So me and a friend got to talking about some of our choice favorites in gaming the past 2 months. DA2 came into the fold and we spent the better half of 2hrs discussing the varried plotlines and interesting character dynamics. This has instigated both of us to start playing the game(also so I can tie up a few straggling trophies). Replaying the game now for the 3-4th time has really given me a better perspective of the game's strong points.

An Alegory for Present Day Social Issues

Mages  = Gay's plight against Homophobic Government/Jewish Oppression

Elves = Social injustice and stigmas with Blacks/Hispanics in US, Native American's virtual genocide and loss of heritage

Qunari = Every Terroristic fear, real and unreal (Russia/China/Middle East) as well as alternative way of life... which is just as scary to most.

The developers have played with reality in a very interesting way. By not using the actual issue but juxtaposing similar traits into ones that fit the setting, they are allowed to be more honest. Mages in DA Universe are shunned for them just being themselves. They are "born that way" after all. Due to some very serious issues that admittedly was instigated by the Mages, they have hence forth been demonized by just about everyone. They are put into Circle of Magi's that are somewhere between boarding school and concentration camp. The Gov't wants to recondition them for their own benefit, if not for that than their existence is too costly. The resemblance to it's real life counterparts screams in my head as I play through the game.

Then you have the Elves, who were the original peace loving natives of the land....before the humans came and enslaved them. The Elves have lost their identity from years of servitude and injustice. They live in "slums" and are pretty much forced into city underbellies. Its no surprise that many of them must turn to lives of crime and hustle to stay afloat. The elves are dealing with something worce than racial prejudice, the generally uncaring ear of the humans. The human's who wronged the Elvan people so long ago probably do not exist anymore, just their children. Their children do not commit the atrocities, so it mostly is deemed not their problem. They do not understand why Elves live in shit holes and are mostly criminals, they can only deduce that this is just how they choose to live their lives. A human yells "I started from nothing too, you don't see me mugging people"..... not realizing her version of "nothing" is several degrees different than the Elve's nothing. The Elves also see enemies where there are none, they are partially detached from reality and believe that every act not in their favor is a grand scheme to further oppress them purposefully.

Qunari are so very interesting. Honestly, they are basically giant ants. What I mean by this is that they do not exist as an individual....rather as a Hive Mind of sorts. Their individual existense is predicated on what can they do of meaning for the grand purpose of the Q'un. This enriches each Qunari's life as success in it is so well defined. They can all think independently, but they choose to remain in this rigid structure. It works for them. The Q'un is one part Government, one part Religion, but stronger than both. The fear comes in when you think about how this can challenge Human's need to think freely. The Qunari just see Human's need for this as uncoordinated Chaos. The Qunari understand living beings to be what they are.... complex organisms, more atune to a single cell. Yet Humans as they act now.... are like a Cancer, we don't abide by any firm rule structures, and end up killing ourselves and those around us. The Qunari have learned that when you carefully define what each cell's duty is at the start.... their is very little confusion within the body(Q'un) leading to much less cell death.

Learning Life's Lesson: Endure and Survive

Dragon Age keeps the never ending onslaught of depressing things coming at you from Act 1 and onwards. The game starts off with you fleeing your home as the Blight takes it. Your father has just died as well. Your Family is emotionally shaken but still able to move. Before they could even think about recovering from their loss.......you lose a second sibling to unforseeable acts of violence. When you finally do get the chance to breath you have only just begun to see the problems ahead. Templar vs Mage Civil unrest going on in the city, and as a family of Mages(whether it be you or sibling) are right in the middle of it. You are bankrupt from disaster and ill will. Then Your sibling is taken away for a cause they don't fully understand.... leaving you alone to handle your mother's grief. Just as she starts to recover..........a serial killer takes her in the most gruesome way imaginable.

The strife never stops in this game, and it's increasingly melancholic feel I find exhilerating. I think this is close to imitating life(or at least mine). Just as you think you can see the end of the tunnel, something keeps pulling you further and further in. The only thing you can do is endure it. Many times over as the game progresses you run into other people in this same delimma. They ask questions about what do they have to live for, what is the point?

Commentary on our Judicial Systems

Its broken........and Dragon Age 2 tries its best to point out it's every flaw. Caging undesirables never really works, its just more cost efficient. Arbitrary law lines are drawn often to make some rich fat cat's pockets safer, not to really persue justice.

