of a Maleficar (who taught her what was right/wrong) she’s actually very nice. She’s just suspicious and shy with a huge front to protect her heart. Most of the time she was the sensible voice. I love her she won’t be decieved by fade demons. The girl is razor sharp.I used her in my main party. I was a rogue (more lethal than a warrior if well built, I found! 70+ per hit backstab & much faster).
I had Wynne for healing (bloodmage- via unlock cheat, I didn’t negotiate with the demon), myself (assassin duelist rogue), Alistair (templer/reaver – again via unlock, I didn’t want to make Wynne leave) and Morrigan (arcane/bloodmage – raven respec to get rid of useless shapeshifter).Morrigan was by far my weakest regular party member. I mainly used her to dish out the big crowd control spells at the start of a fight and then didn’t worry too much if she died and Wynne had to resurrect other people as higher priority.So I essentially played a good character. I used mods to unlock the specs that I’d have to be bad to unlock. I made all the good moral choices up until Morrigan made her offer.HERE’S WHY YOU SHOULD ACCEPT HER OFFER!!!!– It’s all about Dragon Age: (sequel to origins).
You can always restore to a save point just before the offer and try all the endings, so you should only care about your decisions in the file you want to carry over to DAO2!– If you die yourself, how are you going to play the sequel? Mass Effect 2 also lets you have an ending where you die (albeit that’s a failure ending). Bioware has leaked that you will not be able to play ME3 with that file. This is probably the same.– If you let Alistair die, that’s contect you will miss out on in ME3– If Morrigan doesn’t get her own way, she probably won’t do much in the sequel since she’ll dislike you. She could show up as an enemy, but I’m guessing she’s a smaller feature if present at all.– If Morrigan gets to have this god mutant baby (original poster forgot that Morrigan explained the baby will be an Old God, not an Archdemon, if you believe her but I haven’t found her to lie then for sure that will add content to the next game! I want to see what happens with the god.
I’m guessing Morrigan either uses it to bind Flemeth into it somehow (maybe under her control) or else she “does a Flemeth” and kills her baby to steal it’s all powerful god body. Whatever the story it will be added content! Oh and I forgot to add.
What an awesome twist for the male characters (I was female, married Alistair. He screws Morrigan and I, his girlfriend, had to tell him to do it! Lucky I’d already popped his cherry).By awesome twist for the guys, I mean that not only did you give Morrigan everything she wanted, when she was possibly already in love with you, but you are the father of her god baby! That’s going to allow for some awesome storylines in the sequal. I’m guessing Morrigan wants power and uses some evil intent with this baby to get it, but she’s going to have a big soft spot for the demon mutants’ Daddy! They could do sooo much with that! I played through the whole thing as a girl.
I had a relationship with Allistair and I more or less screwed myself over by killing Loghain at Allistair’s request, (without the knowledge that he could be the very sacrifice I needed). Then, I furthermore screwed myself over by refusing Morrigan’s offer because I got too emotionally involved in the game. So anyways, I got to that point today, and I got interrupted before I could beat the Archdemon and I don’t know how it ends, but I’m pretty sure either I’m gonna die or Alistair is gonna die. If there’s a Dragon Age 2, and the file will carry over, I’ll just go through the game again and beat it the way I want things to be in the new file, I suppose. Oh, God, this decision. I literally sat in front of my laptop for a good fifteen minutes to half an hour.
My character was (is, still playing through the end battle) set to marry Alistair, they’re all lovey dovey and cute (somewhere along the way she developed an actual personality that is quite like his, though she seems to enjoy leadership much more than he does) and I really did NOT want either of them to die, for many reasons. One, the obvious attachment. Two, because then there would be no Kingagain. And three, because in character importing I trust. She cannot die.So, I accepted, cringing all over the place, and through my Warden’s amazing powers of persuasion he agreed to it.
And it’s funny, because in all conversations with Morrigan from then on, it’s like both characters have an unspoken understanding of just what a troublesome devil child he/she will be, and how my Warden WILL kill it and Morrigan if need be.I hope it’s needed in the future, good Lord do I like the idea. I played a female mage, deeply in love with Alistair and always doing The Right Thing. Oh, was there really any option for me than to die??? Actually, around the Landsmeet, when I realised things were not going to be happy for my character, I read spoilers so that I could do the right choice Well, I just couldn’t decide for a couple of days!
