Dragon Age: Origins

 Xbox 360
User Score
8.0

Generally favorable reviews- based on 863 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 666 out of 863
  2. Mixed: 100 out of 863
  3. Negative: 97 out of 863
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  1. VLG
    Aug 22, 2023
    8
    Very fun RPG, that does everything right but nothing innovative whatsoever.
  2. zprestridge
    Aug 17, 2023
    10
    One of my favorite games of all time. Brought a unique combat style mainstream. If you enjoyed Inquisition or Greedfall and can get over the 2009 graphics then this game is definitely still holds up well today
  3. irai16
    Mar 31, 2023
    9
    As a big fan of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Origins was a game I had long wanted to play, and thankfully, Gamepass provided me with the perfect opportunity. Origins has more than lived up to my lofty expectations, with the excellent story, characters, and quests I've come to expect from BioWare. I even grew to enjoy the combat, though its more tactical style is definitely not for everyone.As a big fan of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Origins was a game I had long wanted to play, and thankfully, Gamepass provided me with the perfect opportunity. Origins has more than lived up to my lofty expectations, with the excellent story, characters, and quests I've come to expect from BioWare. I even grew to enjoy the combat, though its more tactical style is definitely not for everyone. The game has aged poorly in certain aspects (no fast travel, for instance), and the difficulty is a bit annoying at times, but overall, this is an easy recommend and one of the best RPGs I've played. Now I just have to decide if I really want to try Dragon Age 2....… Expand
  4. AccurateRatings
    Mar 22, 2023
    10
    This game is an absolute masterpiece worth playing over and over again. One of my favorite games of all time.

