Where to start... BORING! Let's start with the good, though. The world created is well done and the choices they force on you are great. The bad now...The combat is the worst ever thought of. Same f'in' thing over and over. And over. Setting up your guys to do stuff is cool, but that is where it ends. The story is boring and the graphics are terrible. Look at a tree in that game and you will understand. The conversation choices could be brought down to 2 choices, because you will only need to answer yes or no, basically. The rest they tell you whether you want to hear it or not. It is essentially KOTOR 7 years later with zero improvements and way worse combat. Bioware is way overrated. Mass Effect sucked, too.… Expand

Bioware definitely disappointed me here. Don't get me wrong the game is solid, but when held up to the past achievements I was definitely disappointed. The graphics were on par with ME1 and the story felt tedious at times. With a blockbuster like ME2 right on the heels of Dragon Age you'd think that Bioware would have polished the graphics a little more. Definitely don't miss this game because it is enjoyable, just don't set your standards to high.… Expand

A brilliant RPG with combat which is a mixture of Mass Effect and KOTOR. As such, combined with an engaging story and interesting characters, all the elements of this game bond together to make arguably the best RPG on this generation of consoles.

An Excellent adventure, If you're a fan of the Knights of the Old Republic series then you will feel right at home with BioWare's latest RPG. The Story line is magnificent, the character development and the combat can only be described as old school. The only reason it misses a 10 is because of some hit and miss voice acting and Graphics that can at times feel a little dated, never the less, this is a game that BioWare fans, simply have to own.… Expand

This game is so rich in story and the pay off for time spent in its lavish world is untouchable.

This is the first time I've gone for a Bioware RPG on Xbox, rather than my PC-- and I'm kinda wishing I had gotten DragonAge for the PC. A couple reasons-- the graphics I've seen for the PC version are remarkably better also the pause factor standard with all Bioware stuff is still much better on a PC--along with combat control/micromanaging. However, even with the lackluster porting from PC to Xbox, DragonAge Origins is one stellar RPG--more akin to Baldur's Gate than Oblivion (yay for NPC party). The characters, relationships and story arc you create are completely immersive and soon you forget all about the console issues--which is a massive compliment to the story of the game. My few gameplay issues: Vast amount of quests--and sometimes they aren't real clear (or mapped) --making it a chore to rifle through them--much easier to do on PC, not so much on the XBox. A couple environments were difficult to figure out b/c of this--and sometimes the payoff was so little that the whole quest felt kind of like a job rather than fun. Same with some dialog choices--decisions--subtle responses can change your entire game if you're not careful, and unless you want to replay the game a bajillion times to get different outcomes, you find yourself reloading to get the outcome that feels best instead--which I don't think was the intention. However, the main story arc was so solid and epic that it's worth it all. As others said, the story is pretty much ripped wholesale from others (LotR especially)--but it doesn't matter--it's still epic and totally fun.… Expand

Good story, interesting world and characters with lots of fun action. The graphics are not great and the GUI for reading codex entries is horrible.

phics suck for a modern game but the story is awesome. I also like how the origins thing worked.. Game is fun but controls in some of the battles having to pause to direct your teammates was a litte tricky. Once again the story made up for everything

Not the fast action game advertised. Turn based chess like game with wildy varying level confrontations, even with similar enemies throughout. Great story though. Buy lord of the rings dvds and reset DVD player randomly as you watch to replicate experience

Incredibly poor graphics,combat,spells etc.I was expecting a better version of an Oblivion type game but instead forced myself to sit through this generic rubbish.I thought they had stopped making this type of crap years ago.It makes sacred:fallen angel look good;and it was rubbish too.Points for the awesome trailers.

BORING! TEDIOUS! MIND NUMBING! The fighting is the fun but it is so hard to get to. 1. First the world map sucks. There are 7 or 8 major areas and each major area has multiple subareas. You cannot acces the sub areas from the world map. You have to go to the main area and then walkthrough that entire level to get to the sublevel you need to get to. A sheer waste of time. You have to do this a lot because of the limited inventory. You will be in the middle of a dungeon and have to walk all the way out and then, walk out of the sublevel(s) to get to one of the main areas where the stores are. So much walking, walking is not gameplay but you will spend more time walking then anything else. Fast travel was invented so people who wanted to actually play the game could do that. 2. Looting is made boring as hell because of this. You have to buy extra backpack slots but to do that you need money so you have to sell everything to afford the overpriced crap. Why is a damn backpack so expensive? Nothing you do will make you money. The economy is hell bent on destroying you. Crafting loses you money. You cannot get ahead financially. 3. Interface on console is a jumbled mess, this game is so cluttered with unmanageable crap that it easy to tell the console version(s) were an afterthought. There is a lot of info and very little space to manage it in. 4. The color palette is bland as hell and the textures are trash. Lots of clipping to, should be called clipfest 09. 5. Talking=suck! So you have to have long drawn out conversations. You get various conversation options but you have no idea where these will lead. You will undoubtedly be mean to someone when you were trying to be nice or cut off a conversation tree when you are trying to get extra information for making a pertinent decision. You will loses quests because you picked the wrong phrase. That is trash! 6. Beatdowns! You will get beatdown by random creatures that are not bosses. Anything from the fade will own you until you acquire certain items. Random fights where your party faces one creature will suck because you will get pounded out. The combat and story are great but they are blocked by some much extemporaneous dreck that you will undoubtedly be made miserable trying to get to it.… Expand

This is the best RPG-game i played i hope mass effect2 will be better but this game is also great

I have to say the game started off well but quickly lost it's appeal. It was insanely boring and tedious as another review stated. Also, in my opinion, having additional party members is required to survive the sheer number of enemies at time but when you're playing different classes and need time to position yourself, you quickly find yourself missing out on the action by the time you get there.… Expand

I have no desire to pick up the controller and continue with thousands of pointless and too-long conversations with NPCs that contain all the excitement of a touch-tone menu. The graphics are quite bland, but not as bad as Mass Effect's random planets. Most outdoor areas are devoid of details, just an ugly sloping ground plane with too-few plants dropped in. Sweeping views from high vantage points render comically. They could have taken some hints from Assassin's Creed or Fallout for how to make terrain beautiful. I LOVED BG and NWN. But with me, ME, JE, and KotR fell totally flat. Maybe these things just don't grab me on console... I'm about 12 hours into the game and it still hasn't really grabbed me. I'm waiting to be floored like most reviews say I should be, and after this long it still hasn't happened.… Expand

Beside the character models, this game's graphics are xbox or ps2 type. Still, the story is good and very long. I like the fact that the combat can either be hack-and-slash type or very tactical-strategy type. The only reasons this game is not a 10 are because of graphics and that it's not an true open-world rpg like Oblivion.

Got it yesterday and haven't been able to put it down. The sun came up before I realized how many hours had gone by and all I can think about at work is getting home to play it some more.

I can't believe all the companies saying that DA:O is out dated gameplay wise. It even says in the description that the game is returning to its roots. Mass Effect was a fun game, but why are all these guys comparing the two. One's a straight up RPG and the other is a Shooter-RPG. It's like comparing Baldaur's Gate and Borderlands.

