Mark Plays ‘Dragon Age: Origins’: Hour 24

In the twenty-fourth hour of Dragon Age: Origins, I think someone is falling in love with me, and I TOTALLY DESTROYED JARVIA. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to play Dragon Age: Origins.

Hour Twenty-Four

So I’ve seen a lot of comments around about romances in this game, and I didn’t want to spoil myself about how they happen. That means I didn’t look it up. That also means it wasn’t until this hour of gameplay that I realized I’d not only been missing out on romancing the people in my party, but that there was a SUPER EASY way of getting my approval ratings up. I DIDN’T KNOW, OKAY? But seriously, I don’t see this as a negative thing. More than anything I’ve ever written about before, this video game is truly about the discovery. It is not a book. It’s not a television show. It’s not like I have a defined path from Point A to Point B. This journey is going to be different for each one of us, and we’ll all get such drastically different stories.

Anyway, I figured out entirely by accident that this was an entire part of gameplay that I was missing out on. I was trying to pick up some dropped TREASURE from one of Jarvia’s thugs, and I ended up accidentally speaking to Morrigan. I figured that I might as well see what she has to say, and we openly talked about what it was like for her to grow up in the Korcari Wilds. It helped to contextualize why she acts the way she does around other people. Since it was just her and her mother, it’s not like she had much time to socialize or familiarize herself with human behavioral customs. While I still think she’s rude as hell, at least I understand her better. And then she was nice to me. Like, really nice to me, thanking me for complimenting her, and her approval went up 11 POINTS. AT ONCE. I checked her character page, and her approval of me was nearly in the highest little section. And when I asked her some questions later in the hour, she dropped her sarcasm and was more than a little willing to open up to me. OMG, and her comment about the two things men are always willing to believe about women (that they’re weak and that they’re attracted to every guy) was SO BRILLIANT. Like, I don’t know if she’s a character who actually can fall in love with me, but it’s a neat feature! Obviously, I’d prefer it if my eternal queen, Wynne, fell for me, but I can’t be too picky. I’ll take what I can get!

This convinced me that I should also dedicated a conversation or two to both Wynne and Alistair, AND THEY BOTH APPROVED OF ME EVEN MORE. Wynne in particular was happy that I asked her about the future of the Circle and what that meant to her. She drew a direct parallel between how Roslin was treated as an elf of the Alienage and how those she respected and grew up with in the Circle were treated just as derisively for who they are. Yeah, Wynne, you’re awesome. In Alistair’s case, we spoke of the purpose of templars, his lack of an addiction to lyrium, and how much he missed Duncan. I offered to go with him for a post-war funeral for Duncan, and then he gained +6 approval points, too! Oh shit, can my character be polyamorous? THAT WOULD BE AWESOME. I AM GOING TO PURSUE THIS.

The entire hour, I was in the carta hideout, battle thugs and evildoers, with my end goal being the utter destruction of Jarvia. I noticed that there were a few boxes or chests full of these weird items that gave me injuries? WTF THAT’S NOT FAIR. I don’t like being tricked! But this whole area was full of surprises. Surprise spiders descending from the ceiling of the cave and scaring the hell out of me. I found Jammer’s Stash Box (SO MUCH MONEY!!!), and then WHAT THE FUCK ARE THOSE TINY DINOSAUR CREATURES??? I couldn’t interact with them, the game gave me no name for them, and what the fuck were they??? Ugh, game, you are teasing me with your eternal mysteries! I mean, there were those creepy stone rhinos in that area in the hideout, too. What the fuck?

Jarvia was initially difficult, but I was a lot more thoughtful during my second attempt to take her down. I hadn’t seen the men she had hiding behind her and the group of fire traps that were set. My second time around, I made sure to disable one side of the traps, kill the archers and thugs back there, and then switch to Morrigan so that she could use Mind Blast and Walking Bomb, WHICH RULE MY LIFE. THEY ARE SO FUN.

But we need to talk about Alistair, who is taking after Sten. First of all, he triggered three fire traps, setting himself and Wynne on fire each time. I’ve noticed they stick together a lot. THEY LIKE EACH OTHER, RIGHT? Anyway, I was irritated, yes, especially since I had to keep switching to Alistair so he’d actually take a health poultice. And after we killed Jarvia and everyone else in the hideout, Alistair TRIGGERED ANOTHER FIRE TRAP ON OUR WAY OUT. It wasn’t even directly in his path!!! It was off to the side, JESUS CHRIST. Alistair, do I need to sit you down and explain how fire works?

My party exited the hideout and ended up in Janar’s shop. WHOOPS, WE MADE A WHOLE IN HIS WALL. He was super pissed about this, but then I just traded with him, and ALL WAS WELL. So easy to please!

I didn’t get a chance to return to Lord Harrowmont to win his favor because my hour ran up just after exiting Janar’s shop. I’ll save this for the next hour, and then it’s time for THE STONE PRISONER DLC! EXPECT VIDEOS, since I’ve been commissioned for it! VICTORY.

My Character Stats

Strength: 26+2
Dexterity: 25+6
Willpower: 20
Magic: 14
Cunning: 18
Constitution: 24

Heroic Stats

Kills: 414
Damage dealt: 82625
Friendly-fire: 0
Greatest damage dealt: 90
Contribution to party damage: 35
Hit rate: 85
Most powerful foe slain: Piotin
Injuries: 17 (WHOOPS MAYBE I SHOULDN’T HAVE OPENED ALL THOSE CHESTS AND TAKEN THINGS WHOOPS)

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