The ongoing playthrough of one my favourite games of all time continues. What sixth gen BioWare jankiness awaits us this time? I mean you’re going to have to read it to find out; it’d be a weird move to give it away in the opening.
Going forward, the articles are going to be pretty much just straight into the action; no need for an explanation after I’ve given it in the first part. Well, maybe there will be a little bit of preamble before we get into the actual playthrough progress, like right now in fact. I had a little ditty about the game’s accessibility on the modern gaming marketplace so I'll drop it here.
Thankfully the game is still available on GOG and Steam, no lost media here. I’m using the Steam release of the Ultimate Edition, just entirely vanilla. Luckily the game has solid native resolution support right out-of-the-box and runs very well, with only really one or two issues. The Steam version specifically has some texture flickering you’ll likely see, as well as the occasional texture not loading at all.
Both only really happen if you’re in a Denerim map due to just how much **** is shoved into it asset-wise, which is kind of hilarious to be honest. It can also cause frequent crashing due to a memory leakage once you get into the Denerim market later on specifically. Luckily there’s a fix that isn’t too involved, which I managed to find here in a Steam community page post. It’s just down to replacing the game’s executable with an un-encrypted version so it can be patched to allow for 4GB memory usage; the post also includes an already patched file, but you can also do it manually if you’d like as detailed there. With the game patched, I’ve had no more flickering textures, but apparently once we get to the Denerim market specifically it still may be a little ****ed. Time will tell.There is something else that is a little strange to navigate, being the weirdness with activating the various DLC’s. The Steam version of Ultimate Edition is unfortunately linked to an Origin (the EA thing, not the game) launcher now, and for some reason this made it that you have to manually run some files in the game folder to activate the DLC instead of just having Steam able to manage it; both are in the ‘redist’ folder of your installation location. A little strange, but it’s not a big issue. I’m not sure if this is the case for the GOG version, so maybe that would be the easier one to go for between the two options.
A Big Army, Oh My!
After getting conscripted by Duncan into the mysterious Grey Wardens at the end of the prologue, we set out and finally arrive at the Ferelden army’s camp in the ruins of Ostagar. They’re massing to make an offensive on a large darkspawn horde situated in the Korcari wilderness just on the edge of Ferelden territory, and the king himself, Calian, is leading the charge along with some Wardens and his leading military general who’s also his father-in-law, the legendary Ferelden hero Loghain Mac Tir.Let’s get a little bit into the Grey Wardens before we go any further, as Duncan has explained a little bit to us by this point. They’re an independent military group dedicated solely to combating darkspawn, and as such are very important on the political landscape of Ferelden given that the darkspawn are kind of absolute monsters and everyone's generally terrified of them. They go back quite a bit in the series timeline, forming all the way back in the first Blight; the current one is the fifth, and there’s at least a hundred years between each of them. This is why Duncan was able to entirely slap some guards away from arresting you for the very minor crime of killing the arl of Denerim’s son in an explosion of racial violence. As a very high ranking Warden, he carries the rite of conscription, meaning that during a Blight he has full authority to walk around and just do that, and people have to respect the conscription. That’s how important Grey Wardens are in fighting the darkspawn menace, and everyone knows it. This is how all the different prologues of the game end, by the way; Duncan generally saves you from whatever shenanigans go on by evoking the rite of conscription on you.
With that out of the way, what’s the first thing that happens when we arrive at Ostagar? Why, we meet the king, of course.
Calian is the current king of Ferelden, having taken the throne after the disappearance of his father Maric five years ago. That’s neither here nor there in the context of Origins, but the important thing you should take from this is that he is really ****ing young for a king. What becomes really apparent in this quick introductory chat is that he’s very down for glory and fighting (but mainly the glory), really likes the Wardens as he’s sold on this heroic image of them, is likely just a little bit naive, thinks this isn’t even a Blight as there’s no archdemon yet, downplays Duncan’s mysterious and various aversions to this whole plan, and may in fact be a bit of an idiot.
