Year: 2009
Developer/Publisher: BioWare/EA Games
Systems: Xbox 360, PS3, PC, Mac
Warning: Here there be unmarked spoilers.
How do I even begin with a game like this? Dragon Age is a fantasy epic, full of action, romance, adventure, and some creepy-ass levels that I refuse to play alone at night. Oh, and there are dragons.
You begin by customizing your character. Along with deciding how your character looks, you also get to chose their sex (hooray, no default male lead!), race (human, elf, or dwarf) and class (warrior, mage, rogue). The fun part really comes in when you get to chose their background. There are six different backstories you can chose from, but what you end up with depends on your race and class. What I really love about the different backstories is that they all come back and bite you in the ass.
Your character's background doesn't radically alter the game too much. No matter what you start as, you still get the same set of events. On my first completed play through of the game, I started as a human noble, and was immensely satisfied when I got to kill the asshole who killed my character's family. If you start as a dwarf noble, when you return to the dwarven city, your evil brother is in line for the throne, and it's up to you whether he gets it or not. I love all the references that the game makes to your character's personal history, instead of just going, "Okay, here's some trauma, now go one and we'll never mention it again."
Alistair: You were betrothed? And you never told me?
City Elf: There were rapists. And they sent the wrong cake.
All the backstories are pretty fucked up.
Anyway, you are found by Duncan, a Grey Warden, who saves you from various forms of trouble like death by recruiting you into the Grey Wardens. The Wardens are an ancient order of warriors who defend the world in case of a Blight, wherein nasty monsters (led by an archdemon) come to the surface of the world and try to kill everyone. There's some more history, which says that the first darkspawn (the aforementioned nasty monsters) were actually mages, the archdemon is a corrupted Old God, and the archdemon leads the hoard to...
But you don't need to know all that. Oh, sure, there's some musing on things like sin and trying to overtake something that you really shouldn't be messing around with, but that's not important right now. What you need to know is that darkspawn are coming to kill everything. Darkspawn are like the Daleks of the Dragon Age world.
I want to point out something that I think is very interesting. The storyline isn't all that original, the battle system can be slow and frustrating, and when you talk to NPCs, they practically recite an encyclopedia to you.
And yet the game itself is incredibly compelling.
The first time I ever played Dragon Age was on my roommate's Xbox while she and her boyfriend were out at a party. At first, I was sort of like, "Oh, D&D with pictures."
When they came home at 3 AM, I was still playing.
I think I may have finally figured out why Dragon Age is so addicting, and it really boils down to three things.
1. The world. The setting of Ferelden is so complete. How magic works, religion, racial tensions, nobility...everything that the game mentions is explored fully. For instance, there's an NPC you can talk to in Denerim's marketplace. She has no actual bearing on the plot, but she can tell you all about Orlais, her home country. If you have any questions about the Grey Wardens, Alistair has all the answers. If you want to know more than the characters have provided for you, you can find codexes all around--books you can read to get more information on just about anything. If you have a question, there's always an answer in sight. And if you can't find one there, you can always find someone like me, who will be more than happy to talk your ear off about this.
"Wait, why can't dwarves become mages?"
"Because they live too close to the raw lyrium ore, dummy."
"Whatever, nerd."
2. Your character. I think immersion becomes stronger when you design your own character. When you're playing Super Mario, you make Mario move and save the princess, but you're not really Mario. Even if you wish you were. When you make your own character, you choose everything about them: name, sex, appearance, even where their skills lie. Through dialogue options, you decide their personality. You're not playing as a character. You are the character. You are the one interacting with everything, making all the choices, and you are the one who saves the world.
3. The other characters. You wouldn't get very far in saving the world if you didn't have some help. You gather your party and build relationships with individual characters throughout the game. There is no "good" or "evil" scale in this game. Instead, your party members either "approve" or "disapprove" of your actions, and their approval rating translates to how much they like you. Morrigan disapproves (-5).
