Even if recent history might fool you into disagreeing, BioWare is one of the greatest RPG-makers in the video game scene. For a very long time, nobody did better than BioWare, and only time will tell whether the company is currently in the process of regaining its mojo.
Let’s look at the studio’s best games, best attempts, and biggest missed opportunities, and find out where the recently-releasedDragon Age: The Veilguardlands in the midst of it all, shall we?
17. Mass Effect: Andromeda
We all know this couldn’t be anywhere else. While I don’t doubtAndromedalooked good on paper, at some point, at least, the end result felt no better than an actual paper cut. Bland plot, unmemorable characters, sometimes downright terrible writing, and that’s when you weren’t prevented from experiencing those things by some wacky game-breaking bug.
Executive meddling madeAndromedathe poster boy of mismanagement in games.
If there’s one thingAndromedareally had going for it, it was the looks.Andromedareally did produce alien vistas capable of absolutely taking your breath away — so long as your character didn’t clip through the ground and fall into an endless void.
16. Mass Effect 3
I’m going to start off by saying something nice as to avoid too harsh of a reaction from fans: Mass Effect 3 has great gameplay and ran fantastically well even on my old Xbox 360.
With that out of the way, I was always bummed at how people complained so much about the ending ofMass Effect 3– because they should’ve complained about the whole game. Sure, the gameplay was good, but we’re talking about BioWare, a company known for proving games can be so much more than cool pew-pew action.
The plot is just rubbish, likely courtesy of having one of theco-main writers leavingas a response to the studio becoming “too corporate” to fulfill the original vision. The dialogue, the missions, and the entire culmination of the fantastic setup done by the stellar two previous games in the series all went out of the window for inexplicable reasons. You’ll never play the gameMass Effect 3as it should have been, but you might always learn what itcould’ve played out like.
15. Anthem
After the massive failure ofAndromeda,Anthem‘s reveal re-ignited the hopes of a comeback for BioWare. The studio had previously wowed everyone withMass Effect, so they could totally come up with yet another incredible Sci-Fi IP. The first previews got everyone hyped asAnthemlooked gorgeous, but it was all downhill from there.Anthemturned out to be very repetitive, not all that much fun, and surprisingly empty and light on story — a deadly sin when it comes to a BioWare game.
Anthemwasn’t as bad asAndromeda, and it wasn’t as much of a let down because it was the first game in its series, but we all wanted it to be so much more than it turned out to be.
14. Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood
Yes, feel free to confirm for yourself, BioWare did make a Sonic game for the Nintendo DS. It’s an RPG, a type of game where you naturally can’t make great use of Sonic’s ability to go fast. That, by itself, feels like a hindrance, but I know damn well the good people at BioWare had the capacity to come up with alternative mechanics to make this work, butSonicChroniclesis no more than a bland RPG wearing the face of a popular character.
The most memorable aspect ofSonic Chroniclesis Central City, the incredibly awful song you can hurt yourself with above.
13. Dragon Age 2
The most divisive title in theDragon Ageseries, or at least the one most deserving of that distinction. After the massive commercial and critical success ofDragon Age: Origins,Dragon Age 2disappointed players by introducing repetitive combat, removing customization options, reusing the same areas again and again, and limiting the scope of the adventure to a very small patch of land. Everything aboutDragon Age 2felt inexplicably rushed.
Dragon Age 2isn’t terrible, but it’s one of the most disappointing sequels in relatively recent history.
12. Shattered Steel
Few are aware of it, but BioWare began life with a badass mech game.Shattered Steel‘s action-oriented robot gameplay is the opposite of what you’d expect from a company famous for its talkative and lore-heavy RPGs, butShattered Steelwasn’t bad at all.
Unfortunately,Shattered Steeldidn’t age all that well, and, without an HD remaster in sight, it’s hard to recommend right now. Still,Shattered Steelremains a very curious artifact.
11. Star Wars: The Old Republic
You ought to commend BioWare for challengingWorld Of Warcraftduring the later years of its prime, butThe Old Republicproved little more than a courageous attempt.
While it didn’t feature any terrible glitches —besides the dance emote that made you invincible, of course — the gameplay amounted to a grindier version ofKnights Of The Old Republic.The story didn’t fare much better, as it went down such an uninspired route that the game at some point opted for a soft lore reboot — that also didn’t result in anything particularly memorable.
10. MDK2
Though theMDKseries (short for Murder Death Kill, some say) didn’t begin its life via the hands of BioWare, they certainly improved it.
Shiny’s peculiar and very original ’90s shooter got even better on the PS2, and felt even more complete with the addition of a few more equally-quirky characters to our team. This series has been dead for too long, so maybe it’s time BioWare picks it back up for a well-deserved refresher.
9. Dragon Age Inquisition
If you ignore the massive tone-deafness of naming the hero’s job after one of the vilest institutions in the history of humankind,Inquisitionis a pretty good game.
