Hi everyone, I almost done with all of my Dragon Age games and I want to play Skyrim next. And, I'm wondering what the main differences between the two games are. I can only say that Dragon Age is very story driven, uses pause, position, and unpause to set up tactics, I had a great time playing it, but it was also my first RPG game.

My daughter got Skyrim the day it came out and she said it is nothing short of epic. So now I want to get in on the fun, but I'm trying to learn how Skyrim is going to differ from the Dragon Age series. So any knowledge you can lay on me would be awesome!

What say you? Thanks, Gardenia

Two completely different games. DA Is a somewhat linear Rpg with party based combat. Alot of dialogue options, limited in size and scope... Traveling to 'hubs' and exploring these small hubs.

In Skyrim, after the tutorial dungeon you're free to go practically anywhere you want with no 'fences' limiting you to certain roads or areas. The world is more organic with people going about their daily routines and random events happening when you explore the world. Dungeons are huge and detailed. After playing Skyrim you may think games like DA are short, cheap gimmicks that were created in 6 months to make money off of consumers because Skyrim offers so much more in content and exploration

Combat is different, how you do quests are different, how you build your character is different, how you shape the story is different. In short, the only similarities are that both games are RPGs.

Having played both, Skyrim is a better game.

I am not a fan of Party based RPGs that are real-time or semi real-time relying on AI. This is why I think that games like League of Legends is far superior to say Starcraft or Warcraft where you have multiple units. I like having 1 very powerful hero and investing in just that character and having sole control over it. The only positive thing about DA was because it is linear, their story is more impactful than Skyrim. Skyrim's environment is great, they are just missing on the progression and challenege aspect and better and more engaging dialogue.

I played Dragon Age and enjoyed it very much. I think I can safely say you will enjoy Skyrim much more. The open world is just going to blow you away after playing DA. Your daughter is correct. Epic indeed.

It's hard to know where to begin. I think one of the first things you will notice if you are coming fresh off of Dragon Age is that in Skyrim you only get one follower at a time. The magic feels different in many ways too- I think it would be best described as "more personal" in Skyrim. Leveling is different as well. The more you do something, the better you get at it.

Suffice to say, they are much MUCH different in many ways. I really enjoyed Dragon Age but I have to say that Skyrim is far superior (IMO).

On a side note, the combat is completly different too. You don't have the pause (the only pause avaible is to read journal,map or change weapon). Everything is real time, and is less based on numbers but more on your playing skill.

EDIT: I'm slow at post, the other sayd pretty much everything.

People have already touched on the main points. I'd say that Dragon Age has better character, or you'll at least feel more of a connection to the characters as you're with them for at least 80% of the game. Also the game itself feels very cliche (that being Dragon Age), some of the ideas are new, and fresh but most is recycled from fantasy lore 101.

Dragon Age leans more towards traditional RPG style, Skyrim is more of an action-adventure. It all comes down to personal preference. As an open-world game, Skyrim is marvelous for sheer exploration and adventuring value, but don't expect to find nearly the same depth in combat and class mechanics and dialogue options are practically non-existant. You'll get a lot more hours out of Skyrim if you're into dungeoncrawling for sure, and those epic moments when you just stop for a second to appreciate the environment and atmosphere. Dragon Age on the other hand is much more of a focused experience with emphasis on story.

About the only similarity is that both are medieval fantasy theme. You can make a warrior, mage or archer, but have more flexibility in the classes. Combat in Skyrim is real-time, no pause and play. You only control your own character. Followers are minimal and have their own AI for combat, though you can change their equipment to a certain extent by giving them stuff that's higher rated than their default.

Skyrim is a complete open world. Whatever you can see, generally you can go there. Quests are much more open ended and there are a LOT of them. So many that it might feel overwhelming for you, or like you're not sure what to do next. A lot of the fun is in exploring and letting things happen as they happen, while shaping your own character's story. There is an epic going on around you, but that isn't as important as your character's story arc. There won't be a lot of cutscenes telling you about things happening in the world.

You will also not be told when your game is "done." There's no ending, epilogue, roll credits. Again, you are in charge, and you're shaping the story, so you decide when that character's story is done.

DA was a game... Skyrim is a toy. In DA you do what the game has you do. In Skyrim, you do what ever you want and the game tries to keep up.

Well, they are very different games. My experience with Dragon Age is that it is a story driven game that follows more or less a linear progression from beginning to end and when you hit major checkpoints the action stops while you watch hi-res video cutscenes.

Skyrim is the opposite of that. It is an exploration driven game, rather than a story driven game. There are quests, but in many ways you make your own story. You have endless options of which quests to do and it can overwhelming for some just trying to decide what to do next. Cutscenes are usually very short and are typically done at the same video quality as the game itself, so they don't feel like "cutscenes" per se, but are more a part of the action.

Many other differences but seven have replied while I typed this so I am sure they will fill in details I left out.

