Dragon Age: Origins

 PC
User Score
8.8

Generally favorable reviews- based on 4891 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4,221 out of 4891
  2. Mixed: 414 out of 4891
  3. Negative: 256 out of 4891
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  1. norhuma
    Mar 19, 2011
    7
    Not a bad game, but kind of bland. If you've never played a Bioware title before, sure, it'll be great. But for those who played e.g. KOTOR, it's just getting a bit old. Dialogues and overall quality of writing is pretty good, but in the end, just too wordy. Battles mechanics are very early D&D-ish in the sense that you have to take care of your individual party members unless you wantNot a bad game, but kind of bland. If you've never played a Bioware title before, sure, it'll be great. But for those who played e.g. KOTOR, it's just getting a bit old. Dialogues and overall quality of writing is pretty good, but in the end, just too wordy. Battles mechanics are very early D&D-ish in the sense that you have to take care of your individual party members unless you want them to commit suicide, which in itself isn't that bad, it just doesn't really fit a game like this, which is supposed to be a bit more fast paced. (side note: I've played Baldur's Gate, it's a great game, but by today's standards, I'm not sure if I would rate it higher than 7 either, I should add. Games have progressed since 2000, you know..) The characters are well portrayed and voiced, but while they have always been somewhat formulaic, it's getting just too repetitive with each new iteration of a Bioware title.

    Play it if you are a huge fan of Bioware games, or if you've never played one of their games before. Otherwise, I'd say pass, it's getting a bit old.    … Expand
  2. Vermillion
    Apr 11, 2011
    8
    Good graphics, combat and music. The story is alright in my book. There are still many bugs present in the game. For instance, one quest did not even show up in the game world. I'm disappointed in Bioware's decision to recycle the areas throughout the game. At some point, you will know when and where to expect traps and treasures. Also, the game doesn't feel very lively any more at someGood graphics, combat and music. The story is alright in my book. There are still many bugs present in the game. For instance, one quest did not even show up in the game world. I'm disappointed in Bioware's decision to recycle the areas throughout the game. At some point, you will know when and where to expect traps and treasures. Also, the game doesn't feel very lively any more at some point. Replayability is high due to the various class combinations that are possible. I hope that the next installment will be more akin to Dragon Age: Origins.… Expand
  3. Kondorr
    May 19, 2011
    8
    After I got totally blown away by the Mass Effect franchise, I decided to give Dragon Age: Origins a shot. At first I was turned off by the visuals... I really believe that a game has no right to look THAT dated nowadays (or rather back in the days of its premier)! I also did not enjoy the combat system... I had no fun with it, so I turned it to the lowest difficulty possible... andAfter I got totally blown away by the Mass Effect franchise, I decided to give Dragon Age: Origins a shot. At first I was turned off by the visuals... I really believe that a game has no right to look THAT dated nowadays (or rather back in the days of its premier)! I also did not enjoy the combat system... I had no fun with it, so I turned it to the lowest difficulty possible... and well... visuals and combat aside... the story and characters are interesting, involving and the settings... although very dated... still often manage to look beautiful. Face animation is really great... but the music... is completely forgettable.

    In the end... I do not regret any money I spent on it and almost all of its DLC's... I DID have a great time playing it (on low difficulty), I cared about the characters and I did want to make a change in this (game-) world. In the end I have spent more than 100 hours (!!!) on DA:O with all but one DLC's (including Awakening! And now you can get the game itself with every single piece of DLC in the Box! So if no then, NOW is the right time to play...    … Expand
  4. google_calasade
    May 27, 2011
    8
    Dragon Age: Origins...is it the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate? Ehh, no, but it is a very good game. Solid in its gameplay, the graphics are less than stellar but the NPC interaction of Alistair, Leliana and especially Morrigan make it a very entertaining one. The storyline itself is fragmented (you start off looking for your brother and then he's not mentioned again until the endDragon Age: Origins...is it the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate? Ehh, no, but it is a very good game. Solid in its gameplay, the graphics are less than stellar but the NPC interaction of Alistair, Leliana and especially Morrigan make it a very entertaining one. The storyline itself is fragmented (you start off looking for your brother and then he's not mentioned again until the end of the game), the major plotline a cliche`. Some of the decisions you make are impactful, others not so much. Par for the course for its developer. The characters are fairly deep, though there's no character growth during the game (your character and the NPCs who tag along with you stay relatively the same with the exception of Sten and Shale whose views do change). Still, like I said, this is a very good game, and definitely worth the money. While it doesn't hale the return to the top of the RPG heap for Bioware (now a division of EA), it certainly is a step up the ladder.… Expand
  5. xMaschine
    Jan 14, 2015
    10
    A testament to the old BioWare's epic storytelling and ability to create an immersive and captivating world like no other in the industry. You're immediately drawn in, with the Origins prologue making it feel like it's your story, your world you're in control in of. You can play through the game each time again and again and still get chills from multiple high points in the story.
  6. birdman3
    Sep 29, 2013
    7
    Dragon Age does some things right- its story telling is pretty good, its combat dynamics are pretty good, and its graphics are pretty good. With that said, the game is too long for its own good, you spend a lot of time talking (which is typical of Bioware games, so if that's what you expect, that's fine), and the crafting system is lacking. The game wasn't rewarding enough for the 70+Dragon Age does some things right- its story telling is pretty good, its combat dynamics are pretty good, and its graphics are pretty good. With that said, the game is too long for its own good, you spend a lot of time talking (which is typical of Bioware games, so if that's what you expect, that's fine), and the crafting system is lacking. The game wasn't rewarding enough for the 70+ hours I put into the game for me to consider playing it again from a different character class. One thing that irked me- you can either play directly as each of the characters in your party (which is neat), or you can create an AI to tell them when to use certain abilities. This is cool, except I'm not sure when I really want them to use each of the abilities, so I don't trust myself to create their AI. Except that there's no default AI for them to follow. So I felt like with my healer I had to do trial and error to determine what percentage health I needed her to heal my tank at. With my tank, how do I teach him to hold all the enemies' attention? While some people would derive a lot of joy in being able to personalize their character to this extent, to me it was tedium. I prefer the approach they took in Mass Effect where you had less abilities, but they were more significant.… Expand
  7. Mickmoffat
    May 24, 2015
    9
    The first RPG iv ever played and it has changed my life! A fantastic world full of depth and story i find my self wanting to do just one more quest one more turns into two more and so on. A fantastic game im currently in my second playthrough and only at 40% completion at 60 total hours so far and iv not even touched the DLC yet! Plenty of breadth and depth mods really bring this old ishThe first RPG iv ever played and it has changed my life! A fantastic world full of depth and story i find my self wanting to do just one more quest one more turns into two more and so on. A fantastic game im currently in my second playthrough and only at 40% completion at 60 total hours so far and iv not even touched the DLC yet! Plenty of breadth and depth mods really bring this old ish game to really shine!
    I could not give this review 10/10 due to some issues on the PC version that can only be fixed by setting the affinity to 2 of my 4 cpu cores or the game crashes.

    Overall a must play!    … Expand
  8. Sean-M
    Jun 20, 2020
    10
    Great game with amazing story and characters. Leliana was great! Definitely one of the best RPGs that I have ever played. Still waiting for the Bioware comeback!!
  9. iddqd4
    Mar 16, 2018
    8
    Классная вариативная RPG, от людей который еще не разбежались из BioWare.
  10. jseph1234
    Apr 15, 2015
    10
    The game that is the SIGNATURE masterpiece from Bioware. From the opening notes of the theme, the whole game just sucks you in. I love the interplay with your companions and the difficult situations that continued throughout the ENTIRE game. There is just No WAY I can't give this a TEN.

    I have played all of the Great Fantasy RPG's, including the Original Pen & Paper D&D and this the    The game that is the SIGNATURE masterpiece from Bioware. From the opening notes of the theme, the whole game just sucks you in. I love the interplay with your companions and the difficult situations that continued throughout the ENTIRE game. There is just No WAY I can't give this a TEN.

    I have played all of the Great Fantasy RPG's, including the Original Pen & Paper D&D and this the Greatest (Even greater than my beloved Vampire the Masquerade:Bloodlines)

    A game worth more than THREE times its original $60 purchase price, GUARANTEED!!    … Expand
  11. fateappointed
    Feb 3, 2014
    8
    Story: 8 out of 10, Graphics: 8 out of 10, Fun: 8 out of 10, Controls: 8 out of 10, Ease to Learn: 8 out of 10, Length: 8 out of 10, Re-play: 3 out of 10, Value: 8 out of 10
  12. COMThing
    May 27, 2014
    8
    DAO is a very good RPG with, as always in Bioware games, a great storyline. Although it can be hard to get into, once you are comfortable with the controls the game starts to shine.

    The Good: - Excellent story and an interesting world - Voice acting is well done - Squad mates can be hilarious at times - The character creator is interesting, although not advanced - Plenty of mods    DAO is a very good RPG with, as always in Bioware games, a great storyline. Although it can be hard to get into, once you are comfortable with the controls the game starts to shine.

    The Good:
    - Excellent story and an interesting world
    - Voice acting is well done
    - Squad mates can be hilarious at times
    - The character creator is interesting, although not advanced
    - Plenty of mods that add more to the game or adjust gameplay

    The Bad:
    - It can be a challenging game to the point of frustration and there is no dificulty setting for those who just want to experience the story [without mods]
    - Combat is quite slow and there is not much item variation to spice it
    - The player character is not voice acted

    Neutral:
    - Graphics are not state of the art even for it's release in 09... Not a bad thing but some people seem to really hate that    … Expand
  13. Barby
    Aug 20, 2015
    10
    This was my first real RPG experience. Had introduced me in the story masterfully, I can feel as the protagonist and each action counts exploring the world at my will. It has the same gameplay as Pillars of Eternity (which is inspired in this gameplay). One of its most important things is the toolkit to have literally thousands of mods, I remember playing it with all my companionsThis was my first real RPG experience. Had introduced me in the story masterfully, I can feel as the protagonist and each action counts exploring the world at my will. It has the same gameplay as Pillars of Eternity (which is inspired in this gameplay). One of its most important things is the toolkit to have literally thousands of mods, I remember playing it with all my companions customized and it was awesome. King of RPGs!… Expand
  14. PrincessRose
    Oct 23, 2020
    9
    I played this in 2009 on disc when it first released which I still have, I played the hell out of it and played all character types and choices and endings, but didn't get all the DLC or Awakening. So decided to buy again on steam to get all DLC to play, it is still one of the greatest RPG's of all time.

    What makes this game great is the story is very well written, the characters are    I played this in 2009 on disc when it first released which I still have, I played the hell out of it and played all character types and choices and endings, but didn't get all the DLC or Awakening. So decided to buy again on steam to get all DLC to play, it is still one of the greatest RPG's of all time.

    What makes this game great is the story is very well written, the characters are all interesting, they are so well voiced with a lot of depth and story behind each character, they say so much that they feel almost like real people. Party banter is also amazing and entertaining, amusing and the way they interact with you and each other. The relationships you build with them make them also feel like valued friends and someone you could actually fall in love with. It has the feeling of an epic adventure and it feels like this game has heart and soul which so many newer games lack.

    Not a fan of the combat, but doesn't matter since the story is so good and immersive.

    I don't think Bioware would make anything as epic as this again as this was the last RPG Bioware made before EA took over and they tend to rush things and make them rather mediocre, generic and take away what made the game special in the first place and are known for buying game studios with unique games that end up being killed and shut down for good. I've accepted that Bioware is pretty much dead when it sold it's soul to EA and is just a zombie shell now.
    And will never make another 9/10 game again.

    I give this game a 9/10 the last epic game from Bioware, all the DA games past this are quite good but lack the depth and immersion that DAO had. In comparison I would give DAI a 7/10. Though I am yet to play DA2 as it doesn't seem very good to me.

