So about that DA:O post...

Look. Since I'd had heard nothing but praise about it, I had to make a post denouncing it. What's more, everything I argued against it was perfectly valid. The combat is a little like pulling teeth. I'm having a harder time on normal on a rogue than on hard as a mage. It is complete bollocks that you can only have a select few openings depending on your race/class combination. What if I want to be a human noble mage? And god forbid you don't like dialogue because they puke that shit out at you.

Yet, for all of it's...annoyances...well, there are two things that can make a game, in my eyes. One, gameplay. If a game is so exceedingly FUN, that just the combination of buttons and stuff happening on screen is so magical, it's hard to put the game down just out of sheer enjoyment. A good example that comes to mind would be Ratchet: Deadlocked. Blowing shit up is mindless fun. Doing so in creative, flashy ways is REALLY fun.

Two, story/characterization. There's a quote out there that runs along the lines, "A man who has a why to live can bear almost any how." Too many examples like this come to mind. Oh dear, sweet jesus, I played through all three Xenosaga games. I loathe turn-based games. Xenosaga is more of a goddamned movie than a game and I don't like movies very much either. The gameplay was long and boring. The puzzles take forever. I avoided enemies because the battles were worse. But damned if I didn't see that through because I wanted to see how the characters turned out. Psychonauts would be an awful game if there was no story.

So Dragon Age: Origins falls into that delicate category of having great characters and O-K gameplay. I beat it on hard as a mage, and I couldn't do it as anything else. I wonder if I could do super-hard and I don't feel like trying. But I play through it again because I want to see what happens to the characters if I pick a different option here, if I'm a douchebag there. But gigantic ball sacks on the gameplay. Maybe it's just because I have the sexbox version.

There are very few games out there that blend both of these elements. Deadlocked gives it a good shot, but it's not a serious story. That's probably the closest I can get. I'm sure that Tales of the Abyss was good, but for some reason I didn't like it that much. Oh, Trauma Center is a pretty good example. Though the gameplay is brain-rackingly difficult. But Tales of Symphonia is the best example I can think of. THe characters are wonderful and I love the combat system.

Anyways. There ya go. I'mma go play more DA:O now.

Want to tell this author what you think, but you don't want anyone else to see it? Think she's full of it and need to set her straight? Want to worship the ground she walks on? Well, good luck with that last one, but you can email Chrys at catharticgamer@yahoo.com and at least tell her what you think.