Did the RPS Hivemind get it right back then?
Or has time told a different story?
Today, we’re looking at our2009 Advent Calendar winner,Dragon Age: Origins.
Dragon Ageis one of my favourite game series.
I replayedDragon Age: Originsrecently not for this column, but forfun.
That’s the kind of wild gal I am.
At the time it felt worth it.
Replaying it now is a different experience.
Origins is a game I very much like, yet sometimes struggle to explain why it is good.
Can’t blame me for that.
I didn’t even work here then.
Dragon Age: Origins is, superficially, your standard struggle of good vs evil.
You yourself are a Grey Warden, an ungovernable group of warriors whose raison d’etre is fighting the Darkspawn.
Parts of DAO feel like they’re aging in 2022.
It’s more obvious in the construction.
Large sections feel like padding, specifically that part I alluded to up top.
It’s a sequence that turns you into a teenger: “OhGoooodddddd, whatnaaaaoowwwwwwuh!
But DAO does have a lot going for it around all that.
For one, the combat still holds up really well.
Do you want a sword and board, or two-handed great axe?
Ranged archer or up-close assassin?
Healer or creepy swamp witch who can turn into a spider?
Dog or not a dog?
It’s not very welcoming, though.
But there’s also a nice weaving in of the RPG-ness of the game.
It is, after all, an RPG.
The RPG elements were and are another big sell.
Origins kickstarted some fan favourite characters like Morrigan, the most impractically dressed swamp witch history has ever seen.
It’s so impressively alive, so almostrealin how it’s written and constructed.
There are wars, religions, factions, countries.
There are regional accents!
Does that mean it was the best game of 2009?
Arkham Asylum came out that year, for Pete’s sake!
A good year for games.
I’ll always be glad it exists.
It means so much to so many.
