New Dragon Age Inquisition DLC: The Descent Teaser Trailer

Dragon Age: Inquisition has went above and beyond my expectations. I'm currently doing my fifth play through (I know, but it's fun for me!) and enjoying it just as much as the first one. The Jaws of Hakkon was a great DLC because it had a lot of interesting lore and you finally got a chance to see the Avvar and learn more about their history and culture. I have to really like a game to purchase any DLC at all, so I was glad this first one was great.

I am pretty excited for the next DLC titled The Descent. I watched the trailer twice. It looks like you get to explore the Deep Roads which is very cool as I liked the creepy atmosphere of the Deep Roads in Dragon Age Origins. This looks even better and it looks like you may get some more Dwarven lore and history which is also fantastic. I can't wait to play it!

You can check out the trailer for Dragon Age Inquisition: The Descent here:

Final Fantasy XV Malboro Trailer

I played the demo on the PS4 for Final Fantasy XV and it looks amazing. Seeing the teaser trailer with a Malboro fight is even better. I can't wait to play this game because I'm a fan of the Final Fantasy series and this looks great. You can check out the video on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/FinalFantasy/videos/1032171660150926/?fref=nf

I for one can not wait for the game to get here. The release date is December 31, 2015. It looks like it's going to be an awesome year for my gaming! In the meantime, I have a lot of games to play. I still have to finish Final Fantasy Type 0 and a couple of Assassin's Creed games to play. So I'll have a lot to keep me busy until Final Fantasy XV arrives. 

EA Strikes Again, Fork Over Your Money (Bioware, This Is Your Fault Too)

So I raved about Dragon Age Inquisition and its DLC. I played on the 360. Yes, we have a PS4, but at the time when we got the game we didn't so I had the 360 version. Our old 360 died and there was no way for me to play. Then we replaced the 360 and we got a new PS4. I know. Everyone is wondering why we didn't just get an Xbox One. Honestly, we couldn't justify spending almost 400 dollars on that thing. If it was cheaper, then sure maybe. Perhaps when it goes down in price, we can upgrade to it.

This brings up the next thing. I have actively tried to ignore the fact that EA has Bioware in its clutches. I know my husband is still sore about what they did to Westwood Studios (for you young people; they created a pretty cool space game called Earth and Beyond) and how they totally sucked all the funding from their game, dismantled it, sent the developers to other projects, and shut everything down. I say actively because I do love the Dragon Age series. I wasn't fond of Dragon Age II but Inquisition has made up for that. I have mixed feelings with DLC. On the one hand, some of them are worth it. On the other hand, why can't developers just give you a full game with all the bells and whistles like the gaming days of old? It completely reeks of give us your money with no thought or respect for the gamers who already bought their game. I get it. There's money to be made and we're just the cash cow they want to milk to death, but there has to be a limit. Also the exclusivity DLC for Jaws of Hakkon (I was lucky I had a 360 so I got it) for 360 and Xbox One that actively excluded PS3 and PS4 gamers and gave them the DLC at a later date was bullshit and let's be honest, you knew it was bullshit.

So then I read this article which you can read here: http://www.gamesradar.com/dragon-age-inquisition-dlc-xbox-one-ps4-pc-save-import/

That's right. If you have an older console such as a PS3 or Xbox 360 and you want to play the upcoming new DLC at all; you have to upgrade to the new consoles. This is the biggest damn bait and switch I've seen in a long while. As they spoke about how there would be new DLC earlier; they claimed it would be for all the consoles and now they're singing a different tune. Now it's only for the PC, the Xbox One, and the PS4. This is a huge F- You to the very gamers that buy their games; to gamers everywhere. DLC in general is giving the middle finger to gamers.

Look, I understand that it's much easier to code for the new shiny next gen consoles. I understand it's time to move on to the next BIG thing. What I don't understand is actively punishing those who still hang on to the old ones. I don't understand effectively lying to people saying something is going to be for all of the consoles when it really isn't. If EA/Bioware had been upfront about it from the beginning, I'm sure it would have gone over a lot better. Sure, there would be people who would be angry about it, but it would not be nearly this level of fury that I'm seeing on their social media pages.

