[WIWD] Dragon Age Origins

[CJC]

The following is a discussion of features I would have changed in the memorable Bioware game Dragon Age Origins.

Before I begin, I would like to preface the discussion with a few statements:

1.) I LOVE Dragon Age Origins, and that enthusiasm has not withered with age. This discussion is thus not tainted by the rose-colored chronogoggles that older games usually suffer from. It is because I love a topic that I come up with constructive changes for it; this is one of the ways in which I get excited about a topic.

2.) Many of these ideas were not feasible at the time the game was created. Some of these ideas were inspired by subsequent entries in the series, and thus wouldn't have been available at the time the game is made. I am aware of this. The discussion is rather what I would like to see if I was in complete control of an infinite-budget remake (or perhaps what I would wish for with a magic lamp!).

3.) This discussion will contain extensive spoilers. If you haven't played the game at least part-way, I highly recommend skipping the discussion until you've given it a go. It really is a remarkable game despite any flaws I may have perceived and it is worth a go.

The discussion will cover the game AND its expansions, as I recently acquired and explored the ultimate edition.



If you're still here, and you've played at least some of the game, then let's begin.
Into Thedas we go!
Attachment 170

Class Restrictions
For a great while I have been bothered by the class restriction imposed on the Dwarves. Each other race is permitted access to all three classes of the game, except the Dwarves who are only permitted two. I understand the thematic reasoning behind this (Dwarves sleep the sleep of stone; they don't dream so they can't DO magic), and I think I finally understand why it bothers me so much. I'm not actually upset that Dwarves can't be mages. I'm upset that Dwarves got the short stick. Everybody else has a completely flexible class selection and Dwarves are restricted, THAT is what bothers me. It makes them less favorable as a character choice when playing the game, and this is even reflected by EA's usage statistics (only 1% of the players who registered characters online picked a dwarven origin).

Here's my solution: Don't remove the restriction, place a new restriction. Humans are freelancers, so of course they can choose any class they wish. Dwarves sleep the stone sleep, so they don't have a connection to the Fade (Dream world if you missed the codex) and thus cannot be Mages. Finally, Elves lack the physical stature necessary to command raw, enduring strength, and so cannot approach combat as a Warrior.

The bone structure of the elves already does much to suggest this possibility; they are lithe and diminutive. It could also explain why the elves of the Dales could not withstand a full assault by the human nations during the second exalted march: be as clever and as magical as you please, it won't help as they're shattering your bones with battleaxes. Finally, it would give elves the same drawback as dwarves, leveling the player's selection to a more even spread (Of course humans still have the highest draw, but such is to be expected).


Origins
This is the big one for me. I did not like that origins were restricted by class selection, and I also felt there was an unfair spread based on race selection. Humans get the short-stick here, sharing an origin with the elves and having only one origin for Warriors and Rogues. Elves also had three origins to choose from, giving them way too many options for play as characters (By the time I got to Alienage Elf, I was so exhausted I didn't want to see the knife-ears anymore. Which is a pity because the Alienage Elf origin is one of the best-written openings in the game). I'll start with some general notes and then go into specific detail on how I would modify each origin. This is the primary way in which I would alter a remake.

Here's my solution:
1.) Two origins per race, each with no restriction based on class (other than the race restrictions of course). This idea was inspired by Dragon Age Inquisition, actually, which separated race and class distinction in its dialogue trees. For instance, a human mage in that game is still a noble, though one who practiced magic in secret to avoid being taken away to the Circle. Inquisition only has four origins, but my dream version of Dragon Age Origins would still have six. The only origin I really have a problem with is the Mage origin, but I'll list adjustments that are necessary for certain origins to accommodate classes that weren't available in the original version of the game.

