I was almost going to let my mature 10 year old play this, but I decided to play through all the beginning sequences to make sure it was suitable. The elf and dwarf starting sequences were not for young minds. The female dwarf beginning starts you off as a prostitute. Nothing is shown, but it is actively discussed by your character & her boss. The female elf start is absolutely NOT ok for kids. The women elves all get swept away to be raped by the arl's son & his friends. One of the elves is gang raped. The scene is not shown, but it IS discussed in gameplay as more than innuendo. I still wasn't sure about letting my son play the game if he played the tamer storylines (human or mage), but the desire demon scene was more than just a topless demon & sealed the deal. I googled the scene to remind myself of why I thought the content wasn't appropriate and in the first few seconds not only is she topless but she runs her hand over her breast seductively. So, feel free to seek the scene out on the web, it's available.
Dragon Age: Origins
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Is it age appropriate?
About our ratings -
Is it any good?
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Common Sense says
Deep but very violent fantasy role-playing game.
Why We Rated This 
The good stuff
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Ease of play:
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Educational value:
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Online interaction:
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Role models:
What to watch out for
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Violence:
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Sex:
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Language:
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Consumerism:
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Drinking, drugs, & smoking:
What Parents Need to Know
This review of Dragon Age: Origins was written by Marc Saltzman
Parents need to know Dragon Age: Origins is rated "Mature" and designed for players 17 years of age or older, primarily for its combat-heavy play, which includes plenty of blood spilled by both humans and creatures. The player will also be exposed to some sexual imagery, including bare demon breasts, as well as some coy discussions about sex which involve characters talking about going to their tents for intimate interludes. Note, too, that players are allowed to make decisions that will result in the life or death of many important characters, some of whom might be viewed as innocent. Consequences for evil actions are not always evident. There is also a small amount profanity, though nothing gratuitous.
Families Can Talk About
- Families can talk about whether or not parents should be more forgiving about the mature content in Dragon Age: Origins because it's a fantasy game and not based on contemporary characters or familiar locations. Does it matter that it doesn't have a modern city, dialogue, and characters, or is violence always inappropriate for certain ages regardless of a game's time and place?
More on Dragon Age: Origins
What’s the Story?
Is It Any Good?
Yes! But this third-person epic isn't flawless. Five years in the making, this RPG shows its age. Compared to many other video games today, the characters, animation and special effects look dated -- but at least it doesn't detract much from the gameplay. Another issue is that you rarely hear your own character speak, as you do in other BioWare games, such as 2007's Mass Effect. This takes some getting used to as your peers talk around you but your character remains silent as you read and select from the dialogue options available. However, this combat-heavy game -- complete with power-ups, huge maps and a great story -- delivers the goods. RPG fans in search of a meaty game with plenty of depth and replayability won't be disappointed with this masterfully crafted adventure that offers a lot of bang for your buck.
Note: The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC versions of the game are the same.
Publisher’s Details
Released on: 11/3/2009, Price: $59.99, online enabled
ESRB Rating: M for Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content
Our Members Say
Most Recent Reviews
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Kids ages: 10
I rate this title on for age 15 and give it- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
Parent's Beware: Storylines include rape and prostitution
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Kids ages: 5, 14
I rate this title on for age 14 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Easy to play
Good game
Good game. I play and I allow my 14yo to play. There is the ability at a point in the game for your toon to have sex with either a man or a woman. But its not too bad.
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I rate this title on for age 13 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- Easy to play
Great Game
I really love this game although i havnt finished it. It is more of a mature game but kids that are 13+ shldnt have a problem with most of it. I havnt heard any really bad language, nothing you can't hear kids saying at school. There is some partial nudity from one of the demons because only the nipples are covered and just barely. The blood isnt really that bad, it doesnt even look like blood and you dont get scars or anything like that. You can make many decisions that wld be a good learning point for many kids. I'm 16 and my brother is 14 and we both sit and play the game and so far have had no real big problems.
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Kids ages: 9
I rate this title on for age 9 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive consumerism
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- Easy to play
My son loves it. I think this is ok if your child already plays video games.
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I rate this title iffy for age 17 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
Sounds like one of the best rpg games ever!!
when i grow up id like to play this game! im in to rpgs and mmorpgs!!!!!!
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I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Negative role models
- My highlights are:
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
In-Depth, Fascinating, but Mature Storyline
I think this game is extremely entertaining, but only for teens who are mature enough to handle the extreme grey-area morality situations presented to them, as well as the sexual content placed throughout. The violence, while slightly excessive at some points, in general isn't too gruesome and plays a necessary part in the game. I think the focus is more on the in-depth story, and as long as the player can handle some mature subject matter, they should enjoy it very much!
