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BioWare replayability -- KOTOR, Dragon Age or Mass Effect?

T

Talka

Member
I'm in the mood to play a BioWare game. Which ones have the most replayability?

I played KOTOR all the way through and loved it, but that was ten years ago.

I never got more than six or seven hours into either of the Dragon Age games.

I got halfway through the Mass Effect series (beat Mass Effect 1, got halfway through Mass Effect 2).

If I'm going to sink 20+ hours into a game, I want to pick the right one. Which series is the best to get into? Has KOTOR aged well? Should I give Dragon Age or Mass Effect another shot? If I chose one of those games, do I need to start at the beginning of the series or can I jump into the most recent editions?
 
KOTOR is the most resonant with me, so I play it the most, but the game with the most different outcomes is definitely Dragon Age.

I remember talking with my friends about it after our initial playthroughs and even though we started with the same class, our games were so divergent, it was crazy.
 
Dragon Age. KOTOR hasn't aged great but it's still good. But if you've never played through Dragon Age definitely give origins a play through. Fantastic game
 
Never played mass effect so I can't comment on it.

Just recently finished DA:O, DA:A and am about halfway through DA2. DA2 is nowhere near as good as Origins and Awakening IMO.

KOTOR however is where it is as. Best story since the OT and if you haven't played it KOTOR2 (with the restoration mod) blows it clear out of the water.

Of the three you mentioned, my vote is either DA:O or KOTOR.
 
Mass Effect. Played through the original three times. Never got old. If you haven't played all three, you really should.
 
Mass effect would be good, personally playing through Dragon age origins ultimate version myself right now. (It's good and the characters seem less one dimensional than the majority of mass effect games but damn is it long...).

I'd recommend a mass effect trinity play through with maybe multiplayer to finish it off if your into it. In spite of the ending it's still a fun play through and very enjoyable.
 
DA always felt the least replayable, not sure why.

Mass Effect is fine, but I always, always thought the moral choices, variety of worlds, and explorable hubs paled compared to KOTOR.

I say go with KOTOR, it's still great, hell I'd play through it again just to get to Korriban.
 
I'd try to beat Dragon Age, as then you import the save to 3, which actually looks to be pretty damn fun.

I think KoTor is still the most interesting, but I've played mass effect 3 times.
 
Principate said:
In spite of the ending it's still a fun play through and very enjoyable.
Click to expand...

You can, on PC... eh... change the ending of ME3 with a mod.

My answer is Mass Effect. Hell, I'm replaying it right now. Renegade FemShep. My favorite.

My other answer is Baldur's Gate. Dragon Age Origins is great, but having to go again through the dwarven mines and the Fade is quite disheartening.
 
OmnipotentO said:
No one remembers Jade Empire
Click to expand...

What a great game with a unique 'morality' system forcing or persuading others to become more independent and finding strength through independence or force and persuade to rely on one's surroundings.

Not your black and white morality; then the ending comes and you become Satan or Jesus because there can be nothing else according to Bioware. Unless you get the middle ending of understanding your place in society. Yet no one goes for it because it takes less time to have a problem solved at the DMV. Please sign here and here, initial on these lines, are you really sure about this because you still have options?
 
Mass Effect. The amount of times I replayed each entry is insane. Probably because I love the characters and universe so much. I like dragon age and kotor too, just ME more.
 
Truth be told I've never played ME trilogy more than once I pretty got through spent a ridiculously amount of time MP and was completely ambivalent go going back to ME! and 2 gameplay again.

Just wouldn't be the same anymore.
 
Dragon Age Origins was one of my favorite games of last gen, DA2 not so much but it will bring you up to speed on the world and lore before Dragon Age : Inquisition comes out. i'm personally re-playing the mass effect trilogy right now on PC "on 2" and i'm one of the people who, while the ending wasn't, great it wasn't a huge deal to me. both games have branching story lines so both have moderate replayablility. can't speak on KOTOR.
 
I can never see myself replaying Mass Effect, given the way it ended. It basically rendered the whole thing rather pointless, even for a video game. When I finished ME3, I was done with the series.

I say replay KOTOR then restart Dragon Age Origins.
 
Mass Effect is the most replayable for a variety of reasons. KOTOR doesn't have much, and Dragon Age: Origins bogs down at parts and is a bit too slow to be replay friendly.
 