    I loved playing through this game again and also enjoyed all the DLC. If you love a good story this is worth playing through at least once in your lifetime, but if you love it you are likely to want to experience all character types, choices and romances. It's a game that is always entertaining and enjoyable to come back to and play.
    The game crashes ocassionally, mostly in Denerim and The Deep Roads and also when fighting the Archdemon it would crash every time after it does a spirit breath until I turned the graphics to low there doesn't seem to be any other way to stop this. Also taking screeenshots often causes the game to freeze and lock up my computer needing a PC restart.    … Expand
  15. Vzhik
    Mar 15, 2017
    5
    Несколько раз пытался пройти игру, несколько раз бросал. Но в итоге прошел.
    Плюсы:
    Повествование, персонажи, истории и сюжет. Это всё на отлично. Как-то получилось у авторов сделать вроде банальную историю очень личной, так, что воспринимаешь происходящее как то, что происходит с тобой. Диалоги у команды очень живые. Русская озвучка вполне на уровне, особенно Морриган характер    Несколько раз пытался пройти игру, несколько раз бросал. Но в итоге прошел.
    Плюсы:
    Повествование, персонажи, истории и сюжет. Это всё на отлично. Как-то получилось у авторов сделать вроде банальную историю очень личной, так, что воспринимаешь происходящее как то, что происходит с тобой. Диалоги у команды очень живые. Русская озвучка вполне на уровне, особенно Морриган характер высокомерно-холодной отстраненности очень хорошо предан.
    Минусы:
    Невозможность пройти чисто по сюжету, необходимость прокачиваться на вторичных заданиях. Отсутствие каких-либо подсказок куда следуют идти. Круги по миру нарезать в поисках где враги послабее приходилось неоднократно. Много мороки с цифрами-статами-скиллами и деньгами. Боёвка совершенно не вдохновляет.
    В среднем удовлетворительно    … Expand
  16. dair
    Mar 14, 2015
    10
    One of the best games ever. Great story, immersion, tactical combat, quests, graphic style, companions and NPCs. The only thing I didn't like: your character doesn't speak.
  17. Topfpflanze
    Feb 3, 2020
    10
    For me just the best RPG ever. The last and the most opulent work of Bioware before it got deconstructed. NPCs you can interact with, and party characters who have exactly that: Character. It depends on how you play it, it ranges from very easy to nearly unbeatable. A story line that you will keep in your memory.
  18. Smilingcookie
    Apr 1, 2015
    8
    Very fun game. Very good story and choice and consequence. Interesting characters and political situation.

    The controls and camera are good. The biggest negative is that weapons and equipment are class restricted in a very strict way. Rogues per definition use dual daggers or bow and cannot even equip a sword. I don't understand why this was necessary. Overall a very good game, much    Very fun game. Very good story and choice and consequence. Interesting characters and political situation.

    The controls and camera are good. The biggest negative is that weapons and equipment are class restricted in a very strict way. Rogues per definition use dual daggers or bow and cannot even equip a sword. I don't understand why this was necessary.

    Overall a very good game, much better than it's sequels! 8.3/10!    … Expand
  19. AmnesicoSG
    Jul 28, 2015
    10
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A día de hoy se ven muy pocos juegos con esta calidad de diseño, de inmersión y de trasfondo como ser muestra con esta primera entrega y siento que así debió ser con sus secuelas.
    De los mejores y más acertados sistemas de combate que un RPG puede ofrecer al jugador pese a lo que los "casuales" digan, las animaciones de combate no son de lo más espectacular de lo que usualmente suele verse en el mercado, eso es verdad, pero no representa problema en base a que mantiene su bien distribuida dificultad en todo momento. La estrategia es muy importante y se refleja bastante a lo largo de la aventura con nuestros compañeros y cada habilidad que adquiramos para ellos a medida que suben de nivel es imprescindible. La calidad gráfica es poco a como se muestra su más nueva entrega "dragon age inquisition" sin embargo su apartado visual es claramente superior (ojo, apartado visual no es lo mismo a calidad gráfica); Posee un estilo realista a la vez que te sumerge en un ambiente de rol fantástico, que se puede observar con las diferentes elecciones de clases que puedes elegir al principio del juego, y el cómo se diferencian entre sí, tanto física como metódicamente, los qunari son como seres humanos pero de mayor proporción de tamaño y fornidos en su mayoría, los elfos aunque un poco más bajos de estatura que el humano y con orejas puntiagudas, estos son como otros humanos, otra cultura y otros dioses, hay situaciones sociales y políticas, racismo y discriminación, varios puntos que conforman la estructura de ferelden, lugar en el cual iniciarás y terminarás tu aventura como guarda gris.
    La narrativa de esta historia es impresionante y hay muchas posibilidades dado a que tú tomas el rol como protagonista, dejándote a escoger muchas opciones por las cual responder a las cuestiones que se presentan en tu viaje, no hay bien ni un mal que defina la ética y moral de nuestro personaje sino que te puedes formar como persona y como heroe a tu modo.
    Tiene compañeros memorables, todos muy carismáticos y tienen su forma de ser tratados, hay otros de lo más raros pero tienen su propia chispa, en algunos casos podremos verlos en otras entregas de la saga como es el caso de flemeth o morrigan, leliana y otros personajes como cullen que más adelante toma un rol importante en la inquisición.
    Tiene por mucho el mejor protagonista de toda la saga y con mucha razón, dragon age 2 no merece mención debido a la aberrante historia que presenta, y con dragon age inquisition, nuestro personaje posee una extraña y en mi opinión, mal sistema de respuestas y sigue a veces el mismo patrón que tienen el segundo juego haciendo que a veces no puedas tomar decisión realmente en ningún aspecto. Esto con el guarda gris no sucede, a pesar de no tener voz en el juego, es compensado con la grande variedad de respuestas que eres capaz de dar a las situaciones que se presentan, no hay un: Opción A) Veré que puedo hacer. Opción B) estoy de acuerdo, por ahora... Meeeh.
    Lo más importante ya lo he mencionado, creo que con esto terminaría mi opinión. Una obra maestra sin duda y aún espero a que bioware continúe la historia del "heroe de ferelden" como protagonista de su siguiente entrega dado a que su linea argumental fue "cortada" por los demás juegos (DA2 y DA:I) aun si fuera por capricho, pero sería una gran vuelta a la increíble trama que presenta este juego, sin dudarlo.    … Expand
  20. Crimson_Foxxe
    Aug 8, 2015
    10
    This game is nothing short of amazing, memorable characters, indulging plot, deeply strategical battle system, it all comes together as one of my favourite games of all time.

    Pros:
    Compelling Story
    Deep and Elaborate Combat
    No Meaningless Locations
    Tremendously Dense Lore

    Cons:
    Graphically Dull (for 2015 standards)
    Combat can feel a bit clunky sometimes
  21. Elizondo
    Feb 9, 2018
    4
    I can't understand how this game is so overrated. Crowded with glitches, horrible interface, poor performance, stupid AI, incomprehensible peaks and valleys in the difficulty level, a game camera that makes your life impossible, inexplicable FPS drops at some areas... the list of deficiencies seem to be endless. Honestly, it is like no one tested this game.
    And how about the story? In one    I can't understand how this game is so overrated. Crowded with glitches, horrible interface, poor performance, stupid AI, incomprehensible peaks and valleys in the difficulty level, a game camera that makes your life impossible, inexplicable FPS drops at some areas... the list of deficiencies seem to be endless. Honestly, it is like no one tested this game.
    And how about the story? In one word, mediocre. The main story is the usual in Bioware games. An ancient evil is coming to destroy de world.. go and recruit your army. Exactly the same as in Mass Effect. And as also usual in Bioware games, side stories are plagiarism from here and there. Take this from King Arthur, take that from Joan of Arc, etc.. exactly the same that they later did in Mass Effect, taking things from Ender´s game, Battlestar Galactica, etc. I wonder how they have managed to avoid lawsuits.
    In short, this game is like it has been developed by three teenagers in a couple of weekends. Technically very poor, mediocre story full of cliches, and a combat system that forces you to micromanage because the AI is retarded. Can´t recommend this one to anyone.    … Expand
  22. Voyou
    May 20, 2016
    3
    Dumb dumb dumb.

    You can read about the biggest flaws in numerous other reviews. I'm not going to repeat. I just want to concentrate on a couple of them that are common in the genre. Flaws are supposed to disappear in later games, right ? Well, not according to the baboon who designed DAO and brought them to a higher level of frustrating stupidity. Many games give you an ability to    Dumb dumb dumb.

    You can read about the biggest flaws in numerous other reviews. I'm not going to repeat. I just want to concentrate on a couple of them that are common in the genre. Flaws are supposed to disappear in later games, right ? Well, not according to the baboon who designed DAO and brought them to a higher level of frustrating stupidity.

    Many games give you an ability to sneak. Most just pretend to give it to you, as they happily ignore it ever after. You know, you're invisible, but a cut-scene begins that makes you instantly visible, and generally at the worst possible spot. And it also gathers your strategically (or is it lazily?) disseminated party. So now you're a bit frustrated because the game ignores your manual efforts and/or your superior brain. Also, the narrative lost its edge somehow. These scenes happen when the game mechanics are not designed according to the story needs. Or the opposite. Actually... both. Anyway, one day, a good game will do this right.

    Now a little example on how DAO handles this simple matter: So here I was, sneaking far ahead of my imposed companions, past many paralysed-looking orcs-with-another-name, careful not to miss any passage between all the invisible walls. Suddenly !... a flower. I mean, an interactive flower, you know, something I can finally touch without killing it. So I tend my hand to grab it... and suddenly !, but very suddenly this time, instantaneous-like, my unwanted companions are next to me, talking to me. They sneaked faster than I did. But not as well, since we are all visible and orcs nearby can see us. They are already charging.

    Do you think this is not stupid enough ? Here's the punchline: only 2 of my 3 companions have teleported in order to dispel my cover with their powerful voodoo. The 3rd one is still where they left him, on the other side of 4 or 5 enemy patrols.

    Believe it or not, it got so much worse in the next chapter that I gave up and uninstalled with a sneer towards the designers. Among niceties, you can't manipulate anything while in combat, you can't go back into sneak mode in an empty, locked room because there is an enemy in another locked room somewhere in a large radius around you, and so on.

