The BIG Dragon Age: Origins Retrospective | ft. David Gaider

[@SuperRADLemon]

What's your favorite Dragon Age game and why is it Origins? Corrections: 1. The timelines of blights is longer than I thought. They actually span over a couple thousand years. 2. Arcane Warrior kinda good actually, my b. I thought something was an activated skill, but it's a passive trait, making it way better.

[@skdeathxlife]

I still prefer DA2 but only because it was one of the first PC games I played and then I played Origins and I can see why people were disappointed with the second one though I still love the characters and sarcastic Hawke always made me chuckle

[@OrgusDin]

The Dorf origin is lit and I want more dorf stuff like it. Simple as.

[@packrunnernes]

Because it's the only good one lmao

[@tadferd4340]

Origins has the most fun mages. The city elf origin is my favourite. It has very strong themes and writing. I especially like the personality of the Warden. I think DAI has better character writing, but the rest of the game is not as good.

[@MeTaViToRFeNiX]

It's actually DA2. I know it's the worst game out of the 3, but was the first one I played and it got me hooked on the rest of the series, and eventually CRPG's in general.

[@noahp67890]

nothing quite like watching a 10 hour video essay about a game you’ve beaten 37 times

[@iCantEditBro]

This video makes me wanna go for my 38th time

[@jokermorningstar5816]

@@iCantEditBro you know I forced myself to play my backlog before starting any game I´ve beaten again. so to cope for notplaying dao again I watch this video

[@mattg4705]

This inspired me to go for my 269th run

[@jackinthebox1993]

Literally me

[@samirabdel-aziz478]

Yeeeees

[@clockworkgalaxy8067]

my favorite lil fade segment is Morrigan's-- she is actually fully lucid and was just waiting for YOU. its a really neat little detail that shows just how powerful she is and how intricate flemeth's training is!

[@angrynerdgirl]

Same with Dog, iirc! Just hanging out like a good boy.

[@NoName-ym5zj]

@@angrynerdgirl this reminds of that IQ meme where dumbest and smartest people think very much alike, but for different reasons.

[@xeternalxdreamsx]

This is one of my favorite games of all time. I don't go back because it's been many years and sometimes it ruins my nostalgia of games by playing it back after so long. 10 hours of reminiscing along with watching your vid has been a trip down memory lane. 🎉

[@magnusprime962]

This one still holds up. Maybe not graphically, but everything else still works great. The story, characters, and the level of choice in character builds are fantastic.

[@NemesisOgreKing]

Wow this video is almost as long as the Fade and Deep Roads.

[@versebuchanan512]

It's almost exactly one-half of a Peragus!

[@RanwulfMaxwell]

Whoah you got David Gaider for it? The Lead Writer? Congratz man, thats seriously cool.

[@SuperRADLemon]

Yeah he was great

[@parokki]

@@LonelyKnightess they say you should never meet your heroes, but I guess collaborating with them anonymously can be worse lol. Although damn, didn't realize there are people of his professional caliber working on these mods. Easy to imagine someone who's made a career of game development being used to a certain level of dedication that comes off as unreasonable to people working on a mod in their spare time.

[@mattg4705]

Incredible

[@r.k.5031]

​@@LonelyKnightessI like these little slices of life in yt comments, thanks for telling

[@gfdgf599]

Hey! Did you know David Gaider was the lead writer? Just wanted everybody to know that I know.

[@LoredanSunstrider]

1:06:13 Noble human's first enemy: rats Mage first enemy: an extraplanar entity that will try to deceive and kill you in order to use your body do wreack untold destruction upon the world 1:21:25 Arcane Warrior supremacy

[@lettuce7378]

My best ever run was with an arcane warrior

[@wonkatar2813]

one of my favorite details with the “origins” is that each character origin exists in the story/lore. but they all meet their fate except for the origin you choose due to Duncans intervention. -The Dwarf noble brother was convicted and killed in the deep roads -Dwarf commoner dies in his cell -Human noble stays to die along side their family -Dalish elf is never rescued and dies trying to fix the eluvien -city elf is either taken by the noble or enslaved -All mages are either made tranquil or killed by the templars lore still recognizes these characters as existing (especially the dwarf noble).

[@Venislovas]

And unless you specifically creating Dwarven Noble as woman, Dwarven Noble is by default a male.

[@Leon_Sullivan]

I wasn't sure what happened to all the other character origins is DA:O. Alistair mentions being the last to go through the Joining before the player arrives, which I thought meant whichever origin the player chooses is the last that Duncan recruits, and while the others still exist, they perish at Ostagar.

[@wonkatar2813]

@@Leon_Sullivan well each origin choice exists in codexes or dialogue. It seems the one you chose was the only one Duncan had time to choose to recruit. The Noble Dwarf dies after being banished in the deeproads (same with dwarf commoner. Noble Human stays with their parents and dies. Any of the mages get turned tranquil or die during the uprising. The Dalish elf dies of the blight they are tainted by. And the commoner elf is executed.

[@Exaltable]

I have yet to see a retrospective on this game ever mention my favorite outcome of the landsmeet that feels like it really has the most unique outcome. Alistair normally refuses to marry Anora if Loghain is spared but you can have a really unique situation if you harden him and set the two up: -You end up with Hardened Alistair ruling with Anora -You end up with Loghain as a Grey Warden -It results in him creating a schism between the player character and Alistair -King Alistair visiting you in awakening and having a unique reconciliation scene where you become friends again -Follow this up by taking Morrigan's deal with the Player character. -You get to see both King Alistair in DA2 and Loghain in Inquisition -You learn Loghain has spent his years fully dedicating himself to make amends to the Grey Wardens underneath the player character - The sacrifice you are asked to make between him and Hawke now feels much more thematically satisfying as Loghain has actually done good in the world to attempt his redemption and dies saving the champion of Kirkwall and the Inquisition. It's just a really unique route that I feel justifies hardening Alistair + seeing how he interacts with Anora is really interesting in the glimpses we get. It justifies sparing Loghain because he doesn't immediately get his hero moment and has to actually work towards some kind of redemption. In which he becomes a much cooler character when you meet him on that journey.

