Mark Plays ‘Dragon Age: Origins’: Witch Hunt DLC – Part 3

In the third and final part of the Witch Hunt DLC, I face a horrifying creature, dragons, cultists, and then I’m cliffhanger’d. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to play Dragon Age: Origins.

Witch Hunt – Part 3

This is great and awful and terrifying and sad and I should have expected one single hour of gameplay to give me so many conflicting feelings all at once.

Finn immediately started to complain to Ariane about the deep oppression he was experiencing because he couldn’t do this:

Finn, I don’t know if you’re aware of this, but you live in a pseudo medieval universe where dragons and werewolves exist, there’s constant bloodshed, and life is a brutal exercise in violence and power. I’m pretty sure if you started peeing on everything, no one would bat an eye. Honestly!

The design of the Dragonbone Wastelands is incredible. I love the color schemes; I adore that it’s this fascinating mix between a green-blue landscape and the ruins of something far more ominous. Honestly, look how cool this looks!

So why are there lighted dragon skulls everywhere? Oh shit, did I just kill someone called a Cultist? Oh, fuck, is this Haven all over again? It’s never good news to come across a cult! Never! So… they worship dragons, right? Hence the dragon bones everywhere?

Oh god, what is this place? Why does it look like this? What is this pla–

IS THAT A THING UP THERE? WHAT IS THAT THING UP THERE? OH MY GOD, IS IT MOVING? I SWEAR TO YOU, I JUST SAW IT MOVE. NO, I AM NOT ENTERING THIS FUCKED UP ARENA. YOU CANNOT MAKE ME. Oh damn it, I guess I have to.

Fuck this. It creeps my soul out, y’all. The Varterral is almost as horrifying as the broodmother. I hate the way it moves! I hate that shrieking noise it makes! Oh my god, the elves created this thing to act as a guardian? You know, if this was real life, I would just turn and run away. I don’t even care if that would make me a coward. Did you see this thing??? And THEN A BUNCH OF DRAGONS SHOWED UP.

As if this Varterral beast isn’t enough, there are dragons. I mean, I should have just assumed that, given that the word “dragon” is in the very name of this location. Still! Isn’t the Varterral bad enough? It took me nearly 20 minutes to defeat this thing. It wasn’t particularly hard, and no one in my party died. It’s just that it kept jumping around and knocking everyone down on the ground. So it was just time-consuming to beat. Once I did this, though, I headed straight for the giant castle/tower in the background. Oh, it’s called the “Center of Power” when you walk up to it, and it’s called “The Nest” on the map. Neither of these things sound comforting. What the fuck uses this place as a nest???

Oh shit, what is this???

NO, WHAT IS THAT? IS THAT THE MIRROR? OH MY GOD, Morrigan is there!!! This entire journey had finally led me to her. But what’s she doing in front of the Eluvian? Why is she touching it? Oh god, I’ve gotten this all wrong, haven’t I?

And so begins one of the most confusing and frustrating parts of my entire Dragon Age experience. Initially, this wasn’t the case. Clearly, Morrigan was searching for something, and this “portal” would take her there. I assumed that I’d have a few options at this point, and I’m sure they actually exist, but there is where I had a problem. Despite that my ending of Dragon Age: Origins involved me agreeing to Morrigan’s ritual, she insisted that I betrayed her. No matter what I said, she kept saying that I didn’t help her out. But… I did??? Then she starts warning me about Flemeth, about what’s coming in the future, tells me she left me a “gift” and then SHE STEPS IN THE MIRROR AND DISAPPEARS. The credits roll, and I started shrieking at the game. WAIT. WHAT. THAT CANNOT BE THE END! The game cuts back to me standing as if I just entered The Nest, and I don’t have whatever Morrigan gave me in my possession. Even more confusing, the game saved as if I had never spoken to her. Trying a different technique, I was able to give this a second go, only to be given the same result: Morrigan refused to tell me what was going on because I betrayed her. What the fuck, NO I DID NOT. To give you an idea how much this frustrated me, I Googled a walkthrough of this mission. Yeah, I DON’T EVER DO THIS. But after three attempts with the same ending, I couldn’t stand this. What was I doing wrong? Why would the game reset after her conversation???

I discovered that it’s a console bug. OH. GREAT. So I still don’t know what’s going on, I don’t know if I can have the option of following Morrigan through the Eluvian, and I don’t know if the point of this DLC is to cliffhanger me into oblivion. Oh god, what’s going on?

Regardless, I had a great time with Witch Hunt. Starting Monday, I’m going to do Awakenings! I found a copy of it at GameStop for $8, and that’s way cheaper than the $40 in the PSN. Oh god, EXCITE. After that, I’ll tackle the three other DLC, then MASS EFFECT TRILOGY OH MY GOD.

Mark Links Stuff

– You can follow me on Twitter for any updates and live commentary on upcoming reviews I’m writing.
– You should read this very important post about supporting Mark Does Stuff!
– Video commissions are just $25! You can commission me to read, watch, or play anything for current, past, or upcoming projects right here!
– I have just released Mark Reads Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince for $4.99!
– I’ve started reading The Shoebox Project for Mark Reads, the first fanfic “series” I’ve ever covered!
– Both Mark Reads Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince are now available in paperback form!