With the exciting news about Dragon Age 4 continuing to come out, many new video game fans are trying to get into the franchise. The series has three full console and PC games so far, along with multiple different expansion packs and DLCs to supplement these games. Along with the main games, there is also one mobile game in the franchise.
While the game series isn’t as large as some others like Final Fantasy, it can still be difficult for new fans to decide where to start. They wonder if they should just jump in when the fourth installment comes out or if they should play from the very beginning. Here are a few of the pros and cons of starting with each entry into the franchise.
Dragon Age 4
If someone has never played Dragon Age before and knows very little about the plot and characters, jumping in when Dragon Age 4 comes out might not be the best idea. For one thing, everyone will have to wait until at least April of 2022, and the wait could actually be much longer. This also means that anyone looking to get into the series has ample time to explore it before the next game comes out.
It’s also true that most Dragon Age games pull in plot elements, locations, and even core characters from past entries into the series. Dragon Age 4 is already confirmed to have one major character, Solas, who was also key in Dragon Age: Inquisition, so new players might miss out on important content.
DLCs And Expansion Packs
Dragon Age: Origins, the first game in the franchise, was released in 2009. Since the series has been around for over 12 years, there have been many different DLCs and expansion packs released over the franchise's lifetime. The first was Dragon Age: Awakenings which was available on its own disc. Since then, each of the three main games has had multiple DLCs added, and these all serve to expand the story and even introduce new characters.
For example, Dragon Age II had an expansion called The Exiled Prince which introduced an entirely new companion and romance option, Sebastian Vael. While these DLCs can really add to the game and lead to even more hours of gameplay, players have to have the original games first, so it wouldn’t make any sense to try to play them first. It’s impossible to do so.
Heroes Of Dragon Age
Heroes of Dragon Age is the real outlier compared to the other options for Dragon Age gameplay. It's a completely different kind of game than the others, as it’s a mobile app. This makes it easy to play, even if the player doesn’t know anything about the story or series, but it’s not going to teach anyone much about the rest of the games.
The game is ideal for players who like squad-based strategy games that are more about battles and collecting “heroes'' to fight one another. And of course, it's ideal for players who want to play on mobile. However, it’s not nearly as detailed or immersive as the RPGs.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
Dragon Age: Inquisition is the third and last main Dragon Age game that is available to play right now. It can be played on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It’s also the most in-depth and exploratory of the three as it has more open-world elements similar to Skyrim. It takes the longest to complete fully, and there are many secrets to uncover.
If anyone is looking for a rich story with many areas to explore, Dragon Age: Inquisition is a great place to start. Players will miss out on some of the context of certain characters and places, but they’ll still be able to enjoy the game. Dragon Age: Inquisition also has the most updated graphics compared to the older two.
Dragon Age II
Dragon Age II is the middle installment and is playable on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, MacOS, Microsoft Windows, Mac operating systems, and classic Mac OS. This means that if players are playing on newer consoles then they won't be able to run the game.
However, if players are able to play, Dragon Age II is a great place to start for a quick introduction to the world. It’s the fastest game to play through, and the combat system is smooth and fast. It has some of the most interesting characters, but some fans don’t love that it’s less of an open world with fewer areas to explore.
Dragon Age: Origins
As the first game of the franchise, Dragon Age: Origins is what gamers should play if they want to know everything about the story and immerse themselves as a big fan. The biggest issue with starting here is that the game is over a decade old, so the graphics and gameplay can look and feel a bit clunky. It’s available on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Classic Mac OS, and Microsoft Windows, so players will also need to have older systems to run it.
However, while it might be old, the world-building is interesting, and some of the plot elements and characters in the game, such as Morrigan, will continue to come back in all of the games going forward.