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.
Firstly, this game is a unique cRPG entry with a great theme (post-collapse Roman Empire), it's essentially fallout in the early dark ages. Your choices truly matter, and it's one of the few games where you have an insane number of plot advancement choices that thoroughly alter the course of the plot. But that's pretty much where the praise ends for me. The game never explains itself which is a problem as you can get stuck with no idea what to do next, this problem is evident as early as arriving in Maadoran (the second city you visit in this game). And since there's barely any info online about this game, you are stuck "trial and error"-ing new playthroughs or saves (some of which might lead to dead-ends) until (and if) you find a breakthrough. And now about the main problem: combat. I went into this game expecting a truly difficult combat that requires extreme planning ahead before each move (as is the case with good turn-based titles). What I found is that although the basic combat mechanics are good, it's extremely RNG-reliant, to the point where even with great planning,preparation and an 100% combat oriented build you can either just barely make it through or finish the encounter without even losing a single HP (honestly, hit chances always seemed to me to be purely random to me) . Which means that when you notice this, you will just keep reloading the game save until you get lucky enough to fnish the encounters ...which ultimately takes all the fun out of it. Having said that, you can make pure non-combat builds and focus on pacifist runs, but again.. the fact that you don't have a direction in this game means that choices that unknowingly lead to combat will lead to forced reloads or even new games. SYNOPSIS: - If you focus on pacifist playthroughs: 3.5 stars. -if you focus on combat playthroughs: 2.5 stars.