    The combat isn’t great, but the story and character customization more than makes up for it. 10/10 play it if you can.
  5. ZXSth
    Feb 25, 2023
    9
    An incredible game that set a new precedent for what role-playing games could be. Despite (arguably) dated MMORPG-style combat and primitive graphical quality (on the 360, at least), Origins' quality is uplifted tremendously by its incredible worldbuilding, enthralling story and some of the most compelling characters ever inserted into a video game. An absolutely mandatory experience forAn incredible game that set a new precedent for what role-playing games could be. Despite (arguably) dated MMORPG-style combat and primitive graphical quality (on the 360, at least), Origins' quality is uplifted tremendously by its incredible worldbuilding, enthralling story and some of the most compelling characters ever inserted into a video game. An absolutely mandatory experience for fans of 2000s CRPGs, and a highly recommended one for fans of RPGs in general.… Expand
  6. davey16
    Jan 19, 2022
    8
    A solid game. I very much enjoyed my time with it. My second time through was quite fun and that normally isn't the case with most games.
  7. CloudStrife05
    Aug 20, 2021
    9
    The main thing about this game is the fact that what ever choices you make, it can be carried over for the remainder of the series.
  8. cableguy3333
    Apr 3, 2021
    10
    Review 2021 first ever playthrough. So I've played the trilogy in the reverse order and after playing the 2nd one I wasn't expecting much from this but how wrong was I. It's not only the best dragon age game, its one of the best games I've ever played and I've played alot. This is a rare epic game and cant believe I missed out on this when it first came out but what a treat for 2021. AReview 2021 first ever playthrough. So I've played the trilogy in the reverse order and after playing the 2nd one I wasn't expecting much from this but how wrong was I. It's not only the best dragon age game, its one of the best games I've ever played and I've played alot. This is a rare epic game and cant believe I missed out on this when it first came out but what a treat for 2021. A better story that witcher 3 and better told which is hard to believe. On normal difficulty combat is certainly a challenge and if you ramp the level up you have a game that is so much harder than anything dark souls can throw at you. The game itself is massive, so much voice dialogue and the chats between your companions are genuinely funny to the point you want to take out different groups together just to hear what they have to say to each other. Combat I played as a mage and nearly always 3 out of 4 of my team were mages just because I found using a melee character terrible, I'm sure they are ok if you play with them but my sum total was about 10 minutes out of 50+hours. Graphics maybe a bit dated but still nicer to look at than cyberpunk2077 and the cutscene battles epic should be made into a film. If you have not played this dont be like me get it now, choices you make really do have a major impact and the decisions are sometimes a very hard choice, its a game that makes you feel sad its all over at the end… Expand
  9. Steyraus
    Feb 8, 2021
    10
    This game sit at the top, along side the greats like Baldurs gate, Kotor, Mass Effect and Fallout. Its a shame the series list its way, but we wilk always have origons.
  10. Daniel_N
    Oct 18, 2020
    8
    I haven’t finished this game yet, but from what I’ve played, it’s actually good? The graphics are a little off, but it has a nice story, but not-so-good gameplay.
  11. TazzTheron
    Feb 1, 2020
    10
    Love to see a remake of the game with all the new tech we have available with current gen or even next gen :)
  12. Dsims37
    Jun 16, 2019
    10
    This is easily the best RPG on the 360. The game play, graphics, and story are all amazing. Even tweaking the programming of your team mates is a whole tactical mini game in itself. The sequels never measured up. It seems they had to listen to all the butt hurt crybabies who didn’t like that it wasn’t an action game.
  13. gqmasters3
    May 11, 2019
    10
    It is the finest RPG of its generation. The gameplay is fun and challenging. The plot is captivating and it is one of the few RPGs that actually successfully climaxes at the final battle or sequence of events.
  14. BigEvilSquirrel
    Aug 12, 2018
    10
    5 out of 5.
    Dragon Age: Origins is an excellent RPG from Bioware. The character you design decides your opening chapter (or “origin”), once complete will lead to the normal story. There are six origins to play through, my favorite was the Human Noble (as a Rogue). There is a lot of replay if you want to see everything, as you must pick a side for each quest. Combat is typical for a    5 out of 5.
    Dragon Age: Origins is an excellent RPG from Bioware. The character you design decides your opening chapter (or “origin”), once complete will lead to the normal story. There are six origins to play through, my favorite was the Human Noble (as a Rogue). There is a lot of replay if you want to see everything, as you must pick a side for each quest. Combat is typical for a Bioware game, which is not a bad thing. A recommend if you liked Knight of the Old Republic.    … Expand
  15. WeenyDrake
    Nov 17, 2017
    10
    This is one of the best games I've ever played. The characters and story are unforgettable. The playable origin stories really connect you to your character, which makes the story feel that much more important. The only areas where I felt like the game was lacking was in its outdated graphics (for the time it was released) and the lackluster combat. I know that some will argue that theThis is one of the best games I've ever played. The characters and story are unforgettable. The playable origin stories really connect you to your character, which makes the story feel that much more important. The only areas where I felt like the game was lacking was in its outdated graphics (for the time it was released) and the lackluster combat. I know that some will argue that the combat was more tactical and is fitting of an RPG, but I really wasn't impressed with the auto-attack. All in all, I recommend this game 100%… Expand
