As someone who started doing game developement, going thorugh all this worldbuilding and then doing nothing with it is just plain irresponsible: videogames take more to make than any other medium, and here Bioware is, wasting perfectly good work that could have gone into either other aspects of the game or a shorter production time.
@@lucaballarati9694 That would mean delving into the nitty gritty of systemic and institutional issues and either picking a side, or allowing players to pick a side, which also means "getting unnecessarily political for a video game" and definitely pissing of the chronically online chuds that would rage about it being "woke" these days. Which they still have, because they have no concept of history before they hit puberty and can't seem to remember that dragon age has always had gay characters.
Playing a opressed nobody who gets pushed one to many times and goes on to become a rebel leader would be such a fantastic idea for a rpg in a world like this. It'd even justify why rpgs give you a oddly diverse band of followers that don't often get on for a party, because everyone is sick and disgusted by the status quo in some way
I (and many other people according to the stats Bioware posted yesterday) leapt at the chance to play a Shadow Dragon (for those not in the know, the semi-terroristic organisation that formed to oppose slavery in the Tevinter Imperium) in Veilguard. But it was so dissapointing. Yes you get to kill a few magisters, but they are explicitly painted as brainwashed cultists, we never get to fight the system that is keeping people enslaved.
You know thinking back to the choices I made in DAO I can see how much I was still influenced by my at the time faith in the catholic church as a teenager. I *DID* let the grave be turned into a pilgrim site because that's what the church did constantly. I *DID* take the neutral path with the lycans because "sins of the father" was the way I thought back then. heck I didn't ever think about equating the dailish being Native American, I equated them with the Idea of the ancient nomadic tribes of isreal. Thanks for makin me think over things again Lilly. You help me grow as a person one vid at a time.
I'm glad you mentioned Jade Empire because it's actually one of my favorite video games of all time, but one of my favorite things about it is actually just that it is this forgotten game that remains in bioware's back catalogue. As much as I would like to see something like it released with modern hardware that could maybe keep up with a much faster playstyle (a kung fu fantasy rpg with kingdom hearts levels of wildness is more or less all my dreams come true) I don't think anything good would come of making a Jade Empire 2, especially because I think one of the bigger problems with a lot of modern RPGs is because everyone is shooting for franchise potential, I never feel like I'm ever changing the world or making anything better the way I did in Jade Empire. I bring this up because I genuinely think it utterly cripples Dragon Age's potential. Like you said, the interesting worldbuilding that you actually wanna do something about is sequestered away from the main plot. In Jade Empire, the interesting stuff is an unfolding mystery about the world being broken that ties into the plot and slowly begins to twist to actually being about taking out a corrupt system that doesn't work, initially just metaphorically, but eventually literally and then even spiritually as well. And what's interesting about this to me, and why I'm writing this oddly long comment is that Jade Empire already told a version of the story I think we all want out of dragon age. The game is about how an act of monumental hubris by the nobility both resulted in a genocide of which you are the last remaining member and also completely broke the world, and you slowly get to delve into the spiritual rot of the empire as an institution because of this in a very literal way. There's a version of this story somewhere in the multiverse where Kallian gets to do this, really dive into the history of her own people, see the spiritual rot as a result of the genocide and enslavement of her people, and fucking do something about it, both by fighting against oppression, but also fighting against what oppression and bigotry spiritually does to people's souls, as reflected in the fade. I want that game. The next god we take down in the fade should be an incredibly powerful demon who's strength comes from gorging themselves on the spiritual reflections of the chantry's bigoted cruelty and the only way to weaken him is to fight back against that cruelty in the material plane, not another fucking archdemon or elven god. We can have the "stop the giant monster" plot, but I think that plot needs to be served by the worldbuilding and not hide the bigotry behind a big scary threat. Make bigotry be the thing that's powering the big scary threat. It'll never happen, but I'd be all over that.
As someone who likes Dragon Age casually (as in I've played each game once and probably won't again), even I can admit that Orzamaar SUUUUCKS. I played the Dwarf Commoner Origin (which is basically your ancestor did something bad and now you are lower than dirt in dwarf society) and I made sure to save Orzamaar for LAST because at the start with this origin AND when you go back, it's just the PITS as a setting, gameplay-wise, and in every other vein (and giving you Worst Companion Oghren)
I hadn't even thought of that reason to not trust the werewolves. I've never really liked saving the werewolves though, it's always been about witherfang/the lady of the forest for me.
Yeah when I realized that I couldn't single handedly burn this kingdom down for crimes against elvenkind I pretty much gave up on the game. The Dwarves have some nasty grimderp crap going on too, if you pick the Commoner origin you are at the very bottom of the Dwarves caste system and are also treated like shit.
To add to the lord of the rings comparison- it’s like the fanon version of lotr that is only about mordors forces instead of the true message about strength in numbers and dedication to one another can push even the smallest of things to change the world for the better. And that the gods are ultimately neglectful and unworthy but that being ignored is understandable given its more of a Silmarillion/Fall of Númenor thing than lotr
“Underworld demon marathon rape corruption magic vomit inflation… and Knuckles” took me out 😂 As dark and horrifying as all of this is - especially for me, going in blind cause I’ve never engaged with Dragon Age - your recent stuff never fails to get a laugh out of me And hoo boi, it’s a laugh I desperately need these days
Every origin, at least from what I recall, is more interesting if you play a female character. The Warden should absolutely be a woman canonically. And yeah, City Elf is easily the coolest origin of them all.
I started the series with DA:2, so I'm looking forward to your breakdown of that. When I went back and played Origins I never finished it, because I found it insufferably dull with no one I particularly cared about, not helped by the unfamiliar game mechanics (first of its like I'd played). Likewise, couldn't finish Inquisition because it started to feel like busywork getting to the stories I actually wanted to see. With DA:2's status as the black sheep of the franchise, I think it's time I accepted that Dragon Age will never be for me.
I'm honestly shocked that Morrigan at the very least didn't peak your interest. Her cold demeanor made me want to break past her walls and see who she actually was inside and it was very rewarding. Sorry to hear you couldn't get into it, and hopefully one day you decide to give it another shot.
Love this video's exploration of how to incorperate dark themes into a setting and how to write the story surrounding them. I think this video series has the potential of being a guide for writers on how to not tackle things like fantasy racism, bigotry and genocide. These subjects are important and derserve more gravitas behind them than just be grimdark fodder for you high fantasy setting that is totally not edgy Lord of the Rings fanfiction, promose!
