Dragon Age Origins
8.9
10
61
61
good game
its good but hard and get ready two put a lot of time in
9/29/11
Definitely a game that wants to get serious!
There is a modest learning curve in getting to know this game (atleast for me there was).The game controls and game menus and awesome powers and talents of the characters are very well thought out- the game requires it for all its depth! This game was everything I hoped for in a magic style good versus evil game! AWESOME special effects.*applaus*. Congratulations on a game that really delivers the goods, entertaining, and even scared my 10 year old daughter a few times while I was in a big ugly blood, magic, and giant fist smashing-down on the enemy battle. P.S. there is NOTHING cheap about any characteristics of this game-every movement was natural-NOT squared or cut cornered when the attack was coming 'round...which carelessly programmed games will have. To sum this game up, it is the kind of game that one could play multple times and find something different about it each time...play it -its a good game but give it a chance to grab you.
9/8/11
Great for Any Level of Gamer
Dragon Age: Orgins (henceforth referred to as DAO) is one of the best games I have ever played. It's very interesting comparing how the different backgrounds and races are treated by others and how your character also reacts. The game gives you choices that are viewed as good or evil and the choices you make will affect the overall outcome of the game during the epilogue. I have had the game for a while and have yet to beat it as it is a very time consuming game. I have spent over 30 hours and am about 1/2-3/4 of the way through the game (which doesn't include any side quests or downloadable content quests), and that's just for one origin. So, theoretically, if you wanted to play all origins and see all possible endings, you would spend hundreds of hours playing it. The soundtrack to the game is amazing, my only complaint is that there are occasional buzzing noises, but that could just be my computer being at the minimum requirements for the game. There are four levels of difficulty: easy, normal, hard, and nightmare. Easy is best for the casual gamer and one who wants to experience the storyline and not struggle through the game and nightmare is great for the expert strategists. The graphics are really good for a PC game, the default setting may not look stunning, but turn the graphic and texture detail settings all the way up and it will look great. BUYER BEWARE: The PC game takes up around 15-20GB of space on your hard drive so if you don't have that much space I would advise solving that issue before purchasing this. DAO is an excellent game that I would recommend to anyone.
6/13/11
The best RPG game since...ever!
Amazing game, amazing characters, amazing story line. It was so plot heavey, like heaven- but with more blood, romance, and humor! Really this has to be the best game I have ever played. I play it all the time, always with a couple of games going at once. I never really played video games before this, but now I cant stop! It is easy enough for casual/new gamers, while hard enough for hardcore gamers if they so chose! The best of the two that are out, with the second game lacking in the depth and plot. Play this! You will not regret it ;]
4/13/11
10/10 - Almost Flawless!
Dragon Age: Origins is by far one of the best games out there. Since I am a creative writer, I LOVE plot heavy games. This was perfect for me. I enjoyed every single minute of this game and even went back and played it three times, each with a different story. The game is extremely open-ended on how you can make your moral decisions, which creates a lasting appeal. The story ends different every time based on your choices. That's what I love about this game. I especially liked the deep character development and how you could become involved with your companions, since it made you feel as if you were in the actual word of Ferelden. The graphics were great, but definitely could have been a little better, considering that you had to load each area that you visited. That was a problem: the loading. Unlike how Bethesda made their game with Oblivion, Dragon Age had much more loading, since you must load each area you visit. The loading made me feel disconnected from the rest of the game. On the other hand, the plot and story development made up for what it was lacking. The fighting strategy was very easy, and I liked that aspect. It was extremely simple to switch from character to character during combat, and I absolutely loved how they set up the skills. I really wish more gamer companies would come forward with RPGs such as this. After playing this game, it's hard to play any of the others that I own. Seriously, do yourself a favor and buy this game. 10/10 -- Wow!
4/9/11
I Luv this game!!!
I am an avid PC gamer. I have tried all genres on the PC and let me say the Role Playing is the best genre to play on pc. Now i read through some of the other review before i wrote this one and for the most they were all good and to the point but there was one guy who said that there wasnt much action in this game etc etc. I really want to know what game he was playing. This game had plenty of action. It was a good story, and the plot was excellent, but the best of it all was nothing was exact. The way everything played out could have gone 200 different ways. I went back and replayed this game in every culture, Human, elf, dwarf, warrior, mage, etc. This is one game that swallows you up into the gameplay and story. I couldnt stop thinking of it when i wasnt playing it. Overall one the best games ever invented and i cant wait to play DA2. I know there will be more stories like Oblivion. The way this was layed out it could go on and on like that game but this one i played from the beginning woo hoo!!!!.
2/8/11
DAO!
First of all let me say this game is fantastic. in most games now a days they start off strong but lack an ending... this game doesnt. the story is amazing. the ending fantastic. DAO is a pretty long game so dont expect to beat it in one night
12/12/10
Dragon Age's focus on story makes fantastic game
I wasn’t expecting much from Dragon Age. Honestly, the name turned me away and made me dismiss the game as some geeky Medieval-themed game that we’ve all seen far too many times. Seems I was wrong.
My favorite part of Dragon Age is the sheer intricacy of how the game can be played. From the beginning, the first thing that you will notice is the several dialogue options given in every conversation that ultimately influence how you will handle an event or person. Throughout the game, your choices will increase in how serious their impact is on a quest and the ultimate outcome of the game.