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I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- Excessive consumerism
- Drinking, smoking, or drug use
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- Safety isn't an issue
For adults and 15+
The game is fun but some sexual scenes no nudity, not much alchohol.
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I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
Very gory game.
This is one of the goriest sword games I have played, If not the goriest. The swordplay is gory, Very gory. Blood splatter everywhere, And its not 1st person. You are slaying monsters with guts coming out. The cut scenes (action) are really bloody. It is pretty disturbing after a while. There is a female demon who has pretty revealing qualities about it. The language is pretty moderate. But its bad and still adds to the rating. Overall its a mature game.
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I rate this title on for age 16 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- Inappropriate sexual content
- Inappropriate language
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- Easy to play
Great story,Great action,Great for mature audiences.
This particular game is a big stride in the gaming with really realistic character responses and personalities. You have a choice of what race between Elf,Human, and Dwarf, each with unique background history which you will experience. Though dwarf and elf each have a type of 'commoner' background which you can choose. The game itself is easy to pick up and play given a few minutes to learn the controls and how the spell system works. The violence is quite high, but you can turn off 'persistent gore' which prevent your character from being cover in blood. But that does not turn it off at all. Out of random depending on your character (warrior,rogue,melee only) your character may do a 'finish move' automatically, from stabbing the enemy through the chest to spinning around and decapitation of them. The characters you will meet have a wide variety of personalities. From the dark and not-so-friendly Morrigan to the friendly positive natured Wynn. Did i mention there is a always drunken dwarf? He's hilarious with his adult jokes and comments. The story, as any Bioware game is dark and desperate. Your become a 'grey warden' or legendary warden according to lore. Not wanting to spoil story, but you will travel the land gathering allies, and rallying dwarf,human,mage, and elven army to fight the demonic darkspawn that pillage and burn the land during the very rare 'blight'. Again, with a Bioware game you can get to know and sleep with a number of the characters, which includes a sex scene, but it is not much more than the characters rubbing against one another in a sexual manor. What is different is that you can get caught in a love triangle if you decide to flirt and seduce another character while in a relationship with say, 'lilliana' which will force you to choose one or the other. Or neither which will impact they're 'loyalty' meter, lower means they may leave your group if it goes far enough. Farther up means they will stick with you to the end. As for creatures, such as said before in other reviews. Desiree demons are scantily clad demons who delight in seducing then taking over a person for whatever goals. There is one particularly horror type chapter when gaining the dwarf armies loyalty. Including a very large (round) demon and disturbing gory area while looking a legendary dwarven item for the story. The story does have some good role models, such as your first ally Alistair, the priest like Wynn, and others you can recognize easy. In the end, it's a great game with a great story, though i reccomend you buy it for consoles, as the PC version has many mods you can download free which can add A LOT of inappropriate things, such as a whole new sex scene (the scene itself is rated X by even the person who made it.) last note, it's a good idea to use parental vision with this particular game.
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I rate this title iffy for age 14 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Excessive violence
- My highlights are:
- Safety isn't an issue
Great!
A fantastic RPG for older teens and adults, but due to the sheer difficulty (which can be turned down) and relentless killing of zombie-like undead (as well as humans and animals) this game should only be played by those 15+
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Kids ages: 8, 11, 13
I rate this title iffy for age 10 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
Great game! Almost perfect!
It was an amazing game, the violence was not nearly as bad as anyone says, there is blood, but it is not pouring out in rivers and is evenly placed out throughout the game! It actually taught my ten year old about economics ... but that was the only problem too ... you see he wasted all his money on random boots and hats, just because they looked cool, but he learned his lesson after that when he kept dying. I had to block it for my 7 year old, and the violence was just barely too much for my ten year old but I let him play it every now and then. My thirteen year old LOVED it! It's a great buy and perfect for anyone who's older than 10, or mature 10 year olds!
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Kids ages: 3, 4
I rate this title on for age 14 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
An excellent game which handles "mature" themes well.