It’s funny you call bg3 porn writing, someone on the writing team wrote for a now defunct visual novel app that had a lot of diverse content and definitely had sex scenes lol god I miss lovestruck but I am not buying the soulless rerelease of astoria fate’s kiss since nobody who actually worked on it is getting paid, fuck voltage inc and the way they screwed everyone over
I've seen this with a lot of your videos by now and I have a big appreciation about how you do the research, play the game and let the experiences around that game as well as outside of it guide you in creating these videos. You add those references, because you had some fun times when it happened and honestly this type of writing feels so much more organic to me.
Edit: I apologize if this shows up twice. Something weird is happening with my phone City elf origin is my absolute favorite story-wise (gameplay-wise I it’s mage). And when I had to go with the Grey Wardens, I was so upset. On the one hand, I definitely didnt want my Warden to have to live in an alienage. On the other, I was concerned about what would happen to my family and people while I was gone given what I just went through. But I was like 13, so the Blight distracted me real quick lol I think when youre younger, it's easier to be fooled by a lot of those arguments, especailly if you didnt play as an elf. For example, a lot of people would have seen the wolf thing as punishing innocent decendants bc thats how we've been taught to think. It's one of the biggest arguments against reparations. And this kind of storytelling where you try to present the oppressed group as just as bad or that trying to get justice for said oppression is somehow punishing "innocent" decendants is unfortunately effective in reinforcing that idea. The first game kinda goes back and forth between painting slaughtering human aggressors as justified or not. As far as the mages go, Jowan is suspected of blood magic which your character believes is evil at the time. But he says he didnt do it. Only for him to be lying, get you thrown in with the Grey Wardens, which is a death sentence, and later is involved with the arl's son getting possessed bc he poisoned the arl. Blood magic = liar and murderer (to an 8th grader) Of course, in that story you have desperate mages trying to live, Jowan trying to find a way to be with his lover and the kid trying to save his father. And the only reason the kid didn't have a proper teacher that could keep him from being exploited by demons is because that would mean basically never seeing his family again. And it does this throughout the series. The most obvious thing is the stupid or evil thing a mage did, and most of the time they focus on the action instead of the reason. Now, there are some just evil mages (like the one who tried to build a woman in 2), but then we have people like Orsino in 2 who is just desperately trying to save his people. I think 2 does the best job with showing the mages as the victims. It's just a shame that, to me, they never quite get it right with the elves.
Oh shi... You're right. Damn it... DAO was my first dark fantasy, so I felt in love right away. But I always felt that was something missing from it... And I'm mad that I haven't see it before.
Oooooh, I can't wait for the next video! And yeah, basically all the side stuff in almost every dragon age game is more interesting than the main plot.
As someone who has never played a Dragon Age game in her life and that's including apparently having the Ultimate Edition of Origins still in her steam library, I greatly appreciated all of the Star Trek references not just because of months of watching ALL the [90s] Star Trek I haven't seen prior (basically anything that wasn't Voyager, had Q in it, or the movies) but also helped the realization that Origins is most-definitely not something that would have interested me story-wise that I can't already get from rewatching Django Unchained... or sit through the non-Mirror episodes of DS9~ (Also, at 8:42, where did that background knight come from? Who summoned them?? XD)
So refreshing seen a wideo that calls DAO for what it is "over the top edgy stuff" Don't get me wrong i'm a 90's/00/s kid I love "over the top edgy stuff" so of course I love DAO But never took it's "darker" elements too seriuslly. I can take them or leave them. I'm a fan of the franchise to this day for stuff like how it builds and deconstrucs lore and the companions.
I feel like edgy media like this is why I nowadays stick almost exclusively to stuff age-rated for teens and below, because I've noticed that 18+/mature rating draws the "all edge and no point" (AKA "pizza cutters") like moths to a flame, leaving the lower ratings mostly edge-free. For example, I can handle Game of Thrones's goriness (I watched all seasons), it just felt miserable and purposeless, even before the "bad seasons". On the other hand, people who *do* have a point, can often tell said point with just a teen-or-lower rating, *and* they often want to, because that way their message reaches the widest audience. Also, even when there is edgy teen-or-lower rated media, the fact that it's de-fanged tends to make it hilarious -- kind of like when you see a preteen trying to swear or act like a gansta. This isn't a perfect rule, of course: There is some fun edgy mature media like the Deadpool movies; and there are some miserable teen-or-lower edgefests like 9 (the post-apocalyptic rag doll movie), but the rule works surprisingly well.
9:49 Okay as you can see I haven't finished the video but I need to go ahead and say this so sorry if I mention something you bring up later. I've been playing Dragon Age for years (started origins freshman year of college to be exact) and even playing as a Cousland I remember going "Oh so we're doing this?" When dragon age tried to both sides the mage oppression and then all but completely ignored the subjugation of elves. It was so frustrating that they built in these horrific systems just to then mishandle them if they acknowledged them at all. I played through the other games and only this year decided to try something new and play a female city elf and my God was that cold open a rough (but incredibly effective and vindicating) experience. I restarted three times just to make sure I slaughtered everyone and didn't miss anybody. Even having the knowledge of playing the previous games I was still surprised by how much the game just went "okay, moving on" from what was undoubtedly the most traumatizing shit your warden would experience. I cannot STAND when stories implement themes of subjugation and oppression as imaginary set dressing as if there aren't one to one examples of the treatment of the mages and elves in real life. You don't get to say "Hey, here are these two groups of people that are horrifically oppressed by the system through chattel slavery, segregation and internment camps but don't worry about that we have a dragon to kill." Like okay great job showing that using racism as a backdrop there. It's even more confusing and infuriating when you consider how the genophage was handled in Mass Effect. I mean Mass Effect is by no means a perfect example of how racism and oppression have effects on the world around you that you can't just ignore because there's a bigger bad. But at least at almost every turn Shepard has the option to call the genophage what it is - genocide, and even gets checked by Wrex when trying to say humans can relate to the Krogan's oppression. The Krogans will say fuck you and your big evil bad if sabotage the cure and the Geth can rise up against the Qurians. How the flying fuck did the same company tell that story but also one where it ignores the treatment of the elves and mages? Thanks for the video. I don't think I've ever seen someone call this shit out.
I do have a personal theory, and to quote the Templin Institute, "The Left Hand didn't know what the Right was doing". It very much feels like the world designers and the people writing the story were doing two seperate ideas, and ended up jamming them toghether.