The other thing I'm wondering is when did it become a bad thing to be old? Yes, new things come along making the old ones obsolete, but when did it become acceptable to take your old console out to the woodshed and go Old Yeller on its ass simply because it wasn't new anymore? I still have my PS2 and Gamecube and they work great. I still play games on them and enjoy them. There are a lot of other gamers who feel that way too. So no, it's not completely ridiculous to get rid of your old consoles and upgrade to the new ones if that's your choice. What is foolish is to expect gamers to not be furious with you for essentially pulling a bait and switch and flooding your social media with just how much that pisses them off.

Bioware this is your fault too. You went along with this nonsense. I get it. The money is good and EA is the sugar daddy of your dreams, but how much more of your soul can you really sell? The founding members saw the writing on the wall and they quit when they had the chance. That was probably the smartest thing they could have done considering how this scenario is playing out. Many of the gamers are older people like myself who remember that first thrill of playing our first video games and how much we loved it. We love it still which is why it's frustrating that companies like yourselves seem to forget it wasn't about the money for us. It was about having fun and playing a truly amazing game with our family and friends. The younger generation understands that ideal too and it's great for us to see them enjoying some of the same games we grew up with and discovering new ones. It seems all that money has blinded you to that side of things and it's a damn shame.

I still love the Dragon Age games and I'll always love gaming. What I don't love is how greedy some of these companies have gotten and EA seems to be the biggest offender in that situation. They seem to be a repeated constant when it comes to running games into the ground or milking it for every last cent it has to further their own agenda which is making as much money as possible even if it means they disrespect the gamers because they do not care. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm cynical about this kind of stuff because I have seen it happen way too often of late. I want a full REAL game that shows that it was created by people who are gamers themselves and love games too without having some soulless corporation who thinks they "know games" telling us to fork over our money for every DLC that comes along. I think all of the gamers in the world deserve that. If you want us to buy your games, then at least show you care enough to make a great game that everyone will enjoy; not bleed us dry for every single penny.

*Note: Keep discussion and comments on here civil and polite. Anyone that trolls or is out of line with comments, it will be deleted, blocked, and reported. Thank you.*

Dragon Age Inquistion Jaws of Hakkon Totally Worth It

 I'm already on my third play through of Dragon Age Inquisition (as a female Dwarf rogue this time) and having as much fun with the game as I did on my first play through. I realized I haven't reviewed the DLC Jaws of Hakkon yet, so here it is!

Jaws of Hakkon opens a new spot on your war table map and unlocks a new area, the Frostback Basin. While it's not the largest wilderness in the game, it's quite stunning with autumnal valleys, sheer icy cliffs, and hauntingly beautiful swampland. There is also the rather cool factor of establishing Inquisition camps in the trees making for some nifty tree house forts. Bear in mind that Jaws of Hakkon is meant for high level characters, so it's best to do all the main story things for Inquisition first before tackling this. I personally explored this area before the final showdown with the main villain Corypheus and that was the right decision as my characters were at a level where they could handle all the battles.

Incredible scenery like this abounds in Jaws of Hakkon

 The story is that your Inquisitor is following a tip searching for information on their predecessor Inquisitor Ameridan who disappeared 800 years ago and the search has led to the Frostback Basin. You get to chat with everyone's favorite scout (she's my favorite at any rate LOVE Harding), Scout Harding about the surrounding area and she mentions an aggressive group of Avvar who call themselves the Jaws of Hakkon and are wreaking havoc on the surrounding area and on the Inquisition soldiers.

One of the best scouts in the Inquisition, Scout Harding

 Scout Harding also informs your Inquisitor that there are friendly Avvar also in a place called Stone-Bear Hold. The Avvar over all are quite interesting. Think a mix of Wildlings and Vikings. I enjoyed the fact that you actually get to really explore and learn more about the Avvar here whereas in the previous Dragon Age games you only got to read a variety of lore about them. With Jaws of Hakkon you actually get to interact with both factions; the self proclaimed Hakkonites (the Avvar who want to kill your Inquisitor and conquer the Ferelden Lowlands) and the peaceful Avvar in Stone-Bear Hold.

