Dragon Age Origins is a good, albeit very flawed game. The FIRST thing you should know is how to run this game on modern hardware, since it likes to crash all the time. This is because the game's launcher can't use more than 2GB of RAM. However, the fix is INCREDIBLY simple. All you need to do is follow this guide and replace the default EXE with one that can utilize 4GB of RAM. It takes like 5 seconds to do and that'll fix the problem.

As for the game itself, let's start with the good. The writing is fantastic, as one would expect of 2000s Bioware. They really didn't pull any punches and things can get pretty dark (not in the tryhard edgy way). The companions are great, and hearing the banter between them is hilarious. I never get tired of listening to Alistair and Morrigan bully each other. The most unique thing about this game though is how it handles the different races. You only have three to choose from: human, elf and dwarf. If this were any other fantasy game, the only difference between the races would be stat differences. But in Origins, you actually get six different opening chapters depending on what you pick. A dwarf noble is going to have a completely different experience than a city elf. It doesn't make a HUGE difference on the broader story, but it helps flesh out the world and encourages multiple playthroughs.

Now onto the not so good...which is most of the gameplay. This game looks like a third person action RPG, but it plays like a traditional real-time-with-pause CRPG. In an attempt to alleviate the constant need to pause and micromanage, Origins implemented a system called Combat Tactics. These are essentially scripts that let you dictate your party members' AI. If your party member is below 50% health, make them use a health potion on themselves. If an enemy has strong armor, make them use an ability that breaks through that armor. This sounds great on paper, but there are two problems. Characters only have a limited amount of tactics slots (I think 10 is the max), so between consumable items and abilities you don't have much to work with. The other problem is that you actually need to spend skills to increase the amount of slots, which can take away from other things you want to level up and slow down your progress. Mages don't really benefit from the Cunning stat, but you'll still need to invest 16 points into Cunning if you want them to get all the slots. It feels like they saw Final Fantasy XII's Gambit system, and then decided to limit it for no reason.

The other problem with the gameplay is just good ol' fashioned jank. If you're walking up stairs, you WILL get stuck on the stair at the very top. This happens almost every single time. The AI, both friend and foe, can have real bad pathfinding. In fights where groups get clustered together, it's common to see an enemy jiggling in place as it tries to run past other enemies to get to you. This also happens to your allies, where they'll get stuck on someone and can't execute their attack. The absolute WORST instance of this was a "boss fight" down in an abandoned dwarven city. You're forced to fight in a small arena, and there's this giant statue thing in the middle of it. Your companions will target enemies, and then run face first into the statue and wiggle in place. Throughout the entire fight I was constantly having to switch to different party members and MANUALLY MOVE THEM around the statue, otherwise they'd be stuck in place and die. But even without those issues, the friendly AI isn't very smart. Your allies will have a lot more abilities than there are tactics slots, and the abilities that aren't assigned will go unused. They simply default to regular attacks. So you're going to be doing a lot of micromanaging whether you like it or not.

I really like this game...but to be perfectly honest, it hasn't aged very well. It's frustrating, clunky and janky. The writing is really the only thing that saves this game and makes it worth playing.