Dragon Age 2 - Review

There’s a lot to take in with Dragon Age 2; it’s the product of both its predecessor and Mass Effect 2 and for the most part it blends the two very well.

Rather than going with Origin's epic scope, DA2 is a personal tale of the hero Hawke rising from humble beginnings fleeing the Blight of the first game to being one of the most powerful people in Kirkwall, a city defined by its tension between Templar and Mage. Throughout you’ll have numerous weighty choices with repercussions; some immediate and some that only come to light later on. There are some genuinely moving scenarios and moments where you might find yourself hard pressed to decide what to pick. The time skips after each act feel a little disjointed however; you don’t really get the feeling that a lot of time has passed.

Like ME's Shepard, Hawke is a fully voiced character, with a personality that develops based on the dialogue choices you pick – diplomatic/helpful, funny/charming and aggressive/direct. There’s never an “I win” response from Paragon/Renegade or Coercion – you instead have to read the person you’re talking to. People tend to respond well to diplomacy, but some might see it as a sign of weakness, or prefer someone a bit sassier; furthermore, your tone changes based on how often you pick certain responses so you can't "fake" sincerity. You also get situational choices; bribery, lying, using past knowledge or deferring to an ally. There’s a lot of variety there and conversations flow better because of it.

Your companions in this game are also a varied, well written bunch, with personal goals and varied agendas and all of them having a stance on magic, its use and its governance. Unlike DA:O’s system where you had to appease everyone, even characters you disagreed with, DA2 has a rivalry mechanic where you can further your relationship despite being at odds with them ideologically. This is a great change and means you can form a party of whoever you want, rather than those who share your beliefs. They’re also more tied into the story, with more of them influencing the game throughout.

Combat in DA2 is much improved from DA:O, particularly for melee. 2h warriors have strong AoE abilities and rogues do excellent single target damage, with both offering a variety of status effects that others can exploit for cross class combos. The trees are very fleshed out with all of them having something appealing so deciding what to take can be pretty difficult; fortunately there’s an in-game respect potion purchasable for those who buy DA2 new. Animations are more varied and faster, and special abilities more impactful. Another positive change is being able to avoid telegraphed attacks, such as a dragon breathing fire or a golem’s magic burst, rather than it homing in on you. On Hard difficulty I found the game to be enjoyably challenging, especially the end of Act bosses; so far my Nightmare run has been brutally punishing and requiring the utmost planning.

There are gameplay areas where improvements aren’t so clear cut, however. The tactics menu, though offering more variety, is more difficult to navigate.Talent tooltips are great, but there’s a lot of wasted space in the UI where some pages could have been consolidated. Loot is less ubiquitous than DA:O and easy to collect with the R button, but still annoying to manage, especially with accessories that share the same icon. The names allocated to loot seems rather arbitrary; a Demonic band might increase Attack or raise stamina regen, or both. Store bought equipment remains almost entirely out of the player’s price range throughout, especially in the first Act where you need to save up so much. This might have been a concession to those who didn’t like ME2’s inventory streamlining, but I feel like they could have improved it a lot more.

Encounter design is also a sticking point. While there are many set pieces that are well paced and genuinely tough, a lot of the difficulty can come from the fact that fights generally happen in multiple waves, with enemies spawning out of nowhere to accost your ranged characters who you thought were safely out of danger. The lack of an overhead camera can also make it difficult to place mage spells in environments with pillars and the like. There’s also a lot of environment reuse – you’ll find yourself going through the exact same few dungeons over and over, with some routes blocked off depending (though the minimap remains the same, lending added annoyance). The nature of the game – lots of little quests each with their own payoff – for me got a little tedious near the end of the second act because of this, especially as at that point I’d obtained most of the abilities I wanted so combat got a tad stale. Things picked up again once I was back on the main story again however, and Act 3’s story was a lot more focused.

Ultimately, I found Dragon Age 2 to be a highly enjoyable game, though it remains to be seen if I can squeeze out four playthroughs on the hardest difficulty like I did with ME2. It is a different sort of game, but it managed to successfully implement a lot of what made that game compelling and even build on certain aspects while keeping the flavour of the first intact. It’s a great start, and if they can make combat encounters more tightly focused and remove equipment redundancy, DA3 might well be Bioware’s crowning glory.

