Almost all my life I have been around computers and games. My father and my brother have always been good at that sort of thing and I grew up with at least two computers always at hand. I used to play simple Children's games like uhm... Well, they were all Swedish so I'm not sure any of you will ever have heard of them. Anyway, I played Bygg Bilar med Mulle Meck, and later on also Bygg Flygplan, and the game version of Mysteriet på Greveholm. Those were my favorites, I think. So yeah, I played them a lot. And when I was not playing on my own, I used to sit and watch my brother play various games on his computer. One game in particular I remember watching him play was Diablo II. I did not understand much of it, of course, but he would do his best to explain everything to me. Back then, he always did that. I also remember sitting in the livingroom watching as he and his friends played Dungeons and Dragons. I was fascinated with the dice, in particular, they had such funny shapes, but I really liked to listen as their plots unfolded as well. I even used to sit there and come up with more ideas. Granted, I had no real grasp on anything they were doing but it was fun and my brother allowed me to stay.
He kept introducing me to more and more games. To be quite honest, he's entirely to blame for my love of RPGs.
IThe big break came when I was about... 12, I think. My whole family was visiting relatives in the mountains close to the Norwegian border. The main focus on the trip was skiing (because it's fun!), but in the evening we sat in my cousin's house and really had nothing to do. That is when my brother asked my father to bring out his laptop and they spent quite a while installing some game. I wasn't really interested at that point, mostly because it was taking so much time! There were no DvDs back then so any really good game had at least 4 discs that had to be installed. And, of course, there were plenty of things going wrong so it took even longer. However, after several hours, my brother called me back into the kitchen. He said he had a game he thought I would like.
That was the first time I played Neverwinter Nights.
That game kept me busy for so long! A lot of time was spent asking my brother to help and guide me through things, of course, but after a while I started to do pretty well on my own. I guess it runs in the family or something. My English improved drastically as I played and I read every single dialog word for word. If you haven't played NwN, there is a LOT of dialog in it. Plenty of reading for a 12 or 13 year old girl. But I didn't mind. I absolutely loved to see the whole story unfold and I was, in lack of a better word, addicted. I played and played and played, for about a year or so, I think, and then one day I had finished the whole thing. I had finished Neverwinter Nights, the original, as well as the two expansion packs Shadows of the Undrentide and Hordes of the Underdark. That is no mean feat at thirteen.
After that I was hooked.
Now, I am 20 years old, will turn 21 in February, and I have played through pretty much every single Roleplaying game I could get my hands on. Neverwinter Night is still my absolute favorite for one simple reason: the storyline was better than anything I have ever seen in another game. It was just so long and so detailed and... I can't even describe it. But it felt as if I really knew each and every one of the characters. The graphics are not as good as modern day games, but the story more than makes up for it. It was just a completely wonderful experience.
There are, of course, more modern games that I really like as well...
Knights of the Old Republic really played on both my love of RP and my love of Star Wars. It was an epic combination. Although it wasn't quite as long and detailed as NwN it was still a really captivating game. The new influence system was to die for and the characters were just so... alive. I could really relate to a lot of them and I even grieved when they died.
After KotoR, both I and II, I was introduced to Mass Effect by a friend of mine. I had told her of Knights of the Old Republic and she retaliated with ME. It was fair of her, I suppose. It took me a while to really grasp the concept of it, mostly because I was too busy struggling with the controls of her Xbox, and eventually I gave up. Console games just... really aren't my thing, not really. I only play them if they are on available for the PC. However, several months after my first introduction to ME... it was in the middle of summer and I was bored. I needed some new game to keep my mind occupied so I went into town and finally bought the game for my computer. Once it was installed and ready... Really, I had no chance at all. The story, the graphics, the voice actors, the soundtrack... All of it. It was too good. Needless to say, I sat there for two days straight until finally I had finished it all. I only left the computer to eat and sleep. Barely even that.
Mass Effect II was also finished within a couple of days of purchase and it was pretty much the same thing when Dragon Age: Origins had showed up. I got it, I loved it, and I wouldn't leave it until I had finished it. For some reason, it was a little trickier than ME but I still played through it in no time at all.
You may have noticed that all of the games are from Bioware. Or, actually, you probably haven't noticed. ^^; Not all people are as geeky as I am. Still, Bioware really do make the best games I have ever played. They all were, ARE the creme de la creme of modern Roleplaying games and I love them all dearly. I can play most of them over and over and over again until I have exhausted every single possible outcome and still want more. I suppose that is where they are all lacking. That is why they are still below Neverwinter Nights on my list of Best Roleplaying Games Ever. They are simply too short. The stories are good, but still not quite as long and detailed as those of the slightly older RPgames. I have played through them so many times now, but when I finally get to the end I still get that feeling of "That's it?". I want more. I think most people want more, but lately the companies making the games are too focused on the graphics part of the games that they seem to forget about the story. It really is a shame.
While nice graphics can do wonders for a game, it is still the story that matters the most. It's the story that keeps us hooked, keeps us playing for hours on end. Without it, we would surely grow bored and not finish the game at all. Still... I suppose these short games are good for something. They always leave the players wanting more. So, as long as Bioware, and all the other game-making companies, keep producing more games we will keep wanting to play them. Mass Effect I, for example, was so incredibly good that I could barely wait until they released the second game. And now I am impatiently waiting for the third and final part of the trilogy. So yes, I do believe these short games work in the companies' favor. However, if Mass Effect III will be as short and... lacking, as the previous two games I have to admit that I will surely be disappointed. The whole ME universe, with all its planets and races and characters, deserves a lot more than this. Well, at least that's my opinion. I don't know about you.
Right now, despite my own doubts about the length and depth of modern games, I find myself really looking forward to the sequel to Dragon Age: Origins. A couple of months ago I got my Newsletter from Bioware and it contained the trailer for DA II. I was completely blown away by that trailer alone and I knew then that I just HAD to have it. I mean, these modern games are still really good, despite being so short, and I really want to play them all. So yeah, right after Christmas I asked my father if he would help me preorder the game and he agreed. So in March next year I will, hopefully, be the proud owner of the Bioware Signature Edition of Dragon Age II. *happy squeal* I can't wait!
And uh, yeah... That was the whole point of my ramblings. I just wanted to tell you all that I had pre-ordered the game! Kudos to any of you who managed to read through all of that! *hands out cookies and cupcakes*
I still have stuff for sale, go buy people! Link
That's all for now~
Toodles!
