I would play Dragon Age 2. Well i would replay one and then jump into two.

But while DA2 is a hot mess, theres still some good soupy bits in that puddle of crap. Plus since you're playing or replaying these in anticipation of the upcoming dragon age game, you should probably be familiar with dragon age 2. The story, the characters, ect.

Especially since its confirmed that alot of the characters from DA2 are showing up in the new one. Just from the trailers Casandra and Varric are both returning, apparently as party members? I dunno, they're at least in the game. Also some really important stuff happens in DA2, some of it handled really sloppily but still pretty important and i can't imagine it wont play a large role in the upcoming game.

So it's worth playing, plus i'm positive you could find it for super cheap. Also, its not as bad as everyone says, its just an obvious rush job. If they had another year of polish and writing time it woulda been great.

I say replay DA:O but if you plan on uploading saves into Inquisition, play 2. I played both on PS3 and plan to play the PS4 version so I hope they have a way to pull my saves but I doubt it.

You could replay Dragon Age: Origins, remember that it's still one of the better games Bioware has ever made and have 50 hours of fun, or you could play the weird, significantly scaled down sequel that no one recommends without caveats and actually have a more realistic baseline to go from when Inquisition comes out.

So, Dragon Age II. Because for all its problems, I really did like that game. I think a lot of the story makes sense if you look at it as an inversion or deconstruction of the usual Bioware RPG tropes (i.e. Even the Champion of Kirkwall can't fix everything, you're still just one person), though that doesn't excuse its hilariously dumb ending where everyone makes the absolute worst choices they could've made. I also think it has a pretty decent supporting cast. Just... don't expect a classic the same way Origins probably will end up being.

That's a good question about PS4, I played DAO on ps3 and looked for DA2 on steam only to remember its only on origins, and fuck that. This would be another good reason for a PS4 if all the stuff from my ps3 went with it. Cause If replay origins and than move into 2 and than have to restart anyways on PS4, these seems like a reason to skip 2.

There are exactly two really great scenes in Dragon Age 2. One is at the very end of the second at and one is near the end of the 3rd. The rest of the game is pretty disappointing, but those two moments are almost worth it.

If you do play, play a mage. All the other classes are rather boring.

While I adore the first one and think it is the better game the facts are that Dragon Age Inquisition is going to pull from things set into motion from Dragon Age 2. I'd say its worth playing through once at least its not nearly as bad as everyone makes it out to be but there were mistakes made in a number of areas not fatal ones but ones that were disappointing.

replay origins would be my vote.

There are a lot of possible racial origins you could have that you don't probably didn't experience.

Inquisition seems to be way more DA:2 the DA:O. Which is a shame for me. I'd play through DA:2 if I wanted the story connection and to understand the new streamlined mechanics they introduced.

This is basically what I was going to say on the matter. Dragon Age 2 is a fully competent game and will be very important to the events of Inquisition.

I dunno why you would wanna play Origins again when you could just play II, a game you haven't played before and probably should get around to playing since 3 is coming out soon.

DA II is not nearly as crap as everyone says it is, it was just super underwhelming and didn't, in any way, shape or form feel like a sequel to a huge RPG like Origins. Like, the story just wasn't big and important at all. Which is fine I guess, but yeah, with a big 2 in the title, I expected more out of the story. I imagine playing the game knowing this would probably make it less disappointing to you. Also, since Inquisition is coming out soon (kinda), you can probably excuse the trash " ending. "

Idk, I thought DA2 was fine, despite it's flaws. Reusing the same dungeons didn't really bother me that much. The fighting was a bit better, and if you have it on PC you can still do the strategic isometric view. The ending was definitely out of fucking nowhere though.

I think you are probably OK with DAII as long as you go into it with realistic expectations about what it is; a paint-by-numbers RPG with a poorly executed story.

Honestly I should replay DAII again to see if my opinion of it would mellow over time. I remember that I played DA:O and then went straight into DAII. In retrospect, this was a big mistake and probably soured my opinion of DAII more than was fair. I still don't think that it is an outstanding game by any means, but playing those two back-to-back really brings the weaknesses of DAII into focus.

I'd echo the sentiment that you should play Dragon Age II because it's something new and different and at least it will give you a story bridge into the third game if that one turns out to be worth playing. Just recognize the things that are poorly executed and dumbed-down since the first game to keep your expectations where they should be. All the tales of reused environments, a questionable art style, and enemies spawning from nowhere right before your eyes in constant waves are all true. The redeeming parts are that the combat often remains just as fun (the caveat hinging on just how ridiculous the waves of spawning enemies get) if different, and there are some memorable characters that really lift up a story that goes all over the place and has a really ridiculous conclusion.