8.5/10
 
E: Running through again, DA2 unfortunately doesn't quite retain the magic. The first Act drags, and playing through as another class isn't as radically different as it is in Mass Effect; after all, you are able to directly control everyone in the party. Coupled with the fact that you likely have a few characters you especiallly like and you can end up feeling restricted while playing. Nightmare difficulty lives up to it's name, though it's significantly more frustrating than Mass Effect 2's Insanity due to the problems with the encounter mechanics. Approaching your builds with an eye to survival rather than min-maxing is probably the best way of going about things, but that is understandably less appealing.


There are probably very few people who play through long games multiple times, and fewer still who would do so directly after beating the game the first time, so I feel that it would be unfair to lower my score. Still, it's something to bear in mind for those of you like myself.

Lasers - Review

Well what do you know, a second post in one day! This'll be more a collection of thoughts I had discussing Lupe Fiasco's new album 'Lasers' with some friends. It might seem only tangentially related to writing, but I genuinely consider some of Lupe's work poetry and one of his tunes is the basis for an idea I'm very fond of and hope to take somewhere, someday.

Essentially, my problem with this album is that it feels too mainstream. Lupe had a very unique style, some awkward bass lines and background sounds that were carried by the strength of his lyrics. 'Dumb it Down' and 'Gold Watch' are perfect examples of this, but his smartest lines are definitely in 'Gotta Eat'. You might not like them, but puns are very clever and a whole song of them can't have been easy.

In comparison, this album feels like a lot of it could have been done by anyone. Firstly, you've got to come out of the gate strong and having autotune be the first thing I heard really put me off. I liked 'I don't wanna care right now' and remarked on the similarity to Stronger (right down to the obnoxious too long outro), but that's just the third track. There are a few in the middle that are entirely forgettable, with some more that have moments of greatness that are clouded by an oppressive hook. The high production values crowd out his real talent, the clever wordplay, and at times you can actually feel him deferring to the chorus where in a previous album he might have taken that line and run with it.

At the same time, the album is a lot darker than even 'The Cool'. Lupe has always had something to say about society and people, but in this album it feels a lot more preachy; too much message with not enough song to back it up. My absolute favourite track of his is 'Put You On Game', which is so intelligent and insidious it makes everything that tries to emulate that on this album feel insipid.

I feel like it boils down to the fact that he wasn't really having fun with this album. I couldn't say why; it's taken a while to come out and he might have gone through a rough patch, which would explain the tone. He might have had less creative freedom and been under more pressure to make something that'd be commercially successful. This is meant to be his last album, which I hope means he'll have a tonne more freedom in the future and will be able to put out more of the stuff he loves.

The Wise Man's Fear - Review

If I had an established readership, I suppose I’d have to take a little time out to apologise for not updating in so long. How fortunate for me that this is only the third post! It’s like I always say; if you’re going to screw up, better to do it early and leave plenty of time to fix it. That said, this slow ass schedule may well continue for a while longer. So! Mainly to stave off guilt, here’s a little something on the second book in Patrick Rothfuss’s Kingkiller Chronicle, The Wise Man’s Fear (spoilers ensue).

Weighing in at 1000 pages, it really is remarkable that Rothfuss manages to create such an engaging narrative. The pace is not at all rapid, but the care he puts into crafting his world pays off. The mythology in particular is very engaging. However, we are now at the end of two books and I feel no closer to understanding the overarching malaise afflicting the world than I was when I started. We’re told at the outset that a lot of terrible shit goes down, but nothing bad has happened thus far. I’m not a fan of waiting for the boot to drop as it puts me on edge and dulls the enjoyment I find in the successes achieved.

It doesn’t help that Kvothe is the only real character, and I find his personality to be incredibly obnoxious at times. He comes across as such a Mary-Sue, then at times he makes the most jarringly stupid decisions you’re left disoriented. It’s supposed to show his fiery temper and the fact that it comes and goes is a deliberate character trait, but it just feels as if a ridiculously intelligent 17 year old should know better. His occasional blind arrogance, inability to learn from certain lessons and the fact that he does things that quite simply have no other possible outcome save for backfiring terribly are all just too much.

