#I don't want this to be taken as “people being mad at datv are wrong they should be mad at DAI instead”

[zundely]

One thing I want to get off my chest when it comes to a lot of DAV writing criticsm is that a lot of it feels to me like it stems from how much DAI writing didn't bring closure to people.

So much of DAI's choices and events feel like a set up for Something BigTM to happen in the future. Well of Sorrows is the one (to me most disappointing) example that comes to mind of something big and potentially dangerous being set up and then game never bothering to really pay it off.

I think that led to expectations of Veilguard being more of a direct follow up to events from the previous games (I vividly remember people being disappointed when they learned that the Dreadwolf when it was still called that will have a new protag). It had expectations on it that previous Dragon Age games did not have of bringing closure to all the open ends Inqusition left, which I think would be detrimental to the game even if they didn't decide it also needed to be a soft reboot.

To be fair- making Veilguard, a game that was more of a sequel then all the other Dragon Age games before it, a soft reboot of the series was... a choice. I definitely think the way this game tries to evoke nostalgia while not carrying over much from previous games is a major detrimentto it's writing. But I do feel like we are being unfair when we blame Veilguard for not giving us a satysfying ending to a game from 10 years ago. Neither DAO nor DAII left major plot thread hanging in the air for the next installment, there were cameos but you didn't need them for plot and character arcs to have a satysfying conclusions. Heck, it is often said how DAII's ending is rushed and feels unfinished and yet it still provides a more satysfying ending then Inquisition does. And Inqusition did get it's finale DLC.

Now I don't want to say "Veilguard is great actually and Inqusition sucks"- they both have it's ups and downs but I do think it's a good example why 'mystery box' approach to writing sucks and why it almost always inevetably leads to people being disappointed. And the root of the issue with why Veilguard can feel disappointing does start with Inqusition and it being a lot more interested in alluding that things will have consequences then actually having us face those consequences.