Stone-Bear Hold is another gorgeous area that offers some great exploration where you can learn more about the Avvar culture and history. The interaction with the Avvar of the hold is great too. You discover that they are in conflict with the Hakkonites as well due to them wanting to resurrect their God of war in a giant dragon to destroy everything in Thedas, so they wish to work with your Inquisitor towards a common goal of stopping that from happening.  I particularly liked the character of their Thane Svarah Sun-Hair because 1. The name is amazing and 2. She's an incredibly intelligent, pragmatic, and strong woman. Just from the conversations she has with your Inquisitor it shows that she not only thinks about the interests of her clan, she also considers how certain actions will affect the outside world as well.

Thane Svarah Sun-Hair 

The world for Jaws of Hakkon is fairly open leaving you the freedom to explore while doing some of the usual Inquisitor things such as closing Fade Rifts, finding Oculara shards, and doing a myriad of side quests. The main thing I really liked was uncovering the history of Ameridan and his companions. There are a lot of things that come to light about various things such as the Seekers and the mages. It appears that a lot of thought and detail went into the history and lore for this particular DLC and it works on many levels.

Another plus is the new gear that your Inquisitor and friends get. You can also find some nice schematics for new armor and weapons which work in nicely with the crafting system. Your Inquisitor also gets a new power that is quite handy during all those battles. While the battle system hasn't really mixed things up that much, it doesn't interrupt the flow of game play or detract from the sheer fun of playing. The price of $15 may seem a bit steep to some people. However, for what you get from the content of Jaws of Hakkon, it is totally worth it just for the unique story and characters alone. I know I do not regret my purchase at all and had a blast playing it and I will enjoy playing it again with my current play through. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dragon to hunt!

Amazing view of Stone-Bear Hold

This Makes Me Happy

Anyone who knows me, knows that Final Fantasy is one of my favorite RPG series of all time. What they don't know is how much Final Fantasy VII means to me. That is a game along with Suikoden II that I play again and again and I always love it. So when I saw this news announced on The Nerdist I was ecstatic: http://nerdist.com/final-fantasy-vii-remake-is-real-coming-first-to-playstation-4/

Yes. A Final Fantasy VII remake for the PS4. Just watching the short trailer alone made me excited. I am thrilled by this and my husband Ron who has never played the game was actually excited too. He saw how happy this makes me and he has promised he will play the game with me when it comes out. In the meantime, he's going to play the original Final Fantasy VII with me and it's going to be a blast!

Dragon Age: Inquisition Now With More Dragons and Adventure!

Note to readers: This blog post will have  some spoilers, so if you have not played the game yet or you do not like spoilers, do not read until you have completed the game. Final warning, spoilers ahead! There is also some nudity, so you have been warned.

So our Xbox 360 died and I couldn't play Dragon Age Inquisition right away since I got the Deluxe Edition for the 360. I was bummed, but went on to other games for a bit. Ron and I were finally able to replace it and I was ecstatic about being able to play the game. I finished my first play through of Dragon Age: Inquisition and let me just say that it is an incredible game and I loved every minute of it. It really appears that Bioware took what the fans said to heart, really listened, and worked very hard to make an incredible game for everyone to enjoy. With side quests alone, you can rack up at least 100 hours of game play and with crafting added to the game, there's plenty to do. 

 You can't  import your saves from the first two Dragon Age games directly, but you can  use a browser based tool called Dragon Age Keep that lets you recreate all the choices you made and import them to your Inquisition game.  It also lets you create and save more than one world state which gives you a variety of interesting options. My first time playing, I went with a female Elven rogue. I know, but I love my Elven rogue characters. You can play as an Elf, Human, Dwarf, and a Qunari. That's right, you can play as a Qunari in this game. The character design choices do offer a variety, but not as much as the first two Dragon Age games. I was also a little disappointed to see that so many of the choices for female characters are bald or super short hair. Yes, there are a few shoulder length hair style designs, but no really long hair styles. I understand that it probably is difficult to do long hair right for a video game, but I would have liked to see at least one or two very long hair options rather than Ron Burgundy Anchorman mullet. I'm not even kidding. That's not a deal breaker for me and I'm not against bald women or short hair. I just personally prefer long hair and would have at least liked that option available. But enough about hair. The voices for your character are pretty good and with my starting of my second play through, my Qunari sounds a lot like Michael Dorn (Worf from Star Trek for you young kids) and I'm definitely okay with that!

It's mullet time!

