The titles in both of these series are completely different, but fans still constantly compare them. Each of the franchises has its own merits and demerits, but what is still worth playing: Dragon Age or Skyrim?
Before the Witcher franchise became popular – and with the release of the third part, it even took the leading position among medieval fantasy RPGs – two games competed in this niche: Dragon Age and Skyrim. Both projects are not comparable with each other in terms of gameplay or plot, but each of them is a well-developed title with the peculiarities of its subgenre.
Skyrim still counts the best open world sandbox RPG. At the same time, Dragon Age is considered at least one of the best story games role-playing projects that originate with Baldur’s Gate. These games have one thing in common: in both the player can spend tens of hours. And since most people with an active social life are unlikely to have enough time for both series of games, comparing the advantages of each will help to make the right (for everyone) choice of what to play.
Dragon Age: Descendant of D&D
The reason the Dragon Age series has become so successful (especially the first part) is the use of developments from Dungeons and Dragons… The developers of the game, studio Bioware, had experience in creating the classic and most elaborate D&D game, Baldur’s Gate.
Consequently, Dragon Age was Bioware’s attempt to make its intellectual property, which will not be a copy of the board, but take the best from it. And it worked!
In other words, the developers took all the RPG fundamentals of D&D, and directed them towards modern and more dynamic gameplay. Wherein well-developed characters and an interesting plot I didn’t have to sacrifice.
Skyrim: A Rich Legacy
Skyrim would not be such a great game if it were not for the development experience gained through the previous installments of The Elder Scrolls series. These games clearly showed what gamers like and work, and what should be removed. Skyrim is the fifth part of a series of games, where each part was better compared to the previous ones. Now this game is The best way to experience the vast universe of the Elder Scrolls…
Well, the Dragon Age series will need a few more games to get the perfect gameplay formula. No wonder the developers have not yet been able to decide on the classic gameplay for their series.
Dragon Age: Voiced Protagonist
The voice acting of the main character in Dragon Age appeared only from the second part, but when the voice of the protagonist began to sound, the dialogues became much more lively and interesting. Bioware borrowed this gorgeous detail from Dragon Age from the Mass Effect series, where Shepard spoke from the first part. Well, now it makes no sense to remove the voice acting of the main character, returning to the system from the first part. Especially considering the dialogue lines in the first Dragon Age, which the dialogue wheel replaced.
Of course, the presence of a certain voice in the hero can interfere with immersion in his character, but on the other hand, the player’s eyes can rest, because it is enough to listen to dialogues, and not read them… In addition, this opens up access to the game for people for whom reading dialogues was problematic due to their health characteristics.
Skyrim: Character Creation
Skyrim’s lack of protagonist voice acting gives players the freedom to create their own characters. You can play as a representative of one of ten races, each of which has its own characteristics and history. The origin of the hero sometimes affects the attitude of the non-playable characters.
Dragon Age Inquisition and even Origins do not have such extensive character creation capabilities. Although in this series you can customize the appearance of the hero, the choice of races is limited to Qunari, Dwarf, Human, and Elf (in Inqusition). Even with that in mind, Skyrim has a lot more options for choosing your hero’s story.
Dragon Age: Better Combat
If there is one persistent disadvantage found in The Elder Scrolls games, it is clumsy and chaotic combat systemand Skyrim is no exception. Most other RPGs provide players with better combat, both in terms of animations and gameplay.
Bioware continued to experiment with the combat system in the third game Dragon Age Inquisition, and she overwhelmingly surpasses the battles in Skyrim… Players fully feel the power of the blows or hits of the character. Moreover, this applies to both weapon strikes and magical attacks from a third-person view.
Well, a long game in Skyrim will clearly lead to the fact that the combat system, along with the stupid AI of the enemies, will get bored. And the battles themselves can hardly be called dynamic or interactive.
Skyrim: Better Modding
What is the main reason for the relevance and popularity of Skyrim to this day compared to other RPGs? Modders. These unsung heroes have made the game better (or more unusual) in every possible way. Every bug fixed Bethesda forgot, and even gameplay improvements are all the work of modders.
In Skyrim mods can improve everything, even significantly change the outdated combat system. Not to mention the graphics that fans are able to do better than the latest (to date) Dragon Age game. This level of modification is not found in any other RPG game.
Dragon Age: A Fascinating Presentation
Unlike Bethesda games, releases from Bioware studio do not need any improvements, improvements or bug fixes from players. This is because in DA developers they are better at telling stories and plot.
The presentation of the plot and characters in Dragon Age is very memorable, and the dialogue much livelier and more dynamicthan in Skyrim. Bioware always makes sure that the stories in their games are presented in an interesting way for the player. This includes having dramatic plot twists, varied characters, and many options for the novel.
Skyrim: Better open world
Games in the Dragon Age series cannot boast of a huge and open world. Even Inquisition, where there are really large locations, cannot be called a game with the ability to go anywhere and explore every corner. In addition, most of the large locations empty and filled with only loot…
Skyrim and the two upcoming titles Oblivion and Morrowind have really big and interesting open worldliving his own life. There are enough activities and intriguing places where you can spend a lot of time and not regret it.
Dragon Age: More Charismatic Characters
Sooner or later, playing Skyrim, you will notice that the voices of many characters are repeated due to the same voice actors. Moreover, the intonations themselves in most cases sound simulated and monotonous. Well, on top of all this, the characters are not very elaborate and have no personality.
In Dragon Ag, the heroes are much better. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses, thanks to which the player has a certain attitude towards them. it really lively and charismatic characters, especially compared to the wooden and empty NPCs from Skyrim.
Skyrim: More detailed missions
Despite the quality of the characters that most players are not satisfied with, the open world of Skyrim boasts memorable quests. Such routine work as crafting or collecting herbs done better here than in Dragon Age.
Side quests in Skyrim are not so formulaic and feel really worked out. The wide choice of passing and completing quests makes them quite variable. Therefore, players usually have more choice than just taking a quest and killing someone. Although some people like the template quest system.
The sympathies of the editors were divided, however, we have much more materials on Skyrim, so we cannot but recommend that you look at a selection of the best quests in the lands of the Nordics. Also, Wotpack has prepared interesting guides on where to spend gold or how to choose the right companion for yourself in the game by the sign of the zodiac.