Got a craving to get into the Dragon Age world that won’t be sated for another few weeks? Well, EA 2D has the answer! Starting today, October 22nd, at 12PM Pacific Time (Click here to get time conversion information) Dragon Age: Journeys, Chapter 1 will be available to play!

Jump head first into the Dragon Age setting, earn achievements, level characters, explore the game world, and unlock in game items with this great new game from the folks over at EA 2D.

You might notice similarities between the Flash game and the videos on the net of the actual game, the reason for this is that EA 2D worked hand in hand with the BioWare developers on the project. Resources from the game are used in the Flash game, and the skill system/stat system are the same. This will give users an opportunity to get used to the basic game mechanics before laying their hands on the full game.

As stated above, you can unlock in game items by playing Dragon Age Journeys – how this works is that upon completing certain achievments in Journeys, your BioWare/EA account is updated with an item code, when you enter the full game (and login with the same credentials) your unlocked items will appear in your Inventory. The best part? These unlocks are for all versions of the game – Console & PC Users alike.

So how will combat work? Apparently combat will be a turn based system on a hex grid – very much akin to the venerable Heroes of Might and Magic series (or, for those younger souls in the audience.. Kings Bounty: The Legend). There are some slight variations though – instead of having one chance to move (and then having to pick your skill choice, attack choice, etc), you will be able to move around as many times as you need within that units movement radius – the movement is only locked in once you pick a skill to use/attack. This could lead to some interesting strategy sessions where people try and position just right to take out the Darkspawn scum.

Besides the basics of this sort of Hack’n'Slash game, there are the deep ties to the organic Origins storyline and world; Not to mention that the game will record achievments (a la the XBox 360 system), record stats for your games, keep track of character losses, and show off the great loot you have acquired.

Don’t let the length of this particular game get to you either. It’s only Chapter 1 of a planned trilogy. Plus, it is purported to be followed by a multiplayer experience as well (Just think of it, exploring the Dragon Age universe with a few close buddies or some random guys/gals you meet on the Social Site). The guys at EA 2D have hinted at some Micro Transaction support in the future (its not free to develop games, even Flash based ones – not to mention bandwidth and hosting fees) but they want to stay away from ads on the site that could detract from the game experience (I mean, who wants to see an add for Seltzer Water when playing this game?!).

As for the flash game spoiling the main campaign; don’t worry about it. Everything I have managed to dig up points to the flash game having a completely separate story line, the only point in common is the game background setting.

Make sure to bookmark the website for Dragon Age Journeys so that you can get right in when it opens up.

Note: In Game item achievments are tied to the Bioware/EA Account that you log in with – make sure that you register your Dragon Age: Origins game under the same account.

When Dragon Age Origins arrives in stores on November 3, it will not be alone as far as experiences set in BioWare’s vibrant new fantasy universe. In fact, starting tomorrow (October 22) at noon PST you’ll be able to play a completely original browser based tactical RPG based on the franchise from Electronic Arts’ new label EA 2D called Dragon Age Journeys.

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Want to learn more about Dragon Age: Journeys? Head over to the website or the BioWare Blog.

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