Oh, where to begin?

Dragon Age Origins is, quite simply, the biggest, best role-playing experience I’ve had since Final Fantasy XII. The story is epic. The world is massive. The mythology is unbelievably rich. And there’s so, so, so much to do. So many quests to take on, so many enemies to slay, so much loot to farm, so many skills to learn. To call the game robust would barely do it justice.

At the game’s outset, you’re required to build your own custom character, and in the process of doing so, choose your own unique origin. The character creation is just as rich and detailed as you’d expect. As for the origin feature, it’s an interesting concept, although it seems rather inconsequential to the majority of the game. After the first few hours, all paths converge to the same storyline, and your character’s origin seems to have little to do with anything, really. But then, I’m only 10 hours in, so perhaps that changes at some point.

Origins doesn’t load you down with story exposition, but it’s there, and it’s good. It shamelessly channels Tolkien in many aspects, but that’s hardly a complaint. The long and short of it: the character you create soon joins a group of warriors known as the Grey Wardens, an age-old order devoted to fighting against a race of malevolent creatures known as Darkspawn. The Darkspawn have appeared on the surface of Ferelden once again; a catastrophe referred to as a “blight.” I’ll refrain from saying more, but be assured, the plot and storyline in Dragon Age will be more than enough to satisfy those who loves swords, sorcery, and the like.

However, like BioWare’s previous RPG effort Mass Effect, Dragon Age is more focused on building a rich mythology than a verbose narrative. And what a mythology there is. You thought Mass Effect was rich? Just wait until you crack open Dragon Age’s massive Codex. The fun thing about the codex is that you add most of the information to it yourself. Scattered around the world are books, scrolls, notes, letters, and other such things that add to your codex. For example, an old love letter found amongst a pile of bones might hold some valuable historical information.

Characteristic of BioWare games is the dialogue tree, which is even better here than it was in Mass Effect. In Dragon Age, it really feels like the things you say and the decisions you make have an impact on the course of the game. There are key moments in the story that clearly occur as a result of several decisions you made in the past, which is quite a satisfying feeling. And, as expected, the writing and voice acting is absolutely top-notch to boot.

That aside, you’re probably wondering how the game plays. The answer to that is very, very well. I’ve yet to experience a dull moment in Dragon Age. Combat is fast-paced and frantic, with most of it taking place in real-time. Imagine Final Fantasy XII mixed with  Mass Effect, and you have the combat system found in Dragon Age. If it sounds like a match made in heaven, that’s because it is. You control one character in real-time. Your party members are computer-controlled, but like FFXII, there is an extensive preset menu in which you can program their combat behaviors to your precise liking. And of course, it is always possible to either pause and issue manual commands, or change which party member you’re controlling with the press of a shoulder button.

It’s been said that the console versions are easier than the PC version, encouraging “sloppy play.”  I can see that to a point, but understand that even if you’re playing on a console, simple hack-and-slash won’t win you the game’s tougher battles. At least, not on the normal difficulty setting. You WILL need to pay attention to your party member’s battle presets, and you WILL need to pause and issue manual commands. This is hardly a complaint, though; it just makes the combat that much more involved and enjoyable.

Dragon Age is a must-buy for anyone who enjoys RPGs to any extent at all. It’s undoubtedly the best RPG of the year, and among the best of this generation.  However, seeing that I’ve only completed the first ten hours of a game that could clearly last for 50 or more, I feel I should stop here. I’ll have to put down Dragon Age in favor of Modern Warfare 2 for the next couple of days, but I fully intend to finish it someday. Perhaps then I’ll provide a full review.