Dragon Age games

I've recently played through all the Dragon Age games, minus the downloadable content (DLC) (my xbox is not connected to the internet). Possible spoilers for all the games.

Origins

I liked the story, but it is gritty and involves death and destruction. I played as a human, and it starts out with her whole family being killed. She joins the Gray Wardens, which is a group dedicated to fighting darkspawn (demons). I really enjoyed the fact that she has a war dog that you can name and take into battle with you. I went back and did a lot of replaying, because I would make a mistake and not realize it until later. I accidentally killed people I didn't want to kill! So I went back to earlier save points and saved those people.

I liked about origins what I like about all these games: exploring, doing side quests, fussing with my inventory, and flirting with various characters. I ended up romancing Zevran, who is what twitter would call a Dramatic-ass Bitch. He's pretty hilarious. The scenes of people in their underwear are VERY hilarious and awkward. This game allows you to give gifts to your companions which I quite enjoyed, and I wish they'd carried that part through to the other games.

My gripes: Unlike the other games, this one has a dull and muddy look to it, like there is too much brown in the color balance. So it's not as pretty to look at. Two of the companions are pretty horrible: Sten is a murderer, and Ohgren sexually harasses other members of the war party. I liked the other companions though. I found the final battle scene pretty tedious. While I don't mind the fighting parts of these games, and am getting to enjoy it more, this last battle was just frustrating and not that interesting.

Dragon Age II:

It's a credit to the writing and game design that I rarely had to look anything up. Playing this game was intuitive. I again played as a human woman rogue.

I love that it is set in a city. You only occasionally leave the city, and keep returning to neighborhoods and estates to let the story play out. This game really taught me more about the major institutions of this world: the Chantry (religious authority), the mages who live in very constrictive conditions called circles, and the templars who police the mages. There is also a city ruler who is fairly useless, and Qunari warriors who are hanging out in the city for unknown reasons. All of these institutions have problems and your character must navigate the increasing political tensions. I loved it.

The companions were great, especially Varric and Bethany. There was a bit of problematic language-- Avelline calls Isabella "whore" a few times, and in return Isabella calls Avelline "mannish". Just... really uneccessary.

The tale really gets into horror mode during the plot line with Hawke's mother. These games are violent, and they are not afraid to show people being evil and gross. I do think, overall, there is something to be criticized in the way body horror and ugliness are used to signify evil-- but that's an overall genre problem not unique to these games.

I got through DA2 really fast and probably missed some things! I romanced Isabella.

Inquisition

This one is just stunningly beautiful. An expansive open world that i can run around and explore for hours on end! I really love that. And I really love the companions (except for Solas and Blackwall who are lying liars). Cassandra, Dorian, Varric, and the Iron Bull are wonderful.

Crafting is elaborate and super fun in this game. I love fussing with my inventory.

My main gripe with this game is that the captions are too small. I have to sit closer to the TV. I usually play with the sound off so as not to disturb my roommate. The voice acting is really great, though; maybe I will try to play with headphones in the future.

One of the neatest things about the series is how you get to return to places you saw in the previous games, but which now look different due to improved graphics and events in the world. You also get to run into some of the same characters.

Friday Five Questions: Fashion

1. Describe your favorite outfit.

For comfort, I like to wear a black henley and jeans, with a belt, and some comfy socks. Then a red leather jacket over the top, or a wool coat in the deep of winter.

For style and comfort, I'd say my Green eShakti dress, worn with tall rubber boots. It's a maxi style dress with short sleeves and a single grommet at the top. Maybe with a vest or blazer over it. I usually wear a hat if I know I'm going to be under overhead lights.

2. Describe your personal style.

Budget tomboy or queer comfortable.

3. Approximately how much do you spend on fashion/personal care annually?

As little as possible. Everything comes from the thrift store except for socks and underwear and occaisonally shoes and hats. Shoes are my major expense because my feet hurt, so I might spend 150 dollars /year or more. Hats can be hard to find because my head is apparently very large. I like flat caps like the ones that can be found at Goorin Bros; Tilley hats; and sun hats.

4. Do you dress for yourself or for everyone else?

For myself. Sometimes I will wear something bright and fun if I'm going to be hanging out with friends.

5. Give us your best fashion/personal care advice.

I'm not comfortable giving advice, but I will say that for me, working on my body image and learning about fat politics helped me feel more comfortable buying and wearing interesting clothes, and taking risks. Shopping at the thrift store means that I'm not investing a lot in any one piece of clothing, so I can take a risk on wearing something different, and I can let go of clothes more easily.

Bonus: Queer Eye got me thinking about my fashion icons. They are Rosa Diaz from Brooklyn 99; Amelia Earhart; and Buster Keaton. I like the blend of masculine and feminine in each of these people.