Dragon Age: Origins

Last week, I finished the main campaign of Dragon Age: Origins. In the "Origins" campaign, you play as one of the last Grey Wardens in the country of Fereldon. Grey Wardens are a group dedicated to fighting darkspawn, an underground race that emerges every so often to menace surface dwellers. These attacks are known as Blights. In the storyline, Fereldon is facing a Blight. You have the choice of warrior, rogue, or mage for your character class. I chose mage. Dragon Age doesn't use the Dungeons and Dragons ruleset. It uses familiar RPG concepts, however. Characters have attributes, skills, talents, and powers. There are also class specializations you can pursue later on. I quickly warmed to the system and it worked well. The game features a 3D third-person perspective and combat is real-time with the option to pause the action. In that respect, it is quite similar to Neverwinter Nights. The adventuring party consists of your main character and up to three additional companions.

There were so many nice touches in Dragon Age. Inventory management was easier than a lot of other RPGs. When you are at a merchant to buy or sell an item, you can compare that item to the equivalent a particular character has currently equipped. Getting around was a breeze with auto-mapping. In addition to a full-sized map, there was an on-screen mini-map as well. Holding down the tab key shows items and characters you can interact with. That eliminated a lot of aggravation finding doors, chests, and other loot. I think the developers did a great job emphasizing fun over frustration. As with most RPGs, Dragon Age: Origins presents you with many choices along the way. A lot of RPGs give you the illusion of choices and consequences. In the end, however, your choices may have very little impact on the overall story and outcomes. That wasn't the case here. There were some pretty big decisions to make along the way with game-altering implications. Without revealing any major spoilers, I will say that my character, Daylen, made the ultimate sacrifice in the end and did not survive. I was particularly surprised because I knew there was an expansion pack, Dragon Age: Awakening. Awakening allows you to import your character from Origins to continue the story. I won't be doing that now, however, and will create a new character. I am disappointed to say goodbye to my level 21 character but it was refreshing to have my decisions carry some weight.

There are plenty of computer role-playing games on all-time favorites list. It is one of my favorite genres and possibly my top pick. Dragon Age: Origins easily makes the list. It may be the euphoria of having just completed it but I am tempted to name it my all-time favorite RPG. For now, I will leave that honor with the Baldur's Gate series. Because I own the Ultimate Edition of Dragon Age: Origins, there is still a lot of content to play. It includes the Awakening expansion and four more DLC campaigns.


Grey Warden Daylen, a Level 21 Human Mage