I mean, he says ‘strategies’ immediately followed by ‘they bore me’, and this is the man who’s not only in charge of the entire country, but the army more or less right now. We’re so ****ed, aren’t we?
He asks you ‘yo, what’s up with you dude?’ and this conversation has one of the funniest exchanges in the entire game for me. As an elf, we can of course come out the gate swinging at him saying ‘I’m no friend of yours, human lord’ or say you came from the Denerim alienage. He’s asks you what they’re like, as in his own words ‘his men don’t let him visit them at all’ which raises multiple unfortunate implications, and one of your reactions is absolute ****ing gold;
Jesus, there’s no beating around the bush on this one.
His response is this perfect exasperated what?! The voice line delivery really sells it.
Afterwards, Duncan approaches us and fills in just what is in store for us as a Grey Warden recruit. We have to do a few tasks, then undertake a secret ritual called ‘The Joining’ in order to become a Grey Warden proper. This ritual is known only to Wardens, and some Circle mages who also help set it up. His junior Warden assistant, Alistair, will fill us in on the details once we find him somewhere in the camp and we’re then let loose into the first real big BioWare area.
I’ve said it before, but Duncan to me is one of the most understated characters in this game. In your threeway talk with Calian, he comes off as trying to advise the king that his plan is foolish without overstepping his bounds, beheld by a duty that he can’t question but knows it ain’t looking good. He’s a man of few words with a stated interest in avoiding violence in most of the prologues, at least in regards to non-darkspawn violence as the opening cutscene shows him really going to town on some. If you spend time chatting with him about the Grey Wardens and specifically the Joining, there’s some lines he says that can come off as almost a bit regretful in a vague way about the Wardens, and definitely that there’s things he’s still not telling you. When Calian expresses that he really wants to fight an archdemon as he’s kind of dumb, Duncan states that he’s still pretty sure one hasn’t been spotted yet and seems almost questioning it, like he’s certain there has to be one for some reason. Strange…
There’s quite a few things to see and do around Ostagar if you spend your time lingering, and of course being that this is Dragon Age: Origins, most somehow serve as some worldbuilding baked into a conversation or little exchange, just for you to eat up if you’re paying enough attention. There’s even one thing here that I’ve somehow missed all this time until this exact playthrough, which entirely surprised me; I’ve played a lot of this game, if you haven’t caught onto that.
Ah, sixth generation environmental graphics. It’s like I’m coming home again to a soft blanket of nostalgia.
The first thing I walk by is Calian’s tent across from Loghain’s, with a guard posted in front of both. Calian’s just says move along in a slightly friendly way, but something I’d never done until now was talk to the guard outside of Loghain’s. After a bit of a chat and a persuasion check, you can convince him to let you meet the big guy. I’ve played this game for 19 years, and I’ve never seen this.
Oh damn, it’s Loghain Mac Tir! Him and his perpetually shadowed and tired looking eyes which definitely aren’t some not-so-subtle character design telling of his role in this game, or anything.
It’s not much of a conversation, he mainly asks you a few questions then leaves…while laying down some subtle fluff, as you’ve hopefully caught onto already. He’s officially both the king's leading general as well as a ‘teyrn’, a Ferelden word for just a noble military type basically. His daughter Anora is the current queen of Ferelden, being the wife of Calian. It becomes very clear that he has some barely contained distaste for Calian, or maybe at least friction with him. This is why you never go into business with your father-in-law. He also seems to not really care for the Wardens much, or at least says that they’re ‘not as relevant as Calian thinks’. This isn’t explained in this conversation but me adding some context; he’s a military hero after leading the campaign that liberated Ferelden from Orlesian control a bit back. Orlais is a neighbouring country that’s essentially just not-France, complete with ridiculous outfits as we’ll come to see many times in Dragon Age: Inquisition. They don’t really factor into Origins too much, mainly just in fluff stuff, so don’t worry too much about it.
