Best video games of 2012?

[The Harlequin King]

I felt this was a "meh" year for games, mostly because there were no great single-player RPG's. Don't even think about mentioning the travesty known as Mass Effect 3 to me.

My nomination goes to Dishonored, a first-person stealth game set in a dieselpunk universe. I should call it whalepunk, really, given the prominence of the whaling industry in that world. My favorite thing about this game was the option to go completely nonlethal, though the fates for targets that you can spare are arguably worse than death.

[Mithrandylan]

I had thought about getting that game (Dishonored).

I don't even know what games came out this year.  I played Skyrim quite a bit, though that came out in 2011... I played the second and third uncharted.  Also, I played a lot of dragon age.  Both games.  I think I actually like DA origins more than skyrim... DA 2 kinda sucked.  It was OK on the first playthrough, maybe even the second, but I actually started to hate that game for how much of a step back it was from the first one.

I got a forty dollar gift card from the motehr in law to gamestop.  Should I get Dishonored, HK?  I'm working with a ps3. 

[Bonaventure]

I didn't play many games in 2012. I don't remember buying anything that came out in 2012, and all I play now is MLB 11 or one of the old Fallouts.

[Mithrandylan]

I didn't play many games in 2012. I don't remember buying anything that came out in 2012, and all I play now is MLB 11 or one of the old Fallouts.

Old fallouts or OLD fallouts?

I played quite a bit of Rome total war, Medeival total war 2 and Company of heroes this year.  None of those games are new, but they're timeless for me.

[The Harlequin King]

I had thought about getting that game (Dishonored).

I don't even know what games came out this year.  I played Skyrim quite a bit, though that came out in 2011... I played the second and third uncharted.  Also, I played a lot of dragon age.  Both games.  I think I actually like DA origins more than skyrim... DA 2 kinda sucked.  It was OK on the first playthrough, maybe even the second, but I actually started to hate that game for how much of a step back it was from the first one.

I got a forty dollar gift card from the motehr in law to gamestop.  Should I get Dishonored, HK?  I'm working with a ps3.

Dude, I know what you mean about Dragon Age. I was a huge fan of Origins and have played it many times, but DA2.... I don't know what happened there. The only two improvements were the dialogue wheel (sort of), and the more interesting combat animations.

As for Skyrim, I plan to get back into it once the Dragonborn DLC comes out for PC. But I haven't touched the game in a long time.

I would recommend Dishonored, far as games of 2012 go. But before that, 2011 was a great year. Let's see.... have you already played Deus Ex: Human Revolution? If not, that's the one for you. And if you have a PC capable of playing new games, The Witcher 2.

[Bonaventure]

I didn't play many games in 2012. I don't remember buying anything that came out in 2012, and all I play now is MLB 11 or one of the old Fallouts.

Old fallouts or OLD fallouts?

I played quite a bit of Rome total war, Medeival total war 2 and Company of heroes this year.  None of those games are new, but they're timeless for me.

The Fallouts I can play on PS3. New Vegas and 3. I also have a pretty good Road to the Show pitcher.

[The Harlequin King]

I didn't play many games in 2012. I don't remember buying anything that came out in 2012, and all I play now is MLB 11 or one of the old Fallouts.

I've been slowly working on the original Fallout recently. My introduction to the series was Fallout 3, and I replayed Fallout: New Vegas last month. It's a great series.

[Mithrandylan]

I know what it was about DA 2, as I've now played it probably four or five times.  A couple things:

First, the size of the game, spacially.  It's not just that you're limited to Kirkwall and the surrounding area, but the levels are insulting.  Every cave is exactly the same.  Not metaphoric speaking, but literally.  You go through the same cave any time you go through a cave.  A "secret" entrance to a smuggler's den one minute is the entrance to a slaver's cavern the next.  All of the inside missions take place in the same house.  They just cordon off certain areas... which makes it almost worse. 

I actually HATED the dialogue wheel.  At least half of the time I thought that I was going to say something completely different than what I selected.  I don't need a voiced character.  It's a nice perk, but if it means that I never know what's going to come out of my mouth, I'd rather have the text options given in origins.  I actually thought they were much better, that they offered more options, and most of them conveyed a tone of their own.  Also, the mechanic that was used was such that in each act, the dialogue options you selected (such as charm or diplomatic) "stacked" so that Hawke "became" that particular manner in the parts where there was no dialogue option... which made for an inconsistent character throughout the game.

The combat did have improvements, but I thought as a whole that it was no better than origins.  Origins combat was a bit clunky and cumbersome at times, and the animations slow, sometimes not all that fluid-- but you got really cool animations like finishing kills, jumping on top of ogres, behading darkspawn, etc.  I barely ever saw these killing animations in DA2.  It was too stylized.  It was more fluid, and I like the idea of a sword hitting more than just the intended target but I'm not sure if it was really a fair trade off.  I did like the effect where you could wear a helmet but have the display not show the helmet.

