Let me begin with a scene that broke my heart.
This is the part where I have to convince Alistair, who by that point of the game I have fallen madly in-love with, to sleep with a woman I’ve grown to despise.
This whole conversation left me cursing Bioware for making me go through this emotional turmoil. At the same time, it also made me want to put up a shrine in their name for creating a game that could rouse this much sorrow and anguish from me.
What DAO does so well is that it hauls you inside its story and then makes you believe that you ARE the story. Playing DAO made me believe that this wasn’t just Dragon Age Origins. It was Dragon Age: My Origins. Roleplaying was not only easy; it was practically the only way to play the game.
I’ve heard questions like, but Nicole! How in the world were you able to play the game so many times? In succession! Didn’t you get tired of it?
My answer is: how could I possibly get tired of it? I did mention that DAO practically perfected the art of incorporating roleplay in their game didn’t I? How could I not finish the game for 24 times when there is practically an unlimited number of stories to tell?
I was able to play DAO as many times as that because I get to be a different person each and every time:
The possibilities were virtually endless. I can be a different person every single time: be a man, be a woman, make different choices, make the same choices… I can be QUEEN for heaven’s sake. I can die a hero. I can have threesomes. I can sleep with a she-male. I can be a blood mage. I can be an asshole. I can work for assassins. I can be annoying. I can be inspiring. I can choose to kill dragons, I can choose not to kill dragons.
I’m not even getting started with the different builds and the equipment and the skills!
There are just so many things to be and so many things to do that I think it’s impossible to not play the game more than twice.
So yes, I will say it proudly; I finished Dragon Age Origins 24 times. And the experience was different and fulfilling. Every. Single. Time.