14 DAY TRIAL // For a long time, the gaming industry has had a problem with how women are portrayed in major releases and with the way female gamers are sometimes treated both online and in public settings, and Dragon Age: Inquisition seems to be BioWare’s attempt to remedy the situation to some degree.
I chose to play as a rogue female human for my first run through the story, and fairly early in the game, I noticed that the war table, the nerve center for all Inquisition operations, was dominated by women: myself, Josephine and Leliana, with a surprising fourth bearer of the XX chromosome added later on (naming her would be a spoiler).
Cullen is the only male here, and although he is the commander of the military forces of the organization, he defers to the necessities of diplomacy and spying while also following the orders of the main character.
The most effective companions in the game are also females and I often ran around using a party made up of Cassandra, who can excel in the tank role, Sera, with a focus on archery and trap use, and Vivienne, who can be used to rain magical attacks on enemies.
Dragon Age: Inquisition also puts women in plenty of other positions of power all through the world of Thedas, and one of the best sequences of the game involves the Empress of Orlais and a few other powerful characters who completely dominate their male counterparts.
It’s not that men are incapable in the game, but they often seem unable to deal with their flaws and do the right thing.
A gentler way to change the world of Thedas
There’s a lot of violence in Dragon Age: Inquisition, especially in the larger battles, but when it comes to the decisions the gamer can make, there’s almost always a way to gently nudge the world into the right path.
I don’t know if BioWare is making a direct plea that more women in leadership positions would make our own world a better place, but the title manages to create a fantasy world that’s very balanced when it comes to gender roles.
On my second playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition, I plan to be a male dwarf and see how a more direct and force-focused approach delivers different results for the main storyline and how such a character can interact with the likes of Cassandra, Leliana and Josephine.