What I love about these characters is, like the setting, they are fully fleshed out. They're three dimensional, with their own motivations, histories, personalities, likes and dislikes. The game has loads and loads of characters, including the ten you can have in your party. Let's meet a few of the major players, shall we?
Alistair. Your first real companion in the game. Alistair is the bastard son of the late King Maric, which also makes him the current (sort of) king's brother. He's there to answer all your questions about the Grey Wardens, he's a romancable (which is totally a word, damn it!) character for female PCs, and he's the token virgin in the group. He shies away from leadership and actually admits that he prefers to follow others. He's not spineless, though, and he'll always make sure to get his two copper pieces in. He has some of the funniest dialogue in the game, as well as some of the sweetest when it comes to romance. Every so often I had to remind myself Alistair is a game character, after a cold shower and a 10 mile run. Also, he loves cheese.
"That's what I'm here for! To deliver unpleasant news and witty one-liners."
Morrigan. The resident "Tits McGee" of the group. Morrigan is a Witch of the Wilds, whose mother just happens to be Flemeth--who it turns out is probably the most dreaded figure in Ferelden folklore. She is forced to join the group by her mother, though Flemeth's reasons for this aren't as straightforward as she says they are. Flemeth is all kinds of messed up. Morrigan is a tough woman. She believes in survival of the fittest and disapproves of rescuing kittens stuck in trees. She does have a soft side, though, buried deep down. One that likes pretty mirrors and necklaces. And you, if you choose to romance her. Not that she'll ever admit it."If the Wilds have taught me anything, 'tis this: first you must survive."
Leliana. One of the earlier companions you get
in the game, Leliana started out as a minstrel/spy, escaped after being accused
of treason, became a sister in the Chantry for awhile, had a vision, and then
decided to follow your character around. Whew. If Dragon Age used the alignment system, hers
would be Sickly Sweet. Leliana is kind to animals, loves her mother, and is completely okay with shooting the bad guys in the throat. She's probably the most positive character in the group, the most difficult to romance, and she loves shoes. Oh, she also makes a cameo appearance in Dragon Age 2.
"Oh, this looks like fun! I bet we'll have to work together and join hands and sing a happy song to get across!"
Wynne. More like EPIC WYNNE, amirite? Wynne is the oldest party member and technically dead, and probably my favorite character in the game. She's a mage from the Circle, and starts off as the designated healer of the group. Wynne's learned from her past mistakes and frequently doles out advice to the other characters, but not in any sort of patronizing kind of way. She's one of the characters that takes genuine interest in your background, too. Also, in my games, she can create Earthquakes. Wynne kicks ass."I will not lie motionless in a bed with coverlets up to my chin, waiting for death to claim me."
Zevran. Another option for romance, Zevran is an elven assassin from Antiva. Originally sent to kill your rag-tag team of adventurers, he's easy enough to get on your side. Though I rather got the impression that he liked being tied up after you capture him... He's really quite amiable for someone who's been raised to kill people for money. Some fans love him, some find him creepy. This is largely because he will sleep with just about anything that moves.
"I got the impression it involved sex, but then, I get that about most things."
"I got the impression it involved sex, but then, I get that about most things."
Dragon Age has a ton of characters. Along with the ten avaliable party members, there's the NPCs: the villains, the characters you meet during all sorts of quests, and all sorts of people in between. The ones I want to focus on, though, are the ones that you've just met.
How are the women portrayed in Dragon Age?
Dragon Age is set in your generic medieval fantasy setting. Back in the Middle Ages in our world, women were more likely to be found in the kitchen or dying of the plague than running around in armor. If you pick up any fantasy medieval novel, though, it'll tell you that the ladies were running with swords and proving they were just as good as the guys all the time. Oh, and they were probably princesses fighting for their stolen throne, or something. With that said, I love what this game has done with women, finding a good balance between the two.
There are three women in the party excluding a female PC, and let's just put it like this: they all kick ass. They're not fighting for equal rights, they're fighting because they have the ability to help save the world. There is, in fact, only one instance of a character saying that a woman shouldn't be involved in all this:
Sten: Why are you here?
