Let’s get to the point. The priority of Dragon Age isn’t game mechanics, but a really solid narrative with an in-depth setting. If you eat that sort of thing for breakfast, then you’ll love Dragon Age. If not, then you may want to think twice before jumping in. This isn’t a constant heart-pounding thrill ride. In fact, combat at the very start is all around boring. It all builds into something intended for players that prefer an intellectual manner of play over twitch games.

Of course, the entire marketing for Bioware’s game has been anything but. The initial trailers and music selection has been one giant attempt at convincing non-RPG gamers this was a dark, gritty and edgy game. While things are relatively depressing, it doesn’t really scream Sin City or Watchmen. It’s more like Lord of the Rings if things weren’t so black and white. Sure there is a blatantly evil enemy, but one can’t fault them for wanting to wipe out a bunch of a**holes.

As such, the draw to Dragon Age is a fantasy game with a pretty decent story, interesting setting and well thought-out quests. It never feels like you are conducting a typical round of fetch for someone, and often enough one quest will be conducted within another quest. As in true Bioware fashion, you will be met with decisions that will test your moral standing. Nothing is simply good or evil. While dialog will certainly seem that way, the major choices are to help this person while sacrificing that, or vice versa. This keeps the game enjoyable and makes the quests worth paying attention to.

Of course, the quests also tend to take an excruciatingly long time. You are given four assignments towards the start of the game and by time you’re done with all of them almost forty hours will have passed, if not more. The urge for the game to actually get the ball rolling sets in pretty quickly, and in order to stay with it you have to be able to enjoy the gameplay.