Dragon Age: Origins (PS3) – Final Review

BioWare hit a critically acclaimed home run with its latest multi-platform dark RPG title, Dragon Age: Origins (see my first impressions). The game is rife with story, characterization, bloody mayhem, sexuality, and moral dilemmas, all of which draw the player into the experience in ways no RPG has done since Neverwinter Nights. But was the switch to a console version a seamless translation, or did something get lost? The answer is a bit more complicated than yes or no, so keep reading and discover the truth behind one of the greatest RPGs of all time.

PRESENTATION:

Dragon Age: Origins isn’t a game light on presentation, which I believe includes the interface to the gamer as well as the in-game experiences. Cut scenes, voice-acting, epic moments:  each of these items creates a presentation that impacts the gamer in what we hope will be as emotionally charged a way as possible. In short, just how much of an impact does the overall game pack?

To begin with, jumping into a game of this size may seem like a daunting task on the surface, but choosing your first character isn’t that bad if you know a bit going in. There are six races to pick from:  Human Noble, Dalish Elf, City Elf, Dwarf Noble, Dwarf Commoner, and Mage, each with a unique origin story. I found it a bit humorous that the distinction between a Dwarf Noble and Commoner is race-related, but that’s how BioWare chose to distinguish “race.” “Noble” and “Commoner” actually distinguish class in a caste system, but I digress. In most RPGs, class denotes a profession, and in Dragon Age: Origins there are only three:  Warrior, Rogue, and Magi. Future expansions will undoubtedly contain more race and class options, but if you think there aren’t enough choices here, you’re mistaken. Within each class are specializations to be unlocked. For instance, a Mage can specialize in shapeshifting, which I experienced first-hand, or become a Spirit Healer; the Warrior can choose the path of the Berserker or the mage-hunting Templar; and a Rogue can be master of stealth and poison as an Assassin or don the harp strings of the Bard. Each of these specializations adds bonuses to one or more attributes.

All of this is done through a slick menu interface that I never once found confusing or difficult to use. The Select button brings up your primary interface, which lists current quests, completed quests, the Codex – the massive collection of all data discovered in the game – party stats, and even a conversation history log in case you forgot how you responded to a sequence of dialogue. The console gamers were treated to a much different in-game menu system, though, due to the difference in control setup. Basically, a quick launch menu is utilized with the L2 trigger. This tactically pauses the game and allows you to browse through spells, talents, potions, poisons, and other party tactics (Hold Position). Again, I never had a problem whatsoever with this method of accessing my stash of stuff while in the heat of combat.

The cut scenes and dramatic cinematography in the game are well done, but it’s not perfect. I can’t comment on the other versions, but on the PS3 there exists an overabundance of glitches that annoyed the heck out of me. During lengthy dialogue scenes, several instances of missing audio occurred. It’s not just an annoying glitch, it was sometimes an entire section of speech cut, which may or may not have affected my character’s choice afterward. Only the very last spoken chunk of dialogue by the last character to speak it is displayed at the top of the screen after your choice block comes up. Some of the characters spoke too low or were drowned out by the background music. B.T.’s TIP: Turn subtitles ON in the Audio portion of the options menu. I didn’t think it would be there, of all places, but I finally found it. Graphic presentation issues included shadow and character pop-in when the camera angle changed. And then there’s the collision detection in many spots, which sort of marred the beauty of the cinematography in more than a few spots. There are reasons why games don’t get perfect scores, so while it may seem I’m being a bit nit-picky, I’m also being fair.

I’m going to bump the Presentation score up a bit from my initial review now that I’ve been able to spend considerably more time using the interface. Neither the sparse spots of missing dialogue nor the graphical hiccups are enough to take away from the overall presentation of the package, not by a long shot. The game is riddled with awe-inspiring RPG elements, and I would be remiss not to give high praise.

SCORE: 9.1/10

STORY and CHARACTERS:

I should be saving the best for last, but as it stands, I am too excited to review these categories, and it can’t wait. Simply put, Dragon Age: Origins has amazing stories and characters. 

