Rating 8.5/10

The short review

This game is a cross between: Neverwinter Nights/World of Warcraft

It’s good because: • Great story • In depth NPC relationships • Cool combat animations

It’s bad because: • You must travel with a balanced party

The long version

Kick ass storyline

The storyline of Dragon Age: Origins is by far one of the best story lines from any RPG that I have played. For starters depending on your race and class the first chapter of the game is different.

I went with a Human Noble in an attempt to recreate my character from the original Neverwinter Nights. That’s all I’ll say on the matter as to not give away any spoilers.

Sex?!?

One of the rather odd things I found about Dragon Age: Origins is the ability to have sex with your companions. Som

e companions even swing both ways depending on how you want your character to act. These sex scenes are accompanied by some absolutely awful cinematics (with great ‘O’ faces) that just made me cringe.

On the other hand, the fact that the developers took the time and effort to allow you to do this did add an extra level to the game in terms of relationships.

[It doesn't get much cornier then this]

Great combat

I thoroughly enjoyed the combat and not once got bored of killing mob after mob. You are able to employ great tactics using the ‘Tactics’ options and you also have the ability to pause the game at any point and give each person their next order. I only wish that you were able to stack orders like The Sims.

Visually the combat looks fantastic. Each attack looks different and accurately reflects the description of the action. I also love how you can stun or knock down characters and then just bring on the DPS.

The only downside is that the characters I enjoyed traveling were all weapon users rather then magic users. While this was fine in terms of healing (you can make all the potions you want), it made some bosses quite difficult because I simply didn’t have the DPS needed.

Gameplay

In terms of class customization, you can really make your character exactly how you want it to be. Classes have access to both unique and universal class sets. You will however want to only select one combat/magic skill set to max out on initially as you will easily finish the game before being able to max out a second set.

The hardware running of the game was great. I haven’t done any major upgrades to my computer in 2 years and I had a smooth running game.

One thing I really liked was that I never got bored during any of the cut scenes or dialogues. The stories and information was genuinely interesting and I enjoyed finding out more about my companions stories.

[Dual weapon sweep]

Conclusion

This game brings a whole lot to the RPG genre. A lot of time and effort has been put into this game to create an easy to learn fun RPG with an in-depth story. On top of that it looks absolutely fantastic and features some of the most interesting NPCs I’ve ever seen in an RPG.

For all of these reasons and more I give this game an 8.5/10. Pick up Dragon Age: Origins on Amazon.com today for only $36.14

Dragon Age: Origins

[My character and his best friend before the finale battle]

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One of the most common questions asked on gaming forums is ‘I just finished such and such (and am now having RPG withdrawals), what is a good RPG I can play now?’

So I thought I’d put together a list of games that I enjoyed and that also took a while to complete (so as to put off another more withdrawals as long as possible). This is a list you should also consider consulting if you are new to the RPG genre and want to experience some originals.

So in no particular order, here are 3 games I would recommend playing to fill all those spare hours you now have:

Fallout 2

The first Fallout game was one of the first RPG’s I played. Although young, I loved it. Cool weapons, armor and bad dudes and plenty of ways to kill them. Fallout 2 builds upon that original greatness in a huge game with heaps and heaps of content.

As well as a large storyline, there are plenty of towns, side quests and interesting characters to meet along the way. Don’t be put off by the graphics, this is a seriously fun game. Make sure you save often as every decision you make has an effect on the game.

Neverwinter Nights

If you have read this blog, you know that this is one of my favourite games of all time. Perhaps it is my background of playing D&D as I was growing up that I always found this game interesting and exciting. This game provided me with 100′s of hours of fun over about 8 years.

Neverwinter Nights is based on 3rd Edition Dungeons and Dragons rules. The platinum edition consists of the original game, the two expansions and an official module (like a PDLC these days). There is also a boatload of community made modules that are great fun to play. The first expansion has a few tedious boring bits of just hack and slash but is worth playing as the story line for the second expansions continues on from it.

Diablo II

What better way to prepare yourself for next year’s release of Diablo III than play your way through all 5 Acts of Diablo II on normal, hardcore and hell. The online community is still very active too, so after beefing up your character jump online for some extra gameplay.

For those who don’t know, Diablo II is a hack and slash type RPG. There is a great backing story and an excellent skill tier for each class which will allow you to define your specialization.

Friends recommendations:

While writing this post at university, I also whipped around and asked my friends what games they would recommend. Here they are below:

• Oblivion [read reviews]
• World of Warcraft [read reviews]
• Baldur’s Gate I and II [read reviews]
• Morrowind [read reviews]
• Fallout [read reviews]
• Fallout 3 [read reviews]

Recommendations from around the net:

I also made a list of the games recommended from forums around the internet:

• Dungeons and Dragons: Online [read reviews]
• Final Fantasy XI [read reviews]
• Guild Wars [read reviews]
• The Witcher [read reviews]
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic [read reviews]

Those should keep you busy for the next year or so. Add your recommendations for fellow gamers to play in the comments below. Check out my top lists for more ideas.

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UPDATED: Added point 11.

I was thinking about what makes an RPG a good RPG. On top of all the usual things that apply to games like gameplay, graphics and sound there are several other factors that make a great RPG. I have come up with 11 points that cover mostly what makes a terrific RPG. Below each list item I have listed games that blew away that criteria when the game was released.