    Basically, DAO forces you into linear paths (disguised as exterior maps) and into killing everything as you progress. Not so surprising since the Gray Warden you work for is nothing but a cold blooded murderer after all, but I already hinted that this review wasn't going to dive into the failures of the writing.    … Expand
  23. Orctownorc
    Aug 8, 2013
    7
    Dragon Age Origins contains so much great content that it garners higher review scores than it deserves. The game has many many interesting NPCs, and they are SO well written, that the writing component of the game is not only 10/10. it approaches the best writing in game design anywhere. However the truth is writing alone does not make a great game. Origins has a number of deficienciesDragon Age Origins contains so much great content that it garners higher review scores than it deserves. The game has many many interesting NPCs, and they are SO well written, that the writing component of the game is not only 10/10. it approaches the best writing in game design anywhere. However the truth is writing alone does not make a great game. Origins has a number of deficiencies that end up placing in closer to the level of the flawed (and pretty tedious) Neverwinter Nights than it is to The great Baldur's Gate 2. The biggest flaw of the game is the lack of detail in the campaign map. Little attempt has been made to pretend that characters are having an adventure in a living world. There is no exploration, no wandering from place to place. No open vistas, no skies, no world at all. Just a little world map that looks like it was scawled on a napkin, where you can move between a limited number of set locations and engage in linear set-pieces. This was acceptable last century but times, and technical capacities have moved on. Bioware seems too stuck in its stengths to seriously address its weaknesses. In brief this campaign design sucks. The other main weakness in Origins is in the character development systems. Obviously Bioware decided to ditch the Dungeons and Dragons system and 'Go their own way'. What they came up with though is sadly under-designed. Non-combat skills and crafting appear to have had the very minimum of thought or play-testing put into them. Classes are NOT balanced (mages are too strong). The whole thing looks like a muddled work in progress. What they came up with is decent but it's telling that the design abruptly ends around level 20. There seems to be a lack of creative vison here to envision a world where charcters will eventually go on and achieve level 50 or 80! Bioware clearly lacks a strategic plan to build a world and create a place where the adventure can continue once they run out of writing ideas. Thus finally, DA Origins simply is NOT that good. It fails to build the foundation for am ongoing franchise. It fails to build an explorable or enduring world. It fails to give the players a systematic basis to explore, adventure of level up anywhere at all outside the very limit areas of defined scripts. It even fails to offer an adventure with more depth or scope that the good old Black-Isle days. Reviewers have been blinded by the sheer beauty of the cutscenes, the wonderful interactions of the party, the amazing voice work, and the great assets to realize that Bioware makes GREAT set-pieces, but fail to make amazing role playing GAMES. The moment their writers stop writing the game ends and the fun is over. It is NOT as good as it could be or should be in this moment of game design. It remains too far stuck back in 1999 and not enough of the new century! The seeds of the failure of Dragon Age 2 were sown HERE.… Expand
  24. Tengu1337
    Oct 26, 2014
    6
    This game is basically medieval KotOR.
    Story: Every quest is well written. The choices you make are difficult and thought provoking. There are some fantasy cliches here and there, but as a whole, the story is great.
    Graphics: Levels are your standard fantasy fare. Some costumes and weapon designs are interesting. Nothing really special to look at. Animations are awkward. Sound:    This game is basically medieval KotOR.
    Story: Every quest is well written. The choices you make are difficult and thought provoking. There are some fantasy cliches here and there, but as a whole, the story is great.
    Graphics: Levels are your standard fantasy fare. Some costumes and weapon designs are interesting. Nothing really special to look at. Animations are awkward.
    Sound: Excellent voice work supports the story very well. You will notice some of the same actors, though. The sound effects are average.
    Gameplay: Dragon's Age has absolutely dreadful game play start to finish mainly because the AI is completely useless. The tactics feature is an awesome idea in theory but fails because every fight is different. You'll basically have to control every action for four characters, and as soon as you switch to one, the others will run off and do something stupid. Dragon's Age is one of the most unbalanced games I've played in a long time. Hard mode is unplayable. The inventory system is useless because of the insane amount of items you pick up and the small carrying capacity. Leveling up is fun but often you'll be forced down a certain path with little room for wacky builds.

    Dragon's Age could have been the tactical RPG that fans have been waiting for but poor AI, lackluster feel, and poor design cripple it. Play it if you enjoyed KotOR or if you like fantasy stories, otherwise skip it.    … Expand
  25. vaell
    Mar 29, 2011
    6
    I just can't see how anyone got pass the extreme cliché, bad combat system, and crazy long load scenes.

    Guess: Bioware + Hipe = love from the masses. on the good side i did enjoy some brief moments of the story, and giving the chance to start with different classes and races with an unique "origin" is a plus, but they might have spent that time and money crafting a better    I just can't see how anyone got pass the extreme cliché, bad combat system, and crazy long load scenes.

    Guess: Bioware + Hipe = love from the masses.

    on the good side i did enjoy some brief moments of the story, and giving the chance to start with different classes and races with an unique "origin" is a plus, but they might have spent that time and money crafting a better game after that...    … Expand
  26. DickS
    Dec 30, 2009
    6
    I have only put about five hours of playtime into the game but felt the need to warn everyone that the game is incomplete. There is a "Tactics" Section that lets you customize the ai of your companions. Bioware has basicly left it up to you to script the ai yourself using an interface that is about as friendly as a psychotic baboon on speed. This would be okay if bioware actually put in I have only put about five hours of playtime into the game but felt the need to warn everyone that the game is incomplete. There is a "Tactics" Section that lets you customize the ai of your companions. Bioware has basicly left it up to you to script the ai yourself using an interface that is about as friendly as a psychotic baboon on speed. This would be okay if bioware actually put in some half decent script sets to start you off. But the AI presets get the lemming award every time i engage in battle.… Expand
  27. Biokiipper
    Dec 22, 2013
    5
    If you played Mass effect series and Skyrim, you probably shouldn't play this one... My brother played DA before those and really loved this game, I did the opposite. Considering that I am into NWN, Baldur's Gate series, Elder Scroll and many others fantasy games more than he is, I scratched my head when I didn't like it as him and many others... I guess some games should be played whenIf you played Mass effect series and Skyrim, you probably shouldn't play this one... My brother played DA before those and really loved this game, I did the opposite. Considering that I am into NWN, Baldur's Gate series, Elder Scroll and many others fantasy games more than he is, I scratched my head when I didn't like it as him and many others... I guess some games should be played when its released, after that it will simply be outdated... Probably I will give it another try in january/2014 and review my score. If you really want to try it, do it only with steam sales.… Expand
  28. whatever523
    Dec 27, 2013
    8
    The game has a very good story and great characters, but it somehow lacks immersion, because it's too linear for an RPG and the graphics are a weird mix of good looking characters, bad animations and terrible world textures. It also has a TON of bugs. Random crashes, quests that can't be completed.
    The interface and controls are average at best, even Baldur's Gate made some things better    The game has a very good story and great characters, but it somehow lacks immersion, because it's too linear for an RPG and the graphics are a weird mix of good looking characters, bad animations and terrible world textures. It also has a TON of bugs. Random crashes, quests that can't be completed.
    The interface and controls are average at best, even Baldur's Gate made some things better and that was more than ten years ago.

    In the end it's a weird mix of very good and very bad aspects and even though it is a good game, for me it lacks the love for details required to be considered great and I guess E.A.'s influence is to blame for that.    … Expand
  29. Nuker
    Jun 26, 2015
    7
    Good: Companions, Orzammar

    Mixed: Story, Writing, Gameplay, Music, Atmosphere/Mood, Setting

    Bad: Pacing, Bugs

    Overall average game with great moments. Terrible pacing, too much boring encounters with trash mobs. Some great locations with enjoyable quest lines like Orzammar. Annoying bugs in combat.
  30. nubinebi
    Sep 4, 2015
    6
    I am disappointed with this game. Camera is terrible and sometimes downright infuriating. Some of the objects are way to hard to find. Even after you know where they are supposed to be! If you are really desperate for an RPG game, give it a try, otherwise there are many better ones out there.
  31. AlienSpaceBats
    Jun 27, 2013
    6
    This is not Baldur's Gate. Dragon Age is average and tedious; catering to the Lord of the Rings crowd with soap-opera character interaction and bland "looks-like-medieval-Europe" fantasy setting It took effort to get into the game, through it's constipated origin stories (all dull, save the Dwarven one), to the peaks and valleys of the main game: for every interesting interaction (Shale)This is not Baldur's Gate. Dragon Age is average and tedious; catering to the Lord of the Rings crowd with soap-opera character interaction and bland "looks-like-medieval-Europe" fantasy setting It took effort to get into the game, through it's constipated origin stories (all dull, save the Dwarven one), to the peaks and valleys of the main game: for every interesting interaction (Shale) there is far too often a descent into a seemingly never-ending, mind-numbing dungeon-crawl (The Urn of Sacred Ashes, The Fade, Orzammar).… Expand
  32. Solstrand
    Sep 29, 2013
    6
    This was hailed as THE rpg game of the decade back when it was new and fresh. I had my fill of rpg's at the time, so i didnt pick it up until recently.

    What struck me was how extremely overrated this game was. The story is passable, but mostly just the same old stuff. I got bored with it halfway through the game. The combat system and game in itself, is "Meh". That got boring even    This was hailed as THE rpg game of the decade back when it was new and fresh. I had my fill of rpg's at the time, so i didnt pick it up until recently.

    What struck me was how extremely overrated this game was. The story is passable, but mostly just the same old stuff. I got bored with it halfway through the game. The combat system and game in itself, is "Meh". That got boring even quicker. It's a decent game, but i expected a classic. And when you do, it's kinda annoying. Do not buy this if you think it's gonna be an epic story or game. It's a passable game, nothing more.    … Expand
  33. MikeB
    Nov 8, 2009
    5
    I don't know what game everyone else is playing. This game takes Baldur's Gate 2, removes all interesting dialogue, unique characters, player choices, and exploration, and replaces it with shiny graphics and cutscenes. Any game that plays itself and looks pretty gets 90s and better from this joke of a game reviewing community we have today.
  34. unclekulikov
    Jun 14, 2015
    2
    The mechanics are woefully inadequate in this game. Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect 1, 2, 3, and Old Republic are all better in terms of mechanics while also maintaining the high level of storytelling and player choice that this game is known for. The thing is all of those games have been made by the same company, so I don't know why this one is so different in such a bad way.
  35. Hoi_Gr
    Mar 17, 2011
    5
    Short Review: A solid RPG but nothing new, nothing really impressive or mind blowing. Not really a step back for Bioware and the genre, just not a step forward either.

    Biggest Pros: Excellent story telling and dialog. Many different origins stories. HUGE: Not as huge as Elder Scrolls ofcourse but you can spend ALOT of time with it. High quality production throughout. Great to watch:    Short Review: A solid RPG but nothing new, nothing really impressive or mind blowing. Not really a step back for Bioware and the genre, just not a step forward either.

    Biggest Pros: Excellent story telling and dialog. Many different origins stories. HUGE: Not as huge as Elder Scrolls ofcourse but you can spend ALOT of time with it. High quality production throughout. Great to watch: Graphics, animations, impressive effects. Unmissable: like it or not the DA series are the standard of measure for fantasy CRPGs at the moment. You have to play it to stay current.