“SPOILER ALERT!!!!!” - You’ve been warned.

I can’t possibly summarize a story that spans no less than 40 hours of gameplay on the first play-through. The side quests may seem like a deviation from the main quest, but in reality I didn’t find myself completely segmented from the world of Ferelden and the feeling of overwhelming despair upon the land caused by the Blight. But there is a main path to the conclusion, so here goes. Once the origin story lands you in the city of Ostagar with the Grey Warden named Duncan, who recruits you regardless of origin story, it’s off to battle with King Cailan and Teyrn Loghain, Cailan’s father-in-law. But during the critical moment of the battle, when you’ve lit the tower beacon to alert Loghain to strike, Loghain turns tail and flees the battlefield, which inevitably leads to the dramatic deaths of Duncan and King Cailan. Grey Wardens are blamed for the deaths, and bounties are put on their heads by Loghain across the land. From then on, it’s a story of survival and hope as you struggle to bring justice about, gather allies, and ultimately face the Archdemon. But the path you choose to get there will vary greatly depending on how you play the game’s monumental choice system.

I am of the opinion, if you’ll permit a quick derivation, that morality systems in games are mostly illusions of choice rather than real choice. It’s most visible in Dragon Age: Origins. I’m here to tell you that no matter how you decide to play the game – evil, good, or neutral – you are inevitably brought to the same exact point of closure that everyone else will be:  the end of the Blight and a confrontation with the Archdemon. Now, that’s all well and good. We all love happy endings, right? Or do we? I’m not you, you’re not me, I’m not him, she’s not me, etc. My point is this:  is there really choice in games if all choices lead to a singular conclusion? When you look at it that way, of course not. You may not care, and that’s fine. I’m simply stating that even though Dragon Age: Origins is chock-full of some startling decision-making, in the end it doesn’t matter, which was a HUGE letdown for me, huge. I can’t overstate this. If I want to play an evil character in an RPG, why can’t I help the Blight rather than fight against it? Why can’t I have that “choice”? Or, what if I wanted to ride the fence to see how both sides played their cards, and then made my decision? Of course, if I did ride the fence and sat in the Mages’ Tower doing nothing, that could lead to some upset neighbors, leading to more and diverse conflicts. The developers could do this; they simply don’t. Why? I have no idea. Expansion packs? Perhaps, but the illusion and predictability of morality systems is starting to wear thin on my patience.

Now, having said all that, I’m telling you that illusion or not, Dragon Age: Origins’ morality system is the best one I’ve ever experienced. I laughed, cried (literally, I did, no lie), gasped, and nervously paced when certain decisions came about, and their subsequent consequences. There are moments in this game that will find you dropping your controller out of sheer amazement at how things unfold because of your decisions. Side quests aren’t immune to choice, so this is something you’ll be experiencing throughout the entire game. Do you side with the Templars and kill all the Mages in the demon-ridden Tower, or rescue them? Would playing a Mage change your decision? Do you kill a possessed child or let his mother make the ultimate sacrifice? Every decision of this magnitude will have you second-guessing yourself over and over again. Did you make the right or wrong decision? Did Morrigan approve, but Leliana disapprove? If you’re building a relationship with one of them (or both, as I tried to do, with no such luck), did that make you sweat when the meter came up?  I know, right? It’s stressful, but that’s the goal of the storyteller! I’m a novel writer, and building emotional impact upon emotional impact is a tactic known as “Doubling” (Tripling…and so on). You build upon an emotion, not simply repeat it, and BioWare was uncanny in their delivery of choices in this game. Again, it would’ve been nice if my choices really affected the outcome in more than subtle ways, but in light of how they pulled it off here, I’ll drop that complaint for now.

