Dragon Age: Origins

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⭐ 8.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Since getting Gamepass I've had a tough time sticking with one game and seeing it through. I've started and stopped a ton of amazing games in the last couple months, never really connecting with something. Why on earth I settled on an old, outdated fantasy RPG in which one must invest 50+ hours is beyond me!


The good:

1) excellent writing. This had Witcher-level nuance and complexity with every character feeling alive and unique. The decisions you are forced to make feel so weighty as a result. I really hesitated and thought through some decisions because of how I thought it might make my imaginary friends feel.

2) strategic systems. There is so much going on here and it was overwhelming at first. But I love the team-concept, trying to synergize your squad, and making every strategic decision count and work towards that ecstasy of having your team do the work just as you had planned.

3) fantasy stuff. This just felt like an amazing combination of all my favorite stuff. I often thought back to playing LOTRO, my favorite game ever, and it reminded me of playing DnD.


The Bad

1) not optimized for console. It's hard to make an overhead strategy game for anything but PC, so there were a ton of compromises on this port. As much as I loved the strategy, half the time I was just hoping my team would do the things I wanted because it was hard to manage them with just a controller.

2) game breaking bugs. Not sure why this was the case, but I think I wasn't able to download patches. This game was fine till the end where everything was breaking down - enemies not spawning, attacks not processing, etc. The final boss was broken, so I ended up having to put it on easy and just cheese it. Really disappointing end.

3) weird mechanical/ story issues. Lots of times I'd find myself stuck because the game wouldn't prepare you for a difficult part, and then to get back in order to prepare I'd have to load an old save and lose 30 mins of progress.


Just writing that makes me feel like there was more bad than good, but someone I still really loved it. It has a disappointing end, so otherwise it's probably a 9. The story, choices and characters really overcome a lot. I'm really loving this series and excited to hop into the next games. BioWare has made a new fan out of me. Shout out to Leliana, the love of my life ❤️



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