Inquisitionfixed the most annoying and disappointing elements ofDragon Age 2’smaps, and provided a great early showcase for the power of the 8th generation of consoles.Inquisitionwas a step in the right direction for the series, and it’s also responsible for one of themost hilarious ripoff-related blundersin Hollywood’s recent history
8. Dragon Age: The Veilguard
A lot has been said aboutDragon Age:The Veilguard, and I’m pretty sure a lot is still to be said. It’s one of those games to get caught in the vortex of the grifter sphere, meaning that all matter of relevant criticism will likely be drowned in a sea of complaints about vapid crap that YouTubers have carefully engineered to generate outrage-fueled clips.
The truth aboutVeilguardis that it plays great, features awesome new combat mechanics, and a cool new cast of characters. I definitely don’t like the weird mid-series shift into a more cutesy art style, but, even then, I must admit that it doesn’t look all that bad. The only thing that really bummed me about this one is the dialogue, which as a whole, is among the most uninspired in the history of BioWare games. Then again, it’s going up against some of the all-time greats, so there’s that.
7. Jade Empire
BioWare’s attempt at a more action-y RPG was a huge success. The seldom-explored Chinese Mythology setting, the gameplay, and the engaging tale of revenge make this one of BioWare’s best games to date.
Sadly,Jade Empiregets overlooked among BioWare’s greats, likely because it spent too long as an original Xbox exclusive. That time is past, though, so you have no excuse not to give it a shot, especially if you’re intoDragon Age: The Veilguard’smodernized combat style.
6. Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate 2
Many of the people comparingThe Veilguardnegatively to Larian’sBaldur’s Gate 3might be unaware thatBaldur’s Gateonly even exists because BioWare brought it to life.
Yes, bothBaldur’s Gate 1andBaldur’s Gate 2were BioWare titles, and also the games that put the studio on the map. If you’re intoBaldur’s Gate 3, you’ll still find a lot to love aboutBioWare’sfirst big classic. Some of its gameplay elements are dated, sure, though not any more dated than a niceD&Dsession, and you’re able to totally get the more modernized Enhanced Editions of bothBG1andBG2, so consider giving it a shot!
5. Neverwinter Nights
For the longest time, BioWare made great use of the D&D gameplay mechanics to create fantastic video game experiences. Still, most of BioWare’s best games don’t take place in the actual D&D setting.
If you’re looking for a game in the style ofBaldur’s Gate, a game filled with the modernity seen in later titles likeKnights Of The Old Republic, but still in the D&D setting, then you should absolutely give the originalNeverwinter Nightsa try, as it’s the game you can easily blame for unleashing BioWare’s golden age.
4. Dragon Age: Origins
Though it’s titled as if it were the tired prequel a studio would make after the main plot of a once-successful series goes too far off the rails,Dragon Age: Originsremains the best and the most endearingDragon Agegame to date.
You’d think that just making Knights Of The Old Republic in a medieval setting with dragons wouldn’t be enough to make one of the most beloved games of all time, but you’d be wrong. That’s because solid gameplay, good art direction, and interesting characters are more than enough to create something special when you already have a great foundation.
3. Mass Effect 2
The firstMass Effectsequel brought in a more interesting cast and did a great job of telling a more emotional tale via some of, if not the best, writing in BioWare history. It also came out in a very playable state, which is only true for 50% of the games withMass Effectin their title.
Mass Effect 2proved a step up over its predecessor in all the ways you’d expect out of a BioWare sequel. Still, in a possibly unpopular opinion, I believe it failed to reach the heights of the original by featuring a less epic plot. I believe it also suffers from having gone with a more streamlined mission-based structure that hurts the immersion and the feeling of freedom we got from the original. Still, these should be seen as no more than nitpicks aimed at an all-time classic.
2. Knights Of The Old Republic
You’d be hard-pressed to find three games based on a popular movie IP that don’t suck, let alone three spectacular ones.KOTORcounts as those three, as it perfectly merges BioWare’s excellent D&D combat with one of thebest cast of characters and plot ever seen in theStar Warsuniverse.
If you’ve grown tired of Star Wars and of modern Star Wars discourse, then you should probably kick back and giveKnights of The Old Republica shot. It’s over 20 years old now, but, true to the original trilogy, remains as engrossing as ever.
1. Mass Effect
Ok, this one comes with a very important disclaimer. I do not, in any way, believe the original Xbox 360 exclusive version ofMass Effectto be BioWare’s greatest game. I loved all the promise on display, but the originalMass Effectwas a very rough diamond due to its interminable load times and poor performance issues. The honor of being BioWare’s best title belongs to the much improved-upon version that came out on PC.
Mass Effect, though heavily inspired by other great works of Sci-Fi, never failed to feel like its own thing. It also features the quality characters, plot, and writing you’d expect from a BioWare endeavor. And, after finally being optimized, felt fantastic to play, courtesy of all the new and inspired gameplay mechanics worthy of a groundbreaking work of Science Fiction.Mass Effectisn’t just an RPG, a shooter, a spicy alien dating sim, or even a fun driving and exploration game. It’s an experience way cooler than actual space exploration can ever hope to be.
