Dragon Age: Guardian of the Veil it doesn’t offer as wide a range of choices at the end of each chapter as its predecessors, but it does take its time allowing the player to figure out what they think of their Tower. Does your tower believe in the Creator, the equivalent of God in Dragon Age? What is your Rook’s favorite coffee, or does he like tea more? One path that surprised me is that you can set your tower as trans and/or non-binary, and the dialogue options associated with this are scattered throughout the game in unexpected places.
At the beginning of the game, Rook is unpacking his room at the Lighthouse and wondering about four things: an item related to their heritage; tools of the trade for your class as a rogue, mage, or warrior; token from their background faction; and a hand-held mirror. The hand mirror allows Rook to reflect on his identity as a hero. This includes additional trees for scars, tattoos, and trans/non-binary identity. (For example, a Dalish rook might take the opportunity to comment on the pride he feels in his Vallaslin facial tattoos.)
The wording of these options can be a bit confusing. If I select the option related to being transgender while looking in Varric’s mirror, a message appears: “Establishes transgender identity and unlocks new dialogue options in future conversations.” I didn’t select these options so I thought I might be blocked from all future affiliates. This is not true; even if you don’t identify as trans when you look in the mirror, you can still choose trans and non-binary dialogue options later in the game.
I must admit I was skeptical when I first saw this branch. I’ve had the opportunity to establish trans identity when creating characters in other RPGs, such as: Saints Row 2 Or Cyberpunk 2077but I haven’t seen a major RPG where this would matter during conversations. Trans representation in RPGs can be hit or miss; done well, it rounds out the world and adds depth to the supporting cast. When it’s done wrong, it’s clunky or maybe a little flinching. Guardian of the Veil is a game about fighting gods and saving the world. When would the party even have time to raise issues of internal identity?
As it turns out, Guardian of the Veilthe authors did a great job setting the stage for these conversation options. The first few hours of the game are a sprint as Rook gathers a group of adventurers, faces the gods, and fights his way through hordes of Darkspawn and Venatori. Once the entire party is together, the narrative slows down and each member of the party realizes that they all have to face their own internal struggles. This is where Guardian of the Veil shines – I don’t really care about the elven gods, but I love my team and I’m glad I get to spend more time with them.
It’s in moments of low stakes, when I feel sorry for Antivan Crow Lucanis due to the stress of growing up as the heir to an assassin empire or flirting with Gray Warden Davrin, that I have the opportunity for Rook to mention their non-binary or trans identity. These options are perhaps most useful in the case of Taash, a Qunari struggling with his gender identity and relationships with both Qun and Rivain.
Photo: BioWare/Electronic Arts via Polygon
Qun, like some theocratic societies in the real world, does not bother binary transgender people; their identity is recognized and, according to the Qun, they are assigned a gender-appropriate role. However, non-binary people are not recognized. This put Taash in a hard position, which I obviously sympathized with as a non-binary gamer. Once again, that special conversation tree opened up – and I was surprised to discover that it led to a touching conversation, organic, clearly written with empathy, true to my experience, and natural to Dragon Age fiction.
Ultimately, these options do not change significantly Guardian of the Veil. But this is a game where the journey is as crucial as the destination, if not more so. A huge part of the game is spending time with your friends, helping them solve problems and strengthening those bonds. This has always been a gigantic pillar of the Dragon Age series. Guardian of the Veil it just goes a step further and delves into a particular wrinkle of representation. I’m glad this experiment worked, and I’d love to see this care in future RPGs.
