BioWare must have done something right, because Dragon Age is probably the first fantasy series I've actually gotten into since I abandoned Final Fantasy for Fallout back in 1997. I've been playing WoW since 2004, but I do it more for the gameplay/social aspect. I think it was a combination of their lore feeling fresh and that there were numerous viewpoints. The combat was pretty good and Origins let me make a dual wielding plate wearing character, which was an old favorite from vanilla WoW. Origins was also kinda open world, but in the original Fallout kind of way. In that you had set locations, but you could et random encounters while traveling. So that appealed to me. I also loved that the game was pretty brutal. Final Fantasy and the like we're all too kid friendly, with big flashy spells and no realism. The plots were also something you'd expect to find in a kids fantasy novel. That's not to say that I didn't love some of the SquareSoft games, Chrono Trigger being a nostalgia-oozing classic. I'm not going to say that any of the BioWare games have had a story that really goes beyond a tween summer blockbuster movie plot. But they do flesh out the world very well and when I play a RPG, I want to really understand the world I'm playing in. Origins gave me that. DA2 was something of a disappointment though. With repetitive areas, confusing narration, events seen through the eyes of Varric and whatnot. I also never really felt a connection to the protagonist. Inquisition started off rocky. I realize they wanted to emphasize that the player knows very little in the beginning, but some kind of intro cinematic would have been nice. The tutorial mission felt a little forced and I still don't like Cassandra. I played the whole game with Iron Bull, Sera and Dorian. Which turned the whole thing into a hilarious Saints Row-like experience (normally I would hate that outside of Saints Row, but it worked somehow). Speaking of which... I abhor Orlais. I don't like the lore, I don't like the clothing, I don't like the condescending tone of voice and I don't care for their politics. BioWare seemed like they really wanted me to take an interest in Orlesian politics and I just didn't give a hoot. The fact that 2/3rds of the game takes place in Orlais was initially a turn off until I got out into the wilds where the game world was vibrantly alive again. That said, I did like Inquisition, but I felt shoehorned into the role, rather than desiring to be there. Granted the game did give you plenty of opportunity to show your lack of enthusiasm for the job, it didn't seem to have a lot of effect on how the game played out. It's as if you had played as Alistair in Origins. All in all, Origins and Inquisition are in my top RPG games of all time. So I have to say I'm a fan. My one caveat that really burned me out in Inquisition. [spoiler]The side quests involving haunting a, possessions, creepy old manors in the woods and whatnot where all just a demon problem.[/spoiler] It seems like the game was lacking in any real variety when push came to shove. One thing that left me really curious in the games is the golden city, Andraste and the concept of actual God-like beings in a world where skepticism is accepted (and in the case of dwarves, the norm). I realize they are hinting that we will see more about all that in the future, with the Tevinter Imperium, and [spoiler]whatever they do with the final scene in Inquisition.[/spoiler] I really do want to see how they handle all of that in a world where there appears to be a mix of actual deities, but just as many Scooby Doo villains pretending to be gods. Or maybe they're just ancient powerful Mage-like beings that got a taste of whatever lies at the heart of the fade. I do hope that Dragon Age 4 is truly open world and filled with interesting things in the nooks and crannies of the world.