Dragon Age Origins

Blog Post: Dragon Age Origins hits my RPG sweet spot

ConnorTheDestroyer — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 18:21:00 GMT

Before I bought Dragon Age Origins I had little knowledge about the series and even smaller interest in the game. Because I thought it looked like another one of the same old D&D style RPG"s but, boy was I wrong. This game actually has the credit of getting me interested in the genre. The fighting sequences and overall gameplay are solid, the graphics could stand to be better seeing how mass effect 2 with its smooth graphics only came out a few months later, the voice acting and dialogue system were excellent, but the best part of this game is the story which is top notch.

The story is excellent. You can choose from six different origin stories all coralating with what species and class you choose,and I would highly advise going through all of them before continuing the game. They all meet at one central point so don't be worried that some of the story will be lost just because you choose an elven rogue and not a human mage. I found the story progression felt smooth and even so you feel like you are progressing through out the game. I also felt the back stories of all the companions were compelling so I was constantly going back to the camp to see if any new dialogue options appeared. By the end of the game I felt satisfied with how it turned out and I especially liked the twist towards the end right before the final battle.

The gameplay is good but it is nothing special among the genre. The combat was a little bit weak on the 360 and PS3 and Bioware could have tried a little harder when they ported it to consoles. It often felt like you were just clicking a button and watching youre team fight the enemy instead of making you feel like you were actually involved in the fight, and with boss battles I found myself only spamming the health poultice hot key. Though they did a good job with the leveling system and and making it seem that you are getting stronger as you level up weather you are a mage, warrior, or rogue.

The voice acting in this game fealt very real and made me think I was actually talking to a person and not to some monotonous NPC like in some other RPG's. The dialogue system is preety smooth but, I often wished my person could have an actual voice to make it feel more involved. It also gives you plenty of choices in what you can say.

Dragon Age Origins is an amazing RPG with a good story, good voice acting, decent gameplay, and a good number of DLC to explore and if you are looking for a good RPG that will keep you entertained for several hours I would highly advise picking this up at your nearest gamestop.

Blog Post: Dragon Age: Origins: Good, but not Great

Azure Moon — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 16:37:00 GMT

This game was good, not great, but good.

Pros: Great story, in depth-history, fantastic interaction with NPCs, ability to create your own character, and extremely high replay value.

Cons: Horrible battle system, terrible inventory management, WAY to much in the way of codexes causing information overload, and easy to get burnt out with all the side-quests going on.

Overall, the story is great, no matter which origin you do (my favorites are the Dwarven Noble and Dalish Elf origins), and it was very original. However, the battle system is awful and everything gets bogged down with the amount of information you're constantly getting. One other little thing that I personally didn't like was the fact that this is considered a "dark fantasy", which means ugly, depressing geography, even more depressing story lines and back stories, and tons of blood. If that's your thing, then you would enjoy this game, but if not, then you will find yourself a bit disappointed.

There are two crowning achievements for this game: the fantastic replay value and the NPC interaction. The story is not too long, so if you wish to play a different character after you save Ferelden from the Blight, you can. The interaction with your companions and other NPCs allows you to be any type of personality you want to be. So, if you want to be a saint, you can be nice to everybody, and if you want to be a complete jerk, you can be mean to everyone. You can also be a profiteering, greedy person that charges everyone for everything.

This game was good, but I was left a little disappointed and wanting more.

Blog Post: ALL around

James Benford — Sun, 08 May 2011 12:58:00 GMT

this game is good

Blog Post: A spiritual successor to Kotor

Wookachuk — Tue, 19 Apr 2011 03:27:00 GMT

Dragon Age Origins is a really good game overall with the graphics only being my one real complaint. They were decent not great. Am a latecomer to this game and I bought the ultimate edition with all the DLC. As I played the game I was strongly reminded of the original Kotor from the compelling story to having to pick text responses in conversation. The combat system is good allowing easy pause and play or just play without pause. Without a doubt this is one of the best stories in a video game to date. The origin stories are great allowing six different beginning stories for your hero. They will affect the story in quite a few ways too. Through various twists and decisions made in the game you really do have the ability to create a story where the effects of your decisions on the world are clear. The ending ties everything together well. The writing is great. This is definitely a must have game.

Blog Post: I SAW THE POTENTIAL, BUT IT JUST WASNT MY BAG.

Chris Larios — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 05:07:00 GMT

when i picked up mass effect 2 i was totally blown away. it was by far one of the best games i have ever played. and the first mass effect didnt dissapoint either. so that was 2 for 2. i was totally impressed with bioware games that i had played up to that point. i was so impressed by their games i had to give dragon age a chance. i was thinking oblivion mixed in with mass effect... thats a hell of a blend. but sadly i just could not get into it.

first off i have to admit the story was interesting. like an alternative version of lord of the rings. but sadly that was about it form me. the graphics for the time period were not great... but still good. my real problem with the game is that it was not what i expected it to be like. its more of a computer game than a console game. i havent played many computer games but i know that most computer RPGs have many different keys for one functionl. and that was the problem with the 360. the 360 doesnt have 50 different buttons. so there are just way to many things to do just to preform one funtion. mass effect is kinda the same in that department but mass effects gun play was jluid enough for me to over looke the constant pressing LB or RB to pull up a menu. but with dragon age i just didnt feel the fluidness that masseffect had.

it was just to many things to do at one time with a control that has only has 16 buttons on it. i mean the computer has what, 100 +(combined key presses included) buttons. so dragon age would work wounders on a keyboard. but it just didnt run well on the control for me.

plus i really wasnt a fan of the no holding block button in the game like there is in oblivion. you know just hold LT and the shield or weapon come up to block an attack. that wasnt in dragon age. may not be a problem for some but it was a BIG problem for me.

so i wouldnt recomend the game if you are use to oblivion or fallout on the consoles. but if you really liked mass effect and really love computer RPGs then i would suggest picking this up befor picking up drangon age 2.

