Dragon Age: Absolution - a review

In an earlier review of mine, I stated that Arcane, the animated show based on League of Legends is the best video game adaptation to this day. What's more, it's one of the best shows, animated or otherwise, that aired in the last couple of years. Netflix really outdid itself with this one.

So when I first heard that Netflix set out to make an animated Dragon Age show, I was very excited. A lot of people are a little wary when it comes to animated cinema. The stigma that says animation is for kids is real and still out there, though not as strong as it once was. Still, we've got a long way to go. But I think the style of the animation can actually add extra value to a show or movie, as it definitely did in the case of Arcane. Adult animation is a thing, and it becomes more and more popular by the day. Just think about Undone, Lower Deck or BoJack Horseman: amazing pieces that probably wouldn't work as live-action, due to the unique and spectacular visuals they have. Or even if they would, the production value would be so high that the shows couldn't possibly be making enough money and would inevitably get cancelled.

So watch animation, everyone, it's awesome. Back to DA.

Though Dragon Age is an older title, one of the big names of yore, I was only introduced to it some two years ago, through a friend. If you don't know how to imagine it, think of Mass Effect in a fantasy world. And if you've never played Mass Effect, either, then why are you wasting time reading this? Go and play it.

I played Dragon Age: Origins with all the expansions and special mods and everything, and it was awesome, and then I did not play any of the others, because they were definitely not awesome at all. A new one is in development now, promising to go back to the bases, but after Inquisition, I don't have high hopes. We'll see.

Either way, Dragon Age: Origins is one of those titles that are just screaming for an adaptation. Memorable characters, epic stories, hard decisions and three-dimensional heroes, who aren't black and white, good or evil. The first game has everything a good movie or TV series needs, it's a home run, you can't do wrong with it. Right?

So I watched the trailer of the new show a while back, and it had me worried, as I just didn't see that amazing potential realised, but then I thought, it's only a trailer, they probably saved the good stuff for the actual show. Right? Right?

Well... Wrong.

Okay, with all fairness, Dragon Age: Absolution is not a bad show. It was rushed and made little sense, sure. It needed at least two more episodes to actually let us know the characters and maybe even have some development of them through the season, yes. It needed a main character who wasn't perfectly boring, and a team of interesting support characters as well. Most of all, it needed a really good bad guy. What we got was the embodiment of white male privilege, which is a good start, but sadly our baddie stopped there. He did not have any redeeming qualities or positive personality threats or understandable goals, nothing that would have made him even just slightly relatable, thus making his fall a tragedy. No, he was just a prick who deserved what he got, end of story. He fulfilled his role as antagonist, but as far as bad guys go, he was a really boring and forgettable one. Fitting for the boring and forgettable main character, actually.

If this would be just any random fantasy story, I'd give it 5 out of 10 because of the decent visuals and creative fight scenes. But here comes the trouble: this is not just some random fantasy world. This is supposed to be Dragon Age. Yet, they made an adaptation without the most well-known characters, only mentioning the most important story element from the first game once or twice as a throwaway joke, and what's worse, with barely any dragons in it.

Watch it if you can't help yourself and just desperately need new DA content, but if you want to watch something actually good with adventurers and thieves and dragons, I'd recommend Vox Machina instead.