I’ve been terribly remiss in not reviewing Dragon Age: Origins, but I’ve been giving it some time to develop. I haven’t finished yet, but I’ve gotten through most of the story line. I feel content that I’ve seen enough to review it properly.
Is it Baldur’s Gate? No. Is it close? Yeah.
Dragon Age: Origins could be described as Neverwinter Nights with a better story and unshackled from D&D rules. They’ve managed to continue Bioware’s high world-building standards in all the best ways. It has plenty of the usual fantasy tropes, but the world is expansive and fresh. There world is immensely creative and interest in its own right, and quite beautiful as well. The dungeons, in particular, are absolute gorgeous. Dwarven cities, forest ruins, and mountain temples are all portraits, as fun to explore for the architecture as they are for the beast slaying.
Dragon Age isn’t Baldur’s Gate because it’s not quite as large, the character’s not quite as numerous, the story not quite as good, and the lore not quite as deep. It’s close and it’s strong, but it’s not quite there. It’s not Elder Scrolls either. The world has a plotline and the character is obliged to follow it. The world lives as a story, not as a open-society. Still, it’s a damn good story, with interesting character, and a lot of fun opportunities for gameplay.
There’s the usual weak romance side quest. They’ve never been done very well, but they can be amusing. The character building, no longer stuck to D&D rules, is quite fun. I genuinely looked forward to leveling up to see what new skill I would get to play with. It seems a bit shallow at first, but there’s actually a strong depth to the whole system that was surprising. My Dwarven shield-wall works well as the gruff, tough bastard he’s tying to be.
There are six origin stories that start your character off in the world. I’ve played through one of them so far and it was excellent. It was a good length and made my character feel like he was a deeper part of the world. An excellent idea. I fully intend to at least jump into the others and see what the story is.
Also noteworthy is the ‘moral’ choices the game has you make. Almost each of the main quests results in the player being forced to make a decision between two or more ambiguously good options. In a few cases the ‘good’ and the ‘not as good’ options present themselves easily, but there were a few quests where I genuinely had to think about what I wanted to do. It’s rare that the distinction between good and evil has been so shadowed. I was immensely impressed.
My usual complaints remain. The number of areas is too few and they’re too small. I always want more cities and a larger world. My hero is, once again, the grand hero which gets a bit cliche. For once, I’d like the story to concentrate on me helping the big hero…and maybe only emerging late in the game as more than a 2nd stringer. My character’s growth arc is over pretty much by the middle of the story which is a story-telling flaw. Still, the sword bashing doesn’t get old.
I haven’t had a decent RPG to play since the Gothic world ran its course (maybe a new one coming out soon) or the excellent Elder Scrolls 4, which will inevitably have a sequel. Dragon Age is not perfect, but it’s very very solid. I’d call it an A+ effort with an A- execution. I’m not done with it yet, and with five more origin stories to play and a few separate plot decisions to make I’m not sure I will be very soon either.
