Here’s a thing you might not know – Mass Effect and Dragon Age are actually made by the same studio. Little known RPG makers BioWare, who later went on to find fame with the world renowned Anthem, were behind both the hidden gem of a space opera and the cult classic fantasy saga.
I kid, of course. Mass Effect is one of the most beloved games of all time, and while Dragon Age doesn’t get quite so much adoration, it’s still an incredibly popular and influential series – in fact, we spoke to several devs earlier this week who had been directly inspired by it. Both Mass Effect and Dragon Age are incredibly similar, and avoiding comparison seems impossible – this is especially true for Fenris.
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We’ve spoken to five Dragon Age voice actors this week – three of them also have roles in Mass Effect. In interviews with developers, both of Dragon Age and those inspired by Dragon Age, comparisons to Mass Effect have appeared organically. Prior to Dragon Age week, when we were just writing about BioWare games without the comfort of a themed week to get us out of bed each morning, we’ve compared them ourselves several times. Our own Cian Maher, a Chad BioWare Enjoyer, reckons Mass Effect 2’s suicide mission is just Dragon Age in space, and that Mass Effect has better characters, but doesn’t quite use them as well as Dragon Age does. He’s also argued that Mass Effect should let you play as the squadmates in battle, as Dragon Age does with companions.
Be warned though, he also reckons Dragon Age: Origins in BioWare’s best game, so you can’t trust everything he says.
But enough about Mr. Maher, this is about me. Or more specifically, it’s about Fenris, but it’s me writing about Fenris. All that stuff about comparing Mass Effect and Dragon Age is important, because Fenris has always felt like he was a Mass Effect character trapped in a Dragon Age game.
Mass Effect and Dragon Age are two sides of the same coin, but it might be best to think of Mass Effect as heads and Dragon Age as tales. Eagle eyed readers will notice that I very cleverly misspelled ‘tales’ there, and that’s all in service of this upcoming excellent metaphor. Mass Effect is about people (people with heads), and Dragon Age is about stories (stories with tales). Yes, the people in Mass Effect have stories to tell, and the Dragon Age stories are about people, but there are distinct differences.
Alistair is a royal bastard with a prophecy coursing through his Grey Warden veins. Morrigan, born of Flemeth, is a key thread in the fabric of Thedas’ destiny. Solas, big egg that he is, is an old elven god in disguise, who is both aiding your quest and hindering it in equal measure. Anders blows up the Chantry, setting the world on a collision course for disaster. Dog is… well, Dog’s just a dog, but for most people, you see what I mean. Their tales are big and epic and swooping. I’m not saying swooping is bad, but they are very different to the more intimate stories you see in Mass Effect.
Mass Effect has huge stories too, but we learn about them in different ways. For example, the genophage is one of the most harrowing and complex depictions of medically induced genocide in fiction – but we explore it with Grunt, a lil baba who just wants to fight a worm. We have Wrex too, of course, but as soon as he gets serious about stopping the genophage he leaves our side. All the characters in Mass Effect 2 need you to gain their loyalty, but half of them boil down to ‘fix my daddy issues’. Thane meanwhile is the daddy issue, Kasumi wants to pull off a heist, while Garrus and Zaeed want – for very different reasons – straightforward revenge. Even Samara, a justicar with a rich history of labyrinthian moral grey zones, just wants you to stop her daughter from murdering people.
There are a few exceptions. Tali’s daddy issues mission is not only the best mission in gaming history, it’s also much bigger than herself. Tali’s opposite number, Legion, also has a mission bigger than its personal desires. Mordin meanwhile offers a tighter, yet wider, view on the genophage. But for the most part, Mass Effect stories are heads. Dragon Age’s are tales. Yet Fenris, very driven by a singular quest for revenge, retribution, and redemption, gives us a Mass Effect loyalty mission disguised as a Dragon Age side quest.
Fenris is a former slave, and he wants to hurt the people who made him a slave, so they stop forcing other people to be slaves. It’s pretty reasonable, but it’s also very much a ‘head’ story rather than a ‘tale’. It has no major impact on Kirkwall or Thedas, and the framework is very similar to Garrus’ loyalty mission.
Also, while both games have a sense of humour to them, Dragon Age commits to the bit a little more, and is prepared to be silly, while Mass Effect tends to chuck out a quip here and there. Dragon Age, with the likes of Varric, Zevran, Isabela, Sera, and Dorian in its ranks, is constantly peppering you with gags. Fenris, much drier – apart from when Isabela oils him up – and more cuttingly sarcastic, belongs in outer space. He’s a Mass Effect boy through and through.
I wouldn’t want to lose him from Dragon Age, especially as he’s part of Dragon Age 2, the best game in the series. But he has always felt like a Mass Effect character that has stumbled across the BioWare lot and ended up in the wrong game, and now he’s too embarrassed to say anything.
Next: How Dragon Age Inspired The Games Industry's Next Generation
