Dragon Age: Origins

Dragon Age: Origins is an roleplaying game where the main character is customizable in appearance, race, origin story, and combat type. It takes place in Ferelden, a region of the high fantasy world of Thedas. Due to past events, every couple of centuries a Blight occurs, during which evil Darkspawn emerge from underground to ravage the land. The only people able to truly fight the Blight are the mysterious Grey Wardens, an order of warriors whose life mission is to stop Blights and defeat the Archdemons who front them. Regardless of character settings, the character will be initiated into the Grey Wardens. Their task is to unite the people of Ferelden in an effort to stop the Blight.

Political maneuvering isn't the only way to progress in the story, however. The Warden also gains allies and followers as they travel. These characters are all fully recognized individuals with opinions and agendas of their own, and the Warden can become fast friends with them if they play their cards right. Sometimes the companions' opinions differ in extremes; one might disapprove of the Warden going out of heir way to help someone in need, while another might laud them for it. The Warden can also enter a romance with one of their companions if they choose to do so.

Dragon Age: Origins' themes are those of duty, camaraderie, and sacrifice. The player chooses the direction of the story by making decisions as they go along—some are difficult and others aren't as difficult. Some of these decisions may have great implications later on in the story, or even in a later Dragon Age game. Many times the player will be faced with a decision that may be better for the world, but worse for their own character in the short term. Morality is not always black and white in the game. For instance, the choice between two kings may come down to putting the better man or the better leader on the throne .

Representation
Dragon Age: Origins is a good option for players looking for a high degree of social awareness in games. Because the main character is customizable, they can be any ethnicity, sexuality, or gender (within graphic constraints). Players are given the option to engage in a romantic affair with one of their companions; four companions have this option available to them, and two out of the four are bisexual (i.e. they can be romanced by either male or female Warden). Female and male characters are split fairly evenly throughout the world, though women are still treated as socially lesser, despite there being several women in positions of power. (This is somewhat amended in future Dragon Age games).

Dragon Age: Origins also aims to discuss racism and poverty, though it does so using elves as the oppressed peoples rather than real life racial prejudice among humans.

Players can save at any time except during cut scenes or in combat. Some battles can be fairly time-consuming.

There are several difficulty modes in Dragon Age: Origins, from casual on up. Some battles may take work even on casual mode.

• Do you think the Warden should have saved the Worgen, or sided with the Elven leader? How do you reconcile the need for justice against a group that has done great wrong with the fact that the original group members are long gone? Can vengeance against the descendants of a group ever be justified? If not, then can you still empathize with the Elven leader’s desire for it?
• Do you think the protagonist is being deceptive by catering to each companion’s values? Is it possible to please everybody at once without sacrificing your own values?
• Spoilers ahead! In the end, you can decide who to put on the throne of Ferelden. It's a complicated decision that involves Ferelden's history, your character's own background, whether you are in love with the future potential king and whether or not the king is human, whether you believe certain characters deserve punishment for their wrongdoing, and whether or not you are willing to fudge your morals in place of immense sacrifice. What did you decide to do, and why? Did you follow your own moral compass or your character's? Do you think people may have made these kinds of political decisions in the real-life middle ages, and do they make them now, albeit under different circumstances?