Dragon Age: Origins

The Good
Let’s get something strait. I am a huge fan of Bioware’s games. Ever since Baldur’s Gate. So when I heard that Bioware, was making a game the hearkened back to those good old days, I knew one thing: I had to play it.

A Word Or Two About The Different Versions….

So, I bought an Xbox 360 to help alleviate some of the gaming burden from my PC’s proverbial shoulders. (As well as for some kick-ass exclusives!-MM-) So I got Dragon Age. For Xbox, not knowing how much better it’s PC brethren was.

Not, that there is anything wrong with the console versions of the game per se. It is just better on the PC. And there are a few differences. For starters, the PC version looks better in every way possible. Also you can zoom in and out at will. In the console version, you are stuck with a KOTOR esque 3rd Person viewpoint. I might have to suck it up and also get the PC version.

Once Upon A Time In Feralden….

In Dragon Age: Origins, you pick your background story. I played as the Human Noble. There are several others. From there, you make your avatar. The character creation system is very deep. You can alter your appearance, in just about every way imaginable. Of course you also pick your class, Warrior, Rogue, and Mage.

No matter what Origin you chose the end result is the same. However, your origin, will change some things in certain parts of the game. You are recruited into the Grey Wardens. An ancient order, that protects the world from blights. A blight occurs when one of the ancient Dragon gods awakes.(Great Cthulhu?-MM-) These arch-fiends lead hordes called darkspawn, against the world. Four centuries have passed since the last blight. The Grey Wardens are then betrayed in the first battle, against the darkspawn. From here it is up to you, the fate of Feralden, and all of Thedas, is on you.

Bioware, did an excellent job of making Thedas, and the continent of Feralden seem like a real place. This is were so many RPGS fail. But here, there is a long history for each area in the game. And it feels lived in. In the game you come across a lot of back round info on the world of Thedas. As well as on the Dragon Age website, and in the strategy guide. I was very impressed by the sheer amount of information they provide, it’s almost as good a reading a good fantasy novel.

The way you interact with your companions is also very well done. Unlike in Baldur’s Gate, where it seemed as if you just had a party of strangers with you. That was somewhat remedied in the sequel, but it was still not as well done as it is in Dragon Age.

Each of your allies has there own persona. And you can win their friendship if you talk to them regularly. Some of the characters can also be made harder, more cynical, if you make them. You can also gain the trust of the party by giving gifts. Some gifts are special, and are only for one person. And these will lead to a special scene. For example, Alistair will tell you about a pendant he lost. From his mother, you can find it and return it. For a boost with him. Eventually they will have a task they want your help with. If they like you enough. Completing the task is often the final step to becoming friends or something more.

On the flip side you can piss them off, and they will leave the party forever. And unlike in Baldur’s Gate, they will NOT leave in the middle of a battle. But wait until back at camp. Watch out, because some of your allies are easily pissed off. Morrigan, will often get angry with you if you do not agree with her. And seeing as she falls on the more on the “evil” side of the line, a good hero will have a hard time not disagreeing with her. Some of your party members will like you no matter what. Like your faithful war hound. He is always at 100%.

You can also be romantically linked with several of your party members. With some it’s just about sex. Others will actually fall in love with you.(Don’t worry conservative creeps the scenes are very tame, like PG-13.-MM-)

I, of course tried to romance both Morrigan, and Leliana. It was going well, until they forced me to choose between them. I choose Leliana, but was still able to stay on fairly friendly terms with Morrigan.(Why can’t it be this easy in real life?-MM-) How much your friends like you changes things in the course of the game when you are captured, the two party members that like you the most will come to save you. For me, it was the two hotties.(I’m a chick magnet…just like in real life…or not.-MM-)

You can even have a 3 or 4 some, with this hot bard chick, that flirts with you in a brothel. Or pay for it at the brothel.

All and all, Dragon Age, has a great cast of characters. Among your allies, there is: Shale, a foul-tempered golem, that insists on calling you, “it”.(He kinda reminds me of HK from KOTOR.-MM-) The raven haired, sorceress Morrigan, the drunken dwarf, Oghren, and Leliana, the red-haired rouge, with the sexy accent. And that’s just a sampling of them.

The supporting cast, is interesting as well. Like one of the villain’s Loghain. As well as Rendon Howe, voiced by Tim Curry.

There are also a lot of moral dilemmas to deal with. One part has you decide if werewolves are just mindless killers, or deserve sympathy. Often the fate of a whole group rests with you and your party. Sometimes just a few people. What would be the point of choices without consequence? Sometimes, it will result in a character disliking you. Or it can cause a “crisis” moment. In which the will threaten to leave the party, or try to kill you. Or it will determine your allies at the end of the game, when you battle the darkspawn in a final showdown.

