#WHY WRITE A SHORT STORY WHERE LUCANIS IS LIKE MATE I REALLY DO NOT WANT IT

[thewardenisonthecase]

the whole 'who should be first talon' thing is actually going to give me a headache the more i think about it

[justmaghookit]

Disclaimer these thoughts and feelings are my own and im not judging you if you don't feel the same, this is just how it felt to ME personally while playing the new Dragon Age. If you had a good experience you're under no obligation to read this, I just wanted to get my thoughts out. Hell even if you had a bad experience you're not obligated to read my word vomit. I'm also not looking for debate or argument so if you're considering that kindly fuck off.

And in before anyone thinks they're funny, I actually enjoyed all the previous games from the start.

Spoilers for companion quests but that's it

I finished Veilguard and like, I probably would have enjoyed it more if I gave a shit about Solas but the fact is I do not. I also didn't care for the "elven gods are actually ancient evil mages" plot either that came out of left field near the end of Inquisition with all the evidence at the time being Solas going "just trust me bro"

If the whole plotline didn't feel like just an excuse to justify the games treatment of the elves

Like Bellara mentions in a side conversation about elven myths being really weird and creepy when you look into them but then doesn't actually give you examples.

And myths being weird and creepy alone isn't even good evidence because PLENTY of myths and legends from ancient civilisations are weird and creepy! That's just kinda how they are! Hell the bible is weird and creepy if you look close enough!

And the thing is i didn't start off not caring about Solas, I liked him! Hell I romanced him my first DAI playthrough because I was fascinated by him! But the writings insistent at pushing him at me turned me sour on him.

Like I'm one of those bitches who thought trespasser was an entirely unnecessary DLC cause man I already knew he was going to be the villain in the next game, I got that from the ending of the main game!!!

Also the game just feels short. I'd have to replay DA2 to compare that but it's definitely shorter than Origins in Inquisition(in my personal play time) and everything else feels crushed into a shorter time frame while simultaneously failing to make me feel like I'm under these deadly time restraints as we rush towards the end of the world.

Im making all these big choices but none of it feels impactful because I feel like I've spent barely any time with these characters, which SUCKS because I love the characters! The companions are the best thing about this game!! But I don't feel like I actually get close to them! Hell I didn't even feel close to my ROMANCE option because I felt like we rarely talked.

My partner and I talked a lot and like in the previous games during and after a big decision you could ask your companions their opinions, and sometimes it would give you the option to change their minds if they didn't agree with you(if they like you enough)

And sure i could walk into where they are hanging out and they'll say a line but it felt more like they where talking AT me then TO me.

Also the stupid fucking gifts? You get a non-cutscene of them going "oh thanks :)" and seeing it in their room. They don't talk to you about it, they don't even explain WHY they like it or what it means to them!

I wanted Bellara to tell me how the frog worked! I wanted Neve to tell me the story of the Dock Town mystery! I wanted Lucanis to say something about how is grandmother had a tea set like this!!! I don't even remember the other gifts I gave because they had zero impact!

Also man I can count on one hand the amount of times a companion disapproved of something I did and I dont want yes men! I want team mates who will challenge my decisions and get mad at me. Hell even the companion who gets hardened at the beginning doesn't even challenge you, and they have a reason to challenge you!

Don't even get me started on how stupid that hardened mechanic even is compared to previously.

And then half the companion quests end with really stupid one or the other decisions that do not have to be that way. Like im sorry why does Taash have to only honour ONE of their cultures. Why am I making a this or that decision about the griffons when they could be BOTH these things in the future. Why is Bellara asking ME a DWARF what to do with her people's history instead of discussing it with the other Jumpers? Why does Harding have to choose between her compassion and her rage when by all rights both of those emotions are hers to balance?

I dont know about Lucanis because of the hardening stuff but the only ones that kinda made sense was Emmrich and Neve, and Neve only because I'm a shadow dragon and have a stake in the city. For Emmrich he's leaning on a friend for support during an emotional time. It would have more effect if I felt we were closer friends and had more time together though!!!

Like this game could have been really really fucking good and it has a very decided story it wants to tell and on that front it does it well but its not a story I felt invested in. Maybe if I had read the tie in novels and comics I'd have been more invested but a good game series shouldn't rely on you reading all the tie in shit to be able to pull you in to its story!

I wish the game had been given space to breath and really let me feel close to the characters and the world. I wish I'd gotten that year with Varric and Harding, getting to know them and learning about Solas and what's at stake. I wish I'd had more interactions with my home factions characters, hell maybe even a personal quest to tie in to where you're from!

I cant help but feel like parts of it feel unfinished, like way back when we heard about the writer lay-offs at EA and Bioware we where told not to worry because the story was finished. But I cant help but think that only pertained to the main plot points, that all the little details that are usually lovingly rendered are missing. That Rook's personality feels so one note because they didn't have enough time. That the decisions are so bland because the writers didn't get to expand on them.

All in all to me DAV suffers the same dedregation of all other triple a games. And all other bioware products. Corners are cut and developers are put into straight up abusive development practices that harms the game and harms the industry and most importantly harms the creatives behind it. I really can't blame DAV for leaving me feeling empty when it was made in such a fucked environment.