I wander over to a kennel area where the mabari war dogs are kept; think a mastiff, only bigger. They’re used in the Ferelden army alongside human soldiers, as they are ridiculously strong. They’re also said to be very smart, and very loyal canines. Man, that sounds really cool, if only we could get one as a companion. If only…
He’s a big ol’ boy, to say the least.
I approach the kennel master who, in true BioWare NPC fashion, asks me to perform a side quest for him entirely unprovoked and without questioning who I am. There’s one mabari that lost its human soldier handler in a last skirmish with some darkspawn, and during the process drank some darkspawn blood. This is something you want to avoid at all costs, as it will make you incredibly sick with what’s called ‘taint’ then kill you; you can find a bunch of soldiers in a makeshift infirmary currently going through the ‘dying’ part of that, and it ain’t pretty. Just remember that; don’t ever drink darkspawn blood. The kennel master explains the hound is very sick from the blood, and asks us to find some specific cleansing herb in the wilds on the off-chance we’ll go out past the camp gate. If we don’t find this flower, he’ll likely have to put the mabari down as there’s no way it’ll survive the darkspawn taint. Sad. Why not, I’ll help this dog for no obvious pay-off or reward.
I have a brief conversation with a Tranquil mage which is a whole can of worms we’ll get into later, I assure you, as holy **** Origins is a little dark. He gives you an introduction to the game's enchanting system; you can use runes you find around to attach to weapons at an enchanter, giving them the usual RPG bonuses. It’s a nifty little system, and there can be some really powerful effects when you find the higher rank runes. He can’t enchant things for you, but he explains how it works. Only dwarves and Tranquil can do enchanting, for future information.
I bump into the two other Warden recruits that Duncan brought with him, a noble knight from Highever named Ser Jory who looks suspiciously like the (in)famous streamer DarkSydePhil and a kinda shifty seeming rogue guy named Daveth.
Seriously, why does he look so much like DSP? It’s actually uncanny.
Then, I meet him, one of the greatest ‘bros’ in BioWare history; Alistair.
He’s sassy, frequently actually funny, often maybe just a little pathetic but has a really great charisma to him (mainly his voice); the perfect combination. He’s been a Grey Warden for six months, being from the last batch Duncan brought into the mysterious fold. He explains a little bit about himself if you chat with him, that he was a former templar. Remember in part one when I gave that brief summation of what a Circle mage tower is, about the drug addict knights who watch mages like hawks? Those are the templars, an order of knights tasked with serving as ‘stewards’ (read; jail guards) of mages in Circle towers. Alistair doesn’t talk much about his templar service other than that he was one, and conveys that there’s great tension between Circle magi and templars for some obvious reasons. Why do mages get this whole ordeal? We’ll get into it soon. You really got to build up quite possibly one of the most interesting bits of this game’s subversion and setting.
Together, we rejoin Duncan, DSP, and Daveth and finally get these mysterious tasks for the Joining; we have to journey into the wilds, get three vials of concentrated darkspawn blood, and find an old Warden fort out there that holds some important scrolls detailing promised support for the Wardens in time of a Blight from a bunch of different people. In the meantime, he is preparing the Joining ritual with some mages that are present, as they are essential to the process for some unexplained reason. What are we going to do with the vials of darkspawn blood…I’m sure it’s nothing, as remember that you should not, under any circumstances, drink or ingest darkspawn blood as you’ll die.
Our tasks given, the Grey Warden charges plus best bro Alistair journey into the Kocari wilds for some gross blood and some dusty scrolls. The heroic call to adventure.
The Wilds, and A Whole Lot of Combat
This is when you have your first real exposure to the game’s combat, complete with shenanigan encounters and more than just a few enemies like in the prologue. Also, your first encounter (for us at least; some of the origins deal with them in the prologue) with the mother****ing darkspawn. You got your hurlocks (the talls), the genlocks (the shorts) and sometimes a stronger alpha version of either of those.
Aw damn, look at this spooky guy!
