Dragon Age™: Origins - Ultimate Edition

Got this on steam, and have about 280 hours played. Some people criticized this game when it come out for not being the 3D Baldur's Gate that was rumored to be, however I believe they missed the point. This game tried to stand it's own instead of copying Baldur's Gate design, and it succeeded. It attempts a "reversed" Fallout New Vegas quest design where in order to complete the main story, you need to solve out the plots of the various political powers that rule Ferelden (the zone in which DA:O takes place in) which are even more interesting than the main story (and your choices affect their fates). The companions of the core game are interesting with each one having their respective personal quest (Tip: always do Shale's and Sten's quests, they are the best IMHO). Sadly, the companions of the expansions weren't as interesting. Also, the gameplay is very fluid. There are 3 core classes (warrior,rogue and mage), and each one has many skill trees along with 6 specializations for each class (2 of which are unlocked in the expansion). Spell combos also exist. All in all, this is a must-buy game for cRPG fans. Even more so if you have no idea about the world of Dragon Age.

Okay so it's not BG2, but it comes pretty close to me. I actually really did enjoy this. The World Building is top notch, I love how as you travel around you learn little tidbits that flesh the world out more and really immerse you in the environment. You companions are generally entertaining and fun and combat is relatively simple and headache free. The plot though fairly generic is done well with some interesting twists and turns and I spent a good week going back to this wanting to finish which is a great sign. Now, it's worth noting a couple of things. Potential trigger warning, there IS a rather awful section in the dark roads involving where Dark Spawn come from which I was a bit unprepared for. It's handled pretty tastefully though, but could upset someone not expecting it in their fantasy hack and slash. Also the city elf story line had elements that made me reluctant to play through it for the same reason. Probably won't bother most people, just those who try to avoid such things in their escapism. Also the romance options are a bit... oddly written I found. As in, they just sorta start without any real buildup on your part and it's not always easy to tell you've actually started one. Oops? It's also way too easy to build your companions like for you, making them all love you doesn't take long at all which removes a bit of the antagonism there but does make for a calmer party. Still, I found myself a little disappointed that despite there being SO MANY items you could gift, you didn't really NEED to do so as your reputation with people generally got so high regardless. I also found myself wishing there was MORE banter between the npcs because I love npc banter. It was a joy to listen to them interact and brought back fond memories of long nights spent playing Baldur's Gate 2. Sadly, they don't have that many scripted interactions so if you use two or three companions regularly you'll hear them repeat themselves quite a lot. Still, a great game.

I'm running the game with Win10x64, version 1903, build 18362.1 (Insider's), an R5 1600 @ 3.8GHz, 16GB system ram (2x8 @ 3200MHz), RX-590/480 X-fire system 8GBs, Adrenalin 19.3.3, and...the game is rock-solid--I never have trouble with crashing or instability. Game is right as rain, for me. Only thing I can think of to explain why others are reporting stability problems is perhaps that they are using mods that are buggy--although I am running a few mods, but have no trouble with them. The game is a bit over a decade old, now,--the DA: Origins game was released in 2009, the Ultimate version of course came a bit later, but imo it's the best of the Dragon Age games by far--because it's actually an RPG--at least much closer than the other games which are much more centered around MP & combat. This is a decent single-player game--and if you can get it on sale ($4.99)--it's a no brainer, imo. Ultimate edition has all of the DLC included, and other, separate campaigns, like The Awakening. If you collect these watermark games as I do, you'll want this one in your collection! It's not the greatest--nowhere near the worst--but for $4.99--yep--it's a no brainer if you are fond of Bioware RPGs and by some chance you do not already own the game.

Allistar,shale,morrgian best comapion in the game

Music, characters, combat mechanics (hi there, discount version of FFXII Gambit System) and most of the story are really good. Characters' faces aren't too attractive (those teeth...) and lots look like they try to achieve high notes in some opera while speaking 90% of the time but it it is no big deal really. Locations tend to be recycled but then again it's nothing compared to the second instalment. Great game, all in all.