Blog Post: Dragon Age: Origins is solid RPG

Elfstrum — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 00:00:00 GMT

This is a good game. This is a Bioware game. Anyone who has played the Mass Effect series will attest to the awesomeness that is Bioware. Now don’t that excited cause it is not Mass Effect.

So… Dragon Age is a good, cool game, but if you think it is going to be Oblivion or Mass Effect you getting your hopes up too high.

The plot is your character being part of the last of the Grey Wardens. They’re the ghost busters of middle earth monsters. They are specifically powered to fight and kill Darkspawn (they are like ogres and orcs). Your character forms a team and recruits characters like other RPGs. The plot then takes four separate paths to recruit allies for the final battle with the Darkspawn. Some people complain that this story is boring or too much standard fare. I completed disagree.

I feel that the story is main draw for me. The game has enough lore to write a book (David Gaider, the lead writer has written 3 books on Dragon Age). Bioware has created a giant world to explore. They developed a detailed account of their entire continent. They have a good half dozen countries with different styles of governments and societies. This is a cool idea. Other RPGs have cities which mostly seem to change only with the environment (desert cites). Sure Dragon Age: Origins doesn’t leave Ferelden (their form of a England-type country), but they do bring characters from outside the country.

A huge part of the Dragon Age: Origins is the character interactions. There is a great feel to the party of DAO. As you journey there is a huge amount of spoken dialogue within the party. These conversations really develop the characters into full 3 dimensional characters with their own strengths and weaknesses.

The graphics certainly haven’t held up too well, but I don’t play RPGs for their graphics. The graphics are not bad to the point of distraction, but there is certainly room for improvement. There are as well the occasional bug too.

This game may not fit every taste but it is worth a look.

Blog Post: Fun Game Few Flaws

Lisa — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 19:22:00 GMT

I didn't really know what to expect when I started playing this game. I had seen a few commercials for it on TV so when my brother asked what I wanted for Christmas I just asked for this game.

I hadn't played any of the developers other games so I went in with a pretty open mind. Two play throughs later this is now on my list of favorite games. The story isn't to incredibly deep but it's interesting enough to keep you interested throughout the game.

For me this game is pretty close to a perfect game but before I list the reasons why here are the reasons it isn't a 10.

I played the PS3 version so they may be console specific.

1.) During battles you when they first start up I could see a definite drop in framerate. I'm not talking it's going pretty slow it would actually momentarily freeze and be jumpy for the first couple seconds of the battle. It never stayed like that but it did happen pretty often.

2.) This only happened in one play through but there would be a few times where I knew another character was talking to me but I wouldn't hear any thing. The screen would stay stuck for a few seconds and then choices to continue the conversation would pull up. I didn't miss a full conversation but it was like they forgot to record something there or link up the voice with that part of the conversation.

3.) This Codex. I had a love hate relationship with this thing. When you open this up it is broken into subjects like characters and history. The ones you haven't read are highlighted. Later in the game when you have collected information on quite a few things if you open it up and read one they only move down one line at a time. So say you are on the last line that is show and there is one under that one that you haven't read. When you scroll down your selection bar highlights it so you can't tell if anything has been added under that subject or not. Some of these entries are pretty long and so if you missed reading a couple and go back to catch up it's pretty tough to find the ones you haven't read yet.

Those were the only real problems I had with this game. For me what I love about it made up for those flaws but I do know a few people who got annoyed with 1 + 2 enough that finishing the game for them was kind of hard.

Here are the reasons I loved this game.

1.) The characters. I'm not a huge WRPG fan. Most of the ones I have tried are pretty open world. I like that but I always kind of feel like I'm missing out on character interaction. In this game you characters have distinct personalities. They have likes and dislikes and they have conversation points they prefer. While going through the game you can hear them talking/joking/bickering with each other as you travel and in specific places they'll comment on the area you just entered. As the story progresses you can talk to them and get to know each one of them better and as you do you can see the depth that was written into each one. The aren't all just one sided characters. Each of them has a reason for helping *or not helping* you.

2.) The Codex. I mentioned earlier why I hated this. But on the other hand I really did like it to. There was just so much information you could access there. It had info on the enemies you had fought, on your fellow characters histories, the history of the country, everything was there. I'm not one to be super strict on the lore of a world *with a few exceptions on certain games of course* but it was nice to have all the history on people, cultures and the area in general there for me to read.

3. The execution. During my playthrough there were times when I would just stop and appreciate the area and part of the story I was playing in. There is one part that really stood out to me in the Orzammar part of the story. It's toward the end of the part and I won't put any spoilers here but the area, the sounds and the overall creepiness of it was great. There were plenty of times like that in the game where you could see all the hard work put into it.

