Dragon Age

Dragon Age (2009) series are narrative-driven role-playing games with an emphasis on combat and player choices. You play the hero in the medieval fantasy world of Thedas, exploring the world and using your power to stop the impending darkness spread across the land. They are unusual for the scale and scope of the world, the amount of choice and character development offered to the player and the depth of its lore and world-building.

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In many ways inspired by middle ages Europe and its folklore, it offers a chance to inhabit a fantastical world and play through challenging combat scenarios, all while making meaningful in-game decisions that shape the course of your story, interactions and even the ending.

There have been three games in the main series, which were released on consoles and PC:

• Dragon Age: Origins (2009) PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360
• Dragon Age II (2010) PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360
• Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One

In each game, you choose from different classes of characters and level up your skills by interacting with characters you meet to take on combat and mission which offer upgrades to your character.

The first game was more conversation based, while its sequels introduced a greater emphasis on real-time combat. This requires a significant level of strategy when deciding how best to approach the threat, depending on your particular character's skill set.

When you are in conversation with other citizens of Thedas, you can choose from a variety of responses. Get this right and characters you meet can join your party. Get this wrong and you can find yourself with a new enemy. Each person's opinion of you is affected by your dialogue choices and actions, meaning no two play-throughs are the same. Depending on your choices, some characters may be allies or obstacles.

In the first game, you are recruited into the Grey Wardens, an order that is standing against monsters called Darkspawn. You are tasked with defeating the archdemon controlling the hordes and ending the siege. In the second game, you play Hawke, a refugee living in Kirkwall who rises to become Kirkwall's ruler, making allies and enemies along the way. The third game puts you in control of the Inquisitor, who survived a cataclysmic event that tore the sky open, unleashing demons upon Thedas. You must rise to the head of the Inquisition and defeat an ancient darkspawn intent on becoming a God Emperor.

While the plot of each of these games differs, the gameplay is consistent throughout the series. You take on the classic tale of a hero's journey; rising from nothing to defeat the darkness in the time of greatest need, as well as core themes of good vs evil, duty and responsibility.

There have also been several spin-offs and tie-in games:

• Dragon Age: Journeys (2009) Web Browser
• Dragon Age Legends (2011) Web Browser
• Heroes of Dragon Age (2013) Android, iOS
• Dragon Age: The Last Court (2014) Web Browser

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Our examiner, Ben Kendall, first checked Dragon Age 3 years ago. It was re-examined by Ellen Robertson and updated 4 weeks ago.