DA2 speaks upon mental illness, something that has already been in my head because I finished House series. What if a person's wrong doing can be traced back to mishaps in the mind? Sure, we cant let a sociopath roam the streets with the "regular" folk,.......but do we imprison them with the other lunatics? For instance, in the game a guy is a known child murderer/sadist. He tortured and killed several elvan children. You meet a survivor or his tyranny and she begs you to spare him, as he cannot control himself. You meet the guy yourself and it is apparent for everyone that he is.......off. He struggles with his "demons" whether they be literal or figurative. What fate does someone like this deserve? She he continue to be imprisoned with the thieves and misfits? He is mentally ill after all, should we not seek some kind of mental  help? The murderer begs for death by your hand, in effort of stopping himself from ever commiting acts of violence. Should you oblige? Understand that if you do you are killing someone mentally incapable of making rational decisions(obviously as he is a serial killer). It would definitely make everyone else feel safer with him dead tho. I just beg the question..... what about HIM?

In our society we have laws that punish accidents or things out of our control. Why? Because it makes the victims and loved ones feel better. In order for their lives to continue with some semblance of peace, they need to know you hurt. And thats really what it boils down to. You hurt me, I don't care if it was intended, now I want to hurt you.

Imprisonment is often times a bandaid quickfix to a real more crucial problem. If we treated the hurt (whether it be emotional,mental,physical) directly we could rid most needs for prisons,hospitals, and homelessness.

DA2 is very political. You could slap any current or past social and political situation on it.

I just love it because of that.

I do too. The first game did also but stumbles a bit as it more closely follows cliche Western mythology tropes (Heaven/Hell Concept, Devil, etc). The 2nd game really excels at it.

While i really liked DA2 (it's one of my favourite ps3 games), i do think you're interpreting a bit much into it.

what are these "loads of others"? I don't think I have played them :P

Most WRPGs in my mind create very A-Typical medival worlds based on Tolkin mythology. DA is too but breathes life into it by making you realize the questions and issues we have with them via branching story paths.

I don't think so.

The genius of putting these metaphores into this fictional world is that people can be more honest with their reactions to the situation. The fantasy seperates us from it so we don't feel guilty for making the decisions we make. Life breeds creativity and all that.

This does make the story elements more relatable for many. Personal investments are made with the stories due to their similarity to real life. 

Seriously, think about the story and think about big civil issues in the world today and yesterday.......they game directly correlates with them in its own way.

I think you are reading a little too much into it. A lot of those things are actually fantasy cliche's.

Anyway, I do love the world setting and societal structures in the Dragon Age universe, but Dragon Age 2 was just ok. Origins was much better (and the actual root to pretty much everything you just mentioned).

Bioware is my favorite developer by a long shot. So I am assuming you are excited for DA3?

also, here is why the mage's specifically are not alluding to the gay's plight or jewish oppression. If that was actually the case, then they would also have to be considered as the cause of the blight in the world. I don't think that is a statement that Bioware would want to make.

The mage's are taken and secluded from the rest of the world because, historically speaking, unchecked the mages caused destruction and mayhem on mass scale. Creating the blight and dominating the land.

You are certainly entitled to read the story any way you want, but I am very certain that this plot thread was not meant to be read in the way you are interpreting it.

And by using the exact same bland template for every dungeon, they were showing us how the mundane routine of everyday life destroys individuality and blends us all into one soulless entity.

Give me a break.

Bioware is offering bothsides of the coin in a purely subjective stance on their part. The game allows you to play whatever position you want in the affairs.

Mages are "de gays" because they are what challenge the church's authority. Their existence to turn people away from it.

The Blight could be seen as many things. I think it alludes to disease(AIDs) as well as the essense of "evil" coming into the world, which homosexuality is seen sometimes as the gateway for such things. To say that Gays should be able to exist peacefully is one thing, most would agree today. Yet Religion which has a strong foothold in society speaks against it, to let that one thing slide brings down the whole foundation that it is to be believed at all. Without religion what is there to put fear of retaliation in us if we do a "sinful" act? It is thought that without Religion reigning in human actions on a regular basis, we would descent into chaos. Whether you believe this or not, this would be universally bad and the world in general is not ready to test this theory.

Like in my last paragraph, social gov't functions because we have to feel like bad things happen to bad people, good things happen to those who keep the faith(eventually). This is how the concept of religion, afterlife, Heaven,Hell came to be. The unknowns are frightening as hell. We create things to fill that void. 

Also take note of this...... In Dragon Age......... The Religion is REAL. Imagine if you could not be Athiest because there were infalable truth that *insert your religion* were true? Demons(Darkspawn) really exist and we see them take foot in the real world all the time. This skillfully crafted plot device forces players to also take in account what the Chantry and Templars believe and not take their fears lightly. Because if you are religious..... you DO believe what your's demands of you infalably. 

Plus the alliteration that the Church demands Mages/Gays supress who/what they really are is pretty blatent.

and Teventer Emperium brought down but resurging = Sodom/Gomoraha destroyed but some believe to be reimagined in good ol California(which is basically Gay Sanctuary).