DA:I Came Out 2 Years Ago Today...

Hard to believe that the game is two years old. I have done alot of changing and a lot of it i owe to the game. It was truly an amazing experience and quite probably the best game i've ever played. Yet little niggles and nnoyances have propped up since i started my fifth playthrough. I am dreading all the resource gathering i will have to do for all the armors and staffs i will have to use. And of course i am looking forward to DA 4.

Nice to see BioWare devs hanging out on the new BSN.  Thank you for all the hard work you do.

I only got into Dragon Age this year, with my first Origins play through being in March of this year. I lost a lot of sleep that month, playing Origins twice, Awakening, DA2, and finally, DAI. I remember telling it to download to my computer and I was antsy, looking up all my romance options and reviews of the game that weren't too spoilery, a tutorial on how to use the Dragon Age Keep to burn through the hours while I waited.

I've now played:
DAO/A 3 times--> started my 4th last week
DA2 3 times---> started my 4th two weeks back
DAI 3 times--> Have another 5 characters I've created but haven't played past the intro, but with plans to finish.

Read and watched all Dragon Age stuff except for Magekiller.

Written fan fiction, which is not something I've done since I was a teenager! Started work on a GMV. And an interest in drawing and 3D rendering has also been born.

That it's two years old just reminds me that I got to play all those games with the patches and fixes and how lucky I was to have such a seamless experience. I didn't have to wait very long at all to find out what the Ef was going on with Solas, and so I was not "disappointed" with the ending, because Trespasser was my ending. Reminds me how "Old" Origins and 2 are by comparison, and yet their graphics never bothered me and I love them.

First Impression: Can't get enough.
Impression as of today: Still can't get enough, DA4 pretty please.

Never played any other Bioware Games. Honestly, I wasn't a gamer until Dragon Age, there are huge gaps, years even, where I never played a video game. That it's become hobby #1 for almost 9 solid months is a first for me.

Legacy and Trespasser tie for best DLCs.

PS: for all that is Divine, if you aren't going to have a dual protagonist, I don't even fathom how you would wrap up the Solas /Quiz story line, ESPECIALLY for the Solalvellan fans.

Dual protagonist all the way. I believe in you Bioware.

I first played DAO well after DA2 came out and I wasn't sure I'd play DA2 because so many people hated it but I broke down and played it and I loved it just as much as DAO (once I got over the silly looking dungeons). So I then got to wait for DAI with the rest of you and liked it too. I've played all the games too many times to count but also have taken long spells off from playing anything due to life. Still, I'm looking forward to the next game.

@theloneshadow

Well, I picked up DA:I on the PS4 for $40 about a month ago. That included all of the DLCs, and the Deluxe stuff ("____" of the dragon.) They might discount that further for the holidays, but I wouldn't bet on it. I found it worth the price, even though I own DA:I and JoH on my computer.

DA2 is not available on the PS4. I don't have an Xbox, but I have a PS3. They want full price. $40 for the game, then $10-$15 for each DLC. If you find it on sale, go for it. I haven't seen DA2 on sale in over a year.

I'll address more of this thread later. I'm pre-coffee at the moment. What I will say for now is that I still love DA:I despite it's faults. If I was to rank BW games that I've played to the end, it would go like this:

1) Mass Effect 2
2) Dragon Age 2 (yeah yeah, save the hate)
3) Dragon Age Inquisition
4) Mass Effect 1
5) Baldur's Gate 2
6) Mass Effect 3
7) Dragon Age Origins
8) Neverwinter Nights.

The reason why Origins is so low on my list is because it hasn't aged very well to me. The colors are very brown, the combat is clunky and I hate the default "blank face" on the Warden. I still love the game for what it is. It got me into the series. But looking back, it just feels dated to me. When I eventually start PC gaming again, I'm going to have to give it another shot.

1,618 HOURS

... do I really need to say more?

Not really... but I will anyway!

TBH, I'm not even sure how many PTs I have at this point. At least 7 full PTs, who-knows-how-many partials, and then a lot o' DAMP t'boot. I'm really glad they decided to bring back multiple races for DAI. One of things that kept me coming back was to try a new race/class/spec combination. Add to that 4 different VAs, and you have a lot of replayability just on the character side. .

DA moving to the Frostbite engine was a smart move. Two years on and Inquisition still looks great. I still love the exploration aspect. I still take moments to look out over the scenery or ride around just for the hell of it. And, of course, all the OOB exploration...

