I am happy you liked it! Game is indeed interesting. I already started another round with a use of one particular guide on how to get Completionist achievement. To get it, I must finish the maximum amount of side quests through entire game. As it turns out, it is impossible to complete all of the side quests per one play-through because certain choices change the story. Also, there sometimes seems to be a certain sequence in which side quests should be done in order to achieve maximum completion rate. I have only started first chapter, yet I already seem to play in a different course of actions. You would be amazed if you knew more.

I must say it has been an interesting journey following your progress updates. Both for Indiana Jones and for Age of Wonders. I felt like I could feel your frustrations with the game even though I myself have never played it. Well done!

I have played Dragon Age Origins a few times all the way through (three I think). And started the game many times more just to play through the individual stories. If you do not know what that means, you are sure to soon find out. Game is very good and of a very good quality. I feel like you might enjoy it as the adventure is pretty interesting. Also this game would be a nice change from Age of Wonders. Somehow not too different, but also better in some ways. Well, I suggest you think it. Game is really good.

Wow, it seems like this game offers you fun and interesting adventures and decisions for hours to come! Lucky you! I would be pleased to hear more of them, even if it is not Blackguards! :)

The frustrations were real, especially at the very beginning. The tutorial basically explains nothing. For instance, the right use of magic is the key to success in this game. Not only in combat, but especially out of combat, when you can buff your heroes and units, enchant cities, roads and even the land itself. No word of all of that in the tutorial.
But once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier. Later on, your heroes become extremely overpowered. I essentially beat the last three campaign missions using nothing but my group of two or three heroes, who could easily smash complete enemy armies with ease.
I actually have to admit that the last, and only, Bioware RPG I have ever played was Knights of the Old Republic 1. I love that game, it is easily in my all-time top 10 list.
I bought this version of Dragon Age some time ago and have not played it since. To be completely honest, I don't even have any idea what this game is about. My knowledge of gaming releases of the last 10 years or so is rather limited, I bought it on a whim and that I heard it was good. Guess I'm in for some surprise!
Anyways, I just started the game and have to choose between Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age: Awakening. What is the difference between the two and does it matter? Apparently I also have all the DLCs.

Long story short, I accept your choice and am eager to delve into adventures! :)

Cheers!

Amazing! I had already forgotten about Awakening expansion. Actually I should take a look if I have played Awakening at all. I think I did. Yet even though I don't remember I am still completely sure it is very good! Having all DLCs should improve your experience even more. I can vaguely remember something funny about them DLCs, like you can do some sort of pranks in the game for your companions. Well, I'm sure you will find that out ;)

Have fun!

I see, so Origins is the actual base game and Awakening the expansion. Well, that settles the matter! :)

Onward! To glory and adventure! And the occasional world-saving, I guess... ;)

Progress update on Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
Assigned by Dessimu

Holy shit, that game is amazing! I'm probably easily hyped up, but... I have played eight hours today. Straight. Not including the one hour I spent on pondering the character creation - in the end I chose the highly creative human warrior ;)
I very much appreciate the idea of the different origin stories of your main character and am eager to see how this will affect the storyline.
So far, I have finished my background story, joined the Grey Wardens and lit the beacon on top of the Tower of Ishal. After the film sequence, I awoke in Morrigan's hut and will progress from there on tomorrow.
Right now, I am reminded of a Song of Ice and Fire, which is definitely a very good sign. :)
In addition, the game runs smoothly on my system on above-medium settings - nice!
The only point which is rather annoying at the moment is that I have currently no way of picking those locked chests. Grr...

Thanks Dessimu! Up to now, that was an excellent choice!
Cheers!

Progress update on Might and Magic III:

The end of my journey is getting closer. Every area from A1 - E4 is cleared, including all cities dungeons and caverns. The only spot I left untouched is a nest of Great Hydras. Wouldn't be a problem to destroy it, but it will only give me 2 million XP, while a single Hydra alone will give me 1 million XP as well. So I will keep this respawn spot untouched and keep it as a good place to do some grinding when I might need it.

I also didn't clear the pyramids yet, because I decided to do so when everything else in the world is done.

My whole party is between level 75 now and seriously overpowered for most areas and dungeons. Even the Dragon Cavern, which I thought would be one of the most difficult ones in the game, was like a walk in the park and the enemies could hardly scratch my heroes. Gold isn't a problem as well, my party is carrying about 14 millions and I have another 10 millions in the bank.

Game is getting a little boring, because of that and so I'm not disappointed that it will be over soon.

