I want to apologize in advance for being vague. It is nearly impossible to discuss what’s so great about Dragon Age Origins and why without spoilers. I did my best to avoid them but that choice came at a cost. One that will change this review forever. One I’ll have to live with for the rest of my life. I just really don’t want to ruin one of the better stories I’ve played in a long time. You’ll understand when you’re older…. or play the game.
Since story is the most important part of an RPG, let’s talk about that first. This game is being advertised as one that will change based on your decisions, good or bad. It does do that but not quite in the way it sounds. With every bad decision you make, you run the risk of upsetting another character in your party as well as the NPCs you encounter. However, that’s only true for NPCs that have to do with that quest, all others will seemingly be oblivious to those choices. Because of that, you’ll really only care what your party thinks and you really will care what they think. The other party characters really bring the game to life and draw you into the world. They each have their own stories that become intertwined with yours and the way you help or don’t help them with their problems effects how they treat you and react to your choices within the main story.
For example, early on a particular angry and cold character joins our party, for some reason I really liked this person and tended to talk more to them and give them better items. As the game went on, I noticed this person opening up more and more to me about their life and then eventually things heated up. After the hot pocket cooled, I began basing my story decisions on what he/she would want as to not ruin the relationship. And this all started with a character who begrudgingly joined me and routinely gave me one word answers to questions early on. It became a story within the story that really felt like my own. It was like I was playing spin the bottle all over again, except this time there were dragons and it was actually magical.
It’s very common while you’re walking through the world for the other characters to start talking to one another about recent events and questioning each others stances on said event. They might also reveal a bit more about their background during these random conversations based how much they like the other party member involved. Those touches are what really make the game come alive.
The main story isn’t open ended; you start in one of 6 different origin stories but eventually end up taking on the same overall main quest. That being said, there are a lot of different ways that quest can end based on how you completed each quest and what decisions you made. Some changes are more noticeable than others, but you will definitely notice how you’ve shaped everything that’s happening around you, especially at the end.
Now, am I going to play again to totally change the ending? Probably not. This is one crazy long game and I am not Mr. Timebags. And truthfully once you’ve finished the game you can think back and basically guess most of the differences. Do I know that for sure? Of course not. But I can’t explain further without being a rotten egg. You’re better off just hunkering down and experiencing it for yourself.
That being said, the game really takes you out of the experience when you’re in the middle of a serious conversation and the closeup on their face looks like it was animated for the PS One, complete with lips moving completely out of sync with the voice acting and badly distorted facial features.
But, the major flaw with this game is the missed opportunity for multiplayer. With so many games now utilizing RPG elements in a multiplayer environment, there’s really no excuse not to include it. The characters, story and world had to be perfectly done to hide the fact that you were playing alone. There are some seriously epic quests that could have been 162931018 times more epic running through them with friends. There is already an extensive cast you recruit for your party. It just doesn’t make sense why at least pick-up-and-play couldn’t have been implemented. Friend comes over and you’re in the middle of an epic boss fight, why couldn’t they just hop in as another party member? Multiplayer fail Bioware.
While clearly that irritates me, this is a really great single player experience and should not be missed.
The good: great story, multiple endings, in-depth characters, fantastic voice acting
The bad: no multiplayer, little to no replay value, some character animations look dated, a few pointless side quests, battles can be a bit clunky
The verdict: Buy it, this is a better than average RPG, and it would be impossible to get through 50 hours of game play in a rental window. The time investment is well worth it, but there are a few negatives that keep this great game from being a perfect game.
This article was written by Cool-C.
Filed under: review | Tagged: bioware, dragon age, dragon age: origins |
Morality Points: Video Game Reviews 
i’m just casting my “if Cool-C and i agree on everything in a game i’ll shit a ps3 and keep it just for the blu-ray” ballot.
no replay value?
well, i can see how the time invested would steer one away from even attempting to test that theory but….wait no i can’t.
my first play through was rather long, as i had to feel my way around.
my second, was intended to be one-nighter for achievements…but ended up being my longest play through as i enjoyed the class much more than my first choice and i chose as drastically different decision options as possible.
by far the second play through was better than the first.
learning curve = tedious play through.
omg that was too long lol, but i forgot something.
achievements.
it is, to date, the ONLY xbox game that i have ever completed (as far as microsoft’s achievement system is concerned) that wasn’t an arcade game or Avatar The Last Airbender…because that one doesn’t count at all lol.
there are a lot of achievements in Dragon Age that just come with playing and learning the ropes, as well as making pivotal plot decisions.
there honestly isn’t an achievement on the list that is remotely ridiculous save for a “see all endings” which can be achieved without much stress by reloading some strategic save points.
…also the DLC’s are pretty fun, although short.
k, i’m effing done lol.
Thanks for casting your vote. Believe me you’re not the only that voted against me. Haha
I see what you’re saying about replay value. I played as a mage so maybe I would get sucked back into it a second time as a warrior or rogue.
What i meant by no replay value is that the replay value for most games is created by multiplayer content you want to play over and over again not just because it’s great content but because of the shared experience. Dragon Age Origins has none of that.
I’m not much for achievements, I just play through a game and whatever achievements I get is what I get. Too many good games out there to spend time on 5 gamer points I missed. But I agree that at least they didn’t include absurd any achievements. +1 for Bioware
*Spoiler Alert*
Also, could the DLC have been integrated any more annoyingly?! Why the hell did they think it was a good idea to talk a character in game and read about a quest that when you click accept you are forced to save your game and be taken to the download screen. Way to ruin the experience. It’s a such a tease.
And because of that, I didn’t even play Warden’s Keep and Return to Ostagar during the story thinking I could play later on. While that’s kinda true after your finish it, it’s really not true because you are given the message that essentially says you can still play the DLC if you’re willing to pretend you haven’t killed the archdemon and you’re party has broken up. WTF?! I’ve never seen a more blatant excuse to cash-in after the fact.
* Spolier Ends *
Anyway, I didn’t spend much time with the DLCs. I might eventually but clearly I’m still healing. Haha
lmao
the mage class was certainly not the most fun imo.
i played warrior as a damager my first time through and it got rather monotonous.
played a rogue assassin/duelist second time through and loved it.
then went mage and was…over/underwhelmed by it.
overwhelmed with abilities…underwhelmed with good ones.
i can’t say you’re missing a lot with the DLCs unless you got as chapped at the Ostagar…thingy (so as not to spoil) as i did.
if you didn’t find Cailan to be a completely naive and arrogant ass…then Return to Ostagar is fairly…emotional lol.
oh and has some sick Rogue/Warrior gear.
Yeah the mage takes a while to get the really cool abilities but walking bomb is pretty cool early on. I never tired of enemies turning into an explosion of blood. My favorite was when I unlocked shapeshifter. Swarm is awesome. And using glyphs to paralyze enemies and keep them away from you is kinda awesome too, especially against the archdemon.
And I did find Cailan to be a jerk so I guess I’m good with not playing. The Ostagar “situation” did chap me, especially Loghain spreading rumors, but like I said before now that I’m finished I really have no desire to go back there and play pretend.
I am pretty intrigued to play as a Rogue though. I always kept Zevran in my party for the lock picking and stealing so it might be nice to do all that myself.
*Spolier Alert*
I was completely screwed when he betrayed me in Denerim, don’t know if he did that to you but I had to kill him, and then all of a sudden I had no rogue!! It sucked!!! That’s what I get for giving all the gifts to everyone else. So, to play again and not have to worry about that would definitely be nice.
*Spoiler Over*
Dragons age origins is just a great game. on HD tv it is even better. I love the game play, the visual graphics and the storyline and game play. All around a great game