It's interesting that the ME trilogy *could* have some of the same problems as the elf slavery and templar abuse plotlines, but there are options to resolve some of the biggest injustices in ME. You *can* save the Rachni, Krogan, and Geth after learning about fucked up situations. You can call the genophage evil, and even choose to punish the oppressors, in some cases. It's not that hard, Bioware!
I think my main problem with these overly grimdark settings is: If the world is so over-the-top awful and incapable of change... why the hell would I want to save it? There is nothing about DA's world that convinces me that the people within it will improve. The templars and the humans never show anything close to self-awareness or remorse for the myriads of atrocities they have committed and do still commit. The elves are mostly too beaten down to fight back and when they do it's presented as them going off the deep end and becoming "just as bad" as the people who enslaved, exploited and mistreated them for centuries (see: the Werewolves). Peace won't last because the humans will take any opportunity to claw their way back to the top of the social hierarchy. Mass Effect had a bunch of horrible people in its story but the setting overall was hopeful and always moving forward. I never felt like Shepard should just let the Reapers blow up the universe, whereas the Darkspawn feel like DA's world getting it's just reward for being despicable in every way.
This is not important to your main points, but you did confuse some of the characters' relationships mixed up and confused. Branka didn't turn against her wife. She was married to Ohgren; that woman was her mistress/Ohgren's cousin. And Branka led Ohgren's whole family down to the deep roads (including the cousin). It's a big part of Ohgren's story. Also, I didn't see Zevran or Shale with you. As a human-hater, I think you might have enjoyed having them in your party because they talk so much shit about humans, and the Chantry, and have so much sass.
I didn't get them mixed up and confused, that's just arguing semantics. Wife/Lover, same difference. As for Zevran, he attacked me. As for Shale, I never found him. Talking shit about the Chantry is great, but "sass" is overrated.
@@LilianOrchard I thought by calling her Branka's wife, you didn't realize she was actually married to Ohgren instead. So that led me to believe you were confused about that entire situation. But you weren't, so great! Zevran is such a multi-faceted, interesting, and fun character, it's a shame so many people (understandably) kill him instead. Also, Shale is a she :)
@@LilianOrchard According to some in the Origins fanbase, Shale is supposed to be the HK-47 of the first Dragon Age. And from what little I remember of those let's plays I watched of Origins back in 2011, she was... okay. Her voice actor was pretty good, even if her dialogue wasn't that great. She'd rant about her prejudice of fleshy peoples, and that was about it. Why she was considered to be some kind of breakout character of the franchise, I'll never understand.
@KaminoZan Similar to how Leliana was given Imoen's face and feels like a carbon copy, while the actual spiritual successors to both Imoen and HK (Bethany and Varric) are more fondly remembered
I liked DAO just fine but the thing that gets me the most about wanting everything to be dark and super super serious "we're not like your grandma's fantasy story" type shit is what they made to the bards lmao Like the team just went: wait, bards are a super popular class in like every rpg ever, but we can't fit the silly little guys whose powers come from their silly little lutes and silly little songs. How do we resolve this? Well, in this setting, bards are actually secret assassins/spys playing games of courtly intrigue so important they influence foreign policy. It's so ridiculous it makes me giggle everytime 😂
Y'know I never got far in Dragon Age: Origins. Couldn't tell you why, usually got lost in the tower. Wanting to be gay for Leliana was one of those "wow I should've known I was a girl sooner" situations.
Why is it that almost every RPG thats has slavery/racism in its lore the game expects me to side with or care about the oppressors and not the oppressored?
I found you because I saw dragon age 2 video come up on my feed. You are spot on on both of these games. As far as I'm concerned. I 100% agree with you. I always had an issue with the way a lot of the World building was done for individual situations. There were exceptions and plot holes that shouldn't have existed and wouldn't exist in the real world. Are you going to do one on Inquisition? I'm really curious. Were you go with that one. I found it to be kind of dull and uninteresting to the point that I couldn't actually finish it. People get telling me just keep going. It'll get better. But if it takes 70 hours for a game to get better is it actually good to begin with?
Jade Empire? A dud? Honestly, it's one my favorites. (Even if they really should've had more time to flesh it out more than they did. Also, no sequel? Hello?!) Also, Dragon Age: Origins is one of the few games in my library that I've never beaten. I vaguely recall running a human woman the 1st time, and then years later trying again as a elf woman in the woods, but even that run was many, many years ago by now. Regardless though, it's the only one in the series I've ever actually bought.
Trust me, Neverwinter Nights is alive and well and has fans in some parts of the world. I know some of them. Doesn't mean I disagree though Let me tell you it was weird to watch that first cut scene during the pandemic.
Honestly this is a problem with most Fantasy that has political conflict in it. It's always the same shit, set up a complicated and interesting political situation, but then instead of doing anything meaningful with it, they either just throw it aside entirely or make some half assed resolution to focus the end of the story completely on the magic bbeg that wants to kill the world or something. It's so annoying!Ffor once, I want a fantasy book or series that sets up political conflict and actually resolves and comments on it beyond just the good guys win or but then they all made up and went to fight the apocalypse. I guess I'll just go reread Wizard of Earthsea lol, although iirc they mostly focus on philosophical concepts. I just want socialist revolution but with magic, is that really so hard lol.
I said it hundert times and i will keep saying it ... Its horrible shame that DA:O didnt decide to have 7 stories that would all went to main plot in the end. Imagine ... Each Origin character would resolve their own thing, with their own people, during their own plot ... wich would lead to finale, where they all would meet in Denerim to face the invasion. OR! Even better, each character would have a choice in the end, to either continue with their own life, or go support Grey Wardens ... A bit like how HoMaM camaign worked ... You played as all races separatedly ... and for final battle, wich unlocked after all of them were done, you picked a side and finished it. :D
I always wondered how much of the Elf/Dwarf social situation was half-hearted copying of the Witcher... For what it's worth, The Witcher 1 came out in 2007 and Dragon Age: Origins in 2009, and of course the Witcher books would have been available even earlier. Just taking D&D and pasting in Darkness from a series, that for all its faults, still did that darkness better.
Your point about the grimdark in Dragon Age Origins reminds me of why I could never take Warhammer 40k seriously (which in all fairness, a decent chunk of the writers do not either). There is only so much edge one can tolerate before it becomes morbidly amusing. I have not played any of the Dragon Age games, and never really got into Mass Effect (or rather, I never got around to finishing it because I got preoccupied with other games and forgot I owned it), but I will simply state that grimdark is something difficult to write for without being amusing. Say what you will about the Dark Sun duology, but at least it accomplishes its goals well enough, whilst having a dark (for 90s D&D standards at least) atmosphere.
