heyo! you seem to be bloggin loooots of dragon age and it's piqued my interest! tell me more about it please? also is it console exclusive?
Ooooh boy this is going to be long where do i start haha
First of all, no, it’s not console exclusive. The first and second games (Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age II) are playable on PC and Xbox 360, and the third game (Dragon Age: Inquisition) is playable on PC, Xbox 360 & Xbox One, PS3 and PS4 (imho, playing on PC is best, graphics-wise and mod-wise).
Now on to the good parts!
I think the lore of Dragon Age is brilliant. really, I’m in love with the whole setting, everything is so interesting!
The basics you need to know about the world of Dragon Age, which is called Thedas:
the world is affected by ‘blights’, massive attacks from monsters called ‘darkspawn’, which find a huge dragon and corrupt it enough so it can lead them to destroy everything
the Grey Wardens are an alliance of men and women of all races which relentlessly fight the darkspawn and give everything to end the blights when they happen
magic is considered extremely dangerous (it is when one doesn’t know how to use it properly)
when magic abilities start to appear in a young child, the child is taken away to be put in the Circle, a tower in which mages are sent to study magic
the Circle Tower is locked, no mage is allowed out
the mages that refuse to go into the tower or practice magic outside the Circle are called ‘apostates’ and are relentlessly hunted by the Templars
the Templar order is in charge of keeping an eye on the mages, to protect everyone (and even the mages) from the dangers of demon possession
mages have a greater connection to the Fade (the world of dreams) than non-mages and are more subject to demonic possession (demons reside in the Fade and seek to possess people to get into the real world)
the Templar order is under control of the Chantry, Thedas’ great religious organization who reveres The Maker and Andraste, his bride
This is a very very short list because there’s so much more to say, but the conflict between mages and Templars plays a big big role in the games (even more so in DA2 and DA:I).
If you want more details, I’ll direct you to the Dragon Age Wiki.
The name of the game is coming from the fact that you can play different origin stories, depending on who you choose to play as. You can play three different races (Dwarf, Elf, Human), each with their own origins:
Dwarves cannot be mages (it’s from the lore, they can enchant items but cannot cast spells), but they can be rogues or warriors. You can choose between playing a dwarf of noble birth or a castless one.
Elves can be mages, rogues or warriors. You can play either as a Dalish elf (dalish elves live in clans, always traveling, never staying too long at the same place) or a city elf (city elves live in alienages and are treated like the scum of the earth, often working as couriers or servants). If you pick a mage city elf, you get to start at the Circle Tower, where (supposedly) all mages are kept.
Humans can be mages, rogues or warriors. You can play a noble or a mage (but if you pick mage, you can’t play as a noble).
At the end of your Origin story, a man from the Grey Wardens will recruit you to become a member of said order.
The story takes place in the country of Ferelden. A blight is imminent and the Warden’s task (your task!) is to unify Thedas to fight it, while recruiting a bunch of companions along the way.
It’s got epic battle cutscenes, epic music, feelings you’ve never asked for but that you’ll treasure nonetheless.
Nope, sadly you’re not playing as your Warden.
You can only play as a human mage, rogue or warrior.
Your name is Hawke (that’s not your first name btw). You lived in Ferelden while the last blight hit the country. At the start of the game, you flee the country with your mum, your sister Bethany and brother Carver to go and live in the Free City of Kirkwall.
The story doesn’t have the same impact as Origins’, it may be less epic, but very important things still transpire (things that will kickstart a war). The companions you recruit are like your family, even more so than in the previous game.
The main thing you need to remember is that Hawke is awesome.
You’re still not playing as your Warden, and no, you’re not playing as Hawke anymore (although Hawke does show up!).
You can play as a Dwarf, Elf, Human or Qunari and as a mage (except dwarves), rogue or warrior.
The story takes place first in Ferelden. The head of the Chantry organizes the Conclave, a big meeting in the hopes of finding a solution to end the raging war between the mages and Templars.
A big explosion happens, the sky is torn open (a hole leading to the Fade), hundreds of people die and you survive after getting out of the Fade through a rift. Your bear a strange mark on your left hand, which seems to be the key to seal the rifts (and the big hole in the sky).
You become then the leader of the Inquisition, an order which is formed ‘to close the breach, find those responsible and restore order’. You will try to save the world while recruiting your companions.
Once again the fate of Thedas lies in your hands (literally).
The games are really really summed up of course (I didn’t want to give too much away), but there you have it.
Bonus: in each game, you have the option to romance one of your companions (they’re all great btw so good luck with that).
The Dragon Age Wiki is full of answers, but if you have more question I’m still here :D