[Regorium]

Originally Posted by photon

My big problem is I grew up in the era of Kings Quest / Space Quest / Lucasarts games, which for the most part were completely linear.

Nowadays non-linearity is supposedly a big selling feature, but I don't like it.

Why?

Because that means there's content in the game that the developers created that I don't get to see!

I'm one of those gamers that does like to complete a game if I can, find all the secrets, gather all the little coins, whatever.

But with games like this one, it's impossible because now some content is hidden behind mutually exclusive decisions. I can choose to help this guy but then that guy doesn't like me anymore.

The Mage Tower thing is the perfect example. Big consequences from a small choice, and unless I sit with a wiki of the game I never know what far reaching repercussions my choice will make.

I guess that drives me to replay the game in theory, but in practice I never do; there's just too many good games out there demanding time.

Choices with consequences makes for a better simulation of real life, but the explorer in me hates knowing that I've missed content the developers created.

Sadly, in Dragon Age there really is only the illusion of non-linearity. Really, your actions have no meaning, so don't worry. You're not missing out on much. Also, with the gifting system, it has gotten even more ridiculous, because actions that really piss someone off (like -25 or more) can easily be rectified by buying gifts.

The point is, one very thorough playthrough of the game in which you explore every nook and cranny is truly enough to get all of the story elements. Perhaps in the future we will see a truly non-linear game.

Examples: (Spoiler) If you kill Wynne, the Circle collapses, but you still have to go through the Fade and all that. The only difference is that you don't get her services for the rest of the game. You can get the same effect by keeping her, but never using her again.

If you leave Redcliffe, everyone dies, and you just do the castle part. When you find Isolde and the kid, they are just as happy to see you, and the Arl doesn't care that you let his village be razed.

Also, if you kill the child, the mother or do the ######ed copout at the Circle method of finishing, none of it matters, as the Arl regains health anyways, has maybe one line of dialogue being mad about the situation, and onward with the story.

It also does not matter how many side-quests you do for the nobles before the Landsmeet, as even if you get the maximum number of votes, you still have to duel Loghain. If you don't get ANY votes, you duel Loghain again.

My friend was actually able to kill Cathrain when she was supposed to throw you in jail. However, there is no additional text. You just don't get thrown in jail, but Anora is still "Oh my god, I'm sorry for betraying you, glad you escaped from jail", which really doesn't make sense provided that you were never there.

Finally, you can romance everyone. I did it with Morrigan and Leilanna. Leilanna got mad at me for cheating on her, but I gave her another Andraste's Grace and all was happy. In BG2, there were specific things that must be done to really win a character over. Here, it's just getting enough gifts to get to the required approval ratings.