Combat is a peculiar hybrid of real-time strategy, twitch-based hack-‘n’-slash, and programming. I’ll explain that last one in a moment. Each character has an auto-attack and up to six hot-buttoned abilities. While it is possible to pause and put one ability for each character in a queue, you only have full control of a single persona at a time. The queue can make for some very effective combos, like protecting a shape-shifter with a force-field during the long casting phase, or freezing an opponent and smashing it to bits. Problems arise when you switch characters and realize that the ability you need is on cool-down, or when you cast an area-of-effect spell and your companions haphazardly sprint into the epicenter. To manage your party’s unruly spontaneity, Dragon Age uses a system of programmable tactics. At the basic level, you can alter a character with demeanors, such as tendencies toward defense or long-range healing. You will have to get into the finer details to defeat tougher opponents without binging on health potions.
Unfortunately, the whole system is as overwhelming as it malleable; asking players to create if/then statements with choices of targets, percentages, and abilities. Micro-managing perfectionists will love it. I suspect that most people will set their parties to attack everything on sight and leave it at that. I know I did. As you gain experience, you can develop your generic rookie into a unique combatant through increasing stats, abilities to craft potions and traps, and tantalizing arrays of skill-trees. Even a simple focus on two-handed weapons over a shield-and-sword combo will drastically alter your style of combat and considerations of party-roles. Eventually, you can mold your hero even further through a dozen specializations. Some are so unique as to almost be classes in themselves. Rejecting the shadows, a rogue can roam the woods as a ranger or soothe allies as a bard. With so many roles, combined with the back-stories and fluctuating allegiances, it isn’t hard to see why Dragon Age harbors immense replay-value.
BioWare has obviously taken great pains to create a world that players can fully invest themselves in, which is why the visuals are so disheartening. They are capable, but they teeter on the brink of the previous generation. Search any structure and you are sure to find at least one instance of mis-aligned polygons, objects mashed into improbable conglomerations, or missing textures. Dragon Age is vast game, which is why such details are so important. It’s very difficult to immerse myself in an emotional conversation with someone whose face is twitching in and out of existence. Discussing graphics and occasional issues with the A.I. seems almost irrelevant given the scope and success of BioWare’s ambitions. Like the Pulp Fiction of high-fantasy, Dragon Age: Origins is an innovative homage to the greatest works of the genre, woven together with masterful dialogue and an acute sense of social interaction. In terms of storytelling and creating true emotional bonds, Dragon Age: Origins is one of the finest RPGs ever created.
