Dragon Age: Origins -my little review

[Integritas0]

It's totally cool!

The graphics are excellent... the combat is challenging and exciting. Giant spiders, Orcs, Golens, undead, and some really scary monsters (this game has a 18+ rating for violence and horror.

But the best part is characters/interaction. The graphics are good enough that it all plays like a modern animation film... the actors doing the voices are brilliant also, pretty big names like the woman who played Janeway in Voyager. You kind of recognise most of the voices and they are so professional compared to most games.

You also get to create and shape every aspect of your character, Sims 3 style. So I made mine into an uber-cute little elf and even managed to give him some dinky highlights!

Is anyone else playing it? You can also get downloadables and add-ons. The reviews are universally 'great' 'masterpiece' etc. Any of the shops I went to kept selling out, and I am not the type to book in advance but I finally got the last one left from a recent batch. I didn't bother with a rip, because it can work out as 20 GB, and there are limitations then updating or doing extras online.

The game is about 35 euro.

Oh any people are advising you get the PC version -the console version pales by comparison. The graphics are nowhere near as good and you can't pause during combat to plan moves.

Superficially it's comparable to Batman Arkham Asylum, but with much more depth and endless abilities and sub-plots and a huge world to explore, not just one small island.

Be warned that there are no cheats, unless you want to go about editing ini files etc.

 

[paladino]

well... i started an elven mage
its quite nifty
espcially the mental-telekensis skills

my only problem that i dont have a proper AOE with him

i find the whole dialog that runs between the chars amusing and i really like the origin part
i just got the golem and he`s hilarious

 

[Fiddy]

... I don't want to spoil stuff, but when you do the dwarven set of quests... take Shale with you. You won't regret it, I'm thinking.

 

[grdiscrete]

Zevran is a romance option for male characters.

Also, there is some great party interaction between him and Wynn if they are both in your party.

 

[paladino]

i think this one is better then NWN 2

i actually think that NWN 1 is better then 2

btw - have you notice on dragon age that once you unlock a class upgrade it stays unlocked?
meaning you can actually buy a class book, then load a save before you bought it and it stays unlocked

 

[crime_06]

oo i sooo want this game, hoping to get it for christmas, im a big WoW fan and heard you can do things like combine spells to make better ones =D

 

[herod]

I love this game! The story is very interesting and thoughtful. I just finished it today I wished itd be a little bit longer.

 

[shain707]

Yeah there's stuff about the gay sex scene all over the net...I'm surprised no one mentioned that...I know you don't want spoilers but I think gaymers should know why it's worth it. It's been all over the net the past few days...even the New York Times:

Article


Please anonymise links to external websites.

Thanks!

AlSun

 

[grdiscrete]

In reference to the NYTimes article, the tryst with Zevran is as tame as all the other romance scenes. If little Bobby gets to a point to see it, he has played the game with that objective in mind, besides it is a mature 17+ game that should not be in his hands anyways.

I like it how they have no problem with the lesbian scene...

 

[noone88]

It's the best game of -09, hands down. Reminds me of good ole Baldur's Gate 2.

 

[Fiddy]

Ooo, speaking of Baldur's Gate 2, did anyone catch the little reference to the demilich? Gaxkang, or something to that effect?

 

[noone88]

Ooo, speaking of Baldur's Gate 2, did anyone catch the little reference to the demilich? Gaxkang, or something to that effect?

Yep, Kanggax in Baldur's Gate 2 and Gax'Kang in DAO. Another one is the red robed waitress in the Gnawed Noble Tavern who's name is Edwina (only pure mage party member in BG2 Edwin, if you do his personal questline he accidentally transforms into a woman. I think one of the other party members start calling him/her Edwina. Fun times! ).

@Integritas0: Nope, NWN2 has had worse reviews than DAO, mainly because it was buggy and glitchy as hell when it was released.

Anonym to www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/neverwinternights2?q=neverwinter%20nights%202

Anonym to www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/pc/dragonageorigins?q=dragon%20age

 

[noone88]

They didn't develop NWN2, Obsidian did.

E: I didn't really like NWN2's story although it beats NWN's by far. NWN1 relied heavily on user made content though, didn't like it.

 

[Fiddy]

There's an Edwina?! XD AHAHAHA, oh god, I totally missed that, thank you, now I have a reason to replay it. I'm easily amused, so that whole thing in Baldur's Gate had me laughing pretty much everytime I clicked on Edwin, and instead of that lovely accented voice, an angry slavic woman shouted at me.

 

[noone88]

I have actually, it looks good and it's supposed to be tough to beat. I don't have PS3 though and afaik it's PS3-only :/

What's with Obsidian anyway? They've only created sequels to other studios' franchises so far. KOTOR 2, NWN 2 and now they're making Fallout: New Vegas. Alpha Protocol is their own IP though.

 

[sniper90]

Well, mixed-opinion:
I don't like the fact you can't get EVERYTHING (e.g. you can get that awesome bow by making Owen hang himself OR get the boots of diligence which is needed for the set effect)
I'm a freak when it comes to role-playing games, so I try out every option and find the best

It does have a MASSIVE range of choices and how this affects later gameplay, which is quite nice. I found Orzammar and the Fade really tedious and boring though.

I did like the fact you can be gay

 

[noone88]

I've done 3 playthroughs and the game says that I've only completed about 80% of the game, there's more left than all the origins since they only add few percents to that stat.

Btw, have you heard about the expansion already? The Awakening.

 

[Fiddy]

Apparently a sequel has been a foregone conclusion for "some time". I like that people say that without giving any evidence, as well as the fact the game hasn't even been out that long, really. But then, we had that with Mass Effect, and it turned out true there, so we'll see. I wonder how a sequel would work, given... er... I don't know if we can hide text behind spoilers or anything on this forum, so I'll just say: given some of the things you can do, a sequel would... how WOULD they do it without invalidating some of your choices? Unless you're a whole new person, I suppose.

 

[noone88]

I can think something that has something to do with Morrigan in the sequel which reminds me of Baldur's Gate 2... Bioware has said that Dragon Age is a franchise and they will do a sequel if it's possible. Given the success of DAO, it's highly likely that it'll get a sequel or two.

 

[Fiddy]

It does seem to point at her, especially with her being the face of Dragon Age and all that, but... well, then we get back into the whole Knights of the Old Republic problem of having to cement the particulars of what happened at the end of the game, given how large one PARTICULAR plot point is. Ah well, they've gotten pretty good at that sort of thing, now, so.