And then I finally decided not to be a hero, put Anora to rule, accept Morrigan’s offer and just be happy with a love of my life. It is a game, right? No need to always do The Right Thing.But, well, obviously for my character that was life, not game. She just did what she felt was right, not what I was planning for her. So here am I – dead, Alistair is king. Hope he will find a good wife one day and will not torture himself thinking I could live if only he accepted to sleep with Morrigan. One last note: Morrigan’s ring allows you the option to go find the main character when he’s taken prisoner while helping Anora escape (if you end up there–I did both options as i’d fortunately saved the game before that came up).
You can either escape on your own and use subterfuge to get back to Eamon’s estate, or send Morrigan and others to come rescue you, as she has the locator ring. I also had the foresight (ok, greed–i purchased the Ring of Ages for spell resistance, and kept that and the dwarven Key to the City to buff myself) to give Morrigan back her ring before the final battle. So she’s out there, somewhere, and I.may.
have the chance to find her with that ring. When she gives it to you, you have a dialog option that asks her if it will work for you to find her. I player the game as an female elf mage (arcane warrior/ shapeshifter) and made no time for relationships (i’m an ass, no?) But it still shocked me the way morrigan betrayed me. I nearly had maxed out her approval rating and still she screws me over like that. I tried all possible options, but eventually, she leaves anyway. The worst partis that she wants a fuck with a dude after saying half the game that man are weak and that i as a woman had more gut than my other party members.
In fact, she doesn’t sleeps with women, never.So i chose to tell her to go fuck some guys someplace else, and what does she do? She calls me an IDIOT. I couldn’t believe what i was hearing. I saved her ass from being taken over by that abomanation mother of her and what do i get in return? No fuck, No help with the final battle (wich was pretty bad, because i used her a lot) and she calls me a fool? I chose the option “i should have killed you long ago” but she just ignores that and transforms in that stupid wolf. I COULDN’T EVEN KILL HER!Yet, i love her XD.
She’s pretty much the only caracter with the guts to screw me over, and even stronger, she got away with it BUT, there better be a caracter called Morrigan in dragon age 2 cuz’ i am going to torture her as long as i can. I love videogames:D. I was pretty shocked at that plot twist. Actually I was quite livid at Morrigan.I played as a male elven mage (blood mage/spirit healer).
Dragon Age 2 Plans For The Future Kids
Even though I didn’t need her, she left me in a dilemma.In the last half of the game, I used Morrigan less in my party and flat out refused her ritual request. (I would liked to have killed her on the spot. And I’m glad I let Flemeth live earlier.
SHE’S COMING FOR YOU MORRIGAN! BWAHAHAHAHA!)I was expecting a fight, but was surprised that she just left.
Good riddance.But I let Allistair sacrifice himself, rationalizing that he didn’t want to be king and here was his chance to escape that and be forever immortalized as a hero.I finished the final battle with Wynne, Shale and Allistair. Pretty easy fight. I finished this game six months ago and I’m STILL agonizing over the fact that I let Alistair sacrifice himself.
I had (dumbly) turned down Morrigan’s offer, mainly because I thought the final moments of the game would have another deus ex machina that would allow both Alistair and me to live. So, I told Morrigan to eff herself. Thankfully, Wynne had some offensive spells, and I was mostly able to keep her safe and casting resurrection spells on Leliana so she could fix the ballistrae.
It took me a few tries, but I finally got to the point of killing the Archdemon and realized Alistair or I was going to die. I spent at least 30 minutes agonizing over it. I wound up letting Alistair sacrifice himself since I figured sacrificing myself would screw up any chance of playing that character again in a sequel. It sucked, though. I played “Dragon Age: Origins – Awakenings” with a heavy heart every time Anora appeared instead of Alistair. Ya, I fucked her rotten. As a castless Dwarf I have no shame in it.
She was fucking good to. I even did her sweet little asshole with my thick Dwarven dick. I made her pay for her betrayal, and besides, my intention was to hunt her down and raise that child as my own, just as soon as I get a chance.
