Genre: RPG
Year: 2010
Developed by: BioWare
Published by: Electronic Arts
Platforms: Mac, PC, PS3, XBOX360
#246
Feeling Like: We’re here for a good time…
This is going to be a short one.
Since I’ve started the 500, I’ve continuously added to the All-Mighty-spreadsheet. This creates a minor challenge; how often am I adjusting the list? What if I play an all-time banger, like Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild? Or Hades? Eventually, I’m going to have to codify it and not allow any new members in. If I feel a game’s sequels are redundant, I’ll swap them out for a more recently enjoyed title. As much as I loved the Harmonix games, how different are the three Guitar Heros, or Rock Bands?
The reason I bring this up is that unless an expansion or DLC really makes an impression, they won’t get their own spot on the list. Placements are starting to get more exclusive as I climb my way closer to completion and something that lasts only a few hours may not warrant the effort. I do plan on creating a massive, ever fluid list of every game once this blog is complete. No written entries beyond the 500, however. I’m not masochist.
If I’d planned this better, I probably would have just incorporated any expansions into their original game and ranked it accordingly. Starcraft 2 released three campaigns individually and as separate games, but now they’re all bundled into one package. What a game(s).
I certainly should have done this for Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening. I’m sort of surprised to see it up this high. I don’t have any specific fond memories of it, I can’t recall a single instance where I discussed it with a friend. I remember it reviewing favorably, but expansions back in the day felt more like a novelty. With the evolution to Downloadable Content, companies now see it as a way to further live service and nowadays it’s not uncommon for an add-on to be superior to the original product. The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion is revered among RPG enthusiasts. Still need to try that one.
But the original Dragon Age: Origins was fantastic, one of my first forays into computer RPGs. I absolutely loved it. Menus seemed infinitely easier to navigate with a keyboard and mouse. There was a ton of dialogue. It felt different to my console RPGs of choice. Not necessarily more mature, but certainly more blood was on screen than I was used to.
The game wasn’t as niche as something like Baldur’s Gate, or the original Fallouts. You could tell BioWare really wanted to hitchhike on the success of the Mass Effects and go in a fantasy direction instead of science fiction. The role playing elements were there, but they wanted more of a Mass Appeal, and they got it.
I honestly can’t remember a single detail, other than the gameplay was streamlined and my favorite character, Shale, wasn’t present. So that automatically made me grumpy. We’ll get to Shale when we hit Dragon Age: Origins which isn’t too far on the list, but at the rate I’m going, that may take months.
The 500 