#I think this was the first photo I took of bellara in game

[belovedbellara]

Bellara Lutare from Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024)

[notenoughdragons]

so i caved yesterday after *gestures* all of that on the other side of the pond, and bought veilguard (meant to wait till the first bugfix patch is out), and i have thoughts

(spoilers for the first few quests)

fucking adore the character creator. overwhelming as heck but God a+

addendum: why tf aren't there different lip/mouth shapes. we have like 30 eyelash options. i'm p sure da:i had diff mouth shapes

THERE'S NO QUICK SAVE/LOAD OPTION???? why on god's green earth

the photo mode is NEAT (tip, get yourself reshade plus the "mod" that allows hiding the UI, so you can do screenshot nonsense in cutscenes too)

it took me like 15 min to get rid of the quest marker bc that shit is hidden in Two diff menus but oh my god so worth it

on that note, i'm Really enjoying the area/level/dungeon design, and traversing it Without an annoying big blue star thing blinking at you is really good

the environments are just. unhinged in the best way. THE CROSSROADS? D'META VILLAGE?? THE OSSUARY???? perfect no notes

have i mentioned the hair? the hair is really good. i'm a lttle obsessed with the style i gave my rook, i didn't think i'd like it this much

okay let's talk plot bc. uh.

see, on the one hand? so far (recruited bellara and got the dagger and fucked around in the crossroads and am currently getting murdered by murdering calivan so lucanis will murder for Me) it… works for me? like it really feels like getting thrown into the DEEP deep end, but it's a kind of. idk. sensible progression?

and oh my god ghilan'nain. i kinda hate how normal she comes across in the memory dungeon lab? (which. AMAZING QUEST) but also i love that SHE'S UNHINGED, that solas clearly held sympathies for her, the way i YELLED when you hear her voice when that dragon shows up in the blighted village??? amazing

(NO fucking idea how this would play for someone who's not familiar with the series, good lord the amount of exposition crammed randomly into codex cards???)

that being said. how the fuck does this connect from trespasser/tevinter nights. solas what Happened to you. like this is (part of) why i'm Not using saar as the inq in this run, bc even pretending they Weren't madly in love, it doesn't work. i don't think it works for Any inquisitor who befriended/romanced him (unless maybe one who decided to go full scorched earth and hunt him down at all costs)

in meta terms i know why this is happening but How is varric our insight point into solas and the connection to him. even if you're not playing them, this Should be the inq. solas doesn't lose a single fucking word about anyone But the inquisitor in trespasser. it's just this really tragic dissonance y'know

also the way this game is frontloaded is so fucking funny (i am also choosing to find it funny). IMMEDIATELY unleash the evanuris. IMMEDIATELY get solas trapped somewhere so he can't use his not-god powers to help you. FIRST "normal" quest is a horror movie walkthrough of The Most Blighted Village You Can Imagine, like okay! solas spends all of da:i being fucking coy about the blight and now it's like 'the evanuris are blighted. yeah they used the blight for power that's why i trapped them. they got out and immediately start spitting blight everywhere For Power. the REST of the blight is trapped in the evanuris prison. yeah the black city IS the evanuris prison. also blight is alive too. uh what else'

sidenote. did. did no one think it was A Little Weird to frame it like 'solas is trapped in the fade' - 'but not like us! we're also trapped in the fade but in a completely different way!'

i do love the fade conversations, it's got dishonored vibes

(and cut-away scenes to the Villains Having Ominous Convos! i liked that in da:o)

also i have hints turned on and the. the little pop-ups. "solas remembers your verbal jab" THANKS GAME

ACTUALLY SPEAKING OF THOSE VILLAIN CONVERSATIONS. we're just gonna drop into a fucking codex that the lyrium dagger IS the red lyrium idol??? SOLAS CAN CLEANSE THE BLIGHT AND WE'RE NOT GONNA TALK ABOUT IT????

basically. the connective tissue to da:i etc is uhhhh. insane. bonkers, even. but also when i ignore that, it's legit fun??

also good lord i'm glad i didn't try to come up with a super specific character/backstory for this, the faction backstories are Real specific, and rook is written with a v definitive Slant (not a bad one! but there IS a slant)

[songofamazon]

So, my husband is playing Veilguard on an older computer that produces lots of glitches, but the most interesting (and harmless one) was him getting a codex entry that is a journal by Bellara that was clearly meant to be post final battle, before the epilogue was cut.

Photo under the cut because spoilers.

Lost Friendship

I keep thinking about Harding. It's hard not to. She was my friend, and she was here. Now she's gone.

I cried the other day, when I was cooking supper. I was making Apple Cheesy Butter Noodles, not even really thinking about it. And I thought, "Harding's going to love that I finally got around to making these." Then it hit me... I'll never get to tell her that. I'll never get to let her know how bad they tasted.

