What Dragon Age Can Learn from Skyrim
Dec 2
A few easy tips to pick up from another great RP series
November hit and my gaming life became Skyrim. The fifth installment of the Elder Scrolls series is arguably the powerhouse RPG title on the market at this point. While the open-world style of Elder Scrolls and the story-focused Dragon Age aren’t exactly apples to apples, there are certain features of Skyrim that could translate well to the DA universe.
Marriage
True, BioWare games have their romances and certainly the in-story romances are way more involved than the marriage system in Skyrim. However, there’s something about having a large selection of NPCs that could be wooed and then being able to come home and find them in your house, cooking you dinner and giving you a cut of their shop’s profit. The marriage system in Skyrim is incredibly shallow but, for some reason, incredibly intriguing.
Romances in BioWare games usually have that climactic moment of underpants dance (of Origins) and then that’s about it. You don’t really get a whole lot of interaction with your partner. You don’t in Skyrim either – but the door that it opened to really take the next step in in-game romances is there.
Maybe love is fleeting, but there’s something to be said for the institution of marriage in games. And if you don’t believe that, just check out the popularity of the Royal Wedding Mod for Origins…
Factions
Ok, different questing factions is nothing new to Skyrim. Having a fighter’s, mages’ and thieves’ guild has been a part of, well, every Elder Scrolls game I’ve played (the last three). They’re not tied to the main plot but there is a boatload of good missions and story within each of them. Outside of the main questline, characters can join the Companions (fighters), College of Winterhold (mages), Thieves’ Guild, Dark Brotherhood (assassins), join a side in the fight for Skyrim with the Stormcloaks or Imperial Legion, or later decide whether to build the Blades and go on a dragon hunting extravaganza.
These factions make for interesting side questing opportunities. While Origins had the Chanter’s Boards and Mages’ Collective, it never felt like you were actively helping a faction out with their problems. Considering that Dragon Age likes to use a lot political intrigue as a plot device and that morality also comes into play, wouldn’t expanding the factions make a reasonable and fun option for some sidequests? Maybe you choose to help the Mages’ Collective complete quests, but it would put you at odds with the Chantry for helping mages outside their jurisdiction.
It would make you feel like doing sidequests not related to the main plot mattered instead of running around doing oddjobs for random people. Especially if BioWare were to tie in temporary (or permanent) companions as a reward/result.
Upgrades
Ever find a weapon or piece of armor you just really, really, liked? But then you play for a couple more hours and soon find that the awesome weapon you love is now garbage stat-wise. In Skyrim, it’s not so much an issue to do the upgrading system used through the smithing skill. With the right amount of materials and training, you can really boost the stats of an item to nearly double its original efficiency. I managed to use the same Skyforge steel greatsword from about level 5 through level 30 when I beat the main quest.
While older games like Knights of the Old Republic would offer upgrade slots for specific items and both DA:O and DA2 had rune slots, they couldn’t make an item usable for an extended period of time. This would be perfect for people like me who have a certain attachment to a person’s starting equipment. (Who else kept Carver’s sword in their storage box for the entire game after he died?)
I don’t particularly like the “improves with level-up” mechanic that was used in DA2, but having a system in place that could increase the base damage values to an item through some sort of crafting system would be awesome and useful. You could become attached to a certain item as yours without having to discard it every time the next best thing comes along.
Lockpicking
Who else got tired of burning skill points in Origins on lockpicking? And who was really peeved by having to pour useless cunning into Varric or Sebastian to make them viable lockpickers if you didn’t want to drag Isabela around in DA2? Obviously locks are a sensible thing to have to protect certain doors and treasure chests, but neither DA game has had a really good method for dealing with how to open them. If you don’t believe me, check out the popularity of the Lock Bash mod or other mods like All Chests Unlocked.
Each Elder Scrolls games offers a new way to unlock chests. In Morrowind it was a straight skill check with (what I assume) was random number generator behind the scenes. You twisted a lockpick until it opened. In Oblivion it made it mini-gamey to where you had to try to bump and lock tumblers. And in Skyrim it’s more of a “guess the sweet spot” and turn minigame.
