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[playXray]

Back in the day Dragon Age: Origins was a bit of a welcome surprise for me. I had played a few Bioware games before (KotOR and Mass Effect) but I don't think (at the time at least) I had played any 'medieval' Bioware RPGs. I'm a big fan of Morrowind, WoW etc. though. So cue my wife buying me a copy of Dragon Age: Origins for my birthday just after it came out, and not really knowing what to expect, I found it to be a fantastic game, with a great story, interesting characters and absolutely tonnes of depth. Although quite narrow in terms of level design, the branching 'hub' aspects of the world really made it feel open-ended, particularly with its great side quests and NPC storylines. I also liked the variety of the zones; I don't remember noticing any level scaling, and I had some amazing battles with some epic dragons and bosses.

I never played Dragon Age 2 because every screenshot and video looked like a drab, brown mess and (rightly or wrongly) I chose to skip it.

So anyway, when Dragon Age: Inquisition was announced I was really excited; to me, it looked like a semi-open world version of Dragon Age: Origins (which to some extent it is). When the game was released I had a few problems and eventually started again from scratch, but in the end I really enjoyed it. I loved the massive, open zones, and the vibrant graphics really helped give it a sense of immersion. The characters are definitely interesting, though on balance I prefer the crew from Origins. The story is good, but again I preferred the storyline for Origins - somehow, the story in Inquisition seems a little disjointed and less important to the overall game. However, I really love the world and environments in Inquisition, and just running around collecting stuff is actually fun (though I concede that there is a bit too much ubi-collect nonsense going on).

I find it hard to decide which game I like best. One the one hand, at the time I think I got more out of Origins. However, if I could only ever replay one of the games, I think I'd choose Inquisition - Origins just feels a little dated now.

What say you GAF? Which was your favourite and why?

 

[Rymuth]

Hmmm...difficult.

Inquisition looks nicer but has too much padding. It's hampered by modern day AAA sensibilities (the Ubisoft collectible stratagem)

But Origins has the more 'epic' scope. You can't go bigger than the Blight.

I'll go with Origins because it had as many 'Highs' as it has 'Lows' whereas Inquisition (for me, personally) peaked at Corypheus' Assault on Haven.

 

[Scipio]

Origins any day of the week.

Memorable sidequests over the shitfest MMO Inquisition has going on.

Also, Origins party >>> the Inquisition

Origins is also the best WRPG of the previous gen IMO.

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

Origins destroys Inquisition. Better characters, better story, better pacing. Also, you can cast healing spells.

 

[daninthemix]

Origins absorbed me like few games do. Loved the story, characters, voice acting, environments. Everything. Such a splendid game.

Inquisition was very good, but less magical, less memorable.

 

[Kuraudo]

The choices in Origins were much better than Inquisition. Every quest seemed to end with a decision which, if you went the virtuous route, would make the endgame harder. Then my people began leaving or betraying me based on what decisions I'd made.

In Inquisition all my choices seemed like they'd have major consequences, everyone kept reiterating how signifcant my decisions were, and then the endgame happened with no reference to any of them.

 

[grandwizard]

Origins wipes the floor with Inquisition. It was a really well crafted RPG that had good mission structure and quests, good characters and choices. Inquisition is loaded with MMO busywork and filler content to pad out the game length and has awful combat. It's an enormous shame to imagine what they could have done with those production values and budget if they kept to the design philosophy of Origins instead of taking the route they did.

 

[diamount]

Inquistiion was better when it comes to artstyle, from the world, character and monster design.. just better than everything we've seen in a Dragon Age game by far. Story is on par with Origins, it's your cliche save the world mess... but Bioware really haven't made a great main story in forever, what they shine on is your companions and I will have to give the edge for Inquistion for that. Had far more likable characters than Origins. But there really was no memorable side content from what I remember, so Origins has that better.

 

[Sapphire Dreams]

Origins had better story, characters and gameplay. The strategy was a very key point in the combat of the previous game and planing ahead was of paramount importance.

Inquisition while had better graphics and arguably a more rewarding world to explore, it felt short of having a compelling reason to care about any of the characters.

 

[retardedrockstar]

Origins because I have yet to play Inquisition

 

[DOWN]

I made it through Origins but I thought it was super tedious and cliché (beyond Inquisition anyway). Inquisition's grand production values, varied inspirations like Morocco and France, and a far slicker range of mechanics tied to story made it far better to me. I couldn't finish the massive content in either, inquisition killing me with Fetch quests, but Inquisition was a far better assembled campaign, cast, and game.

