Dragon Age Series

[Formalhaut]

You see DA: I is my least favourite game (but still good, and is the easiest to replay) because they've reduced the role of side-quests. In DA: I, you stumble across a side-quest in the field via a random letter, and literally your only option is to do it or not. If you stumbled across a side-quest in the other two games, you get to talk to the person, see their motivations (with opportunity for sarcasm), and then decide to handle the quest straight, do it but then screw the guy over, persuade out of fights, bribery, etc.

For me, DA: I really suffered in my opinion because of that. They function as EXP boosts, as opposed to meaningful bits of story.

[Mr. Carnelian]

They function as EXP boosts, as opposed to meaningful bits of story.

True that. Definitely something they need to fix in the next Dragon Age.

[Madame Adequate]

They should have cut out, say, two zones, and used the dev time to make the rest of the game more fleshed out instead, for sure.

[Pike]

Truthfully my issues with DAI were twofold:

a.) the characters were good in typical bioware fashion but overall I found them less interesting than the characters in the first two games (except for Dorian and the Egg, both of whom are my Bros) (Varric doesn't count and I liked him better in DA2 anyway)

and

b.) the gameplay mechanics were solid but they stripped out a lot of the real oldschool CRPG stuff that was one of the major features of the first games (particularly DAO) that I liked

In other words DAO had my favorite gameplay, DA2 had my favorite all around characters, and DAI just kind of comes up short in both of those departments to me. Not to say it wasn't a good game - it was - but overall I prefer the other two.

[Psychotic]

b.) the gameplay mechanics were solid but they stripped out a lot of the real oldschool CRPG stuff that was one of the major features of the first games (particularly DAO) that I liked

What kind of things? I actually skipped DA2 and have only played Origins and Inquisition so I am not sure what was changed and when.

[Formalhaut]

You skipped DA: 2? That's probably the most underrated game in the series. I really enjoyed it!

[Psychotic]

I heard it was kind of crap so I missed it, and then y'all were talking about how great Inquisition was so I got it for my birthday and then forgot about it until last month. And I learned Anders, as in the wacky goofy Anders from the Awakening DLC, went all Cersei and blew up half of Kirkwall. That was a surprise.

[Madame Adequate]

2 is when the series got quite actiony, more like DAI than Origins, and fights were pretty much entirely real-time without much need for pausing except when you target a spell or whatever. OTOH it still retained stuff like quests mostly coming from individuals who explained their motives and who you could snark at and stuff. BW fixed most of 2's big problems with Inquisition, but some of the fixes went in, I won't say the wrong direction, but a direction people like Pike and myself aren't as taken with.

e; 2 is vastly underrated and still gets a lot of trout today. I hear the launch was certainly a catastrophe, and there are some questionable design decisions (specifically the way you'll finish a fight and then a whole new wave of enemies spawns out of nowhere). The overarching plot and character development is a subject of... some controversy (I think it's some of Bioware's best work since the BG era tbh, and certainly their bravest).

[Pike]

I smurfing love DA2. It's one of those games where like... if Bioware had had more development time it would be one of their all time best games. As is, it's flawed but immensely enjoyable and you can really see what Bioware was going for in terms of having a hero who is, well, a Failure Hero (seriously Hawke is even saying the quote on top of the TVTropes page for Failure Hero) and taking place in a world that is just going to trout no matter what you do. It's really, really different than most video games. The story is intimate - you have a family - and the characters are IMO the best in the series.

Also, Anders was right

[Formalhaut]

Yeah, DA: II had the most fast-paced combat. Even with the inclusion of move to point, it is probably slightly less tactical than DA: O, though it still retains deep tactics (unlike DA: I) and I like that each companion has their own unique skill tree.

If you ask me, DA: I is a decent compromise between action and tactics (though I do appreciate those who preferred Origins-style), but I really wish they kept in the gambit tactics, the lack of them hurt combat in DA: I.

And I'm divided whether or not the 'you can only have eight abilities' helped or hindered.

[Pike]

Weirdly enough I think Inquisition is more fun to play with a controller. I've played through the series on both PC and console and while I definitely prefer PC for the first two (for mods and traditional CRPG combat), I think Inquisition is a lot more fun as a hack-and-slashy style game with a controller.

[Formalhaut]

I wish I could play Inquisition on PC so I can get more hair options. And mods are brilliant, a shame consoles don't allow for mods.

[Pike]

I can't get Inquisition mods to work at all so I just don't bother with them.

[Pumpkin]

Inquisition is the only one I have left to play. Do I get to go to France Orlais?

[Formalhaut]

Pretty much most of the game is set in Orlais. There's also this main quest where you go to a grand masquerade in Orlais and it is fabulous.