For it's time when it came out in 2009, Dragon Age: Origins was truly amazing. I played BG1 and BG2 as a kid cos my dad played cRPGs and played DnD when he was younger, and it DA:O really felt like a continuation of the fantastic storytelling and companion characters that those games had. A spiritual successor to BG1 and BG2 for me.
Dragon's Age Origins really felt like the beginning of a new wave of CRPG's, like the spiritual successor of the IE engine games with a bigger budget and modernized (at the time) storytelling. Then DA2 came out and it was like... what? We had something so cool going on, why betray this new formula? Even if DA: O wasn't a perfect game, it represented something far more important, which unfortunately never came to be even if DA: Inquisition is a lot better than DA2.
Baldur's Gate 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age Origins, Mass Effect 2. They're some of my favorite games of all time. Thank you Bioware. You will be missed. ⚰
For me it would be 1. Neverwinter Nights 1 (the best community content of any game I have played) 2. Mass Effect 2 and 3. KOTOR 1 (never thought they would do a proper Star Wars RPG).
Sorry... I almost spill my tea when I saw DAI not only above DAO, but also very high in the list. Precisely it is because of my distaste and disappointment for DAI that I am considering skipping DA4 or at least to spoil myself most of the game in youtube before planning to buy it.
I wish i liked inquisition more. The gameplay loop felt like a chore more than a fun experience and i hated how they hard limited the number of skills you can use at once unlike origins. Really made my mage felt watered down compared to origins.
I love that you aren’t afraid to go against the popular order in your “top x” lists. Makes them feel more honest and personal. I love all their games I’ve played except for Anthem, My ranking would be: 1) DAO 2) DAI 3) ME3 4) ME2 5) KOTOR 6) ME1 7) DA2 8) Jade Empire 9) MEA >>> 10) Anthem Haven’t gotten around to Neverwinter Nights or BG2 and haven’t finished BG1 yet. Need to do that 😂
For me Inquisition is by far the worst in story and combat. (Couldn't even finish and I tried like 4 times over the years) That said everybody has their opinion and getting angry at someone because they don't like the same things is just silly.
I see DA:I in the same place as ME:A. Both of them had unnecessary filler that needed to be trimmed, and while neither are bad games, ME:A is beneath the previous ME series. DA:I would be beneath DA:O for me, I would consider DA2 the weakest in Dragon Age, that game was rushed out the door unfinished.
DA2 had great storyline though,not worse than Origins unlike Inquisition which felt like a mmo 1 hour in I forgot what's the game about. The companions felt empty too.
Hawke is an idiot who things happen to not one who makes things happen🤔 You Can have a reactive protagonist, but that's rarely appealing and you need writers on a level BW (especially now) didn't(/doesn't) have. Also: Anders and his "thing" regardless of what you do. Also: the forced aspect of mages vs templars. Also: and this extends to DAI as well, how they treat the Dalish and their history, lore and in game developments (or lack there of). Can't comment on the dwarves, no fantasy dwarf culture ever captured me, sry. Also: Merrill DA2 compared to DAO. Also:having the preknowledge to gear up for certain NEXT CHAPTERS and events for the game. Yes, this is specifically about gear as the game limits you in a very restrictive way with lootable/purchasable and especially /craftable gear that may or may not cause you to have to either lower the difficulty or lose hours (or even days) of game play just to be ready for that one bit with gear you're never gonna use again. Yeah I got gripes with the whole story/mechanics of DA2 but a (edit, typo) whole lot more with the writing from 2 to inquisition. Why can't we tell mom to be careful because there's a serial killer that sends their victims a specific flower? Why can't we decide which of our siblings die or their class? Why does Anders exist?!
If you think that DA:I is filler, then you probably never completed it, so far as DA2. For world blinding this is a key installments, and BioWare with David Gaider, father of whole series, did it well
ignoring the fact that a bunch of the maps were wasted because they were built to be a live service mmo, the thing that killed inquisition for me, was i played it right at the start,, before they fixed the issue of melee characters getting stuck on terrain in fights. I kept getting killed because i'd use the movement skills, or i'd waste entire attacks because i'd use a charge or teleport, and even the teleport would stop on a small pebble. it was so infuriating.