I own the 360 version, and even with its presentational shortcomings (several other RPG's one-up it graphically - Specifically Oblivion and Bioware's own 2007 game Mass Effect just to name a couple), you'll love the story, design, and gameplay excellence for what it is: The true successor to the Baldur's Gate series.

After spending a little bit of time with this massive RPG, I must say that I am enjoying my experience. It's graphically inferior to the other 2 versions of the game and well below what should be expected from the game market of today however, the story will suck you in. Bioware always knows how to write great stories and create massive games that give you your money's worth. All in all this is a very well polished and time consuming game and well worth the purchase if you are a Baldur's Gate fan. If you are looking for an experience more akin to Oblivion, I do not recommend this game.… Expand

Fantastic game. No one can make RPG like Bioware. The dialogues are... just amazing. My vote for game of the year.

This is a good game. Although this game is decent the company was just tricking themselves into thinking this would be a ground-breaking game. I like the RPG elements but they actually are uminspired. Baulders Gate was much better and this is a lot better than Mass Effect. Overall I would say SAVE YOUR MONEY FOR MODERN WARFARE 2!!

Ok, this is not a graphic killer game, ok, the PC version is (maybe) superior than the consoles version... but it's an amazing game who locks me in front of my TV for hours... And for that I give it a 9 !

1up's score is not a 100. Their maximum score is A+ and they gave Dragon Age an A. So their score should be a 90 or so.

The first eight hours of play where fun. After that mark the game went from fun and easy to retarded and not fun. They monsters advance way to fast for you to keep up with. The massive amount of npc talk gets very boring very quick. I was disappointed in the game.

this game is one of the better. the storyline is definately its best quality, managing to keep you drawn into the universe of origins at all times. You get a great feel for the Characters, and you start to learn their ways, ideal and principles quickly, andd you learn to predict what their choices would be in the situation. impressive and rarely seen if you ask me. gameplaywise, it doesnt manage to do anything specificly new, other than the tactical element. but i get the general feeling, that the difficulty curve is very deform. some things appear very easy, but some things, like random encounters, are absolutely punishing. there were a lot of thing s that were absurdly difficult, and that drew the game away from me. and, before you start pointing fingers, i did spend a lot of time in pause… Expand

I would have preferred spoken dialog from the protagonist, and the graphics suffer from the occasional hiccup now and again. If we had been given a USB keyboard / mouse option, I'd be completely in love, but having spent time with Mass Effect, the controller commands were not particularly difficult to migrate to. Make no mistake, the content here is enormous and the execution with which it was made is nigh flawless. This is a game that oozes with the love and care of it's remarkably talented creators.… Expand

Definitly a good RPG and a good game, but i think it misses something. I yet don't know what since i've played it only 4 or 5 hours, but something is missing... that's why I give it "only" 7 instead of 8. Anyway, graphics look pretty good considering that this kind of games keep many and many hours of gameplay on a single disc. RPG have never been famous for graphics due to this. Compared to oblivion has some good points but also some lacks. Good: BIG enemies! Oblivion (apart from gamepacks) missed big monsters, here you find them. this is good. Party-based action, this is also good (for me). Lacks: fighting sometimes is a little bit chaotic. Less freedom of movement, you can't go everywhere, i.e. when the character reaches an edge i just stops, you can't fall... not that good...at least not that realistic, that's for sure. After all a good game, there aren't many RPG on modern consoles, so this one can cut itself a little piece of space to be played along with the others.… Expand

I can't give it a ten because of the graphics, yet a 9.4 to 9.7 seems fair enough to me. Some elements of the storyline are predictable, but the maturity level ,presentation, and quality of the story telling makes up for it. Political and social issuses in the game draw out real emotions from within making the game experience more personal. Futhermore, I enjoy the fact that you actually have to set your AI character tatics in some parts of the game in order to pprevent your party from wipping.… Expand

Graphics are decent, story and world are incredible, combat is, in my opinion, extremely fun. Sometimes, and this isn't always the case, it seems like the dialogues can drag on (when you're in the mood to kick some ass, I mean) and it would've been cool to give the main character a voice. Also, Roger R and Zac whatever, are idiots.

Playing this game as a Mage characters seems to be the way to go. I initially started out with a warrior and the combat seems a little wonky-kind of just alot going on and somewhat difficult to determine how much impact your character is contributing to the fight. I think the mage combat is really good generally because you can stand back away from the action and allow your player to do damage and heal. Its much easier to grasp your impact on the game. I find the graphics to be fine with no real issues and the story line is as good as I seen in any game this year. You have to be a fan of this genre in order to fully enjoy this game. I can easily see people either love it or hate it.… Expand

This game is easily one of the best RPGs ever produced. While the system is a bit difficult to get used to because one is not able to micromanage like the old school games, I still think it was awesome. After three playthroughs I'm still digging through my options and I can play the game through differently every time. The choices here are not black and white... very shades of gray, which is exactly how it should be. I don't get the complaints about the graphics. My only complaint is that I wish it were more seamless like Oblivion.. but that's not what Bioware does.… Expand

Best game from them since KOTOR - this game is KOTOR but with swords and shields instead of lightsabres. When i was originally waiting for Mass Effect i was hoping for more of a Jade Empire/KOTOR experience but was let down but overjoyed that a different direction still hooked me,now im overjoyed as i have a game that reminds me of KOTOR and Jade Empire,and love a new direction with Mass Effect that has a sequel on the way and being a big fan of all of Bioware games i can only hope they continue the good work.Who knows where their emotional engine they use within their games will be in many years time.The only game where the the dialogue and choices you make actually makie a difference and shaping the world around you its a win win situation for me. 9 out of 10 although it would have got a 9.5 if they had ironed out all the bugs and made the graphics just a tad better.… Expand

Even though it's visuals might not be state of the art - the story is totally engrossing and the world ha sucked me in. For the record, I actually prefer playing on the console to the PC, but that's probably just my taste in games these days.

Uninspired. Combat is Neverwinter Nights with less options (like no action queuing) and the gambit system from Final Fantasy 12 (except with much shoddier AI). The world is well fleshed out, but there's so much useless fluff it actually detracts from the game experience: I don't need 5 minutes of dialogue trees from every pointless NPC just to know I'm in a "living world". Like all Bioware games, you are set on a completely linear path with the illusion of choice, but only when it doesn't really matter, as the game just puts you back on path regardless. An extremely massive and well polished game, but ultimately, it's not actually very fun once the novelty of the world building and well developed generic story wears off.… Expand

K first off roger r. could not be more wrong in his analysis of the game. It's not turn based, so please play the game before you start giving it horrible reviews. Second this game is not for twelve year olds. If you are twelve years old i would stick with Halo 3 where you'll fit in with all the other mic screamers. Lastly this game is actually very good, if you like the RPG elements of Oblivion you WILL like this game. Nothing is wrong with The Lord of the Rings references they were great movies. So please rent this game if you like RPG's or Bioware I promise you won't be disappointed.… Expand

Almost positive the guy that gave the score of 1 on the first page hasn't even played this game since he described this game as "turn-based" when it is definitely not a turn-based rpg. But anyways, the graphics are average. Fabulous story, very entertaining world and characters, and one of the most addicting games I've played all year. Thought that the rogues were nerfed in the early character levels, but they get much better as they lvl up fortunately.… Expand

I personally love the return to party based rpg. I loved Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, and NWN. Many people who never played those prefer their rpg's light - like Mass Effect - too short, too basic. I am enjoying DA:O and am still hoping for BG3 to come out one day. I don't see the big deal with the graphics myself. I prefer gameplay and story over them in my rpg's anyway.

