Rank the Bioware Games

1.) KOTOR - As someone of a certain age, Star Wars was an absolutely critical component of my formative years. What I loved about KOTOR was that it really allowed me to role play with complex options in this setting. The story was FANTASTIC (introducing the Old Republic, expanding the Jedi lore, and THAT TWIST!). The characters were FANTASTIC (I loved to hate or hated to love almost all of them). Yeah, it wasn't perfect. The combat was clunky and the romances were weak if you weren't into "standard". Although Dark-Sided Bastila and Juhani were nice additions. It does have the distinction of being the first Bioware game with a S/S romance, so that's also pretty cool, even if it was more of a "fling" and lesbian only.

2.) DA: O - I remember how hyped I was about this game when I first read about it in GameInformer magazine (paper version, just to set the timeline here, LOL). It totally lived up to the hype. It brought back strategic combat and a "D&D" style adventure. The lore was immersive. The characters were (mostly) amazing. The Origins mechanic led to me losing HOURS and HOURS of my life as I played each one through with different characters to see which I liked best (standouts for me were my gay KISA dwarf noble and my butch lesbian city elf). Of course, the game also had some flaws. The Fade and the Deep Roads were slogs. Zevran was infuriating to me and still holds up as my least favorite m/m option of all time. Super problematic. But in general, this game holds up for sure!

3.) ME3 - I know, I know. It's controversial. But, frankly, I thought that this game was the best of the original trilogy. The combat mechanics had been tweaked. The story was emotional and overwhelming. After spending so many hours with Shepard (my Shepard since I only ever used custom ones), I felt his pain. He worked so hard and sacrificed so much and the galaxy was still decimated and it felt hopeless most of the time. Again, not perfect. The ending was definitely not great, as we all know. And they had created so many characters in ME2 that most of them just got sidelined which was a bummer. But the introduction of Steve, our first major GAY MALE character was monumental, even if he was a little boring and suffering from Carth Syndrome. And I can't even begin to discuss how satisfying the m/m Kaidan romance was. After waiting for SO LONG to get him, it was well worth it. Kaidan is by far my favorite m/m option and that makes this game hold a special spot for me (That "steak and beer" date night? Ugh. So good!).

4.) ME - Frankly, I thought that ME had the tightest story of the entire franchise. It offered really tough choices (not the DA: O "Help the elves or kill the elves" type of "choice") like the Rachni Queen. Ultimately, those choices didn't hold up across the series, but in the moment, they were really grey and I had many times where I just sat with the choice on the screen because I really couldn't decide which choice was best (except for the Kaidan/Ashley one -- that was easy even before I knew I could bag Kaidan, lol). Plus, that first crew was the best. It had a very "Firefly" vibe that I loved. Just a stellar game.

5.) DA: I - Yes, it was a little too 'fetch quest'-y. I know that. There were definitely areas that were slogs. On my most recent playthrough, I basically did a speed run of the Hissing Wastes because I just wanted to be done. But that aside, it's a really solid game. The return of strategic gameplay. Some top notch companions (Vivienne and Dorian remain some of my top companions in any Bioware game, plus Solas who is frustratingly deep and nuanced). I also liked that my choices from DA: O actually made a bit of a difference here. I mean, Alistair can be anything from the King of Ferelden to a dead Grey Warden in the Fade at the end, which is really nice. I also really liked the introduction of the Keep so that I could try out some new variations to see how they play out without having to replay DA2.

6.) BG - I will admit that I played Baldur's Gate WAY before I even realized that Bioware was a "thing". I played this back in the late 90's on my very first desktop and lost myself in the world that they had created. Expansive "open world" approach. A shit ton of companion, each of which was sufficiently fleshed out. Your choices really affected your party. Companions would turn on you if you betrayed them. Some would refuse to work together. It was dynamic and immersive. It was also before there really were as many online resources, so I remember having this gamefaqs playthrough guide that was MASSIVE bookmarked to help me figure out the story. So, partly for being the OG Bioware game and partly for being so important to my gaming history, this game HAS to be in my top half!

7.) SWTOR - Okay, to be honest, this game should be alot higher. It's the spiritual successor to KOTOR (my fav game), but with better graphics, the option to play as a non-human (I have about a dozen characters and not one is a human), and SAME SEX male romance in a Star Wars game. In theory, this should be my number one game. But a few things push it down the list. First, I hate that it's PC only. I'm a console gamer, so I don't have a gaming PC, which makes it difficult to play (I literally play on my laptop with reduced graphic settings so it doesn't crash). Second, I HATE MMO's. Thankfully, the single player experience is still legit. But too much content is locked behind co-op mechanics. Finally, the s/s romances came WAY too late and are locked behind level 50 content. Yeah, sure, I can start a new character and use a token to level them right to 50 to start that content, but then I miss getting to have that character do everything ELSE. That stinks. Theron and Koth remain the only m/m romance options that I haven't played because I just simply haven't been able to get to them. (Actually, writing this makes me want to start a level 55 character just to do the expansion and romance Theron....maybe I'll do that soon.....)

