Among the scenes in Dragon Age: Origins that have a lot of choices was the Landsmeet. This political meeting determined the fates of certain characters as well as the new ruler of Ferelden. While some may consider defeating the Archdemon to be the climax of the game, many actually see the Landsmeet as the true climax of the story. A lot of choices are tangled into this one scene, and its consequences are some of the biggest, still hitting hard games later in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
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Everything Put Into The Landsmeet
The Landsmeet is the beginning of the end of the game, only accessible once the player has collected allies and healed Arl Eamon. The first phase of the meeting is how many people support the Grey Wardens versus Loghain. The vote results are a culmination of player choices and side quests. The second part of the meeting is a brawl or duel, and the player gets to decided which companion (or if they themselves) fight if a duel happens. If Alistair duels, he executes Loghain upon victory.
Anora, Alistair, and Loghain can all have very varied fates depending on the player’s choices. Alistair can rule on his own, rule with Anora, rule with a female human noble Warden, remain a Grey Warden, get executed, or become a wandering drunk. Anora can rule on her own, with Alistair, with a male human noble Warden, or be imprisoned. Loghain can be executed or become a Grey Warden.
However, the player cannot just pick and choose from these options because they are all tangled together with cause and effects in mind. For example, Anora will refuse to marry Alistair if he kills Loghain. If Loghain becomes a Grey Warden, Alistair will leave the party. If Alistair is hardened during his personal quest, he will automatically be made king if he duels Loghain whether the player wants him to be king or not. The political meeting is a total mess of cause and effect, making it a very interesting and stressful scene that players have never forgotten.
To make the Landsmeet even more important, these decisions carry on to Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age: Inquisition. It is especially big in Inquisition if either Loghain is made a Grey Warden or Alistair remains one, because then they play a big role in the story if so. In fact, Alistair staying a Warden leads to either his or Hawke’s death, and no one saw that coming back when they made choices in the Landsmeet.
Why The Landsmeet is One Of The Best RPG Scenes
RPGs strive to keep their choices interesting and memorable, giving players freedom but not so much freedom that the game gets boring. The Landsmeet has become a shining example of RPG choices done right, as it takes the many complex motivations of characters into account. Politics is emotional, and the Landsmeet really proves that through the causes and effects that play out in the Landsmeet.
Dragon Age has not replicated the complex beauty of the Landsmeet in its other games. In Inquisition, the ruler of Orlais and the next Divine can be chosen, but they are never treated as the climax of Dragon Age: Inquisition or have as much freedom. The reason for this may be because BioWare did not originally plan to make sequels to Dragon Age: Origins. Now that BioWare knows it is working with a series, there seems to be an amount of carefulness now when it comes to how complicated the developer makes choices, as it likely wants to ensure future games are not bogged down by too many outcomes.
Dragon Age: Origins is available for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.
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