This year has been a stellar year for Netflix in terms of animation, and even more so when we talk about video game adaptations. We already have a few for all tastes, from the histrionic ‘The Cuphead series!’ to the heartbreaking ‘Cyberpunk: Edgerunners’, and more are coming our way in the future.
But if what we like is fantasy, just on time to close the year ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’ has arrived , a six-episode series that brings Bioware ‘s video game saga to life.
Welcome to Thedas
The story opens with Miriam, an elf mercenary who is hired by agents of the Inquisition to steal a powerful artifact from the palace of the most powerful man in Tevinter. Miriam will not only have to make sure that her comrades succeed in the heist, but she will also have to face her traumatic past.
If you’ve enjoyed other fantasy adventures like ‘The Legend of Vox Machina’, ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’ is very similar in tone, with a disparate and anything but refined group of mercenaries throwing themselves into a job that it is too big.
Let’s not expect this original ‘Dragon Age’ adventure to shake up the entire gaming universe either. It is a simple and correct story, with somewhat archetypal characters but hey, you like them and they work perfectly with each other. And the warning also goes, if it seems free to you that there are openly LGTBI+ characters in fantasy stories, maybe ‘Dragon Age’ is not directly your franchise and the animated series also makes it very clear.
Now, while other series based on videogames like ‘League of Legends: Arcane’ or ‘Tekken: Bloodline’ introduce you to their worlds and lore in a natural and organic way… ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’ doesn’t bother too much on this front.
But you will need a travel guide
For fans of the games and those who know the world of Thedas, the series is a delight full of references and wraps us perfectly in all its aesthetics and that fits easily into the game canon. But he doesn’t stop to explain what Tevinter is, who the Inquisition is, or why blood magic is a forbidden practice. It just drops names and events at you and you have to accept them as they come.
So for those coming from scratch, ‘ Dragon Age: Absolution’ may not exactly be an accessible series to start the Bioware franchise.
And yet, it has a cast of charismatic characters who work well within their roles, and a story that starts with a good hook to keep you hooked. Red Dog Culture House has behaved remarkably well with animation, with a style halfway between anime and cartoon , very similar to the one used at the time for ‘The Witcher: The Wolf’s Nightmare’ and that doesn’t suit anyone. ‘Dragon Age’.
For game fans, it’s a treat to see the world of ‘Dragon Age’ finally jump out of video games with a good adaptation that allows us to explore other stories beyond the main plot. Unfortunately, the first six episodes of ‘Dragon Age: Absolution’ taste little and it doesn’t give time for its extensive cast to show off at all.
In addition, we must warn that they leave us with a tremendous cliffhanger and an unexpected surprise regarding the games. So now what we have to do is wait eagerly for the next part of the series to arrive on Netflix.
