So with the Game Informer coverage and the Gamescon information; I have been thoroughly psyched for the upcoming DA:I. Playable races making a comeback, ride-able horses, and more tactical combat; everything is looking awesome.
I am going to be upfront here; I would like the possibility of Awakened Darkspawn allies; they don't have to be a companion, just an ally or 'Agent'. Morrigan and the OGB have a potential appearance in the story, and the whole Mage vs Templar conflict is looking to wrap things up, I don't see why the Awakened can't make an appearance as well.
Yes I know, the Taint, but we have several examples of that being reduced or even negated in the lore. Things from magical items that offered protection, to the Architect's training of the Disciples; there is really no reason why an Awakened Darkspawn (at least technically) can't be an ally without killing everyone.
My only request is that DA:I doesn't 'Pull a Geth' to give me Darkspawn allies. I don't want to see the Darkspawn portrayed as poor misunderstood monsters, or the Darkspawn wanting to be more 'human' being used as in-game justification for why we can have friendly Darkspawn.
The Qunari wouldn't have to be show as giving up the teaching of the Qun to be seen as potential allies. Dwarves don't have to give up their brutal caste system in order to be on friendly terms with the player. They each have their own distinct presence in the setting and none of that has to be discarded so we can have Dwarves or Qunari as allies.
Maybe the Awakened are working with the Inquisitor out of concern for their own safety, maybe they are looking to strengthen their holdings in certain sections of the Deep Roads by trading with Inquisition. All I'm saying, is that Darkspawn can be allies without the story having to make apologies for their predicament.
Update #1
So going by the trailer shown at E3 I am seeing several possiblities involving the Darkspawn.
1. Morrigan mentions the alliances crumbling to ash (or something along those lines) which to me, would seem to imply that as an Inquisitor, the standard factions that one would turn to are no longer stable, and therefore a more radical approch to combat the growing chaos will be needed. Awakened Darkspawn as allies could be such a choice.
Now, obviously (I would imagine) the Inquisitor can go to the other factions like the Grey Wardens, or the Elves, or Dwarves, ect. but I can see the possiblity of working with intelligent Darkspawn agents being a valid option in a world at war. I would like to see such a choice not be portrayed as good or evil in the sense that deciding to recruit an Awakended tribe is the "Renegade" thing to do, while going with the Grey Wardens is the "Paragon" choice for example; in fact I would love to see an Inquisitor (with a completionist playthrough, and maybe some import saves) be capable of acquiring both factions.
This does not mean that I want to see my Inquisitor yell at the Grey Wardens and Darkspawn and tell them how stupid they are and that they need to work together, and it does not mean that I would want to see the Darkspawn cast in a "poor misunderstood monsters" role that the Geth had in ME 3. Rather, I would like to see an Inquisitor investigate the actions of the Grey Wardens, alluded to in DA 2, and use that to convince both sides to help.
2. The torn Veil and subsequent invasion by demons being a reason to unite the factions of Thedas (like a larger scale DA:O or ME 3). Now some people abhor such a plot, but I actually enjoyed it in both DA:O and ME 3; don't get me wrong I love the political intrigue as well, but nothing is as satisfying to me as getting a myriad of (in this case) warring factions to put aside their conflicts (if at least temporarily) and come together to deal with the larger threat. With that being said, I would prefer it if the Darkspawn are not treated the same way the Geth were in ME 3. The PC having to resolve the Geth/Quarian dispute and make them BFFs, coupled with the overall (IMO) whitewashing of the Geth is not how I would like to see how the potential for Darkspawn allies to be treated in DA:I.
Maybe, in certain playthroughs, the other factions can gain a begrudging respect for the Awakened, while in others only the looming threat of demonic invasion is keeping the alliance from falling apart; none of the "We used to be enemies, but now, thanks to the Inquisitor we're the best of friends. Awakened chum, come! Marry my daughter!" That the Geth and Quarians had (because of Shepard Quarians are now completly fine with Geth entering their suits or intermingling with their fleets). I would like to see a possible alliance, but not if it comes with the cost of 'humanizing' the Darkspawn, and the Inquisitor putting an end to Darkspawn discrimination everywhere.
