Dragon Age is a kind of game that is becoming increasingly rare: a deeply immersive single-player RPG with an interface clearly designed for the PC. It's easy to sling around the word "immersive" at any game that looks pretty, but DA isn't messing around - the world of Ferelden shows a unified sense of design and depth that blows even famously vast games like Oblivion out of the water. Coupled with consistently excellent writing and across-the-board quality character design even down to relatively unimportant NPCs, the game truly does feel like it's reacting to your choices dynamically from the very beginning, and how you play your character can have amazingly subtle effects on the way the story unfolds.

Graphically, the game's a little uneven. All the design elements are there, and it has plenty of high-quality textures and strong environmental visuals - particularly fire effects. The polygons themselves, particularly on character faces, are a little simpler than you'd expect from a 2009 game. Overall, the game looks about on level with Oblivion, although the visual distinctiveness and design ethic of areas and characters are significantly better. Animation stands out as a strong suit here, particularly during the game's frequent dialog sequences, with none of the dead-eyed staring or bizarre walk cycles that plagued other RPGs like Fallout 3.

Gameplay is pretty straightforward, and very much in keeping with previous Bioware titles like Knights of the Old Republic and Mass Effect. You control a party of up to four characters, each of whom develops a plethora of useful abilities to keep track of. The inclusion of a minor programming element (very much in keeping with the gambit system from Final Fantasy XII) will let you set up a few default actions on each character so you're not stuck frantically switching between them to make sure they drink their healing potions, but battles frequently require some degree of tactical planning. Setting up ambushes and planning your party strategy to play to strengths is necessary to get through some tougher areas. The interface is, shockingly, clearly tailor-made for the PC (the console versions have their own interfaces designed from the bottom up and are apparently easier games to allow for the sacrifice in easy access to skills). You have an insane number of quick-access slots, and nearly the entire keyboard is bound to one thing or another. It's the kind of interface that hasn't been in vogue since before the PS2 came out. The game is extremely linear, although the frequent and varied dialog options give it the feel of a more free-roaming game, and it's very tempting to go back and replay huge chunks of the game just to see how the complex and dynamic conversations will play out. The main downside is that there's no easy way to level-grind, which is to the game's benefit to a point (no tedious circling around killing wolves) but occasionally means you can get in over your head.

What the game sacrifices in terms of sandbox free-roaming it more than makes up with in the excellent writing and characterization. An absurd attention to detail and across-the-board excellent voice acting breathes a lot of life into the game's conversations, which make up a significant chunk of gameplay. Characters are extremely varied and the interplay between them is a major draw, a trademark of Bioware's games, but Dragon Age has some of the most likable characters I've ever seen in a video game and the excellent performances from talents like Tim Curry, Kate Mulgrew and Claudia Black really put the game a notch above. Even the game's fairly generic-on-the-surface fantasy world is livened up by a few critical details - for example, the elves in Dragon Age are a massive underclass of servants.

It's actually difficult to find things to level complaints against in this game. One petty gripe is Morrigan's visual design - her character is one of the game's strongest, and she has great personality and some very clever writing, but visually she's a pair of giant breasts with a cloth draped improbably over them. Other women in the game are treated with a bit more restraint, though, and female armor is gratifyingly sensible. Another issue is that it can be difficult to manage battles on the fly, and accurately targeting enemies with skills frequently requires tactical pausing just to line the cursor up over their relatively small active areas. It's a petty annoyance, but the game clearly wasn't meant to be played Diablo-style anyway.

A few other things to know about the game:
-The game is mostly DRM-free, and ships only with a simple disc check. EA has a reputation for fouling up its customers' computers with DRM malware, but DA seems to be free of those problems.
-If Dragon Age were a movie, it would be rated R. I don't remember ever seeing any swearing, oddly, but the game is rife with violent imagery, extremely dark themes and frank sexuality (including a handful of relatively tasteful sex scenes and occasional demonic nudity). The game handles all of it with maturity and depth, but it's clearly not meant for children, and even parents of younger teens should be cautious.

Overall, Dragon Age is one of the strongest games to come out in recent memory, and is another installment in Bioware's increasing resume of superbly-written RPGs. Players looking for a fast-paced hack-and-slash "rpg" should look elsewhere, but anyone who likes deep and elegant plot development, memorable characters and excellent role-playing will love this game.

