My wife has played through every race/ class combination possible, hence the 1300+ hours on record. She has replayed the dwarf and human noble origins repeatedely just to know all possible outcomes (her favorite seems to be a dwarf rogue). She is so good at playing the game she can run through it up to the final battle over a weekend (friday night, saturday, done sunday noon)
i was only able to write this review because she is at work.

...I miss my wife, can i have her back yet?

I guess i should recommend it because she plays it so voraciously?

EDIT: 4/8/15: HOLY FRAK PEOPLE! :D
for those of you thave have commented:
Yes the wife thinks i am like Alistair sometimes
Yes i have a beard
Yes she slays the dragons in the family...so far... but I am slowly catching up. (well she doesn't slay them directly per se, but she sets up the dragon to be slain by some warrior/fighter, typically Aveline, Fenris, or Iron Bull)

DA 2 was just as time consuming as DA: O (but with only 700-ish hours gameplay over 2014; less choices with char-gen means less replayability for her, only 6-8 characters made this time instead of 30-40)
DA: I ( which i just got for her in Feb. as a late X-mas gift) has totally consumed her time (AGAIN!) but with her new job she has only managed 300 hours (i estimate about 25 of it are my two characters) She is frustrated she cannot romance Varric
she loves Iron Bull (who the hell doesn't he's got the best lines, along with Sera)


i told her no DLC until the main storyline is finished, she gave me puppy dog eyes, i haven't cracked...yet...

I may be a bit biased but yes i do believe she is very awesome and I can geek out with her without her eyes glazing over, alternatively i dont Glaze-out either when she geeks out at me.

...so, hooray? for totally life consuming video games...?

Disclaimer: This is my favorite game of all time, so I apologize for any obsessive fan-girling that may occur within this review.
tl;dr Pro's and Con's list at the bottom.

Theres so many things I could say about this game, I love it so much. A majority of my time playing is on console, where I easily have 500+ hours, as well as every achievement in the game as well as additional content. I'm not much of a reviewer (this being my first lengthy one), so to keep it simple I'll seperate it into sections.

Character Creation/Leveling-
There is a fair bit of customization when you create your character. There are 3 races to choose from (Human, Dwarf, and Elf) which all give different bonus stats. From there, you will pick your characters class (Warrior, Rogue, or Mage). All of those classes expand at later levels, with your choice of sub-classes for each (unlocked at levels 7 and 14), which are unlocked by doing different things in the game, or learning them from certain characters. So no, you aren't born with the ability to magically understand how to be a Bard, or a Templar, you need to actually be taught by someone, or learn the knowledge elsewhere. Visual choices are alright, standard RPG things like different hair, different eyes, all of which will be covered by a helmet/cowl anyway no doubt. Either way, you could always grab a mod or two for more character visuals, but I'll try to keep this review on the base game alone. When you level up there are hefty decisions to be made. Not only are there abilities for you to use in combat, there are also different abilties for out of combat purposes. Are you going to put that point into your combat knowledge, unlocking the next tier of weapon abilites? Or are you going to put it in lockpicking? The next dungeon might have a door you can't quite pick yet. Choose carefully...

Story-
The best thing about this game is the enthralling story! From character creation, based on your race, and class even changes how your story begins. Are you a human noble, living cozy in your castle? Perhaps a dwarf whose fallen on hard times, and has gone down a life of crime. Maybe even a mage, stripped from your family and sent off to the Circle of Magi to be watched by the Templars. In most cases, different events from your "Origin" story come back to either aid/hinder you based on how you handled them. This game is full of heart-wrenching decisions, where you need to decide between being the good guy, or getting something that would be extremely helpful on your quest/not put you in danger. There's a fair bit of situations where there is no clear-cut decision to be a good guy, someone is getting hurt and it will be your fault, and you can be sure it will change how certain people treat you/your story in general.

Characters-
I might have lied about the story being the best part, because the different characters in the game are amazing. I could go hours talking about the different personalities characters have, but I'll stick just to your party in this, because that's who you'll spend most of the time with obviously. Your party as it starts getting full, is a ragtag group of different people, with various different outlooks on things. Literally, you might have an apostate witch, a templar, a chantry zealot, and a drunken dwarf all at once. Each party member has a relationship bar, which goes up or down depending on your decisions and how you talk to them, which in turn effects how they treat you/open up to you. You could make someone spit in your face and leave the party for good, or even turn and attack you, or they could open up to you about their past giving you a special quest to help them with something personal. On top of balancing decisons on how it will effect you, and the world around you, you also have to think of how your party members will react to it. Each character in you party has a lot of diologue opportunities, and if you pay close attention you might be able to find them a gift relevant to something they have said, or perform an action they mentioned. You can even have relationships with some of the characters, and watch a blooming love grow, as well as listen to the rest of your party snicker and banter about you and soandso last night in a tent together. If one party member is growing affectionate of you, you can see them get jealous when they discover your relationship with another.
You know characters are a big part, when some of the ADD ON CONTENT IS FOR THE CHARACTERS. Some of the additional content in the game focuses on a certain characters past, and another on his/her events after the story. Of course based on what you did in the story, it effects it as well.

Gameplay-
If you played Dragon Age 2, don't expect this game to be as hack and slash as that one was. This is by far much more tactical. One of the coolest features is allowing you to set up your party members tactics in certain situations. You can set a condition where if 4 enemies are clumped together, your mage shoots a fireball in the center of them, or if your tank gets below 20% health, your Warrior activates an ability to take aggro off of him. On harder difficulties, you might find yourself hitting the spacebar key pretty quick to pause the game, so you can asses the situation, and assign party members specific orders.

