100% of the RPG games I’ve completed have been a turn-based combat system.  My old brain just couldn’t get around the mechanics of real-time.  With so much fighting going on, which of your party members do you focus on?  However, I really wanted to learn as there are so many really cool games out there I wanted to play.  Like Dragon Age Origins.  So, I sat down and learned and I’m so glad I did.  Maybe the combat mechanics of this game is easier, but I’ll see with my next one. 

The rating system for games is different than books.  You give either a thumbs up or down.  Then you rate from 0 to 10.  For me, this a definite thumbs up and I’ll explain below. 

Art/Graphics – 10/10

We get so wrapped up in our traveling and fighting enemies that we don’t always take the time to look around.  I found many stunning areas and marveled at how real it all looked. 

Voice Overs – 10/10

Most of the narration was spot-on for the characters and there’s voice-over for every interaction.  No text to read, but you can enable sub-titles if needed.

Storyline / Plot – 9/10

As an author, this is very important to me, and one of the reasons I love RPG games.  Most of them have rich storylines.  Dragon Age Origins was exceptional with the detail in the background of the world and the people who inhabit it.  There are tones of  codex’s to read.  With that said, I did find some plot holes between things I’d been told and then what actually transpired. 

And, if you’re a player who loves quests, this game is for you.  I do know from watching another gaming channel that I didn’t trigger all the side quests I should’ve.  But that’s the point of RPG games.  You go where you want, interact with the PCP’s and hope you did it right.  LOL. 

Party Members – 10/10

There are a lot of them and who you chooses changes the story as you go.  I found out the hard way that you need to take each of them out to get their companion quests.  I didn’t and then got betrayed.  And, if you didn’t buy the Ultimate Edition, you won’t get Shale.  I loved her character and I’m so glad I got to met her.  

As you travel around with your party members, certain areas will trigger conversations between them.  The banter between Morrigan and Alistair was fun to listen too.  It’s hard for me to chose my favorite one, but I will miss them and they will stay in my mind for a while.  I even had tears at the end, when we said good-bye.  Just like a good book.

Path Finding / Mechanics – 6/10

As much as I loved this game, I almost gave up on it several times.  The game kept crashing, over and over.  Sometimes it took ten attempts to even get the game to start.  UGH.  This is an older game and it does have issues with newer computer systems.  I play on a Windows 11 computer with all the bells and whistles for video editing, so it wasn’t an issue on my end. 

As for the path finding, steps can be a problem and I got stuck on plenty of them.  In fact, during a horrendous fight in one of the DLC areas, I got stuck while disarming a trap and couldn’t move.  I couldn’t shot at enemies, and they couldn’t attack me.  Thankfully.  But once the fight was over, I was still stuck there, hanging in the air.  I had to restart the game and redo that horrible battle.  It took me several tries just to get there the first time.  If you’re on an older computer system, you should be fine.  Hopefully.  LOL. 

If I’ve inspired you to try the game, check out my Let’s Play below and enjoy.