Tag: Videogames

Binary Thoughts (Not a Review!) on Dragon Age: Origins Awakening

As many of you know, I’ve been playing the Dragon Age: Origins Awakening expansion pack for the last week…sometimes at the expense of sleep. Most Dragon Age fans will love it, but newcomers should stick to the original. While I had loads of fun playing it and enjoyed it so much that I decided to give it a second run instead of getting back to Final Fantasy XIII, it definitely had some issues. Using Augustine’s binary system, here are some thoughts (not a review!) on Dragon Age: Origins Awakening.

Good: That characters are fantastic. Oghren steals the show with some outstanding humor. I also enjoyed what Anders, Justice, Nathaniel, and Sigrun brought to the table from a storytelling perspective. The only character I didn’t care for was Velanna. She trumped Morrigan in the “angry magic bitch” department, but didn’t possess any of her sultry charm. For the most part, the writing and voice acting behind the companion characters was extremely well done.

Bad: There are no romances for you to enjoy in the game! Courting Leliana and Morrigan was so much fun in the original Dragon Age. If you’re into bisexual elf assassins or bastard nobles, you could get with Zevran or Alistair. I was extremely disappointed that there are no romances available in Awakening. Perhaps “taming” Velanna would have made her more interesting.

Good: The new specializations, skills, and talents are fun to play around with. While I didn’t think much of keeper and legionnaire scout specializations, the rest were pretty fun and useful. As for skills, being able to craft runes is pretty cool and I like that there were some quests that required rune crafting/potion making. All in all, the expansion added plenty of great ways to expand your characters. Oh yeah, the new “flicker” talent for rogues is totally boss.

Good: The “Manual of Focus” item is a godsend. At the end of Dragon Age, I was just picking skills and talents I didn’t really want because I maxed out on all the ones I needed. With a bunch of new ways to develop your character, being able to totally redo all of your specs is just awesome. It lets you correct any mistakes you made while leveling up or totally change your character’s focus. It’s perfect for players that started the game haphazardly assigning skill points and talents, but really got into the system later and regretted their leveling decisions.

Bad: From what I understand, the dagger/dexterity issue has not been fixed, even though I was told it would be when I saw the game at GDC. Thankfully, my rogues (Raymond and Keebler) are cunning based, but it’s still annoying that this longstanding problem persists.

Bad: The expansion pack is full of bugs. In my first run in Awakening, I encountered more bugs and glitches than in all five of my original DS playthroughs. Some of the bugs are pretty bad — certain quests disappearing, armor not appearing properly, etc.

Good: Sir Pounce-a-lot!

Bad: No Sandal (Enchantment!).

Good: Managing Vigil’s Keep adds a new layer to the game. Deciding on what part of the land to defend and settling domestic disputes brought something new to the DA experience. The cool part is that if you’re not into tasks like that, you can let your seneschal take care of them.

Good: There are some nice cameos by Alistair, Wynne, Herren, and Wade.

Bad: There were not enough cameos. I especially missed Leliana and Shale. It would have been nice to have seen them again.

Bad: Aside from items from the Return to Ostagar DLC, you can’t use DLC items in Awakening. That just sucks. I really wanted to import stuff like blood dragon armor, the Helm of Honnleath, etc.

Even though this expansion pack has some warts, I still loved it. While I was impressed with the originality, graphics, music, and storytelling in Heavy Rain, I enjoyed my time with Dragon Age: Origins Awakening more. If any of you are playing it or considering picking it up, I’d love to hear what you think!

Dragon Age: Origins Awakening Character Grades + Gift Guide

This article on Dragon Age: Origins Awakening contains spoilers on Anders, Justice, Mhairi, Nathaniel, Oghren, Sigrun, and Velanna. You’ve been warned, now let’s get to it! I’m just about done with my second run on this fine Dragon Age expansion pack. In case you’ve been wondering about the new characters, here’s a quick write-up on each of them (and Oghren too!), along with the gifts they like. I’ve graded them based on how useful they were to my party and how much I enjoyed their dialogue. Your mileage may vary depending on your play style and personal tastes.