4.) The writing/story/conversations *I don't know how to categorize this lol*. I have always loved RPGs but I will be the first to admit sometimes the characters reactions just don't seem right. An example is think of a game where your character gets upset about something and your fellow party members just kind of stand there while the main guy takes care of it. In this game if they don't like something they'll speak up. The story and conversations just feel way more natural in this game.

By the end of this game I really did care what happened to my character and my party members and when it was over I was already ready for more.

With Dragon Age II coming out just around the corner I'm encouraging everyone to at least try this game. With all the different choices you have in it every play through will feel different but they will be your own. There are a few glitches as I mentioned earlier but I feel the game as the whole is still enjoyable enough for most people to have fun during a play through

Blog Post: hard to stay awake

ai3di — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 20:49:00 GMT

I really like rpg games and this one had a lot of promise. The way you level your characters and can switch between members of your team while also not having to because there is a great system to make your characters automatically act on their own is perfect. The graphics are really good and the story is very deep with many choices all the way from the start to the finish.

Saying this I still gave it a low score because the music was so mellow and the story dialog lasted so long that I had a hard time staying awake while playing it. The dialog parts just took to long but if you don't mind that and sub in your own music, it is worth playing. It just wasn't my cup of tea.

Blog Post: Save the world and kill Darkspawn in the best RPG I've played.

King Sir Mister Captain Lord Pope Doctor PHD — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:06:00 GMT

Story

The minute you start Dragon Age: Origins story, you will be plunged into the start of an unique origin that depends on your character’s race. Each of the 6 origin stories will have an impact on the rest of the story, like your Human Noble can become king/queen, or your Dwarf can become a Paragon of his people.

Each of the major decisions can end completely different from each other, depending on the ending, some people may die, and maybe no one will. Depending on who you put on the throne will alter the ending. Not all of the choices will have as much impact as the next, but even some of the side quests have a result in the end.

The story is about you, one of only two Grey Wardens - a group of skilled warriors that are the only ones that can stop the Blight - must gather and army starting from nothing except a few ancient treaties to different races, with the only other Warden, named Alistair who like you, just joined. Each of the major quests are almost like individual mini stories, but you never loose track of the full story and what you doing. As you go along in the story, different companions join your quest. Although a couple of them are obvious, some are not. If you have no idea who they are, you may accidentally kill one, or not give a second thought to another. Also, this is the only RPG where I actually like the whole party.

Gameplay

This is a pause-and-play RPG on a console. That said, the combat is well done. X is your basic attack, while [], /\, and O, along with R2+those buttons serve as 6 special ability short-cuts. This works very well for Warriors and Rouges, but it doesn’t work quite as well for mages. Mages will have dozens of spells before the end, and only having 6 of them for quick use is a little annoying. But, you can still pause the gameplay and select which spell/talent you want to use.

Unfortunately, DA:O gets really easy after about halfway though. Even on nightmare, a well-built Warden will mow though the enemies. That’s about the only compliant I have about the gameplay.

Upgrading is just as fun as you would expect, getting new talents and feeling your Warden become more powerful is thrilling. You’ll get 3 attribute points, 1 talent, and every 3 levels(2 for Rouges) you will get a skill point. Skill points are used for things like making potions, poisons, traps, etc. The gameplay section of DA:O, like the story, is fantastic.

Graphics

As great as the other parts of DA:O are, the console versions have very lackluster graphics. The PC has great graphics, but I’m not reviewing that version.

Some of the character models look good, mostly your Warden and party, but some of the NPCs look bad. Like the character models, the environments go from good to bad. The citys, especially Orzammar, look good. However, the caves, like the Deep roads are especially lacking.

Sound

The voice acting in Dragon Age sits with the best of it. All of the party sounds believable and the NPCs sound good too. The battles and sword clanging have an epic sound to them.

Overall

Dragon Age: Origins is an incredible RPG, and my favorite RPG ever. With a great story, addicting gameplay, and believable voice acting, its easy to look past some of the uglier graphical moments.

Single-player: 10/10

The exciting combat and dialogue system speak for themselves. Among the best out there.

Graphics: 6.0/10

There are some good sights here, but don’t expect anything special.

Sound: 10/10

The voice acting is great, and the combat sounds epic.

Story: 10/10

It has a basic path, but how everything ends is up to you. And its all told brilliantly.

Immersion: 10/10

You will be entrenched in the gameplay for hours.

Replay Value: 10/10

I’ve spent 230 hours on this and I don’t feel any time was wasted.

Overall: 10/10

Minus the graphics, this is as good as it gets.

Blog Post: Old School Goodness

Bryan M. Stafford — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 04:10:00 GMT

There was a period in my life, too long ago for me to want to think about, that I would get off the bus from school and make a bee line directly to my parent's computer. There was only one thing on my mind, playing Baldur's Gate. The game's fascinating characters, intriguing story, and revolutionary battle system created a whole new subset of the RPG genre. However, due in part to the technological limitations of the time, the game had several significant flaws. It had fixed camera angles, the occasional permanent death of an ally, and the ability to get yourself saved in places where you would be so stuck that you would need to start the entire game from the start. Dragon Age: Origins is a modern version of Baldur's Gate with all the upgraded graphics and voice-overs you would expect but without any of the flaws of Baldur's Gate that it takes so much from.

