| Author | Review |
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Price de Nice
62,438
TA Score for this game: 1,181
Posted on 13 November 09 at 22:48 |
This review has 68 positive votes and 6 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
I've wanted to write a review for this game ever since I first got my hands on it. The problem is, once you get your hands on it, you barely have time for anything else.
Looking to immerse yourself in a fantasy RPG with old school roots and a well designed choice system? Enter Dragon Age: Origins, the latest RPG by the specialists at Bioware. A wonderfully crafted game with minor flaws that don't detract from the overall experience, you will however; envy your PC peers.
It's hard to break down a game as complex as DA and present it in numbers. It would be easy to score the game low on graphics, but it would be wholly unrepresentative of the product. Considering all the quest lines and the sheer volume of the game, I'm not surprised the graphics aren't top notch, much of the available power/memory what have you, was dedicated towards content. Even at that, the graphics are pretty enough that if you let yourself really get into the game, you would be hard pressed to notice.
DA has an immense offering to the RPG fan. There is always that first 20 minutes of RPG shock that you go through. The one where you open the interface and realize you have no idea what your doing and nobody is about to explain it to you. I managed to get over this learning curve and beyond it is a wonderfully designed interface which allows you to change equipment, see the stats of your different characters, the talents and skills your characters have and so on. It feels very natural, very fluid, with no lag when changing between different parts of the interface, a problem I had with Oblivion. My one bone to pick with the interface is that I have yet to discover where I can find the amount of XP my character needs in numbers until the next level. There may not be a way, that would be a shame and it would render attaching numbers to experience points utterly useless.
Although it's important to discuss graphics and interfaces when talking about RPGs the main element of the game is the story. DA has an incredible story. You meet many well voiced NPCs during your adventure throughout Ferelden and it really does feel like your choices in key situations effect the nation and it's struggles against evil. Your choices also affect how your ally's think of you. If an ally thinks highly enough of you and the circumstances are right a romantic relationship may evolve, conversely, if you make decisions which your ally's disagree with to the core they may even desert you. It really helps with the immersion knowing things you do actually have an effect on the world around you. The moral system is also more ambiguous than in other titles. Wrong or Right are ideas that Ferelden are struggling with. When you make a choice some characters may agree, some may disagree and not always according to their Good/Bad alignment. It allows you to make choices you would make it real life without fearing the consequences of desertion.
Example. Early in the game I encountered a merchant who was being harassed by refugees demanding that he stop his price gouging in a crisis. I personally believe that he may sell his wares at whatever price he chooses so I shooed away the refugees to save his business. Naturally my 'good' character thought this was abhorrent. Capitalists are not welcome in Ferelden :p.
Lastly, a game might have decent graphics and a good interface and an amazing story, but without the proper combat mechanics to accompany it, the game may easily end up being absolute crap, for a lack of a better expression. Here is the hit or miss part of DA. Some people will love the battle system, others may dislike it. I enjoyed it thoroughly. On higher difficulties EVERY battle is one you can end up frustratingly mashing the A button to restart at your latest save. However, when you win it is very gratifying. You have used a combination of tactics, skill and some luck to out maneuver your opponent and win the battle. I've heard that compared to PC a lot of the combat tactics have been left out and the game feels incomplete. Rest assured, having never played the PC version I don't feel the game is incomplete, it is a great experience. The battle system has a lot of depth, I won't get into all of it. I can say that if you prefer a hack and slash RPG and don't care too much for tactics, you can turn the difficulty down to casual and just enjoy the story and the ride.
Just a short summary of the game mechanics to allow people the ability to choose if they want to play this game. The game has a class based system, warrior, mage, rogue which have their own sets of specific skills, you can control everybody in your party, but only one person at a time. The characters you are not controlling will behave automatically according to default settings, or settings you choose using a very detailed 'Tactics' menu.
The achievements for DA are all single player achievements and they are all easy. The only modifier is time. Getting them all will take A LOT of time. This game may reach the hundreds of hours marks for some passionate players, but even on one play-through expect 40+ hours and not getting all the achievements. You will get an achievement for every pivotal choice you make, so unless you are very deft at saving games you could be playing this game through more than two times. You'll understand once you play the game that it is much less of a chore than it sounds.
Well, I've tried to keep it short, by consequence a lot of information is missing. The just is here though, DA is an incredible game backed by the great RPG pedigree at Bioware. For once, I would prefer not to give this a score out of 5. This game is very subjective, many people will love it, some people will hate it. I will say that if you've been itching for a classic RPG run to the store and get your hands on this title, it's a must have.
