Dragon Age: Origins Review
The Short Version: Dragon Age is Hands Down the Best RPG of 2009! With a Hundreds of Hours of Gameplay, an Engaging Story and Compelling Dialogue there is so much Value packed into this title it deserves a place in your Game Library. Do not overlook this title in this busy season!
The Review:
What you’ll Like:
• Truly Epic 50+ Hour Experience in a Single Play-Through!
• 6 Unique Origins Stories with unique story modifications.
• Excellent Dialogue from Interesting Companion Characters.
• Great amount of Variety and Customizations Options.
• Choices are meaningful with Real Consequences.
What you’ll Hate:
• The Main Character does not Have Spoken Dialogue as in Mass Effect. WHY?!
• The PC Version is Superior to the Console. No Over Head View.
• Graphics could use a bit more work.
• Its a Rare Occasion, but sometimes the Quests Drag on too long (im looking at you “Fade Quest”).
Final Verdict:
9/10
Issue your own Final Score Above!
damit i choose 3d dot games hero insied i am so dume
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Joe, how could you do this. You forgot the gay elf! I mean, why should my dwarf settle for two?! ;P
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I must be one of the few who were very hyped about this game…until I played it. It’s not a bad game by any means, but I always found myself in a position where I had to suck up to my party members just so I didn’t lose them. The penalties for disagreeing with you even in minor matters were massive, while bonuses for approval were compareably small. I was at odds in particular with Morrigan, since I’m mostly playing a good guy who helps others out. It got to the point where she really got on my nerves…and I couldn’t afford to lose her, because she was my only mage at that point…and I dare you beating this game without a mage. I swear at times I just wanted to whip her out of the camp, but instead I found myself forced to kiss her butt in dialogue options.
This is not really role playing your character.
Speaking of mages, here is another thing: You spend 80% of combat micro managing your mages and your rogues, even when you set their combat behavior. Now, I like to play warriors. I hardly got to, because I constantly had to focus on my mages and rogues. That was really annoying to me. I’m not creating my character as a warrior because I want to spend the majority of combat playing an NPC wizard or guide the rogue into backstabbing position!
And yes, I am also complaining about difficulty spikes! More than once I found myself in a position where I had to break off a quest and come back later after gaining a few levels, because all of a sudden you face an opponent you simply can not touch. Changing strategies doesn’t help you if you simply can not hit your target in melee and it is also resistant against all your spells. Doesn’t make you feel very heroic. Sure, you can crank down the difficulty, but to me that shows bad level design.
Another thing that irked me was the very limited amount of money you could get. Now, I’m all for making money meaningful and not paying a bajillion gold coins for some fancy equiptment. I do want to be able to buy and use different equiptment. DA doesn’t allow that, which you don’t know on your first playthrough, leaving you drooling over the end game stuff you now will never be able to afford now, since you spent most of your gold and silver in trying out different armos and weapons you found in stores. I don’t mind working for my money, but you should at least be given the opportunity to get as much as you want…but even random encounters are limited!
The big plus in DA are the finishing moves (great stuff!) and the in-game party banters.
DA does many things right…but it does also many things wrong. A really good game, but not a great one in my opinion.
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In Mass Effect it made more sense for Shepard to talk for a few reasons. One is the technical difficulty of recording male and female elf dwarf and human voices(they where all noticeably different) vs male and female human.
I feel like in Dragon Age you have deeper interpersonal relationships, your playing more as you where as in Mass Effect it was more cinematic. You want them to say what you pick word for word, in Mass Effect Shepard is sorta a bad ass no matter what.
Dragon Age was me in a blight, Mass Effect it was me as very cool Commander Shepard. Both are great just different.
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hey dude should i buy this or alien vs predator
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Hi, i hope you don’t mind me posting here but i tried to subscribe to your RSS and it said “parse error, unexpected T_STRING on line 26
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I agree with your review Joe. The game is ****ing amazing! the only issue i had was for some reason it could not hold my attention after the halfway point. I don’t know why, it just turned me off compared to other games.
it’s still an amazing game. Those that haven’t played it yet better do so, you won’t regret it.
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lol this review makes me regret pre-ordering FF XII and not getting this game
I gotta say though The only way I could have fun with it through the replays is if I had the DLC
It seems expensive So I hope its good
although It is a Great game and a great review
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i really love dao for the story, allthou it could be a bit mroe surprising with the location /like not in every location u just knowthat u will have to fight billions of enemies to obtain goal…/. but my main complain is that it is stressed to much on the fight itself rather than development of character so it becomes a bit tiering since fight eventually become schematic and so the re-playability drops
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you have to tell me were you got that jacket its so awsome ive looked and cant seem to find one so were you get maybe you could give me a store name or somthing so i can get a jacket like yours cause i love it
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dude tell me were you that awsome jacket man i want one just like it
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you should buy this i like it better than oblivion with guns
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I want to get this game but I am busy with Fallout 3 and other games.