[@thisismyyoutubecommentacco6302]

This is actually how I've always done my playthroughs, I don't think it's particularly "unique" but it does require some forethought and planning. Hardening Alistair always felt like a no-brainer normally because his level of naivete, while adorable, is borderline "puppy in human form" levels half the time. Hardening him makes him an actual adult, without losing his sassiness. Easy decision. I usually harden Leliana too since canonically she clearly becomes more hardened as the game's progress. Having Alistair marry Anora is the most logical way to keep the realm stable and unite everyone against the Darkspawn. Anora's political mind along with Alistair's leadership and lineage prevents any kind of succession disputes while also giving the Kingdom a royal wedding to be distracted by during the reconstruction of the Kingdom. Alistair leaving is easily handled thanks to Loghain showing up and filling out the exact same role (while also bringing the more useful champion specialization intrinsically instead of Templar which is a nice spec, but not as good for tanking as Champion is) so the final run to the Archdemon doesn't get extra complicated. While DA:O's supposed canon warden is a Dalish Elf Female who sacrifices herself, I have to assume the devs picked that just because it would affect follow on stories the least. I tend to think Human Noble is the canon warden, who becomes Warden Commander and Arl of Amaranthine under his older brother who does survive Ostagar and takes over as Teyrn of Highever. And given the Witch Hunt DLC and her appearance in DAI I think Morrigan is the canonical love interest who the original warden decides to go with through the Eluvian and spends his days with her raising the son, then dies either from the taint or something else. It should also be pointed out that sparing Loghain and him surviving the fight against the Archdemon has a special interaction with him in Awakening where he drops by and mentions he's serving as the Ferelden Grey Warden representative to Orlais which is ironic considering his hatred of the country thanks to fighting against them along with King Maric during the Orlesian occupation.

[@vanyadolly]

That's one of the better outcomes IMO. I always harden Alistair if I put him on the throne because he's a terrible ruler otherwise, and realistically there's no reason to kill Loghain rather than putting him through the joining aside from Alistair's tantrum. Throwing a coup d'etat to dethrone a very popular and competent queen also feels inappropriate, but everyone approves of Alistair and Anora ruling together. Except maybe for the two of them, but Anora will respect a hardener Alistair and he'll dedicate himself to being a king rather than a puppet.

[@kilomillensimus9379]

I felt like I busted my butt to get this outcome but it was totally worth it, RIP Temporary King

[@snowfox-xc1qq]

DAO has been my favourite game for over 11 years ever since I first played it, I'm in the middle of a new run through & I still didn't know you could spare loghain without Alistair leaving, excited for the landsmeet I just started now.

[@kalecraft8906]

Man I love and hate you. I love you for explaining this to me because it's very different from the choices I generally make for my "canon" playthroughs but feels like much better storytelling that I want to experience. I hate you because I just finished a playthrough of Origins and now I want to restart it to see it lol

[@halifaxsteppenwulf7980]

Something I want to point out about Shale is that she does have a pretty major role in the dwarven part of the main story when you reach the forge. She will fight you to the death if you make choices she doesn’t like.

[@kalecraft8906]

I respect Bioware having the balls to let there be a scenario where the companion you paid extra money for will try and kill you

[@Deoxys_Used_Mimic]

“Do you need a ladder… so you can *get off my back!?”* Back in the day, I didn’t understand the concept of a tactical rpg. I treated this game like an action rpg and this was the quote that my character *constantly* said in combat… and I never understood why until about a decade later. There I was, mashing the action button, as if this game was equivalent to Oblivion, Kingdom Hearts, Sonic Adventure 2, Sly Cooper… literally *every other game* taught me to hit the attack button to attack. Here this game came along with its auto-attack schtick… like a modern-day mmo or something. *…and I had no idea.*

[@claraf.6833]

Same here, I played as a Mage the first time, pretty much had the other party members on "autoplay", when my character died in battle I switched to Alistair and mashed the attack button, not knowing that it didn't work like that lmao

[@54032Zepol]

My favorite playthrough was playing the Noble Dwarf, you could eventually support your brother as the next king and in return he revokes your exile and brings you back into the House Aeducan. Never knew about it until way after the initial release of the third game.

[@Enimorj]

The best origin for a mile

[@neansath]

After all these years, I never played the Noble Dwarf. I played Human Noble tons of times though. I felt like it's the "canon" experience.

[@54032Zepol]

@@neansath I play the human noble as default, the dwarven lore is sick too! Like holy hell these people have been fighting a losing battle for a millennium since the dark spawn arrival in the deep roads and if you remember the horror elements like the brood mother in those dwarven dungeons The Trench like got dayum!! Better play it safe and be a human noble to get all the good gear early on.

[@MaetMen]

@@Enimorj second best, the best is female City elf.

[@Jinzoningen]

​@@MaetMen I can't imagine a way in which you could be more wrong.

