What is Dragon Age: Origins?
Maybe you've seen commercials for it. Maybe you saw an ad for it at your game store. Or maybe you've never heard of it. But in any case, chances are that you've got some questions about Dragon Age: Origins. The game itself is one of the most engaging RPGs to date. It allows you choose from a variety of customizable characters and play through the game using your own choices. Those choices will affect the events of the game, and even the ending. Will you treat others fairly or play the game to try to get your own personal benefits? Good or evil? The choices are up to you.
The Dragon Age
Dragon Age: Origins takes place in a land called Ferelden. There are three main sentient races in Ferelden: humans, elves, and dwarves. The setting is much more intricate than merely a land with three types of creatures. The land of Ferelden is a complex environment rich in history, geography, and even politics. There are a variety of areas ranging from sweeping meadows being grazed by beasts of burden to derelict cities to elaborate caves. But the social scene in Dragon Age received plenty of attention from its BioWare developers. Among the different races are numerous castes and bands. This richly-detailed world is the one you will enjoy.
Origins
In the first part of each game, as with most games, you will choose the character to play as. You have plenty of options branching from six main categories (Human Noble, City Elf, Dwarf Commoner, Dwarf Noble, Dalish Elf, or Human or Elf Mage). You can choose either gender for any of the races and classes. Then you can even customize details like facial shape to make the character your own. Once you've built your ideal player, the story begins. The first part of the game requires you to play through certain quests as your chosen character, and is aptly called "Origins." This way, you are able to get a feel for who your character is in the world, and also to get familiar with the gameplay. But don't think this is a meaningless tutorial — your actions in Origins very much affect the game overall, and actions in Origins can have very real consequences later in the game.
Claim your destiny
Once you have finished Origins, you begin the main portion of the game. You are found by Duncan, leader of a group known as the Grey Wardens. The Grey Wardens perform the essential task of keeping Ferelden safe from the darkspawn, a demonic army prone to attacks known as Blights when they are strong. If you complete your initiation, you must help defend the kingdom against the darkspawn's most resilient Blight yet. At the conclusion of the first battle, you have some tough decisions to make. The choices you make can greatly influence the events in the game, making it easier — or tougher — to complete your ultimate goal of defeating the darkspawn infestation.
Along the way
Don't start thinking of yourself as a one-man (or one-woman) army, though. Ferelden is rich with strong characters that can help or hinder you. You'll come across numerous personalities from a variety of races that influence the overall storyline. You can have up to three other non-player characters (NPCs) accompany and assist you, but the game is so detailed that the people who accompany you is not entirely your choice — your choices, or even your class may make certain characters apathetic to your cause.
Have it your way
We mentioned how you get to choose your character's race, class, and even facial shape at the beginning of the game. But that's far from the only way to customize your character. You see, as you progress throughout the game, the game has a leveling system based on your performance. And when you level up, you are able to increase your player's skills and abilities. This opens up a whole new range of options and lets you play the game your way. Maybe it's your style to crush your foes with a battle axe. In that case, you'll want to pump up your strength stats. Or perhaps double-wielding blades or pwning the darkspawn with your bow is more your style, then you'll want to increase your dexterity. Those are just a few of the many ways you can customize your character. Other options include choosing your selection of spells for mages. Not only can you choose your own specialties, though, you're able to decide how your companion characters level up. If all that sounds like a little much to figure out, don't worry about it. You also have the option of letting the game choose how you or your companions level up for a simple way to excel.
But wait . . . there's more!
Once you've finished the main story, you can participate in dozens of side quests. This can add hours of fun to your DA:O experience. If that still isn't enough entertainment from you, playing the game through multiple times is likely a great choice. After all, you can make different choices each playthrough, or even choose different Origins stories. Trying to see all the different endings would be a lot of fun. But, even after playing for over a hundred hours, this is the kind of game that can leave you hankering for more. And so the friendly folks at BioWare are willing to oblige. Through the free PlayStationNetwork you can sign up for with every PS3, you can purchase three different DLC packs. Those packs offer a lot of different advantages from more quests, to other characters (including Shale), to various in-game benefits and armors.
Rating info
OK, so here's the scoop on the ESRB rating for Dragon Age: Origins. The developers at BioWare wanted to create a "dark, heroic fantasy." Rather than the fairly-clean RPGs you might be used to, DA:O was intended to be very gritty and bloody, along with having mature themes. This makes the game much more immersive, but it also makes the game "M" for Mature, with designations of Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, and Sexual Content. So, no one under 17 can buy, and probably should be playing this game. It's an unparalleled RPG experience, but just not for the younger crowd.
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