  16. jrubensco
    Oct 18, 2017
    9
    Great story with very interesting and captivating characters - I just couldn't stop playing. Graphics not amazing, but alright. Very interactive game, one of the best I've ever played.
  17. Epik_Ninnja
    Aug 12, 2017
    8
    Once you get past the steep learning curve (if you're not used to the style of combat) you'll find a fascinating fantasy RPG that almost lives up to Mass Effect in terms of character interaction and world building. The 360 version looks pretty bad and other elements of the game make it feel older than 2009 but aside from those issues great characters and stories as well as hours ofOnce you get past the steep learning curve (if you're not used to the style of combat) you'll find a fascinating fantasy RPG that almost lives up to Mass Effect in terms of character interaction and world building. The 360 version looks pretty bad and other elements of the game make it feel older than 2009 but aside from those issues great characters and stories as well as hours of engaging in (semi) strategic fights, collecting items, exploring and conversing can be enjoyed.… Expand
  18. keiski72
    Feb 12, 2017
    10
    Another amazing game from Bioware. Great RPG experience, very deep gameplay, great writing, fun and challenging hybrid combat, and mostly impressive graphics for its time. All of these plus more makes this one of the best RPGs i've played IMO.
  19. SuperkenGaming
    Jan 22, 2016
    8
    Dragon Age Origins
    More like Goose Age Origins
    This game is deep, and that’s the greatest thing about it. The depth though is also the worst thing about it This game starts out with letting you customize your character and choosing your class. All of your choices here will determine the origins story you are given. There’s potentially 6 different stories to be told in this game… I    Dragon Age Origins
    More like Goose Age Origins
    This game is deep, and that’s the greatest thing about it.
    The depth though is also the worst thing about it
    This game starts out with letting you customize your character and choosing your class.
    All of your choices here will determine the origins story you are given.
    There’s potentially 6 different stories to be told in this game…
    I played the console version of this game, so it’s much more action oriented than strategy based.
    You can journey with 4 allies at a time to help you fight enemies and you can gain new allies along your journey,
    How you treat your allies and the people in the world around you will determine if they turn their back on you or help you with your cause.
    Your allies do a fairly decent job at holding their own... they only got stuck one time in my entire playthrough.
    You can equip gear you find on them much like a JRPG, there is tons of micro managing your ally’s skills as well as yours,
    Dragon Age Origins is lengthy, but not lengthy because there is so much great content to experience...
    The game is long just for the sake of being long... it accomplishes nothing in dragging the story on forever and makes you do more than you should really have to…
    The entire game feels like one giant goose chase.
    After your origins story the map opens up and you can freely clear it in any order you choose,
    The incentive to doing so is there is a blight... demons… an army... you need allies, so you set out into the vast sections to gain those allies...
    Each section of the map could literally be their own game… and not necessarily in a good way.
    They all have their own self-contained stories that link to the overarching story, but every single one of them follow the formula of the main story, which is you think you’re done but you’re not
    you get to whoever you’re looking for but they need you to do this before they’ll help you but when you get there to do what they need there’s someone there that needs you to help them before they can help you help the person that you need to help before they’ll help you..
    Its overwhelming and ultimately makes the game feel like it drags on forever
    and quite frankly it does... you never feel like you are making any true progress…
    It took me 10 hours of playing before the game got even a little bit interesting to me.
    There are some really cool sections to this game, again they all feel like they could be their own game...
    It’s crazy to look back when you’re near the end and think of the journey you’ve been on and how it was indeed part of this game and not some game you played years ago even though it feels like it.
    There’s mages, demons, going through the fade and shape shifting, hunting werewolves down in the forest, going underground to search for a mighty anvil
    There is so much to experience.
    While Dragon Age’s game world is vast and deep, I found the gameplay and journey to be shallow and tedious.
    Due to the delivery of the story, and the constant webbing of story lines I found Dragon Age Origins to eventually feel more like a chore than a game,
    After about 30 hours in I was begging for the game to be over, to get to the point, but instead it drug me down another 20 hours of rabbit holes.
    If the rabbit holes don’t make the game feel tedious enough, it also does a horrible job at quest progression in general...
    You rarely know where you’re supposed to go,
    The marker for the quest you’re on only appears when you’re close to the desired location…
    and by close, I mean practically on top of it…
    Which will lead you right to google to figure out where this person lives since who’s going to really memorize the locations of these people by name?
    I’m not
    There’s a Lot to do in Dragon Age Origins, so I can definitely see why people love this game so much…
    Even I appreciate the game for what it has going on...
    There was just ultimately nothing here to hook me in...
    If I didn’t feel obligated to make it to the credits, I definitely wouldn’t have
    I give Dragon Age Origins a 7.5/10    … Expand
  20. Samanosuke0
    Jan 17, 2016
    9
    Story: 10
    Characters: 10
    Graphics: 9
    Setting: 10
    Multiplayer: N/A
    Technical: 5
    Audio: 10
    Gameplay: 7
    Re-Playability Value: 10
    Fun Factor: 9
    Innovation: 8

