I have been thoroughly enjoying DA:O, though i wasn't very satisfied with my first character. After completeling the Circle of Magi quests, I decided to restart.
For the sake of not immediately doing the same thing over, this time I decided to kick things off with my shiny new knight and party heading to Redcliffe. After battling in the village and entering the castle, I was confronted with one heck of a choice- kill a child, kill a mother, or head off to the Magi circle and get some help. Well, I knew what was waiting for me at the tower, and I had just run through those quests and wanted to avoid doing them over so soon. Plus, a little more fighting through the castle means a little more loot in my pocket. So off to kill the demon-child I went.
This, for me, is where the power of the writing and the acting started to kick in.
After battling through the castle I confronted Conner. I saw that I had one last chance to go back to the Circle and get aid, but by god I wanted to move on. So I followed the dialog leading up the climatic moment where Conner's mother asks me to leave the room so she can take care of the situation herself. Throughout this part, I felt my eyes actually watering up, and a lump forming in my throat. The abject horror and misery of this part of the story actually got to me! I was horrified by what a bunch of pixels on a screen were going through. I couldn't believe my own reaction. But, in the name of my desire to not "burn myself out" doing the same long chain of quests over again, I followed the request to leave the room so Conner's mother could deal with the situation.
I then found myself staring at the monitor for minutes, doing nothing. I was literally floored by the turn the story had taken, and by how horrible the choice was that I had made. This wasn't how my quasi-paladin was suposed to behave in this world. This wasn't the way his story was supposed to unfold! . I was was literally miserable with the outcome. So I just sat there, that same lump in my throat, that same burning in my eyes, saying to myself "this isn't the way this is supposed to turn out. Come on...just reload and go do the Magi Circle stuff and save the boy". Which I did. Because my actions had made an imaginary character on a computer monitor so terribly miserable.
This is when I realized exactly how good this game really is.
The writing is simply excellent. I've never played a game with this level of emotional commitment involved, or one that got me so wrapped up in the story that I find myself making choices based on my own emotional reaction to that story. I would venture to say the impact of the writing is even greater than many novels or movies that I've gotten wrapped up in, simply because my own choices have so much significant influence on how the plot unfolds.
I also want to mention how excellent the acting is in creating this world. I'm guessing Conner's mother is played by Corinne Kempa, though I could be wrong. The acting of this part was extraordinary, as is the acting across the board.
So that's my "WOW!" moment, and I'm guessing I've barely scratched the surface. A big thanks Bioware on this game. I've already gotten my money's worth, and still have a long ways to go.
Modifié par DJoker35, 12 novembre 2009 - 04:00 .
Retour en haut
).
