Spring Break Gaming Review: Dragon Age II and Homefront
Crawling out of the woodworks for an obligatory video game review post.
It was Spring Break this week, and my one goal was basically to spend lots of time gaming, because that's something I have sadly little time for during school (except when we're required to play games for school, like we did with WoW, hahaha), and also because this month was actually the first time in like a year that games have come out that I actually wanted to play. (2010 was just a sad, sad year for video games.) And I got a nice, fat tax return, so it was basically a perfect combination of availability of time + money + games I wanted to play.
I guess I'll do Homefront first because it's shorter: So I've been a major supporter of this game since I first found out about it, because it's made by Kaos Studios, a pretty small company right here in NYC. The fact that they could pull off a major triple-A title like this, in a city that just doesn't really have the infrastructure for anything but casual/indie games because all of the funding for triple-A titles goes to studios in Canada and on the west coast, is pretty fucking awesome, and I totally want to support that. I met one of their game designers at a panel thing last semester and he was a cool guy and his passion for this project was so obvious. And I can't blame him: the concept for the game is great, in the sense that they manage to sell it so well. During the whole intro of the game and the first chapter, I kept getting chills because it was so real. I totally bought into it; I kept thinking, "This could be the future." And that future, of course, is absolutely terrifying, and the fact that I had such a visceral reaction to a game concept is a testament to how well they were able to execute this idea.
So I wanted to love it. I really, really did. But it was too short for me to ever feel that strongly engaged. Especially because compared to the development of the game world, the development of the story and the characters was weak. The main character had 0 personality, the supporting characters were flat and stereotyped, and the main character's story was kind of just a typical shooter story. It felt under-developed. Not because it ended on a cliffhanger; I didn't mind that because plenty of games and good stories do, and it makes sense for the story to be played out over multiple games rather than concluded in a single one. But it was under-developed in the sense that I felt like I wasn't given enough time and opportunity to grow to care about the characters and their stories. With a strong concept like this, Homefront should have been more of a story-driven and character-driven game than it was. Another way of putting it would be that the development of the narrative through the game (or the lack thereof) did a disservice to the rich game world they had created.
Which, ironically, is a perfect segue because the same could be said about Dragon Age II, the other game I played.
I was initially pretty unexcited about DA2 when they released the trailer and some of the gameplay and story previews. The lack of character customizability (compared to Origins) put me off, as well as the complete lack of relation to the story in Origins. But I was won over by the promise of shinier graphics and improved gameplay, and in the end I told myself, "It's BioWare. BioWare has never disappointed me before."
Well, I was wrong.
Okay, maybe not quite. I hesitate to use the word 'disappointed' because I actually had a lot of fun while I was playing the game. They really did iron out a lot of the kinks in the gameplay, so the battles just felt smoother and more active and engaging, and more appropriately challenging, too. (To use game design speak, the flow channel was really well-designed.) And the graphics were definitely a lot better, as were the facial customization options. I constantly found myself thinking during the cutscenes, "God, my Hawke is so hot. I bet nobody has a Hawke as hot as mine." (A sharp contrast with Origins, where I was constantly thinking, "God, my character is so ugly.")
But then there was the story. And that was kind of the deal-breaker for me. My misgivings, unfortunately, turned out to be justified. It just really paled compared to Origins, both because of lack of variety (like how in Origins every location had its own conflict that needed to be resolved) and just overall epic scale. I initially was intrigued by the storytelling in DA2 because I wasn't quite sure where the story was going to go, because when you think about it, Origins was very predictable from the beginning and had very few plot twists. Recruit help, stop Loghain, and slay the Archdemon; it's pretty much spelled out from the very start and there's no big surprises. But at least you were saving the world. And in that respect, knowing it the entire time helped because whenever you got bogged down in a long, grind-y mission, you could tell yourself, "But I've got to keep going. I need to save the world."
