It's been a while since I've posted. Because... well... I'm obsessed with Dragon Age: Origins.
It's my first RPG and I freaking love it. The fighting is fun and all that, but really, my favorite part is talking to the characters. I tried playing World of Warcraft a while back, but I didn't get into it because it's all fighting--if you interact with anyone, you're just reading text. Dragon Age has speaking roles, and legit voice actors. Your main character has a group of up to 9 people he/she travels with, and you can talk to them to make them like you, or dislike you. You can even give them gifts and go on special quests for them to gain their approval, and with high approval, you can start a romance with one of them. Ha! My favorite character is Alistair, voiced by Steve Valentine. He is endearingly awkward and loves to make silly jokes, which I tend to laugh out loud at while I'm playing.
The writing for this game is spectacular! And it's so fun to be able to choose what kind of person your character is by the kind of responses you give--wise cracks, flattery, compassion, pragmatism, etc. The game takes around 80 hours to complete and I finished it in just over a week... my first time around. By now, I'm on my 4th character, which means I've completed the game 3 times and it still fascinates me. Not only are the stories slightly different depending on your race, class, and gender (my favorite class is Mage--with the Arcane Warrior specialization), but also depending on what choices you make through the game--who you choose to be nice to, who you choose to support or piss off. Apparently the game has nine novels worth of text, and I seem determined to go through as much of that text as possible.
I will also say that the excellent writing is well acted, too. The voice acting REALLY impressed me--it's better than in some animated (or live action) movies. It makes interacting with the characters that much more fun. Two actors I love from Star Trek: Voyager are also in the game as minor characters: Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) and Tim Russ (Tuvok).
The game is a bit pricey at $50, but it's one of those you can play over and over without it being the same. I already feel like I've played it enough for it to be worth it, and I'll be creating more characters yet. The only bad thing about it for me is that it helps me procrastinate on homework and other things I don't want to do. :P I won't be surprised if I end up buying the extention, Dragon Age: Origins - Awakening, fairly soon.
