Before The Witcher franchise came along and wedged itself in the top podiums of medieval fantasy RPGs, two game titles were duking it out for contemporary supremacy: Skyrim and Dragon Age. They're not exactly alike or comparable in terms of core gameplay and idea. But both are heavyweight RPGs that represent their sub-genre well in a definitive way. Skyrim is still the current crown-holder of open-world sandbox RPGs.
Meanwhile, Dragon Age has been enjoying a relatively high spot in the story-driven RPG section that its progenitor, Baldur's Gate games, popularized. Both also consume a huge amount of time in a player's lifespan. Functioning members of society probably have too many real-life commitments to play both RPGs. So in order to help people decide which game deserves their precious time, here's a comparison of their strengths.
Updated August 31, 2021, by Sid Natividad: With the advent of a new Elder Scrolls title and a Dragon Age 4 looming around the horizon, your giddy optimism and renewed excitement for both franchises is well justified. Either of those games represents the best of what their parent developer company strives to be.
As such, it's high time to re-evaluate how they fare when compared against each other. Call this one a guide for the near future when you're finally facing a conundrum whether you want to devote your time and money to Dragon Age 4, Elder Scrolls 6 or the most Ultimate Alpha Omega Edition of Skyrim Remastered.
14 Why Dragon Age: Party-Based RPG
Dragon Age's strength lies in its character dynamics. Because once you strip that down, you're left with nothing but a bland D&D adventure. Thus, the party is what gives Dragon Age games its color and personality. Each character's interactions and banter all make them dear to you in one way or another.
More than that, you also get to pick different character classes since each party member specializes in certain disciplines or training. This adds quite a lot to the game's gameplay variety. Your character definitely isn't a godly everyman here and that makes the adventures more epic or cinematic.
13 Why Skyrim: More Graceful Handling of Magic
A fantasy world is often guilty of many crimes, but among those, the most sinister world-breaker that seeps through the crack's foundations often unseen and ignored, is the magic system. Skyrim handles this well and almost masterfully. It doesn't abuse its magical system as much in order to provide plot convenience, especially when compared to other titles.
Skyrim's magic is subtle and has clear rules. It explains better how mages can conjure up elements from their fingertips and why some of them are better than others. It's also well expounded in gameplay how even a brutish swordsman is a match for a magic-user.
12 Why Dragon Age: Better Voice Acting
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Since Dragon Age values its characters a lot, it also gives plenty of care for their personalization in the form of voice acting. The companions are a given since they're also the main cast but even the enemies or the other expendable NPCs do a good job of hiding the fact that they might have shared the same voice actor.
Moreover, the general dialogue and exposition in Dragon Age games also proceed at a pace that's more realistic or understandable for players. They don't rush their dialogue and the voice actors lend certain energy to their character that's hard to top.
11 Why Skyrim: Deeper Lore
The Lore in the Elder Scrolls games has always been elaborate and lengthy. Skyrim is no exception. It has tons of in-game books referencing old events and events that took place in-between games. Truth be told, the number of books can be dizzying at times.
Skyrim's or Tamriel's lore, for that matter, tends to be more memorable compared to other fantasy worlds in video games. It's a world full of power-struggling races and is rife with racial hate and apprehension which fuels most of the conflicts. They tend to get bad enough from time to time that you'll be tasked with finding and using some Elder Scrolls as a reset button.
10 Why Dragon Age: D&D Origins
The reason why the Dragon Age series— especially the first game, worked so well from the get-go is that it had a successful template to begin with: Dungeons and Dragons. Their developers, Bioware, were also responsible for the most comprehensive D&D game of all time -- Baldur's Gate.
Hence, Dragon Age was Bioware's attempt to make an intellectual property of its own that's not D&D and it paid off. They took everything that made top-down D&D RPGs great (particularly the combat) and tweaked it to be more modern and action-oriented. But this didn't sacrifice any character development or story depth.
9 Why Skyrim: Longer Legacy
With that said, Skyrim wouldn't have enjoyed its current reigning status in the RPG world without its predecessors as a test to see what works and what doesn't. Skyrim is the fifth game in the Elder Scrolls series and the previous ones are vast improvements over their preceding games, too.
