Okay I did make it through some more of the story. A couple of themes came up:
Religion and Faith ( a big theme)
Homosexuality (another theme throughout the games)
So spoilers a bit here, at one point you meet with an openly gay mage as a companion. In a side-quest you can trick him into meeting with his father whom he was estranged from for years. It mirrored a lot of common modern reactions to a child coming out. It was very humanizing and illustrated the struggle of parent trying to reconcile with an older child. Also both being stubborn about things. It definitely was better handled than in Dragon Age II. Clearly this was planned out better.
In one of the random codex things you can find scattered throughout the game one was titled "Sexuality in Thedas". This one of the few codex entries I actually read read and I was saddened to see how well it reflects a common misconception: Sexuality is Separate from Procreation. One is just a taste, for fun or preference and the other a duty. ...See this is why you get plagues and blights Thedas. Seriously...sex...makes...babies. Fact of life. And it's not terrible. Also marriage not terrible.
Sooo...now for religion stuff. There's a LOT of it in this one. This is one of the few games that lets you play as a religious character without it coming off as too pandering or negative. I've gotten to a point in the game where it was revealed how the Inquisitor got the "mark". Throughout the beginning of the game, lots of people seem to believe it was a gift from God (I hate that they call him the Maker. Blegh...so generic.) or the religious prominent prophet. But surprise, surprise, the Mark is from a happy accident. Well, not that happy. This throws some characters into a situation where they could think "Wow...I've been LYING to people saying I got this mark from Andraste."
But they have SMART religious characters. If you have Faith you can believe that God works in the world and allowed it to happen. If you don't, nothing changes. Religion and Faith are themes I feel are handled well in this series. They do a good job humanizing characters even "religious" ones.
The main "church" of the world isn't the only one on the chopping block either. My main play through is with an Elf character who comes from a background that has a completely different belief system. (Which was uncomfortable for her to be called chosen by the main religion's prophet.) But there was a big twist (which I won't reveal) about one of the Elven gods.
Reforming the main Church was also a big thing. The player gets to "choose" or "influence the clerics" on who to choose for the next Divine. This particular Church comes off as a bit more political than spiritual but that would make the game less fun not to choose the next leader of the main faith of the world. (Although personally, I'd probably be part of the Black Chantry that's lead by a male Divine...just sayin'.)
The role of this Chantry is also pretty well...earth centric. It has the common criticism of building elaborate cathedrals and dresses instead of feeding the poor. Huh...where have I heard this criticism before? Sounds so familiar! -__-
Anyway, I'm very, very close to finishing my first play through of the game. :D
