Dragon Age Origins

Best. Video. Game. Ever.

So, I'm sitting here playing a lot of Dragon Age Origins, and yeah. There's so much to say here.

Graphics:

It's beautiful. Endlessly beautiful. Every place you go is beautiful. The ugly places are beautiful. My only complaint is that all children look exactly alike- waifish, 10-year-old British boys every one. It's a little odd.

Sound: The voice acting is superb. Every character is unique, every conversation is natural and no offhand comment is wasted. In fact, at one point, you'll have a party of about 9 people, though you can only take 3 with you out of Party Camp. Try to put together opposing personalities, because the background conversations that result as you wander around are hilarious.

The music is gorgeous, as well, and not overbearing.

Play: Could go on forever if you took all the side quests. I recommend saving often, because the fighting takes a while to get used to. I also recommend playing as a mage your first time through. I am not, my friend is, and he is having a far easier time than me. Technically, Dragon Age has a turn based combat system, but not really. You fight in real time, enemies react in real time. Because you are always in a group of 4, you fight swarms of enemies at a time, and it can be challenging to say the least. The AI is smart, and vicious, and I highly recommend reading the manual, which leads us to . . .

Tactics: the coolest feature of the game. You can set your group members to perform certain actions in battle based on simple [if . . . then] statements. If ally's health is less than 50%, heal ally. If enemy's health is less than 25%, perform Finishing Blow. (The AI does preset your allies for you, but you will want to tinker as you find the flaws in their fighting.) This will come in more handy than you realize. You don't have to play all the time as your created character, btw. You can be any member in your party. In fact, if your created character dies in battle, you will automatically switch to a surviving party member. I recommend familiarizing yourself with each ally's fighting moves for when this happens.

Hyperrealism: Ferelden suffers from racial tensions and misogyny, about on the level with, say, stereotypical Alabama. I'm playing as a female Dalish elf. When people meet me, they can't decide whether to question whether or not Grey Wardens even come in female, or ask why, as an elf, I'm not currently serving my slave owner.

Summary: Got $60? Buy this game. Now.