There are also several endings. Four main ones. That change slightly depending on your deeds during the game. Like in Arcanum. I got the, “A Dark Promise” ending. I plan to play through again eventually. And will try for another ending. Or perhaps just load a game and view them? Even though that will take some doing. As I will have to load a much earlier save file. The game itself, will take between 50-100 hours. It took me about 62 or so. If that’s not enough there are several DLC’s for the game. And more on the way.

Vae Victus!

The combat in Dragon Age, is very tactical. Very much like in Baldur’s Gate. Only more so. If you do not plan your attacks, you will fail, it’s that simple. Some people have compared it to Final Fantasy XII. I find it a little more advanced than that besides, this system is technically older.

You can pause the action, and give orders at any time. Furthermore you can set your allies A.I. and tailor them, to behave as you wish. One winning strategy is to have a “tank” that is a fighter that can take and deal heavy damage, a support fighter, and two mages, one to attack, one to heal. A heavy mage team, is also a good strategy. It takes a little more diligence however, and much more pausing of the action. But if you train a mage as a arcane warrior, its not as hard as you may think. In the end it’s up to you. I usually have my avatar as the tank, Leliana, for unlocking chests, and sniping. A support mage, to heal and cast buffs. And the last member is optional, I either go with another warrior or mage.

Speaking of which, there are several specializations, or sub-classes to learn. A warrior can become a champion. A rouge an assassin. A mage a blood mage. These have to be unlocked first by either being taught, or reading about it in a tome.

There are lots of weapons styles and skills to learn. You can use a sword and shield, one large sword, or dual-wield.(And that just covers warriors.-MM-)

Among these, you can learn many special attacks: shield bash, and dual-sweep among others. There are also buffs, like war cry. These are some of the most useful abilities in the game.

You can also make potions, poisons, and traps. To be used it battle, the traps, and poison can help to turn the tide in a difficult battle.

You are going to need all the help you can get, as there are some very difficult battles in the game. But never unfairly so.(If you are playing on the Normal setting.-MM-)

Sights And Sounds Of Feralden

The graphics are good in the console version, not great. Oddly there are some amazing effects, like the reflection in real-time off your suit of armor, or on a lakes surface. There is also a lot of expression in the faces, of the characters.

Yet, in other areas the game looks dated. It’s quite strange. But at least it excels in the music and sound department.

The music in Dragon Age, is quite nice. Many tracks stick out in my mind, but they are all good. Even the songs with lyrics. There is also a song at the end of the game, by 30 Seconds To Mars.( If you are into that kind of thing-MM-)

The sound effects, are also very good. It all sounds realistic when needs be. And otherworldly when needs be.

The voice acting is excellent. As we have come to expect from Bioware. It is also very well written. There are films, hell, even books that do not have dialogue this good. I particularly enjoyed the banter between PC’s. Zevern talking to Wynne. And Morrigan and Alistair’s back and forth is very funny.

The Bad
The difficulty levels, are a bit askew. Easy offers little challenge normal can be to hard, and it is almost impossible on the higher settings.

I wish, that Bioware, would have buckled down and given all versions the same amount of polish. Then again, it’s most likely EA’s doing having the game rushed. Why did that shitty publisher have to buy Bioware?

I would have liked it had you gotten to see more of Thedas, not just Feralden. Oh well, maybe in the sequels?

The load times are a bit long, and occur to often. If you thought that Mass Effect had long load times, just wait till you get a load of these.

The Bottom Line
Overall, Dragon Age: Origins, is a game worthy of the Bioware name. And an excellent successor to the Baldur’s Gate linage. If you have the ability get the PC version. Otherwise the console version, is a good substitute.

The Good
The story is very interesting to follow and you meet many creative characters along the way.The story is full of great moments and plot twists and the sidequests are worth doing as well. Also be sure chat with your party every now and then.

The combat is very tactical and sometimes you need to make decisions very quickly. I loved how opening the menu pauses the game, so you can plan out a strategy without dying at the same time.

Ferelden is a very nice place with much variety. It reminds me a bit of World of Warcraft; you have a lot of different areas, each with it's own theme (elven woods, icy mountains, dwarven mines etc.). It's simple, but functional at least.

I like it how you travel between places by picking a location on your map and then warp there, rather then walking all the way. Normally this would make the world feel small, but they fix that by characters constantly mentioning countries and cities you can't visit. It's hard to explain, but it works.

There is a lot of RPG here and that is just a barrel of fun. You get to decide what armor your party has to wear, you can also upgrade that armor and you can also level up all your party members (you have like a dozen of them) and decide what skills they learn. There is a lot of RPG element in here. For newcomers to the genre this might be a little overwhelming though.

The Bad
Sometimes the game was way too unpredictable and tiny conversation options could lead to party-members turning on me or losing a ton of friendship with a character.

The game is unreasonably hard and I can imagine a lot of people will be turned off by that.

The game is not really fun to replay because a lot of parts are very repetitive and you have to go through all the conversations with characters again. This is a bit of a problem because the achievements demand that you play this game almost all the way through a minimum of three times.