Before diving into the review, a brief summary: Dragon Age Origins is the epic role playing game that many of us have been waiting for since we first fell in love with the genre with the classic Baldur's Gate. It drops the player into an immersive fantasy world rich with lore and compelling settings. The aesthetics and score are as pleasing and engrossing as a good cinematic feature or novel. And while it is spectacular in just about every way, it is not without its faults (mostly technical in nature, and affects players with very specific computer hardware as far as I can tell - I'll explain more later). In short, if you're a fan of the genre you will do yourself a favor by purchasing and experiencing this game. I have never felt more comfortable suggesting a RPG to the Internet-at-large as I do right now with Dragon Age. I will swear upon whatever holy text you prefer that it's the best single-player RPG to come along since Fallout 3. If you're not a theist, I suppose I could place my hand upon a photograph of Carl Sagan before making the same solemn vow. But I digress. Onto the review. Aspects I found positive are preceded by a (+), negative aspects a (-).


GAME PLAY
(+) Dragon Age (hereby referred to as "DA") plays like a perfect hybrid of turn-based and real-time RPGs of yore. The controls are a mash up of overhead tactical maneuvering ala Baldur's Gate and the third-person RTS-like mechanics found in Knights of the Old Republic. You control character movement with either the WASD keyboard directions familiar to MMO and FPS players, or via mouse-click navigation (concurrently). You can play from a third-person perspective to get a full view of the world around you, or zoom out into an overhead tactical view to aid in unit placement and positioning (in which the graphics take on the painted look and feel of Baldur's Gate - a nice touch). The camera may be controlled with either the keyboard or mouse. All around, stellar.

(+) The UI makes a powerful and elegant use of economy of space (it fits a lot into a little, all while looking and playing extremely well)

(+) Character customization is as rich if not richer than any other RPG hybrid or pure RPG on the market - past or present. You have standard archetypes (warrior, mage, rogue) which alone have various "trees" or avenues of progression focusing upon things like weapon preference (sword + shield, dual wield, two-handed, etc) or general and crafting skills. In addition there are specialist classes that excel at specific vocations (such as the mage-nullifying Templar, shape shifting mage, or crit-happy Duelist - to name a few). On top of this, special abilities and vocations may be unlocked by finding rare items or special quests (often a combination of both)

(+) Combat is highly tactical, taking into account elevation, range, "crowd control" mechanics, and vast synergy between the abilities of your party members

(+) A deep tactics system can be utilized, in which you assign a custom AI to each of your characters based upon a variety of criteria and situations. For example, you can tell your mage that every time they're surrounding by two or more melee mobs, they cast a certain crowd control spell. If a party member has less than 50% health, heal them. Or have your tank taunt mobs that attack the mage. Or have the rogue stun the mobs your main character is fighting. Etc.

(-) Melee-centric characters draw from a pool of stamina to perform their various abilities and group-enhancing skills. This pool feels very limited, even when you invest heavily into the stat that grants more stamina. It's further hampered by injuries that your characters will sustain, on occasion, while fighting (which are treated with injury kits or by resting at your camp). Hopefully this will be tweaked in a future patch.


STORY, PRESENTATION, & SETTING
(+) The seemingly hackneyed story (you`re the last in a long line of sacred warriors who's mission is to vanquish a very particular foe) quickly unfolds into a compelling, immersive, and interesting tale that rivals those found in quality fantasy novels and movies. Each race, town, city, and region are wholly unique and diverse - from the political intrigue of Dwarven society to the juxtaposition of the city and forest Elves (and the layers of complexity involved therein). I can't go too much into this without potentially spoiling the many excellent stories. Suffice to say, it's superb.

(+) While the world isn't technically "open", being divided into many instanced zones (if you will), it is nevertheless truly vast. Most areas are substantially large. There is no limit to draw distance: your viewing distance is essentially to infinity, and most zones can be fully explored to the smallest nook and cranny (and it pays to do so). You unlock more areas as the game progresses (and the areas vary depending upon your origin and choices), and there's a complete underground zone in addition to the zone all non-Dwarves start within.