DAI has bad AI. Like leash range, playing archer and mage was so painful because rest of the party would go back and forth, and enemies constantly were out of tactical camera range with how big the world was. Enemies also were spawning in checkpoint after few seconds. That the mages were even more of damage sponges than warriors mercs they hired did not help either.
I think something like DA:I is just more polarizing. Any time your game is long and has an unbalanced time versus reward structure, a lot of players are just going to quit right out as other games come out or they get busy. I usually describe them as games that have you searching for a needle in a haystack full of manure. Not great to play unless/until you figure out where the manure is so you can avoid it, but you're not going to do that without getting some all over you first. This applies to DA:I, The Witcher 3 and Elden Ring for me.
The Inquisition main storyline is absolutely amazing with quests like "In Your Heart Shall Burn", sadly its hidden under a ton of empty content. If you ignore all the silly icons on the map you are going to havea great time.
Meh, ni tan vacio,claro que un punto débil en las misiones es que una buena parte de estas están centradas en resolver conflictos únicamente por medio del combate,pero casi todas las missiones tienen un buen transfondo narrativo y presentan objetivos variadod,ninguna se siente de relleno ya que todas tienen concreción con la trama principal o las cituaciones de las zonas a explorar,además de que el juego nunca repite locaciones ya que las ubicaciones de los mapeados están estrictamente diseñados para una o dos misdiones en concreto,las cuales estan echas llenas de detalle y cuentan historias solo con objetos del escenario.y es satisfactorio limpiar un mapa,resolviendo todos los conflictos de la región,ya que sientes que tus acciones afectan al mundo tomando el papel del inquisidor emves de pasar por la misma zona varias veces y ver a los mismos enemigos haciendo respawn..
I kinda 'get' what you mean with Baldur's Gate 1 vs. it's sequel.. As while the sequel probably IS the 'better' game, ..I personally ended up back in the day playing the FIRST one and it's respective expansion thru.. way more than the second. I think the more desperate balance of 'precarious' health/abilities mixed with meager gold/equipment considerations.. as well as the lovely/mysterious OPEN landscapes to explore.. just made the first game 'breath' a lot better. Feeling like going thru an actual campaign with a group of interesting newbies. The sequel.. (Also to it's credit..) had so much 'stuff', high-end items and interactions.. It could often feel a little TOO cluttered sometimes for my taste. I also was not a huge fan sometimes of the somewhat-forced "romances". Honestly, playing Icewind Dale instead could be something of a relief.. as aside having an awesome soundtrack.. It was nice to have a team of characters you designed.. that would just SHUT UP and do their jobs! ;0) Always considered the 'Undrentide/Hordes' combo to be THE 'campaign' for Neverwinter Nights 1, as the Original was more of a tester/show than anything. Although it does have a few really good sections surprisingly. Recently went thru all of them with a pure rogue character(s) (my personal fav) at hardest difficulty(Even then, it's not that hard - compared to the Baldurs/ID series).. and found them perfectly doable. It even made the original (solo'd) something close to.. 'fun'... although have to admit it's pretty samey and probably overstays its welcome by a chapter. Biggest trouble I really ever have with those games(original version at least) is the numerous little obvious annoying bugs that remained EVEN up to the final patch.. Making me often wonder if anyone had really actually playtested the damn things.. or if the engine itself had been just a bit too clunky for it's own good. Eh.. Apparently common to a lot of Bioware stuff.. as well as others. But dealing with those is part of the process. I still found CREATING characters, and even taking them all the way thru high-level campaigns (Swordflight, Sands of Fate, etc) unlike Baldur's Gate.. to be fun. Using different kinds of tactics than beginning play.
