Dragon Age - Trauma Through Dark Fantasy

Last week was Dragon Age Day. A lot has happened since then. We fans were expecting something. We got a new trailer for the next installment in the Dragon Age franchise and it looks so good!

The next day was the Game Awards and Bioware - the game developers of Dragon Age - were expected by us fans. However, they were a no-show and it was a disappointment. Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is supposed to release sometime next year so yes, I was expecting something.

However, Bioware (and Netflix) more than made up for it with the animated series, Dragon Age: Absolution. Now, this series is supposed to be a one-time thing as it is really meant to be an introduction to the next game.

The series gave us so many clues and oh boy, the surprises! I, for one, am looking forward to the next game and am so excited!

For today’s post though, I am going to go back to the very first in the series: Dragon Age: Origins. The game that started it all. It is a dark fantasy game and it definitely delivers that to the players. I would argue that Dragon Age: Origins is more dark fantasy than any that followed.

All games that followed have their elements of dark fantasy but Bioware seems to have pivoted away from that a bit. Not entirely, mind you, but a bit.

So a little synopsis of the game:

You get to start the game as one of six different characters -

Human Noble

Tower Mage (either elf or human)

City Elf

Dalish Elf (the nomads)

Dwarven Noble

Dwarven Commoner

These are the origin stories of the six different wardens you can play. It’s more than that though. You get a huge view of the world. With each origin story you play, you get more of the world you have entered.

The world-building in this game is phenomenal!

I am going to talk about my favorite Origin story/character: The City Elf. The city elf origin story is arguably the darkest of all the origin stories. I personally connect with my city elf on multiple fronts.

So what does the city elf go through that is so dark?

Well, for starters, her story starts on her wedding day. Her father agreed to arrange a marriage for her - per their traditions - and though you can choose to be happy about it, I am never happy about that.

It goes downhill from there though. As the wedding starts, a drunk noble crashes the wedding with his cronies and start treating the elves like property (the elves have it bad in this world).

He disrespects the ceremony altogether, calling the women whores and then he and his friends kidnap the women, including your warden if you are playing a female.

And yes, it gets even darker…

This is where I really relate to my female city elf warden. She wakes up in a room with the other women. She finds out that her cousin (one of the women kidnapped) was taken into another room with the human noble and his friends.

I’m sure you can guess what happened.

As the warden, my priority is getting to my cousin before it’s too late. Except that it is too late by the time I get there.

Can you imagine what that does to a person?

This origin story hits me the most emotionally. Not just as a survivor of sexual assault as a child and as an adult but as something else.

As the oldest of 4 and having no real adult protecting us from harm, I tried to protect my younger siblings. We were all abused but I felt responsible - for the longest time - for not being able to protect them.

When I play as Embyr, those feelings come back to me. That guilt. So much guilt. But also the anger. The anger at myself but the anger at those who hurt us. The anger at those who hurt 4 young children without a care for us at all.

Like Embyr and her friends, we weren’t seen as human beings. We were seen as things. As toys to be played with and then discarded. Playing as Embyr gives me the tools to play out a different scenario in a way. Embyr goes on to become a hero and her cousin becomes a hero in her own right.

It also allows me to feel those feelings and deal with them in a healthier and more constructive way than how I used to deal with them. Surviving trauma is really hard to do and it takes a very long time to get through a lot of it.

It never really goes away either. You can heal and make peace with the past but it stays with you forever.

And Dragon Age: Origins gets even darker. I mean, the broodmother. For those of you reading this that have not played the game, the broodmother is a monster you fight in the deep roads underneath Orzamaar (the dwarven city).

It’s more than that, of course. When you discover HOW the broodmother comes to be, that’s some seriously twisted dark shit right there. Let’s just say, rape and cannibalism are involved. Yeah, it’s pretty damn dark.

And that’s just one part of the story.

That’s what makes this game so great though. It’s a dark fantasy for a reason. You expect to be repulsed at some points, angry at others, sad and happy while going through the game at different intervals. It’s a hero’s journey at the end of the day and you get to be a part of it.

The game came out in 2009 so the graphics may not be up to today’s standards but I would argue that the cinematics definitely still hold up and the story itself is just a timeless classic in my opinion and definitely worth playing today.

If you who are reading this haven’t tried it out, and dark fantasy is your thing, I highly recommend it.

And if you are a survivor, and this story sounds like something you could use to help you, by all means, check it out. I hope that where ever you are and whatever place you find yourself, that you are okay.

Thanks so much for reading!