By Gregor McNeill

Out of all the great developers on the production line that pumps out video games to play on our platforms of choice, I daresay that Bioware has provided me personally with the greatest amount of entertainment.  For a lot of people, Skyrim has always been the genre defining, flagship that introduced them to ÔÇÿfantasyÔÇÖ games. And on the other side of the coin, any mention of ÔÇÿsci-fiÔÇÖ is probably most associated Halo, or more recently Destiny. I guess in this regard IÔÇÖd probably be a bit of an outlier; the Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises hold a very special place in my heart.  

IÔÇÖve┬áalways been a bit of┬áan┬áRPG nut. I remember┬áplaying┬áBaulderÔÇÖs┬áGate┬áon my PlayStation 2;┬áa┬átop-down┬áhack and slash fantasy┬áset in the world of dungeons and dragons┬áthat I┬ámustÔÇÖve┬ásunk a tremendous amount of time into, often making┬ávery little┬áprogress┬ádue to the fact that┬áI was┬áprobably too┬áyoung to even know what I was doing. Nonetheless, I loved it. When┬áthe┬áPlayStation┬á3 came out, Dragon Age Origins┬áwas the first game my Dad bought. Again, still a bit young to completely understand the actual┬áfundamentals of the game, I still played it religiously. Drawn in by the character creation,┬álore┬áand fantastic storyline, it felt to me like┬áLord of the Rings┬ácome┬áto life.┬áWhen all was said and┬ádone,┬áI think┬áIÔÇÖd┬ácompleted it three times, start to finish, DLCs and all. My experience with Mass Effect was┬ávery similar, buying the second in the franchise on a whim, I┬ácouldnÔÇÖt┬áput it down once┬áIÔÇÖd┬ápressed ÔÇÿnew gameÔÇÖ.┬áIt reminded me of my time playing Star Wars Battlefront and yet at the same time, I really felt like I was immersed in a completely┬áunique┬áworld.┬áFor me, both games┬áhit a perfect┬ábalance between enjoyable gameplay and an┬áintensely┬áengaging storyline.┬á

I wonÔÇÖt claim that either franchise is perfect however. Mass Effect 3 famously ended incredibly controversially, so much so that an DLC was released for free that was intended to ÔÇÿfixÔÇÖ it. Obviously the elephant in the room, Mass Effect Andromeda also has to be addressed, a game that I didnÔÇÖt play because unfortunately, almost everything I heard about it was negative. Dragon Age II, which admittedly I still enjoyed, is by far the weakest game in the Dragon Age trilogy, far too limited in scope and content compared to its predecessor. However, for me Dragon Age Inquisition was a redemption, easing my concerns that maybe the developers had lost their way; it felt much more faithful to Origins in its style and I thought the open world was a welcome addition. 

I do worry that the last two games that Bioware have produced, have effectively been commercial failures, Andromeda being one of them. As a consumer, I really struggle to understand why Anthem really ever came to be, it always struck me as pretty transparent cash grab and there is now talk of a reboot (since the first iteration completely failed to garner any consistent positive feedback). Regardless, I genuinely am optimistic about the releases of a fifth Mass Effect, and fourth Dragon Age. Trailers have been released, and I found both to be very encouraging. Supposedly, a new ÔÇÿveteranÔÇÖ team has been assembled to make sure that the next entry in the Mass Effect series can put things back on track, and Inquisition very much gave me reason to look forward to another game.  

One aspect of these franchises that has always really gripped me is the fact that the storylines across games are intrinsically linked, with choices you make in one game directly passing into another. This garners quite a unique sense that you really are writing your own story, something that I feel the likes of the Elder Scrolls and Fallout series really miss out on. When IÔÇÖm looking for genuine escapism, the type that fills your mind with a completely different world, these games absolutely deliver. ThatÔÇÖs why IÔÇÖm waiting eagerly, with cautious anticipation, for whatÔÇÖs to come.