I can't recommend Origins thanks to how dated the tech and cliches are, but I can easily recommend inquisition as one of 2014's best.

 

[Steez]

This is the easiest choice ever for me.

Origins is just better in about every way. The combat is a lot more fun and strategic, there are actually proper sidequests and not just unimaginative and grindy GPS coordinate hunts and the cast is stronger as a whole, although Inquisition has a few good characters too.

Hell, I probably like DA2 more than Inquisition.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Origins was good
Inquistions was bad

So that's a pretty easy choice for me.

In detail:
Origin had interesting gameplay, playing as a mage or archer wasn't just "Stand back, keep the fire button held down and cast your specials once they are ready".
You had support magic, healing magic, buffs and debuffs. You had so many more options in the game, even a warrior had nuance unlike in Inquisition where you had ~7 useful abilities.
The story in Origins wasn't very good but so was the story in Inquisition. Not gonna spoil anything here but I found the main villain in Inquisition extremely boring and underwhelming. You never found out if what he said was true, you just killed him in the end. Not saying that the story in DA:O is amazing or anything though. It's alright.

Don't even talk to me about the world. Origins had some really neat side quests meanwhile the only thing I remember about Inqusition is picking 20 flowers or killing 5 bandits. I honestly cannot remember a single interesting side quest in the entire game.

 

[Labolas]

Origins. The cast and its story were both more original and memorable than Inquisition's.

 

[Smushroomed]

Inquisition.
much faster paced and easier to get through. Graphics were good and battle system wasn't overwhelming

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Also Shale is a better character than the entire cast of Inquisition combined. Just sayin.

 

[Dad]

You could make some hilariously piss poor decisions in Origins, whereas in Inquisition most of the choices lead to the same boring conclusions with maybe a few different lines of dialogue to differentiate them. That plus the awful tactical menu make Origins the better game to me, even if I like Inquisition's cast a bit more.

 

[Sakura]

Origins for sure. I don't dislike Inquisition but it was pretty lacking, and the characters were rather weak.
I think they could do a lot better in a sequel so I look forward to Inquisition 2.

 

[m_dorian]

Impressions as a PC player:
Origins has a better story, interesting companions, superior KB+M tactical combat, functioning UI, heals, harder fights, better sidequests, very good final battle, interesting choices and ofc enchantment.
Inquisition has great visuals, impressive worldbuilding, okish action oriented combat if contoller is used.

Inquisition is not a bad game but is not a good Bioware game either. Not my GotY as Origins was.

 

[Trick_GSF]

Origins by fucking miles.

 

[Aaron-Lagann]

I like 2 more. Like a lot more. Not even close.

 

[-Snooze-]

Origin I played and completed several times over the years.

Inquisition I finished once and can't see myself ever playing again... So yeah

 

[Prototype]

The characters in Origins are better.
Which makes me care about them more.
Which makes me more engaged in the story and things they are doing.
Which make some think Origins is better.

 

[Chirotera]

Origins, easily.

Not to say I didn't like Inquisition, I did, it just doesn't compare all that well. The amount of content bloat in that game really dulls me to it. I suppose it's a lot better if you ignore that stuff and stick to the main story, but, eh.

Though one knock against Origins is that it has some of my least favorite sequences in the series. The whole fade journey in the mage tower was a slow slog at best, mind numbingly boring at its worst. The Deep Roads too, which while I enjoyed the entire story of that section, the gameplay didn't quite match.

Ultimately though, it's about characters. And everyone in Origins really sticks out to me. Especially the spoilers recruit. My first few times I couldn't imagine why anyone would spare him, given his role in the plot - but after finally giving it a go, and reading through a few of he books, he's one of my favorites of the series. He's really underrated.

Either way, both great games. I've replayed Origins a few times, while I don't really have any plans to give Inquisition another playthrough. It's fun, but it's bogged down so heavily by all the meaningless side content that thinking about playing through it again almost makes me cringe.

 

[BabyFaceKillah]

Origins had me playing over and over after every playthrough


I forced myself to finish Inquisition and i haven't booted it up ever since.

i did like the faster gameplay tho

 

[Memory]

Origins was amazing, once I completed it I immediately restarted with another race, I done this until I had played all the races. The charcters were also better, Morrigan nd Shale are legendary. That said I really liked Inquisition also but had no desire to repay after my first run.