Yeah, that pretty much sums up the whole game :P

I myself played Mars: War Logs today for a second time. This time I consulted a guide on how to get maximum number of side quests done. That has lead me to playing at least 5 new quests I haven't found myself. Also, I found out that at some point I killed a wrong guy. In this play-through I have also tried my best to get good reputation. And I did get good reputation! To remind you, this gave me a special perk that cuts all prices at all merchants by 50%. You would be surprised how amazing that was. I finished game on extreme difficulty like rambo, equipped with a load of ammo and grenades, none of which I have crafted myself. And the biggest change in this play-through was that I chose a different faction - I chose to support General Honour. Which also lead me to a different romance.

Because it was my second play-through and I already know many things from the Resistance's perspective (I supported them in my first play), this time I learned so much more about everything! My jaw dropped. And all question were answered. Ending is very different. Some long time in the future I will want to play the game one more time, on extreme difficulty all the way through and making my decisions based on how I feel and what I think is right (especially now that I know almost everything).

Game is amazing. If you like story driven RPG with cyberpunk elements, this game is a must play. Twice! To play both factions and to be amazed like I was. Wonderful!



Now that I am done here, I shall return to Blackguards some time soon.

Progress update on Dragon Age: Origins - Ultimate Edition
Assigned by Dessimu

I am now 30 hours in and have made slow, but steady, progress. I tend to play RPGs relatively slow, exploring areas, dialogue options and other choices carefully. I visited the village of Lothering, recruited Lilianna (finally someone who can pick locks!) and Sten for my party, did all the quests there and explored the village.
Afterwards, I travelled to Redcliffe and helped the village in their fight against the evil within. Yet the situation in the castle remains unsolved and therefore my party set out to find help from the Circle of Magi. Arriving at their tower, I find more dire news, but nevertheless we took up the challenge and ventured forth. Now I have just found Wynne, which will accompany Alistair, Morrigan and myself to the higher floors of the tower.

Good, or matching, equipment seems hards to find, even harder to buy and I am steadily running out of potions. Maybe my characters are too weak, ranging from level 8 to 10.
I especially like the banter between party members and the relationships you can build up with them - I know, this is somewhat standard in a Bioware game, yet I appreciate it nonetheless. ;)

So far, I really enjoy this game - so much to do! :)

Progress update on Might and Magic III:

I have explored every single square of the map and every dungeon now and I've killed every single monster that was there. My whole party is around level 110 and I spent most of my gold, because training became quite expensive (I have to pay more than 100 000 gold per level now.

So the only thing left to do is explore the pyramids now. I have a lot of gems and so I could go bak to the arachnoid cave and raise my stats some more before I do so, but somehow I feel it's not really necessary, because the important ones are already very high and for the last few dungeons my heroes were extremly overpowered (I was able to kill dragons and Minotaurs with one single strike).

So I think I will go to the pyramids right away and see what's happening.

Absolutely amazing! How much time did you spend on this game already?

I have no idea. I started playing at the very end of November (my firt progress report is from the 28th of November), but I didn't play every day and completely stopped playing for about 14 days around Christmas. I would say that I didn't spend as much time with the game as I did with the first two Might and Magic games, but that is probably, because there is auto-mapping and so there was only one place where I had to draw my own map.

So I really have no idea, but I would say that it was roughly about 100 hours.

Still quite impressive :) How do Might and Magic 1 & 2 hold up today? Could you play them as a beginner to dungeoncrawlers?

I think they aged very well. I played them for the first time some time ago and I had great fun. Have to say that I've played a lot of other dungeon crawlers in the past though.

You should be aware that you'll have to draw your own maps (which was part of the fun for me) and that you'll need the manual on your desk (to look up spells). And there isn't much of a story or many quests. It's more or less all about the exploration of the world and about killing monsters.

I'm not sure if I would recommend them to beginners in the genre. On the one hand beginners will not be biased by modern dungeon crawlers they've played, on the other hand the graphics and also some of the gameplay mechanics are quite dated.

Just finished Fallout Tactics.
The game was all in all ok at best.The worst problem was it can not save while missions.
Later missions were tough and I had to reload many times.
Although the game gave me a lot of the reinforcements in the base so not actually necessary to save/reload spam tactics. :D

Right now I'm playing Knights of the Old Republic 2 and Witcher 3.after finished both games, I will ask yours to the next game again!

I'm just asking as I am curious about the genre. So far, I have only played Paper Sorcerer, which I enjoyed although it had a clumsy UI. For me, graphics do not matter (at least not that much) but the gameplay should still be enjoyable. For a beginner, which dungeoncrawler available here would you recommend?

Very well! Congratulations - it was a pleasure following you through your progress in the game! :)
Have much fun with those huge RPGs, maybe you can share your experiences with them?