Dragon Age is a Series of FEELINGS

So as you all know, or are vaguely aware of, October of this year is when Bioware/EA games will be releasing the third part of the Dragon Age series; Dragon Age Inquisition. And what does that mean?

A whole tidal wave of FEELINGS on the Dragon Age series.

Also note that the title is an actual tag in my tumblr.

In preparation for DA:I, I've decided to prepare my save games again in order to ensure maximum feelings. Now this raises a few questions such as "Why 'again'?" "Maximum feelings?" and "This is going to be a feelings barf post, isn't it?" and to answer all of these. Yes. Especially for the last question. Yes.

These two are a thing of beauty. (All from the Dragon Age Wikia)

Techncially, I've already finished Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2, but Dragon Age: Origins I played on the old Xbox (if one remember the first Xbox where we were introduced to the dreaded RED LIGHT OF DEATH!!) and Dragon Age 2  on the Xbox360. So I wasn't able to load my finished save in DA2, and had to play on one of the pre-loaded ends. 

Now this wouldn't have been so much of a problem, especially considering how the Dalish Elf pre-save had made almost the same choices I had, but something very interesting happened. One night, all our saved games on the Xbox360 was gone.

All our game saves died. It disappeared. It was gonzo. Gone. Nothing.

My dad and I almost did the whole dramatic falling unto our knees, fists in the air and screaming into the sky "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" scene. Almost. That tiny shred of dignity stopped us, but not by much.

I assure you, there was so much PAIN because our Skyrim saves, and my dad was literally one major boss fight away from finishing Bioshock Infinite.

On the bright side, it gave me a reason to buy DA:O for the Xbox360 so I could start on everything. And I do mean everything.

So why all the feelings for the Dragon Age series?

I don't think I can give a straight answer for that. Because for me, it's a mixture of plot, gameplay, character development, the conflict and the lore in a great blend makes this game so engaging.

The lore is brilliant, each race has their own ideals and goals. The elves and the humans are in conflict, and have their own insults for each other. The Dalish are the elves are those that stuck to their roots and are something like traveling nomad clans, and they call the elves that live alongside the humans City Elves, and though they scorn it, they open their arms to those that can't handle being treated as second-class citizens. Yet city elves preserve a bit of the Dalish culture, and it evolved along with them. The Qunari are those that follow the way of the Qun, regardless of race, and each person doesn't so much have a name, but rather a title of what they do. The Dwarves once had a kingdom that spread out through Thedas, but with the appearance of darkspawn, were pushed back until only Orzammar stood. They follow a caste system, which is determined by the parents (say the mother is a blacksmith, and the father is a merchant, if they have a daughter, she would be born into the blacksmith caste), and the Castless are the poor, those born without a caste. Also dwarves born in the mountains believe that the swallow them up, since there is no stone above their heads. Seriously. Best.

Also depending on your choice of race, people will treat you a bit differently. Each origins also reveals a little bit more of the story, and if you start of as a Dalish Elf, the Dalish are much friendlier towards to you and your party (as opposed to choosing a Human or a Dwarf), and the same applies everywhere else. Though this mostly applies to DA:O, since DA2 you're human.

Human, Elf and Dwarf race respectively.

Female/Male Hawkes. Look at these hotties. Its in the genes.

DA really gets you to feel for the characters. You gain friendship points (or enemy points, depends on you), and you learn about their story. You actively talk to them, learn about their stories and how well they blend into your group of misfits. Sure, some characters you hate, other characters you love, and others you're super conflicted about, but it doesn't change the fact that you feel about them. 

DA:O. L-R: Oghren, Lelianna, Morrigan, Sten, Alistair, Wynne, Zevran, Shale, Dog. Your character is always in the middle. Also I'm unhealthily attached to all of them.

DA2. L-R: Fenris, Isabela, Varric, Aveline, Carver/Bethany (depending on your class), Merrill, Anders. I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY.

It's brilliant and relatively life-consuming because each character has a different response to the situation and it's just GREAT OKAY. JUST REALLY GREAT. I have so many feelings for all the characters, because I just want to make them all happy and live, which we all know means "LOL NOPE" when it comes to Bioware.

I just. Feelings.

I'd apologize for making this a Feelings-barf kind of post, but I really don't regret it.
I'll eventually get around to make a proper post on DA:O. Soon. Soon-ish. Very ish.