It's not fair. We won. In the end, I mean. Took down Elgar'nan. Stopped Solas. Saved the world.

I know it wasn't Harding's first time saving the world, but still. She should've been there.

She earned it.

--From Bellara's journal

This showed up under "The Elven People" with a Bellara card image. It happened after Rook escaped the regret prison and returned to the Lighthouse. Strangely, he romanced Harding in this game, and assigned Davrin to team lead, so Harding survived.

It doesn't change much as cut content, but it is super sweet and sad.

[cilant-lis]

so, i finished dragon age veilguard last night and here's my thoughts spoilers ahead (and a very long read)

this is in no way subjective, as i am very emotional about dragon age, especially with veilguard being the first game in the series i played as it came out, and one i was waiting for for a long, long time

the good

first of all, the game is gorgeous. the art direction in this game is absolutely perfect, and i would sell both of my kidneys and half of my liver to see origins and da2 remastered in this style. all the detail, the colours, the shapes... the designs of the companions were also great, each having a very distinct silhouette and outfits which said so much about every character. (plus, i'm going awooga over all the women and taash)

the environments were wonderful, with each area feeling very distinct, yet still like a part of the same world. i also love how they were not huge, open areas with nothing to do, like in inquisition, but thought was put into every corner and crevice. and thanks to the photo mode i have almost 300 environment screenshots from the game lmao

i loved all the companions and major npcs. the companion quests were so good, and honestly my favourite part of the game. during like half of the quests i teared up (especially bellara's and emmrch's i think this is what was missing in inquisition. the characters felt like real people, and like rook had a real connection to them, and they had real connections with each other. they were all very endearing and i liked all of them, something that has not happened in any of the dragon age games prior. (confession: i was very cagey about lucanis because he seems like the fandom's boy of the game, but i actually ended up liking him) the standouts among the npcs were definitely the duos of evka and antoine, and viago and teia. i'd go on a murder spree if anything happened to them.

i'm also of the unpopular opinion that i liked how the companions were nice to each other. no more co-worker you can barely stand each other vibes, they were all genuine friends (plus something more) and their banter was a joy to listen to (and it pasued during combat!) i also loved how they were all present for the main missions, no matter who you took with you

satisfying exploration, with the puzzles leading to actually good loot. no more dozens of greatswords i will never use littering my inventory. i'm also a collection fiend, so i liked unlocking the outfits and lighthouse decor

the candid and visible inclusion of queerness. i don't play many modern aaa games, so i'm sure dragon age is not the only one, but it was the first time i've actually played a game that allowed you to be non-binary and openly say it. taash's character arc, while i hated the 'culture' part of it, was also appreciated and relatable, especially as they were written by a non-binary writer. and they're the first nb romance option i've ever seen! it was also nice to see queer people just existing in the world

fun combat. very fun combat. i never had so much fun in a dragon age combat. it looked cool, it felt cool, i loved detonations and arcane bombs, i was not overwhelmed by a toolbar full of spells i had half a second to choose and the fights didn't take ages. i was a bit scared i'd suck at combat because my hand-eye coordination sucks ass and i prefer turn-based combat à la bg3, but i didn't find it hard at all while playing on normal. challenging, yes, but fun-challenging. orb and dagger spellblade forever

streamlined inventory management. i hate inventory management with a passion and because i'm always possessed by kleptomania when gaming, i always end up with inventories full of useless junk. but in veilguard i could sell it all with one click, the gear i found was either companion specific, or tailored to rook's class and it saved me so much time not having to compare and change everyone's gear while sifting through piles of low-level chainmail no one is going to wear.

the final stretch of the game (act 3 i think?) was hands down the most tense i've been while playing a game. even though some asshole spoiled the choice between harding and davrin, i was still unsure what would happen, who would survive the battle etc. i almost cried when harding died, not ashamed to admit. when bellara was taken by elgar'nan i had to take a little walk, because i was sure she'd not survive (another part of me was already plotting an angsty fic for my rook and her). the ending choice of out-tricking the trickster god of lies with a fake dagger fit so well with my rook, i still get shivers when i think about it. and the self-indulgent detail of them wearing the same armour solas did during the rebellion flashback...

related to above point, the theme of rook being a foil to solas, themes of regret and how it's holding you back, finding hope in a broken world, how things will never be the same, but change is not a bad thing. this is some good shit, that would require separate posts. i just love stories about hope so much

the choice between treviso and minrathous had real, visible impact. in my playthrough, treviso was destroyed and it still affected lucanis many gameplay hours later. none of these choices were presented as right and even though my shadow dragon rook chose to go to minrathous, i still question the decision, and so does rook.

