Dragon Age: Origins

I received some early code for Dragon Age: Origins for PC from EA a month or so ago and only got to play a little bit of it then. It’s only recently in the process of turning my back a little on the crapfest that is Aion that I’ve really managed to sit down and concentrate on Dragon Age. I can tell you now that it’s a fantastic game and I haven’t had the pleasure of playing an RPG as good as this for PC since Dungeon Siege II.

Another reason I’m so interested in Dragon Age is because it’s developed by Bioware and I am really amping myself up for the Star Wars MMORPG they’re working on. I figured if I played Dragon Age, it might give me a better idea of what’s to come with Star Wars: The Old Republic. And not since Gears of War II have I looked forward to another game (those who know me will know how absolutely crazed for that game I was).

The storyline is extremely emmersive and the characters are equally as great. If you’ve played RPGs before you’ll know the drill so I won’t go into unimportant game mechanics as this is not a review. I am just really liking this game, and can’t stop playing it. Aion almost pales in comparison to the fun I’m having playing Dragon Age.

So I am really looking forward to the game expansion coming out very soon. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could play this on the 360 and get the same level of enjoyment out of it that I do on the PC. The last time I even attempted something that resembled an RPG on the 360 was Fable II and I stopped playing that shortly after I discovered that coop wasn’t really true coop in the way I had come to know it. In fact, it was bitterly disappointing. When you’ve played some of the best RPGs on the PC, there’s nothing that can really rival that experience on the Xbox 360. That’s my opinion and it won’t be changing any time soon.

Of course, one game that I was thoroughly impressed with on the 360 that could be loosely classified as an RPG was Star Wars The Force Unleashed. I absolutely loved that game and I am REALLY looking foward to the sequel also coming out this year. It’s going to be a great gaming year for sequels, especially for me. I seem to be really moving away from shooters though and settling more for RPGs this season.

But back to Dragon Age – I think the code I’m playing is a little buggy because in a lot of the fight sequences, the characters I control in my party never do what I need them to. In alot of cases, I had to reload the game just to get the characters to play together and fight together. This is after I had programmed all the presets for each character class as well. As I don’t own the retail version of the game, I can’t really comment if this is just a programming bug or not. But it can be a tad irritating having to restart the game just to get characters to fight in unison, especially when you’re up against difficult mobs like an Ogre (and they are very formidable in Dragon Age).

Which brings me to the difficulty level. I doubt my skills with RPGs have dropped that much but I honestly couldn’t defeat the Ogre on hard. I had to change down the difficulty level just to pass that section of the game. I’m not proud of it but at least I passed it I’ve also had a really frustrating time of breaking into chests that are locked. None of my characters had the correct skill and when I finally acquired a character that could do it, what do you know? Not a single damn chest in sight! I cringe to think of all the phat lewts I’ve missed out on (sorely evident by the lack of funds on my part to buy upgraded equipment at the vendor).

All in all though, this game is kick ass. I am really loving the character integration when discussing the plot and continuing the story. Although the dialogue may be a little off in some places, the different opportunities you’re given to alter your character’s path and destiny are fantastic. If SW:TOR is anything like this game, it will definitely be the game I’ve been waiting to play (I am hoping for a way better experience than the one I’m having playing Aion).