Deathbell flowers

torstai 3. lokakuuta 2013

Dragon Age

Okay, it has been a while since the last update, I never have patience to concentrate on my own blog for long. But I haven't played any less than usual so I have lots of screenshots to share! In my last post I promised to show my Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 characters. These aren't my first characters in either of the games since I first played them on PS3, but these are first ones I have played on PC.

Name: Neria Surana Strength: 18
Race: Elf Dexterity: 14
Class: Magi Willpower: 55
Origin: Circle Mage Magic: 86
Level: 28 Cunning: 14
Specializations: Arcane Warrior, Blood Mage, Battlemage Constitution: 47

I love playing as a mage in Dragon Age games. They are pretty tough compared to other classes, and are treated differently compared to other people. Playing as a mage and as an elf is even more awesome, because they are discriminated and looked down by others. Neria is a character, that seeks power, no matter what the cost. She does not believe in the Maker and wants mages to have no control to their abilities, and does not believe Circle control to be necessary. She was taken from her parents in a young age because of her magical abilites, and she does not remember anything about them. In her opinion blood magic has it's uses. She is always defending mages, dwarves and elves and thinks that humans have too much power.

Neria has a romance with Zevran Arainai.

I altered her appeance a bit when I started to play Dragon Age Origins: Awakening. I wanted her to look older and more experienced.

Name: Elia Cousland Strength: 45
Race: Human Dexterity: 34
Class: Warrior Willpower: 26
Origin: Human Noble Magic: 15
Level: 20 Cunning: 18
Specializations: Champion, Templar Constitution: 49

I made her an exact opposite of Neria, in top of Ferelden social hierarchy and only making choices, that are considered to be good and moral. She believes in the Maker and Andraste, and is honorable and democratic. She is suspicious about mages but does not discriminate them.

Elia in the midst of battle with her best friend Leliana. I changed her appearance pretty soon, because I wan't happy with it.

Elia has a romance with Alistair. He was her first, as Alistair was hers.

They got Married after the Blight.

Ellara Aeducan and Gorim (Dwarven noble origin).

Braenn Mahariel (Dalish elf origin).

Dragon Age 2 was not in my opinion nearly as good as the first game, and I usually play it just because of the story and especially the romance options. The combat and gameplay are repetitive and frustrating, and it is so disappointing to see how you actions in DA: Origins don't really affect in any way, people you killed before are suddenly alive without any explanation and so forth. Still, I have enjoyed playing it because of the story.

My mage Hawke, Franka. Act I look. I always want to slightly change the character's apperance between the acts.

Act II look.

Act III look.

She has a romance with Anders, of course. He is my all time biggest video game crush, ever.

That's all for now! :) In next post will probably be Guild Wars 2 or random Skyrim stuff.

tiistai 16. huhtikuuta 2013

Lost in the Dragons Triangle

I finished the new Tomb Raider game last week. It took about 13 hours to play trough the plot and complete it 67%. I was very exited to play it, but didn't expect too much because almost all of the Tomb Raider games after Chronicles have been shitty, and the idea got a bit overused. There just wasn't any more excitement doing the same stuff in different (and not so different) environment over and over again.

I knew things hit the rock bottom when Lara was adventuring in a French City with 3 people in it who where standing in the same spot for an eternity and repeating their badly written lines in made up French accent. Like the new game, Angel of Darkness was suppose to change the game to something totally different but failed, badly. After that came more games, but very one of those have had a game breaking bug or a ridiculously overpowered boss fight, which kill the joy of gaming pretty fast. And whatever that was, it was not something I want to see in a Tomb Raider game.

This new game is something different. It changes much, but in a refreshing and new way. The changes are mostly focused to Lara's character and gameplay. Lara is not trowing clever comments all the time and is more humane. She is shown being bloody, dirty and scared, and has to learn all the skills bit by bit.

The gameplay is much more hectic, which some players may consider as a bad thing. The situations change very fast, and sometimes Lara's horrible death is so close that surviving from it is pretty unrealistic. But, that is one of the things I like in the game: it doesn't itself too seriously all the time. The combat parts are very fun to play, because they are very action movie like.

And of course: I love the graphics. Tress FX hair is amazing, mountains and forests look beautiful and people realistic. Characters are also animated very well. The game has it's flaws as well, like the stupid reaction minigames during combat and Lara's unrealistically fast development from a scared girl to blood-hungry action hero. Anyway, worth checking out and one of the best games of this year.

All the screenshots in this entry are by me (in Ultra graphics setting).

In the next post I will share my Dragon Age: Origins screenshots and character :>

sunnuntai 7. huhtikuuta 2013

Random recent shots, part 2

Scenics from The Reach, Eastmarch and Solstheim.

This series with Vlandra showcases the amazing Nightingale retextures.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/33704

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/28899

Abandoned shack made a perfect photoshooting enviroment.

To all images in this entry I used Unreal Cinema ENB configuration and Immersive Saturation boost.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/5696

I will be taking a little break from Skyrim. It's been a long time since i've played other games, and i'm very exited to try out the new Tomb Raider-game. Those were my favorites as a child, and one of the first games I played in Playstation 1.

perjantai 22. maaliskuuta 2013

My Nord Fryssa Snow-Song

My oldest character deserves a post of her own. Her facial features have varied, but she has always been light-haired warrior type, and the only Dragonborn I play. First the newest pictures, because I think this is the look I want to keep.