Content Warning: This article contains references/discussions of oppression.
With Dragon Age 4 on the not-so-distant horizon, fans are reflecting on everything they love, and sometimes don’t love, about the franchise. With three games already, there are many plot elements, characters, and visual design factors of the series to dissent, criticize and ire.
RELATED: Which Dragon Age Game In The Franchise To Start With & Why
In many ways, Dragon Age, along with other Bioware games, has done some cutting edge things in regard to sexuality - even when the first Dragon Age game was released back in 2009. When it comes to relationships and even themes, the franchise has been ahead of the curve compared to a lot of other mainstream video games.
Players Can Choose To Be Good Or Bad
One of the best things about the games that sets them apart, and is also rather a staple of other Bioware properties like Mass Effect, is the ability to make choices in the game. Players can choose to be upstanding and comionate or they can choose to act only for themselves and even cruelly.
While actions in video games don't always translate to actions in real life, the ability for players to explore how they feel about their own morals is an interesting philosophical exercise.
Including LGBTQ+ Characters All Along
Dragon Age's inclusion of several LGBTQ+ characters in the first installment was quite significant as it was one of the few games to include same-sex relationships. Dragon Age: Origins came out in 2009 and featured two characters, Zevran and Leliana, that can be romanced by both male and female Grey Wardens. Both Zevran and Leliana became loved by Dragon Age fans because of their well-written backstories.
Including bisexual companions also made the game more welcoming to a wider audience and set the stage for more games to follow suit.
Allowing Players To Customize By Race And Gender
While Dragon Age 2 does include two premade main options for Hawke (the player’s character), the developers did try to make the game more inclusive by allowing players to change their skin color and gender.
Although it would be nice if there was even more racial diversity within the characters of the game, and this is an area the franchise will hopefully improve in, it is still better than many franchises that only centered around a white man.
Themes Of Oppression And Power Are Explored
Seeing as all of the games are set in the fantasy world of Thedas, they deal with some plot elements that wouldn’t exist in the real world. However, the metaphors and meanings that can be found in some fantasy stories themselves may be more applicable.
Of course, using allegories as a substitute for addressing inequality in fantasy worlds can sometimes be done poorly. However, Dragon Age does a good job of providing some complexity. Fans have to grapple with issues of equality, freedom, and government control and many of the narrative elements are thought-provoking.
The Romanceable Players Aren’t Just Stereotypes
At first glance, some of the romanceable characters, especially the women, can seem like one-dimensional stereotypes. However, the narrative does a good job of adding depth to the romance options in Dragon Age.
Isabella, for example, might seem like an over-sexualized pirate, but she’s also someone that has a lot of autonomy over her own sexuality. She also is given a rather important role in the plot given her complicated relationship with the Qunari and their artifact. Morrigan also doesn’t exist to make the men around her happy. She, and her mother Flemeth, are key to the lore of the games, too. While the games could do more to attract a wider audience, developing the arcs of the women and making sure they weren't restricted to simple love interests was a step in the right direction
Overall, The Games Don’t Feel Sexist
While there are instances of sexism that exist, the games did try to show equality between men and women. The gender of the player’s character has very little impact on the plot and the dialogue.
The Grey Warden in Origins, Hawke in Dragon Age 2, and The Inquisitor in Inquisition all have very similar problems, choices to make, and interactions with the world regardless of if they are men or women. There are also many other female characters, like Aveline, who is well-written, which is also refreshing.
Gender Doesn't Impact Strength
Along with being rather progressive in regards to gender, it’s also refreshing that gender doesn't impact their abilities. Women aren’t physically weaker and men aren’t less flexible, for example. The biggest thing the franchise needs to improve on here is just including more companions that are of a variety of races.
Continuing To Add More Nuanced LGBTQ+ Characters
As the games have gone along, Dragon Age has done a better job at providing characters who aren’t straight. While there were only two options in Origins, Dragon Age 2 made it so that all romanceable companions were open to male and female Champions.
Then, Inquisition sured the other games by making the character's sexuality seem more like a core, well-rounded, and well-thought-out part of them by including straight, bisexual, gay, and lesbian characters. However, there is still much to improve on as fans would like to see more non-binary and trans characters and options for character customization moving forward.