This has to be one of the best RPGs i have played in a very long time, if you like Knights of the old republic, baldurs gate, never winter knights, you will love this game its one of my personal favorites don't let other people tell you other wise!

I finished playing Assassin's Creed 2 right before starting Dragon Age on 360. Dear god this game is ugly in comparison. I could barely force myself keep playing it, but now that I'm a few hours into it its getting pretty fun. I still don't understand how the same people who released a pretty RPG like ME could release something that looks like this, but the gameplay is pretty intriguing.… Expand

A difficult to navigate interface, bugs, sub-par graphics engine that just looks bad, bugs, difficulty level that jumps around like a bipolar flea at a dog show, and more bugs make this game a rental at best. I simply do NOT believe that Bioware actually developed this, more like the Bioware farm league. There are too many actual game bugs, inconsistencies, and just general bad design decisions to really call it a Bioware release. Don't be fooled for a second to think that this is the 3D version of Baldur's Gate. It isn't. The story is actually very good and the branches that you are FORCED to take are, for the most part, interesting, but the piss-poor interface and just bad gameplay, combined with the crushing difficulty level (even on Normal level, expect to restart. A LOT) applied to situations that you are forced into or cannot play around bring it down. And it doesn't really look like a 3rd generation graphics engine either. There are too many small, pixellated textures stretched over very large objects and a very washed out look to everything. Highly disappointing.… Expand

+ Addicting. Hours can be spent outfitting your party. Visuals, you grow accustomed to them. Feel like a major BA while laying waste to large groups of enemies. After playing for several quests it gets much easier to switch between party members and use all their amazing abilities. Must buy. - Poor looting system

Awesome game initial graphics are a let down but u soon become acustomed to that. Mad story even if it feels like its been taken from movies and other games. Combat system is fun. It is hard sometimes in pause combat to direct everyone. Quests can be mapped poorly or confusing. The origin idea is fantastic and all in all a solid game...

The story of this game is extremely well written. I love the fact that you have so many different starting options. The control scheme takes about 10 minutes to get used to, but once you start playing,,, hours pass before you realize that you've been engrossed for so long!

Dragon Age: Origins... what a game, really! In all the reviews I read before purchasing my own copy, the main complaint about this game was most definitely the graphics. Myself, I still found them really nice, but that's because I am accustomed to Wii and last generation consoles. I just got my 360 recently. Still, as I became acquainted with the 360 graphics, I did find myself grimacing at the horrid lack of sharpness. Some things are downright ugly, which is strange because the exact same areas, like facial hair for example, are so well done in Mass Effect. Strange... graphics are my only real complaint though. The story is incredible. Most fantasy novels, and there are countless ones out there, could not hope to compete with the storyline of DA. DA is like an incredibly epic 6 novel series, beloved and classic, adored for generations for its detail, imagination, and majesty. If you ever wanted to play a game that felt as epic as watching or reading Lord of the Rings, but still felt totally original and not as a Tolkien rip off. You've got it here. Granted, there are huge homages to Tolkein, but the approach to generally stereotyped species like elves, dwarves, even orcs (who are renamed "darkspawn" in this game). These species are reimagined in ways I had never thought of before and was incredibly drawn in and fascinated to see. The world is so real, so immersive (The codex is so huge, so well thought out, that you'll fancy yourself a Ferelden scholar by the time it's over). The darkspawn are generally much more evil and chilling than even Peter Jackson's orcs, and I found them an incredibly chilling foe to face, but abominations are pretty horrifying too. Character development: top notch. You'll love these characters, and some you'll be irritated by, not because of their voice or looks, but because of their actual character. There are multiple gut-wrenching moral decisions that are genuinely difficult to make, that you must think deeply about. Very few companies can make you care about the characters in a game like Bioware do. Great game. Incredible story, characters, imagination, and atmosphere. Absolutely nauseating graphics. I'd say it's worth it.… Expand

It's much more linear than a game like Oblivion, but that's okay because all of paths you are able to go on are awesome. Dragon Age Origins feels like an old-school RPG in the best way possible. The combat is paced so that you can strategize effectively and still feel the excitement of battle, and the story and characters are excellent. My highest recommendations for any RPG fan.

An epic immersive storyline, some fantastically humorous and emotionally engaging characters (Oghren and Alistair for myself). A somewhat clunky and combat system to begin with, but definitely one of the better ones for its genre. A huge campaign quest line and side quests that can take from 40 -100 hours depending on your own speed and interest. Each of my play throughs has taken ~60 hours, considering few games last longer than 10 hours of gameplay this is a great investment.… Expand

Decent story, gameplay, and characters. Some major problems on consoles include many glitches, extremely weak graphics, and a slow battle system. Would receive a much higher score if it weren't for technical issues.

I really should have liked this game more than I did. Here's how it lost points: game play and storyline was very derivative (this is D&D Neverwinter Nights re-packaged, folks), the game is so restricted to such a small part of this fantasy world, I felt claustrophobic and finally parts (not too much) of the game was tedious and boring, boring, boring. With a little work, this could have been a legendary RPG.… Expand

Dragon Age for the XBOX lives under the shadow of its PC counterpart. Many of the criticisms that can be tossed at the console version such as its graphic, GUI and companion control issues are non issues on the PC. But if you don't have a PC that can play DA don't let that persuade you to pass on this game though. After losing its license for Dungeons and Dragons, Bioware did a fine job of constructing their own in depth world although admittedly not nearly as vast as Forgotten Realms. Those that enjoy reading about the world via codex entry will be in heaven here. I personally missed quite a bit of information because I didn't follow-up and read all the entries (and there are LOTS of them) as I came across them. Sometimes I would complete missions I didn't even know I was on. I think that the tsunami wave of back story you find in the world is an attempt to quickly build the history and mythology of Ferelden to be as immersive as the world of Baldur's Gate. As overwhelming a task as it may seem, they've done an awesome job (let us give a toast). I also appreciate the mature content in this game. I find that game studios are becoming more prudish when it comes to sexual content and gender roles but more liberal with graphic violence and death. Not that this game overly objectifies a particular gender but at the same time I didn't feel like I was in an after school special. My fear is that this game is among a dying bread of adult games and that game studios in the future will create nothing but PG and PG 13 like games. Support Mature games and buy Dragon Age!… Expand

Dragon Age: Origins is a good game with a few major flaws. While the characters, voice-acting, and dialogue are all excellent, the main problem is the length of time it takes to get things done in this game. The excessive micro-management of the inventory is an absolute nightmare (collecting billions of items is most definitely NOT role-playing, for those who may think otherwise), and you start to get bored with cavern-after-cavern-after-cavern of the same basic combat. Given the excessive length of this game, these kinds of things really hurt the replay value. Still, it's a great story, and this game is a decent start to what could have been a worthwhile franchise for years to come. Unfortunately, the sequel was an absolute disaster.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is what you call an rpg. the story like is really good and keeps you drawn to the game. you find your self needing to complete with all the races and classes that are available to play . the game play can be a bit similar to other stuff on the market but you dont really notice it while you are playing. Dragon Age: origins i do recommend to rpg players.… Expand

The main story is very good and has a lot of great quests. Unfortunately it is not helped by the poor graphics and the fact the main quest is very very hard.

