DA2 demonstrates both high quality and low quality writing with it's characters, a contrast I will now show between Merril and Isabela.
But first, I would like to say that both characters have excellent voice actors, Eve Myles and Victoria Kruger have done excellent jobs with the scripts they were given.
Now here is a list of character traits I have observed from the two characters:
Merril:
- Naivity
- Shy
- Confident in battle
- Innocently oblivious to some parts of life
- Able to be humurous confidently in battle and almost wryly ( in a kind of innocent way) in non-combat banter.
- Knowledgable in her field
- Her design is both fragile, representative of her immediate personality but also dexterous and suited to her class.
- Has her own motivations, does her own thing, despite her initial impressions.
Isabela:
- Confident (in battle and in non-combat)
- Hedonist (likes sex and drinking)
- Dialogue, including jokes are centered around her hedonistic character (sex and drinking).
- Her design is focused entirely on her sexuality, revealing clothes, impractical armor, etc.
Summary:
Where Merril has layers of personality that appear dynamically depending on the situation (she is not shy in battle, for instance). Isabela has one single layer of personality, to which everything revolves around - her sexuality/hedonism.
Merril comes accross as a dynamic character with various personality traits that are not necessarily confined to a stereotype.
Isabela seems to have the opposite treatment, where all her personality/physical traits revolve around a sole confident, hedonistic stereotype. She is given the illusion of "depth" because she is a woman, and the fact that women are rarely given "confident" roles does not actually hide the fact her layers of personality really only amount to one trait. This is where a character moves towards "charicature" - a major faux pas in writing.
If Isabela's character, say, did not dress to fit exactly her stereotype - thus allowing her quirks to arise naturally as the player got to know her, this would help to remove some of the steps she makes towards being a "charicature".
If you are going to have a sex obsessed hedonist, don't dress them so obviously to the point where all subtext is lost.
Conclusion / TL:DR :
Isabela has no subtext because her personality is already immediately apparent and it never really develops as a result. She never subverts player expectations of her stereotype since her first meeting. Don't get me wrong, I like Isabela, but I do not believe her, at least, not yet. (Still playing)
Merril, however continually manages to allow surprising personality traits to be drip fed to the player throughout the game, layering her character and giving her depth. The first time I realized Merril wasn't being naive (my initial impression of her) but was actually joking is one of those moments of true depth.
I hope this helps the writers understand how the characters in DA3 could be greatly improved.
Peace <3
EDIT: Apparently I am going to be able explore Isabela's stereotype as I play and apparently she is not stereotypical as she develops, so that is actually welcome news, I'll keep her in my party
Merill is still undoubtedly the best written character for me so far given how varied she is!
Modifié par StElmo, 17 septembre 2012 - 09:24 .
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<_<
