Something I have noticed whenever people discuss Dragon Age 2, is the true prospective of the game.
When people talk about the characters, such as Fenris, Anders, even Merrill. They tend take everything in the game as fact:
Fenris is broody mcbroody pants
Merrill is lost and neive
Anders is only cares about the Mages.
But people never seem to consider one important thing:
Varric Tethras.
Aside from the scenes with Cassandra, the entire game is Varric's Story. Which means that the characters we grew to know, love and murder knife. Is 100% Varric's peresption of them.
A good example of this is Merrill.
She appears in Dragon Age Origins, we meet Merrill is the Dalish Origin.
She's only there for like 5 minutes. But the Merrill we meet is serious, doesn't go against the Keeper, and trusts her word.
In DA2, she's awkward, optimistic, defiant of her Keeper, a blood Mage, and a lost soul almost everyone treats with kid gloves.
Is this how Varric saw her?
This question is something I think more people need to consider.
Was Fenris really that nasty to Merrill?
Did Aveline and Isabela really fight that often?
Was Anders really that manipulative?
This also makes me question scenes we players witnessed that Varric was clearly never a part of.
Did Hawke really tell Varric that Fenris threw a bottle of wine at the wall? Or about how their mother blamed them for Bethany/Carver's death?
There is nothing to suggest that those conversations didn't happen But we know that Varric is prone to exaggeration. Especially if it tells a good story.
So, it makes sense that the characters in DA2, are exaggerated versions, of people Varric knew. How he saw them.
It also applies to the romance scenes. How did Varric know that Fenris pushed Hawke against the wall? All the knives Isabela hides? I don't think Varric was watching two friends of his hooking up. ( that would be creepy) but I do believe he made up those details.
Why? Well, every scene ends with a fade to black. A pan to a flickering torchlight or candle. Which is a common writing trope. Also, as much as I love the writing in Dragon Age 2.... the romance lines come across as melodramatic.
Like a stereotypical romance novel.
Again, we know form DAI, that Romance is a genre that Varric struggles with when it comes to writing. So it makes sense that the Romances come off that way.
My point is I feel like people should keep this in mind when talking about DA2.
