Dragon Age II uses retrospective as a narrative frame: your story is told by Varric: dwarf, bard, spymaster, adventuring companion, and accomplished bullshitter. He tells the story of Kirkwall’s implosion—magophobic templar against wizard, Qunari against Kirkwall, noble against perpetual elvish underclass against refugee human newcomers, slaver against rebel—from a distance of several years, and paints your character in the middle of it: your in-game decisions are the flashbacks in his version of your story.
Just how accurately he tells your story is an open question. I heard a wonderful report of how deftly the designers employ the device of an unreliable narrator, which, if true, rocks my world.
Your first appearance features you and a sibling escaping your destroyed home town, darkspawn nipping at your heels. If you play a mage, as I did, you’re stuck with your pissant wannabe brother, a warrior; if you play a rogue or warrior, you’re paired with your little sister, a mage. The scene is something of a tutorial, teaching you to mash the attack button and move around a battlefield, and maybe hint at the various class roles. You dispatch a bunch of darkspawn, but they just keep coming, and things begin to look bleak, until a dragon shows up and…
“Bullshit!†interjects the templar interrogating Varric. She demands the Real Story, so Varric shrugs and returns to his tale. At this point, I’m told, if you’ve been paired with your little sister, her breasts are animated much smaller than they were just a minute ago, a subtle and brilliant dig at the video game industry’s fascination with boobs as well as a subtle and brilliant demonstration of Varric’s personality. I haven’t had the chance to verify the rumor myself, but you can bet I’ll be watching for it when I explore the powers of a different class on a second playthrough.
Post a Comment