Counterpoint: The first act of Baldur's Gate 1 feels so tedious. You're basically lawnmowing a bunch of generic forested areas and running into disconnected encounters that have no sense of cohesiveness. It's technically open but it doesn't feel rewarding to explore these maps because most of them feel copy pasted with the exception of a few bespoke encounters. The Baldur's Gate 2 cityscape feels much more engaging in comparison and, even without the context of the prequel, feels much more significant to traverse. Further, early combat in this edition of D&D is like controlling a squad of zerglings in Starcraft. You just drag select your group and right click on the enemy because you've probably already used your three spell slots and don't feel like resting four times to refresh them without getting ambushed by xvarts.
I really liked dragon age inquisition and i played over 100 hours in it. Loved exploring and reading the lore. Murdered all the dragons and was rolling in loot by the end lol
I'm terrible at ranking stuff, but I think I would've put NWN lower. As a platform for content creation in the early 2000s, it was amazing. I had it installed for like 5+ years, was deeply into the mod community, used the toolset to create maps, played online in MMOs as well as small parties with a DM, etc... But as it stands now, as a single-player campaign? I don't see myself ever going back to it. This video also makes me want to re-play Origins again, as it has been a LONG time. I loved it, and had 3 full playthroughs plus several partial ones. I think it's #1 for me, but I don't know how much of that is fond memories vs. how it is today.
For story telling, I enjoyed ME: 2 and Dragon age origins, but gameplay wise, Inquisition is my favorite. I hope Dreadwolf (if it ever gets released) combines the best of origins with improved inquisition gameplay mechanics.
I actually agree about ME2. The first game is more of an imaginative labor of love. But ME2 just feels better to play and still the story still hits right
I agree with your take on Andromeda. If it had been J-random sci-fi game, it would have been perceived as far better than the Mass Effect 4 titles it was.
I love Dargon Age lore. Played 1 and 2 like 3 times each, if i'm not mistaken. But with Inquisition, in the year it was launched, went exactly as said. They threw A LOT at the player at just the beginning and i droped it. Gonna give this one another try.
A couple I can't rank as I never played them. 10. Dragon Age Inquisition - so boring and tedious I quit halfway through. 9. Mass Effect 3 - So all my decisions meant shit, just pick a color ... F U BIOWARE. 8. Dragon Age 2 - Bad combat, bad level design, mediocre story, companions are very hit and miss, f' Anders. 7. Baldur's Gate 2 - Now it is getting tough, not as big a fan of the Baldur's Gate series as others are. Still enjoyable. 6. Baldur's Gate - See #7 5. Mass Effect - Combat was just a bit clunky, only knock otherwise great game. 4. KOTOR - Not as big a Star Wars fan as most others, so it didn't get the bonus points that it gets from others. 3. Jade Empire - I simple love everything about this game, VA, story, gameplay were all fun. 2. Mass Effect 2 - The 2nd best example of choice and consequence in a Bioware. Better gameplay than ME1. 1. Dragon Age Origins - Of all these games the one I have over 500 hours playing. Played every origin, and side with every faction. Choices done right with amazing companions even the stoic Sten. Never played more than a couple of hours of Neverwinter Nights(not sure why really but it is what it is) and wouldn't touch Andromeda or Anthem with a 10' pole after DAI and ME3. If DA4 isn't an absolute gem, I am forever done with this company and it might be done to, as a failure of Anthem or Andromeda proportions will doom the company.
I agree with Inquisition. Despite its bloated side quest bs, it has amazing characters, the combat is a nice combination of 1 and 2, there’s a wide variety of areas to explore, the story is great. Origins will always have a place in my heart but going back to it now, it did not age well in the last 15 years
Interesting peak. It sometimes feels odd, when you returning to this games, and see how your attitude changes. Walking through DA trilogy again lately, I was a bit surprised, that I honestly like more DA2 over whole trilogy; for developed combat and tactical mechanics, characters, their progress and story that reminds me something from mafia storytelling approach . It’s was so pleasantly on higher difficulties and noticeable that BioWare fix all mistakes in combat design and balance from DA:O . Although DA:O completing was frustrating, so far as first 8 hours of Inquisition, I really can’t arrange them by tier list. I think a like them all by different things. Dragon Age lore is one of the most interesting in dark fantasy genre, that are ever saw.