[@corcorcore]

1: Letting Avernus continue his research (whether ethically or not) provides a quest in DA2 that rewards Hawke with a stats boosting potion. 2. Shale was originally intended to be in the game from the start, but had to be cut from development due to crunch. Her dialogue references that her game model was originally bigger and had to be chiseled down. Others have already mentioned her relevance to Orzammar's storyline, and her House name Cadash is also the dwarf Inquisitor's last name. 3. In Leliana's DLC, you free Tabris's mother (city elf origin) and she says she'll tell her child that not all humans are bad. Which makes the timeline confusing since Tabris's mom was killed when they were young. Bioware is pretty bad at lore consistency and timelines though. 4. A lot of Qunari lore is locked to bringing Sten in the party, hoping his dialogue triggers, and picking the right convo branch. There are mods that unlock all his dialogue and make the entire party say their location dialogue instead of just rng. Love letting Sten bribe the boat templar (who reappears in DAI) with cookies. 5. Desire demon's design is a result of the art team making them succubi despite the writers explicitly saying not to. In lore, they take the form of one's desires and aren't always sexual. 6. I wish the Circle of Magi quest incorporated the demons the mage origin saw in their Harrowing. Uldred being possessed by Mouse would've been gr8 Also, you don't fight anyone in Dog's dream. Sten and Morrigan are the only ones who know they're in the Fade. 7. Dog and Shale can't be grabbed by dragon Flemeth since they don't have the animations for it. 8. If you bring Zevran in Orzammar, he'll say that Harrowmont is an incompetent leader since his men won't fight for him. And to put Ruck out of his misery. The dwarf commoner origin will be found dead in a cell in Jarvia's hideout if you aren't playing it. 9. Dwynn was a bigger (bad) character in the cut human commoner origin, I believe. 10. Jowan was going to be an optional companion that taught the blood magic spec, but it was cut as they felt there were enough companions and Alistair and Warden didn't know how to do the Joining ritual. You can release Jowan before curing Eamon and find him in a quest later, but you have to mod it in since it's bugged IIRC. 11. Devs regret having no consequences if you leave Connor to get the mages. I imagine more villagers or Teagan would've died in that case. Morrigan is the funniest option to save Connor. I feel that you should try letting Isolde kill Connor or do the blood magic ritual at least once, they're gut wrenching scenes and you get a great scene with Alistair. 12. Oghren points out that the temple of sacred ashes is full of lyrium (which causes powerful hallucinations), as observed by the lyrium nodes strewn about. 13. You can kill Genitivi instead if you're rp'ing a religious character that fears pilgrims desecrating the temple. Or to see one of the best death scenes in the game. Could also just send him back home. 14. Alistair has to be in the party when you enter Redcliffe. His royal status won't be mentioned until after the urn plot otherwise. 15. Every companion has more depth if you romance them. I also find Morrigan's to be the best story-wise, but Zevran is my second fav even though he's not plot relevant. 16. I've been listening in the background and didn't realize you spec'd Wynne into a mage lmao thought that was Morrigan. I like making them both blood mages because the AOE move is OP. 17. Morrigan knew about the dark ritual from the start. Her surprise at being forced to go with you was an act. "It's why she sent me with you in the first place. Caring for you was... not the plan." 18. Legion of the Dead can randomly show up when you summon the dwarves, at least one or two of them. Kardol (the leader) can be seen in the Archdemon fight IIRC. 19. With high Shale friendship, Wynne and her travel to Miranthos, Tevinter in the hopes of becoming a dwarf again. 20. Epilogue slides aren't canon. Bhelen being the best king for Orzammar is still true, everything else is ehhh. Harrowmont didn't die. Awakening slides can be disregarded entirely. Connor is traumatized in DAI and did not go to Tevinter. How his character is written there, he prob never will. 21. I like how mentioning enslaved elves in the Landsmeet doesn't earn as many points as the other options. Why would the human nobility care about impoverished elves, after all?

[@ShaggyDabbyDank]

Harrowmont did die. In DA2, the last survivor of house Harrowmont can be met and either killed or aided depending on what you do. He mentions that after Bhelen became king, his entire house was killed.

[@daraghmalone8321]

NGL seeing King Cailan's body strung up in Return to Ostagar gave me the feels. Sealed Logain's fate too. You ready to take care of business Alistair?

[@thisisnichie6213]

i can't wait to fall asleep to this in an attempt to listen to the entire thing over the course of several months. but seriously this is my absolute favourite video game series and i am so happy to see this today

[@andonlane]

this is exactly me. wanna watch so bad but the only time i get to really sit down is before i sleep and i end up falling asleep and wake up 4 hours into it, having to figure out where i left off the next day

[@erris5744]

I think the biggest problem most people have with Leliana showing up in major roles even if she dies is because it A. Is poorly explained and B. That doesn't occur with anyone else: for example, what ultimately happens to Alistair affects both Awakening and Inquisition - if he is king, he stays king in both, if he is killed, he stays dead in both, and if he is kept as a Warden, he shows up as the Warden in Inquisition.

[@hondshoven8477]

That and it breaks the entire conceit of "Your choice matters". Sure, the devs handwave it in 2 and Inquisition but that's not really what's important, what matters is that it shows they're ready to ignore your choices when it suits them which removes a lot of what made the idea interesting to begin with.

[@garadje2623]

Regarding the Shale DLC: Back when DA Origins released a lot of publishers were experimenting with using an on-release DLC that came bundled with the game via a code coupon in the case. So, "technically", if you purchased the game brand new it would be "free". But if you say, purchased the game used from Gamestop then it was very unlikely the coupon was still valid and then you'd have to shell out extra money to access Shale. That's why the Shale DLC seems so weird, it's entire purpose and design is to be a content loss to anyone who purchased used copies rather than to be extra content.

[@Score_Magala]

The fact you were able to get David Gaider for this is just insane to me. I've been reading his books and dude is GODLY at what he does

[@happythoughts4553]

Right so, commenting before watching the whole video to defend Shale. She is an awesome DLC character who can be customized to support most any party with buffs or tanking or DPS. Furthermore, she provides new dialog to the main quest Paragon of Her Kind; giving counter point to Oghren and additional Golem lore. It is also implied that a Dwarven Inquisitor is from her exiled clan. Shale shows up in the novel DA Asunder with Wynne; giving good evidence that she might return in Dreadwolf, as her intention is to travel to Tevinter. Lastly, those pigeons deserve to be crushed (her banter with all companions is good)!