    Total: 9
  21. Dared2Sin
    Aug 30, 2015
    10
    From the Simple but, satisfying combat to the intriguing story, this one will keep you going for hours.
    The only trouble in this game is trying to please everyone.
  22. Mediawatcher
    Jan 26, 2015
    8
    It's a good game, nothing spectacular but still good and it's story is very well told, along with a good cast, amazing gameplay and really good character development. However the game itself is also lacking in some features such as a variety of extremely useless spells and talents, as well as some pointless side missions which really killed of the mood for me. I personally romancedIt's a good game, nothing spectacular but still good and it's story is very well told, along with a good cast, amazing gameplay and really good character development. However the game itself is also lacking in some features such as a variety of extremely useless spells and talents, as well as some pointless side missions which really killed of the mood for me. I personally romanced morrigan as human Mage and romanced alistair as a dalish elf, they're both really well acted characters.… Expand
  23. Vanpire73
    May 9, 2014
    8
    Despite the awful graphics, weird "open world" and a character on par with Jar Jar Binks, this RPG is still one of my favorites. Man, I STILL want to c*ckpunch Allister...
  24. drlowdon
    Oct 30, 2013
    8
    Anyone that has played any of BioWare's other RPG titles, and Knights of the Old Republic in particular, will be instantly familiar with the way Dragon Age: Origins works. Having completed one of four unique origin stories the player sets about putting together a team and convincing different tribes to join them in the battle against an army of demons, known as The Blight, that areAnyone that has played any of BioWare's other RPG titles, and Knights of the Old Republic in particular, will be instantly familiar with the way Dragon Age: Origins works. Having completed one of four unique origin stories the player sets about putting together a team and convincing different tribes to join them in the battle against an army of demons, known as The Blight, that are hell-bent on destroying the world. Along with the fantasy setting this plot could of course be considered a little clichéd but the detailed world, expansive history and interesting dialogue choices more than makes up for this.