I could sum up the story fairly quickly, so it's not like it's necessary to play the game for that, but the attachment you'll get for characters which will be making the jump to the third game is something I think you shouldn't miss.

But hey, you can't go wrong playing Origins again because each origin story affects the one overall in subtle ways.

I couldn't make it through the demo of DA2. The gameplay and environment design is so terrible. Origins is at least fun to play, mostly.

I'm in the exact same situation. Played and absolutely loved Origins, but never played DA2 (even though I pre-ordered it and was extremely excited. I don't know what happened). I've decided I should play the second one, at the very least, considering I saw characters from 2 that are in the trailer for Inquisition. That right there tells me I'll need to play DA2 if I want to be in the know story-wise. If I have the time, I'd love to play the first again. But damn, that's a lot of time you'd need.

I absolutely loved DA:O and detested DA2. If I had never played DA2 however, and knew that it was a pile of garbage going in, it might actually be playable. So I'd say try 2 since why not.

@nightriff: @bofooq: Bioware created a website called the Dragon Age Keep which will let you set up an exact world state down to every possible choice no matter how big or small players made in the first two games. They haven't confirmed or denied whether your actual save states can be uploaded to the keep but even if they can you can then edit those choices to create the exact setup you want for the new game. It basically sounds like a much more advanced form of the digital comic in Mass Effect 2 for PS3.

I think Dragon Age 2 is terrible, but you should still probably play it. You're basically guaranteed not to hate it as much as people like me do if you expect it to be bad going in. And even if I do think it's shitty, there's certainly some stuff to be enjoyed in that game. Also for as much as they are trying to distance themselves from the second game, this certainly seems like more a sequel to that then the original, at least all of the seeds they planted in 2 seem to be coming to fruition. That and there are 2 DA2 characters returning.

It had characters from two in the trailer

Dragon Age 2 is the better game!

#LanaFacts

You might as well check out DA2.

Then replay Origins to remind yourself of where the series should be going.

@onyxghost: Think that might've been Leliana in the cloak though.

I kinda want to replay both and set up my story in service of the third protagonist being the "me" protagonist. I usually play those games making choices I'd make, but it's kinda weird to do that a third time each with different characters in the same world. So instead I'll play characters in the older ones and have the main one be the Inquisitor.

But if I recall correctly there's no import feature, just a checkbox type deal to recreate your choices from past games. Might be kinda cool to select different choices there and then play out those choices after Inquisition.

I still replay Origins from time to time, it's a really, REALLY good game. I've never played 2, probably never will either. Sooo... Replay Origins is my vote

some people have said why replay the first game if you never played the second. fact is I played origins years ago and I could always make different choices and pick a different start, if I even fully remember what I did last time. I like RPGs and usually sink too much time into them looking for every possible thing. If I replay origins I can race through it with the thought that I already did everything once. With 2 it would be like a new game and I would probably fall into old habits and spend way too much time digging through everything.

In the end I'm going to try and race through origins again on my next slow week. Hopefully I can get the whole thing done in under 40 hours and if I'm jazzed for dragon age I'll probably go get 2.

Replay Origins. Way better experience upon multiple playthroughs. DA2 is entirely forgettable.

Hm. If you haven't played Dragon Age 2, it's worth giving your time to form your own perspective on it. If you loved the first game so much, I'm not sure why you decided to skip the second. It reviewed generally positive, and a general community is rarely a good place to take advice from - people tend to speak louder when they have problems with something.

But, ultimately it's up to you. Sounds like you just want us to tell you to play the first game again. Just do that?

*fixed

Dragon Age Origins is a better RPG *IF* you like cRPGs, which means DA:O is in my opinion also the better game. Quality wise they're mostly the same, DA2 has like 4 environments that are reused ALOT which is disgusting. DA2 is also more like Mass Effect 2 and 3 in the RPG mechanics it uses.

If you care about the story in DA and you intend to buy Dragon Age Inquisition, I'd play though both and import your DA:O save into DA2. I'd be surprised if they don't do some stuff with saves in DA:Inquisition aswell.

I don't think Dragon Age 2 will be terribly important to appreciating Inquisition, but there are at least 2 companions who are from that game in some shape or form. If your expectations are in check it is totally fine as a game and you should not bypass it just on hearsay. I would personally recommend making a healer as your main character for story reasons or a rogue if you can't stand women who are really DTF, because I found rogues to be the the most fun to control in real time. However, you can make your character a boring class and control one of the NPC companions, so that's not really an issue.

Also, don't play on hard, no matter how good you think you are at these games. It just makes enemy healthbars ridiculously large.