Game:

Dragon Age: Origins (2009)

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Dragon Age is an epic fantasy series created by the legendary video game company BioWare. Set in the world of Thedas (a pun on the designers’ part; it’s an acronym that stands for “THE Dragon Age Setting), it features the classic Lord of the Rings style clash of good versus evil, combined with political intrigue and gray morality familiar to Game of Thrones fans. It’s been a wildly successful franchise, featuring not only several games but also novels, action figures and even a webcomic. This first game, Dragon Age: Origins, was released in 2009 and chronicles the player character’s journey as a new member of the elite Grey Wardens to ultimately save the world.

The ultimate evil in the Dragon Age setting, as the intro explains to us, is a race called darkspawn. According to the setting’s religious beliefs, long ago a group of power-hungry mages managed to teleport into the Golden City (the equivalent of heaven), but things went horribly wrong—their own wickedness polluted the city and turned it black. They were unceremoniously expelled by the Maker (the Dragon Age equivalent of God) and their evil ended up physically mutating them into monstrous creatures that became known as darkspawn. Worst of all, their evil, known as the “Taint” can infect and corrupt any form of life, and the darkspawn are driven to attack and absorb other races into their umbrella. They normally live underground and make isolated raids, but every once in a while they launch a “Blight” or all-out attempt at world conquest.

Darkspawn are dreaded and feared throughout the world, but they’ve been successfully held in check by an elite military order called the Grey Wardens. The Grey Wardens exist for one reason: to oppose the darkspawn menace and perhaps one day end it completely. They were founded during the First Blight which very nearly destroyed the world, but they were able to defeat this invasion against the odds. They’ve won numerous victories and stopped other Blights since then, but as the game starts the group’s definitely seen better days. Their numbers are relatively thin and the people of Ferelden (the kingdom in Thedas where most of the game takes place) view them somewhat skeptically. It’s not a good position to be in, and the darkspawn appear to be gaining strength. That sets the stage for the epic struggle of the game.

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