 The story starts with you stumbling out of the Fade with a strange green glowing mark on your hand and you meet Cassandra and Varric (yay, my favorite dwarf after Oghren!) Leliana is there too, but she's not a playable character simply an advisor to you. This offers you an initial introduction to the game with a tutorial of the game controls which seem to have been streamlined to be more efficient. This brings me to the tactical camera. The tactical camera allows you to pause the game and position your party members where you want them and make it feel like a turn based game. I've been told this is necessary for Hard and Nightmare mode. However, I found that I HATED the tactical camera. There are times when you can't see around things because trees or rocks would get in the way. I really only used the tactical camera to check the level and stats of enemies my party was fighting. I personally preferred just having the flow of combat happen without the tactical camera and I was fine. Others may prefer to use it and that's perfectly alright. It is nice that I wasn't forced to use the tactical camera and it was an either/or option.

The tactical camera at work

 Once your introductory mission to the game is finished, you can start exploring the world of Thedas at your base of operations which starts out in Haven. The Hinterlands is your starting area so you can get used to combat and exploration. This is also where you can get the starting side quests that gain the Inquisition influence and you can recruit agents to your cause as well. With the influence points, every time your influence levels up, you get what are known as Inquisition  perks points which can be used to increase things such as your armed forces, equip better healing potions, and gain more experience with battles. You also get a mount for your Inquisitor here with a quest. Mounts are great and you get a variety of choices other than just a simple horse. When you're back at Haven, you can go into the chantry and go to the war room which gives you the summon your war council option. This brings your advisors which consist of Leliana, Cullen, (yes THAT Cullen from both Dragon Age games), and new character Josephine. You can bring up the war table map which has several markers that show a variety of tasks and quests that the Inquisition can do. You can direct your advisors to take care of certain tasks that pop up on the map and it shows you how much time each task will take. This is also where you can unlock new areas to explore for the main story and for more side quests. You can only do the ones located in Ferelden at first, but eventually you do get to expand your horizons to Orlais. I like the war table map, because it allows you to pick and choose which quests you want to do and it does let you know if a quest is going to lock you in (usually the story oriented ones) so you can not do anything else for a time.

War Table Map

For me, the big thing is the story and that's where Dragon Age: Inquisition really shines. You run into Corypheus from The Blood of the Hawke story line in Dragon Age 2 and he is the main villain in Inquisition and ready to destroy all of Thedas and bend everyone to his will. This is the big goal in the game, to stop Corypheus from becoming a God and destroying the world. On the way you need to close the rifts which are tears in the Veil and keep demons from pouring out of it. You seal the rifts with the mark in your hand which is now known as the Anchor. Of course, you need help from your friends and you get it in a variety of interesting characters ranging from warriors to mages. You also get a spiffy castle where you can run your campaign, Skyhold. Morrigan and Flemeth make an appearance that is pivotal to the story and this is where you get to see how the decisions you made in the previous Dragon Age games affects things. For example, if you did the ritual with Morrigan in Origins, she has a son named Kieran and you get to see how that has changed Morrigan and how it affects her and Flemeth.

Corypheus full of evil villainy

Of course you don't reach that point for quite a while as there is a lot to explore in the game. You even get to go to Orlais for some of the quests and it is a lot of fun to see. There is even a quest with a masquerade ball at the Winter Palace with the empress Celene. The environments are beautiful with great details that shows a lot of thought and effort went into this game. Of course it wouldn't be a Dragon Age game without dragons and there are a ton of dragons. There are wyverns, varghests, and the big bad high dragons. There is a quest where you hunt all 10 high dragons. Yes, there are 10 high dragons for you to take down for bragging rights. Even on the casual setting, these dragons are no joke. You have to plan out everything including having the right armor and weapons to ensure your victory or be chomped to bits by these gorgeous and incredibly ruthless creatures. The payoff is worth it however, because you can get some powerful armor pieces, weapons, and accessories for you and your party members.