But here's the really big problem: the characters.  Your party members just simply suck in dA2.  Where in origins, at least if you didn't like a particular character (ahemmorriganbitchahem) you could at least find them interesting or entertaining.  Varric was the ONLY halfway interesting character in DA2.  And that's mainly just because he didn't want to jump in bed with me.  Every single character wanted to get romantic with me.  There was the effeminate Anders (who was tolerable in Awakening) who is obviously modeled after a gay rights activist with his lines like "you can't persecute someone for who they are" (and all the time I want to smack him and tell him that if mages don't raise demons and try to kill people then they're alright, but guess what?  the dialogue wheel didn't let me!).  Then there's the elf, I can't remember his name, not Zathrian.  That was the keeper from Origins.  Fendel?  Whatever.  he was an emo creep that had his moments, but when he started to hit on me I was outta there.  Then you had your sister or brother (depending) which were tolerable, not much else... who else?  Oh yea the pirate whore.  And the whiny elf blood mage.  And they all wanted to get in your pants.

In Origins, you had the fantastic dynamic of real male and masculine friendship and comraderie on the way to complete a righteous quest to defeat a great evil.  Not in DA2.  Remember how fun it was to go back to camp after finishing the long and arduous deep roads and relax and discuss life and death with your battle companions?  DA2 didn't even come close to doing this.  Not even close.  I hated all my companions, and eventually hated my own character because he never said wht I wanted him to.

I think the political aspect is really interesting.  The presentation and voice acting, just like in the first one, were great.  I also felt limited in making Catholic actions in the game.  You couldn't suggest that the mages be treated civilly, but with discipline and that blood mages should be executed.  No, you had to either be a queer hippy mage lover and thus blood mage defender, or a cruel, mindless mage hunting authoritarian.  I fell on the latter side, and just pretended that my character differentiated between the sin and the sinner, so to speak.

The story itself wasn't actually that bad-- as far as the three separate acts.  Though, the side quests were all pathetic.  You find something and then you give it to someone later.  Side quest complete.  gaaaay.  O, I forgot, Aveline was a pain in the neck, too.

I could keep going on and on, but I think that sums up the main points for me and my fingers are getting tired.  Maybe you have something to add?

PS the wife is currently playing origns and loving it.

[Mithrandylan]

On topic: HK, I've read that DA3 has a level that is bigger (spacially) than the entire DA2 game.  From the reading I've been doing on it, it looks like DA3 will take place in Orlais, or at least is rumored to.  Obviously building off DA2, with a mage vs templar war.  I really, really hope that it's not a big soapbox to preach tolerance from.  Too much of that in DA2

Also: DA2 needed more grey wardens.  Obviously. 

[The Harlequin King]

Mith, that is an excellent synopsis of everything that was wrong with DA2. Thank you. And even gay people were annoyed with all the gay/bisexual NPC's. You should have at least liked Sebastian, though. I don't know if you picked him up, since he was DLC. He was the most Catholic-ish companion, being essentially the equivalent of a seminarian. And, he was actually straight.

I actually liked Fenris (the mage-hating elf), for the most part.

I really hope DA3 loosens up on the mage vs. templar nonsense. I just don't want to play a medieval fantasy version of X-Men, you know? Which is basically what the plot of DA2 was. What I really would like to see in DA3 is a focus on the war between the Qunari and the Andrastian kingdoms. DA2's most interesting moment was the battle between Hawke and the Arishok: the clash of two diametrically opposed and irreconcilable cultures.


And as for what I hated most about DA2..... it's the fact that none of your choices matter at all. You know someone's after Hawke's mother? You can't save her, no matter what. You know Anders is gonna blow up the Chantry and you call him out on his plan? Too bad, he's gonna find another way. You want to side with the mages/templars in the end? Doesn't matter: you have to kill both the First Enchanter AND the Knight Commander, anyway. Yeah, Orsino turns to blood magic even if you're on his side. What the hell? In other words, BioWare's writers basically shoehorned you into experiencing their version of the story, giving you only the illusion of choice, and therefore, only the illusion of the game even being an RPG.

[Mithrandylan]

Well, I definitely identified with Fenris more than any other companion (except probably Varric, who was a good character even if I didn't identify with him) though it seemed the higher and higher I got his disposition, the more and more creepy looks he gave me when I went to his mansion. 

You're right, too.  About how it doesn't matter.  I actually wanted to side with the Arishok.. he was the only NPC that seemed to have any moral conviction.  I didn't play with sebastian, as I don't have any of the DLC for DA2.  Not sure if I'll get it, either.