(+) The story is always evolving and changing. Your most minor, or major, decisions regarding plot or character interactions will have lasting repercussions that may not come to fruition for some time. You can build intimate relationships with characters, and being an active participant in the dialogue and lore pay huge dividends in the end

(+) Replayability is very high - due largely to the aforementioned dynamic story, as well as the "Origins" part of the DA title: different race and class combinations have different starting stories, and merge into the overall arc in different ways and at different times


PERFORMANCE
(+) The games looks, sounds, and plays perfectly well on middling hardware

(-) If you own a dual or quad core AMD CPU, expect gradually increasing load times as your session time increases (the longer you play and the more you transition between zones, the longer the load times become). From 5 to 7 seconds at first, upwards of 5 minutes after 45 minutes to an hour of play. This can be resolved by restarting the game, which literally only takes about 20 seconds. But still, it's frustrating, and many people are reporting it on the official forums. Hopefully it will be patched.

(-) The first PC patch was a bit of a goof: the new build included a newer version of the Visual C++ 2005 runtime, while the retail version had an older build. The result was that many people couldn't launch the game after patching. A trivial issue for the computer savvy (I just checked my event logs and saw the issue then patched), but the lay person would have no idea what's going on. After days Bioware has yet to respond officially with the obvious fix, leaving it to the community to resolve. That behavior and communication casts doubt upon the level of commitment Bioware has in regards to DA from a technical support perspective.


Overall, the few technical issues are far outweighed by the overall quality of the game. I would provide a more in-depth review, but I am honestly afraid that I'll accidentally spoil something, as this game is ridiculously vast. Buy this game. You will not be disappointed.

First things first: in the past I have chastised EA a number of times for its release of cookie-cutter games, crippled with atrocious DRM schemes. So, in all fairness, I now have to say this: DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS IS A GAMER's DREAM! It is an excellent game - and it comes FREE of any DRM madness. So, thank you EA for listening to your customers (let's only hope this new trend holds...).

This is one of those games that are easy to control, a joy to roam through and fun to play at no end.
I am a huge cRPG fan and cannot remember such a great companion/squad cRPG ever since the Baldur's Gate Saga. And to tell you the truth, this is the game I was dreaming of being able to play one day while playing BG (yeah, by now we all know that NEVERWINTER NIGHTS never delivered).

There are about a dozen gender/race/class/background choices and a great many combinations in forming your party. The armor and the weapons are exceptionally made and everything shows on your characters. And the graphics are truly beautiful! You have to see the rendering of flames to believe them.
Nevertheless, what really stands out is the gameplay. Every battle is a puzzle to be solved, pausing ever so often to reallocate enemies to the best suited party members (a feature I loved in BG!). Of course one can always turn off the autopause feature and let the AI take over the rest of your party and turn the game into an hack&slash action RPG (not exactly my cup of tea but, hey, it's still nice to know it's there).

Finally, this is a game made just like the classics in many ways, including duration. I am now playing the game for over 20 hours and I feel that I barely scraped the surface! DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS is one satisfying RPG!

My only gripe is this: I did not appreciate such short dialogue options. Most fit a single line and more often than not they consist of a couple of words. I like my RPGs to be wordy and challenging to my verbal imagination as well - and I want my characters to participate in the humor, not just provoke it or react to it. Remember the long dialogue options in BG? Well, expect to find DRAGON AGE: ORIGINS much more laconic.
I guess 10 years of fast-paced FPS and blitzkrieging RTS do take their toll...

The blood sprays, the swords clang and the spells explode. The animations are beautifully made and add a lot to both enjoyment and immersion. There is a verse in Homer's Iliad I love: "the warrior fell and his armor echoed around him" - and I was reminded of it many a times throughout the game.

This game will stay with you. Do not miss on it.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

If you don't want to read my retarded ode to Bioware, please skip ahead to where it says, "Actual Review!".

Ah, Bioware. You're like an old girlfriend. The one who defined love for me (1). Then you hurt me (2). I still loved you, but I didn't understand; why did you have to do that?

You went your way and I went mine. Eventually I learned to forget. I met new people; sometimes I'd fall in love, but it was never quite the same (3).

