14 DAY TRIAL // In many ways Dragon Age 2, the latest release from BioWare in the role-playing space, is a game about family and uprooting, about how three (or four depending on who's counting) people that care deeply for each other can start over in a new land and re-create their destiny in the face of adversity.
And the most interesting member of the Hawke family, in some ways better developed than the player character, is Bethany, the apostate mage younger sister that starts with quite the compliment of offensive powers and is especially helpful in the early stages of the game.
She playes one of the leading roles in the first act of Dragon Age 2, mainly because she is the sister of the main character, and she has a few very good banter sequences with the other members of the party, constantly teased about her femininity by Isabela and talking to Anders about life as a mage that is on the run from the Circle.
Bethany is good natured and forward looking, even if the burden of being an apostate makes her rather squeamish when it comes to being around Templars or when Hawke chooses to confront them.
So it's a shame that the developer chose to essentially bench the character after the first few hours of play, when the player heads down to the Deep Roads, only to bring her back for a short portion of the game towards the end, depending on the choices the gamer makes.
The story of Hawke is one in which loss plays a very important place, but taking away Bethany (or for those who play mages the loss of Carver) after already forcing the character to deal with the loss of another sibling and the destruction of Lothering seems like a step too far.
The main character would have benefited from an extra dimension by having a sibling to mirror his thoughts and question his choices for the rest of the game instead of relying on the other party members, all lacking in a connection that goes back more than a few years.