love it, not a big fan of being poor all the time, but hey I can't complain when I keep the best gear on.

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I was a huge fan of Mass Effect, but I was skeptical about Dragon Age: Origins. I had played previous Bioware RPGs like Kotor and some of Neverwinter Nights. Neverwinter Nights lacked memorable characters and storyline, causing me to doubt whether this game was going to be the same calibre as Kotor or Mass Effect. To be honest, I was blown away about how good the storyline and characters were. Characters such as Alistair, Leliana and Sten have unique personalities and secret pasts that are fascinating. At one point Alistair defends your character by saying "That's my friend, don't talk to him that way!" and you believe it. Good novels and stories are told through characters, even the most boring setting can be made interesting through good characters. The characters often have hilarious dialogue and interactions that will make you fall in love with them even more (Alistair and Morrigan often bicker, with Alistair saying something along the lines of "Is this the part where you tell us how you have never had a friend your whole life), while the lore and storyline contribute to it.

I played on the PC, which from what I hear, was a far better version than the console, but in my opinion even with the clunky controls on the xbox 360, the storyline and characters will more than make up for it. This game now ranks higher than Mass Effect for me. It is truly a game you will remember.

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Bioware has another hit right out of the park. I pretty much never play a game through more than once. In fact, a game has to be pretty darn awesome for me to reach its end. This game I've played through twice now and am considering playing through again. Just one play through took about 90 hours. Break that down into money per hour's entertainment and this game is pretty much the best deal around.

If you liked Mass Effect, or Baldur's Gate, Fallout series, you will love this game. Note to the newbee, tactics systems takes a little getting used to but once you do, it's awesome. Also, there are some good mods out there like the respec and noNPC autolevel mod that make this game even more fun. Would definitely highly recommend.

DLC for the game is a different story, I think it's overpriced at $5 for only a couple hours added content each time but given the great value of the rest of the game I can't really hold that against them.

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Deluxe edition stuff at the very end.

If you don't want to read my retarded ode to Bioware, please skip ahead to where it says, "Actual Review!".

Ah, Bioware. You're like an old girlfriend. The one who defined love for me (1). Then you hurt me (2). I still loved you, but I didn't understand; why did you have to do that?

You went your way and I went mine. Eventually I learned to forget. I met new people; sometimes I'd fall in love, but it was never quite the same (3).

We'd see each other every couple years, and we'd have a lot of fun for a night or two (4). But other times I thought to myself, "What are you doing with your life? We could be happy together! Why are you doing this? (5). After these ultimately disappointing hookups I'd always dig up our old photos and go through them (6). I'm not ashamed to say I cried a little.

You always told me you were searching for something. Learning who you were, and how to be.

Then, one day in early November, you called me. You said, "I know now; I know who I am. I know where I belong: with you." And then you came back home to me.

Then it all became so clear; you HAD been learning. It was the old you, but a new version! Everything past was prologue to this; the version of you I always knew was there. I just needed to have faith, and you'd see it too, and we could get back what we had, what we'd always known was us.

I love you Bioware. I realize now I've always loved you. Thank you for being in my life.

Answer Key!

1. Baldur's Gate I and II, the infinity engine that led to Icewind Dale, Fallout, and Planescape

2. Neverwinter Nights

3. The Elder Scrolls, Neverwinter Nights 2, FFX, FFXII

4. KOTOR, Mass Effect

5. Jade Empire, Sonic RPG

6. all those replays of BGII

ACTUAL REVIEW!

This is the best cRPG experience I've had in ten years. It becomes very clear within the first few minutes of your Origin story that you're experiencing gaming history. Not the revolutionary, innovative, awesome new mechanic kind of gaming history. This is analogous to a new album from your favorite artist that's been doing experimental side-projects for the last few years, and now comes out with a solid, deep, meaningful effort in a well-established form.

All the old ingredients are here: rich, meaningful character relationships; deep, tactically challenging combat; well written, thought-provoking dialogue trees. In short, everything you knew Bioware was capable of, but hasn't been fully present in any of their games since BGII.