The characters are still fascinating, the plot is still intriguing, and the combat system is still a lot of fun. BioWare shrunk the battle system of Baldur's Gate down to its core so that it would be the most enjoyable experience possible. There are only three races, Human, Elf, and Dwarf. There are only three classes, Warrior, Rogue, and Mage. Depending upon which class is chosen, the player will be able to choose up to two specializations over the course of their adventure. The number of members allowed in your party has also been reduced from six to four, which reduces micromanagement and makes the battles more fun. Depending on your race and class, the player can choose an origin for their character that will effect the first hour or so of the game. These origin stories are a lot of fun and help flush out the world the game takes place in, Ferelden.

Dragon Age: Origins is one of those rare games that absolutely cannot be missed.

File: Dragon Age: Origins 'Witch Hunt' Trailer

Jeff Cork — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:55:00 GMT

Morrigan is back, and she may or may not be happy.

Wiki: Dragon Age Origins Guides

Anonymous — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:05:00 GMT

Guides for Dragon Age Origins

Wiki Page: Dragon Age Origins

MASTER CHIEF PETTY OFFICER JOHN SPARTAN -117 — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 04:05:00 GMT

Leliana's Song Achievements

Provocateur (50): Collected and assembled the Battledress of the Provocateur.
Turning Point (25): Heard Leliana's version of her betrayal.
Vendetta (25): Destroyed the career of Guard Captain Eams.

Sacrilegious Achievement Without Killing A Party Member

The Gauntlet in the Urn Of Sacred Ashes Quest

Just before placing your equipment in the altar to step up to the Urn Of Sacred Ashes save the game and continue as normal. Take a pinch from the urn when asked to do so, then poor the dragons blood if done right and you have a party member like Alistir, Wynne or Liliana you will engage in combat wait a moment and you should get the achievement Sacrilegious once you get the achievement pause the game and load the save just before the altar and play through again without destroying the urn this way avoid losing your best healer or archer.

Achievements

A Dark Promise (50) - Defeated the archdemon and, through a dark ritual with Morrigan, spared your own life
Annulment Invoker (20) - Sided with the templars in "Broken Circle"
Archmage (25) - Main character achieved level 20 as a mage
Bhelen's Ally (20) - Sided with Bhelen in "A Paragon of Her Kind"
Blight-Queller (25) - Killed 1000 darkspawn
Bloodied (10) - Completed an origin story without the main character ever falling in battle
Bully (10) - Succeeded at five difficult Intimidate attempts
Casteless (10) - Completed the Dwarf Commoner origin story
Ceremonialist (20) - Defied the Cult of Andraste in "The Urn of Sacred Ashes"
Conscripted (10) - Completed the City Elf origin story
Corrupted (10) - Completed the Dalish Elf origin story
Defender (20) - Preserved the lives of half the troops at Denerim's Gates in "The Final Battle"
Dragonslayer (30) - Defeated the dragon guarding the Urn of Sacred Ashes
Easy Lover (10) - Experienced the thrill of romance with Zevran
Educated (15) - Used a tome to improve the main character's attributes, talents, spells, or skills
Elite (30) - Main character learned two specializations
First Knight (10) - Experienced the thrill of romance with Alistair
Grey Warden (20) - Killed 100 darkspawn
Harrowed (10) - Completed the Magi origin story
Harrowmont's Ally (20) - Sided with Harrowmont in "A Paragon of Her Kind"
Heavy Hitter (10) - Main character inflicted 250 damage with a single hit
Hero of Redcliffe (20) - Completed "The Arl of Redcliffe"
Hopelessly Romantic (25) - Across all playthroughs, experienced all possible romances
Kinslayer (10) - Completed the Dwarf Noble origin story
Last of the Wardens (20) - Completed Ostagar
Last of Your Line (10) - Completed the Human Noble origin story
Liberator (20) - Destroyed the Anvil of the Void
Magic Sympathizer (20) - Sided with the mages in "Broken Circle"
Master of Arms (25) - Main character achieved level 20 as a warrior
Master Warden (25) - Killed 500 darkspawn
Menacing (20) - Succeeded at 10 difficult Intimidate attempts
Mercenary (20) - Complete 15 job-board quests
Perfectionist (50) - Across all playthroughs, discovered all possible endings
Persuasive (10) - Succeeded at five difficult Persuasion attempts
Pilgrim (10) - Completed a Chanter's Board quest
Poacher (20) - Sided with the elves in "Nature of the Beast"
Pragmatist (20) - Preserved the Anvil of the Void
Rabble-Rouser (20) - Completed "The Landsmeet"
Recruiter (25) - Across all playthroughs, recruited all party members
Sacrilegious (20) - Sided with the Cult of Andraste in "The Urn Of Sacred Ashes"
Shadow (25) - Main character achieved level 20 as a rogue
Silver Tongued (20) - Succeeded at 25 difficult Persuasion attempts
Slayer (20) - Sided with the werewolves in "Nature of the Beast"
Standard-Bearer (20) - Used the Grey Warden treaties to recruit all possible allies
The Ultimate Sacrifice (50) - Made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of Ferelden
Tinkerer (10) - Crafted an item
Traveler (35) - Set foot in every area in the game
Veteran (25) - Main character learned a specialization
Wine, Woman, and Song (10) - Experienced the thrill of romance with Leliana
Witch Gone Wild (10) - Experienced the thrill of romance with Morrigan

Blog Post: amazing game in every way

Sierra — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:19:00 GMT

I walked into this game expecting your typical rpg and found an addicting, detailed story that i couldnt walk away from. The graphics are flowing, facial expressions are realistic, and the landscapes are gorgeous. I loved how you could choose what you wanted to say and how you wanted to develope your character and your relationships with the npcs.

