Set in the fictional kingdom of Ferelden during a period of civil strife, the game puts the player in the role of a warrior, mage, or rogue coming from an elven, human, or dwarven background.

The player character is recruited into the Grey Wardens, an ancient order that stands against monstrous forces known as "Darkspawn", and is tasked with defeating the Archdemon that commands them and ending their invasion.

BioWare described Dragon Age: Origins as a "dark heroic fantasy" set in a unique world, and a spiritual successor to their previous Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights franchises.

The player is a Grey Warden, part of an order of elite fighters, whose task is to defeat the Archdemon and save the world from a disastrous event called the Blight.

[3] The player often must choose between morally ambiguous options, which result in consequences that affect the game's world and progression[16] and can even lead to the death of a potential companion.

Mages, on the other hand, are cloistered by the Chantry: they have access to the Fade, the unconscious realm that is the home of spirits, and a single lapse in vigilance could cause them to be possessed by demons.

The chief protagonist of Dragon Age: Origins is the player-controlled character, whose biography and combat specialization are determined by the race and class chosen at the start of the game.

Companions include Alistair, a reluctantly heroic Grey Warden with a sarcastic wit; Morrigan, a spiteful apostate mage who has little regard for authority or social mores; Leliana, a lay sister of the Ferelden Chantry whose optimistic and virtuous demeanor belies an aptitude for espionage and combat; Sten, a proud but stoic warrior of the deeply regimented Qunari people who often questions the ways of other races; Oghren, an unkempt dwarven warrior whose love of alcohol is only matched by his penchant for physical violence and loyalty to his friends; Wynne, a senior member of the Ferelden Circle of Magi, a maternal figure to the party and a powerful healer; Zevran, a rakish elven assassin who is fond of treasures, sex and innuendo; and a loyal Mabari War Hound, which the player can name and use for scouting and combat.

With the DLC The Stone Prisoner installed, Shale, a sarcastic Golem with a mild ornithophobia who was a female dwarf in her prior life, is also available as an optional companion.

Outside of companion characters, NPCs significant to the Origins plot include Duncan, the Grey Warden who recruits the player; Arl Eamon Guerrin of Redcliffe, the uncle of Ferelden's naive but courageous King Cailan Theirin; Bann Teagan Guerrin, the brother of Arl Eamon; Queen Anora, Cailan's politically savvy wife, with a commanding personality that is somewhat offset by her ambition and ruthlessness; and Flemeth, Morrigan's mother, who appears to be a harmless old woman, but in truth is an infamous dark witch of Fereldan legend.

Duncan senses the influence of an Archdemon, a god-like Dragon that commands the Darkspawn, and emphasizes the importance of defeating the Blight before it can threaten the rest of Thedas.

However, upon arriving, Loghain abandons the battlefield, leaving Cailan, Duncan, and their army to be slain by the Darkspawn, who seize control of Ostagar and begin advancing into southern Ferelden.

While Anora inherits her husband's authority, Loghain declares himself her regent and seizes control of the kingdom, becoming a tyrannical ruler determined to retain power.

Dependent on this and other past decisions, the Warden then settles who assumes Ferelden's throne (Alistair and/or Anora), with the option of marrying the one of opposite gender if a Human Noble.

[29] Origins is a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate and Neverwinter Nights, as an attempt to build a similar fantasy RPG without any licensing restrictions or issues.

Zeschuk called the sheer number of choices in the game "big" and "impactful", and the team designed many of those to be emotional and create a more personal experience for the player.

[42] The team also hoped to handle romance in a more "mature" and "complicated" way, with a true reflection on human relationships and reactions rather than "adolescent titillation".

[35] The soundtrack was described by a press release issued by Electronic Arts as a collaboration between composer Inon Zur, vocalist Aubrey Ashburn, and BioWare Audio Director Simon Pressey, and performed by the Northwest Sinfonia.

[48] The soundtrack was presented at a panel in the Hollywood Music in Media Interactive Conference in 2009[49] and was performed as part of the September 26 "A Night in Fantasia 2009" concert in Sydney, Australia, by the Eminence Symphony Orchestra.

[59] BioWare announced that the game would be released on October 20, 2009, but pushed it back again to November 6, 2009, as the team wanted additional time to finalize some last-minute decisions.

It explores the actions of a mercenary, the player character of the module, who is contracted by a dwarven nobleman to retrieve a valuable artifact from a ruined thaig within the Deep Roads.

The content ranged from single in-game item packs to entirely new plot-related campaigns, which include The Stone Prisoner, Warden's Keep, Return to Ostagar, The Darkspawn Chronicles, Leliana's Song, The Golems of Amgarrak, and Witch Hunt.

[71] In 2012, to celebrate the first anniversary of Electronic Arts' own digital distribution software Origin, the game was made free to download alongside Battlefield: Bad Company 2 and Spore for a limited time.

Dave Snider from Giant Bomb thought that the setting felt traditional due to the presence of dwarves and elves, but that the world was beautifully executed.

[78] Wesley Yin-Poole from VideoGamer.com called the story memorable, saying that it "leaves an itch in your mind", and has attracted players to return to the game "like an addict seeking a hit of relief.

Van Allen notes that the underlying tensions resulted in a game that "reveled in the moral grays", encouraging players to make decisions that aligns with their own feelings, unlike in Mass Effect.

[8] Tan also commended the combat, finding it a better system than other BioWare RPGs, but disliked the fact that characters can't step into water.

[79] Juba praised the amount of space for players to experiment with new skills and abilities, adding that the required focus and attention make combat very satisfying.

[81] Juba agreed,[78] as did Yin-Poole, who added that the way companions react to the player's decisions, as well as the six origin stories, significantly expand the game's longevity.

[87] According to John Riccitiello, CEO of Electronic Arts, the company is very satisfied with the sales of Origins; more than 1 million DLC packs for the game were sold before the end of 2009.