Really, having Darkspawn as allies would help against demons, if for nothing else, their use of magic is powered by the Taint, not the Fade, and Darkspawn are (for the most part) outside the notice of demons.
Original post:
I am a big fan of the DA setting in general and the Darkspawn in particular, and while I prefer the DA:O/DA:A designs over DA 2 I still enjoy the character/race. I also loved the new side of the Darkspawn we were shown in Awakening, the idea that intelligent Darkspawn were posible was both interesting and terrifying at the same time.
My Warden spared the Architect, but only because of the potential allies the awakened Disiples could make (I found his 'grand plan' in DA: The Calling abhorant and I still think there was something he was not telling us). The one Darkspawn that approaches you outside of Amaranthie (sp?) instantly drew parallels to Legion in ME 2, and that was awesome; Legion being my favorite squadmate/character.
But, after playing ME 3 I would ask that the DA team (in the event they give us a Darkspawn party member, or allow us to recruit the Darkspawn as allies) NOT go the same route as ME did with the Geth. This is not about the ending, but how the Geth were shown to be:
1. Innocent victims in the war of Protagonist and his/her allies' aggression.
I don't think that I would really have to worry about this happening, but the fact that the Geth were shown to be 'in the right' annoyed me, and I am a Geth/Legion fan. I enjoyed the interaction that Tali and Legion had (as spokesmen for ther respective races), the clashes of ideology, and the obvious animosity between the two was potent, and I could easily see both sides of the debate. ME 3 destroyed that however, the Geth are white washed and Quarians are painted as the cruel taskmasters that were killing the peaceful robots, that they were stupid and rightfully lost their planet. No mention of the 99% casualty rate, or the fact that the Geth never made any attempts to communicate with the Quarians and killed anyone entering the Perseus Veil.
What does this have to do with the Darkspawn (and I would imagine the same argument could be made about the mages)? I don't want to see a retroactive shift of the characters/race of the Darkspawn being thrown into a light that casts them as a poor misunderstood villian, a tragic figure brought on by characters that were (for the past two games) the protagonists allies and friends.
But like I said, I probably don't have to worry about this one too much, DA:A did a very good job of casting a nice shade of morally grey descisions around the awakened Darkspawn and the Architect.
2. A complete 180 of the characters' personalities, beliefs and motives.
Legion suddenly pushing for using Reaper tech, the Geth allying with the Reapers (brought on by the 'evil' Quarians), these are things that bugged me about the Rannoch arc in ME 3. It almost seems like the Legion of ME 2 & 3 are completely different characters, in ME 2 he would never have pushed for using the old machines gifts. "Accepting another's path blinds you to alternatives." but in ME 3 that is exactly what he wants.
The Darkspawn are pretty safe insomuch as they haven't really stated an idelolgy, but any 'out of the blue shift' in their character would be a mistake.
3. Hominization of the character/race.
The biggest thing that irked me about the ME 3 Geth, was that at the end of their arc, they really only wanted to be just like organics, to be human. The Pinoccio "I want to be a real boy!" troupe is getting old (IMO). It comes across as implied racism/speciesism in that a character/race is not 'correct' in thier existence, and must strive to be like the 'better' race to achieve true happiness and fufulment.
Why is it that (in recent Sci Fi settings) that robots apparently are all organic wannabes with daddy issues? I prefer the 'pure' robots, things like: the Terminators, the (Pre-Wared) Necrons, even Bioware's own HK-47 existed happily never striving to be just like humanity. The Geth were truly unique with their networked intelligence, but in the end that is scrapped for individual beings that interact like we do.
I don't want to see this happen to the Darkspawn, the traits that make them unique are what makes them interesting to me. I love, for example, how the Darkspawn are essentially a corruption and twisting of life, and I love how the awakened Darkspawn exist in a damned state in the eyes of the rest if Thedas. I don't want to see that removed for the sake of making the Darkspawn more relatable, or more human; it is the fact that they aren't human that drew me to them in the first place!
Thats how I feel about the Darkspawn, I love Bioware's handling of them (minus the DA 2 redesign) and I would love to see more in the future, to delve further into their character, to maybe have a Darkspawn companion, or even to play as one in MP. But I don't want to see what I loved about them destroyed in the process.
Edit for for formating.
Modifié par Vortex13, 21 août 2013 - 10:21 .
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