I will note that, somehow, the stuff the Dragon Age writers managed to shove in ended up being *worse* than Warhammer's stuff. The Broodmother is so much worse than the Daemoncalabra.
I played Dragon Age Origins for about 15 years in a row when it came out. Despite so many years passing, I have to agree that this game had a bit of a problem introducing many interesting story ideas in the middle of a dark spawn invasion. Which kinda led to us not spending that much time with those storylines. Be it mistreatment of Elves in human cities. Danish elves struggling to keep their culture alive while dealing with human crimes against them. The absolute horror of life mages have in this world. The insane amount of influence The Chantry has. Or absolute atrocities dwarfs are willing to commit as ones who deal with dark spawn endlessly. If we are really stubborn, there are also many personal stories too. Like tragedy of how far that noble lady was willing to go as a mother in order to protect her son. Not just from demons but fate all mages face the moment The Chantry knows you have any magical powers. Or Morrigan and her situation with Flemeth. Or how the only way a mage can get away from Chantry's overbearing control is to become grey warden. Aka drink a delay mixture that might kill you right away or (if I remember right) at the very least is guaranteed to let you leave until old age. But we can't spend too much on any of that 'cos we have to go to war against dark spawn. So at best, we are allowed only apply fast fixes that are going to be short-lived and were only allowed 'cos again dark spawn invasion has to be stopped or everybody dies.
I'll argue that whether Warden Kallian believes or not in The Maker is up to you, but as a City Elf it is resonable to assume that they'll be 'culturally' Andrastian.
Man, playing BG3 flashbacked me back to Origins, ala Ratatouille. Good times, good times Edit: The City Elf Origin is AWESOME. They rise up from literal poverty to become the great hero everyone looks to in the land's darkest hour. Talk about rags to greatness
I'll be honest. My "playthroughs" of DAO nowadays are just picking that elf origin and cutting up humans. Then starting again when it wants me to play the main quest after.
I find it a bit strange that you think templars are horrible people because of how they treat mages, when one just has to look at the Tevinter Empire to see what happens if mages are not restraint and regulated. Treating any person like that is definetely bad, but in the World of Dragon Age it is most of the time the lesser evil. The fact that their is no objective right or wrong side in the later mage-templar conflict also Shows the moral ambiguity, another reason why these games are often considered "dark fantasy" I do understand your reasoning and dont want to tell you that your opinion is "wrong", because it is not but it is also not the only "right" one
This isn't how things play out in game. You can hear about the Tevinter Empire all you want, but we never actually go there. Everything about the danger of the mages is based on maybes, but the Templars are actively abusing their powers right now. In DA2 alone we learn that the Templars have a special magic lobotomy for mages that makes them completely obedient, that Templars abuse and rape mages just because they can, and that when there is a mage doing something bad that isn't lashing out against the Templars, the Templars do nothing about it. Dragon Age likes to claim moral greyness, but that's never actually been true.
@@LilianOrchard If you start as a mage in DAO you will face information about magic lobotomy in like first 5 minutes. In fact, the start you choose will greatly influence your views in the game. My friend started as a human and she seriously didn’t understand why I (playing as an elf mage) hated the church. I noticed that in many places you clearly lack context. Try going through different beginnings to get a more complete picture. Your video is great, I'm waiting for DA2.
@cheekynecromancer2276 "Your perspective changes if you are in a position of privilege" I mean, I don't disagree. But a privileged person's perspective on oppression is usually incorrect.
Tevinter is a corrupt and evil nation (at least at the top) but is not overrun by demons despite not caging their mages. Tevinter is bad because is run by bad people not because historically has been run by mages. Both the Avvar the Dalish and the Rivani have lax restrictions on magic and they function. Hell the Dales (the second homeland of the elves) was wiped out by Orlai were the chantry is based on. Granted some of this things are stablish on later games but half of it has been there from the beginning
I find it so fascinating how Bioware treated/is treating Dragon Age compared to Mass Effect. Sure the writing in ME is somewhat inconsistent, mostly in quality, between the games, but they all follow somewhat the same plot and character. (though Shepard does change a lot from Me1 to 3, mostly because they become more of a character in their own right) And all of them have at least been shooters with rpg mechanics and dialogue. DA meanwhile has had 4 different protagonists, complete revamps of the core cast, and the gameplay is vastly different (I personally think every iteration has been better wrt gameplay, but that's besides the point.) Why do they have to go from scratch every time? Origins was perfectly good, and very profitable, why so many changes to a winning formula?
Hawke was supposed to become the commander Sheppard of the series, but EA had the team revamp DA2 from dlc to a poorly constructed sequel that the fans hated, which caused the team completely rewrite the story going forward
@philosophicalpatriot1883 that... makes a lot of sense actually! They just never got their "Shepard" down for this series, did they? Hawke was too forced/railroaded character wise, Inky is just boring. And Rook is very disliked currently, mostly correctly IMHO (they've no spine or any moral depth, always blandly agreeable), so that won't change anytime soon.
damn your perspective clears things up. I was 9 playing the game on release and just couldn't comprehend Ferelden's grotesque horrors, but I loved the edgy-dark fantasy ever since. That's an "origins" for me...
The point I was trying to make is that claiming BioWare is in a slump, while praising an RPG that rips them off means I don't really take you seriously. Subliterate moron.
At 09:57 I meant to say "Camp of Humans" not "Camp of Demons."
But it's Dragon Age, so the differences are academic
As someone who started doing game developement, going thorugh all this worldbuilding and then doing nothing with it is just plain irresponsible: videogames take more to make than any other medium, and here Bioware is, wasting perfectly good work that could have gone into either other aspects of the game or a shorter production time.
@@lucaballarati9694 That would mean delving into the nitty gritty of systemic and institutional issues and either picking a side, or allowing players to pick a side, which also means "getting unnecessarily political for a video game" and definitely pissing of the chronically online chuds that would rage about it being "woke" these days. Which they still have, because they have no concept of history before they hit puberty and can't seem to remember that dragon age has always had gay characters.
Playing a opressed nobody who gets pushed one to many times and goes on to become a rebel leader would be such a fantastic idea for a rpg in a world like this. It'd even justify why rpgs give you a oddly diverse band of followers that don't often get on for a party, because everyone is sick and disgusted by the status quo in some way
I (and many other people according to the stats Bioware posted yesterday) leapt at the chance to play a Shadow Dragon (for those not in the know, the semi-terroristic organisation that formed to oppose slavery in the Tevinter Imperium) in Veilguard. But it was so dissapointing. Yes you get to kill a few magisters, but they are explicitly painted as brainwashed cultists, we never get to fight the system that is keeping people enslaved.
