One of the best parts about certain RPG franchises is that they offer players numerous options for what they want their protagonist to be. In some games, you have one class, and you have just that choice. But in other franchises, including many made by Bioware, they encourage you to try out different styles of play so that you can find out what one you like the most. In the Dragon Age franchise, there have been many attempts to broaden what the player can be. However, in the upcoming action RPG take on the series, you won’t be able to become a Blood Mage.
That has confused players, as the class was in multiple games in the franchise before it “went away,” and according to lead writer Trick Weekes, the reason for it has to do with the kind of “being” that a Blood Mage is. Specifically, they’re the ones who happen to do a lot of “nasty” acts, and the Bioware team feels that this isn’t the kind of thing that a “hero character” should be able to do on their quest:
He specifically noted at one point:
“I think it can be ethically neutral if you only use your own blood, but after seeing it used as a required part of mind control and demon binding in [Dragon Age 2] and [Inquisition], it’s just not a road we want the hero to walk right now.”
When you think about it from a pure sense, you can see why they shy away from it. However, Bioware games in the past have had the protagonist “walk the line” to see how the players would react to key situations and whether they would listen to their “better angels” or allow darkness to consume them. For example, in one game of theirs, Commander Shephard had the ability to let an enemy merc go because they surrendered or kick them out of a window. So, to take away an option that would showcase a character’s “mortality” is kind of a divergence from what Bioware has done in the past.
Then again, its upcoming title, The Veilguard, aims to be different from other entries in the franchise, for better and for worse. Many people are unsure of how it will play, especially since it won’t be a true follow-up to the previous entry, which was a Game of the Year winner!
Things could still surprise people, but for now, the hero won’t get bloody via magic.