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DivTemplar
77,224
TA Score for this game: 2,081
Posted on 11 July 10 at 01:49 |
This review has 21 positive votes and 1 negative vote. Please log in to vote. |
Single Player
Dragon Age: Origins offers one of the best single-player rpg experiences on the Xbox 360. It has a rich and detailed lore surrounding the game world that sets up the stage for your adventures in the game. The main story is also very intriguing and is full of twists and turns that will keep you entertained for the whole ride. It also offers many side-quests that flesh out the world with many unique stories, and every conversation you have reveals more information about the world of Dragon Age. If you love a good fantasy world, than Dragon Age doesn’t fail to disappoint.
The story is the traditional Bioware set-up, with a bit of a twist. When you create your character, you get to pick a race, an origin and a gender. Depending on your choices, the characters in the world will treat you differently. More importantly, you play a short 30-60 minute intro story that is unique to your origin. Then there is a 30-60 minute general intro sequence that you play, before the world opens up. You have to travel to multiple different locations, in any order you choose, in order to get different factions to pledge their loyalty to you for a battle against the game’s main enemy, the Darkspawn. Each area you go to have its own problems that you must sort out before they will pledge allegiance to you. Like everything you do in Dragon Age, solving these problems tells you more about the society and world of Dragon Age. The story continues on and ends in a grand finale. The main is very interesting.
In addition to the main story, there are multiple side-quests to complete. Some can be found from npc’s in the world or unlocked by having deeper relationships with your party members. Side-quests are usually very short but are still pretty interesting and fun to do.
To any veteran’s of Bioware rpg’s, the party system should be instantly recognizable. The characters are all truly unique and each one has his or her own story to tell, if you can have a good enough relationship with them through conversation. In addition, there are the usual romance opportunities with party members, though not all of them can be romanced. Also, each character has their view on every choice you make. Making one choice might please party member A but displease party member B. This makes the game much more interesting and life-like as party members will treat you differently based on their attitude towards you. The party members are very interesting and a great part of the game.
Combat is very similar to KOTOR, for those of you that played it. In essence, it is auto-attacking where you choose when to throw in your special abilities. Some may find this boring, but fans of Bioware from the KOTOR days will love the system as it is very similar.
Overall: Beautiful story, rich and deep lore, unique and interesting party members and multiple side-quests to eat up your time.
40/40
Replay-ability
Dragon Age is one of the most replay-able rpg games on the 360, if you enjoy the game. Each origin is unique, and so playing through each “starting area” is very attractive. In addition to this, the way that you origin story also blends into the main game world makes it very interesting to do a complete play-through and see how your character is treated and what situations mean more to your character then they did to the one on your previous play-through. Also, since there are many major decisions that you make that change the flow of the game, playing through a second time to see the opposite effects of your decisions is a must. Since there are three classes, rogue, mage and warrior, you may want to play them all at least partially through the story. There are also things you may miss in your first play-through, such as quests given out by your companions that you may not have unlocked because you didn’t build a relationship with them before or some side-quests that you never completed because you got caught up in the thrall of the main story.
Overall: There is so much replay-ability for Dragon Age. One play-through, not including DLC and including most side-quests, will take from 17-24 hours. However, if you get swept in by this amazing game, expect to have three or more complete play-throughs. High marks because, eventually there is a point where all games get “old”, but Dragon Age offers a lot of replay-ability before that moment.
28/30
Graphics
They are definitely not the best out there, and there are some graphical glitches out that may annoy you. However, everything looks great for the most part. The major graphical flaw that is very annoying is that when you do an “execution” move on some creatures, your character will make the motion of you stabbing it through the head as if with a sword, but you will be wielding an axe. I don’t think the blunt side of an axe would pierce that great.
7/10
Audio
The world sounds lovely. The music goes well with the game, although the sounds can sometimes be cheesy. The voice-acting is marvelous and high quality. Your character doesn’t actually speak his/her lines in a conversation, but that is understandable as who wants to hire that many voice actors for that many lines?
9/10
Achievements
The achievements in Dragon Age are all obtainable, but as with most RPG games take time and some are a grind. To get most of the achievements, you will need 1-2 play-throughs of just general play. However, there are some like the Traveler achievement where you will need to actually focus on what you are doing in the play-through and try to get those particular achievements. Although it will take time, it is fully possible to get a full 1000 Gamerscore. Most importantly, the achievements are fun to get.
10/10
Overall Score = 94/100
Closing comments: Dragon Age: Origins is an absolute must buy for any Bioware fans from the days of KOTOR. Any other RPG fans out there should rent this to try it first as its play style is definitely not for everyone. Personally, one of my favorite RPGS on the 360.
Note: This review is also available on my IGN account TechyGopher.
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TimTaiwan
84,307
TA Score for this game: 866
Posted on 22 January 10 at 01:32 |
This review has 22 positive votes and 5 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
About two months ago I picked up Dragon Age: Origins for half price. I am in Taiwan, and the first buyer of the game did not have good enough english to play the game. I do (thanks mom!). Overall my impression of DA has been a mixed bag. First what I like about the game.