My problem with Dragon Age, while being a good rpg as is, flares up when I play older rpgs like Morrowind (ES3). Morrowind is from 2002 and lets me explore until the enemies become too strong to bother, that in itself is a learning mechanism where the game tells me that I might rather not be there yet. But otherwise I can swim, dive, run up almost every hill. There are also restrictions (invisible walls) but they are less strict and not so much in my face as with Dragon Age. DA feels cinematic in its approach but so do games like Elex and Dragon's Dogma. Games that let me explore more freely like Morrwind.
Nice to see another Inquisition fan. I think you hit it spot on - it has so many excellent moments and stories despite its obvious flaws. I'm extremely excited (and hopeful) to see what they do with Dreadwolf.
It was definitely one of my favorite RPGs and probably one of the few that I’ve done 100hrs in a single play through, I think it’s great but do agree it could stand to lose some weight from the filler
@@wardensurana8336 Fair enough! I think Bioware really did a disservice to the game with the opening area. Just truly a slog. It's a slow burn game but I don't blame anyone for giving up on it during that
@@Roundbrow well, it wasn't just the opening area in my case, but all the game, I forced myself to finish it, I spent money on it after all, I even bought the edition with all the DLC, I thought the game would be just as a good as Dragon Age Origins and I also liked Dragon Age 2, but Inquisition was just very disappointing, nothing that made me love the first two games was there anymore.
For me its mostly a tie between Mass Effect (the trilogy) and BG2. Honorable mention goes to KOTOR 1 and 2 and Icewind Dale 1 and 2. Spealing of the KOTOR mmo, its worth playing just for the amazing class storyline. Specifically the Sith Warrior and the Empire Agent/spy. Both are amazing.
My issue with DA2 was there might've been the basic framework/skeleton of a pretty solid game in there; but that was *WASTED* due to the quick (mandated) development time in an effort to cash-in on the success of DA0. IMHO.
For me: 10. Jade Empire (I played it 2 or 3 times, enjoyed it, but it's been a really long time, so I dropped it to the bottom) 9. Mass Effect 3 (Only game on this list I've only played once, I am planning to re-play b4 end of year so it may go higher) 8. Dragon Age 2 (I really enjoyed, different from other DA games but I liked it a lot) 7. Mass Effect: Andromeda (Recently played and really really liked combat, purposefully stayed away at release due to all the bad press, even though I pre-ordered, and the experience was worth the wait) 6. Dragon Age: Inquisition (Loved it, another I recently replayed...although I haven't played any of the DLCs) 5. SW: KotOR 4. Mass Effect (original) 3. Neverwinter Nights (original) 2. Mass Effect 2 1. Dragon Age: Origins 1 - 5 all just great great games for me, I have done everything that could be done in all of them through numerous playthroughs and there's very little difference between 1 and 5 but Origins is still my fav. Never played Anthem and I own BG 1 and 2 but I've never played them.
Not Bioware, but I am def interested to see a game Ossian Studios made that takes two of their products and combines them into something new. Darkness Over Daggerford, the former canceled premium module that got remastered for the enhanced edition, is considered the most successful at recapturing the spirit of Baldur's Gate 1 and effectively is the unofficial Baldur's Gate 3 before that name was officially taken. I jumped to it first of the NWN content. It's effectively functioning as my 3rd crpg to get a grasp of the classics with a shorter game after starting New Vegas and DOS2 and I've been adoring it. I do wonder if it'd work for you compared to Baldur's Gate with how highly ya rank it.
I didn't like Origins after 1st walkthrough as a mage, I think because it felt empty compared to BG and playing as a mage was annoying, later I reinstalled it and made 2 playthroughs in a row as rouge and warrior , and it became one of my favorites.
One thing I've come to realize after replaying the entire series of DA, ME and BG multiple times (some more than others), is that for every series the whole is more than the sum of its parts. ME1 isn't perfect, ME2 isn't perfect, ME3 isn't perfect - yet together they might be the best series of video games ever made. They supplement each other (ME1 has the deep lore, ME2 has the wonderful companions, ME3 has the smoothest gameplay) and can't really be evaluated when singled out. Or at least they will be evaluated harsher than what you get when you look at all of them. A part of that comes from reacting (or overreacting) to criticism on Bioware's part - the next part of the series will generally compensate the flaws of its predecessor (DA2 being hella smooth to play, ME3 having a main storyline with meaning and impact, etc.). Incidentally, that's also why I have a soft spot for ME:A, as it never had the chance for additional games to elevate it.
