You can’t play like the elven gods are total assholes, then completely ignore that the Maker is just as big, if not a bigger, asshole. Even without being a religious expert myself, the parallels between each of these belief systems to well-established ones in the real world are more than inconsequential– Buddhist influences can be seen in both the Paragon system of the dwarves and the Qun, the Qun also draw on some Taoist beliefs, and the elves’ gods are almost certainly based off of some form of paganism. And the elves have an entire pantheon of gods and goddesses, but Inquisition took care to show the audience how these religious figures were nothing more than powerful ancient elves who were petty and awful and took delight in torturing their own people for their own amusement. The qunari have the Qun, rules for living what one can interpret as a “virtuous life” in their culture, but the qunari have been portrayed as little more than villains, especially in Inquisition.
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Plus, they’re mortal and thus fallible and incomparable to the Maker. The dwarves have their Paragons-dwarves that, in their life, have contributed a great service to their society and are remembered forever for it in reverence and awe-but each Paragon the players have run across during the three games have been monsters in one way or another. If Dragon Age 4 becomes a thing, people guess that the Maker will finally make himself known, yet as much as I want to punch this God in the face, I’m almost hoping this doesn’t happen.Īndrasteism isn’t the only religion shown in the series, but it is the only one that is presented as “correct”. Almost every plot point is in some way driven by the work of the Chantry. The Chantry (the religious institution) preaches that everyone is being punished for this betrayal, and that one day the Maker will return. After she was betrayed and burned, He took her to His side and abandoned all other life in Thedas.
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Dragon Age ’s plot is almost entirely religious: The Maker (“God”) took favor with the warrior Andraste, blessed her with visions, and supported her as she rode across the land fighting in his name.
#BIOWARE GAMES 2017 SERIES#
To fully understand my issue, we need to take a look at the Dragon Age series with a focus on Inquisition. However, Bioware can never just let things be. If Andromeda had just left the religious themes at this, I would have left feeling happy and unimposed on. Suvi is an unthreatening religious proponent, one who accepts a Ryder who accepts her: in my opinion, this is how the back-and-forth between people should always be. In a fictional universe dependent on science, she, too, is the perfect melding of a scientific mind who absolutely believes in the science presented, but who doesn’t allow science to lessen her belief in a higher power.
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She’s not in the business of proselytizing-she’s just chill. There are people like her in real life of course (though woefully not as common as one would hope), but in a game world she’s the type to express her beliefs and, as long as you aren’t a total dickbag to her, accept that you either believe the same as her or believe differently than her, and leave it at that.
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Suvi is what I would call an idealized religious person. Spoilers for Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age: Inquisition beneath the cut. I left my first Andromeda experience feeling like Bioware really stepped up the nuance in their conversations concerning religion and spirituality, but as the game’s plot twists ruminated in my mind, I came to the conclusion that Bioware and their stories still have a huge problem with avoiding exploring and accepting other religions outside of the Christianity “norm”. As I continued interacting with her, I was pleased to find that her character wasn’t limited to being “the religious one”, and that she found joy in the fact that she and my Ryder both had differing opinions on spirituality and the prevalence of religion-a mindset that is often sadly lacking in real life. That same worry filled me in Mass Effect: Andromeda when I began speaking with one of my crewmates, namely the science officer aboard the Tempest, Dr. As someone who isn’t very religious and who’s had very few positive interactions with religion, I always get a little bit worried when it takes a significant role in the media I consume.