Dragon Age is considered by many to be one of the greatest Western RPGs around. The first Dragon Age game was a revolutionary title, allowing players to witness firsthand just how impactful a well-written high fantasy tale can be in a video game.
As Dragon Age has evolved over time, so have its mechanics and — to an extent — its identity as well. People who jump into Inquisition right after Origins will still find the setting to be fairly similar... aside from a few key differences that have served to either modernize the franchise or frustrate fans altogether. Whatever a player might feel about these changes, they can't deny that the following ten attempts to make the franchise more relevant to the modern gaming generation came out of a necessity to keep the Dragon Age franchise relevant for the long haul.
Updated on August 9, 2021, by Ritwik Mitra: Regardless of the trajectory that Bioware might be on at this point, the Dragon Age series still holds a special place in the hearts of RPG fans all over the world. The first game was nothing short of a phenomenon, and fans couldn't wait to see how the franchise would evolve over time. While there have been some promising developments, the majority of fans feel that BioWare is yet to reach the heights that they did with the first game. Whether the following changes have been positive for the franchise is anyone's guess, and players can only wonder whether these changes will feature in Dragon Age 4 as well.
13 Open-World Design Is Now More Prominently Featured
Initially, the first Dragon Age and Mass Effect titles featured fairly linear designs as players blasted through carefully constructed levels. However, BioWare's focus has shifted over time, with the latest games in this series featuring a greater emphasis on open-world design and exploration.
This might not be the greatest development for the series, although the idea of these franchises crafting excellent open-worlds is certainly quite tantalizing. However, until the full potential of this world design comes out, most players would want their beloved fantasy series to shift to a more focused and well-structured experience.
12 The Main Storyline Has Become Shorter
The first Dragon Age title had a massive story that could take players more than 30 hours to complete. In fact, that's without taking into account the vast amount of side content featured in these titles as well.
However, the later games in the series don't really go all-out when it comes to the length of the main story. Inquisition had a story that could possibly be completed in around 20 hours if the player ignores most of the side content. Whether this is better or worse is down to the player, but generally, BioWare fans enjoy a more fleshed-out design.
11 DLCs Are Now Integral Parts Of The Overall Experience
A rather annoying change in most BioWare games is the idea of locking additional story content behind paid DLC. It's a tactic employed by Dragon Age: Inquisition that was poorly received for pretty much compelling players to pay extra money for a product they've already bought to get some closure.
It's a low move, and one can only hope that Dragon Age 4 won't replicate this experience. Given some of the more pleasantly surprising decisions being made by EA in recent times — a statement that can be hard to believe — perhaps BioWare won't be held back when it comes to developing the next chapter in the Dragon Age series.
10 The Protagonist Is Voiced
The biggest change that most people must've noticed over time in the Dragon Age franchise is the fact the protagonist finally gets a voice, which certainly does help modernize the series.
There are many people that speak out against the idea of a player-controlled character having a set voice, but players can't deny that it does help make conversations feel somewhat more engaging. It also adds a lot to the narrative experience.
9 The Romantic Options Are Way More Diverse
BioWare is one of the few studios that always strives to include diversity in their games, and the romance options in Inquisition are a great example of this.
Whatever sexual orientation a player might pick for their character, rest assured that there are an ample amount of relationship options that they can pursue without worry. It might be a small change, but inclusivity is always welcome in the modern landscape, and credit should be given to BioWare for being so progressive about such issues.
8 The Combat Has Become More Action-Oriented, With Strategy Taking A Back Seat
One thing that has definitely left fans with mixed feelings is the fact that the combat in Dragon Age has shifted from a tactical approach to a more action-oriented one.
While this does make combat more accessible and — to an extent — fun, it also comes at the cost of most fights becoming brainless endeavors where the player just needs to hold down a button to initiate attacks.
7 The Graphics Are Truly Brilliant, Even Now
While this might be an obvious thing to point out, players can't deny the fact that the graphics of the Dragon Age series have consistently improved over time, becoming some of the most vibrant and eye-catching games of the past decade.
Even five years after its launch, Dragon Age: Inquisition is still one of the best-looking games around, and a must-have for anyone who wishes to play the highest-end products on their powerful systems.
6 The Main Questline Isn't All That Great
Dragon Age: Origins was a massive game, but the main questline was always engaging and kept players hooked for the majority of its runtime.
In comparison, Dragon Age: Inquisition's story feels like a plot that has been stitched together, with random activities added in the middle to stretch out the game's runtime. The story might seem decently long, but it definitely doesn't have any of the charm or flair of the original tale.
5 The Stories Are Not Exactly Self-Contained Anymore
One horrible move that EA and BioWare pulled off with the story of Dragon Age: Inquisition — and, to a lesser extent, with Dragon Age 2 — was the unsatisfactory nature in which the main quest ended.
Everyone knew that Corypheus wasn't the main villain of Inquisition and yet the game expects you to slog through the entire game to beat this monstrosity... only for the game to pull a 180 with its epilogue that pretty much forces people to spend extra money on the game to enjoy the true ending.
4 The Games Have Been Bitten By The Microtransaction Bug
There was a time when the mere idea of paying extra money in a single-player game seemed like heresy, but EA has pretty much normalized this business model in their games.
From forcing people to spend extra money on a game they paid full-price for to enjoy the true ending, all the way to integrating micro-transactions across the board — there's no depths that EA won't sink to when it comes to leeching as much cash as they can from their players.
3 The Side Quests Have Seen A Significant Dip In Quality
The side quests in Dragon Age: Origins were quite interesting and an absolute treat to see through to the very end.
Meanwhile, the side quests in the later games feel completely uninspired and serve as an excuse to pad out the player's runtime. Most people will be better off ignoring all these side quests and focusing on the main story if they don't want to mar their experience with the series.
2 There's A Very Noticeable Lack Of Dungeons In Later Installments
Aside from the DLC of Dragon Age: Inquisition, one has to admit that there's a severe lack of dungeons across the game.
It's clear that the major focus was on the player exploring different zones and not exploring cramped spaces... but dungeon-crawling is a salient aspect of most RPGs, and it's a shame that BioWare decided to lower its frequency in later installments of Dragon Age.
1 Dragon Age: Origins Just Has More Heart & Soul Than Its Sequels
Reading through the list will definitely make one of the themes of this list crystal-clear — Dragon Age: Origins might be an older game, but it just has more heart and soul put into it than the later installments, which feel more like a corporate cash-in.
People who wanted to experience the same feelings that they got after playing Origins will be sorely disappointed by the overall lack of quality in both the second game and Inquisition, which is a shame for the series.