Dragon Age: Origins

 PlayStation 3
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 723 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 562 out of 723
  2. Mixed: 81 out of 723
  3. Negative: 80 out of 723
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  1. J.Webb
    Nov 19, 2009
    4
    Unplayable on PS3. No isometric view, framerate issues, clipping issues, texture issues. Fugly overall. Also lag after battles, during dialogue sequences, and even sound effects lag when using menus. Disappointed @ BIOWARE for caring less.
  2. PaulR
    Dec 8, 2009
    3
    Don't know why everyone loves this game so much. There is SO MUCH dialogue that you have to sit through, so many pointless conversation trees - so tedious. Sacred 2 is a much better option if you prefer to actually PLAY rather than WATCH. Furthermore, for a game that is supposed to be a "mature" RPG, the costumes on the females are disgraceful, like something out of a cheesy 80s Don't know why everyone loves this game so much. There is SO MUCH dialogue that you have to sit through, so many pointless conversation trees - so tedious. Sacred 2 is a much better option if you prefer to actually PLAY rather than WATCH. Furthermore, for a game that is supposed to be a "mature" RPG, the costumes on the females are disgraceful, like something out of a cheesy 80s fantasy art calendar. Stupid. Most over-rated game I've ever come across.… Expand
  3. NikoW
    Jan 11, 2010
    3
    Seriously, sooooo boring. Played almost 30 hours, took it as seriously as I could, so it's not like I didn't give it a chance: worst purchase I've made in a long time. Very overrated game.
  4. BenB
    Jan 12, 2010
    4
    On the PS3, very buggy, shoddy graphics and user interface, more reading than interacting. The bugs would be okay if not for saved games being lost, for example. The graphics are dated [dare I say] by about 5 years if not moreso. (Side story: friend of mine saw the game and said, "nice graphics!" His computer can handle graphics like these. So I show him Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, SF4, LBP, On the PS3, very buggy, shoddy graphics and user interface, more reading than interacting. The bugs would be okay if not for saved games being lost, for example. The graphics are dated [dare I say] by about 5 years if not moreso. (Side story: friend of mine saw the game and said, "nice graphics!" His computer can handle graphics like these. So I show him Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, SF4, LBP, Fallout 2, SG4, and other games. His "nice graphics" comment went to "wow those suck!" Eye of the knowledgable beholder.) Lastly the reading is morbidly overwhelming! I like to read books, mind you. But reading and listening to conversation shouldn't be overbearing like this. A good reason is for the re-playability. Start a new character and you have to go through so much of the same diagolue and piecemeal a viable retort .. again .. and again .. and again and again! A better solution is to follow the content and dialogue strategies of Fallout 2 and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion. Even Bethesda's Daggerfall followed this strategy with all its amazing content, and that was something like mid-90s! I normally wouldn't care to vote against any game. But the hype on this one is far too great for its makeup.… Expand
  5. ja
    Nov 16, 2009
    0
    This game sucks! Graphics are terrible, combat is boring, and all the dialogue is tedious. Demon's Souls is 1000 times better.
  6. DevinT
    Dec 11, 2009
    4
    This game suffers significantly from too much dialogue. Hours spent talking to peeps doing nothing. When you finally get to a fight, while I like aspects of the combat system, the actually battles / exploring are simply to short. Followed of course by hours more of pointless conversation. I was looking forward to exploring the world, but of course the game is linear rigid and canned This game suffers significantly from too much dialogue. Hours spent talking to peeps doing nothing. When you finally get to a fight, while I like aspects of the combat system, the actually battles / exploring are simply to short. Followed of course by hours more of pointless conversation. I was looking forward to exploring the world, but of course the game is linear rigid and canned encounters. Give me something like good old Diablo on the PS1. I just want to hack/slash, have conversations in passing, and find magic items. Diablo3 can't arrive soon enough.… Expand
  7. brisbanesimon
    May 17, 2011
    0
    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
  8. obrion
    May 21, 2011
    0
    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
  9. the_blueprint
    Dec 17, 2013
    3
    After playing 40+ hours the difficulty peaks so high it becomes impossible to get past it.
    Really a pity because I likes the story and the virtual world.
  10. sityoazzdown
    May 14, 2012
    1
    This was by far the worst game I have played on ps3 to date. It's just not very entertaining in every aspects. The graphics was horrible, this game is ps2 quality. I played a few hours and my face was -_-; the story was crap, the characters made me not care. ughh
  11. Vaizard87
    Jan 29, 2014
    4
    Another game that didn't deserve the hype.

