In Defence of Dragon Age II

The Dragon Age series has never been quite as popular as its sibling Mass Effect — y’know, the child who sometimes disappoints its parents but is still the favourite — but it’s held its own. Dragon Age: Inquisition won Game Of The Year in 2014 against some other pretty solid contenders. Dragon Age: Origins, the first game in the series, won Best RPG and Best PC Game of the Year in 2009.

Dragon Age II is the ignored middle child that Mass Effect regularly sticks in a headlock. It’s the kid that watches their siblings brag about going to prestigious universities on full scholarships while awkwardly sitting there, getting glared at by their grandmother. To make a long metaphor short: Dragon Age II wasn’t even a nominee for Game Of The Year. To be fair, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim had just released, and that was — and still is, to Bethesda’s possible detriment — some stiff competition. Even the name of Dragon Age II makes it stick out like a sore thumb compared to the others in the series.

Former Bioware producer Mark Darrah stated in a tweet:

Dragon Age II was supposed to be called Dragon Age: Exodus and I wish it was. It would have contextualized the game better

— Mark Darrah (@BioMarkDarrah) April 21, 2018

 

Somewhere between development and release, the second game in the Dragon Age series lost its footing. Over the years, it’s been criticised for being rushed, too short, and limiting. Where Dragon Age: Origins  was a semi-open world, limited only by regional loading screens, Dragon Age II locked players to one city. The dungeons were grey rooms reused over and over again, and the storyline was much more linear than most RPGs. It's not unusual to see ‘mega fans’ of the series who have skipped playing Dragon Age II altogether and only have the vaguest idea who the main character, Hawke, even is.

Here’s the thing: even with all those flaws and lack of fancy awards, I still think Dragon Age II is better than Dragon Age: Inquisition. Hold your gasps, I know. As someone who played all three games in order, one right after the other, I will argue and stick to my opinion that Dragon Age II is the second-best game in the series after Dragon Age: Origins. The reason is pretty simple and — to me — pretty obvious: the characters are better.

Dragon Age: Inquisition is a very pretty game even today, and the environments are massive. You can get lost when exploring that game for hours, and I mean actually lost, not the metaphorical version of the term. That’s a positive to some, and a drawback to others, but if we’re putting graphics and mechanics aside, the characters just don’t hold up against Dragon Age II.

In Dragon Age II, everyone is morally grey at best, and I mean everyone. Meet Merrill, the Dalish Elf who comes off as ‘cutesy’ and ‘naive’ and picks flowers…but is actually a powerful and feared blood mage. Meet Anders, a runaway mage who runs a clinic for the poor…but willingly blows up an entire building full of people to ignite a war. (Just me making that sentence is enough to cause a war of its own on most social media sites. That’s how in-depth and controversial these characters get.) Or Fenris, an escaped Elven slave who had his memory wiped years ago and is running from his mage captor, all while distrusting and hating magic users. Now take all these people and make them hang out with each other for eight years. It's a recipe for a delightful and intriguing disaster.

Characters in Dragon Age II are complex. There are some that I actually loathe and despise and that’s a wonderful thing. There’s growth, there’s arcs, there’s dead siblings, and your mother, who is regretting all her life choices and blaming them on you. The characters are dirty, grungy, and feel real. Real enough that I can overlook the shorter runtime and more constrained world.

In comparison, Dragon Age: Inquisition companions are more stoic with fewer controversies; hell, almost no controversies if you haven’t played the other games or read the novels. They feel squeaky clean. I only dislike them if I find their dialogue annoying, not because I think their life philosophy and actions are wrong. The only major exception to this is Solas, who was written so well that he’s now the antagonist of Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the fourth game which will be released — ah, sometime in the 21st century. Allegedly.

While there’s not a bad game in the Dragon Age series, each certainly has its strengths. All I’m saying is that I hope Dragon Age II gets its own little renaissance and that — fingers crossed — the newest game doesn’t let the positives of its less-known predecessor lay by the wayside.