Dragon Age: Origins -- Final Opinion.

I have fully completed Dragon Age: Origins. I say fully as I've earned the eleven-hundred Gamerpoints available for the main game as well as the download expansions The Warden's Keep and The Stone Prisoner. That amounts to completing all seven origin stories, witnessing all four endings, recruiting all possible allies, and getting all three class types to level twenty. That might not sound like a whole lot, but it took me eighty-five hours plus to achieve. It's safe to say I really enjoyed Dragon Age, but will you? That depends on a few factors. Dragon Age is a BioWare game. So if you've played a BioWare game, then you should know exactly what that is, because in all honesty, BioWare only makes one game. I can't speak for their PC efforts of old, but if you've played a game from Knights of the Old Republic onward through Jade Empire and Mass Effect, then you know exactly what you're in for with Dragon Age. The same pausing action battle system, only this time further fleshed out with options, abilities, and AI macros. Dragon Age provides a large amount of diversity in its character progressions. For example, you're able to play a rogue as either the typical backstabbing assassin type or you could play the rogue as a ranger or any mix and matched combination in between. Would you rather your warrior be a Templar with some champion mixed in? Or would your rather the warrior be a pure berserker? You're able to shape the playable characters to be what you want them to be within their classes. The game features a robust macro system similar to that used in Final Fantasy XII. You're able to preset their actions along the lines of having your mage heal another party member when their health drops below thirty percent for example. While the battles can be chaotic, they're really about the management of everything going on. Just like every other BioWare game. Another factor in your possible enjoyment of Dragon Age comes in your love and or tolerance for fantasy. Dragon Age is a world of dragons, elves, sorcery, dwarves, and every other fantasy cliche. If you hate wizards and trolls and everything else fantasy, then Dragon Age isn't going to win you over. No matter how good the story is. And like most BioWare titles, the story and characters are very well done. Dragon Age offers up a wealth of lore to sink yourself into should you be so inclined. There isn't anything original about it. It's standard fantasy through and through. The main story however is well handled. It's more about the politics of everything rather than defeating the Darkspawn hordes. The characters are great, although they are still the standard BioWare archetypes. They do have enough twists to surprise you from time to time however. And the character interaction within the party is often truly funny and always great. Still though, I'd have to say that BioWare really needs to start shaking things up with the character archetypes. How many times can we play through their games with the same basic characters? Graphically Dragon Age looks rather good in game. It's in the cutscenes where the game looks a little less than stellar. And surprisingly it's the cutscenes they decided to use to show off the game. Musically the game has a stirring fantasy cinematic score that somehow remains rather subdued. For most of the game the music is low and out of the way of the ambiance of the sounds of the city and the like. It's good stuff when it soars, otherwise you're not hearing much of it. The voice work is great all the way around. Professional voice actors from top to bottom. The game features Simon Templeman as the villain, who provides probably the best voice ever heard in video games as Kain from the Blood Omen series. I really enjoyed Dragon Age, as I have Mass Effect and Knights of the Old Republic before it. BioWare has made their one game again. Their standard battle system and great characters and story are all in place. I happened to enjoy the traditional fantasy overlay. Others have not. It'll all depend on your tastes for setting, and your previous opinion of their battle systems and storytelling style. I'm giving Dragon Age: Origins a 9.