the tension and devastation of the weisshaupt mission. the blight is so gross, as it should be, and the mission was probably my favourite in the game.

rook, especially purple rook, is so endearing. they're a little rascal, and a perfect successor to purple hawke. i loved the amount of faction specific dialogue and how utterly grounded rook was in the story and the world around them.

confirmed lore theories, which had hints since the days of dao

while different to the other games of the series, i really liked veilguard's soundtrack. the main theme is still stuck in my head, and i found myself humming along to many of the recurring tracks. i don't know shit about music tbh, but it helped elevate the mood and atmosphere of the environments. the sound design was also good, and i am happy to report there was no ear-grating noises for my hyper-sensitive ears (looking at you spells from dao)

a satisfying conclusion to dorian's character arc. it was refreshing to see him be so radical and anti-slavery (after inquisition dropped the ball on developing his changing worldview on screen) him becoming the archon was also a very pleasant surprise, and a well deserved ending for a character like him. sorry i just love dorian pavus so much

assan and manfred being absolutely adorable. it was predictable i'd get attached to assan, but a skeleton was a surprise. he talks! my rook is going to be the best uncle (gender neutral) to both of them. my two favourite little guys.

a lot of little details

the bad

imo the biggest issue with the game was the lack of references to previous game decisions. like with the inquisitor cameo, i wonder how different it would have been if the well of sorrows decision was taken into account? a little more communication between northern and southern thedas? not dropping the kieran plot point completely?? a little more information about what's going on in southern thedas? also i feel like harding's character really suffered because of this, because her and my inquisitor were really good friends and i'm disappointed that there was no mention of it at all :( also while most of what the inquisitor said was in character for my inquisitor, i can see how for others it's ooc

related to the previous point, the amount of loose threads that were just left hanging. is the blight cured? what will happen next with the titans? how do the elves recover from all of this? what happened to hawke and the warden? how does southern thedas fare after the gigantic blight? so many unanswered questions which will never be answered

the way the elves were treated, while not surprising at all given the previous games, was sooo uncomfortable. the past three games established that the elves are treated horribly, yet there is very little discussion of it in veilguard. this one conversation with bellara still makes me cringe, and i hate the lack of distinction between the ancient elves who were also oppressed by the evanuris and the evanuris themselves. i also feel the whole plot of 'this marginalised group's gods are actually evil' could have been done much much better, but the set up for it was there since origins, so it's not a uniquely veilguard problem. there are other people more qualified to speak on this than me, so i'll leave this here

the handling of crows made me raise an eyebrow (or two) because of how how sanitised the crows feel. no mention of child slaves? nothing about enduring torture as a part of training? or being treated as disposable? even if this differed from house to house, or it changed over the past decades/ special circumstances because antiva has been under the attack of the antaam, at least a codex mentioning it would have been nice. my dream would have been to have zevran be the one to spur this change, but it seems that the writers are allergic to have him have any sort of impact on thedas

not enough of content for the lords of fortune. when tevinter nights came out, i was so excited to meet them, but what we got in the game was a horribly "clothed" isabela, a bunch of her friends and like 3 quests and an arena. and not to mention how awful the lords of fortune gear is, with the orientalism.

i wasn't a fan of some of the writing, in the sense that some wording and stuff felt very modern. but i'm a hardcore fantasy fan so maybe it's just a me problem

the game tried to do a LOT and some of it would have benefitted if it was delved into more (example: morrigan and mythal, harding's quest with the titan, what taash discovered about the qunari, anything about southern thedas)

i really would have liked to see more of varric and rook's relationship. a dream would have been to have an origin quest/cutscene (maybe shorter than in dao) to help establish their relationship. you could literally replace varric with any character at this point

a longer romance, please... i know these are not dating sims, but i literally didn't get a kiss with bellara until the epilogue :') i'll have to see the other romances to truly have a strong opinion about this, though

and a note: i would have had just as many praises and just as many criticisms for every single dragon age game. overall i really enjoyed veilguard and i am happy that it even came out as an offline single-player rpg, and not a live service game like it was supposed to, or not at all. no game is perfect, and i'd rather have an imperfect game than no game at all. (but yes, i'm still mourning project joplin and i'd do anything to play it... )

[caitlyn-has-a-conspiracy-board]

Veilguard thoughts

Okay so now that I managed to actually make some progress, I figured I'd share my thoughts about the game. Some mild spoilers under the cut and all that

The character creator... like OH BOY that was a lot of sliders. I mean, I knew the CC was really insane based on what some content creators had shared but nothing had me prepared for the amount of sliders like... So. Many. Sliders. Took me about a whole hour, give or take, to make my Rook and then struggle - and I really mean STRUGGLE - to bring my Inquisitor to life. She looks okay I guess, haven't ran into her yet so we'll see.

