For me, a new Bioware game is akin to a new book from a favorite author or a new album from a favorite band. They're a cause for celebration and will no doubt seek to dominate my game time for the weeks and hopefully months immediately after it's release.

I've started my initial playthrough as a human fighter, and after the first three hours everything seems off to a good start. The Origin story for the all the hype it got was shorter than I expected it to be, and as a result felt very rushed. There was plenty of talking, exposition, death, yelling, and more death all in the name of making up an excuse for the (hopefully) epic the story to come, but it was all squeezed together as you feel pushed along through every relevant character one after another.

Immediately after the Origin story I've noticed one big thing: Dragon Age is hard, in a way I haven't seen from Bioware in a long time. Having blown through their most recent efforts like Mass Effect, KOTOR, and Jade Empire on normal difficulty with few problems, I was surprised to find myself getting my butt kicked in the very first dungeon by a horde of darkspawn. Granted, the party you're initially given isn't what I consider a very balanced composition, but it was still surprising to have to adapt to the tactical nature of the game right from the get-go.

When playing a Bioware game, I expect to laugh once inawhile, and I was glad to find myself laughing out loud at multiple points during the game's opening, thanks to a couple of very snarky response choices in the conversations that I found impossible to resist choosing.

Summary: A good start, and I really hope the game builds on the hastily constructed exposition. There are already a ton of great opportunities for plot twists down the line, and I hope some of them actually happen. Provided I stay challenged, engaged, and laugh once inawhile, Dragon Age should be at the level expected of another Bioware classic.