1. Can you make decisions that affect future outcomes of the game?

Being able to shift the storyline of a game to produce different outcomes at the end gives the game a new level of depth. Some games do this very subtly like Fallout 3 in which you can make some choices throughout that game that ultimately effects the closing cinematic where as making choices in other games can completely prevent you from following certain pathways (whilst often opening up new ones for you eg. Fallout 3).
Good example: Fallout 2

2. Are you able to physically move in a non linear pattern?

What I mean by this is are you able to stray from the main plot on side quests and adventures or is the plot fairly linear which simply takes you from point A to B. World of Warcraft is an excellent example of this, from level one you can ignore the main plot quests and simply do your own thing. Neverwinter Nights on the other hand, while being an awesome game, followed a fairly linear storyline.
Good example: World of Warcraft

3. Do NPC’s react to you differently depending on previous engagements or proceeding reputation?

This ones is similar to the first criteria; games like Fallout, The Elder Scrolls and World of Warcraft include a built in reputation system. Actions you take during the game affect your reputation and will therefore effect how someone reacts to you when you meet them. (The most simple form is if you tend to do good things, evil aligned NPC’s will not want anything to do with you)
Good example: Fallout 3

4. Can you switch out nearly every item of clothing and weapons (swords, shields, guns, boots, helmet, body armor)?

The best example I can give of this is Oblivion. Being able to fully customize your gear and change your appearance is not only fun but allows more progressions throughout the game which are key to any RPG. It also adds variety as you don’t get bored looking at the same character running around all the time.
Good example: Oblivion

5. Are loading times between areas too excessive or frequent?

It’s bad enough that some RPG’s include a huge amount of text to read let alone having to wait for a loading screen every single time you move more than one screen across. Loading times should be short and infrequent to allow maximum gameplay time.
Good example: World of Warcraft

6. Can you perform illegal activities? And are there consequences?

This is more a fun item then completely necessary. Being able to attack any NPC gives the game real depth because just like in real life, you can really attack anyone. The Elder Scrolls games do this great, although if you attack a shop keeper you better be ready to run from the law.
Good example: Any Elder Scrolls game [Daggerfall II, Morrowind, Oblivion]

7. Does the game have online capabilities (or uploadable community content)?

While most RPG’s have a rather large amount of single player content, we never want a good game to end there. Having either online gameplay or extra community created content allows us to keep adventuring with the hero we have grown so fond of.
Good example: Neverwinter Nights [has both]

8. Are the NPC’s believable and engaging? Is the storyline also believable and engaging?

Any game should be interesting to play for more than a few hours. Misplaced or uninteresting NPC’s will ruin the flow of the game. A great story line is also important as RPG’s are traditionally known for having a great story.
Good example: Dragon Age: Origins

9. Is the combat interesting and fun?

Combat should be simple to follow, yet evolved enough to allow for plenty of special attacks and spells. Typically spell casting classes should require more thought and tactics than hand to hand combat. This gives people the option of hack and slash or strategy. Combat should look good and there should be plenty of variety in movement. For example spell casting should not always be the exact same movement.
Good example: Baldur’s Gate II (best in it’s time)

10. Is all of the other stuff good?

By other stuff I mean sound, graphics and the overall feel of the game. While we have been playing crappy looking RPG’s for decades there is something to be said for one that looks fantastic.
Good example: Diablo II

11. Are there multi-layered feats and skills?

Most great RPGs have some sort of skill tree (see Diablo or WoW) or at least feats that are governed by specific pre-requisites (see any D&D based RPG). Blizzard and Bioware usually do this very well in all their games.
Thanks to Rocka for reminding me of this one.

12. Can your character improve over time by gaining experience or skills?

The last point I make here is by far the key factor of an RPG. You really need to be able to gain levels, if not by experience points then by gaining skills and attributes as you progress through the game.
Good example: Basically every RPG

Other things that while not important add good flavour to the game:

• Does your race effect your choices?
• Are there even multiple races to choose from?
• Can you use melee combat and/or ranged combat?
• Is there magic or psychic powers?
• Can you get a trade or a job skill and improve it to make money in game?

Ultimately, it’s options that make an RPG great. From now on in my reviews I’m going to use points 1 to 11 to rate any new games from now on. Remember that a game does not need 11 out of 11 to still be a great game to play.

Is there anything you look for in an RPG? Share with us below in the comments.

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EDT: Since this I have released a poll to gauge your top 10. Visit the page to enter your vote and we’ll see who wins.

1. Diablo
2. Dragon Age: Origins
3. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
4. Guild Wars
5. Neverwinter Nights
6. Baldur’s Gate II: Shadows of Amn
7. Baldur’s Gate
8. Wizardry 8
9. Might and Magic IV: Mandate of Heaven
10. Fallout 3

Based on Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition rules, this fantasy style game gives you the choice of 8 classes to choose from. The original game alone contains over 50 hours of gameplay not including online gaming. 2 expansions provide you with nearly double the content as well as epic level feats and skills.

The storyline is a typical save the world and kill all the bad dudes. There is plenty of options to create your character into a super being of your choice. Take the path of a heavily fortified warrior with many layers of armour or become a sorcerer who can blast away all of his enemies in one fireball.

This is one of my favourite games of all time. While the graphics are a little dated, the story and gameplay are still top quality. I really can’t recommend it enough.

Buy it on Amazon cheap:

Neverwinter Nights Diamond

Check out these screenshots:

Get Neverwinter Nights on eBay:

[wordbay]neverwinter nights pc -2[/wordbay]