Oghren: Everyone’s favorite angry, drunken dwarf returns in Awakening and he’s better than ever! Players that are looking for a DPS (damage per second) warrior will love Oghren. He’s built for dealing heavy damage with a two-handed weapon. The writing and voice acting behind Oghren is more powerful than anything he could do with a sword, axe, or hammer. He provides brilliant comic relief no matter who’s in your party. Whether he’s trading barbs with Anders, hitting on Sigrun, or questioning Justice on the sex drive of a spirit inhabiting a decaying body, his lines are hilarious. In my first run, my party didn’t need a DPS warrior, but Oghren’s lines were so good that he stayed with me for most of my adventure.

Items for Oghren: Any alcoholic beverage (duh) and the toy horse.

Grade: Oghren steals the show with his dialogue and he’s great at doling out heavy damage. B

Anders: You would think that an apostate with wise-ass tendencies wouldn’t survive very long in Ferelden, yet Anders has made a record-breaking seven escapes from Circle of Magi and appears in fine health when you fist encounter him. Anders is a great healer that can provide buffs or offense depending on how you level him up. He has the abilities of Wynne matched with an Alistair-like personality. While his dialogue isn’t quite as funny as Oghren’s, Anders is no slouch in the humor department — particularly if you give him a pet cat (which he promptly names Sir Pounce-a-lot). I loved Anders conversations with Justice. The spirit thinks Anders has an obligation to help fellow apostates, while Anders feels that he has an obligation to not get killed.

Items for Anders: Kitten, bell collar, gold earring, scarf, book on phylacteries, and silver bracers.

Grade: Anders provides an outstanding blend of skills and entertainment. A

Nathaniel: Remember that prick Arl Rendon Howe from Origins? Well, here’s his son! Nathaniel went to Amaranthine to get revenge on the grey warden that killed his father, but had a change of heart. The good news is that you can recruit him and his lethal bow skills to the grey warden cause. In terms of gameplay, he’s just like Leliana — outstanding with a bow and useful for chests/traps. Although he learns that his father was a devious prick and warms up to you, he still has all the annoying personality traits you’d expect from someone with noble blood. His exchanges with Sigrun are particularly interesting; the contrast between a noble human and a casteless dwarf are pretty cool.

Items for Nathaniel: Howe bow, Delilah Howe’s letters, whetstone, locksmith’s tools, and sextant.

Grade: His bow skills are outstanding, but I usually don’t get along with rich people and he made miss Leliana. B

Sigrun: For someone that was born without a caste and ended up in the Legion of the Dead, Sigrun is a pretty perky lady. She has a bright personality, with some surprising deadpan humor thrown in. If you close your eyes, it’s almost like you’re adventuring with Janeane Garofalo. From a gameplay standpoint, her specialization makes her a great strength rogue with good survivability. Personally, I prefer cunning rogues for melee and dexterity rogues for archery. While I didn’t find her too useful in the game, I enjoyed her conversations on class with Nathaniel, watching Oghren hit on her (the payoff is awesome!), and watching her pickpocket Justice.

Items for Sigrun: Spyglass, potted plant, snow globe, warrior’s book, toy chariot, and soap-on-a-rope.

Grade: She’s a sweetheart, but I preferred Nathaniel as my companion rogue. Plus her personal quest is currently glitched on consoles. C+

Velanna: Replacing Morrigan as the party’s “angry magic bitch”, Velanna has that Dalish chip on her shoulder. If you like offensive mages — and they are ridiculously powerful in the game — Velanna is your girl. Although her specialization isn’t great, there are so many other offensive spells that more than make up for it. All that great wizardry aside, I just didn’t dig Velanna. She angrier than Morrigan and not nearly as sultry. When Justice was lecturing her on the wrongness of her actions, I was hoping that he’d just give her a shield bash after the third conversation. Some of you will dig her sharp barbs, but she just didn’t work for me.

Items for Velanna: Elven runestone, elven trinket, carved greenstone, shiny malachite, blank journal, discarded journal, and ornate silver bowl.

Grade: Incredible magic accompanied by an annoying personality? I’ll stick to Anders and Sir Pounce-a-lot, thank you very much. C-

Justice: The most unique playable character in Dragon Age, Justice is a spirit that got pulled into the physical world and placed in the partially decayed body of a dead grey warden. Unfamiliar with how things work in the “real” world, he’s struggles to understand things, but grows to appreciate the beauty in humanity. All that aside, he’s an awesome tank. Whether you prefer dealing damage as a DPS warrior, a backstabbing rogue, or a spell-hurling mage, it’s always good to have a tank to distract enemies and soak up some damage. Justice’s stats and specialization make him perfect for the job. Since his views are so alien, his interaction with the entire party is interesting.

