Fans of the game Dragon Age: Origins have a lot of great reasons to keep playing it.
Dragon Age: Origins is a dark fantasy game with a great sense of humor and a ton of ways to play it again and again. BioWare is known for making games with well-developed characters and important moral choices, and this game is a great example of what this company can do. But that’s just a small part of what makes Dragon Age: Origins such a fun game.
The origin stories of the six main characters are tempting enough, because the origin of the Warden is important all the way to the end credits. This game is also great for people who like to finish everything. There aren’t many games that put as much focus on building a world and still have a lot of different ways to play.Origins is one of these gems, a game that fans of the series will never get tired of.
A Unique Spin On Fantasy
When it comes to races, jobs, and how people interact, Dragon Age doesn’t follow the fantasy rules set by Tolkien. If you like RPGs and play Origins, you’ll notice right away that this world is nothing like what you’d expect from a game in this genre.
Elves aren’t eternal and made of air.Dwarves are mean when it comes to politics. Then, in no particular order, come the Qunari, the Mages and the Templars, the church, the king, and the devils from the Fade. No matter what players think they know going in, Origins will turn their attention to an interestingly broken world that goes against their predictions.
An Abundance Of Skills Will Keep It Interesting
All of the Warden’s friends can learn special skills, and you can pick up a few more from NPCs as you play. The skill sets that can be learned are made to go with certain classes, so players will always have access to some and not others.
Origins’ tactics system is not the most famous part of the game, but it can be a lot of fun once the player gets used to how skills and timing work together in a unique way. It helps less at first, but each time you use it, it helps more.
The Loot Lust Is Savage
Origins lets you try out a lot of different weapons, armor sets, and skill and equipment combos. This makes it easy for the Warden’s allies to get the best gear that isn’t being used by the Warden, but it also makes it easy to switch to another class.
Whether the party found the armor of a legendary figure from Ferelden’s past or an old treasure with magical powers, there was always something to want. Even though this may not be important to every player, Origins is great for those who love loot and other benefits.
The Challenge Isn’t Just In The Difficulty Setting
The story can be hard for Wardens who are insensitive or just plain rude. Sometimes the Warden’s attitude and choices open doors, and sometimes they close them. Origins’ main plot points take place in a semi-open world, which can change a player’s experience in a big way.
For the same reason, first-time players can make their playthroughs a lot harder without understanding it. Anyone who skips Lothering and goes right to Orzammar is in for a tough game. But if the Warden took a different path or helped a different NPC, a lot more than that could change.
Companions, Not Henchpeople
In a lot of role-playing games, the only thing the party members do is follow the lead character. Not so in the Dragon Age series, whose characters are known for having lives and relationships outside of the Warden.
There are so many planned lines of conversation at parties that it will take a few plays to see them all. The Warden’s friends have their own ideas about almost everything, which comes out in their conversations with each other and in how they respond to things that happen on the quest.
There’s No Pleasing Some People
In Origins, it will be hard to go against what your favorite characters want. Both companions and NPCs have different beliefs, motives, and points of view, so the Warden is always having to decide who to trust and what to do first. But it’s worth it to see how they behave in different ways!
It’s not impossible to cheat the system and get full approval from all friends, especially with the Feastday Gifts and Pranks DLCs. But an RPG expert would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn’t try the dark side of Origins and push themselves by making enemies with everyone.
Learn The Dogma, Then Question Everything
The story starts where the main character grew up in Ferelden. As the story of Origins goes on, though, other myths and dogmas question everything the Warden was taught. Since you can’t know anything for sure, it’s easy to act like you have firm or changing views.
There are a lot of secrets in all Thedasian cultures that only someone from outside the region would notice. After the main character joins the Order of the Grey Wardens, things only get more interesting. They promise to protect against the Blight, which is the biggest secret of all.
The Relevant Lore Keeps Coming
As many races as there are in Thedas, there are as many stories of history as there are races. Each of them has a rich history to learn about. This gives each major character’s background important plot points that are unique to them.
As a Grey Warden, all of the main character’s big choices affect him or her, but Origins doesn’t forget about the Warden’s family history. A character from a certain background might not know much about every society or area. Still, what that Warden goes through will be seen through the lens of their society and views in a way that is unique to them.
Player Foresight Unlocks A New World
There are clear benefits to picking a different class that gives you access to new skills. But Origins gives players so much more because they can change the story. When players know what will happen and what choices they can make, they can customize their Origins experience to great effect.
It’s impossible to try out all the options in a single run. In the meantime, there are a lot of hints about what a different decision, background, or personality could change.
The Warden Is The Perfect Role To Play
The Grey Wardens are one of the few groups in Thedas that have more freedom and less money. This is done on purpose to make sure that the Warden’s life is always on the move, rarely noticed, but not without impact.
The Grey Wardens are just one part of the past and cultures of Thedas as a whole. The idea is good: the Warden is a hero who is both an outsider and someone who has power if they want it. You can’t say no to the task, but it’s up to Drive Mad player to decide how the Warden gets that much power.
The Warden’s Legacy Is A Slow Burn
Origins has a lot of options that change the way the game goes. Even though players aren’t always prevented from making the most important endgame choices, there are ways to play that make one ending more appealing to the player’s current version of the Warden than the other options.
Origins does not have a bad finish. Still, some of the choices will work better with how the Warden was used up until the endgame than others. The results are also different enough from one another to keep you coming back for more.
The Continuity Of Dragon Age
The choices you make in each Dragon Age game have an effect on the rest of the series, but each game can also be played on its own as a new story. Heroes who come after know about and feel the effects of the choices made by heroes who came before them.
Going back to Origins is a great idea if you want to play a new Dragon Age game. This is because so many of the choices you make in Origins cross over to the new games. Origins is exactly what its name says it is: the big start of a great series with a lot of potential.
You can play Dragon Age: Origins on PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Mac OS X.
