Spoiler Alert - Dragon Age II

Opinion from Cormac - Thursday, 14 April 2011 @ 11:49am

Bioware have a bit of a case of Tarantino Syndrome, in that whenever a new title hits screens, it's hard not to view it as the newest addition to a greater body of work, rather than a stand alone piece with and for its own merit. With that in mind, and with your permission, I'd like to really deconstruct the story of Dragon Age II and see just what players and newcomers alike are in for. Cool? Right then, let's get our teeth involved.

It's fascinating how many of us read the title "Dragon Age II" and expected "Baldur’s Gate HD". For starters, I'll bet there's a mod for that out there somewhere, it's a big internet, (not that graphics were what made that series anyway) but mostly this game is going to have move in common with recent titles. It's probably time to accept that this series will share a lot more with Mass Effect and move on all the stronger for it.

It's a little baffling that they never directly explained the deliberately bloodstained face thing.

I should initially address the whole framed narrative business. I've heard a lot of complaints that the game ends in a cliff hanger, and wouldn't mind pointing out that this is revealed in the first 10 minutes of play. We know that Hawke became champion, shit went fan-ward, and our hero went missing. The hook from there is knowing how the story actually unfolded. Complaining that the story ends exactly there is like complaining that the narrator's grandkid in The Princess Bride didn't turn out to be The Dread Pirate Roberts all along. Moreover, an interactive framed narrative fucking works. Think of the mansion sequence Nat described as well as the intervals between acts. Varric spins the story and we get it in chunk form in our own time, and it's a wholeheartedly satisfying journey.

Beyond that, the story is presented beautifully. Visuals and combat both work to build feel but it's the humour that sets the groundwork. This may seem strange, but humour speaks well of a games strengths in story telling. Well told jokes in a this medium rely on writing, voice acting and animation equally. Put it in a cut scene and even cinematography needs consideration. That this game can make me laugh means the remaining gritty, serious, emotional, sexy or epic sequences will be a fucking breeze. One of the initial meetings with the council in Mass Effect springs to mind as a comparative example. A council member intends to interrupt Earth’s ambassador, however there's enough awkward pause between "bullsh-" and "Ambassador" to completely suck me out of the experience. Now take Dragon Age II's rescue scene in the Deep Roads. Hawke turns up to find Hurlock-short-of-a-Horde enchantment prodigy, Sandal, covered in blood and surrounded by dead Darkspawn. The only explanation he can give is "'Allo" and "Boom." To which a confused Hawke has to ask "And how did you do that." Until this point we’ve only seen either character in cleverly placed over the shoulder shots, we now them from side on, with an ogre frozen stiff in the background. An ogre also happens to be the first major challenge faced in the game and the foundation of Hawke's legacy. Now slain by Sandal, who every other in game character views as completely helpless. It's brilliantly executed and laugh out loud hilarious. The rest of the scenes throughout may differ in mood, but maintain this standard.

I promised myself I'd get through this article without a Lady Hawke joke. I lied.

I'll come right out and say that I thought character relationships were very well handled. There are four romance options, regardless of gender. This is a very mature handling of sexuality, in that it's treated as completely irrelevant. The only argument that I'll give any credit to is that the characters could be called unrealistically bisexual, but hey, maybe they just put the "free" in "Free Marches". Although it is worth pointing out that Aveline remains both straight, and uninterested in the protagonist. Attempts to flirt with her go completely over her head and her companion quest line involves breaking the ice with the man she marries. Romantic pursuits with Isabella involve the option to have a one time fling "just for fun" (direct quote) with a healthy friendship to follow. This, I appreciated not only for the option to be a bit of a slut, but because it seemed much more human and believable than the usual happily-ever-after or tragic-broken-heart affair. It remained more realistic and telling of both characters.

No you can’t romance the drawf. He’s in love with his crossbow anyway.

Now let’s get into the good stuff. I need to credit friend and squire, Luke Grimish for the following paragraph. Pretty much all the historical research is his handy work, I just provide the literary wank. Ok, so the Qunari brought gunpowder to Thedas and followed a philosophy alien to the locals. Tevinter, the last stronghold of a great empire of, was constantly at war with the Qunari. The City Elves are kept apart from the rest of the city in ghettos. They suffer Diaspora, where their homeland, Arthalan, was destroyed by conquerors of the Roman Empire. Theywere subsequently scattered into many tribes across Thedas without losing their identity. Now, reread those last five sentences reading Qunari as Ottonoman Turks, Thedas as Europe, Tevinter as Constantinople, City Elves as Jews, Arthalan as Israel, and Roman Empire as Tevinter Imperium. With me? Ok, Luke, you can go now.