Each of the DA games have their own strengths in terms of characters, story and gameplay. While I liked DAIs companions for the most part, I feel that DAO/DA2 overall had the strongest casts and we had stronger bonds with them. And while there are specific elements I preferred in previous games, on the whole I enjoyed DAI's combat & classes the most. Add to that DAI's great crafting system, interesting magic items, our own castle, a soundtrack as good as any of the previous games, tavern songs, some good emotional beats, a variety of locations (someone over there definitely understands the benefits of colour, light & sound), and all the little details that bring the environments to life... it was quite an achievement considering they had to learn (and build a slew of RPG elements to) a brand new engine.

And now that they have this foundation, I'm hyped to see what they do next. From what Mike was saying about how they plan to flesh out sidequests more, how photogrammetry is now seeing wider adoption in FB games (which, along with PBR, will make the environments/gear/etc even better looking), as well as taking another hard look at combat... I see a lot of promise there. Hopefully they'll also remember the lesson in Trespasser to include fun things to do outside of combat in the next one.

Mike, you've always been one of my favorite posters.  The first time we talked was when I first joined the old BSN in late 2013.  You encouraged me to get into the Mass Effect games and welcomed me into that series with open arms.  

Sometimes hun, you scare me a little bit.   Well, at least you get your money's worth out of every game you've played. 

If DA's greatest strength is in it's characters, it's 2nd greatest strength has be the world-building that's gone into the setting. The history, and how time/events/politics have changed what is "truth", the nations, the lore, the easter eggs, and where unraveling one mystery invariably creates two new ones...

Thanks.
I do?
I have. For me, the games have replay value.

2 years...let's see...just a scratch under 500 hours over 4 and a bit PTs.

Absolutely love a lot of it, and am a bit lukewarm on the rest. Nothing I actually dislike, I don't think, except the cursed shards....just kidding, I know they're optional and some of them are actually entertaining to get to...

After Isabela, Sera is my favourite DA companion and as a cast - easily the best.

For all my complaning about being forced to do side quests when I don't feel like it (and I think I complain about it in every thread that gives me the chance to do so ), which is almost never, I have an insane amount of playthroughs, and maybe I'd have done more if I'd have been able to stick to main and loyalty missions and little more. Still, almost never it's not never, and I have 2 completionist playthroughs, and another 2 that are not completonists but in which I've done a lot more side-missions than needed.

It's definitivel not my favourite DA game, that would be DA2, and DAO would still rank above it. And it's not only because I find the power requirements to advance annoying as hell: it's neither my favourite PC (that would be Hawke), nor my favourite cast (that would be Origin's), nor my favourite story (that would be Hawke's too). Still, I love dragon fights (though I hate to kill them and it's very inconvenient having contradictory feelings about that ), I love how it handled the dialogues (extra options, emotions wheel), I love how much banter there is, I love some of the companions (Solas, Varric, Casandra and Dorian) and some of the others are growing on me (Iron Bull and Cole), and I loved most of the main missons (the Fade, the Winter Palace and the Temple of Mythal) Trespasser and Jaws of Hakkon (main mission), and I loved too learning so much about the true origins of the Veil, the spirits, the elven gods and such. I didn't like much the changes in combat at first, but now I do, not sure I've just got used to it or I it's because I understand it better.

It was the first game I played in the PS4, in fact I didn't bother to buy it until it came out, I was absolutely thrilled when I finally got it (as soon as it was released) and I spent I don't know how many weeks complaning about all the fucking power points that I was always lacking to go on with the main missions and even so starting a new playthrough almost as soon as I ended one , because I aways go crazy like that with bioware games, I have to see every major variation in the story, try every class (who knows, maybe one day I¡ll be able to enjoy playing something other than a mage ), etc, until I know everything and I can make my perfect, canon playthrough

And for all my complaining about its flaws, I still replay my canon Inquisitor from time time, though usually the shortest possible version... So, yes, insane amount of playthroughs I feel though that I might be reaching my limit so I'm really dying to hear something about DA4, preferibly about it coming out before 2019, like everyone seems to expect Also, I'm really worried that drinking from the well it's going to get my Inquisitors killed or make it impossible not to kill Solas in the next game, but for some reason I'm incapable of letting Morrigan do it


And for all my complaining about its flaws, I will always love DAI for giving us Solas if nothing else

Happy birthday to my third-favourite game of all time! It doesn't quite beat out Baldur's Gate 2 or Grim Fandango for me, but I do love it more than any other video game I've ever played, which is saying something.

I'm planning to do an anniversary run soon, but, er, Pokemon Sun came out a couple of days ago. (I was going to call my Lycanroc Solas in honour of DA, but the first Jolly one I caught turned out to be a girl. Maybe I'll have to name a future Dragon type Flemeth instead ...)