Dragon Age: Origins compelled me in a way I'm not sure a game ever really had before. Sure, plenty of games have had me playing until late in the night, loving every minute, but Dragon Age was different. On my first run through the game, I'd play for hours at a time. When I didn't have hours, I'd take the minutes, coming home during lunch to cram in 15 minutes of play time. When I finally arrived at the Landsmeet, I agonized over choices before deciding anything, and I found the game's ending completely surprising and really sad--I was emotionally unprepared for it. I loved the characters, particularly Alistair (yeah, I'm one of those fangirls). Even though I could sit here and list the game's many flaws, despite all that to me it's the perfect gaming experience. Over Christmas, I picked it back up, finishing my second playthrough (Queen of Ferelden!) and starting a third.

Dragon Age II comes out soon. I was reading an interview about the game with David Gaider, the lead writer, and this quote stuck out to me:

"We could do something similar, or maybe revisit that in the future. However, the idea is about finding that happy medium between fans, especially ones who are the biggest fans of DA:O. They have that conflicting desire, which is they want everything to stay exactly the same, nothing change, but they want it to be new. You've got to find a line to walk in between there, and no matter which way you go they're probably going to react negatively. However, you've got to sort of forge your path."

David Gaider, lead writer for Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II, in this interview.

I'm trying really, really hard not to do that. I reacted negatively to the idea that the protagonist is now voiced, because part of the fun for me was creating my own characters in DA:O with my own inflections and my own personality. I'm playing the first Mass Effect now… Shepard is a good character, and I like the game, but Shepard's not my character, not really. I'm hoping that it is as Gaider said, that the voice is more of a template and that your Hawke is still yours. I'm just trying really hard to be nonjudgmental and optimistic.

Because let's face it, I've played the hell out of Origins. Two full playthroughs, all the origin stories, a good bit of the DLC. No matter what Dragon Age II is like, Origins will be the same. It's good that they're trying something new. It's probably going to be great. If it's not the same, well, I can always play Origins again. Haven't gotten sick of it yet. Changes in the sequel don't change everything that was right with the first game. It will still be right, and fun, and I can still go back. So, dear David, I promise I am trying my best NOT to be one of those big fans who just gets pissed about everything. :) Allow me to try and break the cycle.

What are your thoughts on Dragon Age II? 43 days!