You know thinking back to the choices I made in DAO I can see how much I was still influenced by my at the time faith in the catholic church as a teenager. I *DID* let the grave be turned into a pilgrim site because that's what the church did constantly. I *DID* take the neutral path with the lycans because "sins of the father" was the way I thought back then. heck I didn't ever think about equating the dailish being Native American, I equated them with the Idea of the ancient nomadic tribes of isreal. Thanks for makin me think over things again Lilly. You help me grow as a person one vid at a time.
I'm glad you mentioned Jade Empire because it's actually one of my favorite video games of all time, but one of my favorite things about it is actually just that it is this forgotten game that remains in bioware's back catalogue. As much as I would like to see something like it released with modern hardware that could maybe keep up with a much faster playstyle (a kung fu fantasy rpg with kingdom hearts levels of wildness is more or less all my dreams come true) I don't think anything good would come of making a Jade Empire 2, especially because I think one of the bigger problems with a lot of modern RPGs is because everyone is shooting for franchise potential, I never feel like I'm ever changing the world or making anything better the way I did in Jade Empire. I bring this up because I genuinely think it utterly cripples Dragon Age's potential. Like you said, the interesting worldbuilding that you actually wanna do something about is sequestered away from the main plot. In Jade Empire, the interesting stuff is an unfolding mystery about the world being broken that ties into the plot and slowly begins to twist to actually being about taking out a corrupt system that doesn't work, initially just metaphorically, but eventually literally and then even spiritually as well.
And what's interesting about this to me, and why I'm writing this oddly long comment is that Jade Empire already told a version of the story I think we all want out of dragon age. The game is about how an act of monumental hubris by the nobility both resulted in a genocide of which you are the last remaining member and also completely broke the world, and you slowly get to delve into the spiritual rot of the empire as an institution because of this in a very literal way. There's a version of this story somewhere in the multiverse where Kallian gets to do this, really dive into the history of her own people, see the spiritual rot as a result of the genocide and enslavement of her people, and fucking do something about it, both by fighting against oppression, but also fighting against what oppression and bigotry spiritually does to people's souls, as reflected in the fade.
I want that game. The next god we take down in the fade should be an incredibly powerful demon who's strength comes from gorging themselves on the spiritual reflections of the chantry's bigoted cruelty and the only way to weaken him is to fight back against that cruelty in the material plane, not another fucking archdemon or elven god. We can have the "stop the giant monster" plot, but I think that plot needs to be served by the worldbuilding and not hide the bigotry behind a big scary threat. Make bigotry be the thing that's powering the big scary threat.
It'll never happen, but I'd be all over that.
As someone who likes Dragon Age casually (as in I've played each game once and probably won't again), even I can admit that Orzamaar SUUUUCKS. I played the Dwarf Commoner Origin (which is basically your ancestor did something bad and now you are lower than dirt in dwarf society) and I made sure to save Orzamaar for LAST because at the start with this origin AND when you go back, it's just the PITS as a setting, gameplay-wise, and in every other vein (and giving you Worst Companion Oghren)
I did the Dwarven Commoner Origin too, and saving Paragon of her Kind for last just fits really well as your last Main Questline.
I hadn't even thought of that reason to not trust the werewolves. I've never really liked saving the werewolves though, it's always been about witherfang/the lady of the forest for me.
Yeah when I realized that I couldn't single handedly burn this kingdom down for crimes against elvenkind I pretty much gave up on the game.
The Dwarves have some nasty grimderp crap going on too, if you pick the Commoner origin you are at the very bottom of the Dwarves caste system and are also treated like shit.
The Mountain Holds would likely have several spots in the Book of Grudges for the dwarves of this universe if they saw what kinds of shit they pulled.
To add to the lord of the rings comparison- it’s like the fanon version of lotr that is only about mordors forces instead of the true message about strength in numbers and dedication to one another can push even the smallest of things to change the world for the better. And that the gods are ultimately neglectful and unworthy but that being ignored is understandable given its more of a Silmarillion/Fall of Númenor thing than lotr
“Underworld demon marathon rape corruption magic vomit inflation… and Knuckles” took me out 😂
As dark and horrifying as all of this is - especially for me, going in blind cause I’ve never engaged with Dragon Age - your recent stuff never fails to get a laugh out of me
And hoo boi, it’s a laugh I desperately need these days
This video confirms my belief that canon warden should be a female city elf and not a male human noble like the trailer
Every origin, at least from what I recall, is more interesting if you play a female character. The Warden should absolutely be a woman canonically.
And yeah, City Elf is easily the coolest origin of them all.
I started the series with DA:2, so I'm looking forward to your breakdown of that. When I went back and played Origins I never finished it, because I found it insufferably dull with no one I particularly cared about, not helped by the unfamiliar game mechanics (first of its like I'd played). Likewise, couldn't finish Inquisition because it started to feel like busywork getting to the stories I actually wanted to see. With DA:2's status as the black sheep of the franchise, I think it's time I accepted that Dragon Age will never be for me.
I'm honestly shocked that Morrigan at the very least didn't peak your interest. Her cold demeanor made me want to break past her walls and see who she actually was inside and it was very rewarding. Sorry to hear you couldn't get into it, and hopefully one day you decide to give it another shot.
Love this video's exploration of how to incorperate dark themes into a setting and how to write the story surrounding them. I think this video series has the potential of being a guide for writers on how to not tackle things like fantasy racism, bigotry and genocide. These subjects are important and derserve more gravitas behind them than just be grimdark fodder for you high fantasy setting that is totally not edgy Lord of the Rings fanfiction, promose!
Holy crap is that Hell's Coming with me I heard? Great choice!
It’s funny you call bg3 porn writing, someone on the writing team wrote for a now defunct visual novel app that had a lot of diverse content and definitely had sex scenes lol
god I miss lovestruck but I am not buying the soulless rerelease of astoria fate’s kiss since nobody who actually worked on it is getting paid, fuck voltage inc and the way they screwed everyone over
I've seen this with a lot of your videos by now and I have a big appreciation about how you do the research, play the game and let the experiences around that game as well as outside of it guide you in creating these videos. You add those references, because you had some fun times when it happened and honestly this type of writing feels so much more organic to me.