    Bigest Cons: Illusions of moral choices dispel quickly. Battle system and ruleset are just terrible, probably the most unimaginative and rigid skill system ever. Half the skills are just slight variations of other skills, you probably won't use 70% of the skills you learn. Completely imbalanced: 3 mages + 1 tank and the game is ridiculously easy, mix the typical fantasy party (2 x warrior, 1 rogue, 1 mage) and you go nowhere. Weak, non exciting gear. Non exciting lvl ups. Very scripted. Loading screens.    … Expand
  36. syrik
    Apr 26, 2011
    9
    I can't give a perfect score unless something is perfect. I haven't met the perfect game. Dragon Age Origins came very close. This game, WOW, just WOW. I enjoyed the entire thing from start to finish, all of it. There were no moments for me of grinding or feeling like I had to perform some chore to get to the good stuff. It was all fun. The points that detract from perfection areI can't give a perfect score unless something is perfect. I haven't met the perfect game. Dragon Age Origins came very close. This game, WOW, just WOW. I enjoyed the entire thing from start to finish, all of it. There were no moments for me of grinding or feeling like I had to perform some chore to get to the good stuff. It was all fun. The points that detract from perfection are minor things like difficult camera angles in some places or stupid AI from team mates. Things easily rectified by simply moving or pausing combat and taking direct control. The story was expertly told and deep. Characters interact and communicate, they make you feel something about them. Actual feelings. I really liked Alistair and Leilana. They were good people who I found myself enjoying talking to, asking what they thought, exploring with. I really didn't like Zevran or Sten. I found myself not wanting to talk to them, cringing in anticipation of what they would say next. Most games I don't care. That this game could establish that level of attachment to characters is commendable. It's when a game becomes more than a game and wanders over toward something bigger. It becomes an experience, something you DID and enjoyed doing. Time well spent and stories worth telling.… Expand
  37. Amig
    Jun 22, 2012
    7
    As I tend to ignore hype, I didn't really have much in the way of expectations toward Dragon Age Origins. I suppose you could say I was pleasantly surprised. While the story is yet another LotR derivative (the darkspawn even look and behave exactly like Tolkien's orcs), and the combat is kinda tiresome in the long run, the game makes up for it with craptons of dialogue (all voiced, exceptAs I tend to ignore hype, I didn't really have much in the way of expectations toward Dragon Age Origins. I suppose you could say I was pleasantly surprised. While the story is yet another LotR derivative (the darkspawn even look and behave exactly like Tolkien's orcs), and the combat is kinda tiresome in the long run, the game makes up for it with craptons of dialogue (all voiced, except your own char's lines - you have to voice those yourself), great characters (Alistair and Morrigan are my favorites), brilliant voice acting (once again, a really good job with Morrigan and Alistair) and quite a lot of freedom of choice. Although the game has many flaws, like the aforementioned tiresome combat, sluggish world map travel (done Fallout style, except with scripted encounters rather than random ones) and some situations with wasted potential for non-linearity, it's a pretty solid piece of work overall and, unless you develop an allergic reaction to it early on, should keep you entertained for many hours.… Expand
  38. Gzhindra
    Sep 14, 2013
    5
    The only thing that this game does right is the fighting system and the skillsets. It is pretty deep and gives a lot of freedom in term of tactics. Unfortunately the class are poorly balanced and if you play in the higher difficulty levels it shows. A lot. The mage class is uber powerful while other classes become useless. Some classes are useful at the beginning of the game and deflateThe only thing that this game does right is the fighting system and the skillsets. It is pretty deep and gives a lot of freedom in term of tactics. Unfortunately the class are poorly balanced and if you play in the higher difficulty levels it shows. A lot. The mage class is uber powerful while other classes become useless. Some classes are useful at the beginning of the game and deflate in the later game. The dog for example has clearly not been thought to be kept beyond the first half of the game. Too bad.
    The game tries to make you think there is freedom but there are very little. You can chose the order in which you are going to play the sub stories and at the end of each of these sub stories chose the good and the evil path which actually change the troops you will have at the end of the game but nothing storywise. The game is actually very manichean (binary straight good or straight bad. Nothing in between) despite what the developer was claming.
    The story is pretty shallow and uninteresting. It would have been acceptable if the game had real freedom but in this very close game it looks very cheap. The meta-story could be told on a piece of toilet paper. It is that deep. You have independent sub stories. Little one. But several little story don’t make 1 great story.
    It was supposed to be a Baldur’s gate revival but it fails miserably.    … Expand
  39. stern
    Dec 30, 2012
    5
    I played this game because of the high rating everyone was giving and now I learnt my lesson: never trust "professional" reviewers, or they are paid, or they are totally and clueless people. I ended Dragon Age only with the desire to see Morrigan nude and an utter frustration.
    Dragon Age is the reason people use the term WRPG pejoratively; a bland and dull fantasy world which won't    I played this game because of the high rating everyone was giving and now I learnt my lesson: never trust "professional" reviewers, or they are paid, or they are totally and clueless people. I ended Dragon Age only with the desire to see Morrigan nude and an utter frustration.
    Dragon Age is the reason people use the term WRPG pejoratively; a bland and dull fantasy world which won't attract anyone over 25, a mish-mash of all things rooted in tabletop rpgs, but with a vague and easy coming face, specially appealing to younger generations and metal fans. And also painfully linear, because they like to pretend the game isn't linear; experiment playing the game as an elf mage and going to the elf city, they won't treat you as an elf simply because their dialog lines weren't written taking your choices in account.
    Also, you'll se gross stereotypes, unnecessary sexualization and even offensive references to homosexuality. I bet they probably did all this to create controversy and free marketing.
    The game offers entertainment indeed, but you probably won't even end it, getting bored midway.    … Expand
  40. laengsiL
    Jan 9, 2010
    9
    This game is damn epic! Of course it has a few bugs or w/e but still the best RPG I've played so far. It's just so big, it makes TES IV look like shit :D SO many possibilities you really can't discover everything, but that's what makes it such an epic game!
  41. CarlosF
    Nov 10, 2009
    10
    Excellent narrative. Very interesting tactical battles that you can't sleep through (be wary of magic users). May be my new favourite RPG
  42. Thales
    Nov 4, 2009
    10
    It's a great story driven RPG a suberb classic, a perfect merge of old gameplay with new tecnologies delivering a world where you choises changes the world for better or worse. People keep talking about "its not revolutionry", but again i ask, a game to be good it must be revolutionary? I'm rather stick with a classic than be fooled by a empty game with lots of new mechanics. If It's a great story driven RPG a suberb classic, a perfect merge of old gameplay with new tecnologies delivering a world where you choises changes the world for better or worse. People keep talking about "its not revolutionry", but again i ask, a game to be good it must be revolutionary? I'm rather stick with a classic than be fooled by a empty game with lots of new mechanics. If you look at Diablo 3 i bet people will say the same thing "its not revolutionary, the same ISO view with some new stuff" , It apears to me that what only metters is an easy game with loads of actions and few but voiced dialogues. What makes me intrigued it's how people that really dont like long stories with large dialogues and tactical battles still trying to score something they don't like. It's the same that watching Saw series and in the end of the movie someone talks "i dont like it, they dont have romance and car crashes" Nowdays what most gamers want are easy games with lots of action and lack o story telling, that's why most RPG are blending with FPS or Action.… Expand
  43. TimT.
    Nov 5, 2009
    10
    From what i have tried so far its the best RPG after BG2. I cant wate to get to know my characters better, or to explore the world. I have never ever goten this hooked on a rpg before. Giving it anything under a 10 wont be possible for me!
  44. KostasI.
    Dec 8, 2009
    5
    Ok, first things first, the good parts. Good visuals on the PC, excellent sound and music, good voice overs from the important people of the game, excellent humor, combat feels vicious and violent, lots of lore. And now the bad things. Everything else. Bad story telling, bad voices for all non important characters, non-existent exploration, zero freedom, unbalanced gameplay, bugs that can Ok, first things first, the good parts. Good visuals on the PC, excellent sound and music, good voice overs from the important people of the game, excellent humor, combat feels vicious and violent, lots of lore. And now the bad things. Everything else. Bad story telling, bad voices for all non important characters, non-existent exploration, zero freedom, unbalanced gameplay, bugs that can be progress stopping, decisions that only take place until the very end and dont really matter anyway. Generally this is a game that takes RPG games 2 steps forward and 10 steps back. Inexperienced with the genre people will definitely enjoy it for obvious reasons but those that want a deep and involving experience would do well to steer away. You have been warned.… Expand
  45. wm4l
    Jul 8, 2011
    7
    Gra caÅ
  46. virgilivs
    Nov 1, 2012
    7
    How can professional critics give NINETY-ONE to this? Oh, that's right, we're talking about world-famous DLC developer, Bioware.
    It has nothing new, awkward movement mapping and controls, unfriendly tactic system and countless, useless, expensive DLCs. It is good but nothing more, in my opinion.
  47. Paulystan
    Jun 3, 2014
    9
    Fantastic game, interesting characters, great story, good voice acting (mostly) and some pretty good graphics and game play. It is not earth shattering but it is really, really good.
  48. hisxmark
    Apr 12, 2015
    5
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I bought the game on disk when it came out, but I hadn't played it for a few years. I ran across the disk and started playing again. It is a very enjoyable game, but ... When I tried to update it, the game couldn't even find the disk in the drive. When I tried to download Ultimate, it gave fifteen error messages before I stopped counting. I contacted customer support and the guy started talking me through modifying and reloading files. He was prompt with the refund, and I suspect that was what he was most used to. When I went on li9ne I discovered this experience is common. Sometimes it runs, but they aren't going to fix it if it doesn't. In short, Bioware and EA support stinks and they don't seem to care. I won't buy anything with either label again.… Expand
  49. Luizzrz
    Jun 20, 2015
    10
    This is one of my favorite games of all time because, everything is so immersive, so alive, so... I have no idea how to describe it, the combat is a bit boring and very slow, but you can fix that with some mods, the story is amazing and awful, because choices make the story, so it's best to be careful, graphics are ok, your companions are a bit cliche'd but they're great at the same time,This is one of my favorite games of all time because, everything is so immersive, so alive, so... I have no idea how to describe it, the combat is a bit boring and very slow, but you can fix that with some mods, the story is amazing and awful, because choices make the story, so it's best to be careful, graphics are ok, your companions are a bit cliche'd but they're great at the same time, anyways, this game is a masterpiece and a must-own for an RPG fan.… Expand
  50. Daggerrim
    Mar 27, 2019
    5
    This RPG is overrated. It's not a bad game it's just not as good as everyone says. DA2 and DA:I are much better and even though some might not agree with me on that point this game is still just mediocre.
  51. PHDIKOULAS
    Jan 20, 2020
    6
    I see many putting 10 on this game.If this is a 10 what would baldurs gate 2 be?or planescape torment?150?

    Anyway, review is for the ultimate edition of the game,and dosent have spoilers.it has many dlcs which i thought were in game but they are played on their own,they arent in the main game so i cant comment on them. You can play them separately Although its a mediocre game it    I see many putting 10 on this game.If this is a 10 what would baldurs gate 2 be?or planescape torment?150?

    Anyway, review is for the ultimate edition of the game,and dosent have spoilers.it has many dlcs which i thought were in game but they are played on their own,they arent in the main game so i cant comment on them. You can play them separately

    Although its a mediocre game it shows why bioware was once the best rpg maker. You can see that old bioware here and there. The story is great, The characters are well fleshed out and you actually care about them,all of them have their personal stories and the main story itself is gripping with many twists here and there. In this game you actions have consequences.

    The only absolute crap part is the moral grey area which many rpgs try to incorporate in their games and fail miserably,this game is no exception.

    That said the game has quite a few flaws but they dont ruin totally the whole game experience(eg the journal that dosent say where you must go among other things).

    Tldr if you find this game for 20 bucks get it,great story but a game with many flaws.    … Expand
  52. DiceDizzle
    Jul 29, 2011
    10
    Dragon age is just a piece of work.It's such a omg i shouldnt stop playing yet but im too tired type of game.Dragon age II is better but da1/origins is great as well i highly recommend it.
  53. level250geek
    Feb 2, 2011
    3
    I wanted to like this game, I really did. However, I had the same experience with this game as I did with Mass Effect. After about 10 hours, I felt like I was just playing Knights of the Old Republic all over again. However, this game's major saving grace was that the storyline was much more interesting and involved; it's typical dark fantasy stuff, but it had an interesting spin byI wanted to like this game, I really did. However, I had the same experience with this game as I did with Mass Effect. After about 10 hours, I felt like I was just playing Knights of the Old Republic all over again. However, this game's major saving grace was that the storyline was much more interesting and involved; it's typical dark fantasy stuff, but it had an interesting spin by including a nod to real-world Middle Ages politics in the form of an all-powerful church and the existence of slave labor; that bit of mythology was interesting. However, after over 30 hours of play, I stopped caring. Novel ideas were quickly abandoned and there were no new narrative developments or interesting new characters after a while; in fact, there was one character who was so incredibly boring I just kicked him out of my party. Add this to the fact that, despite some new narrative spins, DA:O still managed to implement every single fantasy RPG cliche (not to mention well rehashed BioWare plot devices) into the first two-thirds of the game. As for the game play, I grew tired of a camera that never seemed to be where I needed it to be and AI partners that either never did exactly what I wanted them to do. BioWare threw in a clunky tactics system that was supposed to allow for fine-tuned combat strategy, but it was too complicated to be useful and never really translate into any useful AI actions for me. Not to mention that the endless dialogue trees never felt like they had any actual impact on the game, nor did I ever feel as if my character had any true personality. I really don't understand why this game got the incredible reviews it did and why people love it so much; it's a tired, recycled template with some new modifiers and prettier graphics slapped on it. Time would be better spent reading George R. R. Martin.â… Expand
  54. PCgamerONLY
    Apr 25, 2013
    0
    This game sucks.
    I must have played a completely different game that the rest of the people who enjoyed this game. Everything in this game was a grind.
    I found none of the characters (Sten kinda grew on me) enjoyable. What's with the 10,000,000 gallons of blood on everything all the time? Dialogs were drawn out long winded whining. Did I miss the part in Superman where he had to    This game sucks.
    I must have played a completely different game that the rest of the people who enjoyed this game. Everything in this game was a grind.
    I found none of the characters (Sten kinda grew on me) enjoyable.
    What's with the 10,000,000 gallons of blood on everything all the time?
    Dialogs were drawn out long winded whining.
    Did I miss the part in Superman where he had to deliver groceries to little old ladies to gain valuable experience?
    My character is a Grey Warden... not Fedex. Have someone else deliver the message!

