Mark Plays ‘Dragon Age: Origins’: Hour 3

In the third hour of Dragon Age: Origins, Morrigan surprises me, shit comes out of the ground to attack me, and then Cailan’s poor decision making fucks everything up. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to play Dragon Age: Origins.

Hour Three

WELL, NONE OF THIS WAS EXPECTED.

Let me first state that as soon as I started my third hour of gameplay, I realized I had actually earned more skill points to delegate; every time I went to the Select menu, I NEVER PRESSED X. I also need you all to know that such basic and simple mistakes will appear frequently in these posts because I am a baby at video games.

In just one hour, I advanced to level 5, killed all kinds of darkspawn foes, stole some shit, sassed my way through most of the story, and then cheered when Ser Jory died because HOLY SHIT HE WAS SO ANNOYING. And just when I got used to the game, Dragon Age: Origins introduced the PARTY SYSTEM, something I am wholly inexperienced with. (Apparently, it’s a lot like the Final Fantasy games? I DON’T KNOW THESE THINGS, I WAS JUST TOLD THIS.) While it’s going to take me a while to get used to this, the story being told in this game is REALLY, REALLY GOOD. Oh my god, let’s first talk about THE FADE and THE BLACK CITY. (lol Alanna lol) As soon as I headed for Duncan, I stopped briefly to talk to Wynne. I’m really obsessed with completion when it comes to video games. In fact, I made it a goal of mine to discover EVERY LOCATION ON THE MAP IN FALLOUT 3 just to earn that trophy. So as soon as I saw a secondary character I’d not spoken to, I knew that she would be worth my time, if only for the fact that my brain would be satisfied. The great part about this is that I otherwise wouldn’t have ever found out what The Fade was without talking to her! It’s not information offered up in the main plot of the game, at least not yet. So when the Tevinter Imperium tried to fuck with heaven and went into the Black City, they got cast out and EVERYTHING WAS MESSED UP. I imagine that this idea – that The Fade is connected to the darkspawn – actually might be important later on. If not, I appreciate that this info was given to me regardless.

At this point, I got my first major mission from Duncan: go out into the Korcari Wilds, get three vials of darkspawn blood, and find some treaties the Grey Wardens left behind because… yeah, that seems like a bad thing. You probably should have taken them with you. And while the path to the old ruins is generally straightforward, I liked that I got this huge area to explore. AND THEN THE FUCKING DARKSPAWN CAME OUT OF THE GROUND. Oh my god, I know that someone had mentioned before, but I didn’t really pay much attention to it? I SHOULD HAVE BECAUSE HOLY CRAP, THEY ARE COMING OUT OF THE GROUND. It was then that I realized that it’s really overwhelming to have to control a party. First of all, Ser Jory was the worst. Dude, just shut up and do what I say. I couldn’t stop complaining about him! So you can imagine my relief when he was later MURDERED BY THE JOINING. Anyway, this is something I’m going to work at getting used to. Like I said before, I’m discovering that you have to develop tactics for fighting your enemies, especially when they trick you into getting surrounded by their hoard. I’ve developed a specific technique in these cases:

Butt stabbing.

No, I’m seriously, for some Maker-only-knows reason, if I stab a Hurlock in the butt, I do full or double damage every time. Apparently, Hurlocks have weak butts? Look, I don’t know, but I also find this to be an incredibly funny element of the game, intended or not. I AM ROSLIN, SERIAL BUTT STABBER.

Morrigan shows up during this part of the story, and I’m incensed that I could not choose to abandon the Grey Wardens and go on adventures with her forever. Two sassy, badass ladies taking over the realm? Volumes of epic poetry would be written about us. Hell, include her mother, too, I don’t care. These characters are fantastic, and I definitely need to see more of them.

Providing further evidence that my compulsive wandering pays off, a flower I found on a log gave me in an in with the master of kennel, AND I’M PRETTY SURE HE’S GONNA GIVE ME A CUTE MABARI DOGGY TO HAVE AS A COMPANION. Holy shit, I love games that reward you for doing small side shit. IT’S SO ENTERTAINING. Plus, the Mabari totally looks like a combination between a pit bull and a hyena. It’s so cute.

After stealing the Tranquil’s stuff (DON’T CARE, I DON’T FEEL BAD ABOUT IT), I decided it was time to get on with the Joining. I expected a long, ridiculous ceremony after a bout of training. I assumed that this was what would happen because… well, how else could you become a Grey Warden? I knew I had to prove myself to Duncan, but never in a million years would I assume that the Joining meant YOU DRANK DARKSPAWN BLOOD AND THEN SURVIVED. Like, what the fuck??? I wasn’t too torn up about my previous companions dying (GOOD RIDDANCE, JORY, FOR REAL), but the serious nature of what had just happened was not lost on me. So, shit, now I can sense where darkspawn are because of this, right? Oh god, what other powers do I have?

I also managed to pick up the mission about that one guy’s last will and testament, but the back gate to the Korcari Wilds was locked, so I forced to continue with King Cailan’s horrific mission to go after the darkspawn. It was clear that Alastair wasn’t too happy being assigned grunt work, but I was satisfied just to hang out with that babe of a man. Right? Alistair rules. And then SHIT. GETS. REAL. Darkspawn have TAKEN OVER THE TOWER OF ISHAL. Oh god, this is going to be great. I’m thrust back into playing with a party, this time getting a Tower Guard and a Mage, who kept sending giant purple spheres of magic towards all the Hurlocks. Hey, my party got along much better without Jory. I think that’s a sign. HERE LIES SER JORY, NO ONE WILL MISS HIM AND HE DIED A TERRIBLE DEATH.

I hit an hour just as I got inside the Tower of Ishal, so I’ll save this terrifying tower until the next hour. I’m still continuing to build up Roslin as a super spy who loves stunning her victims. There are so many places to take my character! I don’t know that I’ll build up her archery skills just yet, but I figure I should do some preliminary stuff in case I need some long distance archery in the future. This is so terribly exciting!

Character Stats

Strength: 18
Dexterity: 18
Willpower: 14
Magic: 13
Willpower: 11
Constitution: 13

Heroic Stats

Kills: 33
Damage Deal: 3227
Friendly-fire damage dealt: 0
Greatest damage dealt: 27
Contribution to party damage: 73
Hit Rate: 79
Most powerful foe slain: Hurlock Alpha
Injuries: 0

Story

2:00:33: Wynne’s story
2:00:37: On Wynne
2:07:51: Level Up – 3
2:18:49: A last will and testament.
2:22:03: On young lovers of legend.
2:25:04: Level Up – 4
2:31:57: On Morrigan.
2:43:17: Level Up – 5
2:51:59: The Charge at Ostagar

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