This game is amazing. The graphics are not great for a 360 game, but everything else is way above average. Great story, great characters, great voice acting, great music, and very challenging gameplay (at least if you play it on Nightmare). The gameplay is very strategic, and it is very rewarding to finally win a difficult battle after many tries. Also, the characters are so well developed that they truly come to life on screen. This is my favorite RPG for the Xbox 360.… Expand

Very, very satisfying game. The customization ability in the game is superb. So many choices in creating your character physically as well as classes and special abilities. The game also has a great storyline and history to it. I'm sure if you took the time to read everything that you pick up along the way, it would read much like a fantastical story. The game can be difficult at a few points but for a beginning gamer, it should be a simple task on the easiest difficulty. There is tons of replay ability in the game. It will make you want to change characters and play a whole new storyline. It took me around 25 hours to complete and i didn't do too many side quests. The DLC will add a pretty substanial amount of time as well. The audio is great and a few characters really stand out in their voice acting. The one complaint I have with the game is the graphics and bugs along the way. There are many blotched settings and bugged conversations, which can get annoying. However, the game was tremendous and i recommend it to somebody who loves RPG's. Overall: 8.7/10.… Expand

This game was.... a pleasent surprise actually. A bloody good story that's quite dark and mature (And is mature in the way it handles these darker elements) with a wide cast of lovable characters and an antagonist that you just love to hate. Yes, the style of story is nothing new but it certainly is the best of the formula. The combat is not really my thing but I found it fun anyway, and I actually had to reduce the difficulty because this game is HARD. You can still play this game as a casual if you lower the difficulty but even on normal you WILL need to gear up, choose your party wisely and go in with a plan if you want to win most fights, even with trash mobs. It was a little frustrating at first, but there's the option to lower the difficulty if you wish, and it's nice to see a game that isn't super-easy or super-cheap, considering the abundance of those games nowadays. The best characters in the game by far are both Alistair (You always want to hug him :3) and Morrigan (She's a **** but you love her for it :D). Both are polar opposites but are both played masterfully and their interactions are some of the funniest in the game. Of course Zevran is great, but his backstory and seeming lack of character development puts him at third unfortunately. He's still great though. In conclusion, if you love a good hero story or old-style RPG's then you will LOVE this game, as it is basically the perfection of the formula.… Expand

Ok, so being a fan of bioware and their previous games such as baldurs gate, KOTOR, mass effect etc I knew what to expect from an RPG from them, this game being very similar to Knights of the old republic in many respects I was at home with the way the mechanics of the game worked such as interactive dialogue etc. They storyline is very consuming and characters very believable, i even felt myself feeling for them at some points of the game. The combat is not real time and when leveling up your characters and others you have to constantly change their 'quick' set of moves from the menu to the more powerful moves etc so they dont keep the old less powerful ones, the menus are full of statistics and the codex contains interesting info about each important character in the quest, which helps to build an understanding of their relationship to you and the game world. Each main character is voice acted superbly and the story is absolutely convincing and draws you in in a way only bioware RPGs do. This is the best part of the game and will keep you playing as the gameplay gets a bit repetive after a while. Now the main problem with the game is the difficulty, I started out on the highest difficulty (nightmare) which of course was extremely difficult but to the point where i found myself stuck in the wilds at the beginning of the game unable to progress because i could not defeat the enemies, after many failed attempts I changed the difficulty and after a little more put it down to casual, the problem was sorted out for the most part. However the difficulty level still seemed to jump in places from being very easy to being very tough, which was frustrating. Other than that I'd say the lack of the 'light' and 'dark' side meter took away from the experience as there was no consequence to being evil and your character leaning toward a darker more sinister person. Or doing good deeds becoming a 'lighter' type of character who helps those in need. I also would have preferred the game touse real time combat like in mass effect, except of course with swords etc. Overall I'd recommend this game to any RPG fan but not over mass effect 1 or 2, which I believe along with KOTOR are the best bioware have to offer.… Expand

This has to be one of if not the best games I have ever played, the story is fantastic and that alone will have you glued to your controller for many hours, it's emotional, intense, and epic, and the characters are the best of any Bioware game so far, only a few characters from the Mass Effect series are this enjoyable, but you still do have some lame followers like Sten and Zevran, but for the most part they are awesome, and they are genuinely hilarious, I found myself often laughing until I couldn't breath at some of the conversations between the characters (Alistair and Morrigans bickering is a laugh riot!) and the combat system works well for the game, and feels every bit like a classic RPG which is a good thing, and it has HIGH replayability do to do to multiple character creation options and different choices to make, that and it's just so much fun, and for all these good things I was originally going to give this a perfect 10/10, but there is one flaw, during the end of the game there is a HUGE difficulty spike, don't get me wrong the game was always challenging, but it was the rewarding kind of challenging, but at the end it's just frustrating, before that combat is nicely paced and you have just enough enemies to feel challenged, but in the final moments your constantly swarmed with enemies at all sides, and this also happens during the final boss battle, I mean the boss itself is tough, but just tough enough to be fun, what makes this encounter so frustrating is that when you get its health to 50% he sends in swarms of enemies, which once again overwhelm you, I eventually made it past this boss battle, but only after a lot of cheap deaths, I mean nothing i the game prepares you for that, no warning or anything to how frustrating it will be in its final moments, but even with those flaws I still loved this game and it has earned itself a special place in my heart, and it's an experience I will never forget, it's just a shame that the final moments are so frustrating, but this is a near perfect game, and I highly recommend it to any and all gamers, this is definitely one of the greatest games of all time.… Expand

This is good RPG with some good characters, intriguing options, and a decent story. I disagree that it's the "spiritual successor" of Baldur's Gate (though even DA's creators don't claim that), but I'm not really sure that DA tries to be anything other than a new fantasy RP IP and a good one at that. It's much more focused on action and character development than Baldur's Gate, while lacking the depth and richness of the environment and narrative of the BG series. Combat can be a bit wonky. I recommend being a mage for the greatest flexibility and tactical strength. Anyway, this is a fine RPG, but it's clear that Mass Effect is Bioware's flagship RPG series. Maybe Dragon Age 2 will prove me wrong, but ME2 set the bar pretty high. Unless you greatly prefer fantasy to sci-fi, choose to play Mass Effect before this.… Expand

