Making its debut back in 2009, Dragon Age: Origins quickly carved a niche for itself in the medieval fantasy genre. Becoming one of BioWare’s most beloved franchises alongside games like Mass Effect, Jade Empire, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, it didn’t take long for sequels to be made. With Dragon Age: Dreadwolf in the pipeline, now is the perfect time to catch up on the series fans have loved for well over a decade. And what better way to do it than in chronological order? With this guide, we’ll go over all the Dragon Age games in order, as well as some spin-off titles you may not know about.
Let’s get started!
What Is Dragon Age?
For those new to the Dragon Age series — or BioWare games in general — let’s do a quick overview of what the series entails. Dragon Age is a medieval fantasy RPG that takes place in the fictional world of Thedas. You control of various important figures as they navigate the dangers of ancient monsters and court intrigue.
Much like the Mass Effect series, You can create your characters from the ground up and dictate how they behave. You’ll also be given control of a varied cast of companions that could end up being your best friend, your greatest rival, or even your lover.
Unlike the Mass Effect series, however, the Dragon Age series doesn’t focus on one person, but on Thedas as a whole. While Mass Effect focused on Shepard’s efforts to save the galaxy, Dragon Age focuses on the ever-changing Thedas and how the actions of your characters shape the world around you.
I jumped into the series shortly before the second game was released and I’ve never looked back. I’ve read all the novels and comics that have been released over the years and can easily say that Dragon Age is my favorite series among any games I’ve played. While there have been some stumbles along the way, I believe each game is worth playing and continues to build on the excellent storytelling that made Dragon Age: Origins a classic.
All Dragon Age Games in Chronological Order
With all of that in mind, let’s get into all the Dragon Age games in order!
Dragon Age Journeys
- Developer: EA2D, BioWare
- Platform(s): Web browser
- Release Date: October 22, 2009
Dragon Age Journeys is a 2D flash game that was released shortly before Dragon Age’s first main release. Intended as a tie-in game to Origins, Journeys had the cool feature of unlocking exclusive rewards when Origins came out a month later. Dragon Age Journeys wasn’t just some simple tie-in either. The game had its very own narrative that was technically a prequel to the events of Origins.
While it was a neat concept, the story wasn’t incredibly important to the overall plot of the series and was never completed, with Chapters 2–3 never released. Regardless, the game was fun for what it was. While it may not be as simple to play as before because of Adobe Flash disappearing, Journeys may still be playable using BlueMaxima’s Flashpoint, a web game preservation project.
Dragon Age: Origins
- Developer: BioWare
- Platform(s): PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Release Date: November 3, 2009
The game that put this series on the map, Dragon Age: Origins introduces us to the world of Thedas in all its gritty glory. As the name suggests, Origins allows you to choose from several origins that shape how your character fits into the world. Aside from race and class, you can also decide your place in society. Are you the child of a noble, or someone gifted with magic and forced into a tower of other mages? Do you live in the downtrodden Alienages packed with city elves, or do you live off the land with the Dalish? The best part about this is that people will react to these decisions and treat you accordingly.
Once your character is created, you’re thrust into the ancient conflict between the Grey Wardens and the Darkspawn. From there, the world opens up and you’re free to traverse the story as you see fit.
As I said before, this is the game that made Dragon Age a household name, and for good reason. Many fans of worlds like Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings will find something familiar with this game, and I recommend anyone interested in the series to try it out.
Dragon Age: Origins — Awakening
- Developer: BioWare
- Platform(s): PC, Mac, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Release Date: March 16, 2010
While technically a DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, Awakening stands on its own two feet with a fairly contained narrative. Dragon Age: Origins — Awakening acts as a continuation of the story told in the main game. While your world state can be passed into Awakening, passing over your character and choices throughout the game, it’s not necessary. If you simply wanted to play Awakening, you could make a new character and a default world state is provided for you.
This DLC added completely new maps, enemies, items, and classes, as well as a rich new adventure to go on. What makes this game so great is how it provides a way for the player to see some of the fallout from their grand adventure. Not every bow is tied neatly after you kill the big bad, and Awakening addresses what the hero does after the main threat is taken care of.
While I said this DLC can technically be played without playing through the main game, I highly advise against it. You miss a lot of context going in blind, and the narrative as a whole will simply not hit as hard.
Dragon Age II
- Developer: BioWare
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
- Release Date: March 8, 2011
Dragon Age II sees you switch perspectives from the Hero of Ferelden (the main character of Origins) to Hawke, a refugee who escaped Ferelden before the Darkspawn destroyed their home. The narrative of DA2 has you work from a desperate refugee struggling to survive to the Champion of Kirkwall. Much like its predecessor, DA2 has everything you know and love from your typical BioWare game. Unfortunately, this is also the game in the series with the most problems.