Difficulty-
If your new to the game, start on the easiest mode for sure. This game is brutal on harder difficulties, and while the ability to set your AI party's tactics is beneficial, you will need to be able to know what abilities do what, the different sub-classes to branch down..etc. Even on easy, you'll find yourself in some situations pausing, and getting some much needed healing done, or think on how to take down a challenging foe. (Seriously, f*** Revenants). And remember to be careful when setting your Mage's tactics, there IS FRIENDLY FIRE with mage abilities. That fireball you just set to go off when the enemies clumped? You killed them, but your rogue with them.

Glitches/Bugs-
There are of course some glitches in the game, scaling from minor textures on occasion, to something that could ruin a combat situation and make you die. Some of the notable ones include:
-Enemies not spawning in missions if you leave a set area/charge their spawn
-Your attack speed going back to default if it gets insanely high
-Your character not being able to get good placement in combat, making him run in place
-A certain party members arm getting stuck in place like she's waiting for a bird to perch on it
-Gifts not giving the appropriate amount of points on the relationship bar
And you might find a couple others. Fortunately, the major ones are fixable by mods that are readily avalible on sites such as Nexus mods. However as I said before, I'm reviewing this based on the base game.

Pros and Cons-
Pros:
-Amazing story!
-Heart-wrenching decisions, some with no clear-cut good or bad answer.
-Characters and how they react to what you do!
-Your party cast, and the relationship bar!
-Manageable AI tactics for your party!
-Harder difficulties are brutally challenging.
-You can wrangle nugs!

Cons:
-A few glitches/bugs. Nothing that ruins your gaming experience for more than a few moments.
-The lack of sun you'll be getting isn't good for your complexion.
-After playing this Dragon Age 2 is a big let-down. :(

My rating of course, is a 10/10! While there are a few bugs and glitches, they aren't so notable that it ruins your gaming experience more than just a few minute, if that. The story is just phenominal! The game is challenging, on the harder difficulties each battle you win feels like an achievement You find yourself stocking up and using everything you have on boss battles, most of the time narrowly making it through. This game is a must play if you haven't already!

And be sure to check nexusmods for some great mods!

Activate the Ultimate Edition's DLCs for Steam Edition:
- Go to "<steam_installation_folder>\steamapps\common\Dragon Age Ultimate Edition\redist\"
- Run these 2 files: "DAOU_UpdateAddinsXML_Steam.exe" and "DAUServiceSetup_Steam.exe"
- Run the game, in the game opening menu "Other Campaigns" menu should be activated.
- Go to "Downloadable Contents > Installed Contents", all the DLCs should be listed here.

10/10.

You will still need to download all the promotional and exclusive items that *do not* come with the ultimate edition for some reason. You can find them all here:

https://dragonage.fandom.com/wiki/Downloadable_content_(Origins) , all the files with "_PROMO_".

Run DAUpdater.exe under Dragon Age Ultimate Edition\bin_ship and install the files.

There is also a missing file that you can find here: https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/1110 to see the console commands you type, if you ever want to use them.

There are some unofficial patches for this game that I highly recommend(they are complementary to each other):
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4689,
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4384,
https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/4434

There is a game breaking bug in the awakening expansion where you can lose all your equipment! Be sure to check out this mod: https://www.nexusmods.com/dragonage/mods/1762. Please note that some people say that the mod doesn't work, so the safest solution is to strip your main character naked before entering the dungeon. Unfortunately I didn't know about this bug and lost all my equipment...will need to play awakening all over again. You have been warned.

This is a very involved and complex game. The story line is intriguing and the quests are challenging. (Please note: I'm 74 years old, so what might not be challenging to younger players can be challenging to me!) The game play, for the most part, works well. Some of the battles are difficult, but with persistence, wise choice of skills, equipment, and supplies (and reference to a good walkthrough), the battles can be won. I am pleased that the game can be played solo, as I'm reluctant to play with strangers. I've had some bad experiences with that in the past. Mistakes are unavoiadable, but live and learn. Or maybe that should be, die and learn! I could wish backpacks were easier to obtain and a little more plentiful. But, again, a good walkthrough can help with locating and obtaining the maximum available number of them. Having the downloadable content to keep the adventures going just increases the enjoyment. The complexity of the game, requiring a good deal of study and learning to build player skill, ensures that I'll play it again and again.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=233222451

Words cannot describe how much I love this game, so allow me to describe it in words. Crafted by the same studio that has made some of my favorite RPGs of all time, Dragon Age answers the question of whether or not Bioware can create a compelling medieval fantasy RPG that isn't D&D based. The answer is a resounding yes. While containing many of the trappings of past RPGs like Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate, Dragon Age works its own magic by offering three classes that can be customized by an almost infinite amount, six different origin stories for the player character, and doing away with the traditional good/evil morality mechanic in favor of one based on individual party approval or disapproval of your actions.

Each character in your party is believable and compelling, likeable for different reasons, and some can be romanced or change their outlook depending on how the story progresses. Every major questline can have different outcomes depending on player choices and it's this feeling of agency in the world that keeps the replay value in this game. Dragon Age has often been called a dark RPG and rightly so, as the story is much less straight forward than a typical RPG. Often you will find yourself having to deal with choices where there is no clear cut "good" or "evil" outcome which is part of why player choice feels so meaningful.

And on top of all that, the game is a lot of fun. I remember the first time playing this game and saying "this is the game that Neverwinter Nights 2 should have been!" It still holds up, probably even more so against its sequel which in some ways is unfortunate. If you love western RPGs and loved the past work of Bioware, you will love this game. I give it two severed darkspawn thumbs way up!

I am constantly searching for story rich rpgs to fill the Dragon Age sized hole in my heart. None can compare. This game has ruined me. I will never be whole again. 11/10

By the tits of my ancestors! Where is the damn remaster?

Deserve a remake in modern engine and graphics