Items for Justice: Elven prayer book, verses of dreams book, lyrium book, lyrium ring, Kristoff’s locket, and Kristoff’s mementos.

Grade: He’s an awesome tank with a background that’s very different from the others. A-

Mhairi: BioWare pulled off a nice swerve by promoting Mhairi on the official Dragon Age web site and during its media tour. The sound of a female tank appealed to some players, while others liked the fact that she’s essentially a grey warden fangirl. Unfortunately for everyone, Mhairi doesn’t survive the “joining” ceremony and dies early in the game. So why am I including her in this article? Well, for the past week the search terms “Dragon Age Mhairi dies” and “Dragon Age Mhairi dead” have been leading to some nice traffic. Maybe her corpse will provide another week of decent hits.

Items for Mhairi: Flowers for her grave.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’ll most likely beat Dragon Age: Origins Awakening tonight. I should get back to Final Fantasy XIII when I’m done with DA…but I won’t. I’m going to play the expansion at least one more time. There are some issues with the Awakening (I’ll write about them soon), but I’m mostly loving the gameplay and dialogue. Some of the new skills and talents are awesome. The new characters are well done and Oghren is funnier than ever. I will eventually get back to FFXIII, but for now it’s all DA baby!

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Coffee Talk #110: Has a Game Ever Made You Late for School/Work?

I played Dragon Age: Origins Awakening until 5:30AM this morning. Part of it was because I intend to write two stories about the game this weekend. Part of it was because this bug pissed me off and I lost 90 minutes of game time (I wasn’t saving religiously *smacks head*). Most of it was because I was enjoying the hell out of this expansion pack.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, your favorite news from SXSW, Matt Sydal (Evan Bourne) turning 27 today, or your baseball team’s spring training results, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I played Dragon Age: Origins Awakening until 5:30AM this morning. Part of it was because I intend to write two stories about the game this weekend. Part of it was because this bug pissed me off and I lost 90 minutes of game time (I wasn’t saving religiously *smacks head*). Most of it was because I was enjoying the hell out of this expansion pack.

Due to my ridiculous play session, I was a little late for secret project and today’s Coffee Talk is more about your lunchtime beverage than your morning one. Still, I don’t regret it. Secret project is on my own schedule, so it’ll just be tighter to meet my goals for today. I am sorry that today’s column is late, but that’s really BioWare’s fault. Ha!

Has a game ever made you late for work or school? Share your stories in the comments section (please)!

Coffee Talk #109: What Game Companies Do You Miss?

Are there any videogame companies that you miss? There are several ways to answer that question. When I asked myself this question yesterday (yes, I sometimes talk to myself), I thought of two companies — one that’s still around and one that’s been gone for years.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, why the hell Tim Urban is still on American Idol, March Madness, or the Google Nexus One on all four major American mobile carriers, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Are there any videogame companies that you miss? When I asked myself this question yesterday (yes, I sometimes talk to myself), I thought of two companies — one that’s still around and one that’s been gone for years: Sega and Working Designs.

I miss what Sega used to be. The company rocked me with early Sonic games, Toejam & Earl, and so many others. I loved the end of the Saturn era with Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Shining Force III. The company was cutting-edge cool during the Dreamcast years with Jet Set Radio, Samba De Amigo, Seaman, Space Channel 5, and more. Sega was a creative powerhouse and these days it’s…a serviceable publisher.

As for defunct companies, I miss Working Designs. The company brought so many cool Japanese role-playing games to America. I loved that I got to play titles like Arc the Lad, Alundra, Dragon Force, and Lunar thanks to Working Designs. The company also served up the best “collector’s editions” in the world back in the day. The packaging and goodies were top-notch. They really made you feel like you were buying something special.

I better stop before I get all misty…. How about you guys and dolls? What are some of the game companies you miss?

Coffee Talk #108: Your Favorite Videogame Cliches

Today’s Coffee Talk is a suggestion from RPadholic N8R. What’s your favorite videogame cliche? To stick with N8R’s examples, are you a fan of doors that lead to nowhere? Do you love how waterfalls are used to hide important objects?