Leliana: What do you mean?
Sten: Women are priests, artisans, farmers or shopkeepers. None of them have any place in fighting.
Leliana: I have no idea how to answer this...
Sten: It is not done. There is no more to it.
Leliana: Do you mean your people have no female mages or warriors?
Sten: Of course not. Why would our women wish to be men?
Sten, by the way, is a Qunari, a non-native race to Ferelden. Your female PC can have a similar conversation with Sten, in which he decides that you can't possibly be a woman because you're such a good fighter. The game doesn't ignore the role of women as fighters, as unusual as it would be in our medieval history, but also doesn't make a big fuss of it either. There's no "you're a special and unique snowflake" for being a woman who fights. Women fight in Ferelden. That's just how things are. No matter what Sten says.
Leliana and Wynne both join your party of their own volition because they want to help you save Ferelden from the Blight. Morrigan joins for less noble reasons, but they all have one very important thing in common: they are all strong characters.
I don't mean just physically strong. Every one of them has scars from their past, and yet, they don't let their past tragedies overwhelm them. They learned from them, and don't allow it to stop them from doing anything. That's not to say that they have forgotten about them, though. Each party member has a "personal quest" in which they confront some part of their past. Leliana, for example, was betrayed by someone she loved. And by betrayed I don't mean, "Marjolaine was cheating on her", I mean, "Marjolaine had Leliana framed for treason, which led her to Leliana being captured, tortured, and fleeing to Ferelden".
Marjolaine's a bitch.
But Leliana recovers from that, and when she confronts Marjolaine again, she holds her ground. Considering what Marjolaine put Leliana through, this might not seem like much until you look further into the game. Marjolaine has "emotional abuse" written all over her. Now, here is something that many people do not understand: it is incredibly difficult to leave an emotionally abusive relationship.
Warning: Kaye is about to reveal an uncomfortable amount of information about herself.
I have a B.A. in Psychology. I spent four years of my life studying what people do and why they do it. As you might have guessed from this blog, one of my chief areas of interest in college was social psychology, i.e., how the shit that people do influences the shit that you do.
It's also worth pointing out that I consider myself a strong person. Saying that I'm confident is a bit of a lie, but I think that I am strong. I have an anxiety disorder, and every day I tell it to shut up and sit down. The trick here is to make social anxiety YOUR bitch, and not the other way around. If I were a meme, I'd be foul bachelor frog the "Challenge Accepted" guy. Do I always succeed? No. But do I try my damnedest once a task is put in front of me? Absolutely. And yet I still don't have a job...
I'm saying this so you get a better feel for who I am, and how I see myself. I understand people. I don't easily stand down.
And about three years ago, I found myself in an emotionally abusive relationship.
This was the sort of thing I studied and discussed in classes, but I didn't recognize it in my own life. I had always said, "No man is ever going to get in my way", but I found myself helpless without this person. Whenever I stood up to him, he treated me like shit, and made me feel like I deserved it. I was crippled. I couldn't leave him, because I felt like he was the only thing that made me worthwhile. What I failed to realize was he was the reason I didn't feel like I was worth anything.
When I finally did stand up to him, he dumped me. And then--studpidly and inexplicably--I asked him to take me back.
I have told maybe two people about that before, because it is still one of the lowest moments of my life. Three years later, I still look back at that time with shame. I should have walked away, been glad that I was out of it. Instead, we got back together.
(This story does have a happy ending, by the way. I got out of the relationship a few months later, realizing what an idiot I was being. I now have a wonderful boyfriend, and we've been dating for almost two years. The moral of the story is don't date douche bags.)
The point of that story wasn't to garner sympathy, but to explain that emotionally abusive relationships are hard to be in, and hard to get out of. So when I say Leliana holds her ground against Marjolaine, I want you to understand how difficult and courageous that really is.
Note: When I started this blog, I decided that it would only be about games. Not politics, not wage gaps, just women and games. But if you are in or think you may be in an abusive relationship, please seek help. It is not your fault.
That's as dark as we're gonna get, I promise.