The story in DA2 was just never epic. Ultimately, that's what its major failing boils down to. The whole game is just a series of quests (with most of the main quests feeling like side quests — without the delineation in the quest log I might have never known the difference) and trivial decisions that never really let you feel like you're in control of the situation or accomplishing anything meaningful. And then it all sort of comes together in Act 3, and you start to feel like maybe what you've done to get to this point mattered a little bit, but even then, the major climactic moment that leads to the ultimate unraveling in the endgame was not your doing/not exactly your intention. And I do appreciate how you end the game by picking a side, unlike the endgame being about just beating one final boss regardless of how you have played the game up until that point, but the fact that you have to get through 30+ hours of gameplay before finally making ONE meaningful decision, when in Origins you were making meaningful decisions all the time... that really kind of killed the game for me.
Besides the trivial decisions, the game also felt flat because it really only ever focused on one conflict, between the Mages and the Templars. Part of the richness of Origins, as I said, was the fact that every location had its own conflict that you became involved in, and they were all really interesting, well-developed stories. And there were even some that weren't direct conflicts but that were just alluded to, like Ferelden's history with Orlais and the lingering effects of that occupation. Yes, I suppose it was nice that DA2 really did delve deeper into a single conflict and developed it further, but the fact that they just picked one and mostly ignored the rest of the lore they created? I mean, I suppose there was the Qunari side story, but in the end that still only served as another point of contention in the conflict between the Mages and the Templars. Merrill's story was really the only one that felt like it stood alone enough, but even that one was wholly unsatisfying because you never find out what happens with the mirror. (And don't get me started on the fact that because I chose not to sell out my friend, I was forced to slaughter an entire village of Dalish elves. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT. THE. FUCK.)
I was also pissed off by the lack of evidence of my Origins decisions in DA2. When they announced that the game was going to take place in a different location and in a different timeframe with different characters and many of the fans were confused and outraged, BioWare was all like, "Don't worry! You'll see plenty of evidence of the decisions you made in DA:O reflected all around the game world." Umm, really??? Because I didn't see it. There were some vague references and a few NPCs and of course the cameos by Alistair and Zevran, but... really??? All of those meaningful decisions, and this is what I get?? It kind of reminded me of the end of Mass Effect, when you make that decision about the Council and it feels like a Really Big Decision, and then you start Mass Effect 2 and it turns out that decision had very little effect on anything at all. But at least since you were continuing with the same character, it still felt important, because it was kind of like this moment that was significant in your character's personal history and development. But since you start DA2 with a completely new character, you don't have that same feeling of personal significance.
I did enjoy the characters, somewhat to my own surprise. I was annoyed with most of them in the beginning, especially Anders, because I worried that they were just trying to reinvent Alistair with his snarky comments. I do realize that Alistair was a hard act to follow, both in how well-developed he was in Origins and the strong fan following that resulted. So I think I wanted to dislike him initially because I was like, "If they wanted a character like Alistair, why not just keep Alistair? Why reinvent the wheel?" But I think he managed to be different enough and develop enough of his own personality, despite some of the obvious similarities, so that I grew to really enjoy and appreciate him.
I actually hadn't intended to romance Anders, not because of how I felt about his character but because I was doing a female playthrough and I figured it would be more fun to romance him on a male playthrough. After being rather ambivalent about my other options, my character slept with Isabela, and I figured I would just stick with that. But then the whole thing with the mom happened, and Anders came up to Hawke's room to comfort her, and it was so surprisingly endearing, I decided to give up on Isabela and romance Anders. For a character to unexpectedly win me over like that is pretty awesome.
I also liked Varric, although I probably didn't play with him as much as I should've. My main party for most of the game was Hawke, Anders, Isabela, and Aveline. I probably wouldn't have used Aveline if she wasn't the only good option for a tank. I found her attitude annoying. Though, I probably felt about her the way I would feel if I actually knew her in person. Deep down I didn't dislike her, it's just her attitude that made me want to yell, "Shut up, woman!" a lot. I did support her with Donnic. That was cute. Awww.