Let's get a few things out of the way. Next to Arkham Aslyum, this is perhaps the best game of 2009 (Uncharted 2? Not impressive considering the MGS series). That said, this is indeed a "mature" game, and I honestly believe that this game handles "mature" themes in just that sense, as opposed to the sensational spectacles of games like GTA. Addressing the "questionable" material, I think that with good parental supervision, teens (not tweens) can handle this game. With the exception of a rare special decapitation animation during fighting, the violence in this game could pass for a T rated game. There is plenty of blood, but nothing silly or outrageous like the rivers seen in anime movies. Correcting the Common Sense review, I remember encountering two Desire Demons, who wear something akin to pasties over their nipples. They are succubi, so explaining to your child what a succubi is (and the corruption/sin associated with such sexuality), this should not be alarming to you. It is *supposed* to be arousing (otherwise, they would be sorry excuses for succubi). Those are good teaching moments in the game. There is also another kind of demon in the game which is topless, but it is so grotesque, I doubt it will be a problem. Yes, there are romances in the game, and the sex scenes have the characters in their underwear (btw, every character in the game has a fine-chiseled bodies like Barbies or The Sims characters. There are no flat-chested women in the game and they all have Jessica Biel-style butts). If Twilight is acceptable in your house, none of this will bother you. However, as has been pointed out, there is potential for homosexual relationships. With the female character involved, it is at least portrayed as awkward at first. With the male character, it is more than a bit suggestive. Tracking your child's progress in the game, you can see the "relationship" bar to see how close they are to potentially consummating a relationship, should they wish. So if you've had a talk with your child about sex (if you haven't, someone else will), and they've seen at least one R-rated movie on television (where the commercials cut out the extreme stuff), this game actually is not that bad. I've been gaming for 24 years and I can assure you that there is much, much, worse out there. If I had to pick one game with "mature" themes to expose my child to, this would be one of them. Just imagine a slightly gritter version of Lord of the Rings, and you've got Dragon Age.
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I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
Not for under 13s But perfect for 15+
This is a violent and gory game with sex and "drugs"(potions). Bu tthe thin to think is that the fighting and gore although there is very unrealistic and the gore is not as bad as you migh think. You basically run around with a sword (if your a warrior) then you wack it at this evil deamony thing and some red stuff comes out, it is not realistic and no scars show up on the enemies or you. I think that this game has an amazing and deap storyline and is very relevant and adresses many topics such as racism in a way that you can pu yourself in the shoes of someone who is being abused because of your race (humans hate elves and treat them as slaves). You are faced with many moral choices which are really deap and can be quite difficult if you get emotionally atached to the caracters who you play with, and seeing as you can build your own haracter you become him (or her). I dont think that this game is suitable for anyone under the age of 13 but for a mature 15 year old I think that this would be more that acceptable . There is so much story and depth to this game that it would take me a day to write about it, but this is not something which should be turned down just because of some gore, this is a deep and challenging game with lots to learn about life in it and should definitly not be passed for a 15+ year old. It would actually be a sin to not let a 15+ year olod play this game.
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I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
Not for under 13s But perfect for 15+
This is a violent and gory game with sex and "drugs"(potions). Bu tthe thin to think is that the fighting and gore although there is very unrealistic and the gore is not as bad as you migh think. You basically run around with a sword (if your a warrior) then you wack it at this evil deamony thing and some red stuff comes out, it is not realistic and no scars show up on the enemies or you. I think that this game has an amazing and deap storyline and is very relevant and adresses many topics such as racism in a way that you can pu yourself in the shoes of someone who is being abused because of your race (humans hate elves and treat them as slaves). You are faced with many moral choices which are really deap and can be quite difficult if you get emotionally atached to the caracters who you play with, and seeing as you can build your own haracter you become him (or her). I dont think that this game is suitable for anyone under the age of 13 but for a mature 15 year old I think that this would be more that acceptable . There is so much story and depth to this game that it would take me a day to write about it, but this is not something which should be turned down just because of some gore, this is a deep and challenging game with lots to learn about life in it and should definitly not be passed for a 15+ year old. It would actually be a sin to not let a 15+ year olod play this game.
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I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
Not for under 13s But perfect for 15+
This is a violent and gory game with sex and "drugs"(potions). Bu tthe thin to think is that the fighting and gore although there is very unrealistic and the gore is not as bad as you migh think. You basically run around with a sword (if your a warrior) then you wack it at this evil deamony thing and some red stuff comes out, it is not realistic and no scars show up on the enemies or you. I think that this game has an amazing and deap storyline and is very relevant and adresses many topics such as racism in a way that you can pu yourself in the shoes of someone who is being abused because of your race (humans hate elves and treat them as slaves). You are faced with many moral choices which are really deap and can be quite difficult if you get emotionally atached to the caracters who you play with, and seeing as you can build your own haracter you become him (or her). I dont think that this game is suitable for anyone under the age of 13 but for a mature 15 year old I think that this would be more that acceptable . There is so much story and depth to this game that it would take me a day to write about it, but this is not something which should be turned down just because of some gore, this is a deep and challenging game with lots to learn about life in it and should definitly not be passed for a 15+ year old. It would actually be a sin to not let a 15+ year olod play this game.
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I rate this title on for age 13 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Good role models
- Easy to play
a good solid experience
Do youpeople actually read your reviews? All of the missions that involve "Age inappropriate behaviour" are optional and the standard attention span of kids who the violence isn't appropriate for is not enough to get through the side quests involving the character's sexual side only show mostly hugging and kissing also it all takes place in UNDERWARE the characters are NOT naked. So what if homosexuality is possible but you should teach your kids to be accepting of these things.