The Bottom Line
Despite some massive problems I replayed this game a lot. I really like this game, but at the same time I know that this is more for the hardcore-RPG-fan. Newcomers might want to stay far away from this game or store it away for later because this game is amazingly complex.

The Good
One of the best things about the game are the character personalities. The characters in your party chat back and forth every so often with interesting things to say, similar to Planescape's characters. They each have their own personality and the interactions between them really draws you in. Few games really make use of that interaction, but it is one of the most successful ways to make a RPG game great. You can also improve your relationship with each character in your party by making dialog choices they like and giving them gifts. Eventually, you can even get some romantic dialogs with them. That's been seen in a variety of games, but it's still a great addition to the game.

Another nice quality in the game are the NPC characters. They all have really good voiceovers and I haven't yet seen the same face among the named NPCs, which helps to make them all unique. The variety in the voices was really done well and helps to make it feel realistic.

The graphics are very well done and there are many "cutscenes" where the graphics take on an almost movie quality while still using the characters from your party, including what they are currently wearing (minus any helmets). The cutscenes, if you want to call them that, are usually not too long yet they help to fill out the story really well.

The story is perhaps the best part of the game, though so much comes together to make it great that it's hard to really choose one quality. So far, I have only played as one character (a dwarf noble warrior). As that character, I went through a very interesting and somewhat unique introduction storyline that got me out into the world. Each of the characters you choose from have their own unique introduction and I'm looking forward to trying them all even if I may not play through them all once I get past the introduction story. What makes the story so good is how well it is put together. Everything including the side quests seems to fit together seamlessly without gaps and holes that you often see in large worlds like this one. Even when you decide to go to another location before finishing one you're working on, it all still seems to go together nicely.

The game uses a codex system for storing information about the game that you can then look up again later. This helps so you don't have to keep notes or remember everything that you see. It shows information about every creature or enemy you come across, notes and books that fill in story background or quest background, and even information about any special spell combinations that you find in the game.

There is a tactics section for your party that helps you to create a way for each of your party members to react on their own so they do what you want them to without your guidance. It is set up really well and lets you create a limited number of tactics for each character, such as change between ranged or melee weapons based on what weapons are being used against them, automatically healing a character when their health gets so low, or shapeshifting when surrounded by a certain number of enemies. There are a lot of different kinds of tactics you can set up based on your play style or what you're currently fighting against. You get a certain number of tactics slots automatically and gain more by spending skill points and leveling up. I recommend not increasing tactics slots too much on your main character that you always control as you won't generally need them. I made that mistake without realizing what I was doing until later on. It helps to read the manual before playing, I suppose. Heh.

The character classes each offer some useful additions to your party and a nice variety in how you play them. It might be difficult finding the "right" main character to round out your party the way you want, but you also can't really choose a "wrong" character class either. One thing to note when choosing your classes is that the Mage is also your healer and the Rogue can really be useful for locked chests and doors. You will get both a rogue and mage not too far into the game, but won't have them to begin with.

The Bad
There really isn't anything that I'd consider bad about the game. That said, be careful about leaving the starting areas of the game. I was unable to complete some things within the Wilds because I didn't finish it before the large battle happened and it won't let me return there now. I'm sure the same is true for the other characters you can play. Most other places do let you return later, but the starting areas seem to be locked after you leave them. Whether or not that changes later in the game, I'm not sure.

Some encounters do become very difficult even at Normal difficulty and make you either use "boring" strategies (such as running in circles while the rest of your party uses ranged attacks) or else leave to another area and then come back later after leveling up some more. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does sometimes get frustrating. Of course, some of those difficult situations are made much easier by taking direct control of all characters in your party and using certain combinations of spells and skills.

One thing to keep in mind about the party AI is that it won't do everything for you unless you really work on the tactics for each character. Default tactics are okay for most easy fights, but for the harder fights, you'll have to either handle each character manually or else take time to set up the tactics really well. It won't just do the best attacks for you like some games. I'm not sure that is really a bad thing about the game, but if you expect it to do it for you, you're going to consider the AI to be bad.

The Bottom Line
Overall, if you like games like Planescape, Baldur's Gate, and Neverwinter Nights while having more control of the camera similar to a game like Morrowind or Oblivion, you will probably really enjoy this game. It is a huge game offering hours and hours of enjoyment even before considering playing as another character. I definitely recommend the game to all RPG fans as a must-have game. I rarely make such a recommendation for games, but this is one of the best as far as I'm concerned. It seems to take the best qualities of the different RPG games out there and include them all into one great game. And beyond the main game, you can also download additional content for the game that adds new areas as well as new items. Keep in mind that some of those downloadable items won't be available in the game until you get further into it. And if you haven't downloaded them yet, you will see it in the conversation dialog when you come across a quest that is for those new areas.