[@Saturos226]

"One more video before I go to sleep" The video:

[@misternich4935]

Being tranquil actually protects you against demons in the circle tower first floor. You can find 3 tranquils being held captive by abominations because they can't posses them

[@SuperRADLemon]

Apparently this ends up not being true in the lore in the future

[@Bionickpunk]

@@SuperRADLemon Yeah, especially what Cassandra tells about the Seeker ritual.

[@minithugfille960]

From what I remember you literally need to save them from possession and they turn into demons if you don't defeat enemies quick enough.

[@misternich4935]

@minithugfille960 that was the final boss battle room. Those were normal mages you had to save

[@minithugfille960]

@@misternich4935 That's not the one I mean, tranquil mages are in the room with three statues (one of them is a part of the side quest) on a third floor (great hall). If you save them, one of them will thank you and say how unpleasant it was (in a very calm, not emotional tone). kzbin.info/www/bejne/naCWnoObnt5-edE

[@JMD_Ikonix]

Origins was my childhood rpg, absolutely loved this game. Can still go back to it today and it holds up.

[@MorningAndEveningStar]

It is a missed opportunity not to discuss the Orzammar storyline with the anvil and golems, as a parallel to the Grey Wardens.

[@SuperRADLemon]

Never thought of it that way, good point

[@justelliot4870]

"and this is why we unionise, folks" BASEDBASEDBASEDBASEDBASEDBASEDBASEDBASED

[@DagothDaddy]

Replaying Dragon age origins and even DA2 makes that statement from the newer Bioware narrative director that Dragon age is about friendship even funnier.

[@socio9807]

It's a shame there's no option to give the Anvil to the Legion. If there's anyone that should have the control of that artifact are the guys that swore their life to fighting darkwspawn in the first place, forsaking everything else

[@jakesakells152]

that's so cool you got an interview from the lead writer. love the work

[@steppedwellerUA]

10 hours of DA:Origins analysis? Sign me up. I went through all 3 games last month and it's really interesting to see so many different takes on the series. I was totally blind about everything, didn't read any reviews, any articles, didn't watch any videos, didn't play any turn-based, DnD-esque games, any Bioware games, knew absolutely nothing about these games and had the fun of my life playing. From the deep combat and wide range of choices in Origins, to the linear, more grounded but still dramatic story of DA II, with its cast of flawed individuals as companions with their interesting backstories, to the more cinematic-ish narration of Inquisition with everything from the cutscenes to the music and the dialogue feeling more "expensive" and directed to bring more cinematic elements to the story, its shift towards MMO in terms of mechanics (which was also a new thing to me, since I haven't played MMO's) even though I can't say I like open-world games with a lot of grind mechanics (hello Ubisoft). But sometimes, I'm feeling a bit...gaslighted(?) by the internet, because I liked DA II and Inquisition a lot, at some specific moments even more than Origins, and now I see people all over just calling them...bad at the very least. I'm not amongst the type who is affected by public opinion as much, but even so, I often ask myself "Am I wrong for enjoying DA II and Inquisition as much as I am?". It bothers me. But anyway, I am definitely not wrong when it comes to enjoying this video.

[@silkyfi6652]

Nothing wrong with enjoying all 3 games. Hell, I do too, even if I do think Origins is better than the other two. The thing is, Origins came out as kind of a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights and made a lot of people happy because of it. Crpgs were not the most popular genre and people had been wanting something like DAO for years, a modern take of the old formula with cinematic storytelling and (mostly) great voice acting. It was great to have another high profile RPG in a somewhat niche genre and we couldn't wait to get more of it. And then we never really got more. As the series went on, instead of building upon the new system and adding more intricate mechanics, they kept stripping away the RPG elements in an effort to make the games more accessible to a wider audience. DA2 and DAI play like action games with light RPG elements instead of the the classic CRPG DAO was still aiming to be. Gone were the origins, skills, attribute allocation, crafting, tactical combat with systems like physical and mental resistances, proper dialogue choices, etc. People loved DAO and wanted more of the same, but instead we kept getting less while the series moved on to something else. A lot of people were really disappointed with that and for me personally, it took me years to start appreciating the newer games for what they are instead of disliking them for what they aren't.

[@grecha7656]

You are not wrong to like DA2 and DAI. I love DA2 and I mourn it's lost potential. I'm not bothered by same locations, weird looking characters and the like. I love Kirkwall, it really is interesting when you actually start looking at it and reading about it. I love how terrible the place is i love how lower city is so dusty and dirty because it's the old quarry, I love how the powerful and the wealthy live in old mansions and palaces of Tevinter slave owners. I love how the chantry never bothered to remove the old slave statues from the Gallows and how they keep calling the circle the Gallows. And despite how terrible and dystopian the city is it becomes a home for Hawke and their companions. I'm just a sucker for found family and found home

[@magnusprime962]

No, you’re not wrong for enjoying the whole series. And if you look back at the reviews of the games when they first came out people were a lot kinder then. These days BioWare’s fall from grace has made a lot of people want to claim that they “always knew they were bad”. There’s a good reason Inquisition won multiple Game of the Year awards though, and there are good reasons to like DA2. They’re games with wonderful characters and a lot of heart put into them. None of the Dragon Age games are perfect, but all are worthy of love.

[@idunnoay]

I played through all 3 not long ago either, and I love them all for what they are. I did struggle to make it through da2 most recently, though - I couldn’t wait to wrap it up and move to DAI. I also find I enjoy DAI’s combat the most, especially on high difficulty. While the base story is weak, like mass effect 3 the subplots are fun even if the overall wrapping is weak, and 2 of the DLCs are my favourites in the whole series (Jaws of Hakkon and Trespasser). So you’re definitely not alone in liking all 3. DAO is probably to most cohesive and quality package, and very understandably the most appealing to those who enjoy a good CRPG. But the other games are appealing in different ways.

