Game of the Month #27 (April 2017) - Dragon Age: Origins

The survival of humanity rests in the hands of those chosen by fate. You are a Grey Warden, one of the last of an ancient order of guardians who have defended the lands throughout the centuries. Betrayed by a trusted general in a critical battle, you must hunt down the traitor and bring him to justice. As you fight your way towards the final confrontation with an evil nemesis, you will face monstrous foes and engage in epic quests to unite the disparate peoples of a world at war. A romance with a seductive shapeshifter may hold the key to victory, or she may be a dangerous diversion from the heart of your mission. To be a leader, you must make ruthless decisions and be willing to sacrifice your friends and loved ones for the greater good of mankind.

Well fart me a lullaby, it won.

I hope people enjoy this game

Right I've already played this game so i'll give my thoughts on it.

I actually really enjoyed this game especially comming out of the other bioware games. Where previous games had a more standard black and white morality this game had a more morally grey set of choices and while there is an obvious overarching evil invading the world most of the game deals with the politics and factions within the world and trying to get them on side to fight a greater threat then there petty squabbles. The darkspawn (the overarching antagonists) are while simplistic in there actions and wants do have some interesting origins especially what there broodmothers are.

Like any bioware games what makes up the meat of the game are your companions and there are some great companions in this game. I found the best were sten (although the quanari were later explored in the sequels), Morrigan, Alistair and Shale (although I wish shale made a return in the sequels).

I found the gamplay good to play but I played on the Pc using a mouse and keyboard and from what I played it felt like it wouldn't work that well on a controller. It plays like a top down RPG where position of your character is important and precision of a mouse keyboard is very helpful. One of the most useful tools in the game is the pause action, where you can pause the action and issue commands to your characters to get into the right position.

Awesome might join in this one, I actually downloaded this yeterday. But personally I hate the AI furthest I've gotten is maybe 8 hours in.

I played a decent chunk of it (~30 hours) a few years ago. I thought the plot/setting/etc. were fairly generic and bland, and the combat was incredibly tedious, especially in some areas that never seemed to end.

However, some of the individual characters, their dialogue, and interactions with them/between them were great. If there'd been more of that and less of the rest of the stuff I would've gladly kept playing, but I gave up and uninstalled it in the middle of the Fade out of sheer boredom. I just couldn't take another three hours of trudging through crap like that for every 15 minutes of getting to talk to my companions.

I'm enjoying the game so far. The story is good for a fantasy game. I like the fact that you can select your background. Being an Elf is not the same as being a Human and even if you pick a human, you can still have a different out look as a mage versus a noble.

The world seems more alive then most RPGs I've played. They have a reason to have me do side-quests. It's not that they don't want to do it, it's that they are refugees that need help and post boards that ask for help from anyone, but I foresee that changing later in the game.

A nitpick would be how fast you get companions. You get Alistair soon as you finish your backstory, which is after an hour or two so that's fair enough. After that, you get Morrigan, the dog, Leliana, and Sten with in 10 mintes. Since I can only use three partners at a time, I don't see why I need 5 starting party members.

Pretty much just getting started, but I don't really see any problems that would be deal breakers.

Oooh I've tried to finish this game a few times (on PS3 and PC) but never got further than about 3/4 of the way through. There a few difficulty spikes that are frustrating so this time I'm just going to put it on easy and enjoy the story.

Did anyone experience melee units getting nudged every so slightly out of range and ceasing their auto attacks? I didn't play this month because I'd already played DA:O and while it was a good game I remembered it being sorta boring and cliche, dungeons going on for ages and enemy pack composition being fairly repetitive. Also I made a character back then who was supposed to be a wizened old grey haired human Paladin / Templar type and the game proceeded to have npcs refer to my character as "young pup" constantly, was rather jarring lol.

I also don't remember hating the Fade as much as everyone else, and was his name Slate? the golem from the dlc, best character, with his sarcastic dry wit lol.

Did anyone experience melee units getting nudged every so slightly out of range and ceasing their auto attacks? I didn't play this month because I'd already played DA:O and while it was a good game I remembered it being sorta boring and cliche, dungeons going on for ages and enemy pack composition being fairly repetitive. Also I made a character back then who was supposed to be a wizened old grey haired human Paladin / Templar type and the game proceeded to have npcs refer to my character as "young pup" constantly, was rather jarring lol.

I also don't remember hating the Fade as much as everyone else, and was his name Slate? the golem from the dlc, best character, with his sarcastic dry wit lol.