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I rate this title iffy for age 17 and give it
- My concerns are:
- Inappropriate sexual content
Wow...
Aside from the great graphics, and reviews of this game, i find that the large amount of drinking and sexual behavior isn't appropriate for that many people. Throughout the game, you are give multiple chances to have Sex with the in-game characters. And not just straight either. Depending on your Main Characters gender, you have, if I remember, you have 4 or 5 possible chances to have Gay or lesbian sex in the game. Now I normally wouldn't mind allowing it for ages 17+, just because some type of sexual activity is bound to have happened by then. I find that sex with the same gender is just down right repulsive, and inappropriate for any age group. It's just sick. Of course, what does a 13 Year Old's intuitive thoughts mean anything to the World?
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I rate this title on for age 12 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
Dragon Age: Origins
Funniest game i've played in a long time. Storyline is fantasic and stays interesting until the end, and the characters you are able to play are all fun (personally I like playing the dwarfs). You'll never get bored as you fight ferocious enemies and work with others to bring peace back to the world.
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Kids ages: 9, 16
I rate this title on for age 15 and give it
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Good role models
- Safety isn't an issue
Common Sense's review rightly says that the consequences of your actions are not always readily apparent, and that's true for the person who isnt paying attention. The companion characters who accompany you, such as lilliana and morrigan, each have distinct moral and ethical leanings which should be easily understood after just a few minutes with each. For instance, Morrigan is the daughter of Dragonage's version of the boogey man, and her demeanor suggests she's likely to do whatever will help her out the most, and she despises weakness. When you choose to help the poor or to allow an enemy to live without any request for gain, your approval rating with Morrigan will go down. When you kill her mother in order to obtain a spellbook that morrigan wants and ostensibly save her life, or make a particularly self-motivated decision, your approval rating goes up. Lililana is cut of entirely different cloth. She is an immigrant with mixed heritage who grew to love the Maker while spending time as an affirmed sister of the Chantry, the DragonAge version of organized religion. Whenever you are met with a life or death decision, for all but the most vile of villans she will counsel for mercy, saying that the maker and the chantry will accept and reform anyone, no matter their sins. If you do not choose mercy, she will disapprove. There are several other characters the player will meet and travel with throughout the game, each offering a different viewpoint and different advice to the player for each decision. Understanding each player's moral compass is key to realizing how your decision may turn out later on. Spoiler alert: making this point requires a major decision spoiler. Some decisions don't have a morally or ethically "right" decision. When you choose to start out as a dwarven noble, you are the second of three children of the dwarven king. your introductory mission takes you into the deep roads to reclaim a lost relic of your ancestors, but on your journey back to your home you encounter your elder brother, chosen successor of your father, lying dead on the naked stone. your younger brother shows up with your father and retainers and accuses you of the murder. after you are cast out of your homeland and join the Grey Wardens, you return to compel the king of the dwarves to lend you an army against the darkspawn with treaties signed generations ago, only to find that your father is dead and his throne empty. Your little brother, the true murderer of your older brother, contests your father's right hand man for the crown. Knowing your brother's actions, you may still support him as king. If you do, your father's retainer is executed and you learn at the end of the game that your brother led the dwarven kingdom to new heights of prosperity and abolished the caste system(similar to indian castes, if you are familiar with that social structure). If you chose to support your father's retainer, then your brother refuses to accept him as king and attempts to kill you. you find out later that the caste system was kept in place and the dwarven kingdom's economy sank deeper than the stone in which it used to thrive. Those two outcomes become readily apparent as the player completes the quests necessary to crown one or the other, forcing the player at the very end to weigh the options of supporting a good and honest man who will keep things as they are, or a kinslaying and backstabbing prince who promises change that will be good for the people. Ether way you get your army, as the treaty compels the dwarven king to lend aid. That is not the kind of decision i expect anyone who has not started highschool to understand. However, it is not an uncommon position for an adult or older teen to be in, where neither of two paths offer a completely good or bad result. There are many places in the game where what is right and what is wrong are not the most obvious, and you must rely on your comrades and your own moral and ethical compasses to make your decision.
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Kids ages: 14, 26
I rate this title on for age 10 and give it- My concerns are:
- Excessive consumerism
- My highlights are:
- Educational
- Good role models
- Safety isn't an issue
- Easy to play
Everyone should try it!
not at all bad for kids over 10. the violence is overexaggerated in the trailers and people aviod buying it because of the trialer. it is actually a very family freindlt game....
Become a member and get recommendations from other parents based on your child's age.Our Members Rate It
Ratings at a Glance
| 47% | of parents say kids find it easy to play |
| 37% | of parents say it's too violent |
| 37% | of parents feel the site is safe |
| 32% | of parents say there are good role models |
| 32% | of parents say the sexual behavior isn't age appropriate |
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