Dragon Age: Origins Reviews

An Archdemon is amassing an army of Darkspawn, and the player, one of the last remaining Grey Wardens, must work to unite the fractured armies and save the land of Ferelden.

If you're one of this game's many fans, I'm afraid I must disappoint you: I can't quite concur. At times, the game almost won me over. I always enjoyed talking to my companions, especially developing the romance with Morrigan, and I loved some particular sections: the Sloth Demon level (in theory, at least), the Brecilian Ruins, the escape from Fort Drakon, and the riddles protecting the Urn of Sacred Ashes. I could probably write a further 250 words or more just about my character's personal journey. :)

But it's all ruined by the most frequent gameplay mechanic: the combat. I hate this game's combat system with a fiery passion! Your attacks are sluggish, and the enemies seem to have an unfair advantage because they swarm you in insanely big groups and attack faster than you can fight back – or heal, for that matter! Maybe I'm just not a good enough gamer, but in any case, it's for this reason that I haven't yet seen the ending: because I found the final boss battle to be so gruelling that I knew my efforts to beat it would enrage me to the point that it would be hazardous to my health!

So my overall impression of this game is mixed at best. I enjoyed myself somewhat, but only when I wasn't fighting.

My rating: 65%

Actually, after writing that comment that I could probably go into detail about my character's personal journey, I decided to do just that. :) Check my blog post here for a detailed account of how I played and what I felt was going through my character's head. But spoiler warning: I will be talking about some things that happen near the end.