Fenris was... I don't know. An interesting choice. In some sense I felt like Zevran was a disappointment — I thought that having a bisexual elf romance option would be fun and exciting, but they just made him so ridiculous with his Spanish accident and overtly sexual comments that it took all the fun out of romancing him. So in that context I like the different approach they took with Fenris. I guess I didn't really try to pursue him because his attitude toward magic didn't jive with how I was playing the game, and the fact that he tended to disapprove of most of my decisions kept me from bringing him along on quests, but I didn't dislike him.
Merrill did fucking annoy me. I actually considered her for a romance option at first (because of the reason above of why I initially ruled out Anders), but I quickly abandoned that because of how annoying she was. I did like her character design. But that didn't stop me from wanting to punch her in the face. A lot.
I was sad that Bethany pretty much got axed after Act 1 because Isabela/Bethany is totally my new OTP. Would've loved to see more of their interactions.
I am so, so glad they decided to keep (and, it seems, even expand on) the companion conversations while you're walking around. That was one of my favorite features of Origins, and something I do agree many RPGs miss out on — there's always plenty of interaction between the main character and their companions, but little between the companions. I love their reactions to each other, their banter and snarky comments. And there was definitely a ton of it in this game.
One thing in DA2's favor, though: it's a lot more easily replayable. I played through Origins 3 times, and I often feel like I should play it again because I did start the other 3 backgrounds and do want to develop those characters, but the fact that some of the major quests are so incredibly long and annoying (ie. The Fade and Orzammar) discourages me from picking it up again. I really do get this strong feeling of dread when I think about those missions. So I definitely appreciate how the main quests in DA2 are more "bite-size". I don't want to replay it right this minute, but at least the thought of it doesn't fill me with dread.
And I guess I'll reserve my ultimate judgment until I've replayed DA2 at least one more time. I actually didn't quite grow to love Origins until I played through it more than once, either; that's when I really began to appreciate the nonlinear storytelling and the characters. But right now I would sum up my reaction with: "BioWare, what the HELL were you thinking?! Why follow up such a richly detailed and fully customizable game experience with such a linear and un-epic one?! WHY?!?!"
It was Spring Break this week, and my one goal was basically to spend lots of time gaming, because that's something I have sadly little time for during school (except when we're required to play games for school, like we did with WoW, hahaha), and also because this month was actually the first time in like a year that games have come out that I actually wanted to play. (2010 was just a sad, sad year for video games.) And I got a nice, fat tax return, so it was basically a perfect combination of availability of time + money + games I wanted to play.
I guess I'll do Homefront first because it's shorter: So I've been a major supporter of this game since I first found out about it, because it's made by Kaos Studios, a pretty small company right here in NYC. The fact that they could pull off a major triple-A title like this, in a city that just doesn't really have the infrastructure for anything but casual/indie games because all of the funding for triple-A titles goes to studios in Canada and on the west coast, is pretty fucking awesome, and I totally want to support that. I met one of their game designers at a panel thing last semester and he was a cool guy and his passion for this project was so obvious. And I can't blame him: the concept for the game is great, in the sense that they manage to sell it so well. During the whole intro of the game and the first chapter, I kept getting chills because it was so real. I totally bought into it; I kept thinking, "This could be the future." And that future, of course, is absolutely terrifying, and the fact that I had such a visceral reaction to a game concept is a testament to how well they were able to execute this idea.
So I wanted to love it. I really, really did. But it was too short for me to ever feel that strongly engaged. Especially because compared to the development of the game world, the development of the story and the characters was weak. The main character had 0 personality, the supporting characters were flat and stereotyped, and the main character's story was kind of just a typical shooter story. It felt under-developed. Not because it ended on a cliffhanger; I didn't mind that because plenty of games and good stories do, and it makes sense for the story to be played out over multiple games rather than concluded in a single one. But it was under-developed in the sense that I felt like I wasn't given enough time and opportunity to grow to care about the characters and their stories. With a strong concept like this, Homefront should have been more of a story-driven and character-driven game than it was. Another way of putting it would be that the development of the narrative through the game (or the lack thereof) did a disservice to the rich game world they had created.
