It’s all about the journey, the places you visit, the people you meet, and the decisions you make. Yet there’s one thing that helps players feel invested in their characters and impact on the world: music. Good background music can make or break a scene. Canadian developer BioWare is keenly aware of that, striving to get the best hands on the job each time. Composer Trevor Morris, known for his stellar work on The Tudors, and Inon Zur, of Fallout 4 fame, brought expertise and flair to this series’ soundtracks by shaping the Dragon Age series with each musical piece. To keep us busy until the next chapter in the story of Thedas, I’ve put together my picks for the 10 best songs in the entire Dragon Age franchise that’ll send you back to those moving moments in this dark-fantasy epic.
10. Calenhad Docks – Dragon Age: Origins
The sound of dripping water, an eerie feeling as you stare at the Circle Tower in the background. Lake Calenhad is just a lake. But with this BGM track it becomes something slightly sinister. This is one of those humble pieces you only hear once or twice during your playthrough and may not even pay much attention to. But it captures the stillness of the moment when you arrive at Lake Calenhad perfectly and it’s vital to the feeling of the area.
9. I Am The One – Dragon Age: Origins
Depending on your choices, the ending of Dragon Age: Origins may be just peachy or incredibly tragic, but you’ll always be granted a song about your glory for your achievements. It makes you feel as if you accomplished something through your effort and sacrifices. You can even hear a bard singing this in Dragon Age: Inquisition. It’s really special and makes you remember the hand you played in the birth of the Hero of Ferelden.
8. Hawke Family Theme – Dragon Age 2
On the other hand, you have this mildly sorrowful track connected to a character whose life is just one struggle after another. Dragon Age 2 is less about epic adventures and more about characters, their lives, their decisions, and challenges they must face. This song evokes a feeling of predetermination with its waltzy sound, as if to say that Hawke is fated to live a hard life, and has no option but to dance to the beat of the cards they were dealt.
7. Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts – Dragon Age: Inquisition
It’s hard to separate this song from the quest-line it accompanies, which is among the most amazing and unique in the whole series. While your objectives are usually to rescue someone, retrieve an item, or simply to slay a beast, in Wicked Eyes and Wicked Hearts it’s all about playing a game of thrones. The song brings to mind mystery and the deceitful nature of the oligarchs in the Winter Castle.
6. Main Theme – Dragon Age: Origins
The OG main theme of the Dragon Age series is one of its most bombastic versions. It was a pioneering game with a lot of soul, and this song always managed to get me excited to play it. The song presents you with a taste of the daunting journey ahead of you and the heroic feats you’ll be remembered for, which is exactly what the main theme should do.
5. Main Theme – Dragon Age 2
However, the second installment’s arrangement of the Dragon Age theme is a level above the original. It’s a lot more subtle, with haunting female vocals that bring to mind the darker nature of Dragon Age 2’s adventure. The law, culture, and even something as vague as “fate” can force people to commit evil deeds(as we surely know by now). This can lead to one becoming dangerous to one group or another. DA2 is a game with no clear-cut morals, and this song embodies that feeling brilliantly.
4. The Dawn Will Come – Dragon Age: Inquisition
This is a song that’s best experienced along with the scene it appears in. After the loss of Haven, when hope is dim like candlelight, everyone around the Inquisitor starts singing this song. The dark times will pass, the dawn will come, and they trust the main character to lead them towards the light. It’s especially touching if your Inquisitor is of a hated race like an Elf or a Qunari.
3. Sera Was Never – Dragon Age: Inquisition
Among my favorite things in fantasy scenarios are taverns where you can drink, have fun, and forget about the harder parts of your adventure for a bit. The songs you can find in them are generally wonderful, and Sera Was Never is among the best in Dragon Age. It’s about a roguish Elf who lives in the moment, doing what she thinks is right at the time after recognizing her powerlessness in the broader strokes of history. She fights for those in the middle and takes delight in opposing the establishment. Sera is inspiring to us all, and I think so is this song.
2. Mage Pride – Dragon Age 2
Dragon Age is a game about characters and about relationships. So it’s no surprise that the best songs are linked to them. Mage Pride is essentially Fenris’ Theme with lyrics. It’s an exciting and period-accurate anthem with inspiring vocals about the pride that comes with being born special, with magic in your soul. It’s also reminiscent of the mage Anders and his search for personal freedom, away from the impositions of a society that treats mages as potential threats and little more.
1. Lost Elf Theme – Dragon Age: Inquisition
The best song in the franchise is the theme of one of the best characters in any BioWare game, Solas. It’s like a conversation in many ways. A struggle of impulses and motivations inside the lost Elf. Solas is fueled by his desire to bring back his people, and no cost is too great, to others nor to himself. Consumed by his ambitions he fights on through the ages as we follow along with him. And this song encapsulates that in a remarkable way. I know it likely won’t be everyone’s favorite but you have to at least admit, this track belongs in the top 3 for sure.