Also: my import from Origins had... bsically no impact on the story.  In fact, I think something got corrupted.  I had Alistair kill the archdemon (though I committed to it, I let him at the end do it because I wanted to play awakening as my character) and in Awakening they referred to King Alistair... neither Alistair OR Anora showed up in DA2 like they did when I played it with a generic import.

The problem with the Qunari as they are presented is that they are the religious extremists, whereas everyone else are modernists and practical atheists.  The chantry doesn't even belive the maker can DO anything.  Remember when you go to redcliffe and try to get the mother to bless the soldiers?  She says that she doesn't want them to get the imperssion that he actually DOES anything.  So you have the Qunari presented as these evil fundamentalists, and then those who fight the Qunari are doing so out of tolerance... not tolerating the Qunari's intolerance of them.  I don't want to play a game like that. 

What was your favorite playthrough in origins?  As far as race, class, major decisions?

[The Harlequin King]

Your DA2 playthrough would've probably been way more enjoyable if you got the Sebastian DLC, which also affords a good Leliana cameo (my romantic interest in Origins) in one of his quests. But I wouldn't replay the game JUST to have him in your party.

Good point about the thing in Redcliffe, but I disagree about the Qunari being religious zealots. I mean, they are in the sense of religion being an all-encompassing ideology, but the Qunari are really atheists. They are basically medieval fantasy communists, and the Arishok was like a very principled Stalin. The Andrastians seem to be split on what, exactly, the Maker does. For example, Leliana definitely thinks the Maker is active in the universe.

So, for Origins, my "canon Warden" (the one I imported to DA2) was a male Human Noble warrior. He was a stand-up guy, made most decisions as I would if I were actually in the situation, was bros with Alistair and excused him from his royal duties by having my Warden marry Queen Anora instead. Didn't go well with Leliana so that relationship ended, obviously. Alistair did the deed with Morrigan, so no one died when killing the Archdemon. Also had Alistair kill Loghain.

[Mithrandylan]

Human noble is definitely the best playthrough, IMO.  My favorite was actually as a human noble rogue.  I like to play as a rogue so that I can have Alistair and Ogren, though I may do a later playthrough and get shale right off the bat.  Never liked Sten much.  If I play as a warrior, then I basically don't get to use any other warrior in combat as Alistair is a given.  So my typical party is me (rogue) Wynne, Alistair and another warrior, usually Ogren.  I usually do the circle first, then Orzamar followed by Redcliffe and finally Brecillian.  I also liked the playthrough as a dwarven noble, and commoner, though noble was more intriguing.  I didn't like playing as a Dalish elf.  I haven't actually done the city elf.  It seems weird to help the humans as an elf, considering the animosity.  I played as a mage as well, though never finished the game as one.  Have you played all the different origins?  I think the game basically begs you to play as a human noble.

In my last playthrough, I actually got the help of the werewolves and killed the dalish.  They were moping pagans, I figured they deserved it and the party didn't seem to mind.  Had played the game five times before I realized I could get the help of the werewolves.  First playthrough I ever did was actually as a dwarven rogue, kinda odd.  I've never done the dark ritual or had Alistair do it.  Did Alistair's disposition drop when you convinced him to?  One thing I always do is to give gifts to the party members who don't go into combat with me so that I still get their special quests and whatnot.

Interesting what you say about the Arishok.  I hadn't thought of it that way.  I guess I was thinking of their dedication to a code and their roles within it... it didn't really seem socialistic to me at all, but now that you mention it I can see that.

I'm actually watching the wife prepare for the landsmeet as I type this. 

[The Harlequin King]

Good thinking on being a rogue. It lets you be a lot more flexible in your party choices, but I enjoy having Leliana with me so she plays the rogue usually. I like playing as a rogue, but didn't think it fit with any sort of noble archetype, from a story point of view.

The Dalish Elf is definitely the weakest link of all the origins. Totally irrelevant and disconnected to the rest of the game world, since the tribe you meet in the main storyline isn't even the same tribe as in the opener. However, the City Elf opening story is actually great, since it's basically Braveheart. You should try out at leas the opener, if not do a full playthrough. A City Elf collaborating with humans makes more sense than a Dalish Elf doing so, since city elves, despite being treated like crap, have mostly assimilated and are Andrastians.

I don't remember if Alistair disapproves of doing the dark ritual. You've done 5 playthroughs and haven't done it even once? Haha, I don't think it's as immoral as having the werewolves massacre everyone. Just my opinion.

Send the wife my regards. I always enjoyed the Landsmeet section. Especially if you get all but one vote to go your way. Feels so righteous.

[The Harlequin King]

Oh, actually, I thought of something even dumber in DA2. Playing as a mage.... and siding with the templars. How is that even possible?