In my opinion, Dragon Age has a cliched and interchangeable fantasy world. I know that's a harsh statement - especially from someone who's been beforehasn't played a single Dragon Age. But before a bloodthirsty horde of dark breeds storm into the comments and pound on the keys, I'll soften my statement slightly:
For me, Dragon Age would have a cliched and interchangeable fantasy world,if the Qunari weren't there.
The horned... no, the horny... oh, the figures with horns on their skulls are a pleasant change from the same old dwarves in their mountains and the once oh-so-powerful elves who now live in seclusion on the fringes of society. The Lord of the Rings, Witcher and almost every other fantasy setting make use of these clichés.
Qunari, on the other hand, only exist in Dragon Age; their culture around the Qun is unique. So I didn't have to think for long when choosing the origin of my character in the character editor. The Qunari Turvi Mercar was born - and with it my biggest pet peeve in The Veilguard.The result of my figure was not at all what I imagined.
No textbook Qunari
Blinded by the variety of choices in Baldur's Gate 3, I already knew exactly what kind of Qunari I wanted to be: tough as steel and taciturn. But it turns out Rook is as soft as reheated jelly and just can't keep his mouth shut.
The character often converses with the companions outside of the dialogue selection, but I have no influence on that. And I swear to the creator, the developers definitely didn't imagine Rook the way I did. My Qunari shouldn't make three puns in a row when he sees a hand statue.
But the dialog options are also therestrict
Answers are far too friendly for my liking - only in a few situations can I really hit the spot. Special opportunities for discussion based on my race are extremely rare; the elected faction has significantly more influence. Potential was wasted.
I still have to take my whining to the extremethe movements of my characteraddress. When Rook stands on the edge of a precipice and almost falls off, he shakes his arms silly to keep his balance. Imagine if Iron Bull from Dragon Age: Inquisition did the same thing. Completely absurd, right?
On the edge of a slope, Rook tries to keep his balance with excessive arm movements. Iron Bull certainly wouldn't prance around like that.Where is the racism?
Qunari are a highly misunderstood people - this is even stated in the codex entry in The Veilguard:
The Qun people are perhaps the least understood group in all of Thedas. [...] Nature has endowed them with dangerous-looking horns and strange eyes, which is why the ignorant see nothing but monsters when they see them.
Sounds like I'm having a hard time making friends in Thedas as a Qunari. Ultimately, my fellow human beings don't give a shit and treat me like everyone else. Where is the distrust and anger towards my people?Why am I not a monster to anyone?
Even in Inquisition, Qunari were still monsters in the eyes of many NPCs - here the resentment was clearly noticeable, which in turn even had an influence on the gameplay, for example in Halamshiral. I hoped in vain for something like this in The Veilguard.
I had a brief glimmer of hope in Treviso, Lucanis' hometown- warlike Qunari who have broken away from the Qun. At the beginning I'm even warned by the crows of Antiva that I won't be particularly popular as a Qunari because of this.
Puppy cake. Nobody cares about who Rook is and what he has on his mind. In the real world, such a universal, cosmopolitan attitude towards different peoples would of course be fantastic. But in a fictional story you need drama and conflict to captivate me. And a Qunari character just doesn't offer what I was looking for.
Who cares about Qun?
The entire Qunari culture is built around the Qun - a philosophy and social order that must be strictly adhered to. It determines life decisions immensely, for example Qunari must remain loyal to their profession throughout their lives and practice it to perfection.
Whether my Rook follows the Qun or not doesn't matter.The Qun gets the biggest mention in Taash's companion missions and the conflict with Taash's mother. But even then, my Qunarian origins hardly give me any advantages in conversations. There would have been more!
Colorful face paint
As if that wasn't all, a colorful surprise came my way: Qunari can't wear helmets! Instead, they slap paint - called vitaar - on their faces. This was already the case in Inquisition, but as a Dragon Age newcomer I didn't know that.
Why are the Antaam allowed to wear helmets... and my Rook just has some color on his face?But in my opinion it makes no sense at all: Why not just cut two holes in the helmets and the problem would be solved! It would make the headpiece look even cooler thanks to the horns sticking out.
It also doesn't seem to be a cultural problem in that it represents weakness, fear or anything like that.The Antaam, the Qunari warriors, all wear helmets!So why not my Rook too, Bioware? How come?!
It's not like I'm being offered something new instead of helmets: If I want a little more color in my face, I can simply set that in the character editor - regardless of which race I belong to.
Yes, the Vitaar is just the rotten cherry on the bland tasting cake. It's just frustrating, the Qunari cake looked delicious to me at first! I just have to remind myself that aside from that, The Veilguard also offers a whole buffet of fantastic treats to focus on as the game progresses.
The Qunari cake comes up every now and then, but I have to swallow it quickly. And now I'm going to go eat something, all the dessert metaphors have made me hungry.