Sadly i didnt get to finish the game. I only got 8 hours in before my uncle took his ps3 back to the store, but i enjoyed every minute of this game.

Blog Post: SWEET!

Taten — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 18:43:00 GMT

This game was amazing.... kind of hard in some spots but still really good! The pause fighting or continuous was really cool. I always got so excited when i leveled up because it is so much fun. I hope the second one is even better though!

Blog Post: A Dragonless Age

Victor Martin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:29:00 GMT

Given that Bioware developed this game, I was very excited when I popped the CD in my 360. After about three days, I realize that this is a largely broken game in terms of gameplay: cumbersome and frustrating controls and a lack of typical RPG conventions (level grinding, a plethora of side quests, a vast variety of weapons and armor). WHERE ARE THE ^&*%@# DRAGONS?! How can you have a game named Dragon Age: Origins and have so few dragons?!

The graphics are very lackluster and not very impressive. However, the facial animations for the characters are excellent.

The character interactions and stories are the saving grace of this game. The complexity of decisions and how characters are "aware" of your dealings with other characters are impressive and captivating. I played the game just to hear the characters bickers and cajole each other.

I played this game after Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age: Origins does not measure to that high standard. Mass Effect 2, as well as Mass Effect, set the standard for RPGs. Dragon Age: Origins competes with Mas Effect 2 in terms of character interaction but fails to measure up otherwise.

Blog Post: Dragon Age: Origins - a great fantasy RPG experience

Hist — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:45:00 GMT

I've been a fan of Bioware's role-playing video games for a long time now, ever sinceBaldur's Gate came out on the PC many years ago. Any Star Wars fans who didn't enjoy the two Knights of the Old Republic games probably don't like video games at all. Of course, their signature creation is Mass Effect and this year's Mass Effect 2.

So when I saw that they had another RPG out even before Mass Effect 2, I knew I had to give it a try.

This review has been a *long* time coming, because this game is *huge*. This is not a game that you play for 10-15 hours and then take the disc out and never try again. No, for me it was 65 hours later, and I even started it again a couple of times (for achievement purposes mostly). I was immersed in this world for a couple of hours a night most of the week, and even longer on weekends. That being said, while Dragon Age: Origins has all the same rich detail and juicy RPG goodness of most Bioware games, I was not as impressed this time around. It became a slog to get through in the middle part of the game, and the final confrontation is just incredibly hard.

Dragon Age: Origins is kind of unique among video game RPGs, in the sense that you have some choice in how your character starts. Most games, you choose your characters race, class, stats, and skills, and then you begin the same origin story no matter what you chose. In this game, you have six different choices, depending on what you choose for a class and race. The three races are Human, Dwarf, and Elf. If you choose a Dwarf, you cannot become a mage, as Dwarves cannot do magic. The three classes are Warrior, Mage, and Rogue. Each class has a base set of statistics (the statistics are Strength, Dexterity, Magic, Willpower, Cunning, and Constitution) and then your race will adjust that. You then get a number of points to add to these stats to get your starting ones.

You have an amazing number of customization options for your character as well, as you can adjust hair, face, eyes, eyebrows, skin tone, even the height of your eyes (are they in the center of your face or higher up?). If you don't want to customize your character that much, there are a number of presets for each race and gender that will do fine.

Once you're done with all that, you get thrown into your origin story. If you're a Mage, you start out at the Circle of Mages Tower, going through your initiation. If you chose a Dwarven Lower Caste, then you are among the dregs of Dwarven society and you have to follow that origin story. Thus, you can start the game six different times and the first hour or two of gameplay will be totally different (though some origin stories are more beefed up than others).

All origin stories lead to the same point, however, when you are recruited by Duncan, head of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden. The Wardens are tasked with safeguarding Ferelden from what's called "The Blight," where demonic Darkspawn roam the world and try to destroy everything. The dwarves are always fighting them underground but when they come to the surface, that's when you know things are bad. You join Duncan and Ferelden's king at the ruined city of Ostagar to stop the Darkspawn in their tracks. But things don't turn out quite the way you had planned, and eventually it's up to you to save Ferelden. Isn't that always the way?

Over the course of the game, you can be joined by a number of companions, all with different goals and motivations. You are the leader of this ragtag bunch, though, and what you say goes. However, they may not always agree with you, and it's even possible that one of them might attack you if they think you're wasting their time! You have to balance their needs and desires with what you think is the right thing to do.

As with most Bioware RPGs, you can either be a *** or a saint, or completely Chaotic Neutral (a term for you D&D fans!) and do whatever you want on a whim! That being said, it is possible to make it so certain quests don't become available to you if you piss off the wrong person, so be careful. As always, I chose to be a good guy (though a couple of times when the dialogue option of "Yes, your blathering is getting quite annoying, I agree" came up, it was tempting to take it). I find that often makes the easiest path through the game, though it can be fun to go back and play it over, being an *** the entire time.