Wow, Dragon Age: Inquisition at number 2! It would be near the bottom of my list. The interminable grind and the offline MMO style of gameplay made me so frustrated and bored that the excellent character interactions just wasn't enough motivation to carry on. It is the only Dragon Age game I couldn't finish and I have zero desire to even attempt a second play-through. I finished the first Dragon Age multiple times, doing every possible starting story and race combination. Hell, I even finished Dragon Age 2 twice so that makes Dragon Age: Inquisition the worst of the 3 by using the simple metric that I couldn't force myself to even finish it.
I liked dragon quest inquisition a lot and probably my best 5 dollars spent in a second hand shop. Now am trying dragon age origin in 2024 and the combat feels a bit off..
Bioware writes good characters when they ain't romances. Since a good romance developes over a longer time and develops the character and that's usually not what happens in their games. Tali for example is written well because she wasn't a romance option in the beginning. The dwarf scout was good but you could only flirt. The female guard in Dragon age had a romance option but not with you and therefore good development. Their later games tend to be corridor RPGs, options in dialog but you move through corridors with few alternative paths outside of that dialogue.
Beside the lame ending, I don't understand the hate for ME3. I only recently played through all three ME games during the Legendary Edition remaster. ME3 had so many cool lore moments, cinematic settings, great character moments for new and old crewmates. It's one of the only games ever to make me cry (RIP my favorite Salarian). It is better than ME1 in almost every way. I'd personally put it ahead of ME2, if only by a bit.
I do think that Inquisition is best Dragon Age game - that said I am yet to finish it. It bored me, and I have been out of Hinderlands for some time. I just felt it wasted my time too much. I think I will return to it and finish it in the near future, but all DA would be pretty low in Bioware output ranking. I felt their best moments were more or less on the level of KOTOR or Jade Empire, except without restraint those games have. I feel Dragonage 1&2 have a decent 20-30 hour long game in them, but they are padded to oblivion.
#1 for me would surely be SWTOR since Ive been playing that for the past 10 years on and off, but ME series and Dragon age are masterpieces, never played Baldurs Gate
Mass Effect; driving the mako. Quite possibly the worst experience I've ever had in an otherwise good gamw. Certainly the worst I've ever had in a Bioware game. Good vid, btw
i would never place mass effect 3 or dragon age inquisition above any other title from same line (somehow thirds are always the worst) and as for citadel i prefer to count additional content as separate thing and maybe use it to further judge game itself unless it's released with game or shortly after game's release because then it's just a scam (never played it but from what i understand it was outside of main game and because of lack of direct connection i count it as completely different story (almost a separate game)) for example far too many people give score to mass effect 3 based purely on citadel and not on base game itself while other titles are mainly about base game and additional content separately mass effect andromeda was not only unfinished but killed without final patch and no additional content
Yea gotta disagree on the dragon age front, inquisition is a great game I suppose but its a bad tactical RPG game. It's just a hack and slash action game with some rpg elements sprinkled in.
Yeah , NWN is hard to rate. As someone who played thousands of hours on pvp servers and NWN pretty much was the game I played 90% of the time I was playing video games during my childhood its probably my favorite game ever. But just based on single player... nah.
My memories of inquisition are pretty much trekking endlessly through the snow to get the stronghold and doing fetch quests to get your prestige class.
Less than 10% of the bioware team that made the mass effect and dragon age games are still at bioware. Unfortunately its only a name now. EA drove away all the good ones.
@@humorinpolitics56 Just like they've killed so many other studios (still never forgiven them for killing Visceral and ruining DS3), they've effectively killed Bioware and are simply rolling it's corpse out for name recognition purposes. Honestly I'm not even excited about DA4 precisely because I know the writers, developers, and other staff who made the early Bioware games great just aren't there anymore. Plus EA has full control now, meaning the game will likely be a hot mess just like Anthem.