    What's with the endless quantity of ho-hum quests?
    Seriously, you want me to go the forest and shoot a flaming arrow? You mean the forest where I just slaughtered everything but the squirrels? You are too scared to go in there now? but you are willing to talk to the blood drenched group that just emerged from the woods?    … Expand
  55. rogvid
    Jan 27, 2014
    3
    I was so overwhelmingly excited to play this game.
    I have played the Baldurs Gate series (I and II + ToB) as well as some IWD I & II, NWN I + SoU + HotU and the KotOR series, so I have experience in Bioware's CRPG genre and have always enjoyed their games.
    EA really did a good job promoting this game with the teaser trailers and their announcement that this was the spiritual successor to    I was so overwhelmingly excited to play this game.
    I have played the Baldurs Gate series (I and II + ToB) as well as some IWD I & II, NWN I + SoU + HotU and the KotOR series, so I have experience in Bioware's CRPG genre and have always enjoyed their games.
    EA really did a good job promoting this game with the teaser trailers and their announcement that this was the spiritual successor to BG.
    But this game doesn't deserve to be on the same list as the above mentioned games because it doesn't have any of the qualities that it's predecessors. I found the story boring and linear and found the exploration of dungeons to be droll and repetitive. The spell system was ridiculously bad and the side quests were forgettable. My hate (and yes I mean hate, because I hate this game and will never ever touch this again) for this game might have been a product of over-excitement, but that fault, imo, still lies on EA's and Bioware's shoulders. I hope Bioware pulls their **** together and retracts any previous comments on the equality of this game and BG and starts developing a true successor to BG.

    Because the graphics and sound effects were fine, I will give this a score of 3 only based on these aspects of the game,

    TL;DR; Very disappointing result of something that could have been great.    … Expand
  56. FirstRait
    Feb 20, 2011
    1
    What a completly horrible interface. Worst possible combat ui ever! If your a fan of being attacked by things you can't see because of the terrain overlapping the enemy and the ui unable to rotate it then this is the game for you! Anything remotely close to the Baldur's Gate combat ui would have been preferable. I bought this game due to the high rating and am stunned that so many findWhat a completly horrible interface. Worst possible combat ui ever! If your a fan of being attacked by things you can't see because of the terrain overlapping the enemy and the ui unable to rotate it then this is the game for you! Anything remotely close to the Baldur's Gate combat ui would have been preferable. I bought this game due to the high rating and am stunned that so many find this not only an acceptable game, but a good one.… Expand
  57. blacksmith
    Mar 9, 2011
    3
    I've been a big fan of Bioware ever since the first Baldur's Gate game out. It truly saddens me to see them release this pile of crap. There is nothing I like about this game. The graphics look like the game could've been on the PS2. The combat and whole gameplay has a derpy feeling in it. The story is aimed for babbies. Deleting negative reviews, really now Bioware?
  58. Ywrik
    Mar 25, 2011
    3
    According to most reviews, this game should be something like the gamer's paradise, well actually its purgatory or worse. I really cant understand why should I prefer it in comparison with such titles as The Witcher, Dragon Knight Saga (that was really fun to play !) or even good old Dungeon Master. I can compare it to watching a movie, separated by short sequences of "tactical" combat inAccording to most reviews, this game should be something like the gamer's paradise, well actually its purgatory or worse. I really cant understand why should I prefer it in comparison with such titles as The Witcher, Dragon Knight Saga (that was really fun to play !) or even good old Dungeon Master. I can compare it to watching a movie, separated by short sequences of "tactical" combat in which Im supposed to metaprogram my companions behavior according to conditions of my or enemy's or ally's parameters. Seems good idea, but sadly, In practice I found this concept really boring. I have to all the time rearrange my "tactical" companion script with every new spell or skill and troubleshooting it through combat. I found this so very uncool, that I really just pray for end of it wave after wave of hurlocks genlocks nad other locks, so i would be able to see another cut scene of the plot. I tried to play this game twice, around 20 hours or so, but in the end I fell asleep somewhere around or after Loithering village. I cant give this movie more than 3 points, just for the work of programmers, sorry.… Expand
  59. dont_walk
    Oct 11, 2014
    3
    I eagerly followed the development of this game, then hated it. It was so formulaic, unoriginal and limited. Role-playing games are about exploration and surprises. Locations were limited and the dialogue very poor, especially in comparison with The Witcher.

    I am giving it another go with all the content added.

    I am holding out for Pillars of Eternity.
  60. Iscariote
    Mar 15, 2011
    6
    Bioware brings us another fine RPG full of great lore and good companion development and storylines. While it's not the "Baldur's Gate successor" as they claimed, this is truly as close as they can get without letting the crowds aside from experiencing this game. However, at many time, all that lore and rich world environment seems a bit... underexploited, always leaving you with a feelingBioware brings us another fine RPG full of great lore and good companion development and storylines. While it's not the "Baldur's Gate successor" as they claimed, this is truly as close as they can get without letting the crowds aside from experiencing this game. However, at many time, all that lore and rich world environment seems a bit... underexploited, always leaving you with a feeling that 'it could be more'... sure, there are a lot of codexes and notes that enrich the lore, but if I wanted to read a book, well, I'd buy a book. Combat is also reminniscent of BG, with the ability to pause, queue, combine and script your party actions, and it even gets fun when challenging encounters are thrown to you. Unfortuntately, most of the encounters are trivial and with the slow combat pace, they're just time fillers between you and your objectives. PC version is ok, with the addition of a more traditional top-down camera that many will appretiate... on the downside of the PC port, the texture quality for the environments ranges from bad to abysmal.… Expand
  61. JesseT
    Nov 6, 2009
    5
    Dragon Age is an inexcusably bad game. Comparing it to BG2 is a sacrilege. Even BG2 autosaved before you left zones. If you don't remember to quicksave frequently have fun playing through the same unnecessarily difficult combats over and over. I sure didn't. I also experienced several crashes as I loaded zones. There went an hour down the drain. The look of the game is drab and Dragon Age is an inexcusably bad game. Comparing it to BG2 is a sacrilege. Even BG2 autosaved before you left zones. If you don't remember to quicksave frequently have fun playing through the same unnecessarily difficult combats over and over. I sure didn't. I also experienced several crashes as I loaded zones. There went an hour down the drain. The look of the game is drab and the backgrounds are pathetic to say the least. They look like they were ripped straight from a budget title. The only thing that saves this game is that the character interactions aren't that bad. Up close the models look decent, but the blood spatter effect is gimmicky and detracts from the realism rather than adding to it. I haven't gotten all the way through the main story yet, but so far the plot is contrived, low-rent bullsh-- Biggest disappointment since Bioshock.… Expand
  62. Rabi4t
    Nov 7, 2013
    5
    So I am not sure about what score to give because I'm turned on by the story and the characters, but I am also completely pissed of by the combat system. So lets start... I played a Male Human Warrior with Greatsword, a tank, a rogue melee and with the witch from the woods, which could be so extremely powerful, if you play it yourself, but normally you want to plat your own character. SoSo I am not sure about what score to give because I'm turned on by the story and the characters, but I am also completely pissed of by the combat system. So lets start... I played a Male Human Warrior with Greatsword, a tank, a rogue melee and with the witch from the woods, which could be so extremely powerful, if you play it yourself, but normally you want to plat your own character. So you walk right into a combat and if you dont micromanage your team you will most likely fail, hard, often. Yeah there are the tactic fields and stuff, but they are whether to specific or not common enough. And you have to put points into character tree for getting more tactic points... the So this after noticing that this tactic fields wont get me very far and I was not willing to micromanage because I dont want to battle for a half our for one pack of bandits, I decided to switch to difficulty easy. After then it was nearly playable in real-time, which was more satisfying for me.
    The other characters are really diverse and fun to interact with and it feels a lot like neverwinter nights/ NWN 2 with the whole dialogues and decisions. But imho the combat there was much nicer and less pause intense. Another point I would like to add is the weapon/armor design. The amor design is okay, but not overwhelming... it is kind of boring, like the sword design. I mean there is the standard sword design in different color variations indicating the metal they are forger of. This is pretty lazy! And I remember the times when you did not need a staff to cast spells and in NWN. I really miss the fire coming out of my hands.
    Anyway I would have appreciated a more diverse design for armors as well as for weapons. But maybe I was to spoiled by Dark Souls the last year :).
    I will play it throug anyway because of the characters and story,
    If you loved NWN you will like this game, but be warned of boring weapons and st(u/a)ff.    … Expand
  63. Suronal
    Nov 19, 2014
    7
    Dragon Age Origins, A good start to the series, BioWare always puts 110% into there games for sure, story driven and decision making with real inpacts on your decisions ... is what makes this game what it is :)
  64. jelikey
    Sep 10, 2015
    6
    40 % of the game is watching cut scenes. 20% is answering multiple choice questions on what to say and how to reply. 40% is running and combat. this is a very slow paced game with invisible walls everywhere. not an open world.
  65. MacX
    Dec 28, 2020
    5
    The story is boring and great character moments are few and far between. The Combat is not that great either.
  66. Tubie
    Oct 2, 2010
    1
    I could not get into this game, no matter how hard I tried to like it. The game graphics are horrible to look at even on max settings, the battle is slow and boring, the story might be good but i just could not deal with the other issues to get into it.
  67. KingWormy
    Feb 19, 2011
    3
    I wanted to go this far and write a review to let people know to stay away from this game, like most of you I read the reviews and gave this game a chance, I must say this game will make you pull your hair out, got pretty far in the game and it was not even fun, you spend most of your time dying, trying different strategies to defeat your opponents, what makes it so hard is AI is soI wanted to go this far and write a review to let people know to stay away from this game, like most of you I read the reviews and gave this game a chance, I must say this game will make you pull your hair out, got pretty far in the game and it was not even fun, you spend most of your time dying, trying different strategies to defeat your opponents, what makes it so hard is AI is so horrible, people here aren't lying its really bad, midway through the game and Im still wondering when Ill get some armor to compensate on some battles where I fight 20 enemies at once or an overblown boss. I suggest you buy this game when its 10 dollars and spend the rest of the money on beer just so you'll manage to ignore all the flaws in this game. Buyer Beware.… Expand
  68. supertle
    Mar 16, 2011
    2
    This game has NO HEART in it. The world is boring. No NPC to talk to. Full of one liners. All you do is stare at the mini map and follow in one direction towards the marker. There is no exploration. There is no good loot. In fact they made it easy by letting you find a bunch of junk items and a "SELL ALL JUNK" when visiting a merchant. What's the point of picking up junks simplyThis game has NO HEART in it. The world is boring. No NPC to talk to. Full of one liners. All you do is stare at the mini map and follow in one direction towards the marker. There is no exploration. There is no good loot. In fact they made it easy by letting you find a bunch of junk items and a "SELL ALL JUNK" when visiting a merchant. What's the point of picking up junks simply for selling? Normally junk is considered items you end up not using but could be used if you had plans or skills for it. They really took the "role playing" out of RPG. All that left really is just a vanilla game. You cannot customize your party equipment. You are forced into using certain roles for your companion if you want to maximize their potential. The actions of this game also go so fast that it feels like you're in a freaking shooter game with the ability to pause. Don't get me started on the DLC money making scheme either ... ... and be careful with these reviews. Google "dragon age Chris Hoban" and see for yourself. This game should rank somewhere in the low 7s as average score due to the graphics.… Expand
  69. Gyrolin
    Jan 27, 2010
    2
    After completing Dragon Age: Origins, I was sorely disappointed. The high reviews made the game seem like it would be something innovative or new, when it was really just a cheap Neverwinter knockoff with no multiplayer or campaign editor. Below is my breakdown: Pros: Party members have diverse personalities Good voice acting Challenging Mildly interesting story Decent NPC After completing Dragon Age: Origins, I was sorely disappointed. The high reviews made the game seem like it would be something innovative or new, when it was really just a cheap Neverwinter knockoff with no multiplayer or campaign editor. Below is my breakdown: Pros: Party members have diverse personalities Good voice acting Challenging Mildly interesting story Decent NPC interaction(Though way too much of it) Cons: Unoriginal concept Controls not intuitive Poor gear system(lack of decent upgrading system) Repetitive questing Inventory system makes selling a pain Very linear after the 'origin' quests Not enough options for party tactics Leveling up was unrewarding Crafting system is poor Way too much talking to NPCs Limited skills planned for Fighters/Rogues Prestige classing was pointless Shameless DLC plugs everywhere throughout the game Graphics sub-par for what was advertised Boring all the way through The cons list can go on and on, but I have to stop at some point. As hard as I've tried I really cannot come up with any more pros than are listed. The reason that I gave this game a 2 is that at the end of the 25 hours it took me to beat the game, I felt that all the time had been wasted. This is the first time I've played a fantasy RPG and not enjoyed myself in the 15+ years I've been PC gaming. My personal opinion is that DAO is a no buy/no play. If you respect what little free time you have to play games, just stay away from this one.… Expand
  70. arkangel
    Nov 5, 2010
    1
    I bought this game because of the rave reviews and because I loved Oblivion - I naively imagined that the role-playing fantasy genre would have developed a good deal further in five years. Instead, I felt I'd gone back in time, not forward - Dragon Age felt more like my old Amiga games than a state-of-the-art PC game. I gave up after a few hours - never to return.
  71. DonnieB.R.
    Dec 7, 2009
    0
    Insanely claustrophobic. Mindnumbingly boring conversations. Horribly boring, cliche' story. Terribly boring items. Did I say boring? Almost no customizations. No advancement, generic skills. NO freedom at all (Is this some kind of joke, years after games like Gothic 3 or Oblivion? Playing on 15 x 20m areasy? Loading screens every minute? You gotta be kidding me. There is absolutely Insanely claustrophobic. Mindnumbingly boring conversations. Horribly boring, cliche' story. Terribly boring items. Did I say boring? Almost no customizations. No advancement, generic skills. NO freedom at all (Is this some kind of joke, years after games like Gothic 3 or Oblivion? Playing on 15 x 20m areasy? Loading screens every minute? You gotta be kidding me. There is absolutely nothing in this game that warrants a good score. No, not even the graphic. A true shame on Bioware, and its reviews are marking the death of independent gaming journalism.… Expand
  72. NathanA
    Jan 4, 2010
    4
    This game is absolutely terrible. The companion AI is so bad as to make the game practically unplayable without pausing the game between EVERY action. I literally had warriors sitting there doing nothing while my mage character took a beating from all the monsters. The so-called morally ambiguous dilemmas are absolutely terrible. In real life, many situations have a clear "right" This game is absolutely terrible. The companion AI is so bad as to make the game practically unplayable without pausing the game between EVERY action. I literally had warriors sitting there doing nothing while my mage character took a beating from all the monsters. The so-called morally ambiguous dilemmas are absolutely terrible. In real life, many situations have a clear "right" decision, which usually conflicts with what you want to do. Hence, the dilemma. In Dragon Age, there are no right answers. No matter what you do, you end up feeling like a jerk because you screwed over virtual people. The cutscenes are waaaay too boring and numerous. Thankfully they are skippable. If they weren't, this game would have a negative score. I have to admit that I am more of an action RPG fan. I was hoping this would be playable as a decent action RPG to tide me until Diablo 3 comes out, but apparently I was wrong. The AI is simply too terrible. From the screenshots it looked as if it would play rather like an RTS, but it's too hard to click on your units in the middle of battle. I guess you could click on the pictures to select them but that requires moving your mouse outside of the battle zone. This seems like it would be a pretty fun game if it didn't have so many issues. Honestly I can't believe the reviewers rated it so high. I think the user reviews much better reflect the quality of the game, since it has a VERY VERY VERY limited appeal. I played this game for 2 hours and can't stand it anymore, I'm uninstalling it from my computer. I was going to rate it a 0, but I CAN see how it would be appealing to some people, so I decided to go with a 4.… Expand
  73. KesslerCOIL
    Oct 3, 2014
    5
    If you're looking for an action packed, thrilling adventure that you feel completely immersed in... look elsewhere.
    The combat is pretty much in pause mode 90% of the time if you want to get anywhere in the game.
    The graphics look like they're from 2005 at best. The voice acting and character rigging are both awful in every way. The character progression doesnt feel like it has much    If you're looking for an action packed, thrilling adventure that you feel completely immersed in... look elsewhere.
    The combat is pretty much in pause mode 90% of the time if you want to get anywhere in the game.
    The graphics look like they're from 2005 at best.
    The voice acting and character rigging are both awful in every way.