2.) Five additional characters for the game, one for each origin the player did not select. I am aware it is hinted that, without Duncan's intervention, the other origins perished before the catastrophe at Ostagar. I don't like this, however, for several reasons. One, it's terribly pessimistic. Two, much of the origin-specific content is lost with the absence of these characters. And three, it is far more feasible in game production to recycle that origin-specific content by triggering it with a companion. The inclusion of these five 'other origin' characters would have allowed them to completely voice the protagonist, a feature that has been applauded in later installments of the series and its Sci-Fi cousin Mass Effect.

On specific origins:

Dwarven Noble

Spoiler: show

This is my favorite origin. I've played it repeatedly and I wouldn't change a thing. If the player did not select this origin, the following companion could be encountered:

Duran Aeducan, Exiled Son of King Endrin
Having refused to play dwarven politics, Duran was betrayed by his youngest brother Bhelen and framed for the death of his older brother crown prince Trian. Sent to the deep roads to fight darkspawn until his death, Duran attempted to reach the Legion of the Dead but could push no further than the Aeducan Thaig, the place where his life fell to ruins. He survived in this place by eating deepstalkers and darkspawn, succumbing to partial madness much as Ruck did in Ortan Thaig. Duran can be rescued from Aeducan Thaig or executed when the player goes to save Lord Dace (a Bhelen support quest that would instead be mandatory in the new version). He is a firm supporter of Lord Harrowmont and wishes nothing but the total destruction of his traitorous brother Bhelen.
Duran is a sword-and-shield Warrior with the Reaver specialization, having gone mad from the poisonous taint of the darkspawn he had to survive on. He will teach the player this specialization if approval is sufficiently high, in lieu of Reaver being learned from the Cult of Andraste.
Duran's companion quest involves restoring the right of noble house to his son, who he had with the noble hunter Mardi.
Referred to as to Aeducan, Exile, and Lord Aeducan, just as the player would be if this origin was selected.

Dwarven Commoner

Spoiler: show

This origin is also a favorite of mine, and I would not change much. The fate for shaming the proving would be exile to the surface rather than death, to ensure the 'off origin' character is alive when the player encounters her. If the player did not select this origin, the following companion could be recruited:

Natia Brosca, Castless Dwarven Smuggler
Having lived her whole life in the carta, when Natia became the scapegoat for an operation gone sour (fixing the provings), she is exiled to the surface. Frustrated at the Carta for leaving her in the wind, she becomes a trader outside Orzammar, hunting for food and pelts in the Frostback mountains until she is encountered by the Player on approach to Orzammar. Worried about her sister Rica, Natia requests asylum with the wardens to enter Orzammar until a new king is crowned. She can be recruited at this point or pushed away, and she is a loyalist to Prince Bhelen for taking in her sister.
Natia is a crossbow Rogue with the Ranger specialization because of her time spent in the Frostback wilderness. She will teach the player this specialization if approval is sufficiently high, in lieu of Ranger being learned from a manual.
Natia's companion quest is Rogek's lyrium smuggling.
Referred to as Brosca, Duster, and Brand, just as the player would be if this origin was selected.

City Elf

Spoiler: show

This origin was fascinating, though I only played it once. To make room for the possibility of an elf mage with this origin, I'd add a few dialogue references to 'playing with fire' and hiding magic from the fiance, provided the player selected the mage class. If the player did not select this origin, the following companion could be recruited:

Kallian Tabris, the Bloody Bride
After being kidnapped on her wedding day, taking part in a brawl that bloodied the alienage, and being arrested to await execution, Kallian was forgotten in jail following the confusion of Loghain's retreat. Left to rot, she broke out and took refuge in the Denerim chantry, awaiting word on the state of the Alienage. It is there that the player can encounter her. Kallian is gravely against the Tevinter slavery deal, to the point of attacking the party if the player allows the mages to leave with the elves they have stolen. If she is not present, the player can simply lie to her about the fate of the elves.
Kallian is a daggers Rogue with the Duelist specialization. She will teach the player this specialization if approval is sufficiently high, in lieu of learning it from Isabella after a game of Wicked Grace.
Kallian's companion quest is the rescue of her cousin Soris. If the player finds Soris in Arl Howe's dungeons without Kallian, then she might request they look for him in the Alienage the next time she is in the party.
Referred to as Tabris and Knife-Ears, just as the player would be if this origin was selected.

