A new Dragon Age game is supposed to be coming out this year. I say “supposed” because delays are to be expected with things like this. Delays or no, a new Dragon Age is coming, so that means I need to replay the series to establish my canon playthrough for Dreadwolf. It’s like the law – new Dragon Age game, new canon playthrough or you’re going to jail, buster.
This time however, I found myself in a peculiar situation. Due to personal circumstances, I did not have access to my gaming PC for this run, so I found myself playing on my Xbox. Something I have not done since the Awakening expansion first released. So, this won’t just be my thoughts on Dragon Age: Origins and 2 after not playing them to completion since preparing for Inquisition’s release, but also my first time playing the games on console since before DA2 even released.
It was a mixed experience for sure. The games still hold up narratively, this was the tail end of golden age Bioware after all. Gameplay was a little more questionable.
Origins is meant to be played on PC, full stop. The console ports do the best job they can, but the importance of positioning in the combat system presupposes use of the tactical camera, and I was playing a dual wielding rogue so that importance was amplified (at least until I got to a high enough level that my abilities could negate that concern).
Playing on normal, none of that was more than a mild annoyance, and I always take the time to customize my party members’ AI so I can focus on my character as much as possible. I almost think I would prefer Dragon Age as a more action focused game like God of War mixed with Mass Effect, but I just started Inquisition which does play more like that and I’m already chafing against its mechanics.
All this is to say that the best part of Origins gameplay is really missing from the Xbox version and while playing I found myself wishing I was on PC.
I also found myself hoping for a remaster I know will never come, because Origins is not a pretty game. I am not a graphics snob, but Origins–particularly on console–is a muddy, blurry visual experience. It’s like reading a comic with amazing writing, but plain-but-sufficient art… and the pages keep giving you papercuts.
Overall, I still enjoyed my experience, but it felt like the game itself was getting impatient and prodding me to leave, as once I reached the expansion and post game dlcs, difficulty plummeted. “Hurry along now,” Origins said, “it’s time to visit Kirkwall.”
Speaking of Kirkwall, most of the pains of playing Origins on console after years of playing on PC were reflected in DA2 like a proper mirror image. I had never played more than a few minutes of DA2 on console before this. I sort of regret it now. The game was clearly geared more toward console play with a greater focus on controller movement and a shift away from tight positioning tactics.
I literally won the 1v1 against the Arishock by running in a figure eight and hitting him with miasmic flasks/twin stikes until he died. That would have been annoying with keyboard and mouse. With a controller I only had to deal with the little voice in my head calling me a wimp for running around in circles.
Screw you, inner voice. I won, the Arishock died.
Playing the game on console, I was left only with the handicapped design choices from the rushed dev cycle. Limited and heavily reused maps, limited enemy types and fights that up the difficulty by just throwing more people at you, no armor customization for your companions, etc.
Most of these only mildly annoyed me. I wish I could change my party members’ armor or that there were more than two cave maps, but what I enjoy about the game is the atmosphere.
I think DA2 is the most Dragon Age of the series, if that is a sentence that can even make sense. Origins is heavily inspired by Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movie adaptations, with epic music and massive armies led by a small fellowship fighting the good fight against a pure, unsympathetic evil. Inquisition is heavily inspired by Game of Thrones with its grounded art style and focus on political backstabbing and an encroaching apocalypse. DA2 is the only entry in the trilogy that stands purely as Dragon Age, having given the series its distinctive art style after Origins was somewhat generic. At the very least, if DA2 is heavily inspired by anything, it is something I’ve never seen, and so, to me, this is Dragon Age.
In DA2, you are just a person trying to survive and prosper in the world of Thedas. You have a group of friends you pal around with or annoy. Everything is very personal, because you make Kirkwall your home, then you defend Kirkwall from an outside force, then you watch Kirkwall tear itself apart from the inside and you can do nothing but try to land on your feet after the slide into chaos. Hawke may be the least customizable of the three (to four) protagonists of Dragon Age, but their story is the most relatable.
I really do think that if DA2 had been given more time in development, it would be considered the greatest of the series. It had so much potential—few modern mainstream RPGs tell such a personal story these days. This is something I think it shares with Baldur’s Gate 3, because while Baldur’s Gate 3 does drag the player into a much larger conflict, it keeps it personal because you (and most of your companions) will die if you don’t fix this problem. DA2 is about watching your home fall apart despite your best efforts and BG3 is about fighting against the fantastical equivalent of terminal cancer. They are presented through a fantasy lens, but they show an emotional journey that most of us can relate to.
As I make my way through Inquisition now, I find myself missing elements of both these games (particularly the AI tactics system). Dragon Age is a series that is constantly changing, for better or worse. I’m holding my breath for what Dreadwolf will bring, as it might be Bioware’s last shot. In any event, I’m glad I decided to replay the series before Dreadwolf, even if it is legally required, because these are good-if-flawed games with a rich world that I would hate to see disappear. Given the current state of the video games industry, however, who knows what will happen.
The Estesian Language 