Edit: I apologize if this shows up twice. Something weird is happening with my phone
City elf origin is my absolute favorite story-wise (gameplay-wise I it’s mage). And when I had to go with the Grey Wardens, I was so upset. On the one hand, I definitely didnt want my Warden to have to live in an alienage. On the other, I was concerned about what would happen to my family and people while I was gone given what I just went through. But I was like 13, so the Blight distracted me real quick lol
I think when youre younger, it's easier to be fooled by a lot of those arguments, especailly if you didnt play as an elf. For example, a lot of people would have seen the wolf thing as punishing innocent decendants bc thats how we've been taught to think. It's one of the biggest arguments against reparations. And this kind of storytelling where you try to present the oppressed group as just as bad or that trying to get justice for said oppression is somehow punishing "innocent" decendants is unfortunately effective in reinforcing that idea. The first game kinda goes back and forth between painting slaughtering human aggressors as justified or not.
As far as the mages go, Jowan is suspected of blood magic which your character believes is evil at the time. But he says he didnt do it. Only for him to be lying, get you thrown in with the Grey Wardens, which is a death sentence, and later is involved with the arl's son getting possessed bc he poisoned the arl. Blood magic = liar and murderer (to an 8th grader)
Of course, in that story you have desperate mages trying to live, Jowan trying to find a way to be with his lover and the kid trying to save his father. And the only reason the kid didn't have a proper teacher that could keep him from being exploited by demons is because that would mean basically never seeing his family again. And it does this throughout the series. The most obvious thing is the stupid or evil thing a mage did, and most of the time they focus on the action instead of the reason. Now, there are some just evil mages (like the one who tried to build a woman in 2), but then we have people like Orsino in 2 who is just desperately trying to save his people. I think 2 does the best job with showing the mages as the victims. It's just a shame that, to me, they never quite get it right with the elves.
Oh shi... You're right.
Damn it... DAO was my first dark fantasy, so I felt in love right away. But I always felt that was something missing from it...
And I'm mad that I haven't see it before.
Oooooh, I can't wait for the next video! And yeah, basically all the side stuff in almost every dragon age game is more interesting than the main plot.
As someone who has never played a Dragon Age game in her life and that's including apparently having the Ultimate Edition of Origins still in her steam library, I greatly appreciated all of the Star Trek references not just because of months of watching ALL the [90s] Star Trek I haven't seen prior (basically anything that wasn't Voyager, had Q in it, or the movies) but also helped the realization that Origins is most-definitely not something that would have interested me story-wise that I can't already get from rewatching Django Unchained... or sit through the non-Mirror episodes of DS9~ (Also, at 8:42, where did that background knight come from? Who summoned them?? XD)
There are other origins, the elvin allinige is only one of 6 to my memory
Kinda seems like the anti-slavery revolution would be a more important part of the narrative once introduced.
So refreshing seen a wideo that calls DAO for what it is "over the top edgy stuff"
Don't get me wrong i'm a 90's/00/s kid I love "over the top edgy stuff" so of course I love DAO
But never took it's "darker" elements too seriuslly. I can take them or leave them.
I'm a fan of the franchise to this day for stuff like how it builds and deconstrucs lore and the companions.
I feel like edgy media like this is why I nowadays stick almost exclusively to stuff age-rated for teens and below, because I've noticed that 18+/mature rating draws the "all edge and no point" (AKA "pizza cutters") like moths to a flame, leaving the lower ratings mostly edge-free.
For example, I can handle Game of Thrones's goriness (I watched all seasons), it just felt miserable and purposeless, even before the "bad seasons".
On the other hand, people who *do* have a point, can often tell said point with just a teen-or-lower rating, *and* they often want to, because that way their message reaches the widest audience.
Also, even when there is edgy teen-or-lower rated media, the fact that it's de-fanged tends to make it hilarious -- kind of like when you see a preteen trying to swear or act like a gansta.
This isn't a perfect rule, of course: There is some fun edgy mature media like the Deadpool movies; and there are some miserable teen-or-lower edgefests like 9 (the post-apocalyptic rag doll movie), but the rule works surprisingly well.
9:49 Okay as you can see I haven't finished the video but I need to go ahead and say this so sorry if I mention something you bring up later.
I've been playing Dragon Age for years (started origins freshman year of college to be exact) and even playing as a Cousland I remember going "Oh so we're doing this?" When dragon age tried to both sides the mage oppression and then all but completely ignored the subjugation of elves.
It was so frustrating that they built in these horrific systems just to then mishandle them if they acknowledged them at all.
I played through the other games and only this year decided to try something new and play a female city elf and my God was that cold open a rough (but incredibly effective and vindicating) experience. I restarted three times just to make sure I slaughtered everyone and didn't miss anybody.
Even having the knowledge of playing the previous games I was still surprised by how much the game just went "okay, moving on" from what was undoubtedly the most traumatizing shit your warden would experience.
I cannot STAND when stories implement themes of subjugation and oppression as imaginary set dressing as if there aren't one to one examples of the treatment of the mages and elves in real life.
You don't get to say "Hey, here are these two groups of people that are horrifically oppressed by the system through chattel slavery, segregation and internment camps but don't worry about that we have a dragon to kill." Like okay great job showing that using racism as a backdrop there.
It's even more confusing and infuriating when you consider how the genophage was handled in Mass Effect. I mean Mass Effect is by no means a perfect example of how racism and oppression have effects on the world around you that you can't just ignore because there's a bigger bad. But at least at almost every turn Shepard has the option to call the genophage what it is - genocide, and even gets checked by Wrex when trying to say humans can relate to the Krogan's oppression.
The Krogans will say fuck you and your big evil bad if sabotage the cure and the Geth can rise up against the Qurians. How the flying fuck did the same company tell that story but also one where it ignores the treatment of the elves and mages?
Thanks for the video. I don't think I've ever seen someone call this shit out.
I do have a personal theory, and to quote the Templin Institute, "The Left Hand didn't know what the Right was doing". It very much feels like the world designers and the people writing the story were doing two seperate ideas, and ended up jamming them toghether.
12:10 jesus that is some warhammer 40k levels of edgy grim dark
Fun fact: it's actually worse. Even the most horrific elements of 40k aren't as downright grimderp as... that.
It's interesting that the ME trilogy *could* have some of the same problems as the elf slavery and templar abuse plotlines, but there are options to resolve some of the biggest injustices in ME. You *can* save the Rachni, Krogan, and Geth after learning about fucked up situations. You can call the genophage evil, and even choose to punish the oppressors, in some cases. It's not that hard, Bioware!
