how are varied cultures and histories relevant to a fantasy setting, on a different planet, with different religions, sapient species, and political orders?
Because Dragon Ages borrows from real world religions, nationalities, and species.
For a different planet, it looks a lot like earth. For a different religion, the Chantry looks a lot like Catholicism. For different species, the intelligent races we have look a lot like human, small and slender human, even smaller human, and big human with horns.
If BioWare's goal was to make a fantasy world that didn't look like a pseudo-historic variation on pre-modern Europe, I have bad news for them.
Couldn't they come up with at least one that won't start melting in sunlight?
Maybe Elsa from Frozen will make an appearance and give elven PCs a permanent snowy cloud over their head.