Dragon Age

Dragon Age began in 2009 with Dragon Age: Origins from BioWare, a game that carried on the studio's tradition of tactical party-based RPGs set in dark fantasy - players chose one of several origin stories based on race and class, shaping both the opening hours and how the world later reacted to the protagonist. An emphasis on tactical, pausable combat with control over the whole party, morally ambiguous choices, and a dark, gritty tone set the series apart from the wave of more action-oriented, accessible RPGs of the time. BioWare published under Electronic Arts from the start, a relationship that continues today, and decisions from one game could later be carried into the next through the online Dragon Age Keep tool. The game was followed by the Awakening expansion with its own storyline, plus smaller DLC such as Witch Hunt and Leliana's Song.

The sequel, Dragon Age II (2011), pushed combat closer to action, sped up encounters, and confined most of its story to a single city, Kirkwall, whose locations were also noticeably reused throughout the game. This split opinion - some players appreciated the more intimate, personal storytelling centered on one character and their circle, while others missed the scale, pacing, and variety of the first game's settings. It was followed by the Legacy and Mark of the Assassin expansions, both released as downloadable content.

Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) brought the series back to a more open world with larger regions to explore, released on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One alongside the older console generation and PC, and earned wide acclaim including several Game of the Year honors from gaming outlets and award shows. It also added a four-player co-op multiplayer mode and a strategic War Table map used to make decisions outside the main storyline. Its story culminated in the Trespasser expansion, which both hinted at where the series might head next and closed out the storyline around the Inquisitor.

After a decade-long wait, Dragon Age: The Veilguard arrived in 2024 under Electronic Arts, pushing combat further toward action, trimming the number of companions in the active party, and focusing on tighter, more interconnected relationships between characters. The return after such a long gap sparked debate among longtime fans about how far the series had drifted from its more tactical origins, reopening the question of where the Dragon Age brand goes from here.