For the longest time, my gaming pantheon has been ruled by the awesome force known as Planescape Torment.
With its scarred visage sitting atop a throne made of pure storytelling genius, philosophical depth, and awesome creativity, Torment presided over the likes of Homeworld, Arcanum, Psychonaughts and even some relative newcomers like Modern Warfare and Mass Effect.
But never had its unquestioned dominance been challenged...until now.
With a blare of triumphant music, Dragons Age burst into the house of the gaming gods and in a titanic battle Planescape Torment was cast down, and now Dragon Age reigns supreme!
All right all right, I have to clarify that: Planescape Torment is still a better STORY than Dragons Age. It is squeaks ahead through its creativity, something that Dragons Age does not quite match. However, Torment (as much as it pains me to admit this) is not a very good game.
Dragons Age bests it in both gameplay and presentation, bringing forth a story that, while less creative, is no less compelling.
The story at a cursory glance is quite derivative. The Evil Darkspawn (orks) are gathering at the boarders of Ferelden (Middle Earth) and only the Gray Wardens (Rangers) and the armies of Ferelden can stop them. You are a newly recruited Gray Warden and, well, shit gets real and you are saddled with the seemingly impossible task of knitting together Ferelden in time to stop the Darkspawn.
Sounds familar and safe. However, this feeling of familiarity begins to crack and fall apart as one peers closer at this world and finds something that takes familiar tropes and cliches and...well, it does not turn them on their head PER-SAY, but rather it adds a level of detail and logical thought to them that makes them SEEM new once more.
Rather than simply SAYING elves are good with the bow and live in the forests, Dragon Age explains WHY the elves are this way, with a history stretching over thousands of years! This detail extends to every single facet of Ferelden culture, and even to the nations BEYOND. The world of Thedas feels real in the same way a punch to the gut FEELS real.
But what is a world without characters? Here, Dragon Age again shines, for it has some of the best companions since...well, Torment. Again, the cliches are here...but they are given so much thought and detail that they become new once more. Yes, one of your party members is a royal bastard who eventually must face up to the responsibility that being nobility holds but he is given such a fleshed out back-story, with such a MARVELOUS voice actor, that he turns from a cliche into someone you could very well fall in love with.
(I will admit to being a member of the Alistair Fangirl Club...and...I'm a guy!)
But still, all of this is only half the joy of Dragon Age. The other half comes from the combat...and I will level with you: I have never enjoyed the combat in a Bioware game...ever. Planescape Torment's combat was boring and repetitive, KotoR was a snooze and Mass Effect's combat felt floaty and weightless. And so when I became completely enthralled with Dragon Age's combat, it was a real shock.
At first, it seemed fairly simple enough...zoom out to isometric viewpoint, kill bad guys, rinse lather, repeat. And then, about two hours into the game, something astonishing happened...the combat got hard. I walked into obvious ambushes, got surrounded and slaughtered. The enemy drew me into traps, used environmental effects against me, dropped fireballs on my party, froze and SHATTERED my main character...it was a rude awakening. But then I began to fight back. I paused often and thought tactically. I found combos of spells and abilities (my favorite is to freeze someone with 'winters breath' then have Sten smash them into a thousand fragmets with a big old hammer).
I began to win, but every battle became an actual event. Rather than a continual snore worthy snog with no danger, each fight became an actual FIGHT. Boss monsters became truly frightening, with their massive size and massive health bars and massive area of effect damage attacks...ugh, I fucking hate golumns!
...and Dragons! Don't get me STARTED on DRAGONS!
Oh and if you see a Revenent, RUN! RUUNNNN!
Ahem.
Does this game have flaws? Sure...yeah. If you absolutely can't stand not having the latest and greatest in terms of graphical prowess, this game might look dated at times. If you don't like a game that is frustrating at times, then you might want to avoid this game or play it on easy. I've had to turn the difficulty down at fighting some monsters and bosses (Specially Revenents...ugh...). And of course, if you don't like RPGs, you might not find this your cup of tea.
But if you like long and involved discussions about the politics of a feudal monarchy...
If you like poring over ancient scrolls detailing a remarkably complex and spiritual religion...
If you like devising a new, better way to best your foes...
If you can stop seeing polygons and textures and see characters brought to life through superb voice acting, if not superb animations...
If you're fingers twitch, longing for adventure and the glory of battle, the danger and intrigue of court, the mystery of Tivinter artifacts, the danger of traps and trolls, dungeons and dragons...
Then Dragon Age: Origins should be in your wish-list NOW.
Overall: Best. RPG. Ever.
Highs: Superlative attention to detail, stunning orchestral score, amazing voice acting, great plot, fantastic combat, great customization of characters, and its just...awesome.
Lows: Occasionally frustrating. You have to stop playing to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom.