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sorry i meant dragon age :awakining
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dude do you have any of the add ons and are you buying the expansion pack dragon ade ascension
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This game is AMAZING allthough i can’t finish the broken circle quest … getting bored of dieing so I made a new char and its annoying me knowing whats gonna happen (become a grey warden , people die ext.. )
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as always joe another great review, but i have a question, when you are going to do the borderlands review, that was your most anticipated game, when is the review out?
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Dwarven action! LMAO! I am definately not playing a dwarf… that would be WAY too awkward lol!
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i understand the no speach thing is a downfall, but no worrys, fallout 3 had no character speech but was still an epic game.
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well looking how good bioware did with this is game .
i think they could make an excellent mmorpg game and maybe …….wait for it…………better than world of warcraft
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Actual there KOTOR is becoming a MMORPG, they are making it, do not know who the other peps but here is the website. http://www.swtor.com/
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I was wondering if it is a poss or a neg on the extra DLC that you need to buy ( heard you can not play any of the blood classes without one of the DLC or get the Shale character for your party).
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Dwarven Porn??? Joe…you are sick…and also, you forgot KOTOR, considered to be one of the greatest RPG’s of all time? Yeah…anyway, looks cool, but as I said earlier, I’m getting a new video card for my PC, so I’m going to get that.
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Is the song at beggning an 8-bit version Crossing the Rubicon by The Human Abstract?
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Just got this game a few days ago. I have only put in 6 hours so far, but the story and characters are incredibly compelling. Also, I love having to make difficult decisions that will affect the future of my game time. It’s a little scary too. What if I visit the Circle of Mages to save the lives of both mother and child and something bad happens in the meantime? Should I have just killed the hellspawn child or sacrificed the mother! AHHHHHH!
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I love the acting on the dwarf porn baw chicka bow bow
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I LOVE THIS GAME nuff said XD
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This definitely pushed me into making this a definite holiday game for me. You and I tend to have similar tastes in gaming, so I do follow this site. Well, and the videos are entertaining. (Especially loved the great parody of the FMVs from Need for Speed Most Wanted you did in Shift)
I played the heck out of Borderlands, and I still continue to do so with the Zombie Island expansion (which is hilarious, by the way) and am almost ready to make a second character since I’ve pretty much maxed out Mordecai and gotten a good set of legendary weapons for him.
Still, I’m gonna have a time trying to figure out who I want to play first in Dragon Age. I’ll also probably pick up the PC version. I believe I have two computers that should run it well enough, but likely play it on my 17″ Gateway laptop with its high end graphics card. I hear you on the main character issue. I guess since I’ve played so many games without an audibly speaking Main character, that I’m used to it; but Mass Effect did bring me to a new level of care for my character seeing them speak and emote based on my choices. I really felt my character developing a cool personality in Mass Effect. Then again, it absolutely ruled in not only how your character (and others) spoke; but they nailed the body language along with facial expression. They truly competed with good performance from live actors and I couldn’t say that about any other game I’ve played, so far. But I don’t want to get off base or turn this into a talk about Mass Effect. I figure within a week or two, I’ll pick Dragon Age up.
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id love to play the game, but the guys at gamestop lost the collectors edition i pr-ordered!! I agree that the graphics are not the best ive seen, but you must admit there is areally god artwork. and do not forget the fact that they have been working on this game since 2004 maybe before, so a little outdated graphics are to be expected even if i think they did a great job. i cant wait to receive my copy. and finally nice review Joe, keep up the good work.
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This or The Legend of Zelda: Spirit tracks….hmmm
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Ive bought Borderlands and Brutal legend last month and im only buying assasins creed 2 in this month (have to save money), i think that this is a great game, but im not gonna have for christmas, because i know theres a lot of DLC coming for this game, so im waiting until the “GOTY” version releases.
Anyway whats up with that electronic bullshit music, you used to play badass heavy metal in the background…
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I’m going nuts with the PC’s maximum graphics!
Graphics could’ve been better, of course, but they aren’t bad.
The Fade quest was a little lengthy, I can give you that, but I LOVED it! I dunno why, I just did!
And I don’t mind the main being voiceless.
But 9/10 is a good score indeed. I’d give it 9/10 or 10/10 since I’m enjoying the hell out of it. (10/10 doesn’t equal perfect in my head, it equals “I’m recommending this game to anyone, not even people not asking me”… kinda)
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I’m playing on the PC with medium settings and the graphics are stunning. Curse those console limitations eh?
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I agree with you Joe .
) .
Another epic masterpice from Bioware .
I would have given it a 8 but still.
The ending pissed me off so much that i uninstalled the game as fast as i could
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You know what Joe?
Your very cool unlike James Rofle or TGWTG you respond to the comments you get on your website, and thats cool.
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I LOVE this game! In my first playthrough I was a City Elf Rogue. I played neutral good. Where I would please both sides but more often would do the right/good thing. I really like the character customization, and the battle system works to my tastes – not too complicated but not too simple. The graphics were great but not the best i’ve ever seen. I would’ve liked the main character to talk. I mean you DO pick a voice at the beginning of the game. But nothing beats seeing my face on screen covered in blood. It took a while to make my face, but it was worth it. I actually haven’t beaten the game yet. I rented it, BC I couldn’t afford the game, but I will definitely get it.
