Yahtzee said:
We're talking 100% commitment here, where every individual element can be taken out of context, and every single one can make your girlfriend call you a sad bastard.
Ironically, this game and the overwhelming amounts of fantasy entertain my girlfriend, who is a major
Lord of the Rings fan, to the same degree as me, if not more so. I guess that's what they call "having your cake and eating it too". (Vague sexual reference not intended.)
Still, I guess I can see your point. Of course, the entire fantasy genre owes a huge debt to Tolkien. Without him, we simply wouldn't have the fantasy stories that we do today. And, while I believe this is something that you do not agree with, I honestly can't think up an appropriate alternative. Maybe that's the problem in itself, that everyone is so steeped in Tolkien-esque canon that they don't want to break the mold. Still, if we're trying to stretch things in that respect,
Dragon Age: Origins does that better than most, showing a diversity even amongst like races (City Elves versus Dalish Elves, Noble Dwarves versus Common Dwarves) that I haven't seen other fantasy fiction establish. That, in itself, is something to stand
Dragon Age: Origins apart from the "standard fantasy fiction".
SilentRuss said:
(Spoiler alert level 1 for those who haven't played about 5-7 hours in)What makes Dragon Age: Origins a "Dark Fantasy" is how brutal it is. Even someone as desensitized as you should notice that this game is not about having a happy peaceful adventure to defeat the evil brocolli king who is cruelly giving his subjects homework and chores.
The humans are killing Elves and other humans, the Dwarves are killing each other, and the Darkspawn are raping everyone. Your family dies, two members of your first questing party dies (Cut-purse and retard) your Gandal-fer, uh, grey warden master dies, your first questing village is destroyed. If it's not Elfen alienages in major cities being "purged" it's villages being attacked by zombies. Can the "Dark" still be not so clear?
I remember some games that would fill me with such joy and satisfaction after doing a quest, but not THIS one. I only find some peace at camp.
Instead of aiding the helpless ninny find his dog and bake his cake, you are instead finding the corpses of his raped family and making him a poison so he could kill himself (that is, if you convince him otherwise)
Stupid Jailbait approves +5
Mean crackwhore dissaproves -5
Oh, and this. This entire post sums up the other part of my thoughts. Bravo, sir.