Another common factor in Bioware RPGs is the possibility of romancing some of your companions, and sexuality be damned on a couple of them! I love how the achievement for bedding Zoran is called "Easy Lover," because he's such a lech. You can improve your standing with any of your companions by going along with them when they think you should do something a certain way (Morrigan hates it when you're too much of a goody-two-shoes), but you can also improve it by giving them gifts that you can find or buy all around Ferelden. Certain gifts have bigger increases with certain people, so it's good to get an idea of what they like. It's not all about getting into their pants, either, as improving their opinion of you can give them skill and stats bonuses because of your "leadership" (if that's what you want to call it). It's an interesting facet of these RPGs, and Bioware generally treats the whole thing with maturity. Eventually, you can bed one or more of the companions, which leads to a short romantic cut scene that eventually fades to black.

Combat is done in real time, though you can always pause it to give other characters orders. This can be a bit cumbersome on the Xbox, however, and I've heard this control system is a lot easier on the PC. Each character has a number of "tactics slots" where you can tell them how to behave in certain situations, which makes things a lot easier because you can let them go and do their thing without you having to worry about them.

For example, you can have one of your warriors protect your mage, breaking off with whoever he/she is fighting to go attack the evil minion that's attacking your mage. Or you can have your character who's using a bow & arrow change to a melee weapon if somebody engages him/her in melee. That being said, I would suggest always controlling your mage yourself, because you know when the best time to cast which spell is, and it's very hard to do area effect spells (like a giant lightning storm) using the Tactics slots. Sometimes you have to precisely place area effect spells for maximum effectiveness (as well as to avoid damaging members of your party if you're playing with "friendly fire" on), and that's impossible with the AI. Overall, though, I did enjoy the combat.

There are definitely some tough battles in Dragon Age: Origins, though, so thankfully you can adjust the difficulty level in the middle of the game, finish this fight, and then adjust back to the level you were playing at. For example, there's one instance where you face a mirror image of your party. I had run out of Injury Kits and all of my characters had at least one major wound, and some had three or four (if a character "dies" in combat but you end up winning the battle, the "dead" characters revive and are just "wounded," and these wounds can affect skills, stats, and other abilities until they are healed, which you do with Injury Kits). Thus, I was totally outmatched until I bumped the difficulty level down.

Another major problem with this game, in fact the worst thing about it, is that it becomes a major slog to get through the middle part of the game. I found myself wearing down at times just wanting the story to move forward. As in most RPGs, there are lots of side quests to do in addition to the main quests, but unlike most RPGs, you don't always get experience points for completing them (other than the XP for facing whatever monsters you end up fighting). I hate "fetch" quests at the best of times (where some character wants you to go retrieve something for them, and it's usually all the way across town, or sometimes in another city!). However, I hate them even more when you don't get any reward for them! Oh, sure, you might get some money (though usually not much), but no XPs? That's incredible. There were a couple of times I had to force myself to get through the middle part of the game, occasionally taking a day or two off because the thought of doing more of the same just did not thrill me at all.

However, what kept me going was the strength of most Bioware games: the story and the characters. First, I wanted to see where my romance(s) would go, but I also wanted to see where the story would go. Each major area you have go to has a dilemma of some sorts going on, and sometimes you have to make a choice of which side in a conflict to support. Sometimes you can mediate and sometimes you can't. The story writing, as is usual for Bioware, is top notch and well worth finishing the game to see how everything turns out. Another cool thing is that the race and origin you chose way back at the beginning of the game will change some of the things later on. If you're a Dwarf, for example, then when you return to your home caves to recruit the Dwarves for the fight against the Blight, you will be treated a lot differently than if you were an Elf or a Human. I liked that aspect of the game too.

I have to say something about the graphics. For some reason, I just wasn't that impressed with them, though they're certainly not "bad." The characters are a bit blocky and the settings just don't have that awesome thrill that Mass Effect gave me. However, nothing is more satisfying than seeing the coup de grace in a battle where your warrior takes the head off of a Darkspawn and a fountain of blood comes spurting out. I do have to hand it to Bioware for attention to detail, too. If a cutscene happens right after a battle, your characters have a lot of blood spatter on their images. They're not instantly cleaned up like they would be in many other games.

The sound is very good, though. If you're fully armored and running around the screen, you hear the "clank clank clank" of the sword that's strapped to your back banging against your armor. The voice acting is pretty good, with Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager) providing a couple of the voices. I loved Morrigan's voice as well as Alistair's (though I thought Alistair was an annoying, whiny wimp overall) especially.

Overall, I really enjoyed Dragon Age: Origins, though it's probably the least of the many Bioware games I've played so far. That's not a strike against this game, however; it's more of a compliment to all of their other games. I greatly enjoyed this game, with just the faults I mentioned above marring what was otherwise an enjoyable experience.

Forum Post: hot to kill flemeth

echoedpulse23 — Sun, 16 May 2010 04:51:00 GMT

The best way is to use Wynn and a character that is good with a bow. The idea is to stay at a good distance. The other character, Alistar or Sten are the best, should be up close but always behind the dragon. The worst attack the dragon can perform is the back kick. I remember this fight and it is tough. It got to a point where I almost changed the difficulty settings, but keep trying and your efforts will be rewarded.

Blog Post: Dragon Age; Good Game, Doesn't Live up to Hype

Tactical Rash — Fri, 14 May 2010 13:25:00 GMT

I finally finished DA Origins for the 360, and as I wait for Awakenings to download, I might as well write something about it.