I didn't find the Fade compelling, but it was the Deep Roads that I hated. I quit the game because of that boring place. Eventually came back and finished it, though.

I didn't find the Fade compelling, but it was the Deep Roads that I hated. I quit the game because of that boring place. Eventually came back and finished it, though.

Yeah, that's the one I've heard the most complaints about from other people. I might've stuck out the Fade if I knew that it picked up again after that, but I hadn't done the Deep Roads yet either, and everyone's bitching about it basically managed to talk me out of it.

There is a mod where you can skip the fade entirely though.

I played this game allot of times alrteady and goin trough it again now, but the game at itself is replayable especially the begining parts changes depending on wich race and background you choose.

Then the decision you take sometimes have influence on the game, too bad the decisions are not so big as in mass effect.

Finally replaying it after a couple of years. I'm enjoying it so far, probably more than last time (when I played on a low-end PC with no sound and no gamepad).

What really killed it for me last time - and made me take 2 years to beat before finally rushing the last act or two to beat the game - wasn't the graphics or the combat. It was the fetch quests and the lore. Now that I know about the fetch quests, I can avoid them and do the fun things. The lore always bugged me, too.

Yes, the story is generic and the setting is bland, but that wasn't my issue (even if Baldur's Gate had a more interesting world). It was that it always came off as pretentious, giving me codex entries that had little to do with my gameplay. As if their only purpose was to be read for their own sake. I don't care about Orlais if I'm playing in Ferelden! This annoyed me in the Witcher 2, when the game threw a bunch of boring world building at me and expected me to care that Generic Fantasy Nation 1 warred with Generic Fantasy Nation 2. But then, I loved the codex entries in Mass Effect, so maybe it's just me being more a sci-fi fan (I rarely read the books in Baldur's Gate or Elder Scrolls). And this was compounded by titles like bann, teryn and arl. Why can't they use normal English words in their English-language game? The lore just wasn't - and in some ways still isn't - approachable for some people. And also the elven language was too Tolkein-ish for my taste.

However, some spoilers for future games did help contextualize the lore for me, so now I appreciate it better. I can read bits of lore and care because I think it'll be relevant in a later game, which does give the world-building value to me as a player. Some of it is even interesting. So yeah, I'm enjoying it well-enough so far, even if the level design is still confusing.

I'm about 15 hours in the game. I went to the Circle first and am currently in the Fade. I don't see the problem with the Fade, nor do I remember disliking it last time. You could argue that it doesn't live up to descriptions of it in the codex, but it's still not TERRIBLE gameplay. But I don't mind the combat in this game, so maybe there's that? Morrigan isn't as bad as I remember, though. She's rough around the edges, natural considering her background, but so far she's more amoral than outright evil.

One thing I'd like to note is how much DAO makes me appreciate games that let me save any time. Coming off of Red Dead Redemption, DAO is so easy to pick up and play for 30 minute sessions. Even if all I do is fight a few combats or read codex entries or talk to an NPC, it's progress. It's rarely as engaging as RDR could be, but never as frustrating or tedious.

Will DAO continue to content me for another 60+ hours? Time will tell. At this rate, it's an 8/10 for me; maybe 9/10 if it gets better and doesn't feel too long.

I'm about 15 hours in the game. I went to the Circle first and am currently in the Fade. I don't see the problem with the Fade, nor do I remember disliking it last time. You could argue that it doesn't live up to descriptions of it in the codex, but it's still not TERRIBLE gameplay. But I don't mind the combat in this game, so maybe there's that? Morrigan isn't as bad as I remember, though. She's rough around the edges, natural considering her background, but so far she's more amoral than outright evil.

One thing I'd like to note is how much DAO makes me appreciate games that let me save any time. Coming off of Red Dead Redemption, DAO is so easy to pick up and play for 30 minute sessions. Even if all I do is fight a few combats or read codex entries or talk to an NPC, it's progress. It's rarely as engaging as RDR could be, but never as frustrating or tedious.

Will DAO continue to content me for another 60+ hours? Time will tell. At this rate, it's an 8/10 for me; maybe 9/10 if it gets better and doesn't feel too long.

I think the most dislike morrigan because she has few options that she likes if you answer anything else even halfway trough she loses affinity.

I do not mind the fade that much the only thing is sometimes you have to go 2 times in the same level to get all items avaible, the only problem i have with teh game is, if i play it too long the loading sometimes takes too long or if a enemy drops it takes awhile before the game notice the death and it takes awhile before the blood comes or the aviable to take the items.