The fact that he cannot see the shape of his own exploits while at the same time claiming that the Edema Ruh know all stories is something I find particularly ironic. Honestly, you’re trained for 2 months in a martial art and you’re surprised by the fact that they consider a 10 year old girl your equal? To his credit he got over this pretty quickly, as he usually does, but oftentimes the damage is already done.

It’s particularly annoying because I really quite like his innkeeper persona and when he’s genuinely vulnerable. The scene where he breaks down into tears when Denna shows him his lute is a fantastic one, with nothing that follows even coming remotely close. The returning of her ring in particular was downplayed to near redundancy despite being a significant plot thread throughout, plus the missed trick with him being back in Tarbean with her but not thinking to have her hear the “true” version of her song.

At any rate, it’s an excellent read and it’s encouraged me to go through the first book again just to see what I’ve missed... annoying as I haven’t a clue what I’ve done with my copy. Might just have to get it on Kindle...

What's in a name?

A common theme in fantasy is the idea that names have power, and knowing someone's true name gives you leverage over them. The world I want to create explores that by having governments that use census data to enforce somewhat totalitarian regimes. They can track you with it and restrict your actions should they deem it fit.

Dissenters try and escape this control by travelling to other cities or continents where their names aren't known, but it's a near universal practice. Anyone not on record is treated with suspicion - the government line is that if they haven't done anything wrong, why are they running? - and penalise people communing with these unknowns, so whether they want to or not, they tend to end up as part of the criminal element.

This is where my protagonist comes in. He's nameless, for a reason I haven't quite nailed down yet. I'm leaning towards his mother being a mute which would be cause enough for people to shun her, either dying in childbirth or due to fatigue from fleeing some antagonistic element. He's raised by a rural-ish couple who keep him safe and happy until census time rolls around.

Here's where it starts getting a bit fuzzy for me. I like the idea that they send him away with some provisions before the official arrives, with the intent that he returns when it's all clear. Something goes wrong and they're taken in for "harboring malcontents" or something similar and taken to the capital. He follows them there at great difficulty and manages to get in contact somehow, where he decides to sever ties to keep them from coming to harm.

Inevitably, he ends up in the seedier parts of town, where the inhabitants are quick to find uses for a nameless local. Over the years he becomes something of a prime commodity due to his ability to blend in unlike the foreigners, lending a respectable local face to subversive ventures. He becomes a confident, capable young man.

However, since he hit puberty he's been hearing voices; faintly at first, but growing clearer and more insistent as he ages. They promise him all sorts and eventually one finally hits the one thing that he's always wanted - it says says it could tell him his real name. This eventually leads to him infiltrating the Archive where all the names are stored and ultimately releasing a horror of some description.

It turns out that while the government uses names to control, it also uses those names to protect from these destructive outside elements. This knowledge is kept secret simply because they know that should it become public then there'll always be power-hungry individuals who'll take the risk. It now falls to our hero to set right the damage he's done...

I'm really surprised with how fleshed out this idea seems to me, relative to many of my others. Gap fillers were occurring to me even as I typed, which is nice.

One big hurdle for me is trying to keep the government sufficiently sympathetic before the twist, which I think I can accomplish by having a love interest who's part of it. She can either be the daughter of a law enforcer following in her father's footsteps, or an Archivist cleric.

Both work, and I can use them as his means to get into the Archive. They need to be recurring characters beforehand, but he steps up his seduction towards the end to achieve his goal, directed by the voice. It also creates some convenient conflict should this idea ever go further, which I really hope it does.

Morning Star

Prologue

Captain Inver of the ‘The Serene’ made his way slowly across her deck, his head kept low to defend against the worst of the wind and spray. The combination stung the unprotected parts of his face, but his parka kept him mostly dry and his beard kept him warm. It wasn’t a particularly severe storm – he’d experienced far worse in his long career – but he still offered up a quick prayer. A single harrowing night at sea was enough to make any man god-fearing, and you quickly learned to be thankful for small mercies.

‘Hah, try telling that to that lot down below,’ he thought to himself, furrowing his brow. As shipmaster, he far too often found himself playing babysitter to the First Class passengers, obliged to listen to their petty squabbles. Whenever it got a little too hard to bear he made his excuses and escaped to the deck, secure in the knowledge that none would follow him out in this weather. Fortunately they were approaching their destination and would be off his ship within a few hours, though doubtless there’d be someone ready to complain about the night-time arrival. ‘Bunch of miserable whingers.’