While I enjoyed this game a lot, I don't feel that it has quite lived up to all the hype surrounding it. Like many people, I was not able to head up to PAX East this year. I did, however, go on Youtube and check out Wil Wheaton's keynote. He dedicates a long segment of his speech to DA Origins, and his emotional tie to the charactors and storyline. So, at this glowing recommendation of the game, I went out and bought it.

The main plot holds it's own. It is the classic tale of the world coming to an end, and the player needs to unite all the factions of people (who are all involved in their own civil wars and stuff) to fight the evil threatening to doom them all. Good enough for me. You can ignore it's predictability due to the expansive and developed nature of the plot. Each individual story arc you delve into in order to recruit your allies is rich and wonderfully done. The decisions you make as the player, of who to support, or turn against are truly interesting. I found myself making multiple save slots just to see how decisions would have turned out, had I gone the other way (and this is also one of the reasons it took me FOREVER to finish). For this piece of the game I give high marks.

I was very disappointed in the player interactions with his party. The devstried very hard to make your interactions with you party a pivotal portion of the game, and I feel like this was the most under-tested part of the game. The only interaction that even matters, is the person you choose to be your "love interest". And I found that, even that part, i was just doing to get the achievement points. Getting to maximum "love" is as simple as going to camp, agree with everything they say, spam giving the cheapo gifts that you pick up all day long, do a quick quest for them, and bang-o, you're in their tent. You don't even need to actually worry about your actions while working on the regular game. (SPOILER ALERT) I maxed out Morrigan love while playing the most "do-gooder" hero you can imagine up.You don't even have to kill her mother to complete the quest to her satisfaction. The only time I ever went against my morals in the whole game, was in the landsmeet to keep Alistair around. And I wasn't even the one who had to do anything. (END SPOILER) After how this part of the game was talked up, I found myself a little disappointed.

As far as game mechanics, I love the customization. Lots of skills and weapon/armor choices. Class specialization choices are well done. The playability is a little broken. I think if they had added a customizable auto-pause option like KoTOR, battles could have been a little more strategy, and a lot less of a button-mashing festival. The spell and ability tool tips did not explain anything well enough, and I found myself saving before every level-up so I could go back and change the things that weren't working like I thought they would.

The game is voice acted superbly. I will always be a fan of the amazing Claudia Black. I only wish they had added more voice to the player character, who ends up coming off as a dumb mute everywhere you go. Then they add the generic Baldur's gate voice to your PC and truly cheapen the experience while in combat or opening a chest.

Overall, I would consider it to be an excellent game. I will definately play through it again. If any choices I make change my opinions, I will post again.

Awakenings is done downloading now so, I am off to rock out the rest of this game.

PS. If anyone actually reads this before they buy the game... Buy it new, there is some DLC that comes free if you buy it new. If you try to save 5 bucks by buying used at Gamestop like me, then you may end up blowing the $5 on the DLC anyways. I was a little miffed.

Blog Post: Bioware's Golden Age

Daniel Ryba — Tue, 04 May 2010 15:30:00 GMT

Everyone knows Bioware from their massive hit RPG title Mass Effect. Well, just a few months before the sequel hits, they have released Dragon Age: Origins for the PC, Xbox 360, and Playstation 3. Dragon Age: Origins is a return to Bioware’s roots in a way, since they used to more well known for games like Baldur’s Gate and Neverwinter Nights. So if you haven’t figured it out already, Dragon Age: Origins is a dark fantasy RPG that blends more traditional Dungeons and Dragons systems with a dialogue and choice system similar to Mass Effect.

First off, let me start by outlining the Origins stories. Basically, when choosing your character, depending on your race, you will get an option of which origin story to start. There are 6 in total, and they make up the first hour or so of the game. So for example, as a dwarf commoner, you will have a different beginning than a human noble, and even a dwarf noble. These stories help to immerse you in the world of Dragon Age: Origins, and get you familiar with the game basics. Each one has decisions to make that can have lasting effects, and you’ll see characters from your origin story in other places, unlocking conversations that would not normally appear to a character with a different origin. These origin stories are very deep, and really do have lasting effects throughout your game, which I was happy to see.

Okay, so with that out of the way, lets move on to the combat system. Basically the game works as a standard fantasy RPG. Equip yourself and your other 3 party members with armor and weapons you loot from bodies or buy from shops. Then, go fight the bad guys. Your character will automatically attack an enemy you select, so no extensive button pressing is required. Up to 6 abilities or items can be mapped to the face buttons (X, Y, B, and then another menu of each once you hit the right trigger) for use, and have cooldown timers. However, the game also has a quick menu you can pull up in battle, freezing the fight and allowing you to use skills you may not have assigned to buttons. This is especially crucial for mages, as the game has over 20 spells you can learn. Though this is nice, it does get a little tedious going back and forth into the menu to pick attacks, as it breaks up the action a little too much.

As your character levels up, you can customize their stats, which are composed of the basics: Strength, Dexterity, Willpower, Magic, Cunning, and Constitution. Though I won’t go into what they all do, just know that certain classes will focus on certain stats. Also, you get a point to put into learning a new skill or spell. The game is composed of a wide variety of skill trees that focus on certain playstyles. For example, mages have a fire skill tree that has 4 different fire spells that can be learned. Rogues have a skill tree that is for people who like to play stealthly, offering 4 levels of invisibility. In addition, every 3 levels (2 for rogues), your character can learn a new ability. How do abilities differ from skills? Well, they are more non-combat based things, such as coercion (which unlocks new conversation options) and herbalism (which allows for potion-making).

