Games often allude to the real world in many ways. Examples that immediately come to mind are probably Grand Theft Auto, Fallout, Spec Ops: The Line, or Papers, Please. These games are satirical in nature, directly resembling real-world events and situations, and by offering new perspectives they force you to rethink your own views on those topics. Some are thinking “I like killing prostitutes” or “Cool nuclear apocalypse!” But applying a little critical thinking goes a long way.
Other games happen to be satirical or show events that are readily relevant to many contemporary situations. For many, it’s easy to relate to stories of oppression, power struggles that affect the ordinary masses, and other hurdles that game characters have to overcome. wants to use his experience and the current political climate to influence the story so that players can relate to it, whether it’s about aliens, dragons, or plain old modern humans. thinking about.
That’s where Dragon Age comes in. This is my first time playing this series, but I really enjoy these Bioware RPGs. From traitorous friends to deadly sins forgotten, the depth of writing is quickly gaining momentum in his one of my favorite game series. The mages’ persecution, the refugees from Ferelden, and the expulsion of the Qunari parallel many real-life situations, but do not appear to bear any particular parallels to real-life events. The true satire of the series came when we met Captain Jeven in Dragon Age 2.
Jeven is the captain of the Kirkwall City Guard. At least, until Hawke and Aveline find out he’s in the pocket of Big Coterie, one of his Kirkwall organized crime gangs. You banished him from his status as part of Aveline’s companion mission, keeping him from leaking vital city account information to the gang in the process. He’s not happy about being arrested, but your actions are well justified.
Corrupt politicians and law enforcement officers are not uncommon, though you can point to Donald Trump, Boris Johnson, Cressida Dick, and more. , an oddly prescient satire on modern grifter culture from a game released over a decade ago.
You’ll encounter Jeven again during the Favor and Fault mission. He reinvented himself as a rebel. He is a truth-holding man who takes power in a city invaded by malevolent Ferelden refugees. You are included. It’s been an age-old tale and managed to pull the name of a real-life man who reinvents himself after being “cancelled.”Just this week alone, Andrew Tate has been accused of misogyny rants and comments. In he was banned from Facebook and his TikTok. None of the guards matched Jeven in my playthrough, but he can also turn the tide against Aveline with his racist rant.
Jeben is a man for himself. He wants revenge on you and his Aveline for the loss of his good-natured captain’s job, and quickly turns to racism and “cancel culture” rhetoric to get ordinary people on his side. I’m trying Nonetheless, his fighting force is primarily made up of mercenaries, people he pays to side with. Many of them are already resentful of the Ferelden refugees flooding into the city to escape the Blight. He really sells the tired old racist mantra of Fereldens coming to his Kirkwall and taking over our bloody business in an older, timely fashion.
After his ploy to overthrow Aveline with a fabricated complaint fails, Jeven resorts to violence. Much like right-wing grifters who plague the real world, he drags misguided followers into the fray and forces them to fight for himself. It may be a coincidence, but his assassin abilities cause him to physically disappear from the battlefield as soon as Hawke, Aveline, and company enter the fray in Darktown. I’m not knocking out Rogue enthusiasts, but this is a classic example of the cowardly tactics employed by these grifter types. It will take off the moment it hits the All he needed was a line declaring that he was cancelled, and he would be the full representative of the reactionary YouTuber who was suspended from Twitter in 2022 for saying slurs.
Grifter culture feels like a recent phenomenon, but these people have always been there. Jeven fled the fray, letting the mercenaries die, and then finding nowhere else to flee. When you’re not there, he pounces on you with a vicious backstab. Some of this just draws on Assassin’s skill set, but there’s no denying that there are similarities there, though it could be coincidence.
Is BioWare like a modern-day prophet who predicts the rise of racists? Unfortunately not. They have always existed, emboldened by increasingly right-leaning right-wing governments and pushed toward our eyeballs by social media algorithms that reward positive or negative interactions. Jeven’s character arc has a very distinct parallel to modern times, as it accurately captures a small portion of the original.
It’s the characters that make Dragon Age so timeless. I mostly remember which party member I spent the most time with and forged relationships with, but NPCs like Jeven, Hespith, and Connor also stick with you. Especially in his case of Jeven, BioWare has captured a particular kind of man that persists in today’s society.
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