Dragon Age: Origins

Overly Dramatic Review in One Sentence

The buggiest, bloodiest, old game with fake blood you'll ever see that tells a huge story which we all wish was still told today.

The Actual Review

Game time:

PC: ~30 hours
Xbox: 24 hours

Gameplay

This game is massive and the picture below shows how much of the game was still left with me playing only the main story line. Well I did do a could side quest, but wasn't actively seeking them out.

This game came out in 2010, and it honestly shows. I am sure there are mods or something like that mainly to fix bugs, but I didn't use them and some of them that I needed, I couldn't. For instance, I am on a 49" ultrawide and I had to play on a tiny square otherwise, quest would not trigger due to the way characters needed to hit certain spots. Also, the game would crash. These things are not the games fault specifically, but something to note if you plan on playing it.

There is this partial tactical/turn based fighting system that I didn't like originally and really do not like now. This next statement is unfair, but I can't stop doing it. If they wanted to create a Turn Based RPG, then they should have done it like Baldur's Gate. BG3 is outstanding. But that isn't the review we are doing.

This game is 15 years old and looking at the skills that you could select at each level up is honestly terrible until you get to the end. I played a "tank" and there are 5 different shield cover skills that all override each other and then at the very end, one of them gets an upgrade which is awesome. You spend skills on "stances" that you'll never use, just to get to the upgrade. That was indicative of almost all the major skills. Lots of skill that override a different one, and you were forced to spend points for things you would never use.

The fighting itself has some cool moments, like when you kill a target you sometimes get these little slo-mo events or special flourishes and that is when it is fun. Otherwise, it is like playing World of Warcraft back in the day when you just hit a button and wait for the skill cooldown to finish, to hit the button again.

Graphics and Sound

My chief complaint about the graphics is the blood. You kill one person, and you are just covered in these red spots, and it follows you for a long time between cutscenes. I think it is until you fast travel or rest at camp. I hated it back in the day and I think it is even worse now.

Otherwise, for a 15-year-old game, it looks pretty good. You have to know that you are looking at a game that is supposed to be run at 1024x768. It can go into Ultrawide settings, however I got crashes constantly at that size.

The sound design is fine. I don't find it to be overly good or bad. It is there.

Story and Characters

I should have finished this review before starting the next Dragon Age game, I am currently playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard, to get ready for 2025 Episode 7 - Dragon Age. The reason for this is that Veilguard makes this look like a masterpiece, and honestly I think it was for the time. The characters are very well written and each have their own personalities. People start in the extremes and live there where you can coax them in, but if you don't learn about them, they stay there. The available romance options take relative effort and thought about what the character would like. There is also benefits to exploring the characters and getting their trust as it makes them better fighters. You are interested in whom these people are at all times.

I have played this a couple of times, so I am not sure how I would rate the story. Initially, I was annoyed at how slow it is, but I think that is more to do with the play style and aged graphics than the actual story. Because by the end, I had to remind myself not to do the side quest and only the main story line, or it would take too long to finish. Plus I have done them at some point. That picture above tells you that there was so much to this game, and it tells a great story. You care about the characters and that makes the story better. The fact that there is a secret ending option based on your relationships and the choices you make it incredible.

Actually I should talk about that, your choices matter. Very much so. From the people you use, to the conversations you have, to the people you promote, all matter for the end game. In fact, I think it used to matter in the next game too. Bioware has shut down its linked account system and I haven't started Dragon Age 2 yet so I can't confirm that, but it is what my brain tells me. This is what made Bioware games awesome, back in the day. The lack of it is concerning now.

My Rating

I enjoyed this game. Steam says that I have 44 hours in game time, but I have no idea where that came from and I had 0 achievements. However, I am sure that it was me leaving the game running because it is such a small window and mutes when not the active screen. Probably from when I was attempting to fix the number of crashes that I had. I digress. The story is what keeps you in and the characters just have a lingering effect on you. I remember all of them. I still think Alistair is a dope name. I wish it had updated graphics (I am sure you could with mods), but I am just hoping the next one that comes out is just as good in the story telling as this (Sneak peek for Veilguard: This has some rough edges). As for a rating, I have to call this "Worth a Play through." If it was updated graphics, and no crashes at major scenes it would be a must-play. However, it looks just alright and the amount of quick saving I did to ensure I didn't lose too much time on redoing it was crazy.

Parental Rating

There is sex scenes, a woman with a questionable top, and lots of "blood". Mom would not be happy with it. There is a lot of violence against things that aren't just creatures, so I am sure they would be upset with me playing it as a kid.

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