Both great games by Origins to me was something special, Inquisition has better combat and the world is beautiful but its abit too open and unfocused in comparison IMO.

 

[Pifje]

Inquisition has got environments that are designed to house all the grind and side quests and the collectible shite in similar fashion to Ubisoft games. Also, you have to get power to progress in the main story line.

Origins feels like a normal RPG.

I'm going to go with Origins.

 

[UVG RAVEN]

Origins by far. Even DA 2 was better than Inquisition.

 

[Vigilant Walrus]

I disagree. Inquisition is better. I played DAO years later, and it just didn't held up.


1) The majority of the cast is weak.

2) The game had a narrow linear game world design that sometimes gave a clastrophobic feeling.

3) The overall story was juvenile and overly simple. The main antagonist in Inquisition might not have been much but it at least had some great characters that floored Origins cast, as well as the prospect of building the Inquisition and Skyhold.

4) The deep roads. Seriously. Fuck you.

5) It had a really nice throw back combat system. When Origins came out we hadn't seen a game isometric RPG like it for years and years.

6) The art palette was super weak. Along with Everquest and Brute Force it gets the most generic art ever reward. Atrocious.

7) It's fine that people are so nostalgic, but lets not make any illusions that DAO was a really, really big disappointment as far as spiritual BG successors go...



Inquisition is better. It has a better UI. A much big and more varied game world. More romances, more interesting race choices, mounts, and I enjoyed the skill trees much more. I also really liked the post-credits scene. It sets up the next game really nicely.

I think Inquisition took a really mediocre fantasy world and tried to do something with it. It's not a perfect game, the combat was not as deep as the first game, but it fixed a lot of the annoyances I had about Origins.
It's really too bad the tactical isometric combat wasn't better in Inquisition. It seems like something they can improve on the next game.

 

[Dice]

Inquisition took the game lore/world to the level of possibly-best-in-the-industry so I'm gonna go with that.

 

[Nibel]

Inquisition played like a offline MMO, Origins didn't. Inquisition has a better world and lore though.

 

[Zakalwe]

Origins is leagues above Inquisition.

Characters, combat, story, world building, quests, everything just feels more mature and I don't just mean in adult tone.

Inquisiton has good elements, but overall it feels drab and empty. Somewhere between your average mmo and an Ubistyle collectathon.

Origins is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Inquisiton is a bloated mess in comparison.

 

[EVA UNIT 01]

Origins has a better plot but I just cant pick it over inquisition for 2 reasons.
The fade and the deep roads.
Fuck both those segments.

There is a reason a mod to surgically cut out the fade exists.

 

[Ge0force]

I'm playing Inquisition now, about 20 hours in so far. It's a good game, but I preferred the game design of Origins. Inquisition is more like Mass Effect, while Origins was a classic RPG (at least on pc).

What I like is the large open world, it looks really great and it's worth to explore every corner! But I don't like wasting so much time on collecting materials and the cam in strategy mode really sucks imo.

 

[Scipio]

The Deep Roads wasn't that bad. Almost every big area of Inquisition is more tedious.

Inquisition is prettier and bigger, but it is just a bad RPG with zero strategy.

 

[Keinu]

For me it's not even close. Origin is just so much better than Inquisition and I also rank DA2 above Inquisition.

To be honest I can't think of a Bioware game I like less than Inquisition and it was the first game from Bioware I really struggled to finnish.

 

[Iriscomeback]

Origins will always be special to me. I played through it 4 times and enjoyed it every time. Everything I want from a RPG is just there. lovable characters, great world, fantastic music, exciting battles and so on....

Inquisition came pretty close to that feeling, but not quite. But that's probably because of my nostalgia for Origins ;-).

 

[bati]

Neither. I somewhat enjoyed both of them when I played them at release, but in hindsight I think they're both very mediocre games.

 

[CadetMahoney]

Inquisition suffers from initial hype and overratedness that makes it's fall much harder.

 

[HellofaMouse]

If inquisition was half as long and wasnt filled with meaningless time-waster side quests, it would maybe be half as good as the origins.

 

[Zakalwe]

I disagree. Inquisition is better. I played DAO years later, and it just didn't held up.


1) The majority of the cast is weak.


2) The game had a narrow linear game world design that sometimes gave a clastrophobic feeling.