    The character progression doesnt feel like it has much meaning, most skills dont really combo with others and the passives tree(if you can call it a tree) is basically "here's the thing that lets you use that useless crap in your inventory, here's the thing the lets you steal so you can afford items etc." and you just keep making the one passive slightly better with each point, gated by your attribute points so you HAVE to build you character a certain way to a point.

    Overall, this is a rather biased opinion since i cant stand turnbased games, it is pretty much a turnbased RPG with a mediocre storyline, last decades graphics and a skill tree that has no real choice to it other than "do I get this now? or in a few hours?"
    So if you're looking for a rather slowpaced rpg where the most interesting part of the game is the ending and the rest is just wading through the rubbish left to that point... this is the game for you.
    I here Dragon Age 2 is good, ill go check that out instead    … Expand
  74. Rukam
    Jan 5, 2010
    10
    this is definitely one of my favorite games of all time so far cant wait to c more updates and the demo for dragon age orgins 2
  75. MichaelL
    Jan 1, 2010
    6
    Where to start... The first 10 minutes of the game seriously made me mad and forced me to stop, but soon after I picked up my controller and began playing again. I own this game for PC and The Xbox 360. First of all, theres a HUGE difference between the two, not only does the PC Have better graphics and such, but there is MUCH less lag and a few options the consoles didn't have, but Where to start... The first 10 minutes of the game seriously made me mad and forced me to stop, but soon after I picked up my controller and began playing again. I own this game for PC and The Xbox 360. First of all, theres a HUGE difference between the two, not only does the PC Have better graphics and such, but there is MUCH less lag and a few options the consoles didn't have, but I myself am I console man. Ive heard this game on the PS3 is unplayable due to horrid lag and such, but on the 360 it wasn't much different. The cutscene's lagged, considerably. Not so bad on some and horribly on others. And during cutscenes on the PC and 360 the graphics looked very foggy, even wooden. The voice acting was GREAT, for about, 5 Characters? A few important characters were fortunate enough to receive great voice acting, and the rest... Well not so much. The game itself has decent graphics, but its no Fallout 3 or Oblivion graphics-wise. The gameplay itself will suck you in at first, but 3-4 hours into the game, it gets VERY repetitive. You'll find yourself using the same button combination's over and over. Also the combat and movement is bugged, and the anti-aliasing on the models was done terribly, minor graphics glitches are present EVERYWHERE and take much away from the game. Theres even glitches that can screw-over your story-progression. The storyline itself is very good though, I will admit the lore and such were nicely done, the codex was a nice addition. It took me a good.. 4 Days Real-Time to play through this game the first time with 21 Hours logged on my level 21 Warrior. I didn't do ALL the side-quests, but I did a fair-amount. There actually isn't that many side-quests to do to be honest. In terms of an RPG this game IS NOT. The combat is turn based, even though Bioware did a decent job of masking it, and the variety of things to do is very limited, and at times forced. It didn't feel like an RPG, its just a progressive-action game with a few choices here and there and an economics system. And heres what destroyed me, once you beat the game, say goodbye! Unless you have a previous save, which the game doesn't warn you to make or anything, your Screwed! All you can do once you beat it is play DLC you haven't finished, or sit in the party camp, thats it, sorry kids. Not to mention the combat is insanely hard at times on normal. The Hard and Nightmare difficulties are impossible without some sort of cheating. I found myself changing the difficulty to Casual at times, and even then dying. Overall, on first impression, this game may seem great, but it has a lot of wasted potential. Its mostly hype, and you WILL be let down, it gets 6/10 by my mark, and only because the storyline and lore were so good.… Expand
  76. TitaniumDragon
    Apr 24, 2013
    9
    A top-tier RPG, Dragon Age: Origins is an excellent game on the whole. The characters are fun to interact with and have considerable personality, the storyline is interesting, there are a number of interesting choices which are not clearly "right" or "wrong" and therefore require you to actually weigh what YOU think is best (and which have an impact on the ending, with different forcesA top-tier RPG, Dragon Age: Origins is an excellent game on the whole. The characters are fun to interact with and have considerable personality, the storyline is interesting, there are a number of interesting choices which are not clearly "right" or "wrong" and therefore require you to actually weigh what YOU think is best (and which have an impact on the ending, with different forces fighting by your side depending on your decisions), the voice acting is excellent, and the graphics do their job (though they are not perfect, and do expose a deep love of blood spatter on the part of the developers).

    The biggest flaw with the game lies in its combat system, sadly. As the game goes on, it becomes increasingly clear that wizards are far more powerful than anything else, and the ability to combine spell effects allows you to wipe out entire groups of enemies effortlessly, often without them even having a ghost of a chance of reaching you. While it is very nice that the bosses actually ARE vulnerable to many of these effects (and rather than having immunity merely are less effected by them, making it still feel very useful) sadly the ordinary combats in the game by and large can be resolved with a few spells cast in combination once you reach a certain point in the game, which trivializes combat from there on out. Moreover, the enemy variety runs a bit thin at the very end of the game; you fight darkspawn at the beginning, then fight more in Orzammar, then fight more at the end, and they are fundamentally unchanged in their appearances.    … Expand
  77. EggManStudio
    Apr 22, 2015
    3
    I can see how this would maybe appeal to those who enjoyed isometric RPGs the likes of Baldur's Gate and Diablo, but this game just didn't appeal to me. I don't like how I just have to click on an enemy and watch my character defeat him for me. For me, that takes the enjoyment out of it all. It feels as if I'm dteached from my character, just sort of telling him what to do instead ofI can see how this would maybe appeal to those who enjoyed isometric RPGs the likes of Baldur's Gate and Diablo, but this game just didn't appeal to me. I don't like how I just have to click on an enemy and watch my character defeat him for me. For me, that takes the enjoyment out of it all. It feels as if I'm dteached from my character, just sort of telling him what to do instead of actually doing it, and in a modern game it feels outdated and boring. Aside from that, the voice acting is very subpar, and the whole thing just feels overly complex and behind its time.… Expand
  78. DanS.
    Dec 24, 2009
    0
    Overrated. Conversation options are merely cosmetic; almost all of them are inconsequential and lead towards the same path. Mindless dungeon crawl with a weak combat system. The antagonists lack depth.
  79. Tkwz
    Jun 16, 2011
    6
    This is one of those games, that shouldn't be a game at all. Awesome story, interesting world, great characters and roleplaying potential build for an awesome experience, but is awfully crushed by the repetitive and annoying combat.

