14 DAY TRIAL // While playing Dragon Age 2, especially in the last third or so of the role-playing game, I felt frustrated, not by the actual video game mechanics or by the plot, but by the characters themselves and the way they acted inside the game world
It's a testament to the success of the writers at BioWare that me, as the gamer, was relating so strongly to two of the characters that are central to the plot (beware, there are some important spoilers to be found beyond this spot), the leader of the Kirkwall Circle of the Magi, Orsino, and the commander of the Templar forces, Meredith.
The two lead organizations in conflict, ready to literally go to war over the slightest of provocations and are both capable of marshaling impressive forces in a possible battle over the fate of Kirkwall.
The two are very different and yet they are strangely the same, bitterly adversarial when the other side is present, yet strangely introverted and clear headed when they are alone with the player, instructing him about the finer details of a mission.
The player-controlled character does not get to know them very well directly, but hears a lot of things about both Orsino and Meredith and the game proves that most of it is distorted or just outright lies.
My character and, by extension, I were infuriated by the fact that both of them are absolutely convinced about the righteousness of their causes and are ready to take all the steps needed to fulfill their aims, despite the more moderate alternatives that could be explored.
The writers at BioWare are good at creating tension and at making their virtual characters very life like in their attitudes and their righteous stubbornness and the ultimate conclusion of their struggle has quite a few parallels with situations in the real world.
This clash between these two unstoppable forces and how it plays out is one of the main reasons that justify playing Dragon Age 2 all the way to the end.