#those are my imressions of the games anyway xD

[dungeons-and-dragon-age]

Hey so I played DAI and fell in love with it and its characters easily my all time favorite game now and I've been thinking about playing some of the previous games. Is there one you would reccomend? Any particular hurdles with playing older games in the series (essential mods ect) or are they games that's fun to reminisce on but are hard to play in the modern era of gaming? I really appreciate any insight you have on this! Thanks!

Heya!

Okay so generally speaking? I would recommend both Origins and 2, especially if it's the companions and banter you like about Inquisition because they are easily my favourite parts of the other games as well. DA2 seems to get the most hate thrown at if from what I've seen, partly I think because it's production was pretty rushed and it shows (it does have its fair share of writing issues as well but that's another can of worms), but personally I still enjoyed it a lot.

I don't know how picky you are about graphics because obviously they are a little dated for both games, though I myself never had a problem with them (but I don't have a problem with older graphics in general, so,,,), and there's plenty of cosmetic mods out there to spice things up. As far as mod recs go I'm afraid I can't be much of a help because I haven't used any mods so far for either game ^^"

Other than that they do both have their pros and cons so it depends a lot on what you're looking for since their style does differ a lot. So for example..

Origins's combat system is much more fleshed out strategical than 2's, which is more straight forward and mostly hack-and-slash, but at the same time DAO's is also a lot slower and more tedious.

Since you asked about mods I'm assuming you're on PC, so key bindings shouldn't be an issue since you can remap them (the default should be very similar for both games though).

DA2's interface is objectively neater and more organised, but DAO's is more immersive imo.

Origins has quite a few extensive dungeons, while DA2's are very short but also repetitive, as it reuses maps a lot.

DAO's main plot is pretty much the high fantasy standard of "hero an co. go on a world-saving quest to defeat the big evil dragon", but its side quests, lore and general atmosphere are great imo, whereas DA2's story is much more condensed and focused on the political unrest in Kirkwall and the protagonists personal tragedy story. Origins is more gritty and grim but also more epic and heroic, while DA2 is less dark on the surface but also feels much more personal and down to earth in a way.

DAO lets you choose from one of six origin stories while in 2 you always play as Hawke.

DAO's protagonist is silent, Hawke is voiced and can adapt one of 3 base tones that change depending on dialogue choices.

DAO's approval system is more like DAI's, with approval and disapproval, while DA2 has a friendship/rivalry system.

Origins is also more gory than the other two games, as in there are a couple parts in the game that are genuinely really gross (at least I find them to be very gross), but not because it's excessively gory per se? Idk if that makes sense but a lot of the icky-ness comes from the context I'd say, but it's really well done, as in it fits the overall tone of the game perfectly. Just thought I'd mention it

Oh an most importantly, you get to have a dog in both games.

Edit: Forgot to mention DLC so I thought I'll do that real quick! For Origins has a few bonus campaigns, of whoch I'd highly recommend the Awakening expansion. It introduces some important characters and is comparable to Trespasser I'd say. Witch Hunt is intetesting too, Leliana's song is a prequel focusing on Leliana's backstory. The Darkspawn Chronicles are... interesting? But the weakest out of the expansions imo. Soldier's Peak has some lore about the Grey Wardens, Return to Ostagar gives some closure to what happened at the start of the game, and Stone Prisoner gives you an extra companion who's fun to have around imo.

DA2's Legacy DLC is really good, bring your sibling if you can becausr it reveals some things about Malcom Hawke. It's fairly relevant to the lore and plot of Inquisition (which you'll already know but it might still be interesting). Mark of the Assassin is... mediocre, if you ask me. It does have some hilarious banter though.

So yea.. dunno if this helps any, but tldr I would recommend both games for different reasons ^^

#I'm fairly new to DA myself so like #I'm probably not the best person to ask any of this haha #again don't know if any of this is helpful but maybe it's a bit of an overview at least? idk #those are my imressions of the games anyway xD