That can be a bit convoluted to take in, but it basically means that science fiction and fantasy can ask questions that may seem heavy or tasteless in a reality grounded setting. The best example I've found for this is Marvel’s X-men. Consider that the mutation in this series makes comment on sexism, homophobia, racism and class segregation, yet it is about none of these things. My point being that this sort of fiction can take on themes in such a scope that other genres simply can't. If I really wanted to get on my soap box I'd argue that it's the responsibility of science fiction and fantasy to maintain that depth, but hey, sometimes it's just fun to see Wolverine get his claws wet too.

I want to caption this with "Honk." I can't for the life of me think why.

Origins failed to gain this depth. The Circle of Magi, for instance, felt more like Hogwarts gone wrong than any real social comment, while the main quest involved chasing down two poorly characterised and unambiguously evil antagonists. Thankfully, Dragon Age II picks up the slack. Just about every quest involves social struggles on some level. The Kirkwall Circle of Magi could be more closely likened to the stolen generation than the works of Joanne Rowling. However, just about every quest boils town to: There are magi. There are Templars. They don’t get along. It's not too hard to argue that this is the over arching theme of the narrative. This is most poignantly conveyed in Hawke's family relationships. As a mage, you have a brother who longs to be Templar. As a warrior or rogue, you have a mage sister trying to lead a simple life. In both cases, your mother is killed by a blood mage. At the heart of it all is Knight Commander Meredith of the Templars, who remains the closest thing to a antagonist. She's a villain who wholeheartedly believes that she's doing the right thing, giving her a bit more depth than your average archdemon, even if the endgame shows her to have gone off the crazy cliffs somewhat. Here's where my biggest problem with the game comes to light.

Tangent Alert

Remember Megaton in Fallout 3? You can set off its namesake's bomb for Mr Burke or defuse it for the good of the town. There is no initial incentive to blow up a town and the inhabitants therein beyond being psychotic. Sure the Sheriff may be a bit rough on you depending on your charisma level, but it’s still him protecting his own rather than being actively villainous. I would argue that the Megaton house is more beneficial than the hotel suite but that’s actually beside the point: your character doesn’t know that. Put the RP in RPG and wonder why someone would honestly blow up a town just because some greasy bar dweller told them to.

Hereafter know as the Megaton Instance.

End Tangent Alert

The Templars remain a collective of villains who are easier to empathise with than most, rather than a group Hawke would join forces with. I realise this is all getting a bit specific to the sort of characters I tend to make in RPGs, and it's only going to get worse from here. I do still like that we were given the choice to side with the Templars or Magi, even if it could have been handled far better. The reason being, that playing as a non-mage class Hawke, Meredith expresses her confusion/frustration with you joining the magi cause. This, for me is greatest moment of the story. It may be hard to side with the Templars, but when playing as a non-mage class, this is where the richness of the piece can shine through.

This takes Hawke out of the ranks of generic fantasy heroes fighting a faceless evil and puts him in the company of Oskar Schindler, Peter "Rainmaker" Keith and Enjolras (of Les Misérables). Hawke takes up the fight with no personal gain, for no reason other than it's the right thing.

For all the effort that went into the badass battlemage look, magi still spend most of the game in dresses.

Siding with the Templars seems like the easy way out because it is. The endgame is still Meredith, which unfortunately is a good example of boss battles negating story telling. Ignoring the fact that having Meredith as the last challenge either way completely negates the biggest decision in the game, her minions take the game in a last minute change of direction. Now, I can deal with a lot of out of context shit, but giant golden statues coming to life and breathing fire was a bit much to swallow. To be fair, this was foregrounded. The relic brought rocks to life in the Deep Roads, as well as just a sliver of it was enough to make Bartrand’s mansion appear haunted. I would have been ok with chunks of the gallows banding together like golems, but fire-breathing statues goes a bit far. I couldn't really see finishing a rich game like this by battling a cackling woman with her oversized magic sword that makes an army of robots .

So what do we have here? It's nice to have a fantasy epic that’s not about saving the world for a change. Instead it's a story of a refugee coming to a new world and facing injustice on all sides. This is a piece that asks hard questions and teaches the player something about themselves. There are more than a few issues with level design and boss fights, however I feel the characters and story are enough to carry it on their own. The most I can ask of a story on any medium is to be thought provoking. To leave my mind a little more open or even just asking questions I mightn't have otherwise wondered. Between the human, unique and believable characters and morally conflicting decisions, Dragon Age II has this covered. For all its faults it holds its own beyond being a fantasy epic or a video game, but as a good story well told.