Which, ironically, is a perfect segue because the same could be said about Dragon Age II, the other game I played.
I was initially pretty unexcited about DA2 when they released the trailer and some of the gameplay and story previews. The lack of character customizability (compared to Origins) put me off, as well as the complete lack of relation to the story in Origins. But I was won over by the promise of shinier graphics and improved gameplay, and in the end I told myself, "It's BioWare. BioWare has never disappointed me before."
Well, I was wrong.
Okay, maybe not quite. I hesitate to use the word 'disappointed' because I actually had a lot of fun while I was playing the game. They really did iron out a lot of the kinks in the gameplay, so the battles just felt smoother and more active and engaging, and more appropriately challenging, too. (To use game design speak, the flow channel was really well-designed.) And the graphics were definitely a lot better, as were the facial customization options. I constantly found myself thinking during the cutscenes, "God, my Hawke is so hot. I bet nobody has a Hawke as hot as mine." (A sharp contrast with Origins, where I was constantly thinking, "God, my character is so ugly.")
But then there was the story. And that was kind of the deal-breaker for me. My misgivings, unfortunately, turned out to be justified. It just really paled compared to Origins, both because of lack of variety (like how in Origins every location had its own conflict that needed to be resolved) and just overall epic scale. I initially was intrigued by the storytelling in DA2 because I wasn't quite sure where the story was going to go, because when you think about it, Origins was very predictable from the beginning and had very few plot twists. Recruit help, stop Loghain, and slay the Archdemon; it's pretty much spelled out from the very start and there's no big surprises. But at least you were saving the world. And in that respect, knowing it the entire time helped because whenever you got bogged down in a long, grind-y mission, you could tell yourself, "But I've got to keep going. I need to save the world."
The story in DA2 was just never epic. Ultimately, that's what its major failing boils down to. The whole game is just a series of quests (with most of the main quests feeling like side quests — without the delineation in the quest log I might have never known the difference) and trivial decisions that never really let you feel like you're in control of the situation or accomplishing anything meaningful. And then it all sort of comes together in Act 3, and you start to feel like maybe what you've done to get to this point mattered a little bit, but even then, the major climactic moment that leads to the ultimate unraveling in the endgame was not your doing/not exactly your intention. And I do appreciate how you end the game by picking a side, unlike the endgame being about just beating one final boss regardless of how you have played the game up until that point, but the fact that you have to get through 30+ hours of gameplay before finally making ONE meaningful decision, when in Origins you were making meaningful decisions all the time... that really kind of killed the game for me.
Besides the trivial decisions, the game also felt flat because it really only ever focused on one conflict, between the Mages and the Templars. Part of the richness of Origins, as I said, was the fact that every location had its own conflict that you became involved in, and they were all really interesting, well-developed stories. And there were even some that weren't direct conflicts but that were just alluded to, like Ferelden's history with Orlais and the lingering effects of that occupation. Yes, I suppose it was nice that DA2 really did delve deeper into a single conflict and developed it further, but the fact that they just picked one and mostly ignored the rest of the lore they created? I mean, I suppose there was the Qunari side story, but in the end that still only served as another point of contention in the conflict between the Mages and the Templars. Merrill's story was really the only one that felt like it stood alone enough, but even that one was wholly unsatisfying because you never find out what happens with the mirror. (And don't get me started on the fact that because I chose not to sell out my friend, I was forced to slaughter an entire village of Dalish elves. WHAT THE FUCK. WHAT. THE. FUCK.)
I was also pissed off by the lack of evidence of my Origins decisions in DA2. When they announced that the game was going to take place in a different location and in a different timeframe with different characters and many of the fans were confused and outraged, BioWare was all like, "Don't worry! You'll see plenty of evidence of the decisions you made in DA:O reflected all around the game world." Umm, really??? Because I didn't see it. There were some vague references and a few NPCs and of course the cameos by Alistair and Zevran, but... really??? All of those meaningful decisions, and this is what I get?? It kind of reminded me of the end of Mass Effect, when you make that decision about the Council and it feels like a Really Big Decision, and then you start Mass Effect 2 and it turns out that decision had very little effect on anything at all. But at least since you were continuing with the same character, it still felt important, because it was kind of like this moment that was significant in your character's personal history and development. But since you start DA2 with a completely new character, you don't have that same feeling of personal significance.
