Mark Plays ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ – Hour 7

In the seventh hour of Dragon Age: Origins, I battle werewolves, a hermit mage, and figure out I still have no idea what I’m doing. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to play Dragon Age: Origins.

Hour Seven

I don’t think I advanced the plot much this hour, but that’s okay. I have no knowledge of the scope of the story or how far along I am in DA:O, but I get the sense that I’m actually rather far along for playing for only seven hours. Because of that, I took far more time to actually explore the Brecilian forest and figure out what the hell I was doing with a full inventory. I’d gotten so used to just picking up everything and selling it as soon as possible that I wasn’t paying much attention to some of the smaller items I’d gotten along the way. I feel like Dragon Age: Origins is made for a fairly specific person. They have to be detail-oriented, and they have to be able to keep track of a lot of shit at the same time. Did anyone else find this intimidating or unwieldy? I think some of you were probably used to a game like this, but I’ve never played anything so complicated. I think it’s a testament to the game that despite feeling overwhelmed, I’m not bored by this game at all. It’s not limiting my excitement or joy to have to deal with this stuff. But it does make me feel like… hmm. Not smart? Like I totally missed out on this huge important thing that everyone knows and I’m left in the corner making buttstab jokes to Alistair? Not that I want to stop making those jokes.

I guess what I’m saying is that I’m glad I can imbue so much of myself into this game without necessarily having to constantly worry about RPG strategy to the point that I’m lost in the minutia of menus and tactics. I am trying to actively read as much as I can, including all the codexes that I pick up, but at the end of the day, I just want to explore things and then stab them. In the butt. Over and over again.

I spent nearly all sixty minutes in the forest save for the moment when I stopped back at the Dalish camp to sell a bunch of stuff, tell that one dude that his wife was TOTALLY DEAD, and then head back to the forest. Otherwise, I did a lot of reading. Then I tried to fight that hermit mage for the Grand Oak’s acorn, and he royally kicked my ass, so I traded him for Danyla’s scarf. TOTALLY FAIR TRADE, right? An acorn for a scarf. Only in this game would that actually happen. I acquired that magical thing that allowed me to pass through the Forest Barrier, and then…

what

what???

I expected an all-out werewolf battle. Initially, that’s what seemed to happen! But then the werewolves started retreating. Okay. I’ll follow. Then I opened another gate and they continued to retreat. They disappeared into a giant building marked “Ruins” and I am 100% done with this. You’re going to lead me into a building called, “Ruins”? Man, this is how every white person is killed in horror movies. WHY MUST YOU DO THIS TO ME? There is no way I’m going in there.

Oh, I have to? There’s no other way? Shit. I swear, as soon as I opened the door and it auto-saved, my hour timer went off. WHAT THE FUCK, STOP CLIFFHANGING ME! Ugh, this is my own fault, but I’ll still get mad. So, have the werewolves really broke their curse? Or am I going to have to kill them all? I’M NERVOUS. Actually, I’m also nervous about all those gravestones I keep finding. For the record, I disturbed none of them. After I get tricked in that weird sleeping camp by the Great Shade earlier in the hour, I am fucking with absolutely zero mystical things. I learn quickly! So I’m leaving them unturned. However, I just walked into a building (willingly!) that’s probably full of werewolves. I am a smart person.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings!

My Character Stats

Strength: 21
Dexterity: 18+1
Willpower: 15
Magic: 13
Cunning: 16
Constitution: 15

Heroic Stats

Kills: 56
Damage Dealt: 8693
Friendly-fire: 0
Greatest damage dealt: 34
Contribution to party damage: 27
Hit rate: 85
Most powerful foe slain: Wild Sylvan
Injuries: 0

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