Dragon Age: Origins

For more of: Excellent worldbuilding, great characters, and smooching a hot witch
Notable differences: Older visuals, no card game, custom protagonist
Availability: Windows (Steam Deck YMMV), macOS, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PS3

Funny story: The Witcher 3 is actually the game that I played to fill the Dragon Age: Origins-shaped hole in my heart. While Origins’ graphics are significantly less impressive than what CD Projekt Red came up with six years later, the game nails similar spooky medieval fantasy vibes. Origins does do one thing better than Witcher 3: The character customization is much more extensive. You can play a do-gooder hero, or a complete jerk.

The consequences in the game are also a lot more reactive. And I found the writing to be much better at making you care about the setting of the game as a whole, rather than specific main characters. There’s a reason I’ve spent 1,167 hours in this game: Origins is among the best fantasy RPGs that the West has to offer. — Sisi Jiang