Almost Done Playing: Dragon Age: Origins

Sadly, yet thankfully, I have finally reached the end of my Dragon Age journey. Well, nearly reached the end. In a very rare occurrence, I went to bed early last night. Super early. Like, soon as I got home from work, I laid down and was out for the night. That kind of early. That led to me waking up around 4:00 am this morning. Knowing that I could possibly finish Dragon Age before having to go back to work, I tempted fate and loaded it up. Had I not taken the time to eat a bagel, I probably could have finished it. Unfortunately, I had to quit just as I was about to face the final (presumably) enemy. Just when the getting was good!

It’s been a pretty great journey. One that I anticipate taking again and again just to see the different origins, play the different classes, and see the alternate outcomes my actions could have caused. I’m satisfied with the decisions I’ve made thus far. There have been some really weighty, difficult decisions the game has forced me to make. Decisions with no clear “right” answer. There was a particularly difficult one I had to make right before the climax that made me think for several minutes before I committed to an answer. I’m hesitant to see what the result of that will be. Knowing how things typically turn out in this game, I’m sure things are going to go horribly wrong.

This was enjoyable

The fact that things do usually end up going badly is kind of the only real flaw I can fault the game for. I love the dark, things don’t always turn out rosy, sensibility of the game. But after 70+ hours of things happening like that, the shock value of people dying, turning evil, etc., loses almost all of its effect. It ends up being more shocking when people who you think are evil turn out to maybe not be so bad after all (I still killed someone like that regardless; better safe than sorry).

This was awkward

In just a few more hours, I get to see how the game ends. I already know one of the main characters is going to leave my party by the end of it. It isn’t Alistair. At least, it won’t only be Alistair. He seems to want to see this through alongside me, which is great because he’s been one of the most useful characters in my party throughout the whole game. The person who I was told will leave hasn’t been useful to me at all, but it will still suck if she goes. Sorry to be vague, but I don’t want to spoil anything! Expect at least one post to follow this one by tomorrow, talking about what I thought of the game in general (but still without spoilers).

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