3) The overall story was juvenile and overly simple. The main antagonist in Inquisition might not have been much but it at least had some great characters that floored Origins cast, as well as the prospect of building the Inquisition and Skyhold.

4) The deep roads. Seriously. Fuck you.

5) It had a really nice throw back combat system. When Origins came out we hadn't seen a game isometric RPG like it for years and years.

6) The art palette was super weak. Along with Everquest and Brute Force it gets the most generic art ever reward. Atrocious.

7) It's fine that people are so nostalgic, but lets not make any illusions that DAO was a really, really big disappointment as far as spiritual BG successors go...

Inquisition is better. It has a better UI. A much big and more varied game world. More romances, more interesting race choices, mounts, and I enjoyed the skill trees much more. I also really liked the post-credits scene. It sets up the next game really nicely.

I think Inquisition took a really mediocre fantasy world and tried to do something with it. It's not a perfect game, the combat was not as deep as the first game, but it fixed a lot of the annoyances I had about Origins.
It's really too bad the tactical isometric combat wasn't better in Inquisition. It seems like something they can improve on the next game.

Aside from characters (Origins had the best in the series, imo), these are all relevant flaws.

However, the bland MMO style set up of Inquisitions world and the mindless combat make the majority of the actual time spent in Inquisition ponderous.

The game simply isn't well designed, and despite having some great characters and world building/lore it's a lazily designed RPG filled with thoughtless bloat and very little depth.

 

[Renekton]

Other than Bioware... what other developer does AAA RPGs with D&D-style party? :/

Witcher and Dark Souls are solo.

Answering the question: Inquisition. I like the party members better overall although Alistair and Wrex are my top Bioware bros.

 

[Lux R7]

Origins.
The cast and story is so much better.
However, i liked Inquisition, really fun game with a shit-ton things to do.

 

[Iriscomeback]

4) The deep roads. Seriously. Fuck you.

Seriously, am I the only one that liked that part? That fade segment was waaaay worse..

 

[Zakalwe]

However, i liked Inquisition, really fun game with a shit-ton things to do.

Shit-ton of repetitive fetch quests and collectathons really does it for you?

 

[Shepard]

Origins is actually playable with a M&K, and has a proper tactical view. Add this to the fact that it has better story, side quests, pacing and battle system and Inquisition becomes a joke in comparison. People who prefer inquisition are mostly console gamers that had to suffer through bad gamepad controls to play origins, that's really the only thing I can see going in its benefits.

 

[Moaradin]

Story: Origins - Had a classic epic vibe that I loved. Inquisition has moments like that but overall the story isn't nearly as focused.

Characters: Inquisition - Origins doesn't have any characters as strong as Cassandra, Cullen, Dorian, or Iron Bull. Morrigan is great but she's in this game too so that advantage is gone!

World: Inquisition - the world is really beautiful and has tons of opportunities for exploration. Origins world felt dull in comparison. There's only so many shades of brown.

Gameplay: In my opinion, Inquisition. combat was more fun to me. It felt fast and fluid compared to Origin's janky and sluggish combat.

 

[Arulan]

7) It's fine that people are so nostalgic, but lets not make any illusions that DAO was a really, really big disappointment as far as spiritual BG successors go...

A successor to Baldur's Gate is an incredibly difficult task to achieve. Dragon Age: Origins did not succeed in that, but for its time it was one of the best examples of a modern party-based RPG. Despite its shortcomings, it's still a good RPG.

Dragon Age: Inquisition on the other hand has a myriad of poor design choices even in comparison to Dragon Age 2, not to mention Dragon Age: Origins, or hilariously so to Baldur's Gate II.

 

[toddhunter]

A better question is Dragon Age 2 or Dragon Age Inquisition. The fact that you have to think hard about that question says it all.

Dragon Age Origins had the odd flaw, but overall it was a solid effort and a good step in the right direction for the genre.

Dragon Age Inquisition is just flat out tedious garbage. Maybe if you played Origins on console you might have a different opinion about the relative qualities...but it would still be completely misguided.

Other than Bioware... what other developer does AAA RPGs with D&D-style party? :/

Bioware do not make AAA RPGs. They make poor hybrids that at their best are poor diablo clones with more repetitive gameplay and less story. At their worst, it is like a less polished Assassins Creed 3.

 

[GECK]

Origins and it isn't even close. Inquisition was embarrassingly bad.