We'd see each other every couple years, and we'd have a lot of fun for a night or two (4). But other times I thought to myself, "What are you doing with your life? We could be happy together! Why are you doing this? (5). After these ultimately disappointing hookups I'd always dig up our old photos and go through them (6). I'm not ashamed to say I cried a little.

You always told me you were searching for something. Learning who you were, and how to be.

Then, one day in early November, you called me. You said, "I know now; I know who I am. I know where I belong: with you." And then you came back home to me.

Then it all became so clear; you HAD been learning. It was the old you, but a new version! Everything past was prologue to this; the version of you I always knew was there. I just needed to have faith, and you'd see it too, and we could get back what we had, what we'd always known was us.

I love you Bioware. I realize now I've always loved you. Thank you for being in my life.

Answer Key!

1. Baldur's Gate I and II, the infinity engine that led to Icewind Dale, Fallout, and Planescape

2. Neverwinter Nights

3. The Elder Scrolls, Neverwinter Nights 2, FFX, FFXII

4. KOTOR, Mass Effect

5. Jade Empire, Sonic RPG

6. all those replays of BGII

ACTUAL REVIEW!

This is the best cRPG experience I've had in ten years. It becomes very clear within the first few minutes of your Origin story that you're experiencing gaming history. Not the revolutionary, innovative, awesome new mechanic kind of gaming history. This is analogous to a new album from your favorite artist that's been doing experimental side-projects for the last few years, and now comes out with a solid, deep, meaningful effort in a well-established form.

All the old ingredients are here: rich, meaningful character relationships; deep, tactically challenging combat; well written, thought-provoking dialogue trees. In short, everything you knew Bioware was capable of, but hasn't been fully present in any of their games since BGII.

Don't get me wrong; I've liked almost all of their games since then (Jade Empire and the Sonic RPG being the exceptions). It's just that none have fully satisfied me, or they've left me with the nagging feeling that something's just not quite right (re: KOTOR and Mass Effect feel slightly underdone).

This game is an instant classic, from a master of the genre. It's the kind of game that will be added to the roster of eminently replayable games (BGII, Fallout 1+2, Morrowind, Final Fantasy [pick your favorite], etc.). It's as good as or better than all of those.

Now, those of you that have NOT played Baldur's Gate, Fallout, Icewind Dale, NWN2, beware.

As evidenced by the very few negative reviews, the ad campaign for this game is not very representative of the content. This is a true western RPG, especially if you're getting it on the PC. Combat is challenging on every difficulty mode but easy.

IT IS BY NO MEANS a hack-and-slash or action RPG!!!

I still recommend it, but be prepared to open your mind to a new experience.

For those of you trying to decide on which version to get, here are some things:

If you played and loved Baldur's Gate, and got it because you bought into the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate" thing, get it for the PC, no question.

On the console, the camera is locked in behind the character in the style of Knights of the Old Republic or Mass Effect. This is fine for those who fell in love with Bioware since their console years began, but not if you want to play it for full tactical enjoyment.

Also, if you have a capable PC, the graphics are far superior to the consoles, which is often the case.

360 vs. PS3?

PS3 looks better, 360 moves smoother. 6 of 1.

Don't hesitate. Buy this game.
Learn it,
Live it,
Love it:

Bioware is Back.

I purchased the XBox version as a pre-order, then took the plunge on the PC because I simply couldn't wait any longer. After about 10 hours of gameplay (I take my time, so it may be akin to about 5 hours for others) I give this game a big thumbs up. As a Bioware fan, I still am a bit skeptical of hype of any game (didn't care too much for Jade Empire for some reason as an example).

The game plays passibly well on my older Dell machine. Be prepared for advanced loading times in between major areas/transition points. The good news is once that's loaded you should be fine for the entire area and even interior transitions and back.

I've seen a comment about how crappy the graphics are, and I want to add my piece: I like my fantasy worlds to look like a fantasy world to an extent. The trees and buildings in the far distance look right to me vice having perfectly looking things that I can't explore to anyways.