I think the most dislike morrigan because she has few options that she likes if you answer anything else even halfway trough she loses affinity.

I do not mind the fade that much the only thing is sometimes you have to go 2 times in the same level to get all items avaible, the only problem i have with teh game is, if i play it too long the loading sometimes takes too long or if a enemy drops it takes awhile before the game notice the death and it takes awhile before the blood comes or the aviable to take the items.

I happen to think Morrigan is one of the best characters in a Bioware game, and I romanced her, and let her keep the child

I happen to think Morrigan is one of the best characters in a Bioware game, and I romanced her, and let her keep the child

Oh me too for sure i also went with her in the mirror

I played the game twice and started it a third time (not in a row of course) and I had two complete different feelings the first time I played, and when I replayed it after completing the sequels.

The story, though generic (and very lord of the rings-like), is in my opinion quite engrossing, and I liked most of the companions and their interactions (sorry leliana). Though, the main quests were kinda too long (especially the 3 alliance quests). I get why people retire. The Fade wasn't bad itself, but now my eyesight probably is. It literally burnt my eyes.

As for the game mechanics, I played it on ps3 and maaaan the pause menu/tactical is so annoying. It takes forever to appear and the select button is so unpractical. The loading also takes forever, but it's a heavy game so I didn't mind much.

When I came back to origins after playing its sequels, I found the fighting mechanics a bit annoying as the two others have more fluid ones (though Inquisition is not strategic enough in my opinion, it's super fluid).

But still, I would greatly recommend it ! I really enjoyed it both times.

I think Morrigan is well-regarded but her morals clashed with mine. Now I am trying to see things from her point of view and she's a bit more reasonable. Too selfish, perhaps, but not entirely heartless like I thought before.

Also, Leliana always annoyed me, too.

I beat the Fade and agree that the visual effects were...yeah. And the backtracking is a thing, but the spirit and golem were fun, plus I liked the rewards for exploration. Now I'm off to pick up Shale and then decide where to go next...

I played the game twice and started it a third time (not in a row of course) and I had two complete different feelings the first time I played, and when I replayed it after completing the sequels.

The story, though generic (and very lord of the rings-like), is in my opinion quite engrossing, and I liked most of the companions and their interactions (sorry leliana). Though, the main quests were kinda too long (especially the 3 alliance quests). I get why people retire. The Fade wasn't bad itself, but now my eyesight probably is. It literally burnt my eyes.

As for the game mechanics, I played it on ps3 and maaaan the pause menu/tactical is so annoying. It takes forever to appear and the select button is so unpractical. The loading also takes forever, but it's a heavy game so I didn't mind much.

When I came back to origins after playing its sequels, I found the fighting mechanics a bit annoying as the two others have more fluid ones (though Inquisition is not strategic enough in my opinion, it's super fluid).

But still, I would greatly recommend it ! I really enjoyed it both times.

I have the benefit of playing on Xbox One X level hardware (plus SSD) so everything runs super smooth and fast load times even at maximum settings. I'm surprised at how good the game looks, especially the characters. You mostly notice the age when in outdoors areas and it's sparse and the distance is low-res. As I said, I hope it keeps up so I can recommend it when I'm done :)

36+ hours in now, just completed the Deep Roads and Orzammar treaty quest. I still have a few side-quests to wrap up, but my weekend is over so I figured this is a good time for an update.

The Deep Roads weren't perfect, but I'd say my opinion is positive rather than mixed. Yeah, they were sometimes confusing or required backtracking, but I liked the exploration and the hidden quests you could find. That I actually had to explore the map and unlock the lore before even getting the quest was nice, rather than following markers on my mini-map the whole time. A couple combats could get annoying or required a reload, but I loved this one encounter on the bridge with the Legion, just my party slaughtering a horde of darkspawn.

And some of the content is disturbing (at least thematically, if not in presentation), particularly at the end. Speaking of, I really wanted to side with the paragon, but I had Shale with me and he left when I did that, so I had to go with his choice instead :( Overall, though, Orzammar is peak DAO so far, with the Circle feeling limited by comparison. A good balance of side-quests, exploration, NPC interaction and combat.

That said, DAO is not a game without its flaws. I once had to backtrack through the Deep Roads and back because of a full inventory. The inventory limit just wasn't properly balanced, considering all the loot and crafting materials you pick up. KOTOR had no such limit and neither did Mass Effect (or if it did, it wasn't as bothersome); why have one in here? Maybe next time, I'll talk about the character development.