SCORE: 9.8/10

GRAPHICS AND SOUND:

I received a bit of criticism when I posted the “first impressions” review of this game, but I really am going to stick to my guns on this one. I’m a PlayStation 3 guy, I’m not ashamed to admit nor will I engage in any type of console flame war, only to say that both HD consoles (360 and PS3) have their strengths and weaknesses. The important thing to remember is that console gaming has never been better than it is right now because of both companies. That’s the angle I’m approaching this from, and trust me when I say that I know the PS3 has had some catching up to do in the graphical department due to a more complex architecture. But we’re starting to see the fruits of labor with many devs, and nothing short of brilliance can describe what we’re seeing right now with the graphical explosion on the PS3.

However, Dragon Age: Origins is not one of those games. Graphically, I find the game to be a mediocre offering. I can’t comment on the PC version, but the PS3 version suffers from myriad graphical issues, the most troublesome being the framerate. Calm down, relax, don’t flame me because I’m pointing out an obvious issue. The BioWare Dragon Age forum has several threads going right now with hundreds of posts citing this issue. While playing, the framerate always seems to be low because my eye fatigues from the ever-present blur on the screen. That’s framerate; it’s a fact. Motion blur is a sluggish framerate. Panning the camera around is even worse. Outdoor locations are really bad, and there’s a “skip” present at regular intervals as the game loads and tries to keep up. Draw-in and pop-in plague outdoor and large indoor areas. Caverns and close quarter periods are absolutely fine, no issues.

But the issue comes to a head in combat. I’m not kidding, during most of the battles – and when I say “most” I mean 75-85% of them – the framerate drops so low that characters jump from one location on-screen to another without traversing the intermediate space. That’s single-digit framerate guys, I don’t know what else to say. And it’s not just me, far from it. MANY users are complaining and screaming for BioWare to do something about this on the PS3. If you’re going to do multi-platform development, then dammit do your job and do it right for all of them! I’m not a programmer, I must confess. I have no idea how to do what they do, and I give them all kudos for their skills. But when I’m a paying customer, and I pay the same price for a game as someone else, and my experience is less enjoyable than theirs, that’s when I squawk. There’s no reason in this day of PS3 development for poor framerates. I can forgive draw-in and pop-in, as it’s a limitation of the consoles’ memory and such, but I can’t forgive weak framerates when the 360 and PC versions aren’t suffering from it.

But the graphic yuck doesn’t stop there. Bowstrings are missing, a silly omission. Character models are pretty bad up close, but damn I love Morrigan. Ahem. Textures are muddy and low-resolution. It’s just surprising when you’ve got Blu-Ray for storage, hard drives for storage, and an 8-core Cell engine. If the game’s story and characters would’ve been weak, this would’ve been a deal-breaker for me, but as it stands, the game will be a permanent addition to my collection.

Where the graphics fell, the sound rises up. Other than some wonky acting and silly dialogue spots, the sound elements in the game are captivating. The world resonates with sounds of life, and the special effects of spells and battle were fantastically done and pumped through my surround sound system with authority. The bright spots in the sound department were the brilliant performances of the primary characters’ actors. Well done, but it’s not surprising considering it’s BioWare. Their voice-acting performances are almost always epic.

GAMEPLAY AND CONTROLS:

The control gap between PC and console is closing, albeit slowly. One thing I can’t quite grasp, especially with the PS3 platform, is why in the world developers aren’t at least allowing the option for keyboard and mouse controls. The PS3 is Plug-N-Play, developers, didn’t you know? Hook up any keyboard and mouse to it, and it works. No sweat. Umm, why aren’t you giving me the option for the KB/M control scheme again? Is it laziness or is it because you can’t do it on the 360? Or can you, you just don’t feel like it? Would it be that hard to port KB/M controls to the consoles? Again, I’m not a programmer, I just don’t understand the absence when the PS3 supports the KB/M.

