I don't think I've ever died as many times as I did in a game before. Enter Dragon Age: Origins - it likes to kick you ass knowing you'd come back for more.
STORY 4/5
The main story's straightforward, but there were various routes that diverged from the main to support the story. Those scenarios, which usually played a major role in the outcome of the game, were optional and can be done in whatever order wished. Within each scenario presented various choices the player can make which would also affect the outcome of the game (or that scenario). Minor choices/actions can make an unexpected significant impact as well. However, ones choices/actions is really up to how the player wants to play anyways, so there's no real wrong or right choice... Maybe just better choices than others that can help or work against you.
Your character's background determines your beginning story (and influences the rest of your play though) so it varies from race but basically something dramatic and heart-wrenching happens and so you end up being forced into becoming a Grey Warden -- an order of guardians who protect the land from an evil race that's trying to destroy it. Of course, it's never that simple when politics are involved. The land and its cities have been divided due to the chaos so it's up to you to restore the peace.
I found it interesting how even a small choice you make can alter the game completely - sometimes immediately or in the future and then you'd be like OH I remember, oh damn. I've only played through the Human Noble scenario, but I imagine the other stories would give you a better insight on certain story characters and backgrounds.
CHARACTERS : 4.5/5
The travel companions were all very fun and you had the option to dismiss them permanently from your party at any time (I never actually tried). There were obvious personality clashes which made amusing idle conversations. Choices made throughout the game also affected the approval rating of those characters (if they are in your active party). Usually because of those personality clashes, you could never really satisfy everyone. Thus Morrigan, being known to be on the other side of that spectrum, likes to disapprove most things you did, unless you were a unmoral person to begin with, then vice versa, your other characters wouldn't like you very much. However, that's usually easily remedied with giving gifts, which I felt was TOO easy to remedy. You can max out any character's approval rating of you without trouble which kind of ruins the "importance of choice" aspect of the game a bit.
I'm not sure who wouldn't like Alistair. As the heroine, he was definitely my type. ;) He had a cute personality which made me giggle in more than one situation. Morrigan was a pretty sarcastic and blunt, which made interesting idle conversation with the other characters. The secret companion was also quite a surprise but I did not take him (he's too old and ugly anyway).
SOUND : 4/5
As the usual western RPG, you don't really notice the music all too much (as there wasn't much either). The strange pop rock vocal song that played during the credits felt really out of place though.
As for sound effects, there were a lot of explosion noises even though there weren't any explosions happening. My brother would hear me from the other room and tell me all he hears are explosions. And then of course, there's the screaming. As a warrior, I like shouting a lot.
The voice acting was excellent. The cast had completely charmed me (especially Alistair, can you blame me?) but I am not one familiar with any of the voice actors themselves. I only wished the hero you played as wasn't as mute as he/she was.
GAMEPLAY 4.5/5
Played like an MMO.
You had the option to control one character while the others were controlled by a set of tactics you determine (AI), or control them all yourself. For me, I controlled all the active party members myself since it ended up being easier doing so, but left them some basic actions for when they're idle. This definitely kept me busy and extremely active during battles. The only time you'd be bored would be when you had to travel. Traveling seems to suck no matter what game it is.
The game was definitely difficult a bit before mid-game, when you're still getting used to battle strategies and had a lack of abilities... and most of the death action happened during then. The biggest difficulty was healing at first, for sure. You only had a limited number of potions, potion making items were scarce, you had no money anyway, and you had little to no healing spells. The work around this was to basically strategize a plan of attack and try and try again. It was frustrating at first but funny I didn't give up. I saved like there was no tomorrow.
The beauty about this game was the magical pause button... because strategy such as crowd control was extremely important and controlling 4 members at a time is not really possible in real time, the pause button was able to provide some breathing room. Not to mention, it is also neat to pause during certain slo-mo dramatic death blow moments (see above image).
There were also an abundance of sidequests which were nice. The completionist in me probably spent way too many hours on them than I should've. Some yielded good items, other times, they were a waste of time. The random drop system can be frustrating at times (stop giving me garbage). Or then you'd have so many items you want to keep, even the storage box isn't enough.
Again, the amount of choices in this game really makes one think twice about what to say/do. I often paused to think hard about what's the best response. Hm, maybe something I should learn from for real life - ha.
The camera could've used some work in certain situations.
The game also liked to occasionally crash on me.
Also the occasional AI bug where a member controlled by your set of combat rules gets stuck trying to use that certain ability.
Little frustrations.
GRAPHICS 3.5/5
I can't stand that strange shiny/plastic look on some of the clothes and textures. Your clothes are surely fabric (wool, cotton.. what have you) not plastic, as it's not invented yet, my dear. So is your dragon's chest. Perhaps dragons bath regularly so it's always kept very clean and shiny - I do not know.
Graphics are generally pretty standard.. nothing too amazing. I wished they put in a bit more effort into creating more unique/different NPC faces. I spoke with Arl Wolff and saw Duncan instead. Some maid lady looked like my mom... actually I saw her a few other times. Character customization was not as amazing as I'd hoped. I did not particularly like my stoned face look in most cut scenes. If only I had more expression like how ugly I looked when I killed the last boss. Man, I was ugly but at least I demonstrated that I had more than just my stoned face expression.
I mentioned it before but the female body proportions were also kind of strange. We had men bodies with boobs.
The game also loved blood, which seems to be the running theme of the game. Just a bit of sword play with mice and I'm drenched in blood. Take off my clothes and lo and behold, I'm bloody under my armor too. Blood's apparently really, really messy.
Speaking of being naked, a side note: Morrigan's bra does not correspond to her revealing top.
OVERALL 4.5/5
I enjoyed this game quite a bit and I definitely took my time. I think I sunk at least 60 hours into it, and I only played through it once, completed as many sidequests as possible and both currently DLCs available are done as well. Again though, traveling is a pain in the ass. The game's "normal" mode was nice and challenging (can't imagine how it'd be beyond normal), and fortunately didn't scare me away from the rest of the game. The journey was well worth it but I'm still unsure if I want to run through the game again, taking on another character and personality.
I might just keep it around for the next DLC coming in January. My character and stats for those who have access and if are interested.
I am totally itching for a JRPG right now though.
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