Dragon Age is above and beyond better then any non open world fantasy RPG on the 360. Which sounds less impressive then the game really is. It has superb voice acting, great visuals, a memorable plot and loads of content. The combat is also a treat as it incorperates strategy elements that make you think fast and use your team as a cohesive unit. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a new franchise to put faith in.… Expand

I was never a big fan of Bioware at all. In fact, when I first put this game in my 360, I was already having doubts on if this game will be good, because I tried Mass Effect, which is considered to be Biowares best game, and didn't like it. I admit that the game looked good when I first saw it. A friend of mine decided to let me borrow his copy of Dragon Age, which he later said I could keep with no charge. Thanks Josh. So, why am I thanking my friend for a game by Bioware, a company I never liked? I'll tell you why. Because this game IS AMAZING!!!!! I'll be perfectly honest, Oblivion is one of my favorite RPG's ever, but I think Dragon Age actually beats it. I'm already looking forward to Dragon Age II, it has become one of my most anticipated games on 2011. So since I only have 5000 characters per review, let's get to the game. The most important aspect in any game is, of course, the gameplay. So, how is the gameplay in Dragon Age? Outstanding! It's like a very fast paced version of the Final Fantasy XI battle system, except much more active. You're not hacking and slashing, but it's still a very active system. Don't you worry Turn-Based Haters, this game is not turn based at all. They basically took the turn-based battle system from FFXI, and removed the turn-based part of it. Absolute genius! You can also set techniques to your quick cast buttons, much like setting your items to the C-buttons in Zelda. This makes it easier, because anything that's not set to your quick cast buttons, you can only cast by opening up the ability menu, and selecting it. However, this is quick, and is a great way to pause the game if you need to observe the battle and decide a change in strategy. Of course like any other advanced RPG, you can create your character to your liking. You can choose between 3 races. Human, Elf, and Dwarf. I decided to be an elf. After that, you choose your job. You can choose one of 3 jobs. Warrior, Rogue, and Mage. I decided to be a rogue, because I like sneaking around and being quick. Each job has 4 specializations that you choose from after unlocking them through quests in the game. The rogue specialization I chose first was Duelist, which is a person who can deal very good damage, and is very good at dodging attacks, and is best with dual wielding daggers. I later made Archer as my 2nd specialization, that one should be obvious. But in case you don't get it, it means you use a bow and arrow. Each time you level up, you get points to spend on character attributes to make him stronger. You do the same with your party members. By the way, you don't travel alone, you have a party with you. So obviously, this means you have to keep a well organized party. As far as the story goes, the story starts off differently for every race, but it all leads down to the same story. You become a Grey Warden, a special warrior meant to protect the people from the darkspawn. Of course that's up to you. The game has the same choice system as Mass Effect, so the choices you make will affect you later on, and you can choose to be a good guy or a bad guy. Not only will your decisions affect you later in this game, but they will also affect you in Dragon Age II, so choose your path wisely. In either case though, you have to gather allies from around the world by either helping them solve their problems so they can aid you, or by forcing them to aid you. The only problem with this game is it's difficulty. Casual mode is too easy, but Normal mode is way too freakin hard. It's like the game completely skipped Normal mode and decided to make Normal mode hard mode. Even the hardcore RPG players are usually playing the game on casual mode, because Normal mode is way too hard, it's nearly impossible. One can only imagine how difficult Hard and Nightmare modes are. I have yet to hear of anyone who can play the game all the way through on Nightmare mode. All and all, fantastic game, and it deserves every penny you pay for it. It has to be one of the best RPG's of all time, so if you love RPG's, pick this game up. Mass Effect ain't got **** on Dragon Age! 10/10.… Expand

Just as good as Origins except where it counts, the end. The ending and even the later parts of the game just serve to ruin the story from Origins. I would love to erase this from my memory and from the canon of Dragon Age as a whole.

I was so looking forward to get my hand on this game, only to be face with dissapointed. The story line is pretty good, and the voice acting are top notch, but how the developer tried to make this game not to be is what made this game not so appealing to me. After almost 16 hours of playing time (I did't do any of the side quest), I'm almost about to give up on this game. It take too long and very long conversation just to get the mission and it takes longer to get it start. They are just too many long dialoque with options (which what you choose will effect the story) which make this game so slow and long. I want more fights, treasure lots, boss fights, which this game doesn;t give it to you. But when you do get to fight, this is where the game shine. Combat sequences are fast, great animations and plenty of powers to play with, which you'll get new one each time you level up. This could have been a game that I would spend hundreds of ours playing it, but it fell short. I might give it another try someday.… Expand

The storyline is absolutely brilliant and deserves a 10. Wish it was like Mass effect though as your character never speaks. You only choose your answer and people reply. Graphics are OK at best, but no game should depend solely on graphics, the mechanics aren't that great either. The story is the thing that makes this game good and compelling!

Best game I have ever played. I realize this much more so, given how much I hated the sequel... I loved the dialogue, the environments, the story and the variety. Oh DA:O, you'll be missed.

A fun and engaging game that tends to be clunky and surprisingly one-dimensional at times. DA:O tells a great story, with rich characters, a riveting plot and superb writing/voice acting. However, this game gives off the appearance of variety and freedom when, in fact, it lends itself very strongly to only certain strategies. Combat is fun, but can be repetitive. Additionally, unlike in better-designed RPGs, not every build can be good at combat. The rogue build is useless in the later portions of the game when enemies become quite strong, and the tank is...well, the tank is never fun to play. The DD can be fun to play, but mages are just so powerful that it doesn't make sense to control another character. This problem could be avoided if the system to control the actions of your party members were more exhaustive, as in FFXII, but it isn't. Even the story plays to a specific role. Want to be the bad guy? You'll lose several of your characters permanently, because they disagree with your choices. The most powerful healer in the game has TWO opportunities to leave your party, if you make decisions she doesn't like, and it's pretty hard to trudge through the end of the game without her.

The level system feels limited, as well. You level a lot early on, and rarely later in the game. Additionally, certain skill trees are really just not that useful. Again, there appears to be many choices, but few are of those choices are meaningful or appealing.

Finally, the game does not have high replay value. You quickly notice that much of DA:O's appeal came from its story, plot and characters. Once you've gone through it once, a second playthrough feels like yeoman's work. You'll find yourself skipping almost all the dialogue, wishing some of the long, drawn-out linear portions of the game (specifically, the Fade) were shorter or non-existent, and probably building the same character you built in your last play through...because there are really few viable builds.

But all that said, DA:O tells a great story and is an entertaining and rewarding experience.… Expand

I really love this game. I feel like this game was made specifically for me. Being able to choose from different origin stories for your character is an excellent idea that guarantees replay value. The story is well written, deep and enjoyable. I don't feel the graphics are that bad, although I don't feel they're that good either. I do love the art style though. The realistic character animations really help with the immersion of this game. I felt like I was in this world and I cared about every choice I made and everything that took place in the game. This is definitely one of the best rpg's out to date. Highly Recommended!… Expand

Dragon Age: Origins gripped me from the very beginning. I have fully played through the game with three separate characters, and had a partial play through with a fourth. I've easily invested several hundred hours playing, and loved every minute. Out of everything I like about the game, there are two components that stand out:
1) I had to make difficult decisions with no obvious right answer, and my decisions had impact.
2) The character interactions were outstanding. I loved learning about what made each of my party members tick.