[@soundingsea3419]

up until DAI, its still enjoyable game. DA2 offers u great story with many plot twist, chantry explosions is dfntly huge example, i remember back in 2011 i was so pissed with anders LOL. bcs in awakening he's a fun dude. throw banter with oghren were fun. until they decided to make anders go on tero mode. but gameplay mechanic wise.. inferior to OG, i just love how detailed tactics in DAO, so many IF condition. n i am not a CRPG or tactical RPG player. but i really love they make "action" RPG with strategic touch into it. but it was gone in 2 n DAI. but now, after the failguard, DA2 is much much much superior. if DA:O 9.5/10, DA2 for me is 7.2/10, and DAI : around 7.9/10. so many potential in DA2.. if only.. the team werent push by EA, that game could be amazing. 11 month in the making of DA2, what we enjoy today from DA2 is superb experience

[@michaelschulz6942]

The universal "not using the ballista against the Archdemon and making life way too hard for yourself" problem lmao

[@jokermorningstar5816]

a few things about shale, that you missed: If you take her with you during orzamar it turns out that Caridin knows her and about her past. If you choose to keep the anvil she will leave your party and fight on caridins side. If you destroy the anvil, caridyn will tell you a bit about shale, and you can find shales Name amongst the tributes that you can copy to bring back to orzarmar. If you do all this, after the game ends, shale will travel to find a way to become human (or rather dwarven) again.

[@alexisbarrington4443]

I have literally watched this video 3 times already since it’s been out, I bought the game again and are playing for the first time in years again thanks to you! I have so much love for this game it being released in 2009 I was 7 and watched my mom play for about a year till she finally caved and let me play (in hindsight I can see why she didn’t want to let a 8year old play the game lol) but I honestly didn’t understand the mature themes and just played all the different origins and loved all the companions and would get as far as the fade most play through but would get scared of trying to go through the fade alone so I didn’t end up finishing the game till the last time I picked up the game and played a royal dwarf rouge who sacrificed themself to kill the archedemon (didn’t have any dlc) and I cried because this piece of me I had held for so many years finally had an end, I felt so proud of my warden and their sacrifice. Replaying it again just feels right and I really do love so much about the game I can see why it has always held my heart for my top game. It is what got me into gaming and makes me happy that a video like this from someone I will never meet i can watch for 30 hours and love every minute

[@TheThomasBarry]

Rewatching and I've got to point out that while Loghain isn't justified in what he did I can't imagine him doing anything else considering his history with the Orlesians. They stole his childhood dog to use as a breed animal then when they gave it back much later it was so weak it died in his lap not long after. They assaulted, brutalized, and murdered his mother in front of him and his father because they didn't pay their unjust taxes. They eventually killed his father too. That all happened when he was just a kid/teen. He then spent over a decade fighting them. Killing them, watching them kill his friends and comrades, and taking more and more of his homeland. To him there is no greater threat to Ferelden, not even the blight. I imagine had he kept the throne he'd have eventually started a campaign to wipe Orlais off the map assuming the blight was taken care of.

[@belhariry]

I wish there was a Dalish Mage Elf origin

[@TheSkyfolk]

You have no idea how good arcane warrior actually is, and that's okay, but try an arcane warrior + blood mage some day, it's totally cracked. Wade into the battlefield with all of your mana spent on sustain buffs, then switch to blood magic and start controlling things from up close, while never getting hit because you're wearing armor and have at least 2 sustained defense buffs.

[@Nastara]

Man arcane warrior so OP christ totally forgot how much of a menace my Wynn was.

[@TheSkyfolk]

@@Nastara I ended up rocking an arcane warrior for over half my first playthrough back in the day, used the juggernaut set for the rest of the game as well, so I could face tank every single fight lol

[@maurovaz6081]

I killed the high dragon with my warrior as reaver and Wyne as arcane warrior on nightmare arcane warrior is broken

[@peterw2880]

My best bro Alistair is one of my favorite characters in any game I’ve ever played. Been loving BG3 bc it feels like the true heir to the DA:O mantle, but haven’t been able to find that bromance with any of the party members there

[@Leonnie13]

Alistair was my favorite romance of all the games I played. It always pleases me how Alistair was a favorite to most players. And you are right about BG3. It feels like a spiritual successor. But none of the characters really hit that sweet spot that Alistair did.

[@elgescherwerauchimmer700]

This is without a doubt the best retrospective of Dragon Age's origins. I can't thank you enough for gathering all of this additional information about the game and getting an actual interview with the lead writer on the game. you are a great help in preserving video game history

[@RavinerPayne]

Sorry about the prison scene, I've never gotten my items lost permanently. It was in a chest nearby.

[@csais1]

DAO has been instrumental in inspiring modern rpg but its depressing to see the ip decline in quality release by release to the point its not recognisable any more.

[@timothyhooker6864]

Only 40 minutes in so far, but I really appreciated that introduction. As a massive DAO fan, the insights you were able to offer in the beginning of this video were awesome! If the rest of the video plays out as well, this may be my favorite of your retrospectives. :)

[@nikkikah2356]

I can't wait to sit and listen to this! Dragon Age: Origins still stands as my favorite game of all time, and while it's definitely rough around the edges and didn't age well in some areas... Well. It is still *amazing*.

[@masonbradley8914]

Totally agree

[@Skumtomten1]

Just curious but what areas do you think the game has aged poorly? I did my 7th playthrough of this game recently and tbh I still had more fun with it than any modern game I have played. It's my favorite game ever, and i'm obviously "biased" towards it, but I think it has aged extremely well due to how unique it is.