Although I played ME through (LOVED it), Baldur's Gate (and all expansion packs), DA reminds me most of KOTOR. ME had banter between NPCs, but the tone of the banter is more like KOTOR so if you liked that game you will probably like DA. DA is obviously heavily influenced by Peter Jackson's LOTR movies for lighting, music, cinematics, which is fine by me. Call it a smidgeon of ME, the general feel of KOTOR, and undertones of LOTR.

The story line has some Star Wars feel to it, where becoming a Grey Warden is like moving up to be a Jedi Knight. The explanations of darkspawn, how they came to be and their relationship with Gray Wardens, makes sense. In fact, as a Human Warrior my backstory coupled with the way Gray Wardens are introduced really made me feel emotionally invested in my character. It goes beyond leveling up into wanting to pay back old debts/seek vengence for what happened to my past. The character has a motivation for doing what they do, and you are drawn into that motivation.

I'm guessing I will play this through a couple of times, because the dialogue options don't cycle as much as they have in past Bioware titles. Simply put...there are choices I made early in the dialogue options I assumed I could recircle back on like I could in past games, but that's rarely the case with DA. Also, forget about bashing open chests if you aren't a Rogue class. Knowing what I do now I probably would pick a Rogue because there isn't too great a penalty for a "fighting thief" but you will get annoyed at chests you can't open until after you have a fully-formed party.

The Mage class in this game is handled about as well as I've ever seen in RPGs. Yes, they aren't tanks that can absorb true melee free-for-alls, but several battle outcomes tipped in my favor because of the mage in my party. At the key point, they made the difference in all of us dying or not. Here again, I may play a Mage class character in a future playthrough, which is saying a lot about the replayability of this game to me. I shun this normally because it takes too damn long to nurture magic-users in most RPGs into the high level powerhouse potential.

I'm expecting a downgrade in the graphics for the Xbox version, but will probably still enjoy the game. Per their normal way, Bioware has a superb and believeable storyline with characters you care about. I'll take that over eye candy anyday.

Check this game out, either on the PC or Xbox, for the adroit way Bioware has put the best of their titles and mashed in Star Wars and LOTR into a cohesive and immersive game experience.

After paying forty bucks for a game, it's really disappointing to find out that many of the best-sounding quests are DISABLED until you cough up MORE MONEY to add them.

I don't have a problem with a game company offering additional content for additional money. What bothers me is when you're going along in the game that you paid for, and hear about an interesting quest, but when you try to accept it, it won't allow you to unless you pay money to Bioware. This disrupts the flow of the game and makes the game feel more like a demo than a fully paid-for product. For me at least, it ruins the game.

This is a lousy way to treat a paying customer, and I won't likely be buying another Electronic Arts product.

Just finished my 1st run through so I could make an overall review: But first something that grinds my gears...
This goes back and forth on the internet but to me it smells of typical EA Nickel and Diming it's customers:

The DLC content that is available from day 1- provides something that is critical in long RPGs like this, which is:
Storage. A place to keep things too valuable to throw away but not needed in your day to day adventures in the game.
BioWare provides this from release, claiming that it *was part of the original game* but 'due to deadlines' couldnt be integrated - so instead of content that *was supposed to be included in the original game* we get to BUY it 'for a small additonal charge'. If it was some lost missions, maybe a side talent or something, fine, I probably wouldnt care, but because storage is so crucial and their excuse so convenient- it really struck a nerve... /rantoff

The Game itself, is REALLY polished and pulls you right in from the beginning, Cutscenes are very well done: the voice acting keeps your attention. Although this isnt what is traditionally considered an 'open ended' rpg, there's so much to do and see that you never get that 'on rails' feel. There are quests all over the place, from the lone stranger in towns seeking help to factions that help out 'interested parties', there's lots. Another thing very cool is how the everyone is '6 degrees' from each other, something you'll see as you play other Origins. Unknown people who you helped in one origin (just to be nice or to get exp) could be key characters from another Origin - so be nice to all you meet!

Nice Achievment system in place, you'd be suprised what you get achievements for.
Quest system has nice options for those who get lost, but what's better is the ability to toggle it on or off (for those who dont like hand-holding).
Unlockable abilities for companions makes going back to camp it's own little mini game.
Gifts to favor your rep with party members - some gifts mean alot more to some than others.