Depth - There is a depth of choices in characters (Race, background, class, specialization.) That will make you want to play it again to see what might happen. There is also a depth of history, I have picked up more history books than I will read  , but beyond that there a depth to the people and places that you interact with.
Difficulty - Although not terribly difficult, the game does make you think and apply strategy. Most games these days don't want to alienate people and make it so elementary age students can solve most puzzles, or success is determined by button mashing speed. So I enjoyed dying a few times, because I thought "humph, I am going to have to have a good battle plan here."
What I did not like
Pacing - I am a child of D&D, I started playing it in early 80's. That being said, I felt this game crawled at times. I like a game to bring a role playing game to life, not simulate a role playing game. Comparing it to Mass effect, I felt the battle system made me have to micromanage each step in the battle. Mass effect allowed you to slow things down at times to do something cool. But in DA real time often means death. It really made it a lot less immersive when fighting. This was because it was more difficult than most games, but I felt this cut both ways.
Dialogue - I have had this beef with a lot of RPG's. You are give 4 choices for some really key interactions. Many of these discussions can change the flow of the game completely. Nothing wrong there. But sometimes you have to guess at the tone in which your character will say the line. I once or twice thought I was being nice, but ended up saying the line sarcastically and alienated a main character. Luckily I save often.
Graphics - Although there are a few scenes that have a good feel to them, battling a huge dragon on a mountain, I was let down by the level of graphics. Comparing it to Mass effect, Disappointing. In addition, the gore splattered characters were more humorous than gruesome at times.
Overall - I have liked the game, but I am glad I did not pay full price.
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Hell M0nkey
112,558
TA Score for this game: 2,231
Posted on 02 December 09 at 13:31 |
This review has 17 positive votes and 5 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Dragon Age: Origins is the long in development fantasy RPG from Bioware. Intended as the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate it faced high standards to live up to, along with a daunting three platform release. Thankfully it managed to meet and exceed expectations.
Right out of the gate you will notice that Dragon Age is a nice looking game but not great. The 360 version runs the smoothest of any (not counting a super PC) but it does make some graphical concessions. Edges aren't always smooth, and characters though detailed do lack a lil bit like they could be on PS2. It does look good though, spells are nice and the game flows without any sort of slowdown or delay.
The voice acting and music are all great. Some recognizable voice talents appear such as Simon Templeton (Legacy of Kain) and Steven Blum (Cowboy Bebop), but everyone is good and you don't hear anyone recycled for the most part. The other characters will also hold their own conversations while you wander the world, giving you a bit more view into their personalities as they talk to each other.
That leads into the reason Dragon Age is such a great game. The characterization and the story. The game draws you in and makes you feel like you are indeed playing your character. With tons of choices to make and plots to address as you go through the story you will actually make them based on "what would my character do" rather then think about what piece of equipment to get or achievement to unlock. This complete ability to draw you into the story and world elevates it beyond the ratings given here.
The combat in Dragon Age is very similar to that from Knights of the Old Republic. In the console version you unfortunately can't pause and que up attacks to occur, for the most part things occur in real time. (when you enter the menu though things to stop but you can only get one at a time). Still it is easy to get hold of and with some advance though most battles can be conquered.
Dragon Age is a great game. It puts the world and characters into your hands. With six origins, multiple character combination, and four different endings (with numerous tweaks to them) it has a plethora of replay value and will keep you coming back long after that amazing new shooter has been picking up dust.
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LessrOf2Weevils
74,073
TA Score for this game: 2,753
Posted on 17 October 10 at 18:38 |
This review has 13 positive votes and 2 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Another gift under the tree this year, Origins comes from BioWare, the same folks that gave us Knights of the Old Republic (best Star Wars game ever!) and Mass Effect. However, instead of being set in space, this time we've got ourselves a good old Sword and Sorcery piece. With it's deep malleable story and extensive dialogue trees, Origins is instantly recognizable as a BioWare game, but for those that are familiar with the previous titles there are a number of notable difference.
First off, gone are the good/evil meters judging every one of your decisions. That doesn't mean your decisions don't have consequences. One the contrary, your companions still react to what you do, as does the story. In fact, the permutations as to where the story goes is more extensive then in any of BioWare's predecessors. The game not only has multiple endings, but multiple beginnings and middles, and someone who wants to see them all is going to be kept busy indeed.
Second is the depth of the game play. Origins is a tougher game than Mass Effect, sometimes a bit intimidatingly so. The learning curve at the start is a somewhat steep, but ultimately this game becomes more rewarding for it as you continually discover more abilities and tactics, even during repeated playthroughs. One of my knocks on Mass Effect was how easy it got, even on the highest difficulty level, once you got into the second act of the game. With Origins, I found myself turning it down to "casual" on my first playthrough. On hard, this game is sure to challenge any RPG veteran out there.