I've played both DA games and The last three elder scrolls games. And I enjoy both series very much but for different reasons


While being thematically similar they play quite differently DA are very much story driven games with little exploration of the world they mostly focus on the development of your character the and relationships with the other charaters. Skyrim is different the world is completely open and places much more emphasis on the exploration the the world which stunningly realised, there is less emphasis on your character and his or her interactions with others.

Combat is much different as you mention DA is party based with a heavy emphasis on planning and pause play mechanics. In Skyrim you only ever have control over your character and while you may recruit a follower and a dog you don't have direct control over them nor do they play a significant role in the story. it's played from a generally first person perspective in real time it's much faster paced then DA.

There similarities in the games though you get to determine your characters skills and specialities and customise their equipment etc.


I guess to sum up in Skyrim the story is there for you to explore the world, In DA the world is there for your to explore the story.

Indeed, and I would add that the user interface may take a little getting used to if you are coming off a different game. But it's easy to use and simple enough, the things some people struggle with (if they don't read the manual) is that you can set certain weapons and magic and whatnot as "favorites" and you can also map certain favorite sets to the numbers on your keyboard (for PC of course) So, if you go to the menu to change a weapon it pauses the game, and if you go to the favorites shortcut menu it pauses the game, but if you map you stuff to the numbers then you can quickly switch between weapons sets with a single button push.

That reminds me, you aren't limited by what you can use in battle either. I remember in DA that you have to go into battle with certain items at the ready and if you didn't have it all set up right then you were s.o.l. but in Skyrim you can use anything in your inventory at any time.

These games are so different x)
Elder scrolls game is more open and free RPGs. And do what you want,be who you want.

You kind of have a pause, as you can open your inventory at any time during combat. So you can pause take a potion if needed or choose another spell or shout. Switching out weapons can be done also, but there is a brief time after you leave the inventory screen where you character has to ready the new weapon, and the enemy can pound on you while doing that.

The really have nothing in common. DAO is story and roleplaying driven. Skyrim is open world and a first person action game. The combat in Skyrim is extremely simple and nowhere near as difficult or strategic as DAO. There's also no real NPC interaction of any consequence in Skyrim and no dialog at all in comparison to DAO nor any big decisions to make. Everyone loves you no matter what you do. There's also no party obviously. It's just you though you can bring a companion they are all the same.

lol

Not sure what you mean, you can access inventory in DA combat.

I think the biggest difference I notice is that Bethesda games feel lonely compared to DA. NPCs in the world are more talkative, but you can't have long conversations with anyone, even followers... or your spouse. That is likely to feel quite different if you've only played Dragon Age. It's just a different mindset to the game. Headcanon can fill in a lot of that stuff.

Totally different games.

Dragon Age is effectively a series of locations strung together by quests and narrative. It focuses on character banter, interaction and relationships, whilst guiding you along a very specific central story path. Many elements of that central story can be played in different orders, but ultimately they all progress towards an end game, and literally the end of the game.

Skyrim, on the other hand, is an open-world game. It is built up of hundreds of quests and questlines, most of which can be played at any time during your playthrough. There is a main quest, which guides you down a very specific path. But you can dip in and out of it at will, for the larger part. And even once you have completed the Main Quest the game does not ebd. It continues infinitely.

Unlike Dragon Age there is nowhere near the depth of character from your companions and in game characters. The focus is on adventuring, discovering new places and bits of plot, but not on character interaction to any great degree. You create your character and, for the most part, choose to do what you wish.

Very different games. I liked DA, I love Skyrim. When I first played Oblivion ( pre-quel ) I got the "what am I suposed to do next" feeling, I never got that with DA. That's not a complaint BTW I happen to like it that way!

Are you saying the companion you decide to have follow you are all the same? Because that's not my experience at all. I've not really progressed the quests as far as I could have at this point but I've had Lydia, Stenvar, and Murcurio as followers and there are significant differences between them as far as combat goes. Lydia specializes in one-handed (as all housecarls do), Stenvar specializes in 2 handed, and Murcurio is a Destruction Mage. The diffence in battle of these 3 as an example can be strikingly different. And I am not positive about this but I think some followers have higher carry weight then others.

In Dragon Age can you switch armor during battle? It's been a while since I've played it. I didn't think you could.

It's definitely worth experimenting with follower combinations. They can compliment your character's style of play, and back you up in ways your own fighting style doesn't cover.

Wow, I woudl say so yeah drasticly. One (DA:O) is a character driven RPG with and awesome story. the other (Skyrim) is a shallow sandbox action adeventure game.


I'll give you the mage but If I give Lydia a 2h weapon she uses it pretty much just as well anyone else in my experiance so far. You also neglected to mention the "ranger class" follower can duel wield while everyone else can't. So it really comes down to melee or mage combat style since everyone of the companions that melee get stuck with the default hunting bow for ranged battle.

No, I mean they have zero personality and are all equally forgettable. They never have anything to say and no matter what you do they will follow you endlessly.