    The gameplay itself is well paced with battles being played out in real time, although they can be paused at any time to allow for tactical decisions to be made. With so many spells and techniques available there is plenty of scope to customise your team just how you want meaning there is a great deal of depth to proceedings.

    All in all I found Origins to be a deep and thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish, and that’s saying something in a game that lasted over 50 hours.    … Expand
  25. Prizrak232
    Oct 4, 2013
    9
    This game is amazing anyone that enjoys RPG's should own this game, the story and writing is wonderful, there is so much to experience. I finished the game in 49 hours with only 61% Exploration so even though the world is linear there are a lot of areas to explore, the armor design and leveling system are extremely well thought out, you can make an extremely in depth character withThis game is amazing anyone that enjoys RPG's should own this game, the story and writing is wonderful, there is so much to experience. I finished the game in 49 hours with only 61% Exploration so even though the world is linear there are a lot of areas to explore, the armor design and leveling system are extremely well thought out, you can make an extremely in depth character with branching skills and specialization's. The only down sides to this game is the combat system is not very in depth, and the graphics won't impress you but they have aged well. So all in all fans of the RPG genre will fall in love with this game, and any gamer worthy of the title must own this game.… Expand
  26. doggystyle
    Aug 15, 2013
    9
    A very good RPG. I don't like how Bioware makes its games for teen boys when it comes to women, sex and the dialogue in general. In DAO that stuff is sufficiently out of the way so that it doesn't get in the way of gaming. I'd rather have a world like that in Witcher instead of Bioware's classic good vs evil with large breasted women and huge spiky armors. Nevertheless, DAO was good.A very good RPG. I don't like how Bioware makes its games for teen boys when it comes to women, sex and the dialogue in general. In DAO that stuff is sufficiently out of the way so that it doesn't get in the way of gaming. I'd rather have a world like that in Witcher instead of Bioware's classic good vs evil with large breasted women and huge spiky armors. Nevertheless, DAO was good. Definitely the best game Bioware has ever produced and looking at the horror that was Dragon's Age 2 and how they "developed" Mass Effect downhill through the series it is safe to say that DAO will be their best game ever.… Expand
  27. curlzncrush
    Aug 5, 2013
    10
    A nearly perfect game, yet so unique in its own nostalgia, so charming in its characters, so tactical and past-gen in its combat, so humorous in its dialogue and so open in its narrative that it gets a 10 from me.
  28. GamingSoldier
    Jul 29, 2013
    9
    Ok to sum up dragon age origins in won word. Awesome! This is my second greatest RPG of all time right behind mass effect and one of the best games I've played of any genre. Pros: one of the best story's in a game ever, party members are interesting with some of the most memorable back story's, you will be a bit annoyedOk to sum up dragon age origins in won word. Awesome! This is my second greatest RPG of all time right behind mass effect and one of the best games I've played of any genre. Pros: one of the best story's in a game ever, party members are interesting with some of the most memorable back story's, you will be a bit annoyed by the auto attack combat but is really more strategic then about doing mass damage to enemy's, hours of content, deep customization for yourself and your team, interesting choices, great epilogue where your choices come together and either change the world in a good way, messed up and blew up and your face, or devastate the world Cons: it may be a bit too hard I played through on easy just so I would not end up taking a hammer to my Xbox, fade quest, an extremely annoying bug I got where I was unable to have any conversation with leliana and get her quest and backstory, morrigans spell near the end I won't spoil it but it makes no sense on how it works or why that's the choice since chances are if you played as a girl it may end up killing you So listen to me and play this awesome game you will never feel like you are not getting every penny of the purchase price… Expand
  29. Eternal409
    Jul 29, 2013
    8
    Expectations: I had no expectations going into this game

    Scores: Graphics: 8/10 Campaign: 10/10 Sound: 8/10 Gameplay: 7/10 Multiplayer: N/A Final Score: 8.25/10 Final Verdict: Taking into consideration that this game came out in 2009 this games graphics are great a few bad spots here and there but apart from that they are excellent. The story in this game is great end of, the    Expectations: I had no expectations going into this game

    Scores:
    Graphics: 8/10
    Campaign: 10/10
    Sound: 8/10
    Gameplay: 7/10
    Multiplayer: N/A
    Final Score: 8.25/10

    Final Verdict:
    Taking into consideration that this game came out in 2009 this games graphics are great a few bad spots here and there but apart from that they are excellent. The story in this game is great end of, the soundtrack in this game elevates this whole game to another level. I felt that the gameplay in this game could have been better but it's still good.    … Expand
  30. scarletellis
    Jun 2, 2013
    10
    If you like solid RPG's with decent gameplay you will enjoy this game. If you want pretty scenery go to an art gallery and call it a day. That said the graphics are fine if you aren't some nit picky brat that cares more about things being pretty than being good. Engaging storyline with a good amount of personal choice and atmosphere.
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Awards & Rankings

18
#18 Best Xbox 360 Game of 2009
7
#7 Most Discussed Xbox 360 Game of 2009
6
#6 Most Shared Xbox 360 Game of 2009

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
86

Generally favorable reviews - based on 68 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 65 out of 68
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 68
  3. Negative: 0 out of 68
  1. IGN AU
    84
    It's a delight to give into a fantasy setting with such a dense back story, even if the gameplay still rarely breaks away from conventions established a decade ago.
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  2. 3DJuegos
    87
    Despite its lack of innovation Dragon Age: Origins is the best RPG in 2009. Its great value and addictive gameplay are among its main highlights.
    Read full review
  3. GameSpot
    85
    Incredible storytelling, great characters, and exciting battles are just a few of the things that make this fantasy role-playing game so great.
    Read full review
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