BioWare's upcoming title, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, wants to set a new benchmark in PC gaming within the franchise, showcasing features like ultra-wide resolutions and ray tracing. This technological leap highlights how far the series has come since the days of Dragon Age: Origins. While Origins remains a beloved classic, its performance on modern PCs leaves much to be desired. The contrast between these two titles raises an important idea: Dragon Age: The Veilguard could be the catalyst for BioWare to revisit and refresh Dragon Age: Origins for a new generation.
Dragon Age Origins And The Need for Optimization
As PC gaming hardware continues to advance, older titles often struggle to keep up, and Dragon Age: Origins is no exception. Despite its iconic status, Origins faces numerous performance issues on contemporary systems. Gamers frequently encounter crashes, compatibility problems with newer GPUs, and a notorious memory leak that leads to frustrating gameplay interruptions. For a game that still sees regular sales on platforms like Steam, these issues are not just inconvenient—they're a significant barrier to new players who would like to dive into the game that launched the series.
In its recent blog post, BioWare emphasized that the Dragon Age franchise 'started out on PC,' highlighting its commitment to making the platform a great place to play The Veilguard. This focus on PC is essential for the series' future, particularly given that Dragon Age: Origins is often regarded as the definitive experience on this platform due to features like the isometric camera angle, which was absent in console versions.
BioWare's dedication to over 200,000 hours of testing for PC compatibility with The Veilguard showcases its commitment to optimization. However, this raises the question of why Dragon Age: Origins, a cornerstone of the franchise, hasn't received similar attention. After BioWare dedicates such resources to The Veilguard, it seems only fitting that it invests in a remake or remaster of Origins to ensure it performs smoothly on modern hardware.
A Case for Remastering Dragon Age Origins
The technical challenges associated with running Dragon Age: Origins on modern PCs highlight the need for a remaster. Current players often find themselves forced to search for mods or tweak files to get the game running properly—a process that can be daunting, especially for those unfamiliar with PC gaming. One of the biggest selling points of the Dragon Age series is arguably the ways in which players can customize their story across the series, but it's hard to enjoy that experience on PC if Origins' performance suffers. This is a significant detractor to revisiting the decade-long narrative.
BioWare could revitalize the game by making it appealing to both longtime fans and newcomers. It could resolve existing compatibility issues, upgrade the graphics with high-resolution textures, improved lighting, and modern shaders. Ensuring smooth performance across various hardware, including ultrawide monitors and newer GPUs, would make the game more accessible. Quality-of-life improvements, like a streamlined user interface, faster load times, and refined combat animations, could further enhance the experience.
The Financial Argument Why a Dragon Age: Origins Remake Makes Sense
Beyond the technical and nostalgic reasons, there's also a strong financial case for a Dragon Age: Origins remake. The game still enjoys a dedicated fanbase, and its frequent sales on platforms like Steam indicate that there is a consistent market for it. However, the frustration many players face due to its outdated performance could deter future sales and damage the game's reputation. By investing in a remake, BioWare could tap into this existing demand while also attracting new players who may have been put off by the technical challenges of the original.
- Released
- November 3, 2009
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Language, Partial Nudity, Sexual Content
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Eclipse Engine
- Cross-Platform Play
- n/a
- Cross Save
- n/a
- Franchise
- Dragon Age
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- no
WHERE TO PLAY
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