Dragon Age™: Origins - Ultimate Edition

Disclaimer: I didn't play the DLC this edition has. Dragon Age: Origins is arguably one of the last great titles by BioWare before they started to under-deliver. A superb entry in the relatively uncommon gritty high fantasy setting it puts you in the shoes of quite generic "chosen one" template and sets you on a quest to gather forces to face Great Evil That Has Awoken. The plot isn't that complicated. But the great thing about DA:O is that despite it's flaws like mediocre plot or abysmal class balance (at least in base game) it still is a classic entry in the genre and the closest thing to BG spritual successor up until Pillars of Eternity took over. DAO achieves it's greatness not with exceptional plot or mechanics, but by wonderful, deep lore, setting and characters. It is - I dare say - best incarnation of BioWare character archetypes roster, far from goofy "harem anime" groups that followed. It also does other things right; DAO approach to magic is disturbingly inspired, we see dwarven kingdom in the peak of political struggle, the battles with few actual dragons are rewarding. One of the highlights of DAO are it's multiple tutorials - based on your race and background you'll embrace your fate as the Grey Warden in different ways, each one unique and getting closure somewhere in the main plot. The art-style (tarnished in the sequels) is deliciously semi-realistic. It's refreshingly un-flashy, with toned-down magic and melee animations delivering heavy, crude blows; The characters get covered in blood while fighting all kinds of foes, from spiders to DA variation of Tolkien's orks. Graphically there's only one thing that always irked me - unnaturally huge arms on most models. Unfortunately, Dragon Age: Origins sequels didn't live up to this great game's legacy. I - personally - didn't finish DA2 in my first attempt (forced myself through it later), and never finished the third one. But DAO stands on it's own - if you haven't done it already, play it NOW.

I haven't bought DA:O on GOG because I already own the game on EA's Origin Launcher. I wish that you could get the games actually DRM-free without requiring any launcher. But I can't rate this masterpiece less than 5 stars. It really is a must-play for any RPG fan.

No school like the old school =)

Extremely disappointed with this, I knew DA:O didn't run well on Steam and heard GoG had a patch baked into the game, and yet the game won't even launch due to some PhysXLoader not being in the files and not matter what i try, game will not launch. This was mt first game on GoG and will most likely be my last

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