Sunday, August 25, 2013

Ending, v2

Oops.  Started to rewrite my last post, deleted it instead.

I finished Dragon Age 2 last night.  And even though I'd gone in expecting a cliffhanger, I was still surprised at where it ended.  Not with a bang, but with the sad, tired, turning away after the bang.  

Jenny is not at the head of an army.  Despite reports to the contrary, she is not the most important person in Thedas.  The war is not of her making.  But she was there when it started, and she tried to save as many lives as she could.  She didn't save the world, she saved one mage circle, in one city.  She proved that it's possible to stand up to power and win.  The templars can be defeated.   

And then she disappeared.

No speeches, no applause.  And yet, despite the lack of fanfare, I felt more satisfied when I turned off the Xbox than I had with Origins.  There was no closure, but there was no tone-deaf bit of dialog masquerading as closure, either.  Origins tried, and failed, to give me what I wanted.  DA2 didn't even try.  

I think it's the best game I've ever played.

No comments: