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justshepardthings · 6 days ago

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eager to hear ur just rook thots, im considering a ME replay through just because i rediscovered u

I'm sorry to report that I did not have fun with Veilguard! I was holding off giving thoughts because I wanted people to have a chance to play the game and form their own opinions. I also knew the chuds would crawl out from their cockroach-infested nests to complain about WOKE and I didn't want to be lumped in with that. You hate the game because it's gay. I hate the game because it's not gay enough. We are not the same.

It's been out for a while now though so I will share.

Also regardless of how I felt about this game, the way EA and Bioware are treating their now-former employees is so shitty.

Alright enough disclaimers now I yap.

This game reminded me of Andromeda, but somehow worse. I could just end this here but I'll elaborate. I could group my main complaints into a list, which I will do so.

1. The tone

Yeah, I know. Everyone's complained about this. But so will I! Both the character dialogue and the overall story writing felt very unserious and lighthearted YA fantasy novel. Yes this is in contrast with the previous games which I bring up because while this game SHOULD stand on its own merits, it's also part of a franchise and with that players bring certain expectations. I think it's fair to go into Veilguard expecting it to at minimum take itself seriously if not fully be at the same level of dark as Origins got to. Veilguard is definitely not, and while I do enjoy more lighthearted games there's a time and place.

I'm also not going to harp on this too much but I would lump the constant need to sanitize DA's lore into this category as well. We know from previous games that this world isn't perfect, but there's definitely an effort in here to make Tevinter into just a backdrop and not, you know, a civilization built on slavery and oppression. And then the casual references in the game to like "oh yeah by the way, all of those places in the previous games have been desecrated and millions of lives lost" but with no emotional weight behind it.

I remember when Inquisition came out even though I enjoyed it a lot I thought Corypheous was an uninteresting villain. Now he feels so incredibly defined compared to the villains in this game. Corypheous had a very real threat behind him. The attack on Haven is just one quick example of how weighty he feels. It feels like there IS an actual threat in that game that you are fighting against. In this game despite the unprecedented destruction and death we never really SEE it firsthand, and the characters run around joking and laughing so much it feels even less real.

Also I will say it: I'm a pervert. I'm an adult. These games are for adults. Allegedly. Can I please get a romance scene that is not fade to black. I beg.

I can't touch on the Varrick plot twist. It actually makes me start snarling involuntarily. I can feel my face doing it right now.

2. The gameplay is fun but the world design is weird

I did enjoy the more fluid gameplay style and being able to flip around. However, it also took me out of the game constantly because the world design doesn't make sense in several places. I can tell they reused assets from the Jedi Survivor games and when you do that for a setting where it's basically just a wild forest or a big series of ruins - works great! When it's a city though, I start thinking about how annoying it would be to live here. I'm just trying to get to town to buy some eggs and I have to do parkour. This just goes back to the silly tone thing.

3. Idk if I'm supposed to treat this as a sequel or not

To be fair, I don't think the game knows either. Going into this game, I knew that Bioware had said they were giving everyone the same world state and that choices wouldn't really be carrying over. I won't say how I felt about that, but with that context I really did try and go into this game like I hadn't played the other games. But it's also undermined constantly (especially in the beginning, the inciting action of the game) because it's soooo tied into Solas and the Inquisitor. I have to imagine if you took Bioware at their word and jumped into this one without playing the other ones you would be so confused. And before someone comes at me that Inquisition and DA2 were like this as well - YES BUT. Both of those games did a better job IMO of getting players up to speed on the lore. I know a lot of people that started either with DA2 or Inquisition and then later played the earlier games. I'm really having a hard time imagining starting with Veilguard and not just being completely confused about wtf is happening.

4. It reminds me of other, better games

As I said, I tried to go into this pretending it was its own thing and not a sequel to previous games. Yet I kept constantly being reminded of other, better games while playing. I already mentioned the Jedi Survivor comparisons, but I also kept thinking about Inquisition (NOT in a lore sense, I'm not going back on what I said about pretending this was its own thing. I mean in a gameplay and character interaction sense). And yes, BG3. It probably doesn't help that right before playing Veilguard I had replayed BG3 and then replayed Inquisition. The true game there I may have played was myself. But doing those back to back and then going into Veilguard just highlighted how less interesting it was by comparison.

So those are my thots. I'm curious to hear what other people say. Pls be respectful.

#dragon age the veilguard #important galaxy stuff

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justshepardthings · 3 months ago

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Oh shit im sorry I forgot the obvious. Who are we scoping out for a romance? I have my eyes on Harding (always have) and Bellara

i'm alive, i will be playing dragon age veilguard as soon as it drops and will probably post a bit about it here

my thots on previous games:

DA:O - 10/10 idc that this game is clunky and weird, it's top bioware game top game overall for me. Awakening - Not as good but still fun DA2 - 4/10 game drives me NUTS to actually play it, but the characters are standouts and super interesting, i tend to engage with this one more in fanfic than actually replaying the game tbh DAI - 7/10 when this first came out i disliked it a lot more, but when i started to separate it from previous DA games i enjoyed it a lot more. for me this is the one out of the three i'm most likely to replay at any given time, it's the easiest for me to just dip in and out of. also btw i replayed andromeda recently and re-read my og review....i was waaaaaaayyy to kind on it, it's a 3/10 now playing it with the dust settled and time and distance. FOR ME, you love it and it's your fave that's awesome. i just had to let the people know.

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justshepardthings · 4 months ago

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i'm alive, i will be playing dragon age veilguard as soon as it drops and will probably post a bit about it here

my thots on previous games:

DA:O - 10/10 idc that this game is clunky and weird, it's top bioware game top game overall for me. Awakening - Not as good but still fun DA2 - 4/10 game drives me NUTS to actually play it, but the characters are standouts and super interesting, i tend to engage with this one more in fanfic than actually replaying the game tbh DAI - 7/10 when this first came out i disliked it a lot more, but when i started to separate it from previous DA games i enjoyed it a lot more. for me this is the one out of the three i'm most likely to replay at any given time, it's the easiest for me to just dip in and out of. also btw i replayed andromeda recently and re-read my og review....i was waaaaaaayyy to kind on it, it's a 3/10 now playing it with the dust settled and time and distance. FOR ME, you love it and it's your fave that's awesome. i just had to let the people know.

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justshepardthings · 5 months ago

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justshepardthings · 2 years ago

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The rise and fall.

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justshepardthings · 2 years ago

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sheprd

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justshepardthings · 2 years ago

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N7 Day 2022: On the Next Mass Effect -

"Since we last spoke about the next Mass Effect™ game, pre-production development has been proceeding very well. The team, comprised of Mass Effect franchise veterans as well as some amazing new additions to BioWare™, has grown steadily! They’ve been hard at work crafting new characters and locations that you’ll love, as well as revisiting many that you’ll remember.

This year, we wanted you to meet some of the people leading that work, so we’re putting a spotlight on four of the team’s leads for you to get to know a little better. With every game we make, pairing new talent with veteran developers has provided us with fresh perspectives and ideas, not to mention skills and experiences built from across the industry.

One day, when we’re ready, we’ll have more to share on the next Mass Effect, so thank you for being a part of this journey with us. It’s exceptionally exciting for the team and we’d love to continue sharing glimpses of what we’re working on with you in the future.

As our team on the next Mass Effect game celebrates today with you, they wanted to leave you with one final message from the Project Director of the next Mass Effect game, Mike Gamble:

In the nearly 15 years since the release of the first Mass Effect, the biggest reason we still love working on it is the warmth, dedication, and passion of this community. There are some of you who have been with us through everything. We’ve grown together, sacrificed Ashley together, (Editor’s Note: Or Kaidan, Mike! We all make different choices.) faced difficulties together…and laughed until our Faces Were Tired…together! And for those of you who are new to Mass Effect (thanks, Legendary Edition!), welcome! I can promise that many years of fun, adventures, and characters you’ll fall in love with are still ahead.

Regardless of when you joined us, through four games and more expansions, I can say with certainty that we’re in this because of you, and every N7 Day is a wonderful reminder of that. As we look forward, each week is a fun and exciting challenge for the team. We love bringing this universe to life, and although there’s much more we want to share with you, that’ll have to be for another time.

For now, there is something we want you to have a look at. We’ve intercepted some strange footage from one of the monitoring stations in known space. It could be nothing, but…"