I think my main problem with these overly grimdark settings is: If the world is so over-the-top awful and incapable of change... why the hell would I want to save it? There is nothing about DA's world that convinces me that the people within it will improve. The templars and the humans never show anything close to self-awareness or remorse for the myriads of atrocities they have committed and do still commit. The elves are mostly too beaten down to fight back and when they do it's presented as them going off the deep end and becoming "just as bad" as the people who enslaved, exploited and mistreated them for centuries (see: the Werewolves). Peace won't last because the humans will take any opportunity to claw their way back to the top of the social hierarchy.
Mass Effect had a bunch of horrible people in its story but the setting overall was hopeful and always moving forward. I never felt like Shepard should just let the Reapers blow up the universe, whereas the Darkspawn feel like DA's world getting it's just reward for being despicable in every way.
Hey, Jade Empire was cool. A bit tropey? Sure no less than most any bioware classic from around the same time.
Look forward to the DA2 video!
This is not important to your main points, but you did confuse some of the characters' relationships mixed up and confused. Branka didn't turn against her wife. She was married to Ohgren; that woman was her mistress/Ohgren's cousin. And Branka led Ohgren's whole family down to the deep roads (including the cousin). It's a big part of Ohgren's story. Also, I didn't see Zevran or Shale with you. As a human-hater, I think you might have enjoyed having them in your party because they talk so much shit about humans, and the Chantry, and have so much sass.
I didn't get them mixed up and confused, that's just arguing semantics. Wife/Lover, same difference.
As for Zevran, he attacked me. As for Shale, I never found him. Talking shit about the Chantry is great, but "sass" is overrated.
@@LilianOrchard I thought by calling her Branka's wife, you didn't realize she was actually married to Ohgren instead. So that led me to believe you were confused about that entire situation. But you weren't, so great! Zevran is such a multi-faceted, interesting, and fun character, it's a shame so many people (understandably) kill him instead. Also, Shale is a she :)
@@LilianOrchard According to some in the Origins fanbase, Shale is supposed to be the HK-47 of the first Dragon Age. And from what little I remember of those let's plays I watched of Origins back in 2011, she was... okay. Her voice actor was pretty good, even if her dialogue wasn't that great. She'd rant about her prejudice of fleshy peoples, and that was about it. Why she was considered to be some kind of breakout character of the franchise, I'll never understand.
@KaminoZan Similar to how Leliana was given Imoen's face and feels like a carbon copy, while the actual spiritual successors to both Imoen and HK (Bethany and Varric) are more fondly remembered
I liked DAO just fine but the thing that gets me the most about wanting everything to be dark and super super serious "we're not like your grandma's fantasy story" type shit is what they made to the bards lmao
Like the team just went: wait, bards are a super popular class in like every rpg ever, but we can't fit the silly little guys whose powers come from their silly little lutes and silly little songs. How do we resolve this? Well, in this setting, bards are actually secret assassins/spys playing games of courtly intrigue so important they influence foreign policy.
It's so ridiculous it makes me giggle everytime 😂
Holy hell this video was so good.
Y'know I never got far in Dragon Age: Origins. Couldn't tell you why, usually got lost in the tower. Wanting to be gay for Leliana was one of those "wow I should've known I was a girl sooner" situations.
Why is it that almost every RPG thats has slavery/racism in its lore the game expects me to side with or care about the oppressors and not the oppressored?
Probably because they don't want the story to be "political", think making every situation grey is automatically better, or both.
Pizza cutter plot. All edge no point
I found you because I saw dragon age 2 video come up on my feed. You are spot on on both of these games. As far as I'm concerned. I 100% agree with you. I always had an issue with the way a lot of the World building was done for individual situations. There were exceptions and plot holes that shouldn't have existed and wouldn't exist in the real world.
Are you going to do one on Inquisition? I'm really curious. Were you go with that one. I found it to be kind of dull and uninteresting to the point that I couldn't actually finish it. People get telling me just keep going. It'll get better. But if it takes 70 hours for a game to get better is it actually good to begin with?
Jade Empire? A dud? Honestly, it's one my favorites. (Even if they really should've had more time to flesh it out more than they did. Also, no sequel? Hello?!)
Also, Dragon Age: Origins is one of the few games in my library that I've never beaten. I vaguely recall running a human woman the 1st time, and then years later trying again as a elf woman in the woods, but even that run was many, many years ago by now. Regardless though, it's the only one in the series I've ever actually bought.
Dud doesn't mean bad, but it didn't sell well
What specific cover of Hell’s coming with me did you use here?
Read the credits
Trust me, Neverwinter Nights is alive and well and has fans in some parts of the world. I know some of them. Doesn't mean I disagree though
Let me tell you it was weird to watch that first cut scene during the pandemic.
Finding the prc mod reignited my love for it.
Honestly this is a problem with most Fantasy that has political conflict in it. It's always the same shit, set up a complicated and interesting political situation, but then instead of doing anything meaningful with it, they either just throw it aside entirely or make some half assed resolution to focus the end of the story completely on the magic bbeg that wants to kill the world or something.
It's so annoying!Ffor once, I want a fantasy book or series that sets up political conflict and actually resolves and comments on it beyond just the good guys win or but then they all made up and went to fight the apocalypse.
I guess I'll just go reread Wizard of Earthsea lol, although iirc they mostly focus on philosophical concepts. I just want socialist revolution but with magic, is that really so hard lol.
I said it hundert times and i will keep saying it ...
Its horrible shame that DA:O didnt decide to have 7 stories that would all went to main plot in the end.
Imagine ...
Each Origin character would resolve their own thing, with their own people, during their own plot ... wich would lead to finale, where they all would meet in Denerim to face the invasion.
OR! Even better, each character would have a choice in the end, to either continue with their own life, or go support Grey Wardens ...
A bit like how HoMaM camaign worked ...
You played as all races separatedly ... and for final battle, wich unlocked after all of them were done, you picked a side and finished it. :D
I always wondered how much of the Elf/Dwarf social situation was half-hearted copying of the Witcher... For what it's worth, The Witcher 1 came out in 2007 and Dragon Age: Origins in 2009, and of course the Witcher books would have been available even earlier. Just taking D&D and pasting in Darkness from a series, that for all its faults, still did that darkness better.
Weirdly enough I was considering going through dragon age before I watched this video. Now I’m not sure if I’ll be comfortable enough too
Your point about the grimdark in Dragon Age Origins reminds me of why I could never take Warhammer 40k seriously (which in all fairness, a decent chunk of the writers do not either). There is only so much edge one can tolerate before it becomes morbidly amusing.