Grey-skinned, black-eyed freaks that definitely look the part of monsters, the darkspawn are enemies you’ll be encountering many a time going forward. I remember the first time going through the wilds that I was getting my ass kicked; the combat is jank, but also challenging at the same time. Enemies deal pretty high damage to lightly armoured characters. You really need to treat it tactically, protecting your squishies and using the games baked-in aggro system.
Whenever you damage an enemy, based on how much damage you’ve done and what kind of class they are they will generate an amount of aggro that may pull enemies off their current target to them. Mages generate the most with their spells making you have to carefully nuke enemies to avoid getting almost insta-gibbed when you potentially pull them onto you, and the single most essential ability for a warrior is the taunt which locks enemies to them for a bit. You really have to frequently pause the game and start chugging those healing potions in a lot of fights, and always have a warrior in your party. I may even recommend two, honestly, but we’ll get more into the more effective companions later as they come up.
No matter how spooky of a monster the enemy is, they still get hit by the old pocket sand in the eyes trick.
The Kocari wilds are again the first taste of this game’s sometimes brutal encounter designs. There’s one specific moment here where you have to cross a bridge, and you see a hurlock hanging out in the middle of it. No biggie, you likely think, as you run off to fight him. Only he pulls a staff out and fireballs your party; he's a ****ing mage, man. Darkspawn can use magic. He then runs off, specifically for you to chase him into what you can safely guess is an ambush complete with bear traps.
There’s a few small things you can do here in the wilds, with some chests to find and some ashes to sprinkle on some rocks for a hidden little mini boss. Right before you encounter the darkspawn proper, you meet a gravely wounded soldier who’s crawling towards you. He says he and his scout unit were ambushed by hurlocks, and Ser DarkSydeJory really starts showing his cowardice and freaking out before Alistair lets slip a bit of information on Wardens; they can sense darkspawn somehow. Interesting…
We battle through a lot of ‘spawn and get our vials of blood, for some entirely normal purposes of course. I also make sure to stop by a specific log to pluck the white flower the kennel master needs for the mabari. After getting the vials, we come to the next task of retrieving the old Warden treaty scrolls in the nearby ruins. We arrive to find the broken chest that should hold them empty, and briefly panic until someone arrives and introduces themselves, setting up the irrevocable damage that she did to a young Octop- I mean, one of the more iconic and memorable characters in this series.
A mysterious gothic witch with a playful sense of humour, sharp wit and an accent? I’m not swooning, I swear.
Morrigan, a wild witch of the Korcari wilds, has apparently been following us throughout our little foray. She comes off as playful mixed with maybe a little predatory, asking you questions to see how you react in a way. She’s amused by the whole thing evidently. She’s clearly a mage if the staff didn’t give it away, making her an apostate; the term for ‘free’ mages who are hiding from the Chantry, who would slap them into a Circle tower in a heartbeat. Can you trust the random goth witch wearing essentially just a scarf in a spooky forest?
Prone to random fits of poetic whimsy? I’m not swooning this time...damn you Morrigan.
She explains after a little bit of Alistar banter and one fan favourite meme about swooping being bad, that her mother is the one who took the scrolls from their chest, for ‘safekeeping’. Seeing no other real option, we decide to follow her to her hut to meet mother dearest. Her mother? Mother****ing Flemeth, the real witch of the wilds.
Flemeth is part crazy old woman, part incredibly knowledgeable. She seemingly knows far more about what’s going on than any of you, and drops a bunch of sort of cryptic and vague bombs on you about this Blight being ‘more than anyone realizes’. She then refuses to elaborate, as Flemeth is an asshole. She also repeatedly embarrasses Morrigan on purpose. She’s at least nice to elves; she refers to me several times as being probably smarter than everyone else in compliments that didn’t at all instantly buy me over.
She is also seemingly on our side however, and so gives us the Warden treaties that she was protecting once their seals broke after many years in an abandoned crumbling fort, stating that she knows how important they are. With that, she pushes us out of the door after getting Morrigan to see us out, and we return to Ostagar with all our **** in hand.