These days, it seemed like everyone wanted to go to Armoroad. It’d long been a major commercial centre, but with the advent of intercontinental travel via ocean liners such as his it had become a dream destination for thousands of young people who flocked there in their droves, looking to make their fortune or find adventure.

The poor fools, he thought, shaking his head. Of course, the sad reality of it all was that precious few managed to find anything but trouble, with the vast majority falling prey to the many unscrupulous and unsavoury types eager to exploit them. With their funds dwindling, the desperate immigrants often found themselves with no recourse but to turn to crime, perpetuating the cycle. After all, who better to lure in an unsuspecting newcomer to the land than a native from his own country?

Inver stroked his chin through his beard. The Serene was a good sized vessel, capable of housing 1800 or so passengers; of that number a little under half would be in Third Class, perhaps with big ideas about returning in First someday. He shook his head again to dispel the thoughts. He’d not come out to dwell on things out of his control, after all.

He made his way towards the prow of his ship and gazed out ahead, watching as the lights of the city slowly came into view. Off in the distance a lighthouse shone, guiding his craft and any other ships around safely to berth. The waters around Armoroad were notoriously treacherous, with many an inexperienced navigator often coming a cropper on the myriad concealed rocks. The many caves surrounding the cliffs were also infamous for being home to a great many smugglers, who made up the other half of Armoroad’s seedy underbelly.

The sheer number of caves made effective policing impossible, which meant that they had free reign to wreak havoc on the prices of legitimate goods such as the ones in his hold. Even if they’d had the manpower, Armoroad’s criminal element was so entrenched and influential that any politician who wished to remain strongly supported tended to downplay the problem... but there he went again, thinking about problems that weren’t his own.

Little by little, the storm began to recede. Keeping one hand on the rail to steady himself, he reached down inside his parka’s inside pocket and after a few moments fumbling with the detritus inside, he withdrew his cigar case. It had been a gift from his son who’d joked that “It should stop mum from tossing them out!” Joke or not, it had done exactly that. Smiling at the memory he removed one of the metal cylinders it held, tipped a cigar out of it, then replaced it and the case inside the pocket. He handled the cigar delicately, running his fingers along the dark wrapper. It was beautifully hand-rolled, with long filler leaves and an exquisitely sweet blend. Each set cost a significant chunk of his pay packet, which was probably the real reason his wife was so against them. He glanced around furtively at the thought of her, then immediately chastised himself. It wasn’t as if she was around to–

“Oh dear Captain, sneaking a smoke? Your wife isn’t going to be very happy!”

Inver gave a start and turned round to see who’d spoken, visibly relaxing when he realised who it was.  The approaching figure was wearing a long dark coat with the collars turned up, hiding his face, but from the effortlessly confident way he carried himself Inver could tell it was Lucien Bale, one of his first class passengers. Ironically enough, the gentleman was actually the cause of many of his woes; much of the harassment he received from certain “influential” women was due to them asking after him so that they might introduce their daughters.

Inver didn’t hold it against the lad though – in fact, he’d quite taken a liking to him, chiefly because he seldom asked for anything and always laughed apologetically whenever the captain played messenger boy for him. He perpetually had a faint smile on his face, as if he didn’t really take the world too seriously. 

 “Yes, well, what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her,” said Inver, grinning sheepishly around the cigar he’d popped into his mouth after cutting off the cap. It was true though; he carried a packet of mints expressly so she wouldn’t find out. “Anyways, you shouldn’t go around sneaking up on your elders like that lad, nearly gave me a heart attack.’

“Oh please, you’re twice as robust as anyone else on this boat – your lovely wife excepted of course.” Lucien pulled to a stop next to the captain, rubbed his hands together and blew on his fingers, then jammed them into his pockets. He leant casually against the rail, facing the interior of the ship. “To tell you the truth, I’ve grown a little bored of their company.” 

Inver nodded while trying to light a match. “Aye, I hear that. Bunch of ingrates, always going on about their trials and tribula – Damn it all, why won’t these blasted things LIGHT?” Inver flung the third unsuccessful match to the deck, eliciting a small chuckle from his companion.