The game was outstanding, and made it easy for me to decide to pre-order the sequel (something I have never done before).… Expand

I have completed this game 14 times so far and still want to play it. The characters are genuinely funny and charming. The story is epic and the choices I made seem to really affect the world. Gameplay is a tad on the slow side but allows for some tactical manouvering. Graphics are not great but the immersion more than makes up for that. Amazing experience from BioWare a must get game.

¡Por los Guardas grises!

Bastante tarde, aunque ya saben el dicho... Llega el analisis de uno de los mejores videojuegos que nos ha deparado la generación con caracteristicas bastante peculiares y con el respaldo de un estudio ya acostumbrado a crear obras maestras, como lo es BioWare.

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By no measure an awful game, it manages to deliver exactly what it claims to. Containing many loved classic RPG elements and the tried and true formula for all recent Bioware games (Mainly Mass Effect and KOTOR) this game is surely to keep you occupied for hours on end. Being an FPS gamer myself (ArmA 2, Halo, Oblivion if that counts, being a hybrid game and all), I found myself bored nearly 36 hours in, especially during the deep roads quest arch, however, loving a good story and good characters, I found the motivation to push through to the end and even enjoyed it enough to purchase the expansion pack, Awakening. All in all, I give it a 9, and hope to enjoy Dragon Age 2 just as much.… Expand

Poor graphics for 2009, no doubt, but an undeniably wickedly good RPG through and through. From the immersive storyline (a bit of a LOTR rip-off, mind you), to the great voice-acting, the endless fun banter between the companions (Alistair & dog! Morrigan -sigh-), the camp, the 7 different origin stories (what a treat), travelling and exploring Ferelden, finishing moves, the codex, the beautiful songs (Leliana!!), the artstyle, the romance, the combat tactics etc it all sucks you in. You are genuinely interested in what people, specially companions, have to say. In one word, you have to own it, period. Buy the Ultimate edition which includes the expansion (Awakening) and all 7 DLC. This RPG is as good as the genre gets. Bioware, thanks for making yet another game.… Expand

Origins is an example of how games can be brilliant and immersive without amazing visuals.Alot of dlc and and expansion some better than others.Its one of those games that grows and grows on you,and thats quality.The combat in this version clunky but still fun when you go trhough the class upgrades.All in all well worth checking out if you havent already.

Dragon Age: Origins is a shining example of what made RPG's like Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, and Knights of the Old Republic such engaging and entertaining games. Everything from the combat system to the story to the dialogue feels old school and, while this may turn off many gamers, for those wishing to experience old school tactical fantasy, Dragon Age: Origins is the perfect game.

Great game, great story, great RPG. In my opinion this is one of the greatest games I've ever played and including DLC was an amazingly fun 80 hours. Wish it didn't have to end, and thanks to the re-playability, it really doesn't!

Dragon Age II is a failed attempt to build a story set into the world developed in Dragon Age Origins. I will briefly describe and rate different aspects of the game.

Graphics: The graphics aren't bad but they by no mean redefine the industry's standards like some critics claimed. 7 / 10

Gameplay: The combats are interesting and compelling but the game's mechanics are tarnished by a few problems that really hurt the fun factor. Mostly, you just walk around in town and endless waves of weak humans attack without real reason (they are some civilians walking around with no reaction). The fights are too fast for the player to really set in strategies. Also, the difficulty of the fights isn't fluid. Most of the fights are way too easy on normal difficulty you will want to set the game to hard until your champion meets a real challenge that kills him in a few hits. Many people also criticized the threat system (how enemies pick their target) not without reason. Aside from a short expedition into the deep roads, where you actually kill real enemies and bosses, the fights offer no surprise. Finally, the player will also spend a great amount of time moving from places to places on the city map to talk to characters that has uninteresting things to say and tiring quests to give.
6/10

Interface: The big improvement compared to Origins is there. Cycling through the menu is less of a pain and everything is set and explained fine except for a few details. The crafting is now done at specific shops (or Hawke's house for convenience) and doesn't require learned skills. I thought it was a big improvement over Origins, where I felt many character and inventory tweaking were unnecessarily complicated. The skill tree is also vastly improved and many useless skills were removed or combined to reduce possible skills to a compelling amount. 8 / 10

Story: The player embarks into the quest of Hawke, a refugee from the dark spawn invasion triggering the events of Origins. Unlike all games, there is no real quest here but the underlying veil of social ascension punctuated by an infinite pile of uninteresting and mostly incoherent side-quests. The story, which spans over ten years played through four acts, is boring, dull, and shows nothing to hide the fact that the game is just about button smashing your way through side-quests. The champion eventually attempts to bring down the Chantry (mostly a dubious sketch of medieval Christianity) but it wasn't the mission or the intend of the game from until very late into the story and it still feels as artificial and a pretense to kill easy targets as the rest of the quests. This makes the whole game deprived from the very single touch of epicness, a big strength of Origins. An RPG, with no story, come on. 0 / 10

Role-playing: Upon playing an RPG, you are usually expecting two things: playing a role and building a character. Since there is no story, the role playing can only be provided throughout the dialogues where you to get to select an answer between three dialogue patterns: Kneeling **** idiot clown and jackass. Note that the considerable margin between the written tab and the ensuing vocal dialogue made many people consider themselves as Hawke's schizophrenic soul. Furthermore, the three options always lead to the actions after a line or two of stereotypical **** Character customization has been simplified, following the trend of Mass effect and american boys' brain. The warrior can no longer wield two swords and dual wielding rogues can only use daggers, thus forcing the damage scale on dexterity. Inventory items require two set of attributes now. Warrior weapons and armors need strength and hp , rogues need dexterity and critical damage and mages magic and mp. There is, therefore, no way of customizing your character aside from the skills selection. 2 / 10.

