Dragon Age: Origins

Swords, knights, magic, blood, and dragons. These are a few easy words to describe Dragon Age: Origins but they wouldn’t do it much justice. An RPG by Bioware, makers of one of my favorite titles in the last 5 years, Mass Effect, have brought their RPG storytelling out of the future and into a time of chivalry, war, vengeance, and darkspawn. Just as before, Bioware has made sure that your choices have a direct consequence on your party members and the storyline. Being a massive title, it’s taken the talent of three writers here at MMOMFG.com to weigh in on the good and the bad of Dragon Age: Origins.

---

What’s Good

Plenty bang for your buck – Dragon Age is long, extremely long, and every bit of it is polished and well done. Sure there are a few “kill bandits here” quests but they manage to add in some interesting dialogue and quest loot that makes you want to do even the smallest of tasks. Whether it’s clearing The Warden’s Keep or simply treasure hunting in elven ruins, you’re going to be playing Dragon Age for a very, very, long time.

2nd verse (not) the same as the first – So you played Dragon Age, beat it, did some side quests and you’re done right? Wrong! Try playing as a dwarf, or maybe a human noble. Change the choice of some of your decisions. Roll a mage instead of a duel wielder. Much like Bioware’s other RPG, Mass Effect, Dragon Age has plenty in it that justifies playing it all over again and getting a totally new experience out of it.

That…was…awesome (Andrew) – One of the coolest parts of the combat in Dragon Age: Origins are the killing blows. The character who lands the final blow often dispatches the enemy with a cool finishing move like a shield bash and stab or a flurry ending in a decapitation. BioWare ratchets up the intensity during boss fights as well; during an early boss fight with an Ogre, Alistair executes a finishing move seamlessly in the run of combat that will make your jaw drop.

What to do, what to do – Dragon Age has plenty of quests where you, and you alone, will decide the outcome of someones life. The choices are never easy and there is often more outcomes than simply black or white, right or wrong – some tough choices lead down paths shaded gray. Since Dragon Age lacks any type of morality scale, you’re fit to choose however you like with only your compatriots judging you. Like Mass Effect, these choices will have you pausing the game, taking a deep breath, and truly considering what you’re about to do.

Presentation to be proud of – Dragon Age looks good, sounds great, and is a treat to all of the senses. Running on my AMD Phenom II X4 with a 21.5″ 1080P monitor Dragon Age rarely (if at all) had performance issues. Load times were quick, frame rates were constant, and the game oozes style. Magic effects are breathtaking and the blood splatters, though excessive at times, make this RPG stand above the rest. The voice acting, like other Bioware titles, is top notch, extensive, and drives all of the plot and quest lines perfectly. All parts of Dragon Age make you want to play more and more.

---

What’s Bad

Micro Management – You might not have to constantly play as all four characters, but there are some battles where they definitely need assistance. Regardless of using the built in tactics system, your friendly AI can suffer from brain cramps. Standing still, not using potions, way too much friendly fire from spells are just a few issues I’ve had during my play through. The sooner you get over the idea of just playing as your main character, the better.

Spending points on common sense – When leveling up you have the opportunity to select a skill. One of those being combat tactics which gives you an extra slot to allow your AI to perform better. Something about that just seems wrong to me. Basically it’s saying our AI partners need to level up so they aren’t dumb anymore? Why make managing the party any harder? Why do my companions need to level up in order to learn how to drink a health potion if they’re dying? Perhaps if combat tactics gave an additional bonus I’d consider spending the points on it.

Cut and burn (Andrew) – If Bioware did cut any corners, it was in modeling trees. They look as if they are made of paper – poles sprouting 2D panes of “needles.” It’s possible that this is made more noticeable by the fact that the game looks so good – the pine trees stick out like sore thumbs poking up from the ground.

Invisible Walls – In a few dungeons my character would try to climb up stairs only to suffer from a noticeable amount of delay. It wasn’t lag or a framerate issue, but it seemed like he was walking into an invisible wall. It only occurred during a few dungeon crawls and isn’t a game stopper by any means necessary but I did find it a bit annoying.

---

Worth Remembering

Without giving away any big spoilers, there were a few choices that had to be made that took me more than just a few seconds to decide. I didn’t want to act hastily. I wanted to look past my decision and see what kind of impact my choice would have. When a game makes you feel that way it’s an incredible experience. Dragon Age does it on more than one occasion. The best part, I can’t wait to go back and see the outcome of choosing differently.

---

Worth Forgetting

The learning curve can be a bit daunting for those new to RPGs or managing multiple party members. I prefer to concentrate on my main character but there are just some instances where that’s not plausible. Thankfully there is a pause button that allows you to collect your thoughts, breathe, and coordinate your attacks.

---

And now a word from our fearless leader:

This is Dustin and I wanted to chime in regards to the Dragon Age review. I have not been able to invest nearly as many hours in Dragon Age: Origins as Andrew or Justin, but I have a few key notes I’d like to make about the game. First off, the level of customization from the get-go in character creation was better than expected and allowed for me to make some very brash heroes and lovely female mages. Now on to the most important factor of the game in my opinion, the fun factor. This game delivers more than any real RPG title that I’ve played in years. The last time I had such a good time was possibly Baldur’s Gate, but the story is so intriguing, that I didn’t want to save my game and turn it off. The Dragon Age mage class is hands down the most bad ass character class in RPGs in quite some time. Holy shite is the mage awesome. My only concern is that I want to branch out into multiple trees, but have only picked two so far. The spell effects are incredible and BioWare has gone above and beyond giving them the feel of power in the player’s hands. I am looking forward to being all-power and unleashing my wrath upon the masses. Blood mage all the way! BioWare has accomplished delivering the hands down best tactical RPG in years and I look forward to putting in 80 or more hours on Dragon Age: Origins. I can’t wait for the girl on girl scene either… I’m just sayiinnnnnn…

---

All three of us heartily agree, Dragon Age: Origins is a deep, time sucking experience that is tough to put down. The deep character creation, the feeling of being an incredibly powerful mage or a duel wielding warrior doesn’t let up even after plenty of hours. The presentation that Bioware has constructed is top-notch and exactly what you would expect from a development team who constantly strikes RPG gold. The only issue that I had to really get past was party management. This might be more of a personal gaming decision on my part than an issue with Dragon Age as Bioware gives you plenty of strategic tools for the job. Regardless, if you’re an RPG fan who enjoys a long, engrossing, choice making, sword swinging, fireball throwing, head chopping, ecstasy enduced adventure (and come on who doesn’t?) look no further.

Related posts:

1. Dragon Age Expansion’s new protagonist is a mage with attitude
2. Dragon Age: Origins goes gold, PS3 version no longer delayed
3. Dragon Age Screens are a plenty
4. Dragon Age: Return to Ostagar – DLC Impressions
5. Dragon Ball: Raging Blast MMOMFG Review