But, good news:  all is not lost!!! The controller poses NO threat to the console gamer in Dragon Age: Origins, none at all. I outlined some of this in the Presentation section, so I won’t repeat it. The button layout is such that three of the four face buttons are reserved for assigned spells/talents. The “X” button is used for making selections, opening doors, etc. Pressing the R2 trigger brings up an alternate face button layer for three more assigned spells/talents, giving you quick access to six without having to tactically pause with L2. The controller is utilized appropriately, and it’s obvious that lots of thought was put into the system.

Gameplay modes in Dragon Age: Origins include the usual offerings in epic RPGs:  main quest and loads of side quests. Side quests fit within the world seamlessly and never are as simple as “go fetch,” as I may have originally thought. On the contrary, they’re quite fun and can earn you lots of goodies, like money (copper, silver, and sovereign from lowest to highest value), items, and XP, which you will need to get up in levels before the final fight. Sadly, I was only able to achieve level 21 before the end, and once you beat the Archdemon, you can only go back to DLC. Why that was done, I have no idea. Why can’t I roam the land post-Blight? It’s not like my ending warranted that type of crap. I won’t spoil the end for you, but there are multiple endings. My first one found me quite alive, so why was I relegated to only roam Soldier’s Peak and Honnleath (if you purchased the DLC, of course) even though I already completed both locations? Duh. So yeah, level 21, but I thought that was good considering I completed a boatload of side quests.

The side quests were particularly cool because some of them had objectives in areas you may not have access to at first. This provided lots of micro-managing of the quests and related notes to keep it all straight. It’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the quests you can come across in a single city, like Denerim, and some of them force you to traverse the overworld map quite a bit. But it’s not perfect. Some quests yield no noticeable reward other than “quest completed.” No approval, no money, no items, nothing. Now, the strange thing about XP and quests is that no XP flag comes up like it does in battle. Every time you drop a foe, the XP value flag pops over the character’s head who dropped it, so you know what the dealio is. But it’s not like that for quests. Unless you track the XP meter in your character’s profile, I don’t see how you know. I have to assume that there is a reward for side quests beyond the money or item, but I have no idea. Sort of strange, but again, nit-picking here for the most part.

The biggest complaint about the gameplay is the repetitive nature of the combat. It breaks down to this:  beat down a group of foes, heal, move to next room – if you have the Survival Skill, you can see the enemies on your radar ahead of time – enter room, beat down foes, heal, move to next room. Rinse and repeat. Really, that’s it, there’s not much more to the combat than that. It’s fun beating the mobs down, but NOT as the Mage. The melee characters get cool “finishing move”-like animations, where they’ll cut the foe’s head off or do some elaborate stab and slash. But the Mage attacks from a distance, so sadly there’s a lack of satisfaction until you score the Fireball spell…then it’s on ’til the break of dawn. Fireball is fun as long as your party can’t take damage (casual and normal difficulty settings), but it wouldn’t be as cool on higher difficulty.

SCORE (GAMEPLAY): 8.9/10

SCORE (CONTROLS): 9.3/10

SUMMARY and FINAL SCORE:

Overall, this review is lengthy because Dragon Age: Origins is one colossal beast of a game, and that’s putting it lightly. I easily threw 75 hours of gameplay into it and didn’t come close to completing my 2nd play-through as a Female Dalish Elf Rogue yet. As a Male Elf Magi, I completed the game in just under 45 hours, and had a groovy romance with Morrigan and an even better ending with her involvement…I’ll leave it at that. I laughed, cried, cursed, and even swooned during moments of the game, which means it did its job perfectly despite its obvious flaws. Hopefully, BioWare will move to correct the graphical issues on the PS3 version, but I’m not holding my breath. The consoles have to do without the BioWare Toolkit and community-developed mods, unfortunately, but for a game of this magnitude, it’s a miracle at all that it’s on the consoles, and BioWare deserves commendation for doing so. I won’t bite the hand that feeds me, which means I’ll deal with the glitches in light of the beauty and epic nature of this gem.

You owe it to yourself to play this game and play it with conviction. Spend some time with it, make compelling choices, be honest, and it will return the favor tenfold.

FINAL SCORE: 9.4/10 (not an average)