Is a minigame option the best way to deal with locks? Not necessarily. But there has got to be a better way than punishing rogues into building differently just to unlock chests. In Elder Scrolls anyone can give a shot at lockpicking. Obviously fighters and mages may not be as good as rogues, but the option to allow any character to try should be implemented. How about a system that would make locks easier for Leliana to open but still possible if you want Sten to try to get in there and tinker with it? Whether that’s through a minigame or some other method, Dragon Age could benefit from opening the world of lock-opening.
Finishers
We had finishing moves in Origins. Then they were mysteriously absent from Dragon Age 2. Now, I’ve been enjoying them again in Skyrim.
Really it’s a cosmetic thing that has no bearing upon the game. Sometimes maybe instead of your opponent just falling over dead, you take off their head or stab them in the guts with your sword or whatever. But they add a little bit of flair to combat more than just the average hacking and slashing. And let’s face it, RP games have a lot of killing to spice up.
It’s not like this would even be a new thing for Dragon Age, just occasional, random finishers. Let warriors run people through or cut their legs out then slam them down and let rogues give a nice old double-stab to the guts. It can’t be too hard to come up with a handful of flashy finishers for the rogues or archers either, is it? Bring it back!
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14 comments
Comment by fianna on December 2, 2011 at 4:08 pm
small comment to the lockpicking: do it like in the old games… rogues can open locks by skill, mages can open locks by magic, and warriors just bash it with their strength…
Comment by Ingolf on December 2, 2011 at 4:40 pm
I disagree on the lockpicking, at least where dragon age 2 is concerned.
Cunning is required to lockpick. Cunning also increases the chance to get a critical hit.
before finishing Dragon age 2, I had Varric pumped up with cunning. Not because I needed to pick locks, but because of it, every shot he did was a critical hit. I had 100% critical chance, because of his high cunning. Granted, the critical damage, which comes from dex, was only around 30%, but it was still a lot of damage done. The only downside is the lack of health and energy really.
When it comes to origins, the only downside is using 4 skill points in lock picking and trap disarming, when they could be used somewhere else. but honestly, you get so many points in the game that it really doesn't matter. At level 25 (maximum level) you won't feel under powered, because Leliana or Zevran or your warden rogue has 4 points in lockpicking/trap disarming and even less in awakening on Nathaniel or Sigrun or warden rogue. I never used those 2 addons, I heard they existed, I just never bothered because I don't have an issue with it.
I must admit, the lack of finishing moves in Dragon age 2 was disappointing. I loved it when you could chop off heads or stab mobs through the gut or even the slow motion attacks on the ogres and bosses. The only thing that Origin lacked was the finishing moves done by mages, there were none :(
Comment by Topcat on December 2, 2011 at 4:58 pm
i agree with everything except for the thing about lockpicking. When Mass Effect 2 gave everyone the ability to hack aposed to just tech-heads it took away the individuality of choosing a class. Rogues have more skills than combat. In DA2 we lost a lot of the skill choices, dont want to lose any more or dilute the choices between the classes. It'd be nice to have roleplaying choices for each class, certain scenes that only certain classes can access due to their skill set.
Comment by stevegarbage on December 2, 2011 at 5:17 pm
Personally I hated having to drag around Tali everyone just so I could use her to crack boxes and whatnot in ME. I liked it much more in ME2 that I was able to do it myself. However, I think that may also have been because in ME2, if you didn't get it the first time around – you couldn't just go back and get that one chest you missed, unlike in the original.
I think making rogues more effective lockpickers would be good, but still give everyone an opportunity to do so. Using Knights of the Old Republic as an example – everyone can bash open a chest, but you run the risk of breaking items within. Characters with the Security skill, however, can attempt to open them cleanly. Something like that instead of Hawke just giving me a "I can't do that DURRRR DURRRP"
Comment by ensie on December 2, 2011 at 6:09 pm
The one thing I miss in Skyrim is the in-depth interaction with the other characters. Like the rest of your suggestions, but hate the idea of making the marriage and relationships in DA more Skyrim-like.
