As Mass Effect already demonstrated, Bioware at it’s height could write pretty compelling side characters, but said characterisation really shines in Dragon Age. Rather, what set Origins apart as a game, and what lead to it’s lasting popularity, was the characters, especially the companion characters that accompany the player. Big angry horde attacks, heroes rally the realm against big angry horde, then make a plot to kill the giant dragon leading the horde and is apparently the sole reason the horde is even remotely organised. To put it frankly, what sold Origins as a game was not it’s main story, which, while not devoid of interesting elements, such as how the Grey Wardens drink darkspawn blood to be able to sense their presence and become immune to the diseases said blood carries, still reads very much as a standard fantasy plot.
The player takes on the role of a member of the Grey Wardens, an ancient order sworn to oppose the darkspawn at all costs, and who is left holding the bag for the aforementioned horde when nearly every other member dies in the initial assault. In the fantasy land of Ferelden, aka, totally not medieval Britain, a great threat has arisen in the form of a horde of monstrous beasts known as darkspawn, who rise up from the depths for the sole purpose of wiping out all life they come across. In terms of the actual main plot, Origins was fairly by the numbers. By contrast, Dragon Age seemed to be almost a deliberate call-back to the granddaddies of the genre, bearing far greater similarity to the likes of Baldur’s Gate or Fallout with a focus on tactical, almost turn-based gameplay.
#Dragon age origins gameplay videos series#
Released in 2009, Dragon Age Origins follow on the coattails of Bioware’s earlier hit of 2007, Mass Effect, a coincidence rather amusing in hindsight, given that Mass Effect’s approach to the RPG elements of it’s series would go on to have quite a large influence on later games, such as Fallout 4. To examine how this change came about, I want to look back on Dragon Age Origins, currently celebrating it’s 10 th anniversary, to see how this development came about and what truly separates the differing styles of RPG. If you were to compare, say the recently released Outer Worlds to Dragon Age Origins, you would certainly see similarities in mechanics and story, but also a distinct change in presentation, a shift towards straightforward action as opposed to turn-based tactics. The RPG genre has undergone some fairly dramatic changes over the past decade or so, at least among mainstream gaming companies.
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