    Why? Poor battle mechanics. Poor character development and a sub par story line. Most of the things you want out of an RPG and none delivered.
  12. clesine89
    Jul 3, 2014
    2
    DAO have a slow gameplay, confused multi - characters battles, low quality graphic despite HDMI. The story itself is always the same, good vs evil. Characters are pretty predictable but they add some backstory and interesting dialogs that help figuring out their "position ".
    Not exactly a masterpiece but it can be a good distraction.
  13. CynicalSandlin
    Feb 9, 2015
    3
    Normally when I play a video game where I think less of it than the general consensus, I'll at least be understanding of why others enjoy the game. In this case, I fail to see the appeal that it has on people. I don't mean to come across as insulting to those who enjoy the game, I'm glad you were able to enjoy it. I'm just not seeing it. I really tried to like this game too, I'm a big fanNormally when I play a video game where I think less of it than the general consensus, I'll at least be understanding of why others enjoy the game. In this case, I fail to see the appeal that it has on people. I don't mean to come across as insulting to those who enjoy the game, I'm glad you were able to enjoy it. I'm just not seeing it. I really tried to like this game too, I'm a big fan of the Mass Effect series and enjoy RPG's as well. It had a pretty promising start that had you thrown into 1 of 6 possible origin missions for your character that not only all give a different story on how you get thrown into the main plot, but can take involvement in some of the later story missions as well.
    Now what I enjoyed about the game is that there is noticeable more variety in dialogue and character interaction than you would find in the Mass Effect series. Not having your character fully VA'd is a bit of a downer, but that is quickly shaken off as time passes. The characters are also pretty interesting as none of them are 1-dimensional and all have moments of (for lack of a better metaphor) Paragon and Renegade. The story at 1st seems to be a blatant rip-off of Lord of the Rings with the 3 main races being Humans, Elves, and Dwarfs trying to unite to face this massive army of evil called "The Darkspawn" being led by the so called "ArchDemon". It doesn't help that the Darkspawn look like Orcs either. However as you learn more about the world (whether through character interaction or via codex like in Mass Effect) it does grow into it's own thing.
    Now the gameplay itself however... is a complete mess. Where to begin, well I guess for starters, the hit detection in this game is completely out of whack. Your character can be several yards away from someone when they swing their dagger and there is still a good chance that you will take damage. And of course there will be plenty of times where a character you are controlling will be swinging their melee weapon at point-blank range and it will miss. This may normal for MMO's but since it isin't an MMO, it shouldn't act like one, especially if it's only gonna be similar to one in negative ways. One other main problem I have with this game is that it doesn't manage your quest log well. Even when you mark a sidequest in your menu as active, most (if not all) of the time their still won't be any indicator of where you are supposed to go. I'm not asking for the Skyrim level of simplicity where you follow a white arrow until you arrive, but I'd like at least a general area to pinpoint my task.Your companions don't handle themselves well when it come to fighting in groups, despite being able to switch between them at the press of a button. Switching between them using the Radical (I think that's what it was called) menu to select specific attacks works well when focusing on one or two enemies but in groups it becomes clustered and will usually end with your allies dropping like flies, regardless of how well-leveled and equipped they are.
    I'm a sucker for a game with a good story. I can usually look past arguably major gameplay flaws if I'm intrigued by the narrative. The sad thing is even though I am intrigued by the story and did want to get to know some of the characters better, I couldn't bring myself to finish the game. I stopped playing when I clocked 23 hours and finally decided that an interesting plot wasn't enough to stick it out. Some people will say that my opinion isin't valid since I didn't complete the game, however if you can honestly tell me that the first 23, 15, or 10 hours of a game isin't giving it a chance and not having a fair assessment of what the game contains, then I'd like you to name a game that does drastically change after that length of time as passed (in terms of gameplay, not plot). So not only did I not enjoy this game, but it left me feeling so let-down, that I can't bring myself to even glance at the other titles in this series. Keep in mind everyone that this is my first time reviewing a game and I hope to do this a career so please reply both negative and positive things either about the quality of the review, or your opinion of the review itself. Thank you for reading.    … Expand
  14. BornBeforeAtari
    Oct 11, 2015
    2
    Like a poorly written children's fantasy novel, Dragon Age: Origins could not keep my attention. This game tries to do everything but accomplishes very little...unless lulling you to sleep is what it seeks. LOTS of irrelevant dialog litter the trite story. Maybe I'll give it a fourth chance in a couple of months. 2/10 ~ BornBeforeAtari
  15. MatikTheSeventh
    Oct 10, 2020
    2
    The PS3 version is very bugged and really does not play very well. I'm sure the game would be great otherwise, but I'm not glad about my current experience with it.

Awards & Rankings

20
#20 Best PS3 Game of 2009
10
#10 Most Discussed PS3 Game of 2009
3
#3 Most Shared PS3 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
87

Generally favorable reviews - based on 41 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 38 out of 41
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 41
  3. Negative: 0 out of 41
  1. IGN AU
    84
    It's a delight to give into a fantasy setting with such a dense back story, even if the gameplay still rarely breaks away from conventions established a decade ago.
    Read full review
  2. GameSpot
    90
    Incredible storytelling, great characters, and exciting battles are just a few of the things that make this fantasy role-playing game so extraordinary.
    Read full review
  3. Giant Bomb
    100
    This is definitely not the game for those frightened of the idea of micromanaging a game to the point where a large portion of it will be spent in a pause screen. However, as the sort of guy that has lovingly played an Infinity Engine game at least once every year for the past decade, I can think of no higher praise for this throwback than to say that Dragon Age: Origins leaves me feeling fairly confident I won't need to dig out the classics for this ritual next year.
    Read full review
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