Dragon Age: Origins Preview

Lately, RPG fans have received more then their fair share of games. With Borderlands just released in what feels like days after Demon’s Souls, and games like the Final Fantasy 13 trilogy constantly looming in the shadows, its hard not to feel a little overwhelmed. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Dragon Age: Origins is shaping up to being an RPG your not going to want to push to the side.

So what sets Dragon Age apart from a the sea of quality RPG’s being released? Parties.

Dragon Age is offering me the chance to travel with some buddies again. More specifically, buddies I can control. Playing with people online is always an awesome feature, but when it comes to RPGs, sometimes I want somebody to heal me on my command instead of their own free will. I guess what I’m really saying is that I want my teammates to be my virtual slaves.

Dragon Age promises far more in terms of character development then a lot of the competition. Skill tree’s are longer, more in depth, and offer room for personality. Not to mention armor, my biggest quarrel with Borderlands, is present in Dragon Age. I want to see my character grow on more than just a stat sheet.

Being produced by BioWare isn’t hurting its chances either. BioWare is calling the game a spiritual successor to the Baldur’s Gate series, but seem to be keeping it up to date with features pulled from their newer titles. The game will sport conversation tree’s much like those in Mass Effect and even carries over the romance features that caused a stir their last run in the park. Does anyone else hear the angry breathing of Jack Thompson?

The game will feature 3 classes over 3 races (Humans, Elves, and Dwarves.), which then branch off into specializations. This allows you to get the basics down first without being overwhelmed with class decisions. Instead of choosing “Druid” you would choose “Mage”, knowing you wanted to be a magic based class, and then specialize in shape shifting. Of course this is all subject to change, and is merely the information we have. The known classes and specializations are as follows:

Warrior
A class focused on defense and offense. They’re proficient in both melee and ranged combat.

Known specializations:
Berserker: Think of blood thirsty barbarians. Using rage to aid their attacks.
Templar: Decribed as a variant of what is usually a Paladin.
Champion: Your basic warrior.
Reaver: Described as a Black Knight. The underside of warriors.

Rogue
Skilled in noticing traps and picking locks. Access to a special backstab attack for massive damage.

Known specializations:
Assassin: Proficient in stealth and poisons.
Bard: Seemingly adds buffs to the rogue class.
Ranger: Allows the use of pets.
Duelist: A more warrior like take on the rogue

Mage
The magic user. Uses magic to dispose of  enemies. Dwarves are not able to choose this class.

Known specializations:
Shapeshifter: Ability to turn into things like bears, birds and more.
Spirit Healer: Has access to spells that aid and heal your allies.
Blood Mage: Uses spells that control others and use their own life force.
Arcane Warrior: Proficient in combat oriented magic, such as buffs.

Each class has its own origins section, which works as a tutorial and helps you understand where your character fits in the world of Dragon Age. This section is said to take around 2 hours to complete. After completing this you’ll inevitably find yourself in the middle of a war tearing the world apart, and enlisted as a “Gray Warden” by the king himself.

In short, Dragon Age: Origins is shaping up to be a modern take on a classical idea. While a lot of the features here aren’t anything to new, it’ll be interesting to see what BioWare does with them. Given their past success in the RPG market, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt on this one. Dragon Age has worked its way onto my must have list, and come November 3rd (GameStop quoted me the 17th, and then another day the 27th…), it’ll have worked its way into my hands.

Tags: Bioware Dragon Age Dragon Age: Origins Preview rpg