Be warned: this piece contains spoilers for Dragon Age 2.
It’s made me think.
Then I hit on it.
BioWare’sDragon Age 2actually ponders the family one is born into, and the complex dynamics within that family.
It’s a huge part of the game.
And it does this in ways that I haven’t seen before when playing games.
In the fight, one of your siblings is killed.
You manage to get the rest of your family to relative safety, a city named Kirkwall.
It’s a city where your mother has an inheritance and a respected family name.
When you first meet Gamlen, everything about him exudes sleaziness.
When you confront him about this, he actually sounds triumphant rather than regretful.
BioWare never shies away from the complexity and contradictions of family dynamics, however.
In the latter part of the game, when Leandra is kidnapped, you see another side to Gamlen.
He’s clearly worried, despite the issues between them.
After she dies, Gamlen is devastated, and he’s actually supportive towards you.
It all adds up to a nuanced portrait, and a nuanced relationship.
In the end, Gamlen’s curiously memorable to me because he feels so real.
Sometimes he even combines them when the writing requires it.
If you tell Carver to stay he will of course bristle, but Leandra will relax.
I chose to order him to stay, mainly for Leandra’s sake.
It gives us the love between son and mother, with Hawke and Leandra.
(Even little elements feel realistic here, like when Leandra wonders about getting Hawke married.)
It gives us the troubled but still caring dynamic between siblings, with Hawke and Carver.