As for me, I’m a huge fan of barrels, boxes, and crates in role-playing games. Who puts treasure in barrels? Why do adventurers think it’s okay to break and plunder every crate they come across? It’s not like I’ve ever read townspeople in an R.A. Salvatore book say, “Oh crap. It’s that Drizz’t guy again. Better hide the crates before he and Bruenor wreck everything!” Yet for some reason, it’s totally acceptable in games.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Siobhan Magnus slaying it on American Idol, Bryan Danielson’s losing streak on NXT, or Jeff Hardy’s latest day in court, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today’s Coffee Talk is a suggestion from RPadholic N8R. What’s your favorite videogame cliche? To stick with N8R’s examples, are you a fan of doors that lead to nowhere? Do you love how waterfalls are used to hide important objects?

As for me, I’m a huge fan of barrels, boxes, and crates in role-playing games. Who puts treasure in barrels? Why do adventurers think it’s okay to break and plunder every crate they come across? It’s not like I’ve ever read townspeople in an R.A. Salvatore book say, “Oh crap. It’s that Drizz’t guy again. Better hide the crates before he and Bruenor wreck everything!” Yet for some reason, it’s totally acceptable in games.

[Tangent: Computers are a modern-day equivalent of crates. My friend and I love playing as Wolverine in X-Men Legends and Marvel Ultimate Alliance, just so we can shred every computer we come across. In our heads, Logan is frustrated that he never learned how to “work a computer” and goes into a berserker rage every time he sees a PC. This is a lot funnier is you’re actually playing the game with me.]

So tell your fellow readers and me about your favorite videogame cliches! This should be a fun one. I can’t wait to read your comments!

Today’s Poll: Motion Controls vs. 3D Gaming

Today’s poll is designed to help you get all your hate out. For various reasons, many enthusiast gamers are down on the burgeoning trends of motion controls and 3D gaming. As a writer, they’re interesting topics to cover and new subjects to explore. I’m bummed that a lot of “hardcore” gamers aren’t digging them (yet). Which one do you dislike more? Put down the Haterade, take the poll, and explain your choice in the comments section if you have time.

[poll id=”31″]

Coffee Talk #107: Stereoscopic 3D Gaming Revisited

Despite what some outlets have reported, I didn’t spend my “entire” time at GDC 2010 snooping for Nintendo information. One of the coolest things I saw at the show was stereoscopic 3D gaming on the PlayStation 3. This was a big deal at CES 2010, but I didn’t attend that show so I couldn’t experience it for myself. After seeing a few PlayStation 3 games in 3D, I must say that the tech is really cool and adds a new kind of fun.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin on Monday Night Raw, Tiger Woods returning to golf at The Masters, or Agassi vs. Sampras, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Despite what some outlets have reported, I didn’t spend my “entire” time at GDC 2010 snooping for Nintendo information. One of the coolest things I saw at the show was stereoscopic 3D gaming on the PlayStation 3. This was a big deal at CES 2010, but I didn’t attend that show so I couldn’t experience it for myself. After seeing a few PlayStation 3 games in 3D, I must say that the tech is really cool and adds a new kind of fun.

That said, I still have a lot of concerns about stereoscopic 3D gaming. RPadholic Smartguy pointed out that gamers that wear glasses might find it uncomfortable. I’m concerned about the additional weight on my head and a different type of eye strain limiting my playing sessions. It was totally fine for a few minutes MLB: The Show, but will I be able to pull off FFXIII or Dragon Age sessions with the 3D glasses?

Sony is going full-on with its stereoscopic 3D blitz (interesting story about that…later), but I wanted to see how you felt about this trend. Are you down with 3D gaming? Do you think 3D is the real deal? Or is it a fad that will get buried in a few years?