8.) JE - I didn't play JE when it first came out. It wasn't until I played ME and realized that KOTOR, ME, and BG were all from the same studio that I went back to research other games from them and found JE. So, to be fair, it was already a little outdated (graphics and gameplay) by the time I got to it. What I really enjoyed about it, though, was a totally unique setting. Yeah, both ME and DA are original franchises. But ME is pretty standard sci-fi and DA is pretty standard high fantasy. JE was DIFFERENT and I loved that. I thought it was so cool to have an Asian-influenced setting. The combat was really not great. But, again, the characters were top notch. And it gets the special distinction of introducing Sky. Not only is he super adorable. But he's also both the first m/m romance ever AND the first LGBT male companion. True, his romance was watered down (the cut-away before the kiss; the "Dude, why aren't you into those hot girls....Oh, you are into me? Are you sure? Okay, let me think about this and come back to confirm one more time before we have a chaste kiss...." thing). But considering that I had NEVER been able to romance a guy (I played this before DA:O), it will always have a special place in my heart. It's currently on my phone just waiting for me to start a playthrough up.

9.) ME:A - Okay, had I made this list a week ago, ME:A would be lower. But I'm currently replaying it and it's actually better than I remembered. It's less "fetch quest"-y than DA: I. And the MP component is totally optional (unlike in ME3 where it affects SP). We all know how this game almost broke me as a Bioware fan. The way that m/m options were totally fucked over because of EA's gay panic is totally unexcusable. Reyes is a side character. He shouldn't even count as a romance. And Gil, while adorkable and attractive, has a terribly problematic side quest. Plus, he's the least fleshed out of all of the crew members. Coincidence? I know that they added Jaal "back" into the rotation for us. But I will never be able to see that as anything but crumbs thrown to us to shut us up. The game released (and was intended to release given the Prima guide which went to print months before release) with Jaal being straight. I just can't forgive the major backsteps that they took. They lost my trust and broke me a little bit as a gaymer and Bioware stan. And I haven't healed from that still (and might not ever). SIDENOTE: I'm playing again right now with the intention to romance Jaal. And.....it's just not working for me. Maybe once it starts in earnest, I'll change my mind. But right now (having gotten past the "friend" and into the "flirt" options), it's slow and boring. And he remains my least favorite looking m/m option. And I guess I'm shallow because I'm having a hard time staying loyal to Jaal when sexy ass Gil and Reyes are throwing their undies at me with every dialogue.

10.) BG2 - I rethought where this should go and moved it up a spot. It was pretty uninspiring, to be honest. I only ever did one full playthrough and I can't even remember most of the story. It took all of the amazing parts of BG and either copy/pasted them directly into this game OR reduced them (there were far less companions but they didn't seem any more fleshed out or memorable than the first set. Plus, since it's a continuation, they tried to fit all of the OG companions in as well but just mostly killed them off (Justice for Dynaheir! How could they do that to her!?!). This game introduced the romance option, so that's cool. But did all of the nonsense that we have come to hate. No s/s options. Way more choices for straight males than anyone else (there's only one option for straight ladies and he's a twat). But, you can have a kid with Aerie and then she carries it around in her inventory like an item, so bonus points for the lulz?

11.) DA2 - This game was.....not good. It was super rushed and felt that way. The only reason it's not dead last is because some of the companions are pretty damned good. Meredith is a pretty great villain. So that's good. And I liked the rivalry/friendship system, since it added some cool replayability (Rivalmance Fenris is pretty hot). The combat sucked. There was no strategic combat at all, just action. And the game felt TINY. Hawke's adventures really paled in comparison to the Warden and the Inquisitor. Although sarcastic male Hawke is pure joy, so at least I liked that, even if I was FORCED to be a human, which I totally resent to this day. The companions were polarizing. Either really great (like Isabela, Varric, Aveline) or super annoying (like Merril, Sebastian, and Anders). I know most people hate Carver, but that storyline is one of my favorites in all of Bioware history. Templar Carver is canon and always will be in my opinion. God I love to hate that guy! But, overall, pretty meh.

12.) ME2 - The worst of the worst for me. Not because it's a bad game, per se. But it, to me, signifies the moment when Bioware changed and was absorbed into the EA Collective. It switched from an Action RPG to a 3rd person shooter with RPG elements. The expanded cast was trash. Most of them were so insignificant that they were totally sidelined with no consequences in the sequel. The romances were WAY over the top (Playing a gay Shep is like walking through a panty-filled landmine field -- any wrong step will lead to vaginas, vaginas everwhere!). Of course there were no gay options, because this is when Bioware started catering heavily to the straight male/shooter audience (who would eventually abandon them leaving them flailing) over the loyal RPG and LGBT audience (who got left behind and now have nothing). Trash. Just trash and if I never have to play it again, I'd be totally fine with that. And it totally chaps my ass that it's consistently rated the "best" Bioware game in any countdown. Ugh. If it weren't for Samara, this game would have ZERO positives for me.