[@nikkikah2356]

@@Skumtomten1 The models and the UI namely, and the loading screens. I've always played this game on Xbox so my experience is definitely hindered because of it. I will be buying it on steam soon tm.

[@nikkikah2356]

@@Skumtomten1 But seriously? I really don't care about those things much, DA:O is a game I could replay infinite times I love it that much. I love discovering new things, EVEN NOW, side quests I never found out or treasures. Its amazing how vast and endless this game is despite it being based on set pieces.

[@Skumtomten1]

@@nikkikah2356 Oh, you played on console, that explain things haha. I have played it console and while the writing and story is just as good as the pc version, everything else is definitely worse. It's pretty obvious the game was designed for pc, then ported to consoles, which is pretty much the opposite of what most AAA game do today. I highly reccommend getting it on pc, and it's best to get the GOG version, bust steam also works. One important thing though is to 4gb patch the game, or LAA patch it. Otherwise it runs like crap on modern computers. There are also many fantastic mods for it on pc. But yea I agree, I have close to 500 hours of this game and I still see new stuff and hear new dialogue, its pretty incredible.

[@xenon8117]

3:10:25 Alistair and Wynne, they both have a lot of dialogue and secret companion Loghain as well. Even take Barkspawn with you, he chimes in once or twice, certainly if you have Loghain with you.

[@isaaccooper448]

56:23 “If you can’t tell this Severus Snape-ass Alan Rickman looking individual in a dark fantasy role playing game is secretly evil then I don’t really know what to tell you.” 😂😂

[@XavierGrim]

Orzammar and the Deep Roads is such a rich vien of content and consequences that I didn't consider until afterwords how disastrous the Warden's involvement is. Causing the deaths of two of their Paragons, living saints of their people, the destruction of one of their most powerful tools against the Darkspawn, and the usurpation of their rightful king (unless you play as a Dwarf Noble). And it all feels like the right thing every step of the way.

[@daraghmalone8321]

Yeah, looking at the end screen and the carnage wrought by Bhelen and sucking my teeth saying "real sorry 'bout that fellas"

[@ShaggyDabbyDank]

Ehh, if you side with Branka then you only kill one Paragon, who the entire dwarven populace already believes died hundreds of years ago, you don't destroy the Anvil, you help bring Golems back to clear the Deep Roads even at a cost- but that's something left up to the ruler of Orzammar and Branka at that point.

[@ShaggyDabbyDank]

@@daraghmalone8321 Harrowmont is way worse in the ending slides, especially if he has control of the Anvil.

[@jonathangonzalez1271]

a 10 hour video on Dragon Age Origins? Put it straight into my veins.

[@mrgnarchr]

Aww little shout out! Glad I could connect you with David; he’s a sweetie ❤ Amazing work as ever Rad 🎉🎉

[@fuzzythoughts8020]

"and I can remember saying, this is a very weird way to do things" It must be surreal to know the dragon game you're known for was never supposed to even have dragons except in lore.

[@lorebiter]

There is actually a justification in DAI’s DLC for why Leliana can be alive in the later games: She was brought back as a Lyrium Ghost and straight up just disappears after the game ends if she wasn’t made the Divine. Quite heavily implies that either the Maker or her own strength of will, combined with with the high volume of lyrium below where she died, was what allowed her to come back until her goals were fulfilled.

[@adeptdamage3669]

It's still dumb

[@godshenron9306]

@@adeptdamage3669 not really. Just say you dont like it and rhats fine but its pretty consistent with lore

[@adeptdamage3669]

@@godshenron9306 Nah it's a cheap way to walk back player choice.

[@JoaoVictor-rg5ix]

​@@godshenron9306its quite Cheap brother. Even if the lore actually acommodetad it. They valued Leiliana way more than player and thats a fact. Even in Dragon Age Inquisition.

[@cttommy73]

@@godshenron9306 They literally broke players choices because they gave players the choice of being a murderhobo and then decided, "Huh, being a murderhobo is bad. Oh well, screw player choice then."

[@YoBoZ23]

Ah yes. A nice short video to watch on my lunch break at work

[@DragonMaul1]

Shale is not a hollow character! I've literally done a full playthrough essentially main-ing Shale because of the witty banter, the cool stuff in the Deep roads and playing as a big rock that smashes!

[@SuperRADLemon]

I haven't said it, but I kinda took this back as I wrote it and voiced the script. I like shale

[@mikanchan322]

Yeaaah Shale is actually really good?? So hmm

[@desmond931]

Man the music in this video is godawful

[@TheFlibidy]

On the point of ennemies grappeling you: staggering abilities such as Shield Bash and Stone Fist will force them to release the grappled party member

[@camrongremmels249]

If emotion basically comes from the fade. It would be interesting to know if mages are more emotional than regular people, due to a greater connection to the fade. And perhaps, the more powerful the mage, the more emotionally unstable. That would be really cool to explore in the setting.

[@LongTran-kp3kz]

I chose an elven commoner rogue in my runs... And yes. Losing a choice SUCKS It doesn't matter if I don't pick it, I want the damn choice to choose or not choose it! And yes, I prefer voiceless characters myself. Not a fan of 'defined' characters in my RPGs... But, that's just me. Tbh, I never felt that any area was especially long. Maybe it's just me seeing as I've been playing dungeon crawlers with way longer crawls than whatever DA offered... like, I never found the pacing on that front was an issue.

[@HereticalKitsune]

I love that approach of creating the setting, starting with the world and its lore itself before adding a plot. Feels more natural.

[@afonsomata41]

What a great Retrospective Mr. Rad, I was 7 years old when I played DAO and I was hooked in the dragon age series since then, any plans of making similar retrospectives for the following games?

