Gripping story and world-building
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 positive reviews
“A classic RPG that excels in story, choice, and character development.”
Steam review · 190 h played ↗
Dragon Age: Origins
Worth buying? What 300 Steam reviews say.Worth buying? Here’s what 300 Steam reviews actually say.
Very Positive · 92%Very Positive · 92%BioWare2009Party-Based RPG · RPG · Adventure
The verdict
A landmark party-based RPG with great story, companions and meaningful choices, but the Steam version crashes on modern PCs and lacks DLC. Skip it if you dislike dated combat or fiddly fixes.
Great for
Fans of story-heavy, choice-driven party RPGs who don't mind dated graphics and installing fixes
Main risk
Frequent crashes and corrupted saves on modern PCs, plus missing DLC in this non-Ultimate Steam edition
What players love
Meaningful choices and replayability
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 positive reviews
“This gives the game a lot of replay value.”
Steam review · 136 h played ↗
Memorable companions and characters
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“The companions are stellar.”
Steam review · 91.2 h played ↗
Best BioWare era and franchise entry
Mentioned in ~1 in 4 positive reviews
“The pinnacle of Bioware's Golden age. A RPG for all time which has yet to be surpassed.”
Steam review · 401.1 h played ↗
Tactical pause-based combat
Mentioned in ~1 in 7 positive reviews
“The combat is very good. The combat maps, combat mechanics, and even the animations are all top notch.”
Steam review · 142.2 h played ↗
What players complain about
Crashes and instability on modern PCs
Mentioned in ~2 in 5 negative reviews
“the game crashed at least 50 times, and I couldn't even finish the story because one of the crashes corrupted my save file.”
Steam review · 16.1 h played ↗
Steam edition lacks DLC and DLC is hard to install
Mentioned in ~1 in 3 negative reviews
“Do not buy this version of the game. Get The ultimate edition instead.”
Steam review · 186.5 h played ↗
EA pricing, regional restrictions and politics
Mentioned in ~1 in 6 negative reviews
“Great game but ♥♥♥♥ EA for hiking the price by more that 50% in many regions”
Steam review · 9.3 h played ↗
Repetitive, tedious combat and dungeons
Mentioned in ~1 in 11 negative reviews
“Battles, battles, battles, battles!”
Steam review · translated · 42.9 h played ↗
Game-breaking bugs and corrupted saves
Mentioned in ~1 in 14 negative reviews
“World map is bugged and won't show up.”
Steam review · 88.5 h played ↗
Dated controls, camera and graphics
Mentioned in ~1 in 15 negative reviews
“the ultimate ding is the crappy camera position, movement, spell casting/attacking, are all crap.”
Steam review · 17.3 h played ↗
System requirements
From the Steam store page
Steam Deck: Playable20 GB
Minimum
OSWindows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Single 1.6 Ghz Processor (or equivalent) or AMD 64 2.0 GHz Processor (or equivalent)
Memory1GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)
GraphicsATI Radeon X850 256MB or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater (Windows Vista: Radeon X1550 256 MB or NVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB)
Storage20 GB HD space
Recommended
OSWindows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz or AMD Phenom II X2 Dual-Core 2.7 Ghz Processor or equivalent
Memory2 GB (3GB Vista and Windows 7)
GraphicsATI 3850 512 MB or NVidia 8800GTS 512MB or greater
Storage20 GB HD space
OSWindows XP (SP3) or Windows Vista (SP1) or Windows 7
ProcessorIntel Core 2 Single 1.6 Ghz Processor (or equivalent) or AMD 64 2.0 GHz Processor (or equivalent)
Memory1GB (1.5 GB Vista and Windows 7)
GraphicsATI Radeon X850 256MB or NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB or greater (Windows Vista: Radeon X1550 256 MB or NVidia GeForce 7600GT 256MB)
Storage20 GB HD space
More games to check
Other games we’ve read the reviews for
Swordhaven: Iron Conspiracy
Mostly Positive · 75%
+ Authentic old-school Baldur's Gate/ATOM feel
− Unfinished, empty late game
analyzed 3 d ago
LISA: The Painful
Overwhelmingly Positive
+ Devastating, unforgettable story
− Definitive Edition: censorship, bugs, price hike
analyzed 5 d ago
Sea of Stars: Sunset Edition
Very Positive · 88%
+ Stunning pixel art and lighting
− Bland, weak story and writing
analyzed 6 d ago
Expeditions: Rome
Very Positive · 87%
+ Engaging story with meaningful choices
− Boring, shallow legion battles
analyzed 7 d ago
Weekly digest
Fresh games worth a look, in your inbox
The most interesting games we’ve just analyzed, once a week.Once a week we send the most interesting games we’ve just analyzed: the verdict, top pros and cons, and what changed. No spam.
One email a week · unsubscribe in one click