Don't get me wrong; I've liked almost all of their games since then (Jade Empire and the Sonic RPG being the exceptions). It's just that none have fully satisfied me, or they've left me with the nagging feeling that something's just not quite right (re: KOTOR and Mass Effect feel slightly underdone).

This game is an instant classic, from a master of the genre. It's the kind of game that will be added to the roster of eminently replayable games (BGII, Fallout 1+2, Morrowind, Final Fantasy [pick your favorite], etc.). It's as good as or better than all of those.

Now, those of you that have NOT played Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Icewind Dale, NWN2, beware.

As evidenced by the very few negative reviews, the ad campaign for this game is not very representative of the content. This is a true western RPG, especially if you're getting it on the PC. Combat is challenging on every difficulty mode but easy.

IT IS BY NO MEANS a hack-and-slash or action RPG!!!

I still recommend it, but be prepared to open your mind to a new experience.

For those of you trying to decide on which version to get, here are some things:

If you played and loved Baldur's Gate, and got it because you bought into the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate" thing, get it for the PC, no question.

On the console, the camera is locked in behind the character in the style of Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect. This is fine for those who fell in love with Bioware since their console years began, but not if you want to play it for full tactical enjoyment.

Also, if you have a capable PC, the graphics are far superior to the consoles, which is often the case.

360 vs. PS3?

PS3 looks better, 360 moves smoother. 6 of 1.

Don't hesitate. Buy this game.

Learn it,

Live it,

Love it:

Bioware is Back.

P.S. For those of you getting the Deluxe Edition, the added content is completely worth it. You don't have to feel cheated; they did it right. Worth every last penny.

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Bioware has done a wonderful job again. I have played RPG's since my PnP dungeons and dragons days and this game does not disappoint. Well thought out story line, interesting companions with developed personalities and histories. Unique world with a complex and well developed history. I like the way that stats work better than D&D- seem more realistic. Good strategy needed in combat, the game is challenging without being unbeatable. The different Origin stories add tremendous replayability. Regular DLC and expansions are planned- 1st expansion pack has alreadly been announced with some DLC released already. I rarely review a product but this one is worth the time. Soundtrack that comes with collectors edition is good. Dragon Age: Origins

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Simple review. This is the best game I've played in the last few years.

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The collector's edition for Dragon Age, while isn't as elaborate as say Blizzard's offerings, is acceptable for the extra $10. The in-game extras are definitely worth the admission and the bonus DVD and the snazzy packaging is icing on the cake. The slipcase has the official cover artwork for Dragon Age with the sword blade as a transparent window to show off the art on the tin case. Overall, it's a very attractive package and well worth the extra $10.

The game play is nothing short of amazing. You will get many fun-filled and entertaining hours from this game and enjoy every second of it. The story is rich and detailed, and the characters are very well fleshed out and charming. Every aspect of this game has been detailed with the very best production qualities and it shows. This is one true PC RPG that should not be missed by ANYONE.

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If you like fantasy RPG's with an indepth storyline and WONDERFUL voice acting then this is for you. Have gone through 3 of the character types so far and the individual origin stories definitely add to the play value. You definitely can invest emotionally into the NPC's and their individual stories and quests flesh them out a bit more. The interaction between the characters (when Shale called Zevran a "painted elf" I almost spewed Pepsi all over the keyboard) is great and it's worth replay just to get the different combinations of NPC's into the party to see what they say to each other. I can't recommed this highly enough, you'll get a HUGE amount of playing time out of this one.

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I'm loving Dragon Age! I got the collector's editon for the redemption codes, and I've currently got Shale in my party. He's a sarcastic jerk, but he deals out the damage like no one else can! I also finally got up to 38 STR, so I can wear all the Blood Dragon armor...it's pretty sick!

The game is *very* addicting however. But that's a good thing.....right?

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The game is awesome. The requirements aren't too high, and the overall quality is great.

Very fun and addicting.

