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3 years ago
Feature: Legends of character creation
Not for the first time, I've spent quite a while recently pondering the nature of roles - more specifically, mechanical role versus narrative role. When we think of RPGs, what we're usually thinking of is the latter. You play the role of the Hero, but in a universe that's typically designed to let you define that however you like. I'm not saying that's a bad…
Feature: And the clock strikes a critical hit
The times change, and we change with the times. Or in the case of RPGs, not. I've always felt this a bit of a shame, especially in games like World of Warcraft, where your character is officially hanging around long enough to see the leaves fall off the trees and the snow to cover up the capital cities. That's why I was quite keen on…
Feature:
Have You Played? is an endless stream of game recommendations. One a day, every day of the year, perhaps for all time. I don't want to talk about reused environments or mages running rampant or plot holes or spawning enemies or... I don't care. I want to talk about Kirkwall, more specifically how I really like Dragon Age II [official site] following up on another…
Feature: Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!
Given a choice, I almost always play as a mage. Swords? Pah. Divine magic? Save it for Sunday School. Give me control over the elements, the power to reshape the very building blocks of the universe according to my every whim, and if at all possible, a cool hat. It's an easy fantasy to indulge in almost any RPG out there. I just wish it…
4 years ago
Feature: 29 columns about sexuality, love and lust
The Complete S.EXE, Cara Ellison’s Series About Games, Sex and Relationships
From 2014-2015, RPS's Senior Scottish Correspondent Cara Ellison wrote S.EXE, 29 columns about games about sex, games about love, games about the space in between those two things, games about sexuality, and games about schlongs. Unfortunately the series is on indefinite hiatus as Cara takes a break from writing about games after her spectacular but surely exhausting Embed With... project, but whether you missed it…
Feature: HE DOESN'T EVEN LIKE TO TALK ABOUT SWORDS
I usually discover the best stories about games over a quiet drink with a friend. This week I am residing in the Isle of Wight, working with the artist Howard Hardiman, author of The Lengths. The Lengths is, amongst other things, an exploration of the world of male gay escorts based on real conversations with sex workers; illustrations and dialogue of the feelings and life…
6 years ago
Feature: Better With Age?
I actually don't think Dragon Age II was all that terrible. Or rather, I fully understand that elements of it were very, very bad (it had more caves than Ron Gilbert's The Cave, for instance; and not on purpose), but others were incredibly fascinating. Party members lived their own lives, themes like racism and security-vs-freedom got the spotlight, and your choices really, really didn't matter…
Feature: Lots Of Reasons Why
All this talk of sexism isn't going away, nor should it. The gaming industry's sick, and the symptoms are plain as day. Mystifyingly often, however, the immediate reaction to even the faintest hint of that suggestion is "No, nuh-uh! You just want to censor expression! Give me one good reason we actually need to change."* Well, if you really want to move beyond "Because jeez,…
7 years ago
Rumours are flying that Dragon Age 3 might be something more like the sequel to Dragon Age we've been hoping for. After Dragon Age 2 came out feeling more like a side-project, BioWare have dropped some hefty hints that they're looking to redress much of that in an unannounced third game for the series. At a PAX East panel, as spotted by Eurogamer and recorded…
Feature: The march of anti-progress?
Gameworlds have become ever-more lavish, but has there been a dark price paid for this? Craig Lager believes so. Production values are up but these worlds don't seem to react to players' actions as fulsomely as they once did, he worries - are we allowing games' strange logic to take us for granted? But there is yet hope. Frowned at: Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Dragon…
Here's the trailer for that live-action Dragon Age TV series, starring that woman people on Twitter all have a crush on, and it's... Well.. It's. Well. Well, it makes Dragon Age II seem an awful lot more palatable all of a sudden. Bless everyone involved, but the budget's just not there, is it?
BioWare have just released a trailer for a fresh chunk of Dragon Age 2 DLC, Mark of the Assassin. I’m not sure how big a chunk is - in fact, all I know about this one is that it involves an “impregnable fortress” that you’ll end up pregnating, “monsters” that you’ll end up killing and an elf voiced by Felicia Day, she of The Guild…
Yes, obviously there's going to be a third game. It's a long way off, still. But what are they going to do with it? Match-3 puzzler? We should be so lucky. Instead it's going to feature an art style similar to DA2, and you'll be able to full tinker with the loadouts of your party members. Fighting will also be encounter-based, rather than surviving waves…
8 years ago
Oh, I hope this isn't a sign of a dark, headline-writing times to come. I don't want to spend the rest of 2011 writing 'Game X Gone From Steam' every other day. The latest departure from the packed ranks of Steam is EA and Bioware's Dragon Age II - and right on the eve of the launch of its new DLC Legacy. Something which may…
Ooh, EA have announced that Dragon Age 2's first big bit of story-driven DLC is nearing. Legacy, which features Hawke going into a Grey Warden prison to deal with a particularly unpleasant darkspawn nasty, is going to arrive on 26th of July. Needless to say, magicks which imprisoned the unpleasantness have worn out, because magic sort of "goes off" if you leave it in a…
This is a depressing year to be on the internet. And a doubly-depressing one to be a newswriter on the internet. The latest (but, let's not bloody kid ourselves, not last) game company to suffer the peculiar ire/amusement of hackers is Bioware. Fortunately, only a very specific bit of Bioware, so don't panic too much: their 10-year-old Neverwinter Nights forum. It actually happened a little…
EA may not have given Battlefield fans the answer they wanted to hear, but meanwhile, back in the kingdom of Ferelden, things might be looking a little rosier. Eurogamer had a chat with EA bigwig Frank Gibeau about the reception to Dragon Age 2. He was careful not to actually slag off the game or its makers, but he did imply that the negative feedback…
Now this is more like it. Dragon Age: Legends, the Facebook game intended to a) promote Dragon Age II and b) suck out your very soul, has been remixed by indie chaps Pixelante, creators of the lovely Pixel Legions. (But not the same lot as Auntie Pixelante aka Anna Anthropy - that would be something). The net result? Dragon Age: Legends becomes a romping good…
Bioware have released the first post-launch piece of downloadable content for Dragon Age II, Item Pack #1. For some £2.50 a pop, several "unique" items relating to each of the game's three classes (Warrior, Rogue and Mage) could be yours! That's the Warrior gear you can see up there. On the plus side, it reminds me of Morrowind's Ordinators, who were top-quality fascists to a…
Coo - want Mass Effect 2 for free? If you've bought Dragon Age II, then it's already yours for the taking. Indeed, even if you buy a copy of Dragon Age II now, before 30th April, you can get the superb space-RPG for zero dollarpounds as well. This is, BioWare say, how they're celebrating their having sold one million copies of DA2 in two weeks.
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