[@SuperRADLemon]

I'm not sure yet but currently no plans

[@NesLightGun]

I just bought the game... a gog sale, hell yea I thought. I didn't realize that in buying this game I would commit myself to watching a 10 hour retrospective from my favorite videogame essayist

[@codyscottmac]

dude David Gaider is fucking awesome lmao I'm so glad you got him for the video

[@McFliggity]

It took me a little bit longer to find the time to watch this one, it felt like a bit more of a barrage of information, but overall was another great job as always. Loved the effort of having the interview thrown in this time, as well. Keep up the good work and don't forget to rest!

[@Gnight787]

Fun fact: the world “Thedas” stands for “The Dragon Age Setting” lol

[@flyinghawaiian007]

2:22:30 If Leliana dies in DA:O, she does reference having died in DA:I. It's a bit of a handy-wavy explanation that doesn't delve much into the details but, in a world where magic is real, why not bringing the dead back to life?

[@yumikooshiro249]

On the idea of the origins happening at the same time, you can indeed find the body of the dwarf commoner inside a cell when you assault the Carta base. The dwarf you can release in the cell next to his will mention he just gave up and stopped eating. Edit: Also minor tidbit, doing the Antivan Crow quests for the guy in the inn. Helps you get a vote in the Landsmeet.

[@mysteryof1640]

Ooh, just remembered one more thing I wanted to mention in my previous comment concerning the dark ritual Morrigan performs. In World of Thedas (vol. 2) it is also mentioned that Flemeth specifically sent Morrigan off with the Wardens to perform this ritual & explained all the basics. Obviously, in the beginning Morrigan was reluctant to help the protagonist and perform the ritual when the moment comes, but over the time (and getting a bunch of presents) she grows to be a friend, so in the end her decision to help the wardens comes from her heart. Basically, Flemeth (Mythal) wanted to have an Old God soul all crispy & clean, without the blight. And that worked. I'm not sure if the authors with David himself were planning this from the start, but they sure added this to the lore after third game came out and the whole story with Morrigan & her son running off happened in the Inquisition.

[@lordcooler90]

3 days later and i finally finished. Thank you so much for your time and effort spent getting the information, interview, codex entries and playing every option. This felt so complete and a love letter to Bioware as we knew them in 2009.

[@darkjak565]

Wake up babe, SuperRAD dropped a 10 hour video essay on the game that consumed more of my time than school in my early teens This is seriously impressive. Congratulations on such a huge video, so very excited to hear all this.

[@NovaCaneKills11]

My #1 favorite game of all time in 9hr retrospective...bet! Edit : Any 1st time players or vets giving this one a try and facing hair loss thanks to the mages; build MANA CLASH on one of your mages, set to "use on sight of enemy mage" in tactics and just cackle. It's devastates all enemies with mana pools which includes demons. Even boss variants will be bleeding and depleted of their casting potency if not completely one shot from the damage. Templars wish Smite was half as good

[@bencarlson974]

Fucking fantastic essay. You put in the work consistently. One of my favorite creators on any platform.

[@isaaccooper448]

Another great retrospective! I love how you go through the development of the game and so thoroughly cover the key parts of the story. You mention BG3 a bit during the start of the vid, can we expect a 20hr review at some point? 😂

[@rothea]

9:29:37 I'd bet anything that they picked sandal as the returning character bc they could reuse his voice lines. Theyve already got several recordings of "Enchantment!" after all.

[@MrElephant98]

you don't actually need the lockpicking talents to pick locks. it's based off of your cunning and each rank of the talent just adds 10 effective cunning to your character for lockpicking. you can unlock every lock in the game with 70 cunning and no points invested in the lockpicking abilities

[@clayman_nhd]

OH BOY 9 hours That will be a hell of a journey

[@AROSP]

Finally got around to finishing this mammoth video. This is proper games journalism, it's such an impressive undertaking. You've got a real niche with this style of content, and I'm glad people like you are putting in this much effort. DA:O is an amazing game, and this is a great deep dive.

[@inspectorspinda]

i didnt use the crafting mechanics in my first playthrough, but once i started using them i loved them. poison is a great buff for the rogue/archers and traps is so fun if you want to cheese certain difficult fights. like the mountaintop dragon which is optional. if you make enough traps you can kill it as soon as it lands.

[@joearnold6881]

They definitely get much better and more useful when you aren’t just playing on normal.

[@oscarstainton]

Personally, I always leave the Return to Ostagar quest to near the end after Orzammar and before the Landsmeet; the armour and weapons are of higher quality material and enough time has passed to feel potentially nostalgic. And even sweeter is to present Alistair (or your Human Noble) before the nobility in Cailan's gold-coated Dragonbone plate armour and looking all regal and ready to lead the kingdom. The problem, of course, is that Cailan's corpse would have rotted away in the passing weeks/months.

[@DannyCapM8]

I remember my first playthrough like it was yesterday, Me, a Tanky Warrior, Alistar, a Tanky Warrior, Sten, A Tanky Warrior, Oghren, A Tanky Warrior. We may have taken 20 years to kill a single darkspawn, but, damn, if it didn't taken them of them 50 to kill us.

[@Rdezzle]

This is the best. You are the best. Thank you so much for your work. This was such a great watch!!!

[@ChefQuinn]

Hey rad, I wanted to say thank you for taking your time and making a 10 out of 10 video. Every time I see you post I get so excited because I know it’s gonna be damn good.

[@banedeath]

I'll never NOT be impressed by these retrospectives. For games like this that I love and played its like reliving the full thing all over again. For games I haven't played/finished it feels like I've gone through the entire game myself by the end of the video. I can't begin to imagine the amount of work and effort required to do this, but I am grateful to be able to experience the end product and hope these continue on in the future if they are feasible to maintain. Great work. Very much appreciated. 🤩

[@thynErro]

I just realized mages in Dragon Age are essentially just psykers from 40K.

