Dragon Age: Fantasy RPGs or Romance Simulators?
- bnk983
- Dec 6, 2025
- 4 min read
The Dragon Age franchise is a beloved fantasy RPG that began many years ago and has recently had a resurgence in popularity, with many people playing the games for the very first time. As someone who grew up playing them, I would like to give my two cents on why this franchise is incredible. These are, of course, just my opinions, and you are free to disagree respectfully. I’ve narrowed it down to a few key characteristics that I believe are crucial to the franchise’s success: story, characters, character creation, and romance.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I consider Dragon Age: The Veilguard to be a separate entity that requires its own moment of discussion. Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in.
Story
The game writers have done a wonderful job of creating these tales that are open enough to allow the players to accomplish them in their own ways. If you want to be a sourpuss that begrudgingly saves the world, you can. If you want to be the knight in shining armor that saves kittens from trees, you can. They give you freedom while also making the main plot a big enough problem that no matter who your character is, they will want to intervene. The side quests are equally astonishing. Some are witty and comedic, while others will wreck your soul. While you can play any of the games out of sequence, the lore and even certain characters mean so much more to you if you have the context from the previous game. For example, a companion character in Dragon Age II can be had as a companion in the Awakening DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, which is the first installment. Seeing him in Dragon Age II hits different when you already know him. Your choices affect the outcomes of certain questlines, which in turn affect the world after the game ends. This means your choices in Origins will affect Dragon Age II and so on. This gives you the ability to play these games in a number of different ways that keep things interesting and fresh. Unless you’re like me and play it the same way every time because that’s how you like it. This franchise is a beautiful mix of dark, twisted humor and silly, goofy comedy. They do get a lot of flak for painting everything in shades of grey instead of black and white. This is where I diverge from most people. I love the grey areas that these writers have created. Sometimes things aren’t as simple as black and white. There is tragedy and triumph in equal measure. All of these elements are the threads of the tapestry that is Dragon Age.
Characters:
Over the course of these games, you meet an abundance of diverse characters. Some of the best written aren’t companions, but arbitrary NPCs. They are famous for having flawed, nuanced characters that feel authentic, even if you fundamentally disagree with them or their choices. There are characters you love to hate and hate to love. Then there are the characters that, in your mind, can do no wrong. The writers very cleverly utilize their characters to illustrate the various worldviews that these characters would have when they’ve been raised in certain ways. Interacting with random NPCs is one of my favorite activities in the games. There’s also a lot of lore drops that happen, but only if you’re paying attention and talking to people. There’s so much that you can accidentally miss. For me, this significantly increases the game's replayability.
Image: Companion selection screen
Character Creation:
Another area that is a draw for a lot of people is the character creation. The ability to create whatever character you want is incredibly appealing and a lot of fun. You don’t have to conform to a pre-designated person; you can be whoever you want to be. I usually take at least an hour to create a character because that’s how vital it is to me.
Image: Character Creation
Romance:
Romancing another character is a key feature that all of the games have, which tends to be, for many, the only reason they play the games. Everyone has their favorites and their least favorites. How the romances function changes game to game. For example, in Dragon Age II, all of the companions are romanceable regardless of the player character’s gender, but in Inquisition, the romanceable companions have gender and race preferences. Half the fun is getting to know what each character’s likes and dislikes are. They are complex and interesting to uncover as you play. You’ll also get cute or spicy cutscenes the further into a romantic relationship you go. Not all romances have spicy scenes, however. If that’s something that concerns you, you can always check which characters have THOSE scenes and which don’t, or you can simply skip the scene when it gets too much.
Image: Companion Characters' Romance Details
There are tons of reasons to love the Dragon Age franchise, including the choice-driven plot, fleshed-out characters, detailed character creation, and heart-racing romances, just to name a few. In my humble opinion, they are both fantasy RPGs and romance simulators. If these qualities intrigue you, I highly recommend giving the franchise a try.
A word of caution, however. Unfortunately, the fans of this franchise can get touchy and awful if you have a difference of opinion or didn’t play the same way they did.
Play safe. Have fun. Don't die.
-Bri
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