The last time I wrote about this game I mentioned that characters were certainly the most powerful driving force in Dragon Age Origins. Today I want to stress that remark and comment on why I think they are the best asset the game has, both from the point of view of the fiction and the gameplay.
Characters and Gameplay
Characters in Dragon Age Origins relate to you through a disposition system which works along the lines of just one variable (a measure of how much or little the characters like you.) This might seem to indicate a certain simplicity in the system but the reality is that the application of such system is quite complex. Character disposition towards you is measured in a scale. This scale is visible at all times and changes to it are noted with a number so you always know exactly how much of an impact your actions have had on a fellow party member. Contrary to other similar games, Dragon Age does not have anything along the lines of an alignment system by which certain characters are good and others bad. In this game each character have a certain set of attitudes and actions that they are aligned with and another set of attitudes and actions that they oppose (as well as a number of things they are neutral about.)
It's not all about the hot babes in DAO.
The characters all react to what you say and do as well as how you say and do it. Thus their disposition towards you is modified either positively or negatively. Bear in mind that while the mechanics of this are laid bare for you, there are very real effects on the fiction that are equally, if not much more, interesting to you as a player. Your fellow adventurers will make comments, suggest courses of action, praise, whine, complain and be surprised as well as appalled both as a reaction to what you are doing and as a reaction to how you treat their comments in the first place. Furthermore, consequences in your relationships might not always be apparent or immediate. Some characters will confront you later for things you have done, and depending on how you deal with that confrontation you might have a major or relatively minor falling out with them.
The system is constantly turning its cogs and it is rare for you to have interactions where it doesn’t come up. Since each character has its own motivations and these are both abstract (ideals, long term goals) and concrete (emotional attachment towards a particular person, both good and bad), you are constantly navigating choices that not only dictate how the story will play out but will also shape your relationships with the rest of your troupe.
It’s All About the Hard Choices
You can also get a cute puppy!
The designers of the game will be constantly putting you in difficult situations where a clear solution is not evident and you must take sides even when both sides have merits, or both are flawed. What gives these decisions weight is that you are called up to the front to put your morals, ego and relationships on the line at every step you make: what will you choose to loose, what will you forfeit in order to win or even just have the chance of winning? What will drive these choices? Your desires? Duty? Revenge? The desire to please those you esteem?
This would all be for naught if you were not paired up with an interesting and well developed supporting cast. Thankfully this is not the case. I must say that the characters and the interactions between them (as well as the ones between them and you) is, so far, the absolute best accomplishment that the game has achieved. This comes as no small praise as Dragon Age boasts a really good art direction, competent graphics and an overall fun and intricate fighting system. Regardless, the quality of the writing and a superb job from the voice actors and those directing them makes this such a giant positive that at times I feel overshadows everything else that the game is throwing at me.
I believe that the true victory of the game lies in these moments, in hard decisions that will cost you because there is an emotional attachment tied to them. I also wish I would see more games implement such an involved and gratifying system that does so much for having the game impact you on a personal level.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I have finally purchased my own copy of Dragon Age (partially because of your reviews) after many months of putting it off. I haven’t gone very far into it yet, but I am enjoying the Baldur’s Gate-like interactions with the NPC companions more than I thought I would.
And, on the 14th of July 2010, the DLC vouchers for the 360 version still worked (despite the listed 30th of April 2010 expiry).
Glad that you finally got your hands on this; except for the inventory management issues (which tend to be yawn inducing), the game is very fun.
I remember my copy came with two DLC. One for the armour and one for the golem character. Is that what you got?
Yip, those are the two DLC. I still have to try equipping my Sheperd in Mass Effect 2 with the armour.