It’s late. The fire is burning low. The sardonic elven rogue who joined your party a few days ago pulls up a log, flashes a grin, and tells you (cheerfully) about his former employer, who would love to see him dead. The elf flirts with you like it’s a survival skill. Which, given said former employer, it might be. How nicely you take his jokes decides how much of the person underneath he lets you see, and whether he ever stops treating charm like armor.

If you’ve picked up a controller in the last three years, you know exactly who this is: Astarion, the beloved disaster from Baldur’s Gate 3. Plot twist: Wrong game, wrong decade. This is Zevran — Zev, to his friends — from Dragon Age: Origins, released by BioWare in 2009. He’s been hired to kill you, so your meetcute could be deadly. Proceed with caution.

Origins is a dark fantasy RPG that many tend to overlook because of its age. It’s got dated graphics (the game is so very beige) and glitches galore. But, if you’re a fan of Baldur’s Gate 3 and you’ve got about 50 hours to spare , there is no better use of your time than meeting and falling in love with Origins ’ merry band of misfits — and experiencing the well-written, responsive world of Thedas for the first time. You’re going to see some similarities. BioWare’s co-founders themselves have described Dragon Age as a spiritual successor to their own Baldur’s Gate series, and there’s quite a lot that Baldur’s Gate 3 and Origins , specifically, have in common .

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