Fuck the pride of the wardens, Alistair is king anyway. You’re stupid if you think Morrigan wasn’t playing you from the start, just like that whore Anora who would have sucked Alistair’s dick just to be on the throne. After I find that cunt of a demon spawned witch, I’m going to feed her and her trollop of a mother to a fucking Revenant. My first playthrough, the PC was a two-handed warrior. The rest of the party was Alistair, Leliana (as archer), and Wynn (healer with crowd control spells). While as a player, I thought Morrigan was interesting, my character had little use for her and told her to bugger off. The only difficult fight was the Archdemon, and that only because I really didn’t have the tactics down too well (it never occurred to me to use them to force the party to focus fire, so they kept splitting off to kill darkspawn).
Still, after a little beatdown a few ballista bolts to the dragon, I wound up taking one for the team, leaving Alistair to rule the kingdom. It was in character for him to sacrifice his life to do the right thing, and the funeral wasmoving. Of course, my next playthrough, my PC romanced Morrigan, making it a much easier decision.:-)It looks like the story of the Warden is over for now, though, since DA2 features Hawke instead of him/her. Maybe we’ll see the warden again in DA3.
I was playing as a female elf mage. I’d broken off my relationship with Alistair when Zevran came along, but we were still good friends, so I convinced him to sleep with Morrigan.
It didn’t give me any qualms at all. I liked Morrigan. We’re both apostates and couldn’t stand Leliana’s Chantry crap.
I thought it was cool that Morrigan was going to have a god-child, and I fully expected it to be the hero of DA2. What a disappointment, but I’m crossing my fingers for DA3. Alistair married Anora and ate a lot of cheese, judging by his appearance in DA2, and Zevran and I went off to Warden’s Keep.
I didn’t think Gray Wardens could have children, so it gave me hope that Zev and I could have some little crazy elf kids.I don’t recall the final battle being particularly tough. I could deal a hell of a lot of damage at that point. Mages might be overpowered at the end of the game, but it makes up for all the wimpiness in the beginning.
Throughout the month of June, Blastr will be celebrating our favorite digital diversions with: A look at some best, worst and wackiest from the world of shooters, space sims, strategy games and more.I have a lot of “guilty pleasures” when it comes to entertainment, and video games are no exception. Whenever I bring up one of my favorite games, it becomes pretty clear many gamers don't feel the same way about it I do. This does not surprise me anymore, since it's Dragon Age II, a game that tends to spark a pretty strong reaction from many fans of the fantasy franchise created by BioWare. However, there are some times when I think the game is dismissed all too easily, even with its faults.Of course, you won’t find me denying the fact that DA II has many flaws that work against it. I honestly can’t stand them for the most part, either, whether it’s the recycled environments or the waves of enemies seemingly coming from nowhere.
Even with all of these issues, though, Dragon Age II is my favorite game in the series. I love Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Inquisition, and have played those games multiple times, but the second game has lured me back to replay it more times than the others. I just can’t get enough!Here are some of the main reasons why Dragon Age II won me over and that, to me, make it a game to revisit.The Location. Video of KdZYl4zCfnYIn my opinion, setting the game in one location was a great idea.
It was a refreshing change from so many of the games out there in which you have to travel around the world as you try to save it. I enjoy those, but it was nice to see a story told on a smaller scale, and I believe it worked well in the Dragon Age world.
Focusing on one city was a good way to offer a closer look at the tensions between mages and templars before they reached a breaking point that would impact the entire world. It made it easier to get to know the people on both sides and let players see not only how things changed between the two groups over time, but how the situation impacted the people and city around them.
By keeping the setting in Kirkwall and the surrounding area, you can get to know the city and its people on a more intimate level.Kirkwall never felt restrictive to me either even though we were there the entire game. That's thanks in large part to how they decided to have time pass and how they decided to structure the story.The Structure. Video of twLdx59ROa8Breaking up the story into three acts and having years go by in between added a layer of depth that you don’t get in a game in which not much time passes. Thanks to the years passing between acts, we might be in one place the whole game, but things change, so Kirkwall never feels boring.
Visual changes in the city aren’t as obvious, unfortunately, but other changes are. City politics, the relationships between characters, and Hawke’s personal situation are all allowed to grow in ways that you wouldn’t see, otherwise. Even with the rushed conclusion, I think this structure helped tell a really interesting story in which you get to see how certain choices you make lead to changes years later.I love how Varric is telling this entire story, as well. Not only does he explain what happens between acts, but the story is interrupted at other moments, too, in which he is embellishing or holding back something. For example, I love when Cassandra calls him out in the beginning of the game when he’s describing Hawke’s journey to Kirkwall and how he tries to get away with telling her something different about his personal quest in Act II, “A Family Matter.”.
