So, instead of doing a super in-depth review, I'd just like to write down some of my personal feelings about these games and how I enjoyed playing them long after most people had already thoroughly completed their own experiences.
For the first edition of this ill-conceived series, I'll share my feelings about the Xbox 360 version of the instant Bioware classic, Dragon Age: Origins.
WHAT I LIKED ABOUT THIS GAME:
The story, voice acting, writing, and portrayal of complex characters are absolutely top-notch in this game. This seems to be a Bioware's bread and butter, and it's in full force with this game. I really cared about my party members in this game. I didn't want to upset them, and I certainly wanted them to trust me. Saying that about a game with characters who are not real people is, to me, an astounding accomplishment.
Even the very minor characters in this world have their own personality and back stories. If you can speak with someone, chances are they have a story to tell. My favorite parts of the game were the sections that were heavy on the dialog and less so on actual "action".
Lastly, the amount of varied choices in this game mean that your playthrough is going to be at least slightly different from any other person's playthrough. It isn't simply a matter of choosing either the "good" or "bad" option. In this game, you really have to think about what it is you want to do and who it's going to effect. This, combined with the world's deeply rich history really make you want to live in this world.
But notice I said "live" and not "fight...
WHAT I THOUGHT WAS ASS IN THIS GAME:
Combat. For the love of God, the combat. Now, I know playing this game on the Xbox 360 is truly a disadvantage. You can't zoom out and get a good look at the battlefield, having to scroll through your party members during the heat of battle to get to the one you want is just tedious and annoying, and something is wrong with the AI. I created my character to be a DPS frontline fighter. That means when he engages the enemy, I just want him to stand in front and swing. Yet, half the time I would engage an enemy only to have my guy strafe around his target for ten or so seconds while he tried to figure out what he was supposed to do.
I might not be the best strategic mastermind in the world, and whilst I enjoy RPGs, I'm not exactly an expert on character-building in games, but a lot of the deaths I suffered didn't really feel like my fault, rather the game didn't give me proper knowledge of the battle I was facing and therefore I couldn't make an informed decision on what to do next. There were even cases where enemies would just pop into battle after I engaged an enemy further away. I understand that some enemies are stealth-oriented, but this was a graphical glitch, and a costly one at that.
And that finally brings me to the presentation of this game. I've already stated I absolutely love the voice acting, but as far as the actual aesthetics of the game, they're kinda bad. Keep in mind that I played this game following Mass Effect 2, another Bioware game, and while I know that the same team didn't work on both games (Terminal Reality being the DA:O team), but I'd like to think the graphics would have been a little bit better.
Textures are terrible with strange clipping and pretty bad lighting effects, player models aren't great and animate and emote awkwardly, I could go on and on. I'm not one to put too much of a game's quality on its graphical prowess, but if they couldn't get the best fidelity out of this game, they could have at least chosen an art style that would have served the game engine a little better. I know it looks slightly better on the PC, but this game's graphics would have to look a lot better for me to think of them as any good.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
There's no denying that Dragon Age: Origins is a well-made game. The world itself is one that needs to be explored because of how meticulously it has been crafted, and the interaction with your character's storyline is the best I've ever seen in any video game.
That being said, on consoles, the combat is just horrendously clumsy and I never thought of this as a good looking game (in fact I think it's the opposite). It just reinforces my feelings that you can't make a really good real-time strategy oriented game on consoles with the restrictions of the controller, but I also feel that some of those elements in this game are far too archaic, paying too much homage to its "Baldur's Gate" roots.
This is all me musing, but the fact of the matter is that, for the story alone, I'd recommend it. You can set the difficulty to easy and slog through the combat just to experience the fantastic world within. If you really need to enjoy every aspect of the games you play, or you aren't a fan of the fantasy genres, you'll probably want to pass.
My official score.
3/5 decapitated heads.
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