Summary
If you read my work, it will come as no shock that I’m a big fan ofBioWare’searlyRPGs.Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republicwas one of the first video games I ever loved, and it formed my understanding of what good game writing is and shaped my love of hand-crafted narratives with excellent writing and compelling characters.
I’m not surprised, then, that I fell in love withDragon Age: Originsthe moment I started playing it for the first time this weekend,its persistent crashing issues notwithstanding. DA:O has a lot of the same DNA as KOTOR: excellent dialogue, well-acted characters, and choices that change the world around you are the backbone of this 2009 release. Immediately, I felt right at home. It looks dated, of course – that much is undeniable. I played a bit of it while my friends were over for drinks and they all settled on the couch to watch – one of them said, off-handedly, “God, this game is ugly as hell.”
Dragon Age Origins Holds Up, Even In 2024
I couldn’t help but defend it, and vehemently. It’s a game from 2009, and yes, by modern standards, the graphics are pretty ugly. But in a lot of ways, DA:O holds up better than you’d expect. Its combat isn’t amazing, but I certainly prefer it tothe wave of Soulslike action RPGs we’ve seen in recent years. Its writing is still top-notch, expertly weaving a fantasy epic with themes that still resonate today. Its characters are iconic for good reason, and Morrigan and Alistair’s bickering is glorious.
And, perhaps most importantly, the side quests feel significant. I love going down a rabbit hole after picking up a strange note, hunting down hidden caches and helping the townspeople I come across, because it doesn’t feel repetitive or like a chore. Open world bloat is the biggest thing ruining modern RPGs for me, and the fact that Origins doesn’t force me to do stupid fetch quests for no narrative payoff is a huge plus in my book.
A lot of modern RPGs fail in this respect. Even modern RPGs often lauded as some of the best in the genre, likeThe Witcher 3, have some level of open world bloat that I actively attempt to avoid as much as possible. It’s nice to return to an early classic and, instead of wishing it was more like modern games, to wish that more modern games were like DA:O.
Origins Gives Me Hope For The Veilguard
While it’s true that I probably love Origins more because of its similarities to one of my all-time favourite games, it’s really its attention to detail and handcrafted nature that makes it impressive. I can’t help but think about howDragon Age: The Veilguardissupposed to be more handcraftedand has turned away from the open world present in the game directly preceding it,Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’s a return to form, and one that BioWare has done very well in the past – even though Origins’ levels are much smaller, there’s a lot to do in each map, and the depth of the quests and side quests aren’t hindered by its lack of an open world.
It turns out that I’m likely to be in the camp that thinks Dragon Age: Origins is the best of the series, and while I’m not sure that The Veilguard willmanage to take this formula and improve on it, it does inspire a bit of hope that it will be a decent RPG. It may not be the one we’re expecting it to be, considering modern triple-A RPG trends, but making it more akin to Origins seems to already be a step in the right direction. And if it’s not, it’s fine – Origins already exists. I’ll just play that again instead.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.