One of the many dragons you can battle

There are romance options in Dragon Age: Inquisition as well and out of your 9 companions you have your pick of 6 to have a romantic relationship with. The dialogue does give you options to flirt and rack up approval from them. My first play through I went with Cullen and I really liked him a lot. Cullen's romantic interactions were definitely swoon worthy because he was very sweet and you got to see the softer side of him. Note: Only a female elf or human can romance Cullen. There are a lot of great cut scenes with him that just made me smile and say, "Awww, that's so sweet!" There's also something rather cute and charming about that happy little smirk he had every time he kissed my Inquisitior.  There is something for everyone romance wise. While I didn't romance the mage Dorian this time around (I couldn't anyway as a girl, Dorian is gay), I found I liked him a lot as a person. He was funny and sarcastic, yet had real moments of compassion that really made me respect him and want to know more about him. That's just a taste of some of the people you can romance and it definitely leads to some interesting places for the story. There are sexual scenes with the romances, but they are not lewd or raunchy. They're actually tastefully done and it gives you more insights into your romantic interest.

Oh, Cullen. Such a sweetheart!

Now, lets get to the things that aren't so great. Don't get me wrong, I love Dragon Age: Inquisition. However, there are a few flaws. My biggest complaint are the quest glitches. For as long as the game has been out, there's really no excuse for not fixing the quests the developers have been told repeatedly are bugged. Case in point, The Trouble with Darkspawn quest. In this quest you are supposed to talk to the mage Servis and either kill him or bring him back to Skyhold for judgement. The problem is there are three known bug issues with this quest. If you claim Echoback Fort before starting the quest Servis won't spawn, Servis may not spawn at all, or after judging Servis it will still be shown in your quest log as an active quest. I got the Servis doesn't spawn at all quest bug and while not the end of the world, for a completionist gamer like myself this was incredibly frustrating. The only solution is to do a hard save before starting the quest and if you do get the glitch, you have to reload and hope it works. To me, that is a ridiculous work around and frankly, it should be fixed.

 The weird choppy frame rates are insane. It doesn't happen often, but with a couple of the high dragon fights I noticed the frame rate becoming very stilted and choppy as well as the sound. That's not okay and that's downright aggravating when I'm trying to not die a horrible death by dragon. Another thing that didn't happen often, but was equally irritating were the game crashes. I would be in the middle of a quest or a cut scene and suddenly the entire game would freeze and I would have to reboot the game and start over. It's a good thing I stick to my mantra of save and save often, because that really was a nuisance.

 The fact that with some of the quests, none of your actions matter. With Origins, you had interactions with certain characters that could direct the story to a certain path and while you can do that in Inquisition, it's not as in depth the way Origins was. A lot of the quests are fetch this thing or kill that thing. Where are the quests that involve hey kill the kid so he doesn't become a demon or go into the Fade and kick the demon possessing him out? It's not a big deal, but I miss that aspect of the game.

I couldn't stand the use the Oculara, find the shard quests. I also couldn't stand the Astrarium puzzles. These things were an exercise in futility and aggravation for me. With the Oculara, you have to look through the skull telescope and scan the area for glints of light to find the shards. In certain areas like Emprise de Lion if the weather was bad with lots of snow and white, good luck finding anything. It took me several tries before I found that darn shard. With the Astrarium puzzles, you have to look at the stars through the device and you have to match the lines exactly without crossing over them twice to form constellations. I had to restart over so many times, I actually took breaks from it and went on to do other things until I felt less frustrated. With the Oculara quest you get some perks such as resistance to cold magic. With the Astrarium puzzles you get locations that lead to treasure. Granted, I know I didn't have to do these quests, but I wanted to get everything done in the game so I finished them, but I really didn't like them.

An Oculara, the bane of my Dragon Age existence

And the other object of my frustration, an Astrarium

 The lack of healing spells for mages with the exception of a specialization heal spell for Knight Enchanter is total crap. Look, I understand that the barrier spell and healing potions are the way to go in the game, but the Knight Enchanter heal spell is a joke and barely does its job. It barely works and barrier doesn't last that long. I realize this makes you plan out your strategies more carefully and really makes you go balls to the wall with your battles, but at least one sound healing spell that WORKS would have been great. I found all the schematics, recipes, and herbs I could just so I could upgrade my healing and regeneration potions to the maximum potential and have a fighting chance with the harder battles. Again, that's the dragon fights.

