Dragon Age Origins

I have about 27 hours into Bioware’s Dragon Age: Origins, and have explored about a third of the world. Having enlisted the aid of Arl Eoman, the Circle of Magi and the Dalish Elves to my cause, I am now exploring the depths of Ozrammar, hoping the dwarfs will honor their ancient treaty. My party is in the vicinity of levels 13-15; it’s really nice that characters you don’t include in your party still level up along with the main character, always a level behind. My main character, Tipa the City Elf Rogue, has both of her subclasses now – bard and duellist. I haven’t trained any of the bard powers, but I am well down the track for duellist, a really excellent choice for how I play. ...

I’d promised myself I wasn’t going to play Dragon Age: Origins until I’d finished Torchlight all the way through. Not that this was a huge burden, but I do hate leaving good games unplayed just because another game found its way into my computer. I knew I was getting to the end of my quest to thwart the power of Alric, Ordrak and the power of Dark Ember when I hit the Black Castle far, far below the shaken inhabitants of Torchlight. You want epic loot? EVERYTHING is epic in the Black Castle. Epic Common Sword. Epic Worn Shoulderpads. Epic Broken Dagger. Epic Clump of Kitty Litter :) All the valueless, vendor-trash loot was epic! The final battle against the awakened Ordrak was satisfyingly, er, epic. ...

Tactical, party-based RPGs in a browser? For free? Yeah, it exists. For all that it is a tie-in to Bioware’s forthcoming RPG Dragon Age: Origins, EA 2D’s Dragon Age Journeys is not only an introduction to the lore and characters of that game, but an excellent RPG in its own right. In first chapter of three dealing with side stories in the DA:O milieu, “The Deep Roads”, you come to the Dwarven city of Ozrammar to defend it against the Darkspawn that prowl the subterranean passages to and from the ancient city. The world above faces destruction by the magic-crazed forces of evil. By sealing off Ozrammar from the world, the dwarves felt their city would be a safe haven in a world gone mad. It’s about to become an abattoir instead. ...

After reading Pete of Dragonchasers go on and on about the wonderfulness of Dragon Age: Origins, I couldn’t let pass the opportunity to make my own character in the recently-released character creator and get some sort of feel for the game. The character creator not only asks you to define the look of your character and the class, but also your story. Yup, this is a Bioware game. You don’t enter the world without a history. Perhaps you come from a high family and your brother is already at war, commanding the armies of the South. Or a street grub who stumbles on an opportunity for greatness. Or a mage who soon must take the test of Harrowing to determine if they are a danger that must be destroyed, or someone who can control their power and use it for good. ...