Dragon Age II

Post-Launch Review
Dragon Age II (PC)
Developer: BioWare
Released: March 2011
Played: complete in 37h:50min

About

During Ferelden's Blight, many refugees fled the country. Hawke is one of them, arriving in the city of Kirkwall as a refugee. Over the course of a decade, Kirkwall faces much unrest, and Hawke is drawn into political conflicts and a growing feud between the city's mages and templars. As tensions mount, Hawke is forced to choose sides and face the brewing war...

Dragon Age: Origins

Post-Launch Review

Dragon Age: Origins

Developer: BioWare Edmonton

Released: November 2009

Note: I didn't actually finish this game, though I did play 30 hours' worth. 
For those who know the game, I stopped after saving the possessed kid and recruiting the elves, dwarves, and mages, as well as the Stone Prisoner and Soldier's Peak DLCs.

About

Dragon Age: Origins is a third-person fantasy RPG. You are one of the last Grey Wardens, an order dedicated to fighting the demonic darkspawn. The Wardens face persecution and betrayal as the nation of Ferelden witnesses power struggles for the human and dwarven thrones, and werewolf attacks against the elves. In the midst of all this conflict, no one believes that the darkspawn blight is real, or that it is a priority. You must call on old debts and raise an army to save the kingdom from a threat which most have dismissed as insignificant.

Mechanics and Narrative: RPGs

I've covered horror and FPS, so now let's take a look at mechanics and narrative in RPGs.

Roleplaying games typically work a lot harder to construct a complex narrative than other video game genres. They also typically tend to focus a lot on the player's choices and how they affect the characters or story. But there's a balance here: giving the player too much freedom weakens the narrative, while not giving them enough makes a game that's supposedly about freedom and choice feel pretty restrictive.

Personally, I have a lot of problems with how many big RPGs handle choice - I find that they simultaneously offer too much and too little freedom. The very principle at the core of the RPG genre is the root of almost every issue.