Easter update - Dragons ahoy. Sort of.

[lexin]

So the general election has been called. Yippee. At work we have gone into what is called 'purdah', meaning we can't do a lot of the stuff we would normally do and therefore try to sort out the things which have needed sorting out for the last five years. Like the filing.

Easter is a time for Easter eggs and computer games

I had no Easter eggs. I had to buy some crème eggs on arrival at work this morning and I've secreted them in my bag for later.

As you will have read I spent the Easter weekend in Ferelden, a place which doesn't exist, combating evil.

Most people won't even click through on that, so that's got rid of them.

Well, I got my mage character to level 16 (or was it 17) and to the Land-whatsit storyline, only to have him ambushed in a back alley and to have that bastard Zevren turn on him. I found the band of assassins impossible to beat even on 'casual', and it doesn't get any easier than that. (How about having a 'super casual' setting for those who only care about the story?) I think mages are underpowered (I know, that's an example of a poor workman blaming their tools if ever there was one!) and that woman Lalania (sp?) about as much use as a chocolate tea pot in a fight. I wish I'd brought the dog instead.

I will return to that save from time to time to try and get the characters out of the predicament, but I don't hold out much hope. I did give it a good go, changing tactics and settings, but nothing seemed to work – I was eventually driven to having the characters assemble all their protective gear and spells, which is surely not the point of an ambush. Even that didn't work.

In the meantime I've started a new character, this time a warrior – something with a bit more going for him than an elven mage. The origins story for a human warrior is quite sad, I thought, and has to colour the character's behaviour for the rest of the game. That could be, of course, because I'm used to playing tabletop RPGs, which are more like acting. Even so, it's going to be hard to persuade me to slaughter Zevren out of hand on encountering him, which is my preference as a player having been backstabbed once; I simply don't think the character would do that.

There lies my feeling about PRGs; the point is to do what the character would do, not what you would do in that situation. What I would do in most of those situations is to run away and hide until the bad nasty thing has disappeared, or I've been killed and eaten. I'm definitely one of the natural NPC's of life.

Further question: Does anyone know if "Awakenings" is coming out on the PS3? I'm not buying a whole new, different, console for one game. Just not going to happen.

Comments

[mcamy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, whenever people would talk about what character class they'd be if they were in this gaming system or that CRPG, I had a friend who would answer "NPC." Made sense to me.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Absolutely. Me for a passing servant with one line, probably a dwarf.

[manna]

Have you been giving the party members gifts? Once you push their loyalty up high enough, even Zevren is trustworthy. (Also, he has some of the most entertaining dialogue, given that he'll chat up anything indiscriminately.)

There's a very handy table here which tells you which gifts you should give to which party members to get the best loyalty return. I assume that it's the same for the PS3 and PC versions of the game.

Mages get pretty kick-ass powerful once they've collected a decent number of spells. The freezing + shattering combinations are very good.

There are some nifty mods around for the game, which do things like put a storage chest in the Camp, but I'd assume they only work with the PC version.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Are there any storage chests anywhere? I've not found any.

So far, this game is getting about an 8.5 out of 10. Oblivion got a 9 - it lost the 1 for there being no co-op option.

I haven't delved into gifts, I really must try that. It had never occurred to me.

[manna]

Are there any storage chests anywhere?

No, I don't think so. The PC version is quite moddable, and I think the chest mod was actually written by one of the game developers to show what the mod system could do.

I haven't delved into gifts, I really must try that. It had never occurred to me.

The gifts are great -- it's pretty easy to push approval up to high ratings, especially if you make sure you give the right gifts to the right people.

[aliciajd]

My nephew has been playing this game here on weekends. I don't watch his play full time, but it does look like a difficult game. He's playing as a human warrior, and you're right, the back story is so sad. Also, it's easy to tick off your party members and have them leave abruptly.

The thing that bothers me about this game is that it routinely presents you with difficult choices, and as far as I can see, many of them have no real differences in outcomes.

I'm just getting into Final Fantasy XIII, and so far, it's quite promising.

[lexin.livejournal.com]

Also, it's easy to tick off your party members and have them leave abruptly.

I've only had the one turn on me so far, but that was a doozy.

And yes, there are difficult moral choices, but they ultimately seem to have the same result. "Seem to" because obviously I've only played with one character (and partly with another) and I can't be sure of that.