This is my least played Bioware game. In fact I actively forget this game exists. This coming from a person who’s favorite game behind Fantasy Life is Mass Effect 2. The only reason to play this is because of plot and story which is a large part of the Dragon Age series. Now if you do play this don’t play it on Xbox Series X and S it glitched and crashed more times then any game I’ve ever played. That could also be more attributed to the rushed design and development issues.

Gameplay

It is a hack and slash with rpg elements and emphasis on story. Waves of smaller enemies appear and you fight them with the goal of defeating a larger boss. This system makes the classes near useless as all three feel the same as opposed to Origins and Inquisition where all three classes had differences. Specials are more useful for crowd control or for a bit of power against a boss. Even then your companions don’t always have to swap weapons and equipment if at all just swap weapons as equipment is locked unless it is a gift item which is rare. Also without varied races like Origins or Inquisition the only real difference is that Hawke may have been at Ostagar or not. Similarly, depending on class your companion can be Bethany or Carver. It really doesn’t matter as they only accompany you past the first act and the prologue. Though they are present for the DLC and a few quests after if they live.

Overall I don’t hate this game it opens a lot of mechanics that Inquisition would later expand and polish. It also sets up the villains for the third game. For example Samson and Corypheous are main villains in Inquisition, but play minor roles here, but it is still not very good compared to other games Bioware made at their best. The rushed development shows and the only reason to play this is to get the story which you don’t have to do because Dragon Age Keep imports your save to Inquisition anyway.