...We were talking about games, right?
Right.
And Leliana's just the tip of the iceberg. Morrigan's a mage, and mages in the Dragon Age universe are what TV Tropes refers to as glass cannons: They do mind-boggling amounts of damage, but they break the minute you touch them. Protip: don't let your mages carry sharp objects, lest they trip and fall. Morrigan's pretty much the DPS in the game, but she's a lot more than that.
First of all, Morrigan doesn't take shit from anyone. Not you, not her mother, and definitely not Alistair.
"Now we have a dog, and Alistair is still the dumbest one in the party." - Morrigan
I love you, Morrigan.
More than that, Morrigan stays true to what she believes in. For example, she hates the Chantry, but she doesn't rub it in your face. She's confident in herself. While nearly all the other major characters in the game doubt themselves at some point, she never does. She knows just what she wants, how to get it, and even faced with uncertainty, does not falter from her plans. Suffice it to say, she's a really tough woman.
If your relationship with her is high enough, though, you get to see what lies beneath that icy exterior. Morrigan has a soft side, and she seems almost embarrassed to show it at times. On my first play through, I managed to max out my Warden's relationship with her. Before the final battle, she will tell you that she thinks of you as a sister. If that doesn't melt your cold, dead heart, nothing will. This game did NOT make me cry. I was just chopping up some onions.
So, Morrigan. Tits McGee of the game? Check.
So much more than that? Check.
Which brings us to our last leading lady: Wynne.
Wynne is old. Wynne is (due to game stuff that makes sense in context) technically dead. Wynne wakes up every morning and says, "I have come to heal people and kick ass...and I'm all out of ass."
This is because Wynne is the single greatest game character ever created.
Wynne's primary function in the game is to act as a healer, which I gave Yuna some hell for in my last post. Here's the thing: In Final Fantasy X, Yuna only learned healing spells, because that's all the game said she could have. In Dragon Age, Wynne starts off with useful healing spells, but once she's in your party, you get to decide what skills you want her to learn. In my game, Wynne has saved me from TPK (that's total party kill, for you non-nerds) countless times, right before she creates a giant earthquake. Because she is that amazing.
The real reason that Wynne is my favorite character in the game isn't because of all that. Wynne genuinely cares about you and the other party members. When you start a romance with another party member (why Wynne is not a romancable character is a great mystery, and tragedy) she will honestly tell you how she feels about the whole thing, and why you're being stupid. Later on, she'll apologize, realizing that you and the other character are good for each other all along. She gives advice to everyone, but doesn't force it down their throats. She has some pretty funny dialogue with the other party members, which is also poignant at the same time.
Here's what I love about her: Wynne could drop dead at any moment, but she's determined to see this thing through. The fact that she's old doesn't stop her from doing anything. She doesn't see it as an obstacle, just a part of who she is, and it's not going to stop her from doing what she thinks is right.
I hope I'm as cool as Wynne when I grow up.
While we're talking about her age, I think it's worth mentioning that Wynne is sexually active. I know a lot of people think something along the lines of, "But you can't have sex when you're old! Your hip will break or something!"
Fun fact: Old people have sex. You might not believe me, but it's true.
Wynne: It has been a long day. By the lines around your eyes, I daresay you look as old as I.
Alistair: And if I may say so, milady, you appear to be getting younger by the day.
Wynne: Be careful who you flirt with, young man. When you wake up beside me tomorrow morning I'll be back to reminding you of your grandmother.
Alistair: Beside you?
Wynne: You heard what I said. It would not be the first time I woke to a younger man in my bed.
Before we move on, I just need to say that Dragon Age passes the Bechdel Test with flying colors.
What is the Bechdel Test?
I'm glad you asked, Timmy. The Bechdel Test is a simple way to measure the presence that women have in a movie or TV show. It is NOT a test of how good the movie is, or how feminist it is. For example, Twilight passed, but the original Star Wars trilogy does not. And there are ONLY THREE Star Wars movies, just like there are only three Indiana Jones movies.