The Joining; It’s All Come Down To This
Well before the Joining, I stop by the kennel of course to drop off the healing flower or whatever it is. It feels great to do one unrewarded good thing just for the point of it, after all. The master says that it should hopefully help after a day or two, and maybe after the big battle we should come see him again. It would be really sick if we could get a mabari companion dude, one would probably be the strongest on a mechanical level companion or something, and be able to almost solo enemies. A man can dream.
Goodbye and good luck, noble canine, for this is obviously the last time we’ll meet.
Duncan brings us to the Joining now that everything is gathered, after warning us that it could actually kill us. Thanks for that information now, boss.
We hang out with the two other charges for a minute, DarkSydeJory and Daveth, and they both play a little bit of subversion here. If you chat with Daveth before the wilds, he comes off as a little bit shifty like he’d be the type to do a cut-and-run kinda thing while Jory is presented as this noble knight, with a beloved wife and child. In this little pre-ritual conversation, Daveth shows courage and Jory starts to balk a little bit at this development that we could die doing whatever this ritual is. It’s some decent little characterization, honestly; the strongly alluded to criminal being the one to be all ‘I’ll do anything to end the Blight, Jory’ while Jory starts worrying about his pregnant wife. I’m sure he’ll be fine.
So anyway, the ritual is drinking darkspawn blood out of a chalice.
Should have seen that one coming, really.
Daveth is first up, and he ****ing dies after drinking from the chalice. This immediately sets Jory off, who draws his sword and attempts to run away while proclaiming that ‘you ask too much!’ and how ‘there’s no glory to this!’. Duncan reacts by backing him into a corner and stabbing him to death. It’s a great time.
Well…
Seriously, he looks exactly like DSP and it constantly takes me out of it.
There’s a lot here. This is the reason the Joining is kept so secret to all but Wardens; no one would join if they knew about the fact they have to drink darkspawn blood, and the world needs Grey Wardens. Kind of makes sense, so that’s why they don’t even tell the recruits until it’s too late to back out. It also gives some serious characterization to Duncan. Up until now, he’s been secretive, sure, but also comes off as a little fatherly maybe, like a guy who seemingly does actually care from some of his prologue dialogue, then you see him stab a trainee to death so he can’t leave the ritual and presumably spill the beans to anyone. He’s willing to murder someone to keep the Warden’s secrets, because that’s just how important they are. He gives a sincere sounding apology to Ser Jory before he hits the ground, and I buy that he really wishes it didn’t have to go down like this. Like I said earlier if you ask him questions after meeting Calian, I read a few lines as him being a little regretful about aspects of the Wardens, like he has some hidden sadness to him, and I think this is likely a good reason as to why. He says right before the ritual begins how being a Warden is all about sacrifice, and there’s a bit more meaning in that outside of just the immediate one about potentially dying before you even officially join as you take on the taint. He comes off to me as someone who’s presumably sacrificed an awful lot in service of his duty, protecting the secrets of a group so important to Ferelden’s survival that he’s willing to kill to protect them, not to mention how many people he’s likely seen die to the taint in the Joining. Duncan? 10/10 character. The Joining scene? Also 10/10, one of the most impactful I’ve seen in a fantasy story like this. No further notes, BioWare.
And with the carnage simmered down, Duncan offers us the goblet while he’s literally covered in DarkSydeJory’s blood; "you are called upon to submit yourself to the taint, for the greater good". With no dialogue prompt or option, you drink the blood with your now bare hands as they didn’t want to bother changing the animation for if you’re wearing gloves, and both Duncan and Alistair welcome you into the order right before you pass out. You then see an image of a great black dragon roaring, with a droning voice speaking behind it…
The goshdarn archdemon. Spoilers; it’s too rad not to name.
And with that, part two of this playthrough ends. What awaits us next time? Will we hear Morrigan’s amazing voice actress make fun of Alistair again? Does the battle of Ostagar go well?
Oh yes, and oh god no; Calian’s leading the charge. We’re ****ed.
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