Comment by David on December 2, 2011 at 7:41 pm
Overall I'd like to see DA 3 fall somewhere between DA 2 and Skyrim. DA 2 was too stream-lined but Skyrim is massive overkill. Took me 220 hours to complete one full Skyrim play-through (main story + level 50).
Comment by Cadaveth on December 2, 2011 at 10:07 pm
Calling marriages in Skyrim actual marriages is like making yourself believe that the lemonade in front of you is really a beer. Beth could put their dev hours into something more useful, like making more fluid animations or making their combat system better.
Besides, Bioware could just say “one night stands” or “sex relationships” rather than romances. Don’t know how they could actually make them work since video game romances tend to be a bit cheesy compared to actual real life stuff.
Comment by Aaron Lewis on December 2, 2011 at 10:34 pm
First off, awesome article. I agree with everything, especially the lockpicking. My gf and I spoke about this the other day actually. Like, say you choose a Rogue, your starting points for lockpicking could be 30. If you choose a Warrior class, your points would be 15? Mage a little higher, like 20. That way, if you’re a Rogue, it’ll be much easier. But if you’re a Warrior you still get the opportunity. That’s the great thing about Skyrim. All the options are there, so you can mix and match your unique play style. You’re not ‘forced’ into something specific.
I’ve always wondered this, how would ragdoll effects work in the DA games? I know the gameplay is totally different, but I’ve always just though it would be nice. Maybe also the ability to jump. Cause in a sense, you’re very limited in your movement. You can’t jump, you can’t walk around and explore different terrains, if there’s a small rock in front of you, you can’t jump over it, just walk around it. There’s a lot of stuff they can learn from Skyrim and The Witcher 2. :)
Comment by stevegarbage on December 3, 2011 at 3:00 am
But considering that rogues get their damage and attack from dexterity, pumping up cunning too much gimps them. They have low damage and miss a ton. I prefer to go as high as I can with dexterity to really skyrocket their damage numbers. Besides, you can't crit if you don't hit in the first place. Anything less than like 90 percent attack percentage is too low for me.
Comment by stevegarbage on December 3, 2011 at 3:04 am
Not saying making the relationships more Skyrim like – far from it. Relationships in Skyrim suck. However the idea of having a mechanism to marry another character and at least have some glimpses of a more domesticated life is attractive.
The relationships in BioWare games usually only go as far as "I like you" followed by doing it. "Marriage" in Skyrim is incredibly shallow, but the idea of implementing marriage into the game is one that shouldn't be overlooked.
Comment by Chris on December 6, 2011 at 2:41 am
I honestly loathed DA2, Skyrim however makes it look like a… well we should not really say because EA and Gaither screwed the pooch on DA2. With Gaither heading the DA team and the lack of talent on the DA team I'm afraid DA3 will be much of the same thing from DA2. So I doubt DA3 will take into account anything Skyrim does. Because they seem not to have listened to the fan base and want to follow that bum that makes fable games and the ADD crowd of COD. I do agree with this article a ton but with EA trying to push DA3 out asap I doubt it will be any good.
Comment by Chris on December 6, 2011 at 2:42 am
Actually anywhere near DA2 would be a failure to the DAO crowd.
Comment by TheDevian on December 8, 2011 at 7:39 am
actually it is dex that gives you a better chance to crit, cunning is the dmg you do when you crit.
I preferred Origins style, Cunning + Lock Pick Skill vs Lock Difficulty. But Laidlow said they won't be going back to the 'hard core rpg' style of origins (because then they would have to admit they made a mistake) so I won't be buying another bioware game.
Comment by anne ominous on December 9, 2011 at 9:32 am
i either have skyrim fever, or a terrible case of the rapture.
anyway, i’m hoping bioware continues to address dragon age’s unfortunate identity crisis, and really drives the point home that the series is not a poor man’s elder scrolls, and that there is a consumer demand for a story-driven, swords-and-sorcery WRPG.
er, but your suggestions sound good to me.