Post by HiVolt
Game: Dragon Age: Origins(Note: This review will include all the main DLCs currently available, but not Awakening. That will be added later.)
Overview: Dragon Age: Origins is a dark fantasy RPG, where you, "The Warden," fight alongside a guild of peerless warriors and mages against an ancient evil known as the Darkspawn. There are three playable races and three playable classes. Along with these, there are six unique background stories that correspond to the race and/or class that you choose to play. Throughout the game, you level up, gain spells, weapons, armor, and allies in your quest to end the Darkspawn Blight.
Graphics: 8.5/10
The graphics of this game are absolutely stunning. The character models are rendered extremely well, and the world environments are breathtaking. The graphics really give a sense of gritty realism that you don't often get in RPGs. However, some graphics glitches can happen, thus lowering the score slightly.
Gameplay:The gameplay of Origins is essentially unchanged throughout all of the DLCs, so only minor notes will be given with those.
Dragon Age features very rich and very deep gameplay. With each class, there are dozens of core spells and abilities to choose from, making almost any playstyle a viable possibility even in the endgame. Along with this, class specializations offer even more customization to a character class. The customization is so deep, it really is hard to keep yourself from completing multiple playthroughs with each class, more than once. I know I've probably spent at least 150 hours on this game, and I haven't even waded into the stream, so to speak.
Along with allotting spells and stats to your characters, you can also allot talents. Talents are different from spells and abilities in that some allow special passive bonuses to the characters, and others allow the character to utilize professions to craft items. As an example, the Persuasion talent(only available to your main character), opens many more conversation options when interacting with NPCs.
The combat of the game feels seamless, and original. When entering combat, your party instantly goes into fight-mode and starts to revert to their tactics. Tactics are customizable settings of what spells/abilities/talents/etc. that your characters use, based on priority, in combat. This allows for a large amount of freedom when in combat situations. While you stand and hack a baddie to bits, you can have your tactics set so that a mage will heal you, or a tank can take the focus of the enemies off of you. Tactics, coupled with the ability to seamlessly switch between which party member you control at any given time, means that every single fight can be completely different.
Another interesting feature of the gameplay is the ability to influence the opinions of your party members through conversations with them, and through giving them gifts. Depending on your standing with a party member, they will either receive a passive bonus or a passive hindrance. If a party member's approval of you is high enough, they could become a love interest; or conversely, if it is low enough, they will leave the party forever.
Somewhat related to this approval system is the morality scale of Dragon Age. Morality in this game isn't implemented like it is in some other "morality-based" games. Everything is a shade of gray, as far as morality is concerned. There is never a truly right answer or a truly wrong answer to any question or situation. This is another feature that makes multiple playthroughs a near certainty.
The only hang-ups I have about the gameplay are that some of the Talents are required to gain access to certain spells with certain classes. This makes talent selection with certain classes a bit of a pain. Some of the talents that you
want to use aren't necessarily
needed where others might be, and this dampens the gameplay a bit. Another problem is that there are far too many loading screens. I understand that this isn't exactly the type of game for an open-world environment. But, at times, the loading screens seem completely unnecessary. The lack of the ability to jump is minor, but I've always enjoyed games a little more if I can jump in them. Maybe that's just my inner Mario-series-fan talking, but my opinion stands.
Finally, the leveling process is a bit of a pain. The maximum level in the core game and the DLCs(minus Awakening) is 25. Without using any exploits, getting to 25 is a feat in itself, let alone getting an entire party to 25. The lack of grinding areas or static dungeons means that you have to level up throughout the process of completing the game. As items available to you level up with you before you receive them, it could mean that some of the better items in the game aren't of the best quality.
(Note: If you do use any exploits to level up, remember that enemies also level up with you. If you're not wearing decent gear while trying to fight them, it could become much, much harder for you throughout the whole of the game.)
Warden's Keep adds a few new quests and items, along with a unique class specialization available only to the main character... not to mention the big dungeon in which it takes place. Also, if you successfully complete this DLC, you receive a nice item stash. That alone, I think, makes this a worthy download.
- The Stone Prisoner - 9/10
Like Warden's Keep, The Stone Prisoner adds a new area to explore, many new items, and a new playable character. Another great download.
After completing the background for any character that you make, you find yourself in Ostagar as a Grey Warden, ready to be blooded in combat. There, a battle ensues, and you eventually leave the fortress. This DLC allows you to return to the fortress. I can't really say much about this DLC, other than:
You will probably want to download this.- The Darkspawn Chronicles - 6/10
In this DLC, you take control of a Darkspawn Vanguard in the final battle of the game. In all honesty, the only thing that really makes this worth downloading is to know more about how the Darkspawn work, and what spells/abilities they typically employ. I did not enjoy playing as the Vanguard, because the class is relegated to a single, default build that cannot be changed. I did, however, really enjoy playing as an Ogre. This would be much more interesting if it followed the whole of the Blight, from the initial battle at Ostagar to the final battle. It would also be much better if you could choose a class and customize the build of your Vanguard. It's worth the download if you're interested in playing as Darkspawn, but for me, it fell short of expectation.
Voice Acting: 8/10
The voice acting is very well done. Each accent and inflection seems very natural. The only problem is that the main character's voice is only ever heard when performing an action of some kind, but never in a conversation with an NPC or a party member. (I was going to roll the music into this section as well, but honestly, I never paid close enough attention to it to make a good review for it. Sorry. =/)
Story: 10/10
The story of Dragon Age is extremely deep, and can be changed with a simple yes or no in a pivotal conversation. Just a few minutes into the game, you begin receiving a great deal of detailed information about the world in which you play through the medium of the Codex. The Codex is much like Warhammer's Tome of Knowledge. Any quest you complete, book you read, important conversation you have, etc.; all are logged in the codex for review at your leisure. I've spent hours just sitting down and reading through the Codex. The story of this game is amazing.
Aside from the Codex, the plot is great. Pain, loss, betrayal... the entire spectrum of human social interaction and emotion is represented, and represented well.
Overall: 9.5/10
Dragon Age: Origins is an absolute must-play game.