With its scarred visage sitting atop a throne made of pure storytelling genius, philosophical depth, and awesome creativity, Torment presided over the likes of Homeworld, Arcanum, Psychonaughts and even some relative newcomers like Modern Warfare and Mass Effect.
But never had its unquestioned dominance been challenged...until now.
With a blare of triumphant music, Dragons Age burst into the house of the gaming gods and in a titanic battle Planescape Torment was cast down, and now Dragon Age reigns supreme!
All right all right, I have to clarify that: Planescape Torment is still a better STORY than Dragons Age. It is squeaks ahead through its creativity, something that Dragons Age does not quite match. However, Torment (as much as it pains me to admit this) is not a very good game.
Dragons Age bests it in both gameplay and presentation, bringing forth a story that, while less creative, is no less compelling.
The story at a cursory glance is quite derivative. The Evil Darkspawn (orks) are gathering at the boarders of Ferelden (Middle Earth) and only the Gray Wardens (Rangers) and the armies of Ferelden can stop them. You are a newly recruited Gray Warden and, well, shit gets real and you are saddled with the seemingly impossible task of knitting together Ferelden in time to stop the Darkspawn.
Sounds familar and safe. However, this feeling of familiarity begins to crack and fall apart as one peers closer at this world and finds something that takes familiar tropes and cliches and...well, it does not turn them on their head PER-SAY, but rather it adds a level of detail and logical thought to them that makes them SEEM new once more.
Rather than simply SAYING elves are good with the bow and live in the forests, Dragon Age explains WHY the elves are this way, with a history stretching over thousands of years! This detail extends to every single facet of Ferelden culture, and even to the nations BEYOND. The world of Thedas feels real in the same way a punch to the gut FEELS real.
But what is a world without characters? Here, Dragon Age again shines, for it has some of the best companions since...well, Torment. Again, the cliches are here...but they are given so much thought and detail that they become new once more. Yes, one of your party members is a royal bastard who eventually must face up to the responsibility that being nobility holds but he is given such a fleshed out back-story, with such a MARVELOUS voice actor, that he turns from a cliche into someone you could very well fall in love with.
(I will admit to being a member of the Alistair Fangirl Club...and...I'm a guy!)
But still, all of this is only half the joy of Dragon Age. The other half comes from the combat...and I will level with you: I have never enjoyed the combat in a Bioware game...ever. Planescape Torment's combat was boring and repetitive, KotoR was a snooze and Mass Effect's combat felt floaty and weightless. And so when I became completely enthralled with Dragon Age's combat, it was a real shock.
At first, it seemed fairly simple enough...zoom out to isometric viewpoint, kill bad guys, rinse lather, repeat. And then, about two hours into the game, something astonishing happened...the combat got hard. I walked into obvious ambushes, got surrounded and slaughtered. The enemy drew me into traps, used environmental effects against me, dropped fireballs on my party, froze and SHATTERED my main character...it was a rude awakening. But then I began to fight back. I paused often and thought tactically. I found combos of spells and abilities (my favorite is to freeze someone with 'winters breath' then have Sten smash them into a thousand fragmets with a big old hammer).
I began to win, but every battle became an actual event. Rather than a continual snore worthy snog with no danger, each fight became an actual FIGHT. Boss monsters became truly frightening, with their massive size and massive health bars and massive area of effect damage attacks...ugh, I fucking hate golumns!
...and Dragons! Don't get me STARTED on DRAGONS!
Oh and if you see a Revenent, RUN! RUUNNNN!
Ahem.
Does this game have flaws? Sure...yeah. If you absolutely can't stand not having the latest and greatest in terms of graphical prowess, this game might look dated at times. If you don't like a game that is frustrating at times, then you might want to avoid this game or play it on easy. I've had to turn the difficulty down at fighting some monsters and bosses (Specially Revenents...ugh...). And of course, if you don't like RPGs, you might not find this your cup of tea.
But if you like long and involved discussions about the politics of a feudal monarchy...
If you like poring over ancient scrolls detailing a remarkably complex and spiritual religion...
If you like devising a new, better way to best your foes...
If you can stop seeing polygons and textures and see characters brought to life through superb voice acting, if not superb animations...
If you're fingers twitch, longing for adventure and the glory of battle, the danger and intrigue of court, the mystery of Tivinter artifacts, the danger of traps and trolls, dungeons and dragons...
Then Dragon Age: Origins should be in your wish-list NOW.
Overall: Best. RPG. Ever.
Highs: Superlative attention to detail, stunning orchestral score, amazing voice acting, great plot, fantastic combat, great customization of characters, and its just...awesome.
Lows: Occasionally frustrating. You have to stop playing to eat, sleep, and go to the bathroom.