The Bechdel Test has three tenants to it that must be in the movie/show to say it has passed.
- There have to be at least two named female characters...
- ...who have a conversation with each other...
- ...and talk about something other than men.
What do the women in this game talk to each other about? Religion, their way of life, anecdotes, dogs, saving the world...you know, things normal people talk about on a daily basis.
Maker bless you, BioWare.
Maker bless you, BioWare.
Let's talk about sex, baby.
Now that I have your attention...
Between the side-quests, main plot, personal quests, characters, and a fully developed world to romp around in, Dragon Age is a wonderfully complicated game. It does a good job of balancing story and action, but one of the things that makes it so intricate is the relationships between the characters. Like I mentioned before, the characters are one of the reasons that the game itself is so exciting and compelling.
When characters play a huge role, you're going to develop some feelings toward them--whether positive or negative. This is especially true in a game where you design your character and choose everything about them, from appearance to personality. I personally find the attachment people get to fictional characters fascinating, but that's not why we're here.
Your character can enter into romantic relationships with other party members, namely, Alistair, Zevran, Leliana, and Morrigan. I will say this honestly: this was the first game I played where the romance wasn't streamlined. I used to play a lot of JRPGs in high school. We don't need to talk about that.
Morrigan and Alistair are both straight, Zevran and Leliana are bisexual. Not every player was happy with this, of course. I'm a little torn on my feelings about it. For one, I think that having different orientations is realistic.
...and then I remember I'm arguing about realism in a game called Dragon Age.
Having been through all the romance options in the game, I can see how gamers--especially gay men--would feel jilted by it. Without mods, Zevran is the only MalexMale romance available in the game. (If anyone is interested, the mod is called "Equal Love", and it opens up flirtations and romances between characters and NPCs previously unavailable based on your character's sex. Ladies, now you too can kiss tavern wenches to your hearts' content!)
It irks me that Zevran is the only MxM option. I think he's a fun character, but he wants to sleep with just about everyone.
I don't know if you're aware of this, but there's this stereotype that gay men and lesbians also want to screw everything, and will cheat on their partners at the drop of a hat. (A phrase I've never actually understood...)
In case you're wondering, that's not true. I'd go on, but I seem to have misplaced my soapbox. If it's not near that bit about abusive relationships, check back at the rape myths from the previous post. It'll turn up.
In the red corner: Alistair. Awkward, adorable, genuine. Can only be romanced by females.
In the blue corner: Zevran. Suave. Seductive. Flirts with everything. The only character in the party who's okay with it if you're sleeping with someone else. Romanced by either sex.
We get a gay romance option...with a manwhore.
Maybe I'm reading too much into this, but by Freud's cigar, I'M A PSYCHOLOGIST!
...And sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar.
Zevran and Leliana also demonstrate a couple interesting points. Society today is generally more accepting of lesbians than gay men. Zevran and Leliana both have some sort of tragic love story in their past. Leliana's is with another woman. Zevran's is also with a woman. The game, I think, seems to promote the idea that GirlxGirl is hot. If your female warden sleeps with a woman at the brothel, you get +4 approval from one of your party members.
Of course, if you do anything at the brothel, Alistair disapproves -1, so there's that.
Other than that gripe, I do like the romance system in the game.
Zevran and Leliana's sexualities aren't ignored. You can ask if they've been with men or women, but it kind of ends there. I love this. Like the having women who fight, it's mentioned, but it's not a big deal.
"You've been with other guys before? Huh. Well, whatever, let's kill some darkspawn."
You know, a reasonable person's reaction upon finding out that someone you know isn't actually straight, or gay, or bi, or whatever orientation you initially thought she or he was. Heterosexism. It's a helluva thing.
As for the problems with Zevran's romance, BioWare fixed this up rather nicely in Dragon Age 2. Instead of assigning the romancable characters' orientations as "omni-sexual". Basically, the characters have no orientation, and you can start a relationship with them regardless of your sex.
Now, there have been complaints about this, saying that BioWare neglected the "Straight Male Gamer", which supposedly makes up the bulk of the gaming demographic.
