Nerd Rant #3 – Bioware Love

So, this is going to be my first *really* topical post. This is basically an overall review of the two major Bioware RPG series – Mass Effect and Dragon Age. I really have Dragon Age fever right now and am really excited about the new chapter of the series: Inquisitor, which is going to be released in October. With that said, if you care neither about video games or rpgs you probably want to skip this one – just giving fair warning before I fully geek out!


I got my very first video game system when I was about seven; a good ol’ regular Nintendo in which I played Super Mario Brother, Zelda, and little more. My brother always had the top of the line video games and video game systems so I would often sneak off to his room when he was not home (this was before I moved to my grandmothers permanently) and play his games. I liked video games then, as I liked games that I played on the Super Nintendo and the N64 in later years. But, I never found a game that *really* hooked me for hours on end until I rented Dragon Age: Origins from Game Fly several years ago for my Xbox 360. I have since played this game through at least 10 times from start to finish, and in fact I just finished a play-through about ten minutes before I began writing this blog post.

So, why all of the love for this particular game? I have (sadly) thought about this a lot. Now, the reason that this post is titled “Bioware Love” and not “Dragon Age Love” is that all of the following points can be said about the Mass Effect game series, except the game’s setting. In Mass Effect the overall setting is one of science fiction, while I would label Dragon Age as a fantasy setting.

That Beiber hair tho....
(From ME3)

Character customization

I have come to hate the type of game that gives you a character that is pre-created (which is most games). When you can customize the way your character looks (even a little) you can put more of yourself into the character and relate to it more easily than you would if it was a basic, cookie-cutter character. You see this type of customizations in RPGs, which is apparently the type of game that I like to play. In earlier years, I loved the Final Fantasy games; the storytelling was typically pretty great. What it lacked, to me, was the ability to really put myself in the role of the lead character. In these games you are the predefined character that the creaters designed, which (to me) is fairly boring.

Inclusiveness

This could, perhaps, be a subheading beneath “Character Customization”, but it is more than that. Bioware games (at least the two franchises that I am raving about) do not cast women as helpless bystanders. Women are multifaceted and capable of being leaders and warriors just as often (if not more commonly than) the typical female videogame tropes. While Bioware games do occasionally acknowledge sexism, it is not an

ongoing experience for your female character. Also, I love that Bioware understands that not all of its player are straight males. If you want your character to be a female warrior elf (this applies to Origins, not the human-only DA2, sadly) who happens to be a lesbian, that’s cool; DA has you covered. In the case of LBG in the games it is treated with normality in Mass Effect, and normalcy with limited hints at in-world bigotry in the Dragon Age series. Perhaps the best part of the way Bioware addresses LBG(excluding Trans here because, as far as I can remember, transsexualism is not touched upon in these games) in their games is by not making you define your character as such. Life is never black and white and some things, especially sexuality, can be difficult to define.

Custom tone/dialect

In DA: Origins your character really does not have a voice, but you have several text dialogue options that are typically quite varied. Snarky comments, sincerity, anger are all expressible. You are able to look at the

Isabela...always keepin' it
classy. 

situation and gauge how you would want your character to respond. Would your character be angry about a thief trying to steal his/her coin purse, or would your character be amused by it? In DA2 and in (I believe) all of the Mass Effect games you are able to hear your character’s response to the current conversation or situation. I am apt to have a smart-ass character that is often sarcastic and maybe a little obnoxious, but it is fun to see the different reactions NPC’s have to your character’s personality. In DA2 you do not have text dialogue options, but “tone” options. The more you choose a specific tone, the more your character’s personality is shaped by it. After playing through my typical “sarcastic/obnoxious” personality I tried out a virtuous personality for an additional play-through; many aspects of the story were quite different!

Medieval Fantasy World

I am a sucker for this type of setting – and Dragon Age really sets this tone right away in the title of the game

– “Dragon Age.” If you are the brand of nerd that I am – you love dragons, knights in shining armor, and the fantasy setting – Dragon Age would be a great choice for you. If you are a sci-fi nerd – a “spacer”, you may want to start with Mass Effect. In both games the world (or in Mass Effect the universe?) really feels HUGE. In DA Origins you are confined to the country of Fereldan, but you are aware of the vast world of Thedas. Indeed, many of your companions are from other parts of the world and their stories of home connect you to the larger world. DA2 feels a bit more confining as you are, for the most part, in one city throughout the game. DA2 had several missteps, but it is still a great RPG that is far more engaging than the typical. From what I have seen and read about Inquisitor, the world will be HUGE. I have read that just one map in Inquisitor will be larger than all of the maps combined in the other games.

Connectivity

Everything is connected in these games. The Mass Effect series follows the same character throughout three games and everything that you do is remembered from game to game. If you pissed someone off in the original ME you will likely run into them in ME2 or ME3 and they will not have forgotten.  Big events carry over and that is great, but for me it is the small details; the more obscure decisions that you may have made coming back to haunt you or reward you later in the series. Even though the stories follow different people (The Hero of Fereldan and the Champion of Kirkwall) in the Dragon Age series, they are still connected. You are able to import your character from Origins (and its dowloadable content) to DA2 and there are many “throwback” moments throughout DA2 that are affected by what your character did in Origins.

Non-linear storyline

I love the option of doing things in the order you feel is best. One of the things that always annoyed me about other RPGs is that your path is laid out for you; you are just going through the predetermined motions. I will admit that Dragon Age is not as open world, or even as vast as Skyrim. You cannot wander seamlessly from area to area in DA as you can in Skyrim, but it looks like that is changing in Inquisition. I am really excited to see what the developers have come up with!

Replayability

Because you have so many options in gameplay that effect the world and how other characters interact with you, both DA and ME series have huge replayability. For example, in DA Origins, after choosing your

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character’s gender you choose his or her race – dwarf, elf, or human. Each race has a couple of background and class choices. If you were to choose human you would have the option of being a “circle mage” or a noble fighter or thief. As a dwarf you could be a noble or a criminal thief or fighter. The beginning of the game and many of the key events throughout the game change based on these choices.  A poverty stricken city-dwelling elf experiences things in his storyline that a human character does not, and the reverse is true as well. Finding out how all of these stories tied into the main plot kept me happy with this game for a really long time.

Oh… and Alistair

One of the really unique things about these games is the romance aspect. In Skyrim you can marry an NPC. They call you “dear” and make a neverending pot of stew for you. They watch your adopted children. This is

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Credit

really about the extent of your relationship with your significant other. In DA and ME the relationship development is part of the story. You get to know your NPCs as friends and as romantic interests. The other NPC’s notice your blossoming relationship and (often) comment on it. I discovered all of this for the first time with the NPC Alistair in DA Origins. Alistair is funny, sweet, and a very close companion for the entirety of Origins. He does things like tell your character how beautiful she is and bring her flowers. He is so sugary sweet that it is almost too much. There is a *huge* Alistair fanbase; primarily made up of (sad, lonely) female gamers. In both series the romance options are varied and interesting for both genders, with the exception of the first Mass Effect in which male characters have two female love interest choices and female characters have one male and one female option.

Well, that’s it! Thanks for “listening” to me geek out. Are you a fan of these game series? Let me know what your favorite aspects of them are. Also, if you have a comparable series you can suggest let me know! I am always looking for a good RPG.