I have not played any of the Dragon Age games, and never really got into Mass Effect (or rather, I never got around to finishing it because I got preoccupied with other games and forgot I owned it), but I will simply state that grimdark is something difficult to write for without being amusing. Say what you will about the Dark Sun duology, but at least it accomplishes its goals well enough, whilst having a dark (for 90s D&D standards at least) atmosphere.
I will note that, somehow, the stuff the Dragon Age writers managed to shove in ended up being *worse* than Warhammer's stuff. The Broodmother is so much worse than the Daemoncalabra.
@@blockyuniverseproductions Skaven females are pretty much Broodmothers.
Dragon age is way more f’ed up then I realized. Kinda makes me consider rethinking those who give it unanimous praise
Its also why a lot of them hate Veilguard it lighten up the series immensely
Where do I find that song?
What is that cover of poor man's poison
I played Dragon Age Origins for about 15 years in a row when it came out. Despite so many years passing, I have to agree that this game had a bit of a problem introducing many interesting story ideas in the middle of a dark spawn invasion. Which kinda led to us not spending that much time with those storylines. Be it mistreatment of Elves in human cities. Danish elves struggling to keep their culture alive while dealing with human crimes against them. The absolute horror of life mages have in this world. The insane amount of influence The Chantry has. Or absolute atrocities dwarfs are willing to commit as ones who deal with dark spawn endlessly. If we are really stubborn, there are also many personal stories too. Like tragedy of how far that noble lady was willing to go as a mother in order to protect her son. Not just from demons but fate all mages face the moment The Chantry knows you have any magical powers. Or Morrigan and her situation with Flemeth. Or how the only way a mage can get away from Chantry's overbearing control is to become grey warden. Aka drink a delay mixture that might kill you right away or (if I remember right) at the very least is guaranteed to let you leave until old age.
But we can't spend too much on any of that 'cos we have to go to war against dark spawn. So at best, we are allowed only apply fast fixes that are going to be short-lived and were only allowed 'cos again dark spawn invasion has to be stopped or everybody dies.
I'll argue that whether Warden Kallian believes or not in The Maker is up to you, but as a City Elf it is resonable to assume that they'll be 'culturally' Andrastian.
None of Kallian's dialogue options really suggest such a thing.
Man, playing BG3 flashbacked me back to Origins, ala Ratatouille. Good times, good times
Edit: The City Elf Origin is AWESOME. They rise up from literal poverty to become the great hero everyone looks to in the land's darkest hour. Talk about rags to greatness
Rags to Ruthlessness
I love DA2 so much
I'll be honest. My "playthroughs" of DAO nowadays are just picking that elf origin and cutting up humans. Then starting again when it wants me to play the main quest after.
I find it a bit strange that you think templars are horrible people because of how they treat mages, when one just has to look at the Tevinter Empire to see what happens if mages are not restraint and regulated. Treating any person like that is definetely bad, but in the World of Dragon Age it is most of the time the lesser evil. The fact that their is no objective right or wrong side in the later mage-templar conflict also Shows the moral ambiguity, another reason why these games are often considered "dark fantasy"
I do understand your reasoning and dont want to tell you that your opinion is "wrong", because it is not but it is also not the only "right" one
This isn't how things play out in game. You can hear about the Tevinter Empire all you want, but we never actually go there. Everything about the danger of the mages is based on maybes, but the Templars are actively abusing their powers right now. In DA2 alone we learn that the Templars have a special magic lobotomy for mages that makes them completely obedient, that Templars abuse and rape mages just because they can, and that when there is a mage doing something bad that isn't lashing out against the Templars, the Templars do nothing about it.
Dragon Age likes to claim moral greyness, but that's never actually been true.
@@LilianOrchard If you start as a mage in DAO you will face information about magic lobotomy in like first 5 minutes. In fact, the start you choose will greatly influence your views in the game. My friend started as a human and she seriously didn’t understand why I (playing as an elf mage) hated the church. I noticed that in many places you clearly lack context. Try going through different beginnings to get a more complete picture. Your video is great, I'm waiting for DA2.
@cheekynecromancer2276 "Your perspective changes if you are in a position of privilege" I mean, I don't disagree. But a privileged person's perspective on oppression is usually incorrect.
Tevinter is a corrupt and evil nation (at least at the top) but is not overrun by demons despite not caging their mages.
Tevinter is bad because is run by bad people not because historically has been run by mages.
Both the Avvar the Dalish and the Rivani have lax restrictions on magic and they function.
Hell the Dales (the second homeland of the elves) was wiped out by Orlai were the chantry is based on.
Granted some of this things are stablish on later games but half of it has been there from the beginning
I find it so fascinating how Bioware treated/is treating Dragon Age compared to Mass Effect. Sure the writing in ME is somewhat inconsistent, mostly in quality, between the games, but they all follow somewhat the same plot and character. (though Shepard does change a lot from Me1 to 3, mostly because they become more of a character in their own right) And all of them have at least been shooters with rpg mechanics and dialogue. DA meanwhile has had 4 different protagonists, complete revamps of the core cast, and the gameplay is vastly different (I personally think every iteration has been better wrt gameplay, but that's besides the point.) Why do they have to go from scratch every time? Origins was perfectly good, and very profitable, why so many changes to a winning formula?
Hawke was supposed to become the commander Sheppard of the series, but EA had the team revamp DA2 from dlc to a poorly constructed sequel that the fans hated, which caused the team completely rewrite the story going forward
@philosophicalpatriot1883 that... makes a lot of sense actually! They just never got their "Shepard" down for this series, did they? Hawke was too forced/railroaded character wise, Inky is just boring. And Rook is very disliked currently, mostly correctly IMHO (they've no spine or any moral depth, always blandly agreeable), so that won't change anytime soon.
Not bad.
I TRIED this game years ago when it came out. Origins specifically. I got bored. Made it to the dwarves, and got bored.
In the end the only good thing to do is join the dark spawn and clean the slate
Judging by the comparison at the end I’m guessing you don’t like Warhammer that much, or maybe I’m just a moron, or both ?
24 minutes upon arrival
The influence of Yahtzee Croshaw videos on your writing is really clear. Cool to apply that to something longer-form. Great video!
damn your perspective clears things up. I was 9 playing the game on release and just couldn't comprehend Ferelden's grotesque horrors, but I loved the edgy-dark fantasy ever since. That's an "origins" for me...
Oh, you're still here, great.
larian developed bg3, fanboy
The point I was trying to make is that claiming BioWare is in a slump, while praising an RPG that rips them off means I don't really take you seriously. Subliterate moron.