    Not only you need to babysit entire party, but also to cut through dozens of easy mob packs, that can't harm you even if you went AFK... then throws a boss    This is one of those games, that shouldn't be a game at all. Awesome story, interesting world, great characters and roleplaying potential build for an awesome experience, but is awfully crushed by the repetitive and annoying combat.

    Not only you need to babysit entire party, but also to cut through dozens of easy mob packs, that can't harm you even if you went AFK... then throws a boss that you can beat only by 10 times saveloading until your awesome heroes manage to cast a spell that doesn't get resisted or manage to hit with their awesome slaying arrow at least ONCE.

    Furthermore, it's incredibly easy to mess your party, pick wrong skills, stats or composition and end up either with boring easy experience or impossible normal+. Hell it's even possible to get stuck AT EASY! Yes, you have to start over at the end of the game, if you were foolish enough to not read a guide first and make all the bad choices that looked good on "paper".

    With all of the above, the charm of the game is cut in half. Of course people say this game is as good as Shadows of Amn, and surely they are right. Problem is, we are decade ahead of those times and standards went up since then. It's good sequel didn't follow this route and made combat easier to manage, especially for consoles. If only the story quality of sequel was the same...    … Expand
  80. moocow
    Jan 14, 2011
    4
    Very big let down. I should let you know I have never played any othe RPG other than Chrono Trigger (SNES) and Final Fantasy VII (PS1). PROS: The voice acting was incredible for a few characters, and I loved how characters within the party interacted with each other. The conversations were witty and modernized, the humor was not stale at all. The variety of the quests was predictable, butVery big let down. I should let you know I have never played any othe RPG other than Chrono Trigger (SNES) and Final Fantasy VII (PS1). PROS: The voice acting was incredible for a few characters, and I loved how characters within the party interacted with each other. The conversations were witty and modernized, the humor was not stale at all. The variety of the quests was predictable, but still entertaining. I enjoyed the storylines much more than I expected I would due to some of the criticisms here. CONS: Coming from first person shooters, I like to play games in real time and even on normal difficulty some of the combat was impossible to perform in real time in order to survive. The fact that most crowd damage spells are friendly fire capable means that you have to position your party well...something that is impossible in real time. "Tanking" does not work, your party will still head straight for the enemies and your "meat shield" pretty much whacks away with useless damage done. Chain-chugging potions to stay alive or restore mana is extremely boring and demotivating. "Tactics" scripting does not work at all; it is a result of very poor AI in the programming. You may enjoy this game it you are familiar with the genre, but expect frustration and displeasure if you like to play games in real time.… Expand
  81. FrancisC.
    Jan 29, 2010
    3
    Dragon Age has the most annoying control and combat system of any RPG I have played. Also It's almost hard to call it a game with all the stupid conversations with NPC's that are far far far to longwinded. The game world is also far to rigid as to where you can and can't go, it's so terribly scripted. A major disappointment. You are much better off with an open free Dragon Age has the most annoying control and combat system of any RPG I have played. Also It's almost hard to call it a game with all the stupid conversations with NPC's that are far far far to longwinded. The game world is also far to rigid as to where you can and can't go, it's so terribly scripted. A major disappointment. You are much better off with an open free flowing game like Oblivion.… Expand
  82. MichaelN
    Jan 8, 2010
    4
    I'm not sure whether people are still bursting with love from Bioware's previous efforts, but this game is nowhere near a 9, much less above a 7. Fans of slow dungeon crawling, where reading endless amounts of text and stiff, turned base combat is everyday fare might enjoy SOME of this game, but the rest of us will rip our hair out in frustration. AI is nonexistent, the graphics I'm not sure whether people are still bursting with love from Bioware's previous efforts, but this game is nowhere near a 9, much less above a 7. Fans of slow dungeon crawling, where reading endless amounts of text and stiff, turned base combat is everyday fare might enjoy SOME of this game, but the rest of us will rip our hair out in frustration. AI is nonexistent, the graphics aren't worthy of a $50 game, and the controls are terrible. The camera is forced to follow you around, which in turn forces you to use W, A, S, and D to move, since clicking the landscape to move is impossible with a frantic camera moving every time you turn an inch. Lastly, the story has been done a million times, the "mature" themes come off as a joke, and the dialogue takes forever. The cutscenes are almost as bad, but at least you can skip them. If you are looking for a game that plays or feels anything like the trailer for this, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a boring, sluggish game with graphics from three years ago, this is for you.… Expand
  83. Methesda
    Dec 13, 2009
    1
    I can't get what has impressed everyone... there is a story here, but it's not in anyway interesting or original. Voice acting is good, but the animation and graphics are either wooden or horribly glitchy ('antialiasing' of hair, head rotation at a constant speed making actors seem robotic). The comabt system is the same combat system that has been in use for decades; I can't get what has impressed everyone... there is a story here, but it's not in anyway interesting or original. Voice acting is good, but the animation and graphics are either wooden or horribly glitchy ('antialiasing' of hair, head rotation at a constant speed making actors seem robotic). The comabt system is the same combat system that has been in use for decades; to my limited experience it is basically a FF generic RPG system. in itself is not bad But combined with the constant interuptions for cut scenes compounded by the seriously limiting gameplay areas, i found it impossible to get into any kind of flow with the game. The crafting and loots systems are inferior to many other games. I've enjoyed most Elder Scrolls games, Final Fantasy games, and a handful of other games, including MMO's. Most tellingly, i've enjoyed MMO's story and combat systems better than this game, which simply shouldn't be the case. I'm not sure why I'm even giving this game one point.… Expand
  84. RichardS
    Jan 2, 2010
    0
    I want to like this game, there is so much to this game and it could be great but sadly bioware released an unfinished product and left it up to YOU to script the AI. In order to play anything above easy you have to babysit your entire team because if you don't they'll run backwards into walls, blast you in the back with their spells, or the rogue will constantly try to tank and I want to like this game, there is so much to this game and it could be great but sadly bioware released an unfinished product and left it up to YOU to script the AI. In order to play anything above easy you have to babysit your entire team because if you don't they'll run backwards into walls, blast you in the back with their spells, or the rogue will constantly try to tank and the tank try to sit off in a corner somewhere and play with his thumbs. Bioware placed a tactics page in the game, which is script sets with sugar-coated labels on them so it doesn't look like script sets. The Preset script sets make the AI about as retarded as the AI on Halo, leaving it to you to do bioware's job scripting the game's AI. I am sorry, but no matter how good a game is the company has no right to release a product unfinished and leave it to the consumers to complete their job.… Expand
  85. GordonF
    Feb 8, 2010
    4
    Dragon Age: Origins was a very disappointing game for me. I played most of the good RPGs and I played this because the fan community recommended me to do so. I had high expectations since Bioware made the best RPGs this far. This game is just dull. First of all, conversations are boring and you can even curse someone's mother without any serious consequence. Of course some party Dragon Age: Origins was a very disappointing game for me. I played most of the good RPGs and I played this because the fan community recommended me to do so. I had high expectations since Bioware made the best RPGs this far. This game is just dull. First of all, conversations are boring and you can even curse someone's mother without any serious consequence. Of course some party members may disagree with you, but you can always give them a ring or pendant to make them feel better after you forced them to slaughter innocent puppies. Party AI is ridiculous. Forst I started a warrior but my team hardly survived without healing. Okay then I started a healing (wtf?) mage. I ended up being a healbot of my fellow NPCs. If I dared to shoot a fireball or something like that, all mobs started to attack me and if I unfortunately went down, only the limited amount of healing potions could save my little lemmings. Turning AI on/off didn't help much. So you might call me gay but I died a lot. I didn't know first that this game has a console version, then after 3 hours of gameplay I became suspicious... "hey... this game is dumb and primitive... it must have a console version." And yes, I was right. Nowadays PC games become more and more dull, they lack original ideas. Of course they give us spectacular graphics (in case of DA:O I could argue) but on the cost of story, excitement. If this is the future of PC gaming I think I'd rather buy a dog, or hang myself.… Expand
  86. Blaze997
    Sep 22, 2011
    1
    Is that really a 2009 game ? Limited area of play, bad AI, no way to get out of dialog when you want to (have to click, click and click), so so graphic . I tried to like it ! When you get some action, it's only to get bored . I wont buy another game from Bioware . If you like watching a movie go ahead . If not, stay away .
  87. MattG
    Dec 23, 2009
    4
    good storyline, voice acting, graphics? ok, but the gameplay is what killed the game. Oh look an enemy. "click".. 5 seconds later oh look another enemy. "click" and then theres the boss, lets use tactics and our skills to kill it! oh wait, we only have stun abilities which dont work on bosses... Overall the gameplay was depressing, but i thought it had an epic storyline, i loved having good storyline, voice acting, graphics? ok, but the gameplay is what killed the game. Oh look an enemy. "click".. 5 seconds later oh look another enemy. "click" and then theres the boss, lets use tactics and our skills to kill it! oh wait, we only have stun abilities which dont work on bosses... Overall the gameplay was depressing, but i thought it had an epic storyline, i loved having people at my knees begging for mercy, that was the best part of the game.… Expand
  88. buzer
    Feb 9, 2013
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. this game didn't aged well. after finishing skyrim and witcher 2 i just can't get myself into it. fighting system is pathetic, plot is meh at best. bunch of rednecks betraying each others. just few hours into game i already lost my entire family, home city, king and my order. it's just doesn't make any sense considering there're monsters invading my land. For example imagine 1942 Europe. Hitler is biggest threat in centuries but all of sudden uk decide to betray usa even that without them uk chances to survive.are much smaller Its just silly and unrealistic. Not to mention that my character, some unexperienced kid is leading team with senior member of my order, and gods only know how old witch.… Expand
  89. Hardcard
    Sep 20, 2012
    4
    I'm disappointed. I guess I was expecting too much from this game. I can't help but notice that "Dragon Age" is nothing more than "Neverwinter Nights" with a new graphic engine. I've been playing "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" for a while and I can say that it humiliates "Dragon Age" in every aspect.
    This game is so tatty that I can't understand its fame. As far as I've seen, it has a    I'm disappointed. I guess I was expecting too much from this game. I can't help but notice that "Dragon Age" is nothing more than "Neverwinter Nights" with a new graphic engine. I've been playing "Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" for a while and I can say that it humiliates "Dragon Age" in every aspect.
    This game is so tatty that I can't understand its fame. As far as I've seen, it has a weak/childish story, poor character depth (if any), it still uses the "Neverwinter Nights" command/navigation systems,and its graphic engine, however improved, is already obsolete.

