Not the best RPG I've ever played, but still a solid fantasy game with epic story and a great adventure.
Graphics: 7/10
Sound: 8/10
Value: 9/10
Reviewer's tilt: 9/10
I really like Role Playing Games and that's why when I heard about Dragon Age: Origins on the internet I was very curious and interested. Well who wasn't? A fantasy game with Forgotten Realms world? Hell yea hehe! Such RPG's are simply great. So I bought the game, I beat it twice and I think this is a solid RPG but with some flaws unfortunately.
Dragon Age: Origins tells the story of your created character and his companions.
When creating a character you are to choose whether you play an Elf, a Human or a Dwarf. Each of them have different beginnings. For example if you choose an Elf, you have to also decide from where are you - a city Elf or Dalish. City Elves live in the alienage in Denerim (Ferelden's capital). Alienage is like a ghetto. Because hear we have to know that in Dragon Age Elves are treated like slaves or servants only. Just like in The Witcher. The Dalish Elves are wild and live only in a deep forests, away from any civilization. So as I said, each race has different beginnings and it's up to us who will we play. Personally, I played city Elf. I love Elves hehe and they have really interesting story here in Dragon Age.
Of course when creating our hero we can customize his or her appearance. The sure thing is that no matter who will we choose to play we will become a Grey Warden. They are warriors, mages, rogues who fight with the darkspawn creatures. Grey Wardens fight for the freedom of Ferelden, they fight will evil forces for right and justice. I like it very much, great idea Bioware.
I always play as a good character.
Another important thing is what class will we play. We have a warrior, a mage and a rogue. Each class has different specializations. I play as warrior and then champion. There are many specializations so I'm sure you won't have any problems with choosing the one which is best for you.
Our main goal as a Grey Warden is to fight with the darkspawn creatures to stop the blight and to defeat the Archdemon - the leader of darkspawn.
While playing the game we will meet many NPC's, some of them become our companions.
Dragon Age is a fantasy game so we will face creatures like demons, monsters, undead and even dragons.
As a Grey Warden we will visit many climatic and memorable places. These are dungeons, castles, forests, cities, small towns, mountains. I like the idea of the camp which is great. The camp is a place where we can talk to our companions, listen to their stories and etc. It's like a safehouse and really climatic place. You know, camp-fire, full moon and stuff like that. Really atmospheric and the music here is awesome.
If we want to have good relations with our team we can give them gifts for example. It's really important because it would be great to have friends who trust you.
Our team is really interesting and it's up to our decisions how many of them will fight alongside us. My favorite is Alistair - he's an ex-Templar. He has a kind heart and knows what justice really means. He's also very funny. Alistair has a laid-back attitude and is carefree. He's the best. I just love hearing him and Morrigan (woman mage) arguing about some silly things. It's so funny hehe. It's a shame that our main character can't say something. It would be even funnier.
In conversations between other citizens of Ferelden and our team we will have to make important decisions. Too bad our main character doesn't have a voice when talking, it's a huge flaw for me.
Also Bioware could make even more conversations between us and our companions and other NPCs. This is the thing which they should learn from Japanese RPG's - more interaction with others. It's really cool that each decision we make in the game actually does have an impact on the world. Of course we can be either good or bad in our decision and I always choose "good".
Some cities are very linear. For example Denerim which is a Ferelden's capital is a huge city. But we can go only to some districts. We can't explore the whole city, that's too bad.
To be honest, I don't like creating a character. It would be much better if we had already created hero by Bioware, just like in Mass Effect with Commander Shepard. That's my opinion. What's more, there are sometimes too many battles in the game. Many times I felt like I'm playing a hack 'n' slash. It's frustraiting sometimes because Dragon Age is a hard for me even on normal.
Just like in Baldurs Gate, we will pause the game very often during the battles to think about our tactics. It's very important here to know how will we kill our enemies.
Dragon Age offers many side quests which is great. By the time playing the game we can of course upgrade our character and our companions. In the game we will find many items and weapons and that's how it should be in a fantasy game.
Dragon Age was supposed to be a dark fantasy, but it isn't. Well, there are some scary moments and places in the game, but it doesn't make Dragon Age a dark fantasty. This is a typical fantasy like "The Lord of the Rings". Is it something bad? For me no, I like dark fantasy but I also like typical fantasy with epic characters and story. Some kind of fairy tale. Unfortunately, sometimes I had this feeling while playing the game that the world of Dragon Age: Origins is boring. But not always fortunately.
The graphics in the game are bad. I mean, textures are sometimes awful just like the environment. Character models look better and there are some places which actually look good, but still it's not as good as it should be. Man, we have next generation Bioware! The best graphics is on the PC version.
I like the music in Dragon Age: Origins. It's climatic and epic sometimes. But there should be more of it in the game.
Dragon Age: Origins is a really great fantasy title, very addictive and long with epic story, not without some flaws and bugs. It's a solid RPG. If you like the world of fantasy and adventures, then you should play it.