All work very well. In terms of replayability, I'd say ME2 is best, followed by DA:O, ME3, KotOR, ME1 and finally DA2. Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 1 can feel terribly tedious at times, especially if you're planning to go for a 100% run. KotOR is better in this regard, but imo it is far too easy to lose focus as the game opens up, and Taris can be a bit of a drag once you've seen it a couple of times.

Personally, I believe I've played through Origins the most times, simply because of the different origin stories, subtle ways in which your decisions influence
the outcome of the Landsmeet
and because the classes and specialisations feel and play very differently (if I remember correctly, I've finished as a DW rogue, ranger, DW warrior, 2-handed warrior and tank so far (although there should be a partially finished primal mage playthrough somewhere, too)). However, Origins and DA2 are probably better suited as a lead-up to Inquisition (provided you're planning to buy it), and I'm not sure how often you're willing to play through them.

All in all, I'd say your best bet is the ME trilogy, simply because it is finished and they give you a fair degree of variation (regardless of how limited you may perceive the ending, edited or not).
 
I played KOTOR 1 and 2, Jade Empire, and Dragon Age: Origins far more than I ever played Mass Effect 1 and 2 combined.

So my vote goes to the old Bioware games.
 
The fact that you haven't finished Origins or the Mass Effect trilogy is the only reason I would leave KOTOR out.

Can't go wrong with either. I preferred Mass Effect as I liked the universe better, but they are very different games that are all must plays in my book.
 
I think all of then are really replayable, but since you haven't finished Dragon Age 1 or the Mass Effect series, you should prioritize those over KOTOR.
 
i played through both DA game multiple times to get all stories and all romances.

The battle system is addicting enough.
 
I'd replay KOTOR due to the missing content mods. Mass Effect, I love and I mean love the series but am sour after the ending of ME3. Dragan Age... I really enjoyed Origins, I played DA2 til about 75% completion as I grew bored of it. The only Bioware game that's happened with.
 
I played Mass Effect one about 7 times. Back in the days I thought it would have bigger changes to the subsequent games.

Kotor is still Bioware's greatest game. Go play that. A darkside play-through is pretty fun for just how evil you can be.
 
I'm literally replaying KotOR 2 as we speak... The KotOR series is great and I never have a problem going back to it... ME series ended on such a poor note, and I never liked ME1... I just can't see myself ever returning to the series.

(edit) And if you haven't played the KotOR games with the restoration mods, you really should. While 2 had the most removed, there was quite a bit of content from both games that were removed or altered. It's such a shame that 2 was so rushed... even as is, I liked it better than the first... but with the restoration it just feels so much better.
 
KOTOR. I've played it so many times over the years and hadn't done a pure dark side playthrough until this past March. Too bad the series was mercilessly killed with SWTOR.
 
OP!
Are you gaming on a console? Do you own a next-gen console? If you answered yes to both of these, I would say wait on Mass Effect. Wait for the next-gen rerelease of the trilogy. Idk. That's what I'm doing. Go for KOTOR instead and build up some Star Wars hype for next year!
 
KOTOR is the best in term of replayability for me. It start out slow but there's no part that's drag out for too long and the gameplay is generally enjoyable. Mass Effect is ok, the exploration stuff is tedious and so is some of the boss fight, Dragon Age prob has the most options for replayability, however, it got dragged down by some really long and boring section.
 
Those are all great games but I'm going to have to go with KoTOR. I revisit that game every now and then and still enjoy every minute of it!
You could try going a different route and go dark side if you went light side in your previous play through or vise versa.
Either way, make decisions that you didn't make previously and do more of the side quests!
 
If you never made it anywhere in DAO then it isn't really replaying. Play that. Seriously, 7 hours is barely out of the tutorial zone in that game, you play it right and it should total around 50+ hours. And thats just the main campaign, not counting another dozen+ hours from the expansions. One of the best fantasy rpgs ever made.

Plus, extra bonus, DAI comes out later this year. So you coupld play DAO now to get into the world and then maybe if you dig it, get DAI right around the corner.
 
KOTOR is this awkward transition between NWN and Mass Effect. You can see the mix of designs of two different eras. I believe Mass Effect 2 and Dragon Age 2 completed the erm... 'evolution' of the system and end of the old era (some call it console peasant streamlining).

I recommend Neverwinter Nights 1/2 with the DLC. It's not a great series and looks like pants but the class variety is only matched by FF5 and Souls series.
 
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