...Except a couple years ago, 46% of game purchasers were female, and that number has undoubtedly risen since then.
My response to these complaints is something along the lines of, "Shut up and sit down, we've catered to your demographic long enough."
David Gaider, one of the game's creators, had something a bit more eloquent to say:
"The romances in the game are not for 'the straight male gamer'. They're for everyone. We have a lot of fans, many of whom are neither straight nor male, and they deserve no less attention. [. . .] And if there is any doubt why such an opinion might meet with hostility, it has to do with privilege. You can write it off as 'political correctness' if you wish, but the truth is that privilege always lies with the majority. They're so used to being catered to that they see the lack of catering as an imbalance. They don't see anything wrong with having things set up to suit them, what's everyone's fuss about? That's the way it should be, and everyone else should be used to not getting what they want. [. . .] Romances are never one-size-fits-all, and even for those who don't mind the sexuality issue there's no guarantee they'll find a character they even want to romance. That's why romances are optional content. It's such a personal issue that we'll never be able to please everyone. The very best we can do is give everyone a little bit of a choice, and that's what we tried here. And the person who says that the only way to please them is to restrict options for others is, if you ask me, the person who deserves it least." -David Gaider
David Gaider, never ever ever change.
But that's for the sequel to Origins. Let's get back to the game at hand.
There's a lot more to the romances than just Leliana and Zevran. I think it's very interesting that Morrigan is the easiest character to get in bed with, but Leliana is the most difficult. I think it challenges the idea of "all women are prudes" or, "if she puts out too soon, she's a skank." No person is exactly the same in a relationship, Leliana and Morrigan move at different paces, and that's perfectly all right. It also helps that their views on sex are different. For Morrigan, sex is something you do for fun, or even power. It's a game. For Leliana, it's an act of love and trust.
For Alistair, it's something along the lines of, "Wait...this is really happening? You...really? YES!" I really think that a lot of what goes through Alistair's head is elevator music.
Overall, I think Dragon Age: Origins is a great game for male and female gamers alike. The setting and characters are so well developed, they make you want to keep playing the game--even when the plot gets to be a little lackluster. After playing it on both the PC and the Xbox 360, I have to say, PC wins out. The controls are much better and help the battle system flow better. If there's one thing the battle system needs, it's flow.
I absolutely love the game's portrayal of women. There are a few things I would change about the outfit design. Morrigan's initial outfit was a bit much (especially when you remember that Ferelden and the Wilds are supposed to be cold), but you're not stuck with just what the game gives you. If I have one complaint about the female characters, it would be their designs, if only because most of their boobs look disproportionate to the rest of their bodies. It's not too that bad, though--they're not in your face or bigger than anyone's head. Just a bit larger than you'd think. But hey, what do I know? Maybe they have really weird corsets in Ferelden.
I also think it's worth pointing out that real armor is not meant to be flattering, especially full plate.
Aside from that, BioWare has done a great job with the female characters. They all have their own distinct personalities and are strong in their own ways. They fight for what they believe in and do not back down, regardless of whatever obstacles stand in their way. All of them serve a purpose, and that purpose is not to look pretty and cheer on the hero from the sidelines. They are warriors and mages...
And they are so much more.
Up next: "So, a girl walks into a game store..."
Resources:
Domestic Abuse Hotline for Men and Women - http://dahmw.org/ (US and Canada Hotline, 1-888-743-5754)
Find a local crisis center: http://centers.rainn.org/
National Domestic Abuse Hotline: http://www.thehotline.org/ (US Hotline 1-800-799-7233)
Read the whole "Straight Male Gamer" argument here.
Image credits:
Warden - http://ideaindustries.net/funny-facebook-profile-pictures/
Alistair - http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Alistair
Morrigan - http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Morrigan
Leliana - http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Leliana
Wynne - http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Wynne
Zevran - http://dragonage.wikia.com/wiki/Zevran_Arainai
Facepalm - http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/facepalm
Protip: Melee rogues, attack the archdemon from the side.
