Great RPG? Best RPG gold?
Okay, I admit that saying this is the best RPG of all time might be going too far, but only a little. In this amazing adventure, you can expect to have epic battles, kill an infinite number of enemies, solve many puzzles, and have complete free will. With this, you can also expect to face the consequences of even your smallest actions. Fortunately, there are quite a few different ways to get around each task, which is what makes this game so great in my opinion.
This is definitely not the first game to feature free will and multiple ways to play, including multiple endings. But I have to say this is the best I’ve ever played.
In this game there are 6 origin stories, which are the beginning of your game. After playing the origin story, the main questline begins. Your origin story decides, for the most part, how the other NPCs in the game will react to you, some characters may hate you for who you are, and others will have a lot in common with you. There are no limits in this game, you can go wherever you want, betray whoever you want or just go out and look for things to kill. This freedom makes you feel like you are actually in control of the world you are playing in, every action you take will have a reaction in the world. If you save someone’s life, you’ll probably see them again later. If you kill someone, there will probably be consequences later on.
One thing that is certain about this game is that you will never need to mindlessly push yourself to gain experience. There’s always a new quest to go on, and the quests are refreshingly original, too. It’s not your average to go to _______, kill 10 _________, and then turn in the quest. You are constantly meeting new people, trying to find new party members, making decisions about who you want to be your friends and who you want to be your enemies. This is one of the most attractive parts of this game for me.
This game was released for PS3, PC and Xbox 360. I only played the 360 version and was very impressed with the control system. It’s surprisingly easy to navigate and master, even for new players. Although many of the concepts can be a bit overwhelming for RPG novices, this game has 4 difficulty levels, the lowest one will be very suitable for any gamer. I would also like to mention that this is not a game for children. Not only are there unbelievable amounts of blood and (if you choose) sexual themes, there are plenty of puzzles and brain teasers to solve, and some of them were even a challenge for me. In other words, for once I agree with the ESRB on the rating.
This game is a perfect combination of the genius of Bioware. They implement the great RPG styles of Baldurs Gate and the free will style of Mass Effect. It also implemented much of the greatness of Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, and had a really interesting story (a bit of a cliche, though). You can get a minimum of 40 hours of quality gameplay with this.
the scores (out of 10, with 10 being the highest)
Gameplay: 9 Very impressive that such a deep game is really easy to control on a console platform. However, it is not perfect. It would still be very convenient to be able to have all available spells in a bar at the bottom of the screen.
Graphics: 7.5 Ok, the graphics in this game are not the highest quality I have seen. Bioware did what they had to do to create this massive game. A 7.5 isn’t a bad score though, the characters’ mouths move in correct patterns for words, and it’s not a bother to look at, although it could be MUCH better.
Plot: 9.5 With its origin stories to start the game, throughout the epic adventure of gathering an army, this game has a fantastic story. Some say it’s a cliché, however, it didn’t stop me from feeling like I was in the game to save the world.
Play Value: 9 This game has incredible replay value, because you can always start over as a new race/class/origin story, and play through the entire game making different choices and finding alternate ways to have beaten each mission.
OVERALL SCORE:
9.25
With a surprise around every corner and game-altering consequences behind every action, Dragon Age Origins will keep you coming back for more. This will definitely be a memorable game in the Bioware archive and for RPGs in general.