Games like Dragon Age break the mold of traditional video games in the sense that the player writes the story as they choose. Through the numerous choices presented throughout the game, it can be said that, in a sense, every player’s gameplay experience ends up being a unique one. This also makes the game that much more addicting. Dragon Age’s plot can’t be spoiled like that of other games. Before long, I found myself playing through the game not because of the challenge of winning, but instead to see what was going to happen next in the story.
In most games, the storyline is shoved under the table; it is set from the beginning of the game and the player can influence little of it. It ends up not being an essential part of the game. To compensate, these games rely on graphics, elaborate missions, and a good bit of bloodshed (and for those who love this in their games, Dragon Age won’t let you down). Dragon Age capitalizes on plot, but the developers knew that it would have to be player-interactive if it were to be the key part of the game.
Every aspect of the story is based upon how the player wishes to play the game. You customize your own character in the beginning and pick what you want the background of this character to be (elf, human, dwarf, coming from nobility or a lower caste), which in turn will change how the game is played. The storyline is then consistently kept close with gameplay throughout the game, as every quest ties into the grand scheme of the plot and every task is relevant to the story behind your objectives.
Some might say that a game like this ends up being too complicated if there are always different ways to do things, each with their own consequences later in the game. I, however, appreciate the extra effort put into Dragon Age’s story. It’s like playing a video game inside a good book, taking the interactivity video games have to offer and combining them with the good plot of a book to make one highly addicting game.
12/6/10
Become a part of Ferelden
One of the major things that sets Dragon Age: Origins apart from other video games is the origin stories. Instead of a predefined character background, your characters background is decided by your choice of race and class. Once you complete the character creation you begin an origin story specific to your character’s race and social class. This is a very clever way to increase the immersion of the player because it lets them play through a background that they know is pseudo-unique and often form better connections with their chosen character.
I think the origin stories are very well done. They do a good job of introducing you to the in-game world and your character’s individual culture. In the magi origin story you learn of the circle and the limitation placed on mages by the Chantry. In the Dalish and City elf origin stories you learn of the oppression of humans and the resentment towards them felt by elves. You also learn about the culture of the Dalish if that’s what you chose or the life and hardships facing a city elf. In the Dwarf origin stories you learn of Dwarven society and your role in it. In the human origin story you learn about the politics and treachery of human nobles. All of these do a good job of putting you in the mindset of your character. As a city elf were you unsure if you really hated humans? Well in the origin story they steal your soon to be wife/husband and take advantage of your cousin. Hate them now? Bioware hopes so. Because of the oppression of humans there is a lot of tension between the two races. As a player with an elf character, how are you supposed to experience that tension? Bioware answers that by providing you with a first-hand experience of the kind of cruelties humans inflict upon city elves. If this doesn’t cause you to hate humans it most likely at least gave the player an understanding of why there is such racial tension.
In Dragon Age: Origins you are given a chance to play through the backstory of your character. This backstory gives relevance to the plot, setting, and other characters. This helps a great deal with immersion in the game. I often found myself in the mind set of my character. As an elven mage, there were a few moments when some human said something insensitive to me and I was genuinely offended. My reaction wasn’t, “Oh, I think my character would get angry at that so I’ll choose the hostile dialog option.” My reaction was much closer to, “What did that he just say?! Well i'll show him!”, which happened to be much closer to one of the available dialog options. Dragon Age: Origins, without a doubt, is one of the most immersive games I’ve ever played. And I’m an avid video gamer and RPG fan. I believe that a large part of this immersion is due to the origin stories. It’s like an intelligent conversation. You enjoy the conversation much more when you’re well-informed, understand what is being said, and can contribute your own ideas and take on it. In Dragon Age: Origins, the origin story is what makes you well-informed, and the rest of the game is one very enjoyable, and long, conversation. I recommend this game to any and every one. There is so much to do and so many choices to make. This is one of the few games in which the gameplay really made me care about the narrative, mostly through dialog and quest options. This game is very well made and is well-worth buying and playing through multiple times.
12/6/10
Pretty interesting, not much action
Dragon Age is a very customizable game. Just in the first five minutes, I’ve gotten to choose my race, class, hair color, skin tone, and many other characteristics for my avatar. I thought this was pretty fun. I ended up choosing a human rogue.
I stated off inside of my father’s castle. Following an extremely transparent set up, I awoke to find that in a “Hamlet-esque” turn of events. My father had been betrayed by his best friend. Finally the action had started and I was in real combat. I had fun fighting my way through the castle to the secret escape route.
Now while this was a very exciting game, I didn’t find it to have the best plot, or the most immersion. As I mentioned previously, the plot was very transparent, I could tell that something fishy was going on from my very first conversation. When fights actually did break out, I didn’t feel surprised at all. And it wasn’t as if I was able to fight the bad guys myself. It all comes down to which character is stronger, and nothing to do with skill. The game also isn’t very immersive. Since the game basically consists of talking to people with a little bit of fighting, it’s not a game you can play absent mindedly. You have to give this game your full attention, and that is juts boring. I don’t feel as if I am the character, I feel as if I’m waiting waiting the whole time.
The plot didn’t get much more entertaining from there on. As the game went on it went from one cliche storyline to the next. I didn’t mind though because unlike most games, when I was annoyed by how someone was acting, I could choose to be friends with them, or simply kill them in most cases. This versatility in game play made the plot one that had a basic structure, but that the player really gets to shape themselves.
That being said, the reason that this game is actually fun is the many choices players can make. While the many conversations are time consuming and not very captivating, it is kind of fun knowing that your decisions have an effect on what happens in the game. So even though the plot isn’t that great so far, and the game isn’t very immersive, it is very fun to play.
12/6/10