More in the next post (Hit the character limit)

[CJC]

Dalish Elf

Spoiler: show

This origin was a little dry and boring, but the plot was solid. It is not unusual for the Dalish to keep their apostate mages with them, so no adjustments need be made to get around the 'all mages start in the Circle' restriction of the old version. If the player did not select this origin, the following companion could be recruited:

Theron Mahariel
Poisoned with the taint by the Eluvian, Theron fell to fever and was doomed to die. But he was a mage, and he knew there were ways to stave off the jaws of death. Dark ways. Venturing back to the ruins, Therom used the shards of the Eluvian in a ritual to summon a demon of Pride and bind it to his body, becoming possessed in exchange for his life. This dovetails well with Merrill's entanglement with the Eluvian in Dragon Age 2, as the one she found near Kirkwall possessed her keeper with a Pride Demon in one of the outcomes of the game.
He can be found in the Brecilian Wood, where he rescues the party from the Hunger Demon that faked the camp. Despite his Dalish heritage, Theron is actually in favor with working for the Lady of the Wood, possibly due to his own possession.
Theron is a mage that is focused in Spirit magic. He has the Blood Mage specialization, which he will teach the player if approval is sufficiently high (in lieu of learning it from Connor's demon).
Theron's companion quest is the search for the Tevinter generals in Brecilian forest, triggered after dealing with the Dalish. The quest would be combined with "Asunder", the deep-roads quest to piece a demon back together. If completed, Theron breaks from his demonic symbiosis. Theron is antagonistic with Wynne until this companion quest is completed, as his demon of pride is naturally at odds with her spirit of faith.
Referred to as Mahariel and Scribble-Face, just as the player would be if this origin was selected.

Noble Human

Spoiler: show

This origin was fine in the original, but becomes problematic when a mage is allowed to be selected as a class for it. This is easily rectified, however, by having the Teyrna proclaim that her youngest child is "too frail for battle" , appearing overprotective for a Warrior or Rogue but serving as an excuse for why the player isn't going to Ostagar for Mages (as she's really hiding the player's magical inclinations). This would actually make the origin quite satisfying to play as a mage; the player is finally able to prove him/herself to her mother as the castle is under attack. If the player did not select this origin, the following companion could be recruited:

Aedan Cousland, Youngest Son of Highever
After the betrayal by Rendon Howe, Aedan flees to Ostagar to warn the King of the treachery. Finding the blight has swallowed up the Kocari Wilds, he goes to Denerim to find a way to bring Howe to justice. The Player can encounter Aedan at the Gnawed Noble, where he is working to convince the banns and arls of the danger looming in the city. Despite loathing Howe, Aedan is a proud supporter of Loghain and is hesitant to believe that he betrayed the King.
Aedan is a two-handed weapon fighter with the Champion specialization, which he will teach to others if approval is sufficiently high. This takes the place of receiving the specialization from Arl Eamon after saving Redcliffe.
Aedan's companion quest involves returning to Highever to cremate his parents as is Andrastian tradition.
Referred to as Cousland and Lord, just as the player would be if this origin was selected.

Circle Human

Spoiler: show

This is the origin that needs the most work. It was long, generic, and just a little boring. Honestly I didn't even want to play my mage beyond Ostagar because of this origin, and that is a pretty bad thing. It also takes the bite out of Broken Circle by preemptively revealing what the Fade is like, which is a huge bummer because being tossed into the fade by Sloth is one of the most intriguing parts of the game and the reduction of impact from having been there before just hurts the presentation.
So here's what I would have done differently.
For starters, players selected for this origin would be 'gifted' to the Circle at a young age, either to serve as a Chantry priest or because they were showing magical talents. Second, stealing the phylacteries comes FIRST, as Jowan (and potentially the player) fear they will fail the Harrowing and be made tranquil. After getting caught, Jowan and the player are presented before Duncan, but Jowan uses blood magic to escape. That is, the Harrowing would be removed from this origin. If the player did not select this origin, the following companion could be recruited:

