Role-playing video games have always been my favorite. because players get the chance to customize their protagonist with any gender, skin tone, or species they wish. It’s pretty empowering to have a say in what your character looks like and the special skills they may have. Perhaps most empowering to me is the chance to play a female character when the industry is generally male-oriented. Often times, female characters in videogames are restricted to sidekicks to the protagonist. Sometimes, even when female characters are the protagonists, such as “Tomb Raider’s” Lara Croft, they are hyper-sexualized to appeal to a generally male audience. The number of female gamers is growing, and “Dragon Age: Inquisition” shows me that we are beginning to be represented more fairly.
I was approximately half an hour into playing “Dragon Age: Inquisition” when I noticed something remarkable : the women are in positions of power. Whether one chooses to play as a male or female protagonist, there’s still a greater ratio of women to men leading the Inquisition. This made me so happy to see, and what made me happier was that it seemed to be such an ordinary thing. I could say the game made it a big deal, but it didn’t. The fact that so many women play such important roles in the plot wasn’t the central story, it was just an obvious fact.
“Dragon Age: Inquisition,” released on November 18 from BioWare and EA Games, is the third installment in the franchise. The games feature typical fantasy genre elements like a medieval-esque setting with magic and elves, dwarves, dragons…along with some “Dragon-Age”–only creations like Qunari (humanoid creatures with horns on their heads). Set in the fictional land of Thedas, the overall plot centers around an “Inquisitor,” created by the player who unites the kingdoms and uses their special power to rid the land of demons and defeat an ancient villain who believes he is a god.
For my playthrough, I created a female elf with magical powers named Rowan.Whether she is leading a motley crew of warriors, rogues and mages on quests or consulting her advisors at the war table, Rowan is in charge of a lot of men, and a lot of women too. When she stood at the war table between missions to strategize with her top advisors, I noticed only one of them was male. Usually in games, it’s the other way around. Take “Gears of War,” for example. There were no female soldiers represented until the third game and even then, they were merely sidekicks to the beefy, gritted-teeth male heroes. For me, it’s nice to see those roles reversed.
Meet my character, Rowan, an elf mage who left her clan to assist the Inquisition and eventually became its unexpected leader.
Credit- Screenshot courtesy of Playstation Network.
The “Dragon Age” series, much like the “Mass Effect” series (also by BioWare) has always had fair female representation and seems to promote gender equality. “Inquisition” even features gender neutral cover art, something Creative Director Mike Laidlaw tweeted was “absolutely intended.” Often in games, even when the option exists to play as a woman, the box art always features a default man character. “Dragon Age: Inquisition’s” cover art features the protagonist posed in such a way that their gender isn’t so obvious, which keeps any players from feeling left out. The game also features a character who is a transgender mercenary and not much special attention is called to that fact. I get the sense the magical land of Thedas is soon to have all-gender bathrooms, just like The New School is trying to do. In “Dragon Age,” all genders are cool, and everyone is cool with it.
BioWare found a subtle but awesome way to promote gender equality and celebrate diversity through the absolutely ordinary. There is no preaching or dancing around shouting about the fact that characters A, B, and C, are this or that. The Inquisition is an alliance of many species, ethnicities, genders, religions, nations and magical or tactical abilities who all band together to save their world as they know it. It is a large and intricately crafted in-game world. I’m still playing along and telling Rowan’s story. For now, I simply appreciate that she is neither marginalized nor objectified; instead, she’s one of the women in charge.
Charlotte is majoring in Journalism + Design at Eugene Lang College and graduated high school in Bamberg, Germany. Her father is a soldier so she grew up moving around a lot. Outside of her interest in journalism, she is an aspiring novelist & screenplay writer who dabbles in acting. Charlotte loves reading, writing, road trips, red wine, videogames, music, sketch comedy and tennis.
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