Video of XbdlIKGH2ycWith Varric telling the story, it brings up some intriguing questions about it, too. Were there other things Cassandra didn’t catch that he wasn’t telling correctly?
Was he leaving something out that we might not learn about until future games? These thoughts raced through my mind during my first play-through and continue to help make it an entertaining game to play.The CharactersPerhaps the main reason I think Dragon Age II managed to become my favorite game in the series was the companions. I love how attached I feel to them by the end of the game.
The setting meant it felt like you really were living with these people over a period of time, getting to know them as you traveled together and visited each other at your respective homes. The structure meant you were able to see your relationship evolve with them over the course of years.
You can even get a sense of how your relationship with them continued in those intervening years between acts, despite not seeing it on screen. This comes across when chatting with each character towards the beginning of each act, as they talk about what they’ve been up to and even reference something here and there that happened to you both during that time.It’s also clear that, even when you’re not there, your companions have come to mean something to each other, since they’ve been brought together.
Whether it’s walking in on one character visiting another or hearing their banter as you explore, it shows how these companions are also close with each other, even if they might not all necessarily get along. This helps it feel like you’ve grown into a big, odd family by Act III.
Video of g57f2ErnwKIThe companions also offer a great mix of personalities, making the interactions with you and the other characters more interesting. Everyone from Merrill to yes, even Anders, adds something unique to the experience.
Of course, there’s also the fact that this game gave us Varric, my favorite of the companions. He may be in Inquisition, but in my opinion it’s in his original appearance that he truly shines.
He has amazing dialogue, is great in a fight, and it really feels like he can become best friends with your character.Even beyond the companions, I think many of the characters in the game are interesting, and I always become quite attached to my Hawkes. I think she’s a fascinating character and I love being able to see her progress through the years, from her connections to Ferelden and Origins at the start to her Kirkwall life and making a name for herself to become Champion at the end. I also tend to enjoy a voiced protagonist and loved what that added to the game. Is there anything better than the humorous, sarcastic Hawke dialogue?
Bioware used a PAX East panel a few days ago to talk about their plans for the next Dragon Age, which still isn't technically announced, even though Bioware have been dropping hints about it on and off. During the panel, hosted on, Dragon Age lead designer, Mike Laidlaw managed to navigate this strange realm of marketing doublethink to talk about the team's plans for the sequel without ever actually saying the words 'Dragon Age 3.' The talk centred around three bits of fan feedback, all of which Bioware are planning to address. The main requests from players were as follows: 'Stop reusing levels. Decisions that matter.
Equipment for followers.' .' Boy, those three came up,' said Laidlaw. 'Those three came up quite a bit.'
It's not clear where Dragon Age 3 will be set yet, but it certainly won't be Kirkwall. 'We're looking for variety, we're looking for space, we're looking for scope, we're looking for something cool, forgotten, hidden and lost,' said Laidlaw. 'If we really need to go somewhere urban, let's make sure it's not Kirkwall. Maybe let's go somewhere new, somewhere a little more. The panel didn't give away any story specifics, but Laidlaw hints that decisions made in previous Dragon Age games could have significant knock-on effects in the new game. Laidlaw also showed Bioware's ideas for customisable followers. The main challenge, he explained, is to allow players to add and remove armour pieces without ruining the unique visual identity of each character.Using some concept art to provide examples, Laidlaw demonstrated the middle ground that Bioware are currently aiming for.
He moved a chestplate between two different characters and showed how the design of the plate could adapt to fit the style of each warrior, retaining their silhouette and signature style. He argued that the strong visual identity is necessary to help players identify better with the heroes in their party, and to make those heroes easier to pick out on a busy battlefield.
He also mentions that the team are looking at letting players customise the colour and material of party members' clothing.Everything shown at the talk was very much work-in-progress, but it's a promising sign that the developers are paying close attention to fan feedback. Bioware have been doing a fair bit of that recently. They recently announced that they'll be releasing some DLC to clarify the game's controversial ending.
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