Solona Amell, Mage who fled the Circle
Taking her chance when caught, Solona escaped the circle with Jowan (though she did not resort to blood magic). Furious with him for turning to such extremes she threatens to kill him, but he manipulates her into letting him go with still more blood magic. She takes to his trail, following him first to Denerim and then to Redcliffe where she learns he has poisoned the arl. However, Connor's dead army prevents her from entering the castle and confronting Jowan, so she decides to help the villagers by securing the Chantry. The player can encounter her there and help her gain access to Jowan.
Solona is a mage that is focused on elemental magic, particularly fire magic. She has the Arcane Warrior specialization and will teach it if approval is sufficiently high. This is in lieu of learning the specialization from releasing the ancient elf spirit from captivity.
After Redcliffe, Solona's companion quest becomes available. She wants to punish Jowan. If Jowan was released, this will prompt a search for him. If he is in jail, she will insist on letting you convince Bann Teagan to release him into her custody. She takes you on a quest to learn how to inscribe the Tranquil mark on a mage (though she will not reveal the details, that's a secret that is supplied in a later game) and, once Jowan is caught, she subjects him to this ritual.
Referred to as Amell and Enchanter, just as the player would be if this origin was selected.

Combat
I'll admit to some shallow behavior here. When I first saw Dragon Age Origins advertised, the game looked amazing. When I saw actual gameplay, I was turned away. It took years before I gave the game a legitimate chance. That's the point, though, a good game needs to be given a chance, and for that to happen it has to look exciting. Dragon Age Origins combat most certainly is not fun to watch.
Dragon Age 2 came a long way in fixing this solution, and Dragon Age Inquisition perfected it. If the game were to have an optimal configuration, then a key component of that would be Inquisition gameplay.

There are other components of combat that would need tweaking, so here's a start.

Warriors have too many weapon sets. Letting warriors use bows and dual weapons was a mistake, and warrior dual-weapons is totally overpowered.

Mages have too many spells. Leveling a mage character ends up forcing a particular focus, and most often the most practical configuration was lots of entropy with a little Creation. I barely touched the elemental magics with any of my mages, and spirit was completely neglected. Inquisition has sort of fixed this by smashing the really concentrated magics into one category and spreading the elemental magic over multiple categories; this is the sort of idea I would have liked to see sooner (I have to wonder if the play testers though about this stuff).
Also, the Shapeshifter specialization is a total throwaway, especially considering that the Ranger can achieve the same effect will still being viable for combat himself. I would trim the shapes down from three to two (Bear and Spider) and have each function like a separate class (down to granting some of the same abilities). Bear would work like a warrior while Spider would work like a rogue. Why keep spider and not wolf? One good reason and one bad reason. The good reason is that it is reasonable to assume a spider would use poisons and stealth just like a rogue, while wolves might only use stealth. The bad reason is that one of the FMV advertisements depicts Morrigan turning into a spider; maintaining the spider shape is really to keep consistency with the advertisements.

Expansions
Something that bothers me about the DLC, particularly Awakening, is that it contradicts and even damages some of the established world facts. The darkspawn grublings contradict the established facts about Broodmothers (and they seem to have forgotten that Shrieks are darkspawn-elves), the notion of sentient darkspawn is tired, and the new NPCs were not memorable (well, except for Anders, and we know what HE ends up doing). Also, Oghren succumbed to Flanderization.
I would be more inclined to believe that the Awakened One was actually one of the five Tevinter Mages that breached the golden city, which I suppose is why they **redacted** in **redacted** to revisit that. I don't know, something just didn't taste right about the 'big' expansion; it felt strained and part of that strain came from being the arl of the region. I mean, why would the leader of the arling go romping around the countryside, instead of, you know, holding court. I think there were like two court decisions in the entire expansion.