On top of all that, every class (warrior, mage and rogue) has 4 additional specializations that can be unlocked during your game. Your character can learn any 2 of their 4, at certain levels. So, your rogue could be an assassin/duelist, or bard/ranger, or any other combination. Each specialization not only gives various permanent stat bonuses, it unlocks an additional skill tree. So as you can see, you can really customize your character to suit your playstyle. I’ve made 3 rogues so far, and all of them play completely differently. Character customization is where the game really shines. Leveling up is pretty slow in the game (most people will barely reach level 20 by the end), so when you level up it’s really an exciting moment. Also, you level up your teammates, so you can customize them to your liking too. Really, there are infinite possibilities when it comes to different gameplay experiences.

Which leads me to my next point: The AI. Bioware seriously nailed how AI in a game should play. The enemies are smart, and will not just go for the first target they see. The enemies prioritize. They will go for a mage they know can heal your party. They will launch a full assault on your warrior up front to take him down. It really provides a nice challenge and you feel like each battle is a strategic tug of war. As for your team, the game has an extensive tactics system. Each person in your party has a tactics menu you can customize, telling them to do certain things in combat. And it can be as specific or as general as you want. You can have your warrior simply use a certain skill on the nearest enemy, or you can have him use that certain skill on any enemy that is attacking your mage. You can have your warrior use a shattering attack if your mage freezes an enemy. It’s all very specific, and you can make some very creative combinations to make sure your allies aren’t just wasting their attacks. Of course, you can also switch over and play as any of your teammates on the fly, in case you need them to do something right then and there. Really, any squad based game needs to take notes on Bioware’s approach, because it is a breath of fresh air.

Also, Bioware has crafted a story and world that will keep you immerse. I don’t want to spoil too much, as the plot takes a twist pretty early. Basically, no matter what origin story you choose, you are recruited to be a Grey Warden, an elite warrior against evil. A Blight is approaching the lands, which is a large gathering of evil creatures known as darkspawn, and it is up to you and the armies of the land to stop it. Though the story really heats up later, and makes you want to see what happens next. Also, everything in the game has a backstory, and codex entries provide you with massive amounts of information on stuff you see and hear about during your playtime. The characters feel real, and react realistically to your dialogue choices. The story is very well done and definitely emphasizes the ‘dark’ part of ‘dark fantasy RPG’. Of course, I would expect nothing less of Bioware.

There is plenty of extensive conversation to be had with the party members you accumulate over the course of the game, and your choices will shape their opinions of you. Decide to do something they don’t like, and they’ll let you know. Some of them may even retaliate against you. This provides more characterization and makes you feel like the people you travel with have an impact on your journey. They have feelings, and you end up taking those into account when you make decisions. Everyone in the game just feels very natural and realistic.

Of course, relationships can be mended, and by giving party members gifts and making favorable dialogue choices, you can bump up their approval of you, which rewards you in the form of stat bonuses and even new specialization unlocks. Also, there are love interests in the game you can pursue, whether you are a guy or girl. The game does not, however, use a meter or anything to track your ‘good’ or ‘evil’ choices in the game. Why? Because the effects of your choices can be seen in the world around you, instead of just being accumulated as points or something similar. Kill a merchant in one area, and you may lose some approval with a party member, but a competing merchant may give you a discount. Intimidate some thieves away from one area, and they may ambush you in another area with an even larger force. Your decisions are your own, and you do not necessarily shape your character into a hero or a villain. You simply shape the world around you as you see fit. In fact, at the end of the game, you get a briefing of the effects of your decisions in the future years. Seeing some little decisions you made have big effects later on is always a cool thing to witness.

I’m also happy to see the download content for the game. Mass Effect was an awesome game, but the download content was a letdown. Bioware definitely learned from that and at the time of Dragon Age: Origin’s launch already had 2 add-on packs for the game. One actually comes free with every purchased copy, and the other content pack is an additional sidequest that gives background information on some of the game’s past events. Both are well done, and Bioware has already promised another add-on before the end of 2009.

Okay, okay, I’ve praised the game enough. Time for some negative parts of this game. One of my biggest gripes about the game is the lack of multiplayer. This game really has potential to be a solid co-op game, at least for two people. I know Bioware isn’t exactly known for multiplayer, but the game could seriously benefit from it. Having your buddy cast a freeze spell while you go up as a warrior and shatter the enemy with a heavy attack would be so fun to do. It would just be a cool experience, and the game is definitely partially set up for it, having 4 playable party members already.

Another small gripe of mine are the graphics. Don’t get me wrong; the facial expressions are very well done. And the cinematics are epic. But from Mass Effect to this, the graphic definitely took a big step down. Trees look very plain and boring and indoor areas have a tendency to look very dull and ugly. The game just needs a little bit of a boost in the looks department, because the graphics it sports can’t compare to some of the games around nowadays. Even Mass Effects looks significantly better, and that game came out 2 years ago.

There are other minor things I could mention, but most of them are easily overlooked. When it comes down to it, Dragon Age: Origins was Bioware’s attempted to make an epic, dark, fantasy-based game, and they succeeded. This game is a must have for anyone who likes RPGs, no question. You will get hooked into the rich storytelling, the realistic characters, and the fun combat sequences. And after you’ve beaten it once, you’re going to want to play it again and again.

Overall:

9.5/10