This is another answer that I gave on Yahoo. The asker wanted to know whether Dragon Age: Origins was worth buying and this is what I gave as my answer. I will flesh this out further when I carry on playing. (I’ve temporarily traded it with a friend for Bioshock.)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I bought the game as soon as it came out because I was amazed by the trailers. What the first answerer said is true - dialogue does take up a large portion of the game - but this is something I like very much. The voice acting (with the exception of the American dwarfs who painfully misuse the word 'sod') is top notch and the script is very funny but also very moving. Without spoiling the story, I would like to say that Alastair is quite possibly the wittiest video game character I've ever come across yet he can also be fairly heartbreaking.
I think the graphics are pretty good. There's certainly nothing that would cause me to complain. I think people are always expecting each game to completely obliterate anything before it with absolutely blinding graphics and that can make for some visually stunning yet otherwise bland games.
I can never make my mind up about the battle system because it's not what I'm used to from playing RPGs like Final Fantasy and Lost Odyssey. The battle system seems somewhat similar to Diablo's but more advanced and with the ability to pause during the action while you sort out your tactics.
The best thing about the game is the freedom you're given concerning your character and the storyline around them. You get a choice of how you want a conversation to progress which influences the events that follow. Sometimes you might just end up with a longer conversation with more witty remarks, sometimes you might earn yourself an important piece of equipment, or you might even decide whether a character lives or dies. The dialogue options are also different according to your gender and origin which makes the culture of the game world seem a lot more realistic. For example, trying to get information out of a human NPC might be more difficult if you are playing as an elf because there is a long-standing animosity between the two races.
Overall, Dragon Age is a very entertaining game and I would recommend it to you. If you want more information, look up the game on Gamespot.com but remember to look at more than just the site-produced review to get a good balance of opinion.
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You never have to worry about not being able to get hold of the basics of a Final Fantasy game because they all come with detailed manuals and in-game tutorials for the important bits. Anything you still have trouble with can be sorted out by people on sites such as gamefaqs.com where there are plenty of player-made resources to help.
I'm not sure whether Final Fantasy XIII is the best game in the series for you to start with though. While every game in the series has a different battle system, Final Fantasy XIII seems to be the most far-removed from the other installments. Also, the game is very linear for quite a long time. I have got as far as disc 2 and have not yet felt free at any point. All of the FF games are linear at the beginning while you get your bearings, and of course while the major events that trigger the journey begin to unfold, but FFXIII is the most linear so far in my opinion. It is however a visually stunning game.
If you're not of the opinion that any game without cutting edge graphics isn't worth your time, then perhaps an older game would be a better start. I would recommend Final Fantasy IX as a starting point as it has a great combat and character development system. The game has an interesting storyline and some absolutely beautiful painted backgrounds. Final Fantasy IX was the last FF released on the PSone and the last text-based one.
If you don't want to be reading text then try Final Fantasy X which was the first Final Fantasy to feature voice-acting. As this one was made for the PS2 the graphics are also significantly more advanced than its predecessor. This installment features some of my absolute favourite cutscenes, beginning with an explosive action FMV with a great song to go with it, and also some incredibly beautiful and sorrowful sequences later on.
Final Fantasy XII, the last one made for the PS2, is also a possibility but for some reason a great number of fans of the series never really took to this game. Although I've never made it to the end, I've enjoyed this game well enough to disagree with these people.
Final Fantasy VIII is a lot more serious and...greyer than the other games and while it is still a great game it might not be the most visually impressive for you to begin with.
Final Fantasy VII is a real fan-favourite because it was the first Final Fantasy game made in 3D but I never really took to it. I got almost to the end but by the time I was approaching the final showdown I'd grown fairly frustrated with the storyline so never took the time to finish it. The materia system is a clever way of customising your characters for battle and the limit breaks are impressive but the storyline often seems quite scattered. Also be aware that while the cutscenes aren't too shabby considering the game was using brand new technology, for the most part you will be controlling characters which look a lot like lego people.
I would discount FFX-2 because it was the first game in the series to continue the story of a previous installment, and I would discount FFXI because it is an online game which comes with a number of fees.
I hope that I've helped you and that you decide to give this brilliant series a try. I've grown up playing these games and they're such an important part of my gaming life that whenever anyone mentions gaming I automatically think of them first.