    In one word: Disappointing.    … Expand
  90. KannedFarU
    Jan 14, 2010
    4
    I think this game was overrated. It feels like I'm playing KOTR all over again, and to be honest I never really liked those games. I don't get any thrill out of pushing a button and watching my characters do all the work. That's what separates this game from Mass Effect really. The character progression and story telling is interesting but none of the endings are really I think this game was overrated. It feels like I'm playing KOTR all over again, and to be honest I never really liked those games. I don't get any thrill out of pushing a button and watching my characters do all the work. That's what separates this game from Mass Effect really. The character progression and story telling is interesting but none of the endings are really good enough for me to waste my time saying the right things. I'd almost rather have the storyboard pre-written. As far as gameplay goes I found the camera to be very frustrating at times. When you're in RTS mode the camera is stationary but can be difficult to select certain characters without pausing the game and moving it ever so slowly into position. So I find that selecting while in 3rd person was easier. This was not the case as selecting a character in 3rd person mode even when clicking and dragging caused the camera to fly over to the newly selected character. It seems to have failed at being an RTS and failed at being a 3rd person RPG. There are times where the game becomes entirely too frustrating. I believe that for an enjoyable experience the average user should be able to survive every encounter on their first try, where as in this game you tend to get ambushed a lot and die, only to have to try 3 different strategies while the game nags you to turn down the difficulty setting. Money in the game is scarce, so if you want the best equipment you usually have to substitute it for junk you pick up from monster drops just so you can spend all of your hard earned cash purchasing elfroots so you can create enough health potions to make it through the next dungeon. I know the solution to health potions should be get a healer, but the healer abilities in this game suck. They don't heal for many points. Towards the end of the game my warrior had a 37 constitution and the healer couldn't even fill 1/4th his health with the best healing spell. The health potions were really the only way I could drag myself to the horrible ending. Mass Effect had similar moments but I think the healing system was much better balanced and moving and shooting made survival more skill dependent rather than dice roll. Other than the healing issue, the spells were another big issue. Everyone who loves to play as a mage will find that only the beginner spells are useful as most of the higher level magic has lots of splash damage that will hurt your own teammates. Since health is a very limited resource to begin with, unlocking the higher level attack spells was pointless because every encounter where you would want to use splash damage was against warriors that were guess what, standing right next to your teammates, sometimes even right next to the spell caster >:O. The story here isn't anything to get excited about. The game literally copied the style of the LOTR movies even down to Dwarven architecture. The same old type cast (The Dwarves dug too deep and got bum rushed by demons) stories are told. Also I didn't see a NewGame+ which is always a big deal for me when I play RPGs. I always loved playing Crono Trigger from the beginning but with the characters I left off with. This allows me to really explore the characters abilities without having to look for something to kill at the end of the game with nothing to do to kill time. What can I take from this game that's good? Well the game has a lot of movie references which at times are fun to keep an eye out for. I haven't found a lvl cap in the game @ 21 though I'm sure it's there (Should never be a lvl cap on single player games :P). Though I felt the environments were kinda copied stylistically they were very beautiful and fun to explore. The quests required you to read the dialogue rather than get a quest pointer and off you go without any real clue as to what you're doing. This made the game more immersive. Building relationships with your party members was actually challenging at times. You really had to pay attention to how the characters acted so you would know how to talk in front of them and to them. I take Morrigan for example, she's kind of cynical and tries to do lots of things to her own benefit. When I tried to be nice to her, she would tend to dislike me more because I'm concentrating more on her than myself. This was a good feature as it made the characters seem more like real people than shoddy cardboard characters with one purpose in the whole game. I really felt like this game should have been balanced a little better, and that every single spell/ability had a specific use for some point in the game. Another EA title feels entirely too rushed to me, and I was ready to give them a second chance hearing that they changed management and fixed all their problems. EA needs to stop accumulating companies and cutting their budgets, let the developers make the game not the publishers.… Expand
  91. GregS
    Jan 10, 2010
    0
    It has most of what makes a great RPG. The story is interesting, the voice acting is good, and I loved manipulating everyone to my own ends in the beginning as a mage. However, this game is completely and utterly broken for one reason - the combat. It plays similar to a WoW clone sans actual people controlling your allies, and it works about as well as it sounds. To attempt to fix the It has most of what makes a great RPG. The story is interesting, the voice acting is good, and I loved manipulating everyone to my own ends in the beginning as a mage. However, this game is completely and utterly broken for one reason - the combat. It plays similar to a WoW clone sans actual people controlling your allies, and it works about as well as it sounds. To attempt to fix the problem of having all these abilities at your allies' disposal and no humans to give them orders (unless you pause the game and micromanage every single action of your allies), Bioware has essentially copied the gambit system from FFXII, and that works about as well as it did in that game. Which is not at all. While there is an obvious advantage to scripting your allies' AI to suit your own purposes, even with scripts that should have had my allies fighting the sames things as I was, they acted retarded. Apparently, it makes more sense to spread to the four corners of the world where you can be picked off easily than to fight in one group. What could have been a great game has had all its potential destroyed by the absolute worst AI I have ever seen; AI even worse than that of Call of Duty 4 and Medieval II: Total War.… Expand
  92. DantheMan
    Mar 18, 2011
    3
    I'm a Bioware fan-boy so it's difficult for me to admit just how bad this game is. But when I'm honest with myself I have to admit it's a bad game. It just is. It's difficult to point out where it all went wrong. Maybe they just tried too hard. Maybe they thought the name alone would sell it. I don't know.

    The story is totally non-compelling. The combat system is horrible and there    I'm a Bioware fan-boy so it's difficult for me to admit just how bad this game is. But when I'm honest with myself I have to admit it's a bad game. It just is. It's difficult to point out where it all went wrong. Maybe they just tried too hard. Maybe they thought the name alone would sell it. I don't know.

    The story is totally non-compelling. The combat system is horrible and there is just way too much combat that doesn't advance the story. The personalities of the NPCs are mostly uninspiring. The only reason I don't give it a zero is because I think it retains Bioware's solid production values. Very few bugs.    … Expand
  93. JasonW
    Jan 22, 2010
    4
    I am so sorry I didn't like this game. Perhaps it's bc I got the xbox 360 version, perhaps it was bc it has been so long since I've played a good fantasy rpg that my sights had been set too high. Either way I stopped playing this game after the third time I feel asleep. Twice I nodded off during dialog, but the last time I was in combat and it was so boring I found myself I am so sorry I didn't like this game. Perhaps it's bc I got the xbox 360 version, perhaps it was bc it has been so long since I've played a good fantasy rpg that my sights had been set too high. Either way I stopped playing this game after the third time I feel asleep. Twice I nodded off during dialog, but the last time I was in combat and it was so boring I found myself unable to keep my head up. I never fall asleep playing a game, and it was the middle of the day, not like I had been up playing till the wee hours of the morning. As a matter of fact I dozed off after having only played the game for 30 minutes! I love rpgs, they are my favorite genre, and until this game I've loved every Bioware rpg they have produced. I spent hours searching every nook and barrel in Baulder's Gate, Icewind Dale, and Torment. Played through the xbox version of Baulder's Gate 1 and 2 single, then multiplayer. I even played through Mass Effect 5 times!! I'm sorry I don't like this game. I really wanted to.… Expand
  94. antoniod
    Dec 24, 2009
    3
    It's only good when compared to games in the crpg category released in recent years. Now, if I were to compare it to Vamp: Bloodlines, Planescape: Torment, Arcanum or Fallout 2 then it was a major disappointment. Especially considering how even Baldur's Gate was done better, a game that's pretty much its predecessor.
  95. Lorribot
    Dec 2, 2013
    2
    The AI is enough to drive you insane. The amount of times I told the dumb followers to follow me only to turn round and they were nowhere to be seen.
    In combat you will spend more time telling your companions what to do then actually fighting yourself.
    I bought this expecting a cross betwenn Oblivion and Mass effect, but got a 1990s through back RPG that was neither enjoyable play or    The AI is enough to drive you insane. The amount of times I told the dumb followers to follow me only to turn round and they were nowhere to be seen.
    In combat you will spend more time telling your companions what to do then actually fighting yourself.
    I bought this expecting a cross betwenn Oblivion and Mass effect, but got a 1990s through back RPG that was neither enjoyable play or particularly good to look at. Something went seriously awry in the development process.    … Expand
  96. krushak
    Dec 30, 2012
    3
    overhyped game, i have buyed it from the steam winter sales but the combat system of this game sucks hard, the only reason why i played this game more than 1 hour is the nice story and the nice music.
  97. wiijobo
    Aug 20, 2011
    0
    Absolutely terrible combat I am properly disgusted that developers would think this would be a good combat system in this day and age! Just stand there and watch your character and an enemy stand there and take turns hitting each other, what is this Runescape? If you want to play a half decent RPG play Mass Effect or The Witcher 2, at least you will be able to actually take control ofAbsolutely terrible combat I am properly disgusted that developers would think this would be a good combat system in this day and age! Just stand there and watch your character and an enemy stand there and take turns hitting each other, what is this Runescape? If you want to play a half decent RPG play Mass Effect or The Witcher 2, at least you will be able to actually take control of combat and actually do something rather than sit back and helplessly watch your characters die.… Expand
  98. ManuelA
    Dec 24, 2009
    0
    It's decent for the kind of games the industry's been feeding us. The dumbing down is certainly out of hand. This is pretty much a simplified, in all its features, version of Baldur's Gate. And even BG wasn't all that good to begin with if you were to compare it to Arcanum or PS:T.
  99. Maplesyrupgl
    Mar 16, 2011
    3
    Extremely disappointing game. Combat is fun, but there is no where near enough. There is far too much story, which isn't even too good. The plot is confused and disjointed and the characters have no logic. The story is long, but I was too bored to get past 10 or so hours. It may have gotten more interesting after that, but I had better things to do than wait and see.
  100. ChrisM
    Dec 28, 2009
    4
    After having played the game for a sum total of 5 hours, I was surprised it had not gripped me as I thought it would. RPG's from BioWare are always amazing games but after having recently finished Mass Effect (twice, one after another) I can honestly say BioWare lost the plot here. The graphics were lacklustre, dialogue was completely appauling and contributed almost nothing of real After having played the game for a sum total of 5 hours, I was surprised it had not gripped me as I thought it would. RPG's from BioWare are always amazing games but after having recently finished Mass Effect (twice, one after another) I can honestly say BioWare lost the plot here. The graphics were lacklustre, dialogue was completely appauling and contributed almost nothing of real value and the combat system gets boring after a few hours after which it becomes to feel grind-like. Add this to the extremely linear world (fast-travel map system), common load screens, inability to form an emotional connection with party members (within the first 5 hours I lost atleast 4 through the story, which gave little time to connect or feel for these NPCs). I am bewildered like many other users' as to how this game got rated so highly. It is completely unoriginal and definitely not an all-time great "RPG" by any means. The only redeeming quality of the title has to be voice acting and the origin stories which I found quite interesting, but nevertheless hardly original. If you're expected to soak up to and exceeding 50+ hours in this game it has to be amazing from start to finish and this game wasn't even amazing from the start. Do yourself a favour; if you don't have lots of spare time, aren't a hardcore RPG fan or enjoy having a compelling storyline in your games, stay away from this title! Play another RPG such as Fallout 3 or another BioWare offering of Mass Effect. It will be a much better use of your time.… Expand
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Awards & Rankings

3
#3 Best PC Game of 2009
4
#4 Most Discussed PC Game of 2009
4
#4 Most Shared PC Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
91

Universal acclaim - based on 67 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 66 out of 67
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 67
  3. Negative: 0 out of 67
  1. Gameplayer Sweden
    100
    If you're into rpgs, or rather if you love roleplaying in general, there's really no need to waste time reading any reviews of this game. The same goes if you regard games like Planescape: Torment, Fallout 2 and the Baldurs Gate-series among the best computer games ever made. Because this game is everything a person like you look for in a game, and so much more. Be aware though, Dragon Age: Origins is not a revolution of the genre, rather it is an evolution, where Bioware has refined everything that made them into a formula as close to perfection as possible. Without a doubt one of the strongest Game of the year-candidates so far this year and a game we will remember with warm feelings many years to come.
    Read full review
  2. PC Gamer
    92
    An outstanding story-driven RPG with fantastic writing, RPG depth and tough tactical combat. It's BioWare's best RPG since Baldur's Gate 2. [Holiday 2009, p.38]
  3. GamingXP
    92
    Dragon Age Origins will keep you in front of your computer for hours! Graphics, sounds and the controls couldn’t be much better!
    Read full review
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