SO here we go...
I thought
Mass Effect 2 was great. Which is odd because I didn't like the setup and the story actually... was okayish. Some of the characters and some of the side quests and such were also pretty bad IMHO. But overall... I liked it a lot. It was clear level up in playability from
Mass Effect and I noticed it far more readily playing one game after another.
Mass Effect was good but just in gameplay and function, the sequel was marked improvement.
And while it was a bit formulaic and oddly, the characters maybe not quite as likable as the ones in the first game, I think their storylines and interactions were done far better. And I liked having a character driven storyline through so much of the game. I really feel like
Mass Effect 2 saw what worked and didn't with a solid RPG game and then improved on it and it worked. It was a great modern RPG game IMHO and fun bringing all of these characters in my party around on my quest to a lot of different interesting encounters and storylines across the galaxy and while the story itself wasn't amazing, I feel it told it pretty well.
Dragon Age Origins was a great game when it came out. It did its own twist on the fantasy setting and I know a lot of folks state it cribbed from
The Witcher but even if I thought that true, whatever subversions and twists the Bioware team brought to its fantasy setting worked for me. The story was a cliched setup but I loved how they set it up. I loved how it had multiple origin stories with distinctive bits thrown into each separate campaign. I liked the politics and characters and even the combat and character progression. Highly enjoyable fantasy game and again, like with the
Mass Effect series, I think for better or worse it brought Fantasy RPG games forward. Still wasn't perfect. And playing it now I realize... yikes... it hasn't actually aged well at all.
Knights of the Old Republic is great and the revelations of Revan will be talked about in gaming lore for years to come... and in Star Wars lore in general. That's how strong this game is. However amazing this game is, I do feel that it does get a bit exaggerated. It's still a very good game, but I'd put
Dragon Age Origins over it. I actually think outside of the Revan bit, that
Dragon Age has more seminal moments. Still it was a great game with a great Star Wars story and very epic in its own right with lots of memorable characters.
Mass Effect was good but I didn't realize how dated it was until I played
Mass Effect 2 right after it. It had a clunky interface. The gameplay was solid. The story was good. I liked all of the characters and the world building was great. Solid introduction to the franchise. Overall a very good RPG and it had its own style and flair which kind of faded with the sequels of being a sort of swashbuckling... oldschool cinematic type of space romp.
Dragon Age II has some great moments. I really liked Kirkwall. I liked my characters. I loved talking with the Arishok and thought the discussions with him were actually some of the best moments or character interactions/conversations I've had in a game. I also loathed my lameass boyfriend who fomented the Templar/Mage contrivances... blargh. The real problem with Kirkwall and the decade long adventure in there was that it was spending a decade just in Kirkwall. I was so bummed by what was a fairly decent gaming experience that I never bothered with the franchise again. Decent game but it killed my interest in a sequel so I never actually played
Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Baldurs Gate is a game I played a long time ago and I think it was alright. I should play it again now that there's an enhanced edition. I liked TTRPG'ing in Forgotten Realms but not really in CRPG's for whatever reason.
Mass Effect 3. The core bits of the game were fine. Gameplay and whatnot was fine. Characters were... not as good as previously. The story just launched way too quickly. I loathed the non-Reaper parts of the game dealing with the Illusive Man and Cerberus. And the games ending was just awful and terrible. Plus you needed to play multiplayer to get the best crappy ending apparently via the War Assets. Very disappointing. Like with
Dragon Age II, this game killed my interest in this specific franchise.
As I said earlier... the 'Never Interested' games are
Dragon Age Inquisition and
Mass Effect Andromeda. Due to the games directly prior I lost interest in the sequels and nothing really convinced me to play the games since or otherwise give a try.
And yeah never played
Baldurs Gate II or
Neverwinter Nights.
I think the rule here is that Bioware should be more careful with sequels... or maybe just have Obsidian do the sequels for them. 😛