I did enjoy the characters, somewhat to my own surprise. I was annoyed with most of them in the beginning, especially Anders, because I worried that they were just trying to reinvent Alistair with his snarky comments. I do realize that Alistair was a hard act to follow, both in how well-developed he was in Origins and the strong fan following that resulted. So I think I wanted to dislike him initially because I was like, "If they wanted a character like Alistair, why not just keep Alistair? Why reinvent the wheel?" But I think he managed to be different enough and develop enough of his own personality, despite some of the obvious similarities, so that I grew to really enjoy and appreciate him.
I actually hadn't intended to romance Anders, not because of how I felt about his character but because I was doing a female playthrough and I figured it would be more fun to romance him on a male playthrough. After being rather ambivalent about my other options, my character slept with Isabela, and I figured I would just stick with that. But then the whole thing with the mom happened, and Anders came up to Hawke's room to comfort her, and it was so surprisingly endearing, I decided to give up on Isabela and romance Anders. For a character to unexpectedly win me over like that is pretty awesome.
I also liked Varric, although I probably didn't play with him as much as I should've. My main party for most of the game was Hawke, Anders, Isabela, and Aveline. I probably wouldn't have used Aveline if she wasn't the only good option for a tank. I found her attitude annoying. Though, I probably felt about her the way I would feel if I actually knew her in person. Deep down I didn't dislike her, it's just her attitude that made me want to yell, "Shut up, woman!" a lot. I did support her with Donnic. That was cute. Awww.
Fenris was... I don't know. An interesting choice. In some sense I felt like Zevran was a disappointment — I thought that having a bisexual elf romance option would be fun and exciting, but they just made him so ridiculous with his Spanish accident and overtly sexual comments that it took all the fun out of romancing him. So in that context I like the different approach they took with Fenris. I guess I didn't really try to pursue him because his attitude toward magic didn't jive with how I was playing the game, and the fact that he tended to disapprove of most of my decisions kept me from bringing him along on quests, but I didn't dislike him.
Merrill did fucking annoy me. I actually considered her for a romance option at first (because of the reason above of why I initially ruled out Anders), but I quickly abandoned that because of how annoying she was. I did like her character design. But that didn't stop me from wanting to punch her in the face. A lot.
I was sad that Bethany pretty much got axed after Act 1 because Isabela/Bethany is totally my new OTP. Would've loved to see more of their interactions.
I am so, so glad they decided to keep (and, it seems, even expand on) the companion conversations while you're walking around. That was one of my favorite features of Origins, and something I do agree many RPGs miss out on — there's always plenty of interaction between the main character and their companions, but little between the companions. I love their reactions to each other, their banter and snarky comments. And there was definitely a ton of it in this game.
One thing in DA2's favor, though: it's a lot more easily replayable. I played through Origins 3 times, and I often feel like I should play it again because I did start the other 3 backgrounds and do want to develop those characters, but the fact that some of the major quests are so incredibly long and annoying (ie. The Fade and Orzammar) discourages me from picking it up again. I really do get this strong feeling of dread when I think about those missions. So I definitely appreciate how the main quests in DA2 are more "bite-size". I don't want to replay it right this minute, but at least the thought of it doesn't fill me with dread.
And I guess I'll reserve my ultimate judgment until I've replayed DA2 at least one more time. I actually didn't quite grow to love Origins until I played through it more than once, either; that's when I really began to appreciate the nonlinear storytelling and the characters. But right now I would sum up my reaction with: "BioWare, what the HELL were you thinking?! Why follow up such a richly detailed and fully customizable game experience with such a linear and un-epic one?! WHY?!?!"