Origins

As a "spritual successor" to Baldur's Gate, one of my favourite RPG series ever, I was hoping for a lot from Dragon Age. Usually that's something that leads to disappointment. I often try not to expect much from games just on the off chance I feel let down due to having such high expectations. I needn't have worried though, it's a fantastic game, and even though I've recently finished it off, I only feel like I've scratched the surface, content wise.

The sheer amount of possible outcomes from dialog is something I'm yet to experience from many other games. Usually when I play through a western RPG, I like to have a character personality to stick to, where I'll be playing with a different set of ideals and morals each time through. I guess in that sense, it really is a role playing game, and it's great that western RPGs actually allow for that concept to work for the most part. Often, I'm able to play through a western RPG a few times with a different character archetype, and feel that I've experienced pretty much all of it, with Mass Effect being the most recent example I can think of. However, the amount of choices in Dragon Age may mean that's something I'll struggle to feel I've accomplished! While I've played through once already, I'm considering at least three other playthroughs to try and experience more, and that won't even cover all the possible character origins.

Added to that is the addition of downloadable content, apparently a year's worth of it, and at least one retail expansion announced so far, it's really a massive game. Furthermore, there are at least two novels now, it's a safe assumption that there's even more to come. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a comic on the way at some point as well. It's a pity that something like this comes along when I've got some proper commitments to stick to! It's exactly the sort of thing that I could lose myself in for a substantial amount of time.

I must admit though, I really like that BioWare have fleshed out their own series to such a degree. Back when they were making licensed games, or something of their own like Jade Empire, it was either in a well established setting or in something that you just had a taster of. Now that Mass Effect and Dragon Age are around, they really seem to be expanding on these two settings. I'm yet to read the codex featured in Dragon Age, but I remember spending almost an entire afternoon on the Mass Effect one.

Problem is, whenever I type out something like this, and then read over what I've just said, I come to the conclusion that my hobbies require a massive commitment to get everything out of them. I may need to get out more, deary me.