Bioware has also put in full, and solid, voice acting for all of their extensive dialogue trees. With far less repetitive side missions than in the previous games, Origins becomes much more engaging. With a deep and engaging story, and intriguing and well voiced characters, Dragon Age Origins is easily one of the best RPGs out there, a must for any fan of the genre and likely a good idea for those that aren't too.
My only knock, what's with the blood? I mean, it's almost comical how much blood gets sprayed around in this game (very Monty Pythonish), and they carry the blood splattered characters right into the dialogue scenes where one can't help but giggle as one blood smeared character calmly talks to another. Oh well, I suppose it is visually distinctive.
Story: 5
Interface: 4
Game Play: 5
Challenge: 4
Fun: 5
Overall: 9.5/10
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shadowbow7458
97,200
TA Score for this game: 2,753
Posted on 25 February 13 at 12:32, Edited on 28 February 13 at 15:30 |
This review has 4 positive votes and 3 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
Dragon age: origins review
May contain spoilers
Dragon age: origins [DAO] The Genre is an third person Role-Playing - Action RPG developed by bioware it is available on Xbox 360, PS3, PC it was made in late 2009
Story: 9/10
The game is set in Ferelden the character you play as is a gray warden The origin story you does not fit into the game and they all result to the same thing which is going to Ostagar. I don't like the part of the game where you have to go to Ostagar but the rest of the game but the rest of the game is part of an epic series of games and beats most other games in their story.
Dialog: 9/10
You have to go around finding people to help you solve the blight. The characters in this game have emotion instead of an card board cut out of a person. The people [your companions] actually makes you what to listen to the people [companions] unlike some games the voice acting is excellent you can understand what the people say I would recommend this game to anyone who likes role playing games. The people [companions] in this game are brought by gifts they like you and will even jump into bed with you if you give them the right and enough gifts speaking to them also helps
Game Play: 7/10
The game is based around the 6 origins stories this forms a basic plot for the story to come this also includes a basic tutorial on how to play I think personally they don't tell you enough they should give you more information on the tactics. Speaking of tactics you can command you're companions to do as you wish. The attacking animation on this game is so bad a repetitive most of the abilities look very similar.
Difficulty: 8/10
This game is quite a hard game I won't recommend it to anyone with anger issues if you haven't played a RPG before this would be a good place to start. The bosses in this game are actually challenging they are even harder if you put it on hard or nightmare if you decide to play on these difficulty's then be warned friendly fire is on. The achievement aren't really that difficult there is one or two but what game doesn't have these.
Graphics 6/10
The graphics in this game aren't that great on this I notice at one point in the awakening that the texture were missing for the dwarf wouldn't spoil who they are but there face textures were missing this effected the dialog because on his head all I could see was his ginger hair and beard this was very annoying especially for important scene cuts. Because I didn't know who he speaking to and I couldn't see his reaction to some dialog choices
Entertainment: 8/10
The game is addictive once you've got into it and will make you want to do multiple play-throughs. Most of the game is fun but there are a few bits in the game which make it boring like the Landsmeet it is a boring part but all you do have to do is skip through most of the dialog choices all in all this game will take up many hours of your life.
47/60
4.2
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cc99999
252,771
TA Score for this game: 534
Posted on 07 November 09 at 19:32 |
This review has 6 positive votes and 11 negative votes. Please log in to vote. |
In a Minute Review - Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age: Origins is the spiritual sequal to the classic PC RPG titles of days long past. So much so that this title seems as if it could run on a ten year old rig. It's amazing to me that this long into the Next Gen life cycle- and there isn't a single action RPG that comes close to looking as good as Oblivion.
Dragon Age plays very well, thankfully, which makes the place holder artwork easier to take. You are allowed a fair amount of customization, there are six distinctly different origins stories. The stories are where this game stands out.
Typical of Bioware, you are presented different dialogue options as you interact with literally hundreds of npcs. The choices you make shape the outcome of the game. The game also allows you to develop your character according to your play style.
I decided to six different games with each of the character classes to find the type of character that works best for me. I found the dwarf commoner story compelling because it allowed me to be a scruffy hardened heroine. I also liked my pragmatic human mage- whose motivations aren't entirely known to those around him.
Dragon Age locks off sections of the game to you and isn't truly as open a world as a game like Sacred 2. That said, the world of Sacred 2 always felt a little bit empty and lifeless. I don't get that sense in Dragon Age. Instead I feel like I'm playing a good game of D&D. Instead of looking across the room at an ugly dungeon master- I get to look at ugly graphics. I take that trade off.
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