Dragon Age:Origins Review
By Sriram G “Phoenix Wright” | Sunday, December 13, 2009
Bioware are back. Well, they didn’t really go anywhere, but they’re back anyway. The developers of Neverwinter Nights, Baldur’s Gate, Knights of the Old Republic and, more recently, Mass Effect, return with a new IP – a traditional Fantasy RPG that was bound to raise a few eyebrows. And it’s fair to say that Dragon Age: Origins doesn’t disappoint. Scratch that, this game is a lesson in fully utilizing a game’s potential.
Your first task is to create your character. Sounds boring enough, but the choices you make determine your Origin. Choose from one of three races (Human, Elf, Dwarf) and three classes (Warrior, Mage, Rogue) and you can then choose one of six Origins your character can have. These range from a Human Noble to a Classless Dwarf, and actually influence the in-game dialogue and story options.
Fans of traditional fantasy will not take much time to get used to the setting. In a world with multiple races and their differences, the return of an unspeakably evil threat forces them to unite under one banner to fight for their survival. That banner is an ancient order called the Grey Wardens, who were established to fight this very threat. Regardless of your Origin, you are the newest recruit to this order, and will lead the charge to end the Blight – the fifth one in history.
It does sound straightforward and clichéd, but the execution is anything but that. This is a mature world – one of politics, deceit and hatred. People won’t join you because it’s the right thing to do, they’ll only join you if there’s something in it for them. And throughout the game you’ll be forced to play different roles in order to give them their incentives. Be the savior of a cursed clan. Be the deciding factor in a King’s ascension to the throne in a divided society. Be Cupid. In short, you will have to be what you need to be in order to accomplish your goals. That’s what sets this story apart from most others – there are no set “good” or “evil” paths for you to follow. You’ll have to weave your own.
Helping you in your travels are your party members. Coming from various backgrounds, possessing different skill sets and opinions, they form a very interesting mixed bag . And because they have their own likes and dislikes, their interactions with you, and with each other, never get stale. This results in some pretty hilarious banter as you go along, and keeps moving from one place to the other to avoid getting boring. Managing them is quite a task, though, as not all of them will agree with your actions, resulting in varied approval ratings.
Which brings me to the conversation options. There is a multitude of ways of doing things in this game, and you’ll be making the decisions via the conversation tree – aka the talk. This is where Dragon Age excels, it actually involves role-playing! There are places where you can just talk people into doing what you want them to do, via sweet-talking or intimidation. You can double-cross people, lie to them or make them look like absolute fools, and they’ll react to it. This excellent interactivity really makes the game world and characters feel alive, as opposed to the many games where you’re just put in charge of a character model, and not the characters themselves. This is made even better by excellent dialogue, and brilliant vocal-styling