Way too many features to go over. I had the bar set pretty high for this title and I'm suprised it was more than I expected. Replayability is very high because each origin is very different and exclusive from the last one played.
The final thing that I really liked: At the end of your game, they recap all (well, a LOT) of your in-game actions and how they affected the people and country. If you were playing the game with a 'good' or 'evil' persona, THIS is where you see the fruit of your labors.

This game would have gotten 5 stars EASILY but because of their shady handling of the Day 1 DLCs - clearly you can see the apple (BioW) not falling far from the tree (EA).

I was doubtful when one reviewer mentioned that Dragon Age was better than Fallout3, but now I have to agree. This is an immersive, complex and enjoyable experience. Much of the game has the fluidity of an action movie, and the mature nuances of the scripted dialogue and the voice acting are several levels above any game in recent memory, including Fallout3. The music is cinematic and glorious. The graphic renditions are excellent, ornate and do not overwhelm the storyline. The combat system is reminiscent of Oblivion but it is much more elaborate and detailed, and it is very satisfying to see how small variations in combat tactics affects the outcome of even simple combat engagements. It is equally satisfying and horrifying to be jumped upon by a voracious giant spider and watch in disgust as your character wriggles helplessly under assault. It's also fun to watch other people play it and see them jump when traps or very sudden ambush attacks occur. The multiplayer AI is smart, and versatile. The character generation engine is also fun, and each of the separate race and class pathways into the game are well-written and well-plotted. An astounding achievement by Bioware that would make Gary Gygax smile, or even chortle.

The idea of origins is that you can start as any of one "origins" - each origin has its own story line. My understanding is it is several hours of totally different stories at that. I'm playing a mage, which includes traveling to another world where demons struggle to possess you, and you must prevent it by pure force of will. Its extremely refreshing to see something actually putting something about your magical powers instead of just saying, "Oh, here you go. You can cast magic missile at the darkness."

Graphically, wow. And I mean WOW as in awesome, not as in a certain online game we've probably all played entirely too much. Definitely some of the best graphics I've seen to date. Think how good Oblivion was when it came out - Dragon Age crushes it. Not only better graphics (one thing I've noticed in some newer games is when they "focus" on the characters that are active and "unfocus" the background - really makes a difference.), but leaps beyond previous games of this depth.

The sound is top notch. Voice acting is very good (and very wide spread so far), music is top notch, and general ambiance is really well done as well (hearing the wind blowing down through the mountain valleys, and dogs barking in the distance. People having conversations that get louder as you get closer, etc).

And the story line - when I finally forced myself to quit playing last night so I could get up for work today, I sat back thinking EPIC. As in LOTR epic (not LOTRO, but the books/movies). I just felt like something really big was coming, and I was going to be right in the middle of it. And the twists and turns that are already occurring as the story unfolds - I don't want to give anything away. Let's just say you HAVE to experience this.

This is one that will be mentioned for years to come. I can only imagine what is going to happen, but so far it is extraordinary.

If you didn't order it yet, do it. If you have other games on your plate, quit playing them. If you have no time due to RL, quit your RL.

Seriously. M'kay?

