Dragon Age: Origins

To be really honest, this game wasn't on my "must play" list. I've never really liked RPGs in general, since they somehow tend to become very tiresome after a while. However, I still got the game anyway, and there has been no regret.

The game centers around the issue of the Blight, a threat that happens once every few hundred years. This Blight occurs when the Archdemon threatens to gather all the darkspawn, bringing them to the surface to wreak havoc among the inhabitants. You end up being a Grey Warden, and you are tasked with gathering an army to defeat the darkspawn. Legend says that only Grey Wardens are able to completely defeat the darkspawn. I shall not talk much about the story, since the story is meant to be something that you discover for yourself.

Now, on to character creation. The character creation is very flexible, allowing you to design your character's face in almost any way possible. Hairstyles, eyebrows, jaws, nose, eyes, blemishes on your skin, face paint, your voice, and much more. However, I do find the amount of hairstyles limited, and I'm wondering why there's no option at all to adjust other parts other than the face. I want to be a short/tall, fat/thin, or muscular/lanky, you can't customize any of those. Everybody's body will look the same, and I find that rather depressing.

In this game, there are three races and three classes you can play as. Humans, dwarves and elves are the races, warrior, rogue and mage are the classes. However, dwarves cannot be mages as they have a natural immunity to magic. Also, each combination of a race and class has a certain background that you can choose from. These backgrounds range from a noble to a casteless person, and each of these six backgrounds will give you a different start to the game. Also, what you choose will change the reactions of people towards you. Pick an Elf, and you might see yourself be discriminated against much more often than if you were to pick a Human Noble. Each class will also have four different specializations that they can make in the game, but they will have to either learn it from another person, or from a tome that can be purchased from certain merchants.

Combat is more tactical in nature rather than real-time, allowing you to pause and give out commands to your party of four. If you want an idea of what it is like, try playing Dungeons and Dragons Online, for it is very similar. If you are a mage, you will not be able to charge in and unleash all your area-of-effect (AoE) spells, as these spells can damage your own party, unless you play on easy difficulty. Tactics can be assigned to your party members, allowing them to know what to do in a certain situation automatically. Surrounded by two or more enemies? Use cone of cold. Health drops below 10%? Use a health poultice. There are also default tactics given, allowing characters to be a damager, healer, defender, archer, scrapper, and several other default tactics that will allow you to easily set the tactics without being too much of a hassle.

What I really like about this game is the way you can interact with the characters in the game. Conversations are aplenty, and each conversation can have a different outcome, some decisions even impacting the story that you will get when the game ends. Often I find myself wondering how I should respond, hoping that the desired outcome can be achieved. Bioware (the developers) have also seemed to think of every possible reply that a person would want to make to the character, for I have rarely come across one where I couldn't find a suitable reply. You can try being a kind and hospitable soul, or an idiotic, rude barbarian, or even a person who wants a reward for every single helpful deed he does. When it comes to your party members, the interaction goes another step further. There is a approval rating for each of them, and it is based on how you interact with them. Each party member has their own set of beliefs, so how you act in front or with them will change how they think about you. Trying to go the extra mile to help someone may impress one, but it may annoy the other. You can also give gifts to your party members, increasing their approval. Eventually, you may be able to form relationships with them, gaining kisses and possible a night with them. Some of them are also able to teach you the specializations for your class.

The terrain and buildings are built on an epic level scale, encompassing tall, majestic statues, mystical carvings on the walls, and boy, if you walk into the Dwarven cities, the masonry will blow your mind. I wonder why is it that Dwarven cities are always so epic. The level of detail is also very high, with intricate designs on your armour, threads and stitches can be seen on your robes, and a full plate set of armour on a warrior never looked so good. However, one major gripe I have with the graphics is the way they portray blood on the characters. Whenever you go into a battle, the game literally sprinkles blood on you, leaving you covered in dots of blood. While I understand this is supposed to be realistic, it looks like crap. There is absolutely no design in the way the blood is splashed onto you. I maybe never have had an enemy killed behind me, but there is random dots of blood all over, from the face all the way to my toes. And it is seriously random dots. Yes, dots. DOTS. I have my graphic settings maxed, so yes, it is dots.

The music is pretty much scarce, and will only play when an event happens. Combat music will play when you enter combat, and it will disappear just as quickly once the fight is over. That is pretty music the only music you will hear throughout the game, other than one or two celebratory pieces at the end of the game.

The amount of lore in the game is vast and plentiful, as you will come across many books, scrolls, and events that will give you an entry in the codex that you collect. These codexes contain much information, from quest information, information about the creatures you fight, the people you meet, and the places you visit.

All in all, this is one game that no one shouldn't be playing. Pick up your arms, join the Grey Wardens and let us begin this battle.

Graphics: 8.5
Sound: 8
Gameplay: 9
Lasting appeal: 9.5
Overall: 9.5