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Is Dragon Age: Origins the best RPG ever?
Bioware's latest epic is both a return to roots and a return to form for the masters of the RPG universe.
Written by Dave Taylor, 17 November 2009
The reviews are in, and almost everyone universally loves Dragon Age: Origins. As you might have guessed from the title, I agree. I was considering titling this piece "Is Dragon Age: Origins better than Baldur's Gate 2?" but I just decided to shoot for the whole prize.
Firstly, I'll lay my cards out - I am a huge Bioware fan. I've played every Bioware game (except last year's bizarre Sonic RPG that I couldn't take to) through to completion, in some cases, several times. For me, they were the ones who showed how RPGs should be done on console with the revolutionary KOTOR. There have been missteps - some disliked Jade Empire, though I still enjoyed it, and Mass Effect did feel limited and repetitive despite purporting to offer the whole galaxy to explore.
However, I've always loved that as developers, they seem to do what interested them - "KOTOR 2 - pass, we've other things to be doing".
So, it's not a surprise that I consider Baldur's Gate 2 to be the RPG crown holder until today. Possibly.
There are other contenders, of course. Blizzard will be peeved and doubtless on the phone to me when they read this. But to that, all I can say is that I'll happily write another piece when Diablo III comes along if it warrants it.
Fallout and Elder Scrolls obviously deserve a shout out. Likewise, I have a real soft spot for the Fable series of games. They are different, and again, I've played almost all of Mr Molyneux's games through to completion over the years.
But for now, the title fight is between Baldur's Gate 2 and Dragon Age: Origins. Baldur's Gate 2 (not the original, and if you have to ask why, I despair) offered several things: henchmen quests, great party mechanics, enormous gameplay (90 odd hours), great levelling and accessible combat.
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The story is compelling, and lengthy. There's plenty to do and lots of side quests to distract you. The acting is all good, and not wooden like I've seen some criticise. The humour is there, as in BG2 often in the background - hear your henchman shout "Bad dog" to an attacking werewolf, or "Time for Plan B" as they near death, and you can't help but crack a smile.
The graphics are pretty damn good, and what's more, Bioware has nailed viewpoints, which is something that went wrong in Neverwinter Nights. I think it could still be improved further, which more freedom to zoom in and out, but that's a minor quibble.
The gameplay is great, with character progression and skills that allow you to generate a genuinely unique character. What's more, Bioware has even managed to translate the game to consoles very successfully. I'm playing it primarily on PC, but I've also got a game going on the Xbox 360 and it's very, very playable, which is no mean feat for such an in-depth RPG.
There are flaws, small ones. On occasion, you'll be forced into making a decision that you really feel will have an impact on the world. On others, you just know that it doesn't mater what you do, the scene is going to end the same way. The most obvious one is in becoming a Grey Warden, no matter what origin you choose, but I can forgive that. I'm referring more to some of the smaller encounters, which can feel one dimensional.
Against these quibbles, you have to offset not just the game, but the work around the game, like Dragon Age Journeys, the free Flash game that gives you in-game items, and the new Bioware social site. These all help add to make the game bigger and more embracing.
So, is this the best RPG ever? Yes, I think so. It's basically Baldur's Gate 2 but done today, and for that it has my vote. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, do so immediately! And if you disagree, I'd love to know why.
And surely, everyone has to now be excited to see what talent like this can do with next year's Old Republic MMO?
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With that in mind, I don't see paid for DLC as a problem. If you want Bioware's extras, buy them. If you want extra free content, download user generated. I'll be doing both.
I see DAO as being a culmination of so much that has gone before that it outshines its predecessors.
dtaylor
17 November 2009 @ 17:23PM GMT
All the above just brings it up short in my book. And in any event, you make these decisions at least a couple of years after a game as been released, not while we're still in the middle of a lot of hype!
One might say, that by the very fact you're comparing a game out this month with a game 10 years old, that the decade old game must surely be best for still being thought of as a contender!
The only reason I put 100's of hours into Oblivion was the mods. Vanilla Oblivion would only have kept me for 50 or 60. Many many people say how fantastic Oblivion is, thy normally mean an Oblivion with 50 mods. I feel it will be the same for Dragon Age. If some brilliant mods and DLC come out for it over the next year or so, then it may become the greatest RPG. If on the other hand we get more 'Warden's Keep type DLC's (see above) and we get very few mods beyond the nude mods, then I think we'll still look back at Planescape Torment (not Baldur's Gate 2!) being the greatest RPG and Dragon's Age being 'another' great game. No mean thing.
UK_John
17 November 2009 @ 16:47PM GMT