Jade Empire helps me through a lot of rough times, it saved me from committing things i would've regretted it's a truly special and unique game that none has replicated since. Though Jade Empire 2 might be impossible one can't help but dream
Im always sad to hear that people like ME2 more. I feel so alone. ME1 feels like a classic sci-fi novel whereas ME2 feels like a 90's sci-fi action movie. Both are good, but ME1 is just so pure in its sci-fi elements.
Inquisition has an amazing cast of companions, and the combat is servicable, but my god it is by far the worst open world in video games I've ever experienced. I'd genuinely like the game way more if they got rid of the actual gameplay and let us just run around the castle and talk with everyone lol
The way I like to describe it to people is that Origins is 60 hours of good game in a 70 hour game while Inquisition is 60 hours of good game in a 150 hour game.
I think with Inquisition, they kind of over-compensated. They heard the complaints about DA2 being too small and restrictive, and responded by (as we heard stated proudly over and over again in the game's early marketing) giving us a starting area that was bigger than all of Origins put together. I rate BG2 as my #1, but mainly for nostalgia reasons. I have so many great memories of growing up playing that game. It was the game that basically taught me how to play CRPGs, and in general how to think strategically about my choices in playing a video game--it was the first game I ever delved into character build guides on the internet for.
Not only that but they made the space as full with "things to do" as possible to try and pad the size. DA2 was small, but virtually every quest actually had some meaning to it or some influence on later events. They were overcompensating, but they did it in the worst possible way (not really expecting much else from modern Bioware honestly). I wouldn't mind the excessive filler "open world mechanics" so much if they hadn't cut out 90% of what people actually enjoyed from the first two games to shove them in. It's such an odd move, in line with other franchises completely changing their identity to try and enter the mainstream. It worked with Skyrim because they made the world far more interactive while keeping the core essence of the previous games, even if they did massively dumb down the RPG elements, DA:I is just hollow and obese in comparison. It's honestly like a far worse version of TW3 for me, and I like that game, but much of the content feels like it's been added in for no reason but to pad the game out.
@@SeventhheavenDK It's just this incessant drive to pad games out for no reason. TW3 is one of my favourite games, but the pacing and tightness of story are objectively worse than TW2 and while it's really cool to explore the landscape, I feel many area's could have been cut to focus more on . Don't get me wrong I really like some of the side content, like finding the Witcher gear or the Witcher Contracts, but much of the space on the map is just random events that don't add anything to the game as a whole. They could have removed them and focused more development on meaningful content that connected to the core of side stories. Basically you have two options, go with a broader area full of lighter content but really focus on environmental storytelling and free exploration (this is what the Elder Scrolls does) or focus on a much tighter experience with a focus on direct storytelling and character development for world building (what DAO, ME, TW2, and so on do). A combination between the two always sacrifices that cohesion and direct exposition in favour of often meaningless side content (because developer's outside of Bethesda don't often understand how to make meaningful side content that adds to the world) that exists solely because other games have used it. Inquisition goes incredibly far in this direction sacrificing much of what made DAO/2 good (the tactical combat options, the tighter story focus, the companion development, etc) but unlike TW3 it does really have the story or gameplay elements to compare to previous installments (TW3 story isn't paced as well or as tightly as TW2 but it's still excellent as is the gameplay loop). More is not always better, and especially so when it's just generic copy-paste open-world mechanics ripped directly from other games.
In a perfect world, we would see a remaster of DA: Origins and DA: 2. One for introducing us to a fascinating world and the second for the great characters. Even if for the improvement in performance and updating certain aspects, plus a well-deserved and needed, variety of assets for DA:2.
I've played all these games besides Andromeda. Our lists are pretty much exact if you swap Origins with Inquisition. The graphics and mechanics are better in Inquisition but there are so many fake choices and sometimes the dialogue is so disjointed the responses make literally no sense. Origins was just amazing. Not gonna lie, I had a tear well up in the corner of my eye when the credits rolled and that "This is War" song played. Sooooooo good.
