I've finally finished the main quest of Dragon Age plus some of the DLC and so now feel qualified to comment.
I really enjoyed it. It has a lot of flaws (XBox 360 version) but it also has a lot of things that it does better than any other game, mainly the players impact upon the world and the options available to you. A great example is the quest where the Arle of Recliffe's son
. You are given the choice as to whether to
, yet if you ask more questions, it becomes apparent that there is another way to complete the quest, although it depends on how you completed another main quest line. The quests are less binary that most RPGs and allow the player to appraoch common sense solutions rather than black or white.
I was also impressed by the 'Origins' nature of the story. I played an elf, and it there were countless occasions where the NPCs would reference my 'elfness' where it was appropriate. It pleased me that this was acknowledged, especially considering there are two other species to play.
It does have issues, but I could forgive them. However it's interesting that all of the issues present in Dragon Age have been successfully dealt with in Mass effect 2. If Bioware can bring what they have learnt from ME2 to Dragon Age 2, whilst keeping the complex story tree of Origins, this series will be up there with the best RPGs around.
The only other thing that smacked me in the face a bit was the similarities to LOTR, especially the dwarves with their great underground halls that have been taken over by the Darkspawn. A shame, as the mythology they have created has some original touches beneath the surface, but they need to let go of some of the more obvious genre clichés imo.
I really enjoyed it. It has a lot of flaws (XBox 360 version) but it also has a lot of things that it does better than any other game, mainly the players impact upon the world and the options available to you. A great example is the quest where the Arle of Recliffe's son
. You are given the choice as to whether to
, yet if you ask more questions, it becomes apparent that there is another way to complete the quest, although it depends on how you completed another main quest line. The quests are less binary that most RPGs and allow the player to appraoch common sense solutions rather than black or white.
I was also impressed by the 'Origins' nature of the story. I played an elf, and it there were countless occasions where the NPCs would reference my 'elfness' where it was appropriate. It pleased me that this was acknowledged, especially considering there are two other species to play.
It does have issues, but I could forgive them. However it's interesting that all of the issues present in Dragon Age have been successfully dealt with in Mass effect 2. If Bioware can bring what they have learnt from ME2 to Dragon Age 2, whilst keeping the complex story tree of Origins, this series will be up there with the best RPGs around.
The only other thing that smacked me in the face a bit was the similarities to LOTR, especially the dwarves with their great underground halls that have been taken over by the Darkspawn. A shame, as the mythology they have created has some original touches beneath the surface, but they need to let go of some of the more obvious genre clichés imo.
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