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I am just writing to say that I was not sure how this game would run on my computer. I own a ATI Radeon HD 4650 graphics card with 1GB of video memory, I have an AMD Anthlon x4 Quad Core Processor at 2.6Ghz, 6 GB of DDR3 Memory and Windows 7 Home Premium. The game runs beautifuly. I have the graphics settings on very high and anti-aliasing on 8x and the game runs with no lag or frustration. I am sure a higher end graphics card would probally somehow give a higher detail image or something but I don't see any loss of quality from any videos or images I see of this game on the web, so I think anyone who has at least a video card with the same specs as mine or greater will surely have a smooth gameplay and no problems. I hope this helps!

The game itself I have not played for more than an hour, but I find it a lot of fun, and somehow reminds me of Neverwinter Nights mixed with a little of Oblivion and some other games, so far, so good!! :)

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Dragon Age is an extremely fun game for those who like the DnD types of RPG. Enjoying every minute of it. Got to admit there is a lot of pausing in the middle of battles to reassess the situation but I love the interaction of characters. Also, the bonuses you get if the other party members like you or not.

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This is one for the history books. The title single-handedly redefines the scope of the modern role-playing game. If you have the right rig to play this on, you might end up having a hard time distinguish between life and fantasy...it's 'that' good. Now, I haven't actually played the game all the way through yet (I know, shame on me), but from what I've seen this game is all about the scope and the attention to detail.

First off, the scope of the game is epic. And when I say "epic", there have been numerous reviews already making the comparisons to Braveheart and the like. It's relevant. In fact, if you're a fan of the movie, I'd recommend this game just the same. The characters are very real and very distinct in their personalities. The interactions serve to reinforce this with just the right amount of humor to keep you from rolling your eyes. I'd go so far as to say a lot of the dialogue is down-right hilarious. But, alas, the game isn't its humor...that's just a bonus.

As far as the attention to detail, everything seems so polished. If you've ever played a Bioware game before, you know what it means to be immersed. The lush environments, the ambient soundscape, the nuanced characters...it's all there except, this time, in genuine hardware-driven 3D. I'll make the disclaimer that, the better your setup is, the more this game will probably appeal to you. I mean I can't imagine playing something like this at its minimum requirements only to wonder what all the hype is about. Though, even then, the game dynamics and the combat system make for a pretty entertaining ride.

So, yeah...believe the reviews, believe the hype. This game is, without a doubt, the best RPG of 2009 - and one of the best of all time.

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I bought Dragon Age Origins with lofty expectations from Bioware. And I was not disappointed! The Gameplay is nigh flawless and the visual effects are stunning. The game is a bit wordy but ya know what? That is ok! It advanced the story and if you listened carefully it had some interesting tidbits you could use in the in-game conversations.

A++ definitely! I love the game. Plan on playing through it a few times ^__^

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I'll not go too much into my review as NeoTristan has pretty much covered it.

When Bioware announced they were going back to thier Baldur's Gate roots with Dragon Age i watched this game. I'm happy to say that Dragon Age exceeded my expectations.

I think the collectors edition is worth it. The complaints i have with it are mild:

Map-A bit small and mine has strings coming off of it like crazy.

That's it.

The rest is great and i don't regret spending more for it. The 'making of' CD also has a small tips part included along with hints on where some of the better armor and weapons are located.

The rest of the 'making of' CD is about what one would expect. There are wallpapers, soundtracks, how they made areas and whatnot...pretty standard.

You get codes for Blood Dragon Armor which also allows you to download Blood Dragon Armor for Mass Effect 2. This item is in your inventory at the start of the game but takes 30+ Strength to equip.

Code to unlock the Shale quest, a character to add to your party.

Code to unlock three items: Bergen's Honor (Massive helmet), Final Reason (Mage Staff) and Grimore of Frozen Wastes which gives three skill points when read along with unlocking an achievement. The Grimore is in your inventory at the start.

Lastly, Warhammer Online item code: Adventurer's Handbook (10% XP bonus when used) and a Skaven Skin Cloak (skin).

In closing: It's worth the price.

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