Level design: Except from the short expedition in deep roads, where the game designers even dare to send you back for side-quests, all you get (and by that i mean ALL you get) is a mountain, a mine, a town, a foundry, a backstreet a little keep and an Island. Every area has to be visited about an hundred times to complete the mostly mandatory side-quests and all of the what the game designers thought to make is seem different is to block some paths with gray walls. The rest of the level even shows on the minimap! Sometimes, the game will pretend it's a different place which makes it all very confusing and downright insulting the mine accessible is the same as the tunnels accessible from town. 1 / 10

It's like the game was made by two teams: one designing the interface and the gameplay, which didn't fail even it if wasn't perfect, while the other one dedicated itself into producing the worst story ever ported to a screen. Final score: 3 / 10… Expand

This is a game that takes a little while to get into. For the first few hours I wasn't that impressed and thought the graphics were very poor. Then I found myself warming to it and at the time of writing I've played though it about 5 times. Story has always been Bioware's strong point (at least everything prior to Mass Effect 2) and this is no exception. Decent game, worth a play though if you're an RPG fan.… Expand

The story and world that Dragon Age is set in are truly spectacular and the sheer wealth of possibilities and gameplay this game provides are mind-blowing. My one criticism however would be the battle system. The character classes (Tank, Damage Dealer, Healer) are standard RPG, and like most RPG's this can become very repetitive, very quickly. The ability to customise your characters and add sub-classes and new abilities to them seems very trivial too. I became so bored of levelling up that most of this was done using the 'auto level up' feature I was happy Bioware had added. Overall, one of the best RPG's on the market. A massive world to explore and a compelling storyline are let down a little by the repetitiveness of the battles, but for a first attempt this was pretty special. An unpolished gem I hope they improve on for DA2 (which I'm about to start playing)… Expand

This is a gaming experience that everyone should have. Don't get me wrong its not perfect but as far as storyline and depth of characters is concerned not much comes close. Bioware you can have my babies.

I'm really not sure what to say for the first time , Dragon Age is more like a mixed bland boring combat game. But in the same way, the compelling story-line drags my attention completely and push me to play it. The game has lacking bad animations , they don't seem to show an emotion, they just talk and everything start progressing. While It is a very deep game in terms of story and decisions that by far that's how Bio Ware rule the RPG ( they are flawless in creating story ) I see more Dragon Age as a lacking Mass Effect ,is more like the other side of Mass Effect . But don't get me wrong Dragon Age is an interesting story teller with no problem.… Expand

Ok, so being a fan of bioware and their previous games such as baldurs gate, KOTOR, mass effect etc I knew what to expect from an RPG from them, this game being very similar to Knights of the old republic in many respects I was at home with the way the mechanics of the game worked such as interactive dialogue etc. They storyline is very consuming and characters very believable, i even felt myself feeling for them at some points of the game. The combat is not real time and when leveling up your characters and others you have to constantly change their 'quick' set of moves from the menu to the more powerful moves etc so they dont keep the old less powerful ones, the menus are full of statistics and the codex contains interesting info about each important character in the quest, which helps to build an understanding of their relationship to you and the game world. Each main character is voice acted superbly and the story is absolutely convincing and draws you in in a way only bioware RPGs do. This is the best part of the game and will keep you playing as the gameplay gets a bit repetive after a while. Now the main problem with the game is the difficulty, I started out on the highest difficulty (nightmare) which of course was extremely difficult but to the point where i found myself stuck in the wilds at the beginning of the game unable to progress because i could not defeat the enemies, after many failed attempts I changed the difficulty and after a little more put it down to casual, the problem was sorted out for the most part. However the difficulty level still seemed to jump in places from being very easy to being very tough, which was frustrating. Other than that I'd say the lack of the 'light' and 'dark' side meter took away from the experience as there was no consequence to being evil and your character leaning toward a darker more sinister person. Or doing good deeds becoming a 'lighter' type of character who helps those in need. I also would have preferred the game touse real time combat like in mass effect, except of course with swords etc. Overall I'd recommend this game to any RPG fan but not over mass effect 1 or 2, which I believe along with KOTOR are the best bioware have to offer.… Expand

Bioware pride themselves on being able to create amazing storylines that make you feel as if you are actually in the world of the game. Origins is no exception. This game has a challenging yet interesting combat engine, accompanied by very personal and well designed characters, a huge amount of gameplay time and a brilliantly written plot. My one complaint would be graphics, but they aren't particularly bad, just not amazingly good. Besides that, this game is almost perfect.… Expand

Very good game with a really good story line, graphics are good as is the sound track. What really makes this game special is the characters. Allistiar and most memorable Morrigan are two of the best characters ive seen in any rpg game. Leveling system is rewarding. Not anything negative about this game, the reason it doesnt get a higher score is because it isn,t as good as games like oblivion, mass effect and fallout. If you have never played this game it will be well worth it.… Expand

One of my absolute favorite games of all time. The story and interaction elements are fantastic. Yes the graphics aren't the greatest and the combat can get frustrating, but it was nothing that kept me from logging many, many hours on several playthroughs. You have to give this game a try if you enjoy an incredible, deep story that will keep you entertained for more time than you're willing to wager.… Expand

this is such a bad game,absolutely pathetic attempt at creating an rpg,shame on you bioware,i will be never ever ever again purchasing any of your products after this abomination of a game

I liked this game it had a very good story in my opinion,the combat was lacking something still can't put my finger on what that is. The companions were fun and I liked most of them, (hated Zevran) I was admittedly looking for another Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion( if someone mixed the 2 games it could be the best game ever-just my opinion) After playing DA2 I am angry I feel robed of a great followup to a good game no story, combat sucks worse it just sucks fast, I hate just about everything about DA2.… Expand

what a stupid game i cant beleive i brought it the music is baaaaaaaad the graphics are baaaaaaaad the story is baaaaaaaaaaaaad the whole game is baaaaaaaaaad

I played through this game in its entirety 11 times. So many times, I had to remove characters to a flashdrive because you're only allowed to create 8 characters. It's that good.

Wow. Just wow. I completed the game a few moments ago. It has one of the best stories in a RPG I've played in a long time - decisions are hard, there are no GOOD MEH EVIL choices. For example (slight spoiler), a boy is possessed by a demon - do you kill him and the demon inside him, or sacrifice his mother to perform a ritual to cleanse her son? The ending of the game is pretty much a 'what happened after', and WOW. It hits hard. It summarises all of your decisions, you may regret your choices, but sometimes you see no alternative. I felt connections to each and every character, and I hated having to let one down to make another happy. Overall, I believe the overarching story to be 11/10!

I feel combat lets the game down - to me, it feels like PC number bar hotkey combat. Despite having 6 shortcut keys on the console, I felt like I spent a lot of time in the radial menu. This may be due to my playstyle, a healer with some combat prowess, but it wasn't all that enjoyable. Combat felt to be average - 5/10.

Quests felt quite repetitive too - go here, kill this, open door, more monsters spawn. But it worked. I mainly only did the main quest (don't hate) as I was fed up with combat but there were always choices and dialogue that gave variety. Quests - 7.5/10


Looking at other reviews:
difficult to navigate interface - Indeed, but you begin to get used to it (after 20 hours! :P)
difficulty level that jumps around - I personally played on easy, as I'm a story person. But there were parts where I had to save after each encounter, and other where I could eliminate a whole group with a single AoE (remember, I'm primarily a healer), so this is a valid point.
BORING - erm, it does take a while to get into. I got this LAST Christmas (2010) and only just completed it. I played around 8 hours back then, but never got into it. But when you do, you are compelled.