Okay, a quick moment to talk about character development, both mechanically and the major plot decisions.

Mechanically, it's underwhelming. The talents/spells are...fine, but. I can't talk about this without bringing in combat/tactics. The tactics system is a great idea, executed poorly. Without investing in the tactics skill - and therefore in cunning, at least a bit - you have to limit your talents unless you want to micro-manage every second of combat. It's a bit more manageable to get more with your PC, but even then you need a screen wide enough to accommodate them. And because of the way it's set up, you have to invest in long trees to get better talents, but what if you don't want the prereq talent? Characters are practically forced into becoming hyper-specialized with talents, and the skills are terrible.

I mean, seriously, the skills? First of all, the PC has an extra skill tree, which isn't accounted for with bonus skill points. To get the best weapon talents, you also need combat training, and again you need tactics for NPCs to be useful in real-time combat if they have multiple talents or spells. And then the three crafting skills, which you might as well dump on NPCs you don't travel with. If you can manage that in spite of the pitiful skill allowance.

Ugh, I can barely tolerate this mess of a system. I see it working on paper, but it at least needed a respec system to account for even a minor mistake during your development.

Moving on, I like how the major choices so far were handled. By which I mean, there was no clear right or wrong answer. Normally, I'd dislike this, but it means I can actually study the situation, use my wits and go with my gut. Sure, I think some choices are coded as good (save mages, shatter forge, go against the prince), but I think there's a valid reason to choose either choice.

SPOILERS BEWARE! For instance, I chose to annul the Circle last time, but saved it this time. Part of it had to do with me playing a city elf this time and distrusting human oppressors, but I did play elf mage last time... I still think that the Chantry is right: human mages have a habit of going bad, and we see the evidence of that with our own eyes. We see it with Flemeth. But we also see Wynn, the children and the talk of helpful hedge-mages. We see that mages DO pose a real and unique risk to themselves and others. But there's also good people, children even, who shouldn't be slaughtered simply out of caution. And I think the game does a good job of spreading around the information and forcing you to think critically about the situation before making a decision, rather than pushing too hard that the mages are oppressed or dangerous. So I chose to save them, in spite of the risk, because I believed the risk minimal (and Grey Warden duties, of course). But I wouldn't fault anyone for their choice here.

Then there's the politics in Orzammar. Harrowmont is talked about like he's some wise and compassionate advisor, fighting to prevent an unqualified tyrant for ascending to the throne. So of course I chose him last time. But this time, before deciding, I noticed that a lot of talk put him up as as traditionalist preserving dwarven values, with Bhelen as the progressive foil. And I had more hard evidence that Harrowmont himself was a double-crossing liar (the land he promised two clans). So I sided with Bhelen because he seemed more personally honest and progressive, with a supposed desire to end the caste system and reclaim the Deep Roads from darkspawn. But...I know he's a dwarf. I have no doubt he was behind the blackmail of other dwarves, nor that he has the capacity to be bloodthirsty despite his charisma. He could well be a worse ruler, but I had no choice but to go off what I'd seen and heard. I went with my gut and my bias, and I don't fault anyone else for doing so.

Finally, the Anvil of the Void. I personally wanted to save it, but destroyed it to stop Shale from turning against me and leaving/dying. I destroyed it last time, too, and with good reason. It's a danger to anyone, as Alistair points out even I could be turned into a golem. Beings were tortured and enslaved with it. And who could you trust to use this power wisely? The bickering, warlike human kingdoms? The dwarves aren't any better, and who is to say the elves would be? The Chantry would likely destroy it, and the Wardens couldn't protect it. Sooner or later, it could go wrong, and I don't blame anyone for destroying it on the spot. And that's the choice the game codes as correct. But the Deep Roads shows you the true horror of the darkspawn only shortly before the Anvil. I understand why Branka went so far, after witnessing the broodmother. An army of volunteer golems - despite the suffering required of them - would help stop this threat. I used my best judgement and determined that the risk was worthwhile if it meant stopping that, And I don't fault anyone else who chose Branka.

In the end, I think DAO does a good job so far of giving you an opportunity to find more information to make an informed decision, but not enough to make it clear what the consequences are, or what the right choice is. And that gives us, as players, power. The power to use our wits and our guts. And that's all I really have to say on that matter.

I am new on this Franchise, and I started by Origins, I am in love with this game
I'm with 20hours so far, and it´s a great experience game, neve played anything like it

Dragon Age Origins has one thing that no other game had. It had the best origins stories of any of the bioware games!