“Here, let me help you with that,” he offered, rising. He flicked his wrist in an impossibly fluid motion too fast for Inver’s eyes to follow; at the end of it Lucien was holding out a lit match towards him. Inver bent his head forward gratefully, rotating the cigar to get an even burn.  He took a drag and exhaled through his nose, savouring the smell. A deeply satisfied smile spread across his face as he returned to his position looking towards Armoroad, resting his elbows lightly on the rail.

“Ah, that’s the ticket! Wife can’t stand the things, says they’re going to drive me into an early grave.”

Lucien shook the flame out and casually flicked the match out into the waves, then went back to his position next to the captain. “Even so, a man’s got to have a little fun in his life, eh? Another name for a man with no vices is a bore, I always say. ”

Inver nodded his assent. “Well said lad! S’no way for a man to act, sneaking around in these ungodly conditions trying to enjoy a decent smoke.” He took another deep pull and sighed happily. “Hell of a trick by the way, with the match. That one of those sulphur-coated ones you can strike anywhere?”

“Ah, something like that. Just a little parlour trick I picked up on my travels I suppose,” said Lucien.

 “This your first time visiting Armoroad then?”

“No, but I haven’t been in a very long time,” came the reply. Inver glanced over to his companion and chuckled inwardly; the young man couldn’t have been much older than 30. Still, he remembered how he’d perceived time when he’d been that young – every year had seemed an age.

“Well, odds are it’s not changed much since then.”

“Mmm, and I’ve found that people are much the same everywhere you go.”

“Hah, too right. You visiting family there?”

Lucien made a face. “I’m afraid I don’t really get on that well with my family,” he confessed. “They’re all rather too severe and devout for my tastes; we’ve had something of a falling out because of it.”

Inver could sympathise. ‘It’s been a while since I heard from Thomas, come to think of it. Perhaps I should write, see how he’s doing,’ he mused. Aloud, he said “That’s family for you. Still, nothing wrong with a bit of piety.”

Lucien laughed aloud at that. “That’s one thing I can safely say I’ve never taken to excess!”

“Well,” asked the captain, “if you’re not here to visit family, what brings you here?”

Lucien winked and gave a crooked smile. “Business and pleasure; what other reasons are there?”

The captain gave a hearty laugh at hearing the young man echo exactly what he had been musing earlier. It was comforting to have the assurance that at least one of the youngsters would be able to succeed. Just then the ship suddenly lurched to portside, almost jarring the cigar out of his hand and into the briny deep. Lucien regained his balance just as quickly as the captain, his impressive sea-legs lending credence to the fact that he travelled a lot.

“What the hell are those blithering idiots playing at?” growled Inver, upset at almost losing his cigar.

“Trouble at the bridge?” suggested Lucien. The captain frowned; he and his crew had made the journey dozens of times before and they were still too far out besides, but there was the chance that something unexpected could happen.

“Hrm, there might be. You’ll have to excuse me I’m afraid, best I check up on them.”

 “Of course, don’t let me keep you. I’d have had to head back down sooner or later anyway; I’d promised both Mrs Camersham and Madame Beaumont that I’d consider joining them and their families for dinner upon disembarking. With any luck they’ll have fought it out amongst themselves by now.” He pulled out a watch while saying this, making to check how long he’d been away. Inver had been making to head off, but stopped and gave a low whistle when he saw it, problems momentarily forgotten.

“Hell of a timepiece you got there, must have cost a bundle!”

“Oh, this thing?” asked Lucien, putting it back in his pocket almost carelessly. “It’s nothing special. I daresay you’d be able to get one as nice with some cigar money. Ones those fine must have cost you an arm and a leg.”

“Hah, don’t you go listening to everything my wife says! At any rate, I’ll leave you to your philandering. Try to wait a few hours before causing mayhem with the debutantes, eh?”

“I’ll try, but I can’t promise anything,” said Lucien, grinning wickedly. With that, he gave a cheerful over the shoulder wave and headed back towards the stairs leading down to the ship’s interior. The captain smiled – he could see why the dowagers were all so keen. ‘Still,’ he thought, while the he hurried off to see just what in the blazes his crew were doing, ‘I can’t say I’d trust him with any daughter of mine...’