Later revealed to have a strict development window with significant interference from publishing company EA, Dragon Age II came out less polished than what people were expecting from the desired sequel to Dragon Age: Origins. The first nail in the coffin was the main character themself. Unlike Origins, which gave you a breadth of races and origins to work with, DA2 forced you to play as Hawke, a human mage, warrior, or rogue with a predetermined backstory. There was also a distinct lack of varied environments, with the whole game taking place within or around the city-state of Kirkwall. This was made even worse with reused dungeon design throughout the entire game. That, mixed with the radical change in combat, made a lot of fans wary or disappointed with the title.
Despite its issues, Dragon Age II still managed to deliver a compelling story with the help of an expertly written and acted cast of characters. Depending on who you are, the change in gameplay may not be that bad, as many praised DA2 for speeding up combat and gameplay as a whole. Regardless, if you enjoy the world of Thedas and like BioWare games in general, I do recommend playing this game. I enjoyed my time with it, and you’ll need to know the story if you plan on playing the rest of the series.
Dragon Age Legends
- Developer: EA2D, BioWare
- Platform(s): Facebook Platform, Google+, Web browser
- Release Date: March 16, 2011
Much like Journeys, Dragon Age Legends is a flash-based game that acts as a tie-in to Dragon Age II. In this game, you play as the trusted ally of Viscount Ravi to discover the mysterious circumstances surrounding his son. Just like in Journeys, you could unlock unique items for DA2 by playing this game. All these items are available now as DLC, but when it was released, this was a pretty cool feature.
This game isn’t necessary to the overall plot of the series, but If you want a nostalgic flash game to bring back good memories then this one’s for you. Unlike Journeys, Legends is still available as a dedicated single-player download.
Dragon Age: The Last Court
- Developer: Failbetter Games
- Platform(s): Web browser
- Release Date: November 7, 2014
Unlike the previous tie-in games, Dragon Age: The Last Courts was a text-based browser game that bridged the gap between Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition. In this game, you play as the Marquis of Serault as you guide your territory through a difficult time in the history of Thedas. The Last Court plays like a resource management game where you need to make difficult decisions to keep both you and Serault in one piece.
While I wouldn’t say this game is necessary for the plot — much like the other spin-off games on this list — it was a lot of fun to play. It also gave great insight into what the state of the world was after the events of DA2 and gave a good inclination of what you would be facing in Inquisition. By completing the game, you also unlocked two unique missions in Inquisition dealing with the Marquis.
Unfortunately, the game was deactivated in 2020 and is no longer playable. For those interested in how the game played, there are a bunch of videos online with playthroughs.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
- Developer: BioWare
- Platform(s): PC, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, Xbox One
- Release Date: November 18, 2014
The largest Dragon Age game to date, Dragon Age: Inquisition is the last game in the series to come out thus far. Wanting to show the true scale of Thedas, Inquisition offers massive semi-open world maps for players to get lost in. The gameplay also takes a step back combat-wise, mixing the methodical approach from Origins with the action hack-and-slash of DA2.
While Inquisiton doesn’t succeed at everything it tries to accomplish, the game is an absolute marvel and a true treat to go through. Both the narrative and character writing are on point in this title, with interpersonal relationships between the player and the different NPCs in the game being the most complex to date in any BioWare game. This pairs incredibly well with the fact that the game is simply beautiful to look at.
I often find myself coming back to Inquisition and starting a new character just to go through the game again. Aside from more than a few unsatisfying open-world quests, the game provides a fun story that delves deep into medieval politics and ancient enemies that were so prevalent in the first game. I highly recommend anyone with the time to play this title and enjoy what it has to offer.
What Order Should I Play the Dragon Age Games In?
Anyone familiar with BioWare games will know the answer to this question, but I highly recommend playing the Dragon Age series in the order they came out. While the tie-in games can be skipped, the main line games are enhanced by playing the previous titles, as your choices are migrated over to create your unique world state. By playing these games out of order, you’re hurting your enjoyment and immersion!
Future of Dragon Age
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, fans of the series should be seeing more Dragon Age in the next couple of years. Despite being teased way back in 2018, Dragon Age: Dreadwolf has had a pretty rocky development. With rumors of the game restarting development several times and many veterans of BioWare leaving the company, some fans had been pretty worried about this next game in the series.
As recently as October 2022, the game was said to be in alpha, meaning it was playable from start to finish. Some gameplay was even leaked onto the internet before swiftly being taken down. Only time will tell how this game turns out, but as a fan of this series, I hope for the best.
Join the High Ground!
Thank you for checking our list of all the Dragon Age games in chronological order. I love each of these titles and would recommend them to anyone interested in the series. Have you played any of the games in the series? Are you planning on picking them up before Dreadwolf comes out? Let us know in the comments below and subscribe for more content like this.
Happy gaming!
You must sign in to comment.
Don't have an account? Sign up here!