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.

My son loves it. I think this is ok if your child already plays video games.

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.

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.

Alistair makes all the fan girls go wild which arouses them which means too much sexy stuff. Great game and not very violent. Also, Alistair is a blatant homosexual and wanted to get in Male Cousland's pants. He also was disgusted by Morrigan. I could tell in the Mage Tower, there was love at first sight between Alistair and Godwin.

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!

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....

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.

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.