Overall, the game was enjoyable for story purposes but combat let the game down. The thing is, the story and characters are still spinning around in my head, as well as 'what ifs' - I want to replay it! I rarely feel this way after completing a game. Despite its issues, I am tempted to buy it (again!) for PC, as I feel this will make combat a little smoother.… Expand

Great game for those looking for a lengthy RPG experience, the talent trees are robust and a allow for a great deal of replayability, and there is MUCH to do as far as side quests and party member quests to add to the play time to the game. My only gripe with the game would be the combat system and the general difficulty of the game, the game seems to spike in difficulty very often, and the lock on combat system can be very annoying I didn't feel like it played as smooth as Knights of the Old Republic for some reason. Also there is no good side/bad side personality meter in the game, you can do good or bad/evil things but it only really effects your party members disposition towards you which can be reversed with gifts. In Conclusion, not the greatest bioware RPG, but the story is pretty cool and it delivers a great and challenging RPG experience.… Expand

After playing about three hours of Dragon Age I stoped. Just don´t understand what all you guys have with this Bioware. Mainly I did not like the graphics-realy bad.

Just terrible. In my years of playing RPG's, this game was delightfully devoid of most control concepts, most notably the battle system. Once you engage an enemy, the game pretty much takes over for you and has the characters doing their own thing, for better or for worse. And no, I don't care to know every AI character's backstory which ends up reading about 10000 lines of information that has nothing to do with game play. I stopped playing this after 10 hours, and it's the reason I opened a Goozex account. BLECH.… Expand

I've had to re-review this as, after a 3rd full play-through, it just gets better and better. Again, you can't hide a few flaws, but something I never mentioned in my old review is that how little those flaws actually affect the game or the experience itself. The weight behind some of the decisions, especially those towards the end of the game, just feels massive and it's phenomenal that a computer game can provoke such an emotional response. The tactical side of things is something which gets overlooked too - the way enemy ambushes operate and are setup is quite simply stunning - the amount of time they must have put into the game to make every battle feel so great must be staggering. An upgrade from a 9/10 to a 10/10 for me - a true classic.… Expand

Story: 10
Characters: 10
Graphics: 9
Setting: 10
Multiplayer: N/A
Technical: 5
Audio: 10
Gameplay: 6
Re-Playability Value: 10
Fun Factor: 9

Score: 8.7/10 = A

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. So, I finished the campaign last night and uh, it was nice. Very satisfying ending. Overall, I like the game a lot. That should be obvious, I've posted quite a bit about it. That's cause it's very good. Not a perfect game though. Not a game I can consider as a candidate for GOTY 2009, let's just say. The BioWare signature is definitely all over it, you can feel that same sort of relationship with characters that you got in KOTOR and ME and all that. It's just a very cozy and enjoyable experience, I'd say.

But ya know, there's a few wrong turns as well and I figured I'd just write up my thoughts on that. Quick summary here and uh, maybe there'll be improvements for Dragon Age 2, which I eagerly look forward to.

The graphics in DA aren't so hot. I can't believe I'm living in a world where people are posting that they can't believe they live in a world where the graphics in Dragon Age are considered bad. Like, really? Honestly, this is the year 2009. Dragon Age's graphics are considered bad, because they are bad. You look at video games, and it's clear we've come pretty far. Uncharted 2, Batman Arkham Asylum, Crysis, Gears of War 2, Dead Space, Infamous, Call of Duty 6: Modern Warfare 2, lots of games with great graphics. But ohohoho, you raise your hand and object... those are all action games, not RPGs! Well, alright... that's true. Let's look at RPGs... we've got games like Oblivion, Fallout 3, Mass Effect, all which look much better then Dragon Age. And some of em came out over two years ago. And I'm not certain, but I'm pretty sure Final Fantasy 13 is going to look much better then DA when it comes out sometime next year. I've never played an FF game in my life, and don't intend to pick up FF13, but it's clear to even a dude like me that it looks so much better then what BioWare delivered to us here. So no, it's not crazy to say that DA has some pretty bad visuals.

It's all fine and dandy if you say you're a hardcore RPG player and story-telling and dialogue come first and you don't care about graphics. That's fine, those are your own preferences. But to simply ignore that they are not that great is deluding yourself. It's like buying a used car with some scratches on the paint. You might value great gas mileage and the roomy interior and so the scratches on the paint don't really bother you at all. That's not why you bought the car, it doesn't affect your enjoyment of it. But don't act as if the paintjob is beautiful and flawless while conversing with your next door neighbor. Don't tell him the paint is great. That's escaping into some sort of bizarro world.

The world is changing, I feel. We no longer have to put up with FPSs with nonexistent stories, or RPGs with horrible visuals. What's Fallout 3? It's a first person shooter, but also an RPG. What's Mass Effect? It's a third person shooter, but also an RPG. It's not an either or proposition. Oblivion was an RPG that actually had decent combat for a change. This is a good thing, new games are taking the best elements of each genre and coming up with a really nice hybrid design. So don't give me the old chestnut that because it's an RPG, you shouldn't expect anything in terms of graphics. That doesn't fly anymore. Well, unless it's an indie game, which I don't think DA is. It's a BioWare game, so you're damn right my expectations are gonna be high. They've set a high standard for consistently great RPGs. KOTOR looked great when it came out in 2003. Mass Effect looked great when it came out in 2007. So to me, expecting BioWare stuff to look good isn't exactly going off and battling windmills.

As far as Morrigan goes... I'm kinda amused by all the discussion about her. It's really interesting how some people hate her a lot. I dunno, she was fine for my tastes. It's uh, it's okay if BioWare didn't just give us a retread of Bastila Shan or Liara. I might actually have found that really boring and lame. Morrigan's just different but still kinda alluring and provides a little discord in the party dynamic. Kinda reminds me of Joanna from the BattleTech novels. Ya know, mostly from Robert Thurston's body of work. Some people don't like Joanna cause she's basically a **** but a lot of people, including me, really really like her. Not like as in, I'd really like to be her BFF in real life, but we enjoy her as an intriguing literary character. Some people are just not that happy go lucky and they do have to occupy that realm of anti-hero. So yea, Morrigan's kinda... the best at what she does, but what she does isn't very nice? Heh...… Expand

Fantastic game. Combat is not fast passed, which is usually a bad thing, but in DAO it does a good job of forcing the player to focus on strategy and team composition. The dialog is very well written and voice acting is effective. Hearing inflection and understanding sarcasm is sometimes required to make the correct dialog choice. Making the wrong choice can have serious repercussions, which for me deepened the rpg experience a lot.… Expand

What an extremely epic game. Hours and hours of limitless gameplay that almost, at times, was too much for my schedule to handle! Epic story and fantastic character-relations with intense customization factors. Definitely one of my favorite Xbox 360 games.

If you could have the option, purchase this on PC. The xbox controls feel a little clunky and the graphics are leaps and bounds ahead on the PC. The story and character development of this game is rich and breathtaking. This was the game that put Bioware's name on the map for me, only to have it torn down by Dragon Age II. Do yourself a favour and buy the last good Dragon Age game Bioware ever created. While the combat may feel more primitive, it is an EPIC adventure with great characters. RIP Dragon Age.… Expand

I really loved what this game did with multiple class options and varied skill sets. I spent hours trying to perfect my play style for this game and I enjoyed every minute. Some sections got a little dull but that just made the action packed parts shine brighter. I also really liked the blood splatter all over the characters after a big fight.