Golems of Amgarrak had the opportunity to really explore the intricacies of Lyrium, but... well, it fell flat, and the villain was strange to say the least. Leliana's song was fantastic, though, as was Witch Hunt. Maybe they made the big expansion too soon, and hadn't learned from their mistakes yet. Certainly something an 'idealized' version of the game could get around, if I had a magic lamp to wish it into reality.


Anyway, that's about it for my WIWD on Dragon Age Origins. Considering the size of the game, this list is incredibly small, and that speaks volumes as to just how wonderful the game was. Usually there's a lot of little things that trip me up and a couple big ones, but this game only had some opening issues and a few post-epilogue problems, the latter easily blamed on deadlines and staff changeover.


In short, play Dragon Age Origins again and think about these things. What would you change, if you had the power to do so?

[Brasel]

Another way to balance out the dwarves would have been to give them some alternate class that the other two couldn't select, like an engineer or something.


I played an alienage elf my first playthrough. I loved my character. She kicked ass. I do agree on too many story origins for the elves, though. Funny enough, I went with Kallian as her name and she was a dual daggers duelist rogue.

I completely agree that the characters in Awakening were forgettable. I do remember Anders, Justice, and Nathaniel Howe. I don't remember the name of the female elf, and I can't remember if there were any others. I also didn't play through it more than once. I played through Origins like 5 times.

Anyway, I like your list of proposed changes. If we're going with unlimited budget, I would have fully voiced the main character too.

I'm playing through Inquisition right now. It's fantastic. I absolutely love it.

[CJC]

Another way to balance out the dwarves would have been to give them some alternate class that the other two couldn't select, like an engineer or something.

Lyrium Brands! Like Garin!
I was actually quite impressed with the concept of Fenris in Dragon Age 2 (even if the character himself was a boring templar-loving jerk), and something like that would have been neat for dwarves. Some sort of lyrium-infused tattooing that grants them elemental prowess but makes them totally nuts. I'd love to play a character like that.

I completely agree that the characters in Awakening were forgettable. I do remember Anders, Justice, and Nathaniel Howe. I don't remember the name of the female elf, and I can't remember if there were any others. I also didn't play through it more than once. I played through Origins like 5 times.

Anders was the most memorable, but I remembered him more for Ser Pounce-a-Lot than for him. Also, in Dragon Age 2 he sort of, well, you know. He BECAME important.
The other characters were Velanna, a broody Dalish mage whose sister was kidnapped by the 'sentient' darkspawn (a ridiculous plot element, by the way) and Sigrun, the last of the Dead Legion (which is also difficult to swallow; these guys are trained darkspawn fighters and they were all eliminated by a few broodmothers? I doubt it). Also, Oghren, but like I said, they took one of his quirky characteristics and made it his sole identity.

Anyway, I like your list of proposed changes. If we're going with unlimited budget, I would have fully voiced the main character too.

Oh definitely! I'd take Inquisition's engine and fully voice the character with three male and three female voices (Sarcastic, Forceful, and Diplomatic, but universal for the gender like they did in Inquisition). Adding the 'not this origin' characters would make this more feasible since a lot of the dialogue aimed at the origin could still be kept, saving a great deal of resources which could then be dedicated to voicing the player.

I'm playing through Inquisition right now. It's fantastic. I absolutely love it.

I'm 60 hours into Inquisition and it is utterly amazing. I only have a few things I would have liked to see differently in that game (a couple little mechanical changes, like easier access to the war table; a few moderate changes to one particular quest line; and one major plot twist), but I'll discuss that in a different thread once the game has had time to settle on everybody's playlists. It's a bit early to post things related to key plot points (and I haven't finished it yet, best to wait until I know the whole story).
Inquisition is definitely a game for the ages. I haven't played anything nearly as addictive in a very long time.