This game caught me by surprise. I assumed "Assassin's Creed: Unity" and "Halo: The Master Chief Collection" were both going to absolutely dominate my fall, and then my friend Kristen convinced me to get dragon age.
That was a good move.
The emotional resonance that some of the characters have is astounding. Watching a character go bonkers when you find her favorite book really warms the heart, along with some of the best written characters in video games.
I also have to note how proud I am that this game included a transgender character, and if you try to press about it, one of the biggest badasses in the game makes it a complete non-issue. "He's damn good with an axe, I don't care who he is, it's what he brings to the table that counts". It's well done, and I was very pleased with that.
In fact, this game is great at dealing with larger issues. It even includes a small story that retells "Othello" with different characters, but still gives the overall idea of what the classic Shakespearean play was about without telling the story. It's so sly!
Is it without bugs? No. It's got funkiness that is inherent with all open world games of this magnitude. However, it breaks through the barrier of making the small glitches endearing, and well worth the love that is created for this game. I can't tell you how much I really, truly enjoyed this game. It was a delight.
As large or larger than Skyrim, Dragon Age offers a fantastic story, excellent character development and building, a fairly good combat system and it even includes multiplayer to boot. If I had to compare this to any game I've played in the past decade, it feels like Mass Effect 2, set in a LOTR-esque universe, with a better ending. Top notch game, and one I...well, I sunk 200 hours into it. What more can I say.