Bad quality phone pic cuz yes it took me ages to remember photo mode IS A THING so. Yeah. This is my Rook. Meet Mara Mercar, local Shadow Dragon and certified lesbian disaster. Ngl after struggling with all those sliders of doom, the second I saw her in-game for the first time doing the bar scene brought me an insane amount of happy feels.

Solas, Solas, Solas... I still don't trust that man. Granted he murdered poor Bianca (rip Bianca you'll be missed) which was already a big HOW DARE YOU moment, but then he goes and stabs Varric??????? Hell nah. Tbh something tells me he's 'helping' for his own agenda and the second he gets his chance, he'll stab Rook in the back. I'm going forward 100% with the feeling he's the mage that betrays you. Again.

Neve Gallus.... Listen I was already going in full intending on romancing her but nothing had me prepared for the actually depths of her character. Every interaction with her, being it a cutscene or just party banter has me on the edge of my seat because you get all these little tiny things that make the whole and I'm honestly enjoy that a lot. My favorite stuff so far is when you get to go with her to Dock Town, both during one of her side quests and during one of the main ones and you just see her like, interact with the people around her and make little comments about this and that. The romance part is going slow as I'm working to do all the little quests and taking my time exploring but I'm sure it will be worth the wait!

I saw some people before saying they find Bellara annoying and I'm like... HOW??? She is so adorable!!! I love how excited she is about everything, and especially the way she interacts with Neve. Their scenes have been some of my favorite things so far, because Bellara will act like an excited ball of energy and Neve is just in the background letting out a good natured exasperated sigh but still taking the time to be sweet to her and answer her questions/humor her. (side note: the calibrations line gave me war flashbacks so thank you for that Bioware)

I don't think I have much to say about Harding so far, aside from being happy she's a companion now and being curious about her sudden magic abilities. I sorta feel like they might be connected to the ending of the Descent DLC from DA:I so I'm glad I got to play that before Veilguard came out.

I have to admit I wasn't very sure about Lucanis because of the entire demon thing + the way he sounds a bit too much like Puss in Boots but he's somehow growing on me.... like a weed. I still think his cousin is sus and to blame for him getting taken by the Venatori, so we'll see how that plays out further on

(by my comments you can probably tell who I've been running around with the most but yeah, it is what it is)

I haven't gone further enough to recruit the rest of the companions but I'm excited to meet them and see what they bring to the table story wise (secretly hoping for some chaotic stuff laugh worthy to go down in the lighthouse when everyone is accounted for). So. Anyway.

Story wise I'm loving everything so far and I really like the 'know your companions better' direction with this game compared to the older ones. Graphic wise everything is absolutely gorgeous and I have had to stop a few times to just really take in the scenery because woah.

And yeah so I guess we'll see what happens next!

(In the end I figured out photo mode yay)

[onion-orlesien]

20h in, I'm absolutely loving The Veilguard!!

(Just random thoughts about stuff I like bc I can't stop playing or thinking about this game. Spoilers up until completion of the first Minrathous and Treviso main quests)

The first 4h I was mostly noticing things I wasn't super enthusiastic about. I was weirdly bitter and comparing things to other games?? I didn't expect that since I'd been 100% excited and hype since June. (Actually, the first actual 4h were just spent in CC, no joke! It was great)

But after a few more hours today, I was completely convinced and excited again, and proceed to play all day lol. I was so happy to finally see things we have *not* seen yet during the past promotional months!!

Wandering through Tevinter was a blast, I loved how familiar it looked while also being a brand new place. I took my sweet time and visited every possible nook and corner, and greatly enjoyed doing so! Also, the Inquisition bard songs???

I also dipped my toes into the more free side of the game, with exploration and regional side quests in Arlathann. Loved every second of it!! It breaks the linearity, but isn't so open that I'm overwhelmed or lost. I'm really liking the balance!

Treviso was such a little gem to discover, I can't wait to go back. The whole quest to get Lucanis had me much more involved than I had assumed, he's actually even a romance option I'd consider by now!

That convo with Varric about Solas? So good. The one sentence on Solas' sensitivity was such a good way of presenting him.

PHOTO MODE!! SO GOOD!! I already made a new laptop wallpaper-

My Rooks seems to naturally flirt with Harding and Bellara... Who knows what will come out of that, I'm definitely super attached to them already!

Combat is so. Much. Fun. Lots of light effects everywhere, but that aside, it's just so satisfying when it works! Had to switch to controller because I was having very headache-inducing skipped frames when moving the mouse around. Controller actually made combat a lot more fun for me, so I stick to it!

Yeah, I'm in deep and I'm in a little Veilguard bubble, far away from negative reviews and such things I vaguely heard about. I hope everyone is having fun, we deserve it!