Skyrim, being the latest one, is the current best way to enjoy the Elder Scrolls universe. Dragon Age might need a few more games in order to come up with such a refinement in its formula. As it is, the Dragon Age series has yet to settle on an identity of its own gameplay-wise.
8 Why Dragon Age: Voiced Protagonist
Granted, the Dragon Age games didn't start voicing out their protagonists until the second game, but when they did, it made conversation sections a lot less dull. Bioware incorporated a great deal from Mass Effect's Shepard into Dragon Age. Now, it's hard to go back to a mute protagonist in an RPG -- especially one with dialogue lines.
Sure, having a specific voice might not work the same for a self-insert, but a player's eyes will definitely thank them when they no longer have to read a character's dialogue. It's also one more option that adds accessibility to games, making it more possible for everyone to enjoy them.
7 Why Skyrim: Better Character Creator
What Skyrim lacked in the voice-acting department, it more than made up for in the freedom it gives players to shape their characters. People can play as one of the 10 different races who each have their own dispositions and backgrounds that sometimes affect how the world treats the player.
Other games couldn't handle this level of character creation. While Inquisition does help the players in making their characters look unique and sculpted, the race pool is limited to Qunari, Dwarf, Human, and Elf. Even within those, the minimal trait differences between them pale in comparison to Skyrim's offerings.
6 Why Dragon Age: Better Combat
If there was one constant weakness in all Elder Scrolls games, it would be the clunky and floaty combat; Skyrim is no exception. Other RPGs simply do it better both in animation and impact. Bioware has continuously experimented with the combat in Dragon Age games and the third game, Inquisition, offers something miles better than what Skyrim presented.
Players can easily feel the weight of a character's strikes or the power they can release with each magical attack even if the game is in a third-person perspective. Play Skyrim long enough and you'd wish it had better combat AI or more interactive fighting.
5 Why Skyrim: Better Modding
What's the main reason why Skyrim remains ever so popular despite newer RPGs? The modders. These unsung heroes of Skyrim have made the game better (or wackier) in every conceivable way. Any bug that Bethesda forgot to fix or even gameplay improvements that were left out can be modded in by gamers.
Even the outdated combat system of Skyrim can be overhauled. To that end, the graphics can also be modded to be more beautiful than even the latest Dragon Age game right now. This level of moldability isn't present in any other RPG.
4 Why Dragon Age: Smoother Presentation
Then again, Dragon Age games probably don't need the community fixing their jankiest aspects because Bioware is a better storyteller than Bethesda. Dragon Age games and their presentation have always been stellar and cinematic.
Introductions are memorable for all the right reasons and of course, the dialogue between the characters is more dynamic and engaging. Bioware still takes great care in making sure that their good stories are understood and appreciated in the best way possible. This includes having dramatic story arcs, a diverse cast of characters, and plenty of romance options.
3 Why Skyrim: Better Open World
Dragon Age games don't actually have an enjoyable vast open-world up until Inquisition stepped up the game design. Even then, the separate open-world areas were mostly empty and filled with blatantly repetitive activities, collection tasks, and checklists.
Skyrim and even the older Elder Scrolls games such as Oblivion or Morrowind have more organic and living open-worlds. The activities are better, as well, and the developers do a great job at making the fillers seem worthy of anyone's time or attention.
2 Why Dragon Age: More Charismatic Characters
In Skyrim, players will probably notice soon enough that the voice actors were reused quite a lot. Moreover, the voice lines could have been delivered with better energy and in a less monotone manner. Apart from that, the characters could also use some more quirks and more dimensions to their personalities.
Dragon Age handles its characters with better care. Each of them has flaws and weaknesses that make players appreciate them better. They definitely seem more human - especially when compared to Skyrim's robotic and wooden NPCs.
1 Why Skyrim: Better Quest Quality
Despite the character quality that can leave many players wanting, Skyrim's better open-world gives more opportunities for memorable quests. The busywork of things like crafting or herb gathering in Skyrim is more enjoyable than in Dragon Age, too.
Side quests are less formulaic and some can even feel like they were individually handcrafted. The numerous approaches players can take also lend much to the quest variation. People have more options than killing or talking in a quest. Despite that, it's usually the former practice that's the favorite method of most players.