I'm curious about the game, but I kind of skipped over the first Dragon Age and not sure if it's worth going back. I've also heard nothing but bad things about the second one.

I'll semi jump on this thread and ask if any of DA:O and DA:2 data can be imported into this? It'd be nice to know

@fallen189: Save Data can't be imported but they have the Dragon Age Keep website which allows you to create a profile of all your decisions. I think it might be able to read your save data to save you the time of picking them all (cause there is a ton of decisions to pick).

I'll go no, the Dragon Age games aren't like Mass Effect where it was the continuation of the same story (essentially). Dragon Age O, 2, and I are pretty separate stories for the most part. At most you might not understand somethings characters talk about at some point but 2 had very little to do with O, gonna assume the same here.

No, but if you haven't played origins you should. But if you don't have the time Inquisition seems easy enough to jump into.

Actually it can't. The only thing DAKeep reads is your character's face, name, gender, class, and race (where appropriate). Everything else has to be done from scratch.

According to the review by Phil Kollar over at Polygon, this game feels sort of like the third game in a trilogy that was never officially a trilogy. That is to say it wraps up all the loose ends from DA:O and DA2 and reaches its own satisfactory conclusion (while leaving things open enough for the universe to continue on). I can't remember where but I also heard that the game doesn't go out of its way to explain things so you may end up feeling lost as people ramble on about Mages and Templar and the Circle and the Chantry and Wardens and Darkspawn.

While I feel that both games are worth playing, they're such huge time investments (especially DA:O), that you'd probably be better served by reading plot summaries since DA:I comes out in a week (OMG IT COMES OUT IN A WEEK!!!). Once you do that, you should also check out http://thedialoguewheel.wordpress.com/ where they give a more detailed breakdown of the decisions to be made in the Keep before you play the game. That way you'll be able to craft your story the way you want it in a mostly informed manner.

While this question has probably been answered to some degree, they were asked this at pax aus, and there answer was roughly:

You don't have to as (they say) all the DA games are somewhat self-contained, they are supposed to be about more about what's happening then about the who is doing it, it's about thedas, unlike mass effect, which is shepherds story. they gave an example about varric, how you can ask him about DA2 if you import a keep state, but if you use the default that stuff isn't there.

While I do think you can play this without playing the other 2, I also believe you would probably have a better experience if you did play the other 2, only in that you would have more understanding/ connection to the characters and events. But then again its not out yet so maybe i'm wrong, but I doubt it.

I haven't watched this 2 hour video (spoilers obviously) but I imagine it covers what you're maybe after.

I think they're using Inquisition's built in system to cover it.

I played DA:O and half of Dragon Age 2.

If you want to learn about the lore and the game's universe, I'd strongly recommend this video series:

From some of the early reviews, the consensus seems to be that, yes, you would do good in playing the previous games.

The game doesn't necessarily covers the same ground or the same characters than the previous ones, but it assumes you are fairly familiar with the lore and the setting, and doesn't really provide a way for new players to get into it (unlike ME 3 with Vega). If you don't want to play DA 1 and 2 (I can't really blame you), there are videos and pages on Internet you can look up to get up to speed... The point is, don't jump fresh into it, some research may be required.

So I played and completed both previous Dragon Age games a few times but could not remember what happened and what decisions I made so I used the Dragon Age Keep at https://dragonagekeep.com/en_US/ to remind me of the story, it seems a really good primer for the new game.

It is also useful as you create decisions and a save file to start inquisition with. I believe Inquisition does not carry over any previous save files from the old games so this is useful.

What a load of shit that you have to use a website to put in a load of stuff you might not remember, so that your "save" lives on. Seems like a missed opportunity

@fallen189: I agree I was a little disappointed at the decision but can understand that transferring/incorporating all that data to not only new machines but an entirely new engine (Frostbite) would be a nightmare. I would add however that the Keep does transfer some data when you log in then you fine-tune smaller decisions, it only took be about 10-15 minutes total and is now ready when I start Inquisition.

If you don't want to do that I feel Dragon Age is not like Mass Effect where I HAD to see what happened to Wrex and others, the only decision/person I am interesting to seeing is what has happened to Morrigan, the Dragon Age games seem to be all there own story and not a continuation/sequel.

I'm sure some of the lore and history etc could be to be read about but honestly if you don't use the Keep for making a save just use it for the story recap - its really well done.

Given how Dragon Age 2 went, Bioware seems to be okay with burying the other games and only has a light veneer of a connected world. So the cynic in me thinks you don't need to worry about the other games at all.

You should definitely play DA:O because it does an amazing job of setting up the universe and introduces the most important character in the series, Morrigan.

There are still about 6 days before the game will be released in USA. If you live in Europe then the release will be a couple days later.

So if you arent planning to play any of the games that are released before Dragon Age:Inquisition comes out it could be worth your time to play Dragon Age 2. Though some people prefer Dragon Age:origins because it is closer to the traditional rpgs than Dragon Age 2 which is much more action oriented.

But playing any of the previous Dragon Age games isnt necessary to enjoy Dragon Age: Inquisition. It just adds to the experience.

@lackluster:

I'd say play Origins. It's great -- probably the best characters and emotional resonance in any game I've played, edging any single Mass Effect game, slightly. It'll really add to your enjoyment of Inquisition. And then just youtube some of the DA2 cutscenes. That game was not worth the time required, at all -- and just watching the cutscenes gets you all the payoff.

@poisonmonkey: Well the transfer data was hell of bugged out even when it was only the awakening expansion , so they decided that better to continue a big mess , they made the keep that also can be used for any other future Dragon Age games etc. Also solved the problem of those of you who would buy the game on next gen consoles etc. Perhaps not the fanciest of solutions but apparentlly the best solution at the moment.

oh even the PC saves can't be imported?

Both are fun games, and if you can get them cheap I'd recommend playing them. I finished DA:O 4 times and DA2 3 times, and while DA2 is a bit of a rushed game it is still enjoyable. These titles really shine on the higher difficulties.

Nope, need to use the keep.

well that's a bummer

Obviously it makes a huge difference...

But no, I doubt you need to play them. Watch the many recap videos posted here then go to the Dragon Age Keep thing. Should be good!

@lackluster: I personally really liked DA2. I can definitely recommend it.

No, the Keep is really nice and well made. You can customise all your decisions in a few minutes, its not that long. Plsu you can watch them all play out narrated by Varric, its pretty cool. You should check it out.