Joe, once again, awesome vid. Much better than the video review I did. Mine was a really quick spontaneous thing just so I could give my praise, but I didn’t go into much detail. Plus I couldn’t get very much footage. But before I ramble on too much. Joe is tha man! Can’t wait for more!
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I just have to say HELL YEAH to this game…Just like you creating my own char is fundamental in a game like this…I’m playing with a Human Mage and loving every minute of it =D
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About the voice of the Player Characters, why they where left out… In Mass Effect the voice content are enourmous to had voice for each options playing as a male or female it get a lot of lines… here it would have need 3 times more??? Voice for Male Human, Voice for Female Human, Voice for female elf, voice for male elf and so on… and it’s not even taking into accounts the origins… the recordings of all thouses characters voice options would have been hellish and very very expentive… and would have taken lot of place on the DVD… the game is already 20Go installed on PC hard drive…does it would had all fit on a 360 DVD i’m not sure
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Hmmm… *pushes Borderlands, FO3, and every other game off my list* game looks cool. I always have been more interested more in medevil (or however its spelled) rather than modern/fps. Hopefully this runs on my computer cuz it looks like its pretty high with the graphics. Keep up the good work Joe.
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I am loving every minute of this game! Although I am stuck at the Dwarf part I still love it…just gotta go finds me a walkthrough…*whistles*. Oh well. Playing a Dalish Elf Rogue.
God this game is great…next playthrough is going to be Human Noble Warrior.
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Hey Joe, I completely agree with your review. This game is real quality and you can get a lot of bang for your buck. I got the PC version and I can’t imagine doing all this stuff with a controller. The silent protaganist thing does bug me a bit since you get to choose a voice anyway, but that would have been more sound files on an already full disc.
I gotta ask though, who’s your favorite character?
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Besides Me? Morrigan, Leliana & Oghren.
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I agree with Aggs, As I watched this I couldn’t see how a controller would make this easy. I see this more as an awesome PC game. Was going to go X-box, but if I buy I may load it up on the Dell.
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Interesting, so your chacter doesn’t speak? I actually like that in a game, let’s me put myself into the role more. Infact, one of the reasons I didn’t like Mass Effect (What is this Blasphemy!?) was because I hated my character’s voice.
Anyway, thanks for the review. It’s this or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and since I want any excuse not to buy that one, Dragon Age is next.
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I’m almost out of cash and i was hoping to buy borderlands? should i rather buy this? im confused! and Assasins creed 2 is personally must buy game. but i still have to choose bewteen borderlands and this game…
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This over Borderlands! But remember this is single player only (im also an RPG fan over FPS).
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A damned good Review there, Joe. I, of course, got my copy at release. Collector’s Edition, ya know. And I’m enjoying every minute of it. But enough bragging, I got to ask this, though: Who was in your Party on your first playthrough? Mine were (and still is) Morrigan, Alistair and Zevran.
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Morrigan, Leliana, and Alsitar, later i switched to the drawf, cuz I was pissed off that Alistar didnt want to teach me to be a Templar. Asshole.
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Hehe … he taught me … >:)
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Are there any difference on the 360 and ps3.
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Not that I know of…
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THATS KING PETER’S SWORD FROM NARNIA! It’s Rhindon. the one your holding!
oh by the way, nice touch with requiem for a tower. very epic.
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Haha. Correct! Good eye!
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you must have dropped some cash for that sword. along with the spartan replica helmet. where’d you get it if i can ask? you seem like a weapons collector with your array of guns and stuff.
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wait a second….thats the plastic one isnt it!!!
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Yo i love this game and the song at the end was played in my french class, because of the guys, its about some girl being surrounded by human sized makeup kits, wardrobes, and stuff that she has to do for guys. but catchy.
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Whoa crazy I never knew that! Thanks for the info, that makes it even funnier to include in an “Angry Joe” Video!
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Aww.. I have only 22 euros and i wanna buy CoD MW2 and Dragon Age…
and then i have to buy more xbox live time cuz i wanna play these games online 
.
And if i do see you in the xbox live while playing these i think im ready to die.
Oh wait i still want a cup of coffee first.
And i think i dont wanna die…. So nevermind, i just say Hi
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too bad i have no money and can’t get this yet. Christmas can’t come soon enough, then me and my wife will be fighting over who’s turn it is to play. and then mass effect 2 a month after that…its gonna be a busy beginning of the year for us. Between playing mass effect and dragon age i’ll try and get in some time with borderlands and modern warfare 2…so many awesome games i need to play.
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Lolly, you’re still as sexy as ever. but…. I don’t think I could kill a demon version of you.. Especially from the ending. But… I don’t think I could stand someone copying you like that. How about you just slay ‘em all so I don’t hafta worry about it.
I want to play this game so badly. This effing sucks. Maybe soon… >.>;
And dammit, that intro was fucking awesome. Em-chan and I watched it a couple times. And replayed the ending. XD
–Rose.
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sounds like a great game can’t wait to play
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added: hey joe i just pondered what program did you use to get that demonic voice at the beginning could come in handy for my multi media class
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