I prefer DA 2 to DA:I, from the moment you declare yourself an Elf mage who hates Human Gods and spits on Andraste and the you still become Herald of Andraste and lift THE SWORD! I knew it's going to be trash and it was. TRASH
Ditto! DA2 is my gulity pleasure. Played through DAI w/expansion only once and never could do it again. Origin and DA2 still gets revisited to this day.
Seeing the credits roll after finishing the epic journey that was Dragon Age Origins was probably the only time ive ever cried in a video game. I tend to only cry because of joy, or experiencing something epic, and for me DA:O was the most epic game ive ever played. I can understand why some may not have it on top of their list though, everyone have different taste after all.
En defensa de dragon age inquisition,las opciones que te presenta el juego casi siempre son a corto plazo y son más de dar un impacto narrativo en el momento mas que dar cambios reales a la trama (que por cierto es muy buena).de ahí los diálogos de la rueda de conversacion son bastante buenos,ya que no ahi ni malas o buenas respuestas y las opiniones sociopolíticas en el juego tienen bastante profundidad y dan para el cuestionamientos del jugador sobre sus posturas a medida que avanza el juego y se descubren cosas
I would personally put Origins and ME2 at the top. Sadly still haven't finished Inquisition and MEA to rank them properly. Mostly because of the boredom of doing endless fetch quests and large map exploration with mediocre loots. And unpopular opinion of mine is that crafting high level overpowered weapons and armor just takes away the purpose of exploration, not to mention a bit dull companions compared to the previous games.
@@Zarkil There are great things about Inquisiton, i am sure. But for me Dragon age Origins does the same and offers even more depth.. That has prolly spoiled some of us. Right now forcing myselft to finish Inquisition for Morrigans sake but man, modern open games sure feels emptier and shallow compared to 2010 games. I can understand anyone prefering Inquisition perhaps its a generation gap. But at the end of the day, as fans of Dragon age games, we need to unite on pushing Bioware develop a better game that caters to all the fans. Because I have a bad feeling that the next game might just become a convoluted mess based on highly subjective preferences of this modern world of extreme divisions. If you know what i mean..
Oh man how based it is to put BG1 on the top. And well for DA:I I am one of the victims of Hinterlands and the open world nature it has which feltt like it added quantity of content but not quality, in fact my fav DA is 2, yeah the repeated stuff was annoying, but I liked how quick and smooth combat (having horders of weaker enemies made me really feel like we are bunch of heroes) felt even if it was simplified and the characters were awesome. Plus it was pretty unique how itt was based in one massive city.
And I feel the exact opposite about low-level vs high level combat (at least until ToB, where silliness reigns) in BG. Low level combat is a RNG test. High level is actual strategy. And give me Origins' clunkiness over Inquisition's MMO mechanics any day. I like Inquisition well enough (other than Jaws of Haakan, which I refuse to play again). But it's a good game, compared to the one I think marked the end of the Golden Age of CRPGs.
So Inquisition over Origins huh? I liked both, but Origins I liked way way more. Would personally put Mass Effect 3 and 1 much higher. I agree that the second was the best of them though.
I'm floored mass effect 1 is so low. The story and the writing are so far above me2 and me3 that I feel it offsets the gameplay roughness. To each their own I guess.
Pitchfork time?? 😅 Mashy mmo combat/ loss of strategic elements aside, i feel like the main problem with Inquisition is that it fails to follow through on the world building set up in Origins. Yes, we have Corypheus - his actions link back to Origin’s story. But i feel like the more compelling aspect of this setting is the Blight itself and how it’s resurgence results from the corruption of a sleeping god, manifesting as an Archdemon in dragon form. I feel like a dark world characterised by new cycles of Blight is a much more compelling scenario for successive games than what we got. After the first game I was excited to see new permutations of what an Archdemon dragon could be based on different gods turned by the Darkspawn. This idea also aligns more with the series title “Dragon Age” - each new Archdemon heralding a new and different age of Blight. I hoped we might visit key locations teased in Origins like the Black City in the fade. Instead I feel like the concept of Blight as a lingering threat was abandoned to focus on a more generic antagonist.
