Unfinished Games (360 edition)

There was a game giveaway at work today and I ended up with Dead Space 2 for my Xbox 360. This is awesome but it's also a problem, in that I am still playing Dragon Age: Origins (rather slowly) and I have not yet finished the first Dead Space either.

This led me to wonder how many unfinished games I have on my shelf and to think maybe this will be my resolution for now - to try and finish these games before I buy any new ones.

The List:

• Dragon Age: Origins - my character is in the process of becoming a Grey Warden so I'm still fairly early on in the game.
• Dead Space - apparently I'm in Chapter 4: Obliteration Imminent.
• Red Dead Redemption - in Mexico.
• Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - I recently started a new game, I have an older save I think but it's not very far along either.
• Prey - I lost my save, so this one I'll have to start fresh.
• Halo: ODST - never really played it, I bought it mostly for Nathan Fillion but maybe I'll finish it sometime.

I have a few other unfinished games that I'm not gonna put on the list because I don't really intend to finish them.

What games do you have on your shelf that you're planning to finish but haven't gotten around to yet?

Also, should I keep working on DA:O or stop for a bit to finish up Dead Space so I can start working on DS2? I'm just curious as to your opinions, though I'm pretty sure I know what I'm going to do about it.

DA:O Women in the Grey Wardens

Alistair says "... it just occurred to me that there have never been many women in the Grey Wardens. I wonder why that is?"

Am I bad for being tempted to respond with: "You want more women in the Wardens, do you?" or "Probably because we're too smart for you." >.>

The thing is, I can't tell whether he's asking an honest question or not. irl this question would either earn him a shrug from me or a very very long rant, depending on my mood and how much time I had.

This time I think I'll choose "How about you stop thinking of me as a woman?"

After all, my character is a super awesome super powerful mage. And that's why the Grey Wardens recruited her. Right?

Dragon Age: Origins

In general, I would consider myself a big fan of BioWare. I've played both Mass Effect and Mass Effect 2 through multiple playthroughs, as well as the DLC. I love RPGs where players make choices that affect the story and gameplay. They remind me of some of the old Black Isle games and other amazing US computer RPGs like Baldur's Gate, Planescape: Torment and Fallout 1 and 2.

However, I've had trouble getting into Dragon Age: Origins. Somehow the choices leave me feeling railroaded rather than involved in the story, pulling me away from relating to my character. Initially for my first playthrough, I made a half-elf rogue, intending to play her as a sort of shades of gray hard-ass but ultimately well-intentioned character (much like my FemShep on my first playthroughs of both ME1 and ME2). Every time I came to a choice, I didn't see an option that matched my character concept, and the way the text was written didn't match my image either. It seemed like my choices were either "total jerk" or "insufferable suck-up", neither of which appealed. I abandoned the game for a long while (over a year!).

So now I'm picking it up again, hoping to give it another chance. This time around I'm playing a high elf mage, we'll see how it goes.

One thing I've noticed so far (I'm playing the Xbox 360 version) is that even though I have subtitles turned on, most of the subtitles don't appear when NPCs are talking, only the tail end appears several seconds after they're finished talking. Minor quibble but still slightly annoying.  (Oh, I take it back, starting a new game reset my settings and I had to turn subtitles back on.)

To be continued...