Sony Announces Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker PSP Bundle

Sony Computer Entertainment of America has announced a limited-edition bundle for Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker (PSP). The bundle includes a “spirited green” PSP-3000, a 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo, and a movie voucher. It carries an MSRP of $199.99 and will be available on June 8, 2010. Here’s some more info from the press release:

  • Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker game on UMD — Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker marks the return of the world-renowned stealth-action series. Hand-crafted by series creator Hideo Kojima, the all-new sequel delivers an original game design, story, and scenario as it picks up where Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater for the PlayStation 2 system leaves off
  • PlayStation Network downloadable movie voucher (U.S. residents only; title to be announced)
  • 2GB Memory Stick Pro Duo — Leverages the PSP system’s multimedia functionality by storing photos, music, videos, and game saves

I totally dig the Peace Walker PSP’s color, but it’s not enough to get me to buy another PSP. I totally would have gone for a camouflage PSP Go, but that bundle would be too pricey for a lot of gamers. Any of you tempted by the “spirited green” PSP bundle?

Binary Preview of Dragon Age: Origins Awakening

I stopped by BioWare’s suite at GDC 2010 to check out Dragon Age: Origins Awakening. Most of you know that Dragon Age was my favorite game of 2009 and I played through that sucker four times. As much as I love the Final Fantasy and Pokemon series, those games will have to take a backseat to this expansion pack. I already know that I’m going to love it, but in the spirit of my friend Augustine’s binary system, here’s a preview of the expansion using two categories: good and bad.

Good: Accompanying Awakening is a title update that will fix several issues with the original game. One of the biggest glitches it will patch is the dreaded dexterity bug in dagger-damage calculation. This bug made dexterity-based rogues far less effective than they should have been.

Bad: Players that went with cunning rogues will be steamed that their carefully crafted thieves will not be able to exploit the dexterity fix out of the box.

Good: Thankfully, the expansion has tomes that will allow you to redistribute character stats and specs. Keebler, my city elf rogue, will be deadlier than ever by the end of the week.

Bad: I don’t care if intelligent, talking darkspawn are supposed to be menacing. They (pictured in the header image) still look like evil raisins to me.

Good: Several characters will make cameo appearances in Awakening. Those of you keeping up with the expansion’s trailers already know that Alistair takes a break from ruling Ferelden to check up on your party.

Bad: Only Oghren returns as a playable character. I understand that new blood needs to be introduced and I’m looking forward to adventuring with the new characters, but I got super attached to Leliana, Shale, and Dog. I’m sure that those of you that worked hard to avoid the Leliana romance glitch will be disappointed that the sexy Orlesian bard will not playable.

Good: Fans of the original game will want to play the expansion at least twice. If you play as your original Dragon Age character, you’re viewed as the hero of Ferelden. People will treat your favorably and there should be some nice perks you can enjoy during Awakening. You can also start from scratch and play as a grey warden from Orlais. Some people will view you as an outsider, remembering the harsh treatment Ferelden received during the Orlesian occupation.

Good: There are loads of new talents and skills to enjoy. Characters will be able to craft their own enchantments (enchantment!). Bow slingers will get to abuse a new area-of-effect attack. As a rogue fan, I saw some outstanding defensive and offensive skills that left me drooling. Realizing that mages were ridiculously powerful in the original, BioWare wanted to beef up the other classes in the expansion.

Good: Enchantments (enchantment!) can be used in armor now!

Good: The dialogue seems well done. The characters had lots of great banter, with Oghren and Anders providing excellent comedy to Mhairi’s straight woman.

Good: Speaking of Mhairi, she was apparently requested by Dragon Age fans. All the tanks in the original were male. Mhairi will show that women can tank with the best of them.

Good: Each class has two new specializations to learn. It’s the same deal as the original; specializations can either be learned from other characters or through tomes.

Good: You have a new base of operations called Vigil’s Keep. No more crappy campsites for you and your party!

Bad: Vigil’s Keep requires some management. You can fortify its defenses or keep the local peasants happy. Sure, you can let your seneschal take care of things, but you really ought to do this yourself. It’s cool that it adds another activity to an already deep game, but it’s bad because it takes time away from killing evil raisins that are threatening the land.

Good: Since you’re the new commander of the grey wardens, you’ll be able to recruit new members to the cause. This includes busting out the right of conscription.

Bad: As you know, becoming a grey warden requires a ceremony that some of your recruits will not survive. I’m not even attached to the new characters in Awakening and I’m already sad that some of them will not make it to the end.

My binary preview is over, but I’ll be writing about the game a ton (not reviewing it!) as I play through it. I’m sure I’m going to have a blast and I hope some of you play it too so that we can chat it up. Is it Tuesday yet?!?