The More Realistic Sex Game

With one of my favorite game series putting out a new game, I knew I needed to write about it. The Dragon Age saga has had its ups and downs with fans, but I love the game through its difficulties. One of the interesting things to me in the first game was how much companionship mattered to how the story progressed. It literally can change the ending you experience at the end of the game! As is the case with all companionship, sometimes it leads to a little romance. One of the most contested features in the Dragon Age saga has been how relationships work and making sure all relationships are represented. This includes, heterosexual, gay, lesbian, bisexual, pansexual, polysexual and asexual experiences.

In Dragon Age: Origins, fans could experience romance in many ways depending on the protagonist’s gender. There were characters that you could not romance because, just like reality, sometimes the person you are into just isn’t that into you, or they are asexual and just aren’t sexually attracted to anyone. There is a specific scene you can unlock in this game where a threesome can be unlocked depending on the character you are romancing. While this game got some kickback for its blocky sex scenes, I would say that given how many barriers the game was breaking down they did really well. Let’s all please remember that games are not movies and do not have the same abilities, nor should they be used as your softcore porn release.

Dragon Age: Awakening, the huge DLC, connected to Origins and is the only Dragon Age game that (with certain endings) allows you to keep your original hero. The world here became even more closed as it focused on one fief in the Kingdom of Ferelden. While there are companions, a key component in all Dragon Age games, no true romances happen as they do in Origins and other Dragon Age games.

Dragon Age II kept a lot of the same companion features and added that some of your companions were going to find other people. Do I wish Aveline was a romance option? 100%, but I also respect that due to the opening in Dragon Age II, Hawke was never going to be an adequate love to her. Aveline may set aside some of her morals to pursue the greater good with Hawke, but she will never align her soul to Hawke’s. With the improvement of graphics, the scenes that lead to the bedroom improved and added some dialogue that made it clear what kind of choices were being made.

Dragon Age: Inquisition opened more doors and allowed you to romance characters who were not playable companions. It opened the door to types of relationships like BDSM and made it clear that these relationships were not just at night behind closed doors but in front of all of your friends. Some of your choices in lovers had consequences of losing favor with other companions. Just like in real life, not everyone agrees with your personal choices. If your friendships are strong enough you can grow beyond that disagreement, and if your friendships aren’t strong enough, they can devolve into open hostility or abandonment.

With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare has come out as saying all characters are pansexual. Your decision on the gender of your inquisitor will not affect your ability to romance any character. In addition, once you make your intentions clear your other companions will pair off on their own. Saving the world is stressful; everyone needs an outlet. I have to say after all the progress and different kinds of flack BioWare has endured, to take this step back is almost insulting. As I identify as heterosexual, I did ask for a sensitivity reader on my concept and to go through this article after I finished. They agreed that having everyone have the same sexual identity isn’t realistic. Just like in real life, you are not going to please everyone one; sorry, you’re not coffee (and some people drink tea).

I look forward to playing this game again and again and finding so many new ways to fall in love with the Dragon Age saga. Saying that all characters being pansexual is an improvement clearly defies the reality they are trying to portray in this game. They wanted something more lifelike and allowing more protagonist choice, but sometimes, someone is going to tell you no. I do not believe that BioWare teaching people that everyone will like you and sleep with you if you just do the right quest or say the right line is going to help society moving forward. The diversity of the characters in the game are part of why I play the game, and is definitely one the saga’s strongest achievements. It makes you go back and replay the game to try a new relationship, hear new dialogue, and get the elusive “best ending”. The decision BioWare has made to make all characters pansexual does not embrace diversity but instead it erases multiple sexual identities in favor for one default. Normalizing different sexual orientation choices is a big responsibility. Putting a single label on all people, no matter what that label is, is wrong. And doing so will always be a step backwards.

I want to give a huge thank you to Meah Rey my sensitivity reader for this article. Without you this would not have been possible. Meah Rey is an author, poet, and artist. If you want to see any of Meah Rey’s work you can find her on Instagram @meahrey.