This is one of the best games you will play this decade. It was about time for a game like that to show again.
The most difficult part of writing this review it trying to decide to which public should I make it adequate. It's no surprise that many Neverwinter Nights and Baldur's Gate fans will show interest for this game and I could go much deeper using comparison with those titles in those limited, few lines. Yet I don't feel like alienating who did not play those titles, so I'll avoid comparisons where possible. Just know, if you liked those titles, Dragon Age will be the greatest gaming experience of your life.
Now for those who didn't play those older games.
The combat system for Dragon Age PC version is great. It's not perfect (since they advertise it as tactical) because you cannot control movement with pinpoint accuracy, but is exactly what you'd expect from a combat under D&D rules without 4 hours rolling dices.
The skills/spells are strong, the lethality is high (stuff die FAST - including your group if you make some grave mistake). That makes the game harder, but also a lot more exciting (that's why I didn't remove points due to the difficulty being high).
You can automate your companions to some level, and the way it works is genius: you must upgrade their tactics, and for each level they gain one more "if ->then" line to the automation. That makes you feel the game at the start (when they have few skills, so 5 automated lines would make them bots) and also free you from the insane microing of obvious actions at the late game whet each character have easily 15 or 20 spells/skills. So you only have to bother about using the really specific ones, the obvious reactions are all automated for you if you keep the behavior lists up-to-date.
Other than that, the combat plays like in a tactical game - but without the hexagrams/squares. That means you will hit your friends with AoE spells more than you'd like too, but also means the combat is fluid and savage. It's not a turn based combat tough, it's an hybrid since it plays real time but you can pause and issue orders - and once you learn the time it takes for new actions to be executed, it feels ALMOST turn based - but you can relax and watch stuff be exploded if you're facing easy enemies.
The world is gritty, mature, VERY well written and developed and familiar, but with so many twist it feels unique and makes you interested in learning the lore.
The plot line(s) are incredible, I'll avoid talking about it because I really don't wanna spoil anything, but it's very, very solid and makes you wanna play more if just to know how things are gonna happen from that point on. You're also hooked very early by the story, even before you start diggin the combat system. One and a half hour and you'll be already addicted. And the level of freedom you have is amazing, you'll do things you never did in games before if you decide you should.
The only thing that breaks immersion now and then are the huge load times when you use the world map for "fast travel" - partially because it can lead to "random encounters", so it's making calculations and showing graphically where you are on the map - but it's not very interesting since you have to wait until your group reach the destination.
The graphics are decent, nothing impressive, but considering the sheer SIZE of the game that's to understand - with this graphics engine the PC installer have 15 gigs. The animations are good and the overall feel control is solid.
The sound is very good. The voice acting is excellent. The only gripe here is - your character has no voice acting, only the NPCs he talk to. So it feels somewhat awkward at the start. But you get used to it, and it's also something easy to understand in a game this HUGE - and with 6 or 7 voices you can choose to your character.
So, let's finish this thing. It's not possible to cover everything in a review like this, of course, so I chose to talk about the most curious stuff, like NPC automation and tactical combat.
Graphics: 8.0
Nothing exceptional but don't harm the game either. Good animations, fun-to-see gore and decent effects.
Sound: 9.0
Good music, good sound FX, great sound acting. I just miss my NPC talking like in Mass Effect.
Gameplay: 8.5
Combat is very good, fast, yet possible to use tactically. Not incredibly intuitive if you'll use all the resources the game give you tough, and could be a little more precise. Out of combat everything is pretty much perfect.
Story/Lore/Immersion: 10
You cannot stop thinking about your hero even when you're at work. Seriously.
Replayability: 9.5
The game is so huge, there are so many variables and every decision changes the plot so deeply you'll HAVE to play many times. And we're talking about a very, very large game, so you're gonna spend 50-150 hours every run (depending if you just skip all texts or if you, like me, will read everything you find and talk to every NPC until you learn everything about each topic on the game world history, politics, religion, etc).
Overal: 9.5
The flaws this game does have don't reflect seriously in the experience. All you remember after playing a session is that you need to go back to the game world and continue in your mission. You'll sleep thinking about how to build your hero and what other choices you'd like to test on your next playthrough, etc.
Highly recommended. If you have any interest in RPGs - of any kind - just buy it already.