I actually really liked the world building in Inquisition and it's what kept me playing. Like you, I was also interested in the blight, darks pawn, Archdemons and the strife these elements may bring. But instead of these underground aspects, Bioware decided to focus on the "overground" aspects of the world. Elven Gods, the pantheon, the creation of the fade, the concept of the Maker/Andraste and how much of it is actually real, and of course the political stories between the various factions in the continent. They decided to go in a different direction and maybe they'll come back to the blight story arc soon.
On the other hand, it probably gets stale to save the world against a blight in 3 consecutive games. I mean, maybe it's only after you do it 8 or 9 times, considering I'm at like 6 replays of Origins
Dragon Age: Origins should get bonus points for the ai tactics system. The ai wasn't great and still needed to be controlled ala BG, but ai customization is so lacking in games (shout out to some of the Baldur's Gate 1/2 ai mods). Imagining a remaster of Origins with that, and even better expanding that kind of system into all other games, if only. If only.
I really enjoyed Dragon Age: Inquisition as well, even though the final boss was more cinematic than difficult. I would've ranked Baldur's Gate 2 over the first game personally, but I agree that late game the combat falls off. I wasn't able to get into the BG2 expansions because the high power level fights weren't as engaging.
I played Dragon age and Mass effect franchise for the first time this and last year and i can say that i fell in love with their games. Cant wait for Dragon Age Dreadwolf and Mass Effect 4
I also think Baldur's Gate 1 is the best. I did enjoy Neverwinter Nights (especially Undrentide) more than the Dragon Age games. I never really explored the mod scene much, though. The Baldur's Gate games in general also have the best soundtracks by far.
I recently started the Undrentide campaign since the enhance edition was on sale recently and I only ever played the original prior to expansion packs as a teen - does it pick up after the first chapter? Not sure if the combat is just worse than I remember or its the campaign itself.
@@jacobeden2083 SotU definitelly picks up more in later chapters, the start is bit too overtuned for low level character. BUT whats more important is the Hordes of the Underdark campaign which is by far the BEST NwN1 has to offer
Dude I'm just glad you even remembered Jade Empire The GOG version works without fuckery for me if anyone saw it and was interested. I wish Jade Empire would get literally any kind of attention from Bioware. Would love a remaster/remake or a sequel.
Just hearing your thoughts on the bottom 3 alone has forever cemented you as a person I can trust to always tell it like it is, because so many people get dogpiled just for suggesting that any of them are worth playing at all. 👏👏👏 And especially your DA:I placement. You brave brave soul.
I’m curious if the order you played the games in influenced your opinion of the Dragon Age games. If memory serves you played Inquisition first. Where most of the value in DA:O was in getting your first foot in this crazy complex world of Thedas. Seeing the cultural and social problems. And the great lore, mystery, and core questions that defined the games. How real are the gods? What is the appropriate way to handle people spontaneously born with the ability to dominate society? What morals are worth keeping against a coming apocalypse? Would you give this half crazy witch who says frankly horrid social Darwinist crap every other sentence a god baby? But you got your first taste of all that in Inquisition, and even some answers to those questions. So, yeah, I can see how Origin would be a lesser experience after that. Personally I like both games a lot. But playing them in order, I always felt characters had to make some pretty idiotic decisions to create the world state in DA:I considering where we left it off. That said; the story and companion of both games are quite good. And that’s the core of playing the games. Heaven knows it’s not because the moment to moment gameplay is particularly good, in either game.
Played all those games and i like them all. The problem is, that it´s bit hard to rank fair, when you have different setting and and genre. But i think that this ranking is okay. So good job. Jade empire is game, that is very unique, so it´s not easy to compare it with others. It look prety much like KOTOR, but on the other hand it´s not. DA: I is in some way very similair to ME: Andromeda. At least i get that feeling. Problem is, that Andromeda lack all that good thing that Inquisition have and just don´t work the same. There is something on everyone of those games that i like and that i don´t. Would i make this list different? Probably yes. Would be better? Who knows😃
