All Dragon Age Games, Ranked Best to Worst

All Dragon Age Games, Ranked Best to Worst
The glory of slaying a dragon!


Up for a dragon hunt? Here are your all your Dragon Age games!

When it comes to high fantasy in the enduring Tolkien mold, few role-playing titles have seen as much success as BioWare’s Dragon Age games.

As the spiritual successor to the equally beloved Baldur’s Gate series, the first Dragon Age game, released in 2009, had the hopes and dreams of fans and developer alike riding on it. Thankfully, Dragon Age: Origins shattered all expectations, cementing a place for itself in the hearts of all RPG lovers, not to mention ensuring BioWare a fatter bank account.

But as is the case with all things, not all Dragon Age games are created equal. Here, then, is our list of Dragon Age games, ranked from best to worst.

1. Dragon Age: Origins

Queen of Black Marsh

Dragon-slaying has never been this electrifying!

Is anyone even surprised Dragon Age: Origins makes the first on our list of Dragon Age games? Dragon Age: Origins brought the magic and wonder of Baldur’s Gate to a new era. You want a massive, mythical world populated by elves, dragons, and other such fantasy creatures? Check! How about an epic story pitting myriad races, political and religious ideologies, and larger-than-life characters against each other? Check! How about a combat system that’s as intuitive as it is immersive, that allows you to pit brain and brawn against villains so vile they’d make Sauron squirm in his armchair? Check again!

The game is set in Ferelden, one kingdom among many in a large continent known as Thedas. Ferelden is beset by war and threatened by a looming demonic invasion – a threat only you can stop, if you can manage to get everybody to kiss, make up, and shake hands without stabbing each other in the back long enough to focus on a common foe, that is.

In Origins, as in all the other Dragon Age games, the races don’t have too high an opinion of each other. Humans treat the once-powerful elves like they’re the scum of the earth, the dwarves are too proud and too busy tinkering with their tiny tools to meddle with non-dwarven affairs, and the imposing Qunari just want to conquer the world.

Leliana surrounded

Playtime with zombies

To complicate matters, mages are generally distrusted and often find themselves at odds with the Templar Order. Mages who refuse to submit to the Circle of Magi – an organization that trains and governs mages – are known as apostates. While some apostates just want to be left alone, others can prove dangerous, and can even become vessels for demonic possession. For these reasons, the templars hunt down all mages who are not part of the Circle of Magi.

Then you’ve got the Grey Wardens, a specialized order of warriors devoted to vanquishing the demonic darkspawn. As a potential Warden yourself, your goal in the game is to prevent the Archdemon and his army from destroying the world.

And what’s a great RPG without awesome side characters? Origins gave us one of gaming’s most memorable femme fatales in the form of Morrigan the shapeshifting apostate. You can even romance her, along with most of the others (sadly, there is no option to romance the dog). Did we mention Morrigan’s mother can transform into a dragon?

Morrigan blast

Summoning fireballs, Morrigan-style

Like BioWare’s vaunted Mass Effect series, the Dragon Age games feature branching dialogue options that you can navigate in different ways, allowing you to befriend or make enemies of the various characters found in the game. Important politics and the very fate of the world are decided by these choices, so no pressure!

Last but not least, Origins’ core gameplay of exploration and combat borrows heavily from Baldur’s Gate. It takes a top-down approach, giving you a bird’s eye view of the land and therefore tactical advantage in combat. Battle can be paused, allowing you to give each party member a unique command, from moving to a particular spot to attacking a specific foe. It’s a tried-and-tested system that never gets old, and in Origins, it works wonders.

To put it simply, Dragon Age: Origins is the Dragon Age game that started it all.

Our rating – 5/5

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Writer, Gamer, Dreamer
Gamer Since: 1986
Favorite Genre: RPG
Currently Playing: Bloodborne, Mortal Kombat X, Tera Online
Top 3 Favorite Games:Dark Souls II, Bioshock Infinite, Dragon Age: Inquisition


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