A deep, rewarding and utterly epic adventure, prepare to spend many an hour in the fantastic Ferelden, fighting for your life!
In today's world of celebrities, reality TV and throwaway consumerism, it is pretty rare to come across an experience which can keep you absorbed and entertained for hours upon hours. Attention to detail and the meticulous crafting of a master artist are rare finds. Bioware's latest offering then, can initially seem quite daunting with it's promise of hours of questing and levelling, and with a complex system of decision making affecting the outcomes of the game, but works well enough to draw you in and keep you hooked.
In a world as typically 'RPG' as Dragon Age's, with your usual dwarves, elves and dragons, the game manages to build up a sense of familiarity, but with a very detailed world packed with it's very own legends and landmarks. As is the style in this sort of thing, the people are being threatened by a blight of creatures which you have to destroy, by questing about and gathering support for your ragtag band of warriors. But of course, it's never quite that straightforward and you end up running all over the place sorting out political disputes and supernatural threats for all and sundry. A real joy in the story is the brilliant characters you can recruit into your team, each with their own personalities. Sarky, charming, charismatic or tragic, chatting to them through the game or overhearing them talk to each other brings some great moments of levity amongst all the slaughtering, and the way you interact with them influences their feelings towards your main character. Furthering the characterisation is some fab voice acting, and the great material is done justice in nearly all accounts, from main characters to random villagers.
One of the more original aspects of this game is the unique 'origins' stories for each character type. Whether you become a human noble, dwarf commoner or mage, there are several in depth introductions to each character, setting you up and moulding your character for the journey ahead. Far from just a few simple quests, these can take several hours to get through, and have repercussions throughout the game, with characters and choices you made in the beginning catching up with you later in the game. The story flows together brilliantly, and even though when you get out into the main quest you can choose the order you complete quests, things rarely feel out of place. This freedom and choice helps personalise the game for your character and choices, giving you a feeling of control over the course you take through the game. My character, an elven mage, had the ability to enter the demon world, which forms the initial quest in his origin story. However rather than be forgotten, this is revisited several times through the game, helping defeat demons in a way that warriors or rogues could not. This series of differences between charactes sets up a varied quest for each type of character depeding how you play, and allows further playthroughs to pan out differently, making the first time you finish the game merely a set up for you to go back and try again, to see which other quests and story arcs you can discover.
General exploration and fighting is done from a over the shoulder viewpoint, and you can assign your more often used abilities and potions to the main buttons, with an easy to navigate quick menu allowing you to select things quickly, which handily pauses the action so you can do things like change equipment or abilities on the fly. Switching between characters is done with the shoulder buttons, and allows full and flexible control over your team. The game runs well, even with several enemies onscreen, although some of the more elaborate spell effects can cause the game to slow down slightly. Combat is as nuanced as you want it to be, and although occasionally difficult to aim at the specific enemy you want, spells and abilities are mostly useful, the usual fire spells and rapid bow attacks are found alongside more specialised abilities, some of which you need to earn by befriending characters with certain skills, and some by purchasing guide books.
Initially, the size of the game and sheer volume of options can seem a bit overwhelming, and the learning curve for combat on anything but the casual setting can be steep. It takes a while to figure out the most effective ways to use your main character, let alone your team of four, and setting up their individual styles and tactics can be time consuming. Fights can also change pace quickly, and on the normal or hard settings you will get to know the game over screen quickly. There seems to be a big leap in difficulty between the Casual and Normal modes, which is a shame as Normal can be very difficult in some places, forcing you to utilise all your skills and tactics, but on Casual you can mostly get by as long as you point your team in the right direction and press attack enough. On the harder modes, saving often is a must, as is progressing slowly, and taking the time during fights to think about tactics and skills. The world map can initially seem a bit unwelcoming, with no clear route to take; although once you get stuck in this problem disappears. More areas for levelling up your characters would have been nice, and although random encounters whilst crossing the map are common, they often only contain a few enemies, making levelling up something that often takes place hand in hand with the story, rather than around it.
Overall then, this is a game you can really get stuck into, with an astounding amount of depth and a well realised world. I am happy to say this is one of the most absorbing RPGs I have played in a while, and would definitely recommend it to anyone with an interest in the genre. Bioware have produced a sure-fire classic.
5/5 Stars
Version reviewed- PS3
What do you think abut the game? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Thanks for reading! Andrew
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