Dragon Age Impressions

.
.
Games: Ok, an update to the Dragon Age situation: Miraculously, the game did arrive at my house, unopened. I was thrilled-- and also very, very confused.
.
Turns out that the game was indeed incorrectly delivered to my old address, but through some unexplained happenstance, the postal carrier somehow had an epiphany and remembered that the wrong occupant was living there. He went back to reclaim the box the next day, was able to recover it, and then put it back through the forwarding process which resulted in the extended delay-- and me getting hyper paranoid about the game being stolen by the guy who now lives in my old house.
.
I still say he looked damn suspicious, but I guess I owe him an apology since he was innocent. Random dude: my bad.
.

.
So, now that it’s here I’ve been able to log some hours with it and at this point all I'll say is that despite some of the big talk BioWare was putting out, Dragon Age = KOTOR/Jade Empire/Mass Effect in a Medieval-ish/LOTR skin.
.

.
Frankly, it's the same game they've put out a couple times now, so everyone's mileage may vary. In my case, this is one of my favorite game types and BioWare does them best, so I'm digging it. However, I’m under no illusions that the game pushes any boundaries or explores new territory. This is firmly-established boilerplate.
.
Although the voice acting is superb and there are tons of dialogue trees available (always pluses) Dragon Age is much rougher and more unpolished than I would expect from BioWare, and it doesn't have their usual ZING! quality. I mean, even a mediocre BioWare game beats the pants off of a lot of other games, but it's far from their best… I’ve hit a handful of small bugs, certain design decisions annoy me, and the game lags far behind its contemporaries in a technical sense. Hate to sound like a graphics whore or the equivalent, but the visuals are part of the immersion, so if they’re not there then it’s kind of an issue at times.
.

.
So far it’s still good and still very enjoyable-- it just feels a little like they’ve got the formula down and they're phoning it in here.
.
P.S. – The DLC featuring the extra character Shale is SO worth it. They did a great job not just with the quest, but in how seamlessly they integrated him into the main game. Maybe a little TOO well, if you get my drift. That said, he really adds a lot to the mix and I would recommend it to anybody contemplating playing Dragon Age.
.
IMO, get it and install as close as possible to the beginning of the game so you’ll have access to the character early on. You won’t be sorry.
.
.