Posts Tagged ‘Dragon Age’

A labor of love for developer Bioware, Dragon Age: Origins offers classic D&D gameplay. With an emphasis on character interaction, the game makes interesting use of a simple morality system to form some unique party politics.

Games always task us with saving the world, which can make it hard to focus on the little things. We make assumptions that our party will unquestioningly follow us to their deaths however we behave. Not so in Dragon Age, because this is a game where party members have a choice, and the ability to leave.

I played the PC version, which (anecdotally) offers a better experience than the console ports.

It was my party that formed the heart of my experience with Dragon Age. RPGs always see me playing the good guy, helping the people I meet with problems and solving situations in the best way possible. But in Dragon Age decisions are often grey, and the wrong choice can lead to me alienating a party member who disagrees with my leadership.

Having acquired every character I was met with the task of balancing their interests. Not offending a templar may not seem difficult, but it becomes a challenge when others are urging you to use dark magic to expedite a quest.

At its basest level party management is just the binary morality system seen in many RPGs, but with each party member carrying their own values. It’s a simple mechanic that creates fascinating interactions and managed to draw me in far more than the epic mission I was tasked with ever could.

Recently the show has been in a state of flux. Regulars will no doubt have noticed, and any newer listeners who have heard more than two episodes will probably have been confused, by the total shifts in tone between shows. So to try and inject some stability to proceedings Darren and I have made a commitment to get back to the usual fortnightly format with just the two of us. Our theory is if we can’t provide quality we should at least aim for consistency.

With such a long break since Darren’s last outing we spend a little time getting reacquainted then it’s down to the game discussion. Having played plenty of games we handout some off the cuff opinions and then hit up the last months big news stories giving our own views, suggestions and fabrications (well factual errors to be more accurate). After that it is on to a quick featurette in which we discus the trails of localising with regards to Sega’s Western release of Yakuza 3. Finally we round it off with the long awaited return of Darren’s Old Games, which this time is Street Fighter The Movie (The Game).

Enjoy the show, and be sure to check back in two weeks to see if Darren and I can make good on our new commitment.

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