[@davis9671]

AMAZING video! thanks for putting this together.

[@GoldieRinglets]

recently revisited this game so this is wonderful to come across. I’d always wanted to play as a bloodmage but never had time or patience to make a new character. It really is as OP as the lore makes it out to be, mixed with spirit healer and my party’s invincible

[@lelouche25]

Jesus christ! 9 hours! Ima need a few sittings for this one.

[@chcknfsh]

I haven’t had the time to get more then a hour into this, but with the quality of content that you provide I greatly look forward to finishing this between the next few days. We appreciate your work and dedication to the things you love.

[@ALeCoq112]

So many seem to get the blights timeline wrong. There have not been 5 blights in the course of 4 centuries. There have been 4 centuries since the forth blight ended. The first blight started roughly a thousand+ years before the fifth.

[@SuperRADLemon]

Ah I must've gotten confused, ty

[@ALeCoq112]

@@SuperRADLemon You're welcome. I've noticed it in several other Origins videos and kind of started to annoy me. Great video by the way. Good watch.

[@twoimpostersstudios338]

First video of yours I've seen. Watched all ten hours while playing Origins again. Incredible job. I'm subbed now!

[@mikec.6122]

Just what I needed. Subscribed. Thank you for the hard work

[@theogannon9826]

Perfect timing for this video to release just as I start another play through!

[@TheLexere]

1:07:10 about this exp discourse, Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 don't give you exp after killing random people, most of the exp comes from quest completions and exploration, there is some from killing beasts/monsters that fill the bestiary entries. This way you are not incentived to become a murder psycopath, unlike some particular games (divinity coff coff original sin). I never felt the urge to kill everyone in Dragon Age for some little extra exp, levels are useful but not that much important to make me think about that.

[@vladimirtchuiev2218]

Few points: * Mage is by far the most powerful class in Origins. The easiest time I had playing this game on Nightmare was with a Warden Mage, Morrigan, Wynn, and Leliana/Zevran together. The tank can be replaced by forcefields, and using blood-magic you don't even have to do that. * Mana Clash -> break the game, figuratively (one-shots most enemy mages in the game) and literally (have around 25% to crash your game on use) * Blood magic is OP, specifically Blood Wound, which is a MASSIVE AOE without friendly fire, it will just win battles on its own. * Arcane Warrior is the single character I managed to solo DA:O with, having the casting ability as the armor one is damn powerful, and with the magic buffs you become practically unkillable except by the Harvester. * The April Fool's gifts and pranks are the worst way possible of experiencing the companions' story, this just skips content and often bugs out important companion interactions. * As for Bioware DLC characters, Javic is legitimately great IMO, and Kasumi is my favorite character in Mass Effect, although objectively pretty hollow...

[@wisdommanari6701]

I love getting all the Spirit buff gear and then hitting mana clash literally Giant Purple numbers pop and the enemy falls down it's a beautiful thing

[@Itsunobaby]

Ah yes. A brief summary on one of my most beloved games! I sure can’t wait to watch it!

[@coolbri2001]

So awesome to see how much love went into a game I adore.

[@Davidofthelost]

In the werewolf quest I just charge straight through the dungeon. Never have I ever had to go to the side door and check to see if it’s barred.

[@RozgniataczJaj]

Hey man, just wanted I say, I started to watch this video around 3 months ago, when I did my first playthrough of origins. I found a few minutes every other day to watch it, sometimes I rewatched some parts because I forgot I already watched them and I really wanted to thank you for this video. It made my origins playthrough better, because I could confront my decisions and thoughts with yours and David Gaider's ideas, and it made me nostalgic over a game I beat a month ago. Thanks a lot for a great 10 hours!

[@SuperRADLemon]

Appreciate it, thank you!

[@TheKevinNoble]

The Tel'aran'rhiod reference to the Fade made me so happy. More Tel'aran'rhiod like experiences please!

[@jackiedaytona1017]

Perfect time to watch all of this during my lunch break.

[@bluzo9499]

What ive never heard anybody dislike shale she's such an interesting character to tag along with she has unique skills she and unlike a certain prince in da 2 she's well integrated into the story its like she was always there for the low low price of free

[@mezidvemastromy5546]

Thank you for another jewel of this weirdly epic genre of retrospective videos.

[@lololol924]

I actually really liked the dungeon crawling in the deep roads. It really conveyed a sense of dread, having to descend deeper and deeper into hell and finding more and more monsterous enemies. Part of the fun is just how intimidating and long it was. By the end you truly feel like you accomplished a suicide mission. It's something only your party could have pulled off.

[@ameliaclegg2247]

I played a city elf and this game had me so emotionally invested it's embarrassing. I still get angry thinking about some of the shit my poor warden had to put up with. I don't think I've ever cared about a character I played as much as I care about her. But fuck the deep roads, I've played this game at least 20 times and I still get lost down there 😂

[@dennishogan5696]

loved the video, not because it was long and well put together, but because you laid out your thoughts about each of the games choices and your thought process through each even if i disagree with some of them. its nice to see a video about this game that goes deeper than just the amount of customization and choices in the game but the potential consequences and even the moral issues of them. i wish i could enjoy the rest of your videos but i really only enjoy the retrospectives as all the games youve done these past two years are games i grew up and sometimes even think about today as an adult. this is getting weird now ive had to many gummies but great dudee

[@justvoss47]

So cool to see different people's goals when it comes to these games. I always picked my party based on who I found the most interesting rather than party effectiveness, which is why Wynne was never with me. I also waited to do a lot of DLC until it made the most sense from a story standpoint. Wynne has a lot of unique dialog ue in Return to Ostagar and even new banter with Alistair, which makes me wait until I have her.