5 Point Impressions - Dragon Age: Origins

I've decided to start a bit of a new series called "5 Point Impressions"  Basically I write a short paragraph summing up my thoughts on the Story, Music and gameplay so far as well as write a short paragraph about one thing I really like about the game and one thing I don't like.  This is a way to keep impressions short and to the point as well as not ruining anything that may be considered a "spoiler".  Also it leaves me with more things to talk about in the Review of the game.  Looking for feedback on this feature as I'd like to try to do some other unique features for future blog posts.

 

The following are brief impressions from Dragon Age: Origins after 7 hours of play time.

 

Story:

While some may view the story as cliche and others quickly point out a resemblence to stories, such as Lord of the Rings, Bioware has crafted a large and fully believable world filled with all kinds of different forms of life.  Having just finished the opening I can tell that Dragon Age very quickly sets the stage for what will surely be an epic journey.

 

Music:

I could let the menu screen sit there for days on end and just listen to the music of Dragon Age.  What may just be one of the best video game soundtracks this year I'll surely be on the lookout for a place to buy the soundtrack from.

 

Gameplay:

I feel like I haven't begun to scratch the surface of the battle system, but that's just alright.  There's so much to do between managing the tactics as well as making sure none of your party falls in battle Bioware is really challenging you to think on your feet with this one.  While I still need to explore it the tactics menu seems like it'll be a godsend.

 

Cool Stuff:

I really like the Origin Story idea.  Starting out the game by showing your character's origin and how that puts them into the place they are starting out the game is really cool and well done.  It's a pretty good way of introducing you to part of the world as well and makes me very anxious to try out some of the other origin stories.

 

Complaints:

While mostly nitpicking I do wish there were more options in the character creator for hair styles as well as facial hair.  I felt like most of the the facial hair styles just looked goofy and while most of them fit well with the game world itself I wish there was a few other options to choose from. 

 

So far...

... Dragon Age is shaping up to be filled with anything a RPG lover could possibly want.  The story has certainly begun with a bang and the gameplay is enjoyable enough to keep me coming back for more every day.  I'm very excited to see what is to come for my character's journey.