Dragon Age II

K. Fields
2023-01-31T10:29:59-05:00
Video Games

As I mentioned yesterday, I have been playing a computer role-playing game this month. That unmentioned game was Dragon Age II, which I just finished last night. I previously played Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age: Awakening, and various Dragon Age DLC about a year and a half ago. In Origins, my character was Daylen, a Grey Warden mage. Because I had Daylen sacrifice himself at the end of Origins, I needed a new character. In Awakening, I played as Orlesian Grey Warden Gerod, a human rogue. Dragon Age II allowed importing a previous saved game. I used the last save from Awakening, which preserved a good deal of where my story left off.

Dragon Age II provided an opportunity to create yet another new character. Because I had already played a mage and a rogue, I decided to choose a warrior. Therefore, my protagonist was a human warrior named Garrett Hawke. The story begins shortly after the Battle of Ostragar from Origins. The Hawke family makes its way to Kirkwall, where Garrett eventually becomes the Champion of Kirkwall. The game is played out over three acts and is told as a frame narrative in which dwarven rogue Varric relates the tale to Seeker Cassandra. Varric joins Hawke along the way and he was my favorite companion by far. Other companions included Hawke's mage sister Bethany, warrior and later guard captain Avaline, former Grey Warden mage Anders, Dalish elven mage Merrill, pirate captain Isabella, and Chantry member Sebastian, a formidable archer and rogue.

I owned all the DLC for Dragon Age II so that provided a bunch of extra material, including equipment, characters, and locations. Most notably, there were two extra adventures—Legacy and Mark of the Assassin. I undertook those adventures as part of act three. Legacy delved into Hawke's past and revealed information about his father and the Grey Wardens. Mark of the Assassin was the longer and more ambitious of the two. It revolved around a new companion, an elf with Qunari beliefs named Tallis. There were quite a few quests in Mark of the Assassin as the story progressed from a dinner party at Chateau Haine to a wyvern hunt to intrigue involving the duke and the Qunari. BioWare tried to throw a lot into this one—humor, stealth, boss battles, etc.—and mostly succeeded.

I wasn't sure that Dragon Age II could live up to its predecessor(s). After playing it for many hours, I have to say it came pretty close. In some aspects, it even surpassed the original. Regarding the main characters, I grew to really like Hawke and Varric, in particular. I consider both Dragon Age games as personal all-time favorites. It is only the first month of 2023 but I suspect Dragon Age II may emerge as my favorite game played this year.

Garrett Hawke, Level 24 Warrior