 Those flaws aside, Dragon Age: Inquisition is an amazing game and a noticeably vast improvement from Dragon Age II. It is beautifully crafted with brilliant characters, an intricate story, and a world that is definitely worth exploring. Most importantly, it's fun to play. I'm playing through a second time with a Qunari character and enjoying it just as much as my first play through.  Dragon Age: Inquisition is not only a game worth playing, it's a game you should be playing. If you are a fan of the Dragon Age games, if you love RPG games, and if you are ready for more dragons and adventure than you can shake a stick at, then Dragon Age: Inquisition is a wonderful choice.

No one expects the Inquisition!

Final Fantasy XIV Is A Lot Of Fun To Play

Ron and I had played Final Fantasy XI for a long time (this is how we met, became friends and more, and then got married!) and then Final Fantasy XIV A Realm Reborn came along. Many of our friends from XI had already made the transition to Final Fantasy XIV and asked when we were going to play. We finally got the game two weeks ago and it's been a lot of fun to play!

I had played as a samurai class and a bard class in Final Fantasy XI. I really loved both, but bard always had a special place in my heart. I was glad to see they had the bard class in XIV. You do start out with a primary class job and for me it was Archer. At level 30 you can unlock the job, so I was able to unlock bard. There are a variety of primary classes to choose from ranging from marauder to arcanist which unlock  the job that complements them at level 30 such as arcanist becomes scholar.

Pirotess in full bard artifact armor with a spiffy compound bow

 You can also level other job classes and use the skills learned from those classes with your main job class known as cross class actions. For example with my bard; pugilist and lancer skills work really well. There are crafting classes too such as goldsmith, carpenter, and botanist to name a few. You can also use the skills learned from these with your main job class as well.

Leveling is actually fun with a variety of quests and hunting logs (you hunt specific mobs for credit) that you get experience points for. There are also FATE events in which you can join with other players and get experience points, Gil (the currency there), and seals for whichever Grand Company you decide to join. There are dungeons, raids, and trials you can do as well with other players. One thing that I feel is a great change from Final Fantasy XI is the Duty Finder. Gone are the days of what feels like a century of waiting for a party or shouting for one. In Final Fantasy XIV if there is a dungeon, trial, or raid you wish to do you can find it listed in the Duty Finder log and click the join tab. It will give you an estimated time of how long a wait you have as it finds other players who have also joined and once you have a full party, it will begin. You really don't have to wait that long with a few exceptions such as a raid known as Crystal Tower because that involves a 3 party alliance (24 players), but once it gets going it's great. 

         

Exploring the Crystal Tower with fellow adventurers

The linkshell system is still in place which still works very well. There is also a Free Company system which is a player created guild and that works great as well because you are able to do many of the dungeons, FATE events, and raids with your Free Company or linkshell group. Ron and I were lucky that we found a great linkshell and a great Free Company thanks to our good friends on the Famfrit server (shout out to Flames of Paradise! You guys rock!) and everyone has been really friendly and helpful. There comes a quest where you get to decide which Grand Company you want to join and you can do various quests and jobs to get seals which you can trade in for items and armor. 

Pirotess at the Twin Adder Grand Company

For some of the silly fun stuff you get minions that follow you around everywhere. My favorites are the wind up Moogle and the Cactuar. They don't do anything other than look cute. Think like collecting cards or stamps. You can also check out the casino called The Gold Saucer (yes, a Final Fantasy VII reference) to unwind and play mini games for a variety of prizes. You also get your own chocobo via a quest so you can have your own mount. You can also train your chocobo to fight with you which is very cool. You can change the color of your chocobo as well depending on the types of food you feed it. Thanks to the help of a friend, I was able to change the color of my chocobo to purple. 

Pirotess and her purple chocobo Mouse

 There is plenty to do in Final Fantasy XIV and it's fun to explore and discover all the things it has to offer. The main story quests are interesting and well thought out. The game play shows that Square Enix really took to heart what players had to say about what would make Final Fantasy XIV better and the improvements are noticeable and they really shine through, making a world that is beautiful and worth exploring. The promise of the new job class of Machinist with the Heavensward expansion just adds to the excitement of playing the game. Final Fantasy XIV is worth the paid subscription and definitely a MMORPG that is enjoyable to play. If you decide to check it out, Ron and I are on the Famfrit server as Pirotess Dragontamer and Sheitara Dragontamer. So come on in and say hello!

Pirotess and Sheitara Dragontamer