Dragon Age: Origins could nearly be considered two games, the one for the PC and the one for the Xbox / PS3. Unlike other titles such as Mass Effect, Bioshock or Halo, the computer version of Dragon Age offers a unique and different experience than the consoles. Either version is likely to be considered one of the top ten games of the year as this RPG is more accessible to the masses than titles like Oblivion or Fallout 3 but just as rewarding and challenging to the hard-core RPG player.
On the PC Dragon Age can look and feel similar to Diablo or Neverwinter Knights, but the structure more Mass Effect (another Bioware title) in fact, players of Mass Effect will find that this is very much that game set in a time a 1000 years earlier. The movement for example, for fans of games such as Final Fantasy or The Witcher, it may be off-putting to not have a world to wonder freely, for this game, like Mass Effect, gives you destinations on a map which you travel to while the area is loading, but you can't simply go walking about outside of each area. But, don't let that get you down, because each area will cost you plenty of hours, and hours, and hours. This game is huge.
The PC version gives you the option of a top-down view, the characters become very small and graphically it now looks like Diablo, you have hordes swarming you, you can pause, direct your four players one command at a time and then watch them carry it out. Although some crave this level of control and strategy, others of us who want to finish the 100+ hours of exploring and side quest can find it daunting. The PC does offer an "easy" level for those of us who do our battling in real time, but be warned, only the strong survive and easy is not so easy.
PC or Console, Dragon Age will force you to talk to everyone and finish a vast amount of side quest or suffer defeat after defeat after defeat in battle. Why? Because there's no world map to go out and level-up on! You have to get levels up completing side quest and get better weapons and armor through exploration and selling-off what you find but don't want. You'll also find that you have to talk people into joining the battle or when attacks come your small team will have not-enough-help and little things like clicking on some barrels to find out there's oil in them can later translate into a knight on the battle field you tell about the oil creating a massive fire barrier the enemy has to get through to attack. That's how this game works.
Dragon age also gives you 6 possible origin stories depending on who you play as and how you customize them. The origin stories give you about two hours of different locations and plots before the game congeals into the basic monster that it is. Eventually who you are and where you came from are not that important, you're a Gray Warden and that's that, but early on it does make a difference. Now, just like in The Witcher, what you say and if you can convince people of certain things drastically changes outcomes. You want to save before important conversations as you may need to try over and over until you get the outcome you want. It also changes the way your party sees you, loyalties may falter, comrades may just leave if they don't like you, since some are honest and forthright, others are thieves or murders you've recruited -- and it is possible to completely miss party members along the way and never recruit them! -- so you really need to take a middle-of-the road approach keeping everyone happy some of the time if you want them to all stay.
So PC Vs Console? Well, both if you can. The PC has superior graphics. The XBOX is grainy and weak, the PS3 better but the PC is awesome -- if yours can handle it. My rig is an Asus M3N-HT-Delux Mobo with a AMD Phenom Quad Core CPU @ 2.5 GHZ per core, 8 Gig DDR3 1066 SLI Ram, 2 Nvidia GTX250 SLI cards in 16X each PCI-E Slots (yes, my mobo allows true SLI at twin 16X speeds) and I run the game at 100% graphics at 1400X900 16:10 resolution with 60fps and no drops. The graphics are full, lush and you never see them render, it gives me full distance at full quality all the time.
My PS3 looks like the PC graphics set at all Medium Quality. Grass is constantly growing before me as I move, the images are sharp and a little flat, not natural and well shaded like the PC, the distance view is never any further than your feet. Considering how amazing Final Fantasy XIII looks, this is a major let-down.
However, playing on a console does have its advantages. Unlike the PC version, the console has no-drop-down view so tactical pausing isn't really desirable, though you can do it. However, it compensates with auto-targeting allowing a faster, if more hack-and-slash, playing model.
In Conclusion, if you are playing more for story and exploration and want battles a bit simplified and less daunting, then the PS3 version is the best, and easiest way to view on a large screen as well. However, the PC offers vastly improved graphics (for the mid to high-end PC -- see my specs above) and a top-down view that pause-and-play gamers will want. There's also the option, if you can afford it, of doing both, I'm playing a game simultaneously on PC and PS3 and the experience is varied enough that I enjoy both -- though I only paid for the PS3 add-ons.
Dragon Age: Origins is a MUST HAVE for RPG gamers, this is up there with the best Final Fantasy, The Witcher, Mass Effect, and for those of us who still remember the NES games, this is like those, on steroids.

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Just a few comments. Both the PC and especially the PS3 have unreasonable loading times. Some areas on the PS3 stop and load at every door. On the PC, with 8 gigs of ram, 2 gigs of video ram and a quad-core processor there shouldn't be so much loading either.
I also recomend turning off "persistant gore" as the game is just as violent, except every battle doesn't leave everyone covered in unreasonable splatter until the next battle.

On the PC the camera control is annoying. You can't use the mouse for it, you have to use the keyboard. So, if like me you are used to WASD and look-with-mouse, the option is not there. The PS3 / XBox version gives you camera on right stick, movement on left but no "top down" tactical veiw -- however it's more automated and fighting can be made far simpler on the console.

I've also noticed some frame drop and screen split on the PS3 and I get none of this on PC.