Yesterday I questioned some of the strange design decisions, but after logging some additional hours I have to say that I just keep getting excited for whatever is going to come next. I finally fought off the urge to explore every inch of the unlockable zones and focus on doing the main questline. If you are reading this and haven't focused on the main questline, do that! The nice thing about main quests is a little text box that says "recommended for levels 4 to 7." I am regretting not looking at this sooner.
As I progressed through the main questline I was forced to make that traditional Dragon Age decision-- mages or templars? Who did I want as my ally in the effort to close the breach? Being that my main character is a mage, I sided with the mages. My decision did not sit well with some of my companions, namely Vivienne. She's a mage, shouldn't she be happy that I sided with the mages? No--she greatly disapproves, because she is a Circle mage firmly entrenched in the traditional system of keeping mages under the protection of templars. She does raise a semi-legitimate concern about abominations...hope that doesn't come back to bite me.
Part of the mage questline involves fighting off an evil Tevinter plot to enslave the rebel mages. As part of this plot you are introduced to yet another new party member named Dorian who is a Tevinter mage, but who opposes the bad guy who is running things. The bad guy, Alexius, is using a particularly dangerous type of magic, time magic, in his efforts to bring the rebel mages under his control. As you confront him about his usage of this magic he uses a special amulet that distorts time. You are sucked into a vortex and wake up in a waterlogged prison cell. Dorian, your new Tevinter mage friend is your companion on this quest. During your explorations of your new setting you discover a few things, firstly there is red lyrium growing out if everything--the walls, the ceilings, even people. Secondly, you learn that you have been thrust forward in time an entire year. This freakish setting is what the world will be like if you fail to close the rifts. As you advance through the dungeon you find your other teammates in cells, but they aren't looking so hot--they have a red glow in their eyes and it's obvious that the red lyrium is having a very detrimental effect. You fight your way through Alexius's lackeys and close several rifts. You also discover Leliana in a torture chamber and she looks horrible. In one of the documents you find, it is revealed that she and Felix (Alexius's mysteriously ailing son) have been exposed to the Blight. She accompanies your group to find Alexius.
After gathering some red lyrium shards you are able to unlock the main door to reach Alexius. This fight is the first "boss fight" in the game and isn't terribly difficult. Alexius is a mage and uses magic, including fire mines that must be avoided, and summons a number of demons that must also be killed. As you finish him off you grab the amulet and Dorian informs you he can reopen a time portal so that you can return back to where you started. Unfortunately it's going to take him an hour to work his magic. From the pounding on the chamber doors it's obvious that you don't have an hour, the demons are closing on your position. Your companions (in my case Cassandra and Varric) offer to make a last stand in order to allow the time to get the spell to work. Leliana agrees to guard you in the main chamber for as long as she can. You watch helplessly as your companions sacrifice themselves to protect you. It's a little disturbing to see a terror demon toss Varric's corpse into the room and to watch Leliana desperately shooting and stabbing demons until sh's overwhelmed. You manage to make it back through the portal and capture Alexius.
I am now a little bit further than this, but am curious how similar the mage and templar questlines are to each other. Red lyrium seems to be central to both groups.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.