It was at around this point that I had to chance to fiddle with the controls. Now, it doesn’t help that I’m not much of a 360 gamer, and I’m sure that the control scheme will eventually become second nature, but I do think like Dragon Age was going to be one of those games you’ll have to play on the PC to truly enjoy. Yes, the graphics were fantastic, and the controls felt reasonably streamlined, but it felt like I was missing out on some of the more fluid motions by not having a mouse, and by forcing my arsenal of actions to be interpreted from only so many buttons. 

I encountered some combat within the ruins, and it was smooth, fun and engaging. It wasn’t a piece of cake, something I was surprised and glad to see at the beginning of a game. The gaming industry has been moving towards less punishment for death for some time, so it was pleasing to see these monsters were not taking it easy, and that when I died I was reverted to a previous checkpoint. Sure, it’s no Mega Man and I’m allowed saves, but it’s a start.

The last feature Jarrett showed off was the ability to switch between party members and then play as them for as long as I liked, and actually level them up and have complete control over what they level and evolve themselves into. As a Final Fantasy micromanaging type of gamer, the idea of leveling a number of characters over time very specifically and the ability to have any one of them be the character I’m playing as is a very attractive proposition.

At the end of the demo, my elf was recruited into the Grey Wardens – kicking and screaming, but recruited nonetheless. Fellow TGR writers Jeffrey Matulef and Joe DeLia both watched me play, and after talking with them afterwards, and after writing this preview, I am more excited than ever for Dragon Age’s release for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 20 2009.