#Weisshaupt Sucks

[eff-plays]

I am enjoying the few flirts I've taken when talking to Davrin so far, they haven't had that super awkward BioWare flirt energy where the PC makes a random sexual/suggestive remark out of nowhere.

Instead it's been like, making a flirty observation that's also teasing, or offering extra attention/care in a way that's appropriate for the convo. Mind you I haven't taken ALL the flirts, so I can't say the ones I didn't take are as good, but so far it's been kinda playful and fun and felt natural. Bonus points for allowing the convo to still get back on track in a way that's been very smooth as well.

Now is it like an insane person romance where they both get terminal brainrot about the other? No, but it does feel more healthy and natural. Maybe you're not always looking for healthy in fiction, but BioWare's version of intense/unhealthy is hit-or-miss, so this is a welcome change of pace.

[greyswarden]

ariel seriously doesn’t gaf about keeping warden secrets or doing traditionally warden things. he’ll spill on the joining and that you might die if you go through it to recruits. he’ll also let recruits leave if they don’t want to join and doesn’t really use or like using the right of conscription (only time he ever used it was on anders to save him from the templars and even then he was like you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to lol). he looooves being anti-traditionalist and a rule breaker ❤️

[trellanyx]

I finished the siege of Weisshaupt quest last night, and feel like BioWare did a really good job of selling how chaotic it was. I really felt how batshit overwhelmed everyone was, facing wave upon wave upon wave of Darkspawn from all sides, the booming taunt of Ghilan'nain in the sky and an Archdemon destroying every plan and hiding place as fast as the party could come up with them.

The closest comparison to this mission, ofc, is the assault on Adamant Fortress in DAI. But I never felt the characters’ desperation like I did during Weisshaupt. The relentless mantra of “keep moving, keep fighting, make it alive to just the next second, we have to try we have no choice”.

And because of the dialogue options I picked, it made me the most invested in my Rook that I’ve been for the entire game so far. I kept picking encouraging dialogue, and as the mission went on it really began to feel like she was straining, keeping a strong front because she’s the leader, it’s what she has to do, because if she doesn’t keep up a steady stream of “we’re gonna be okay, we’ll figure out plan B, C, D, don’t give up” then not only will she have failed her team when they need her most, but she herself will fall apart and be unable to do what comes next.

It’s Lucanis yelling, “how am I supposed to stab a cloud with a dagger?!” It’s Davrin saying the horns are calling reinforcements to the east battlements - “And where are we?!” “The east battlements!” - and the realization that the 3 of us fighting these Darkspawn alone are the reinforcements. It’s the dying screams of Wardens every few minutes, it’s the wall is gone the bell tower is gone the escape path is gone everyone is gone—

It’s Rook standing by the dragon trap, muttering, “And now I die.”

it’s also Lucanis’ EPIC move with the wings and dagger

This was the first time in Veilguard that I felt truly sucked into the story. If nothing else, I’m glad I got at least one moment like that.

[vigilskeep]

do you have any refs for Minerva’s relationship with the other dao companions? I did not realize she and leliana was estranged 😭 also if im remembering correctly she makes loghain do the dark ritual? sorry I do like spinning her around in my head and knowing the little details she’s such a great character!!

leliana and minerva did not have a clear breakup in the alistair minerva sense but they did grow apart because of the simple reason that post dao minerva becomes politically at odds with the chantry while leliana is serving its leader. leliana is not a type of person minerva finds very easy to like or trust so while they did grow on each other over the course of dao they never had a simple friendship in the first place

alistair you probably know about bc its kind of the cornerstone of minervaposting but theres a post fully explaining it not much further down in her tag

zevran is her romance <3 i hesitate to use the word “soulmates” exactly but they definitely fit together in a way no other minerva pairing could match

morrigan she has a weird close complicated vaguely homosexual friendship with, i’m sure this is par for the course for f!wardens. they probably could have been in love if morrigan had been willing to pursue it in the start and if minerva hadn’t already gone for someone else by the end, and all that is unspoken but very present in everything about them

sten is i guess kind of the typical high approval relationship as presented in game? not much more unique. a lot of respect a lot of arguing a lot of dry humour. they could hang out in silence comfortably and they’re also both know and respect that they’re very capable of killing the other if their greater purposes ever demand it

oghren she kind of doesn’t pay much mind in origins when she doesn’t have to but he becomes part of the family in awakening. they bond over having their insane shared experiences of the blight, and also over him trying to quit drinking and her trying to quit blood magic which leads to some really wild out of context conversations for the others. and hey, eventually over first attempting to parent at similar times

wynne she has a bit of a sharp relationship with. i think this could vary a lot if i pick her up earlier, but in my main minerva playthrough i picked her up late by which time minerva had absolutely no fucking interest in getting the kind of lectures she grew up with. sorry grandma </3

uhhhh who else. shale idk man im sorry for being a fake fan but shale’s dlc truly does nothing for me it’s unfunny and i dont think abt it at all 💔 this would be written in less harsh terms if i wasnt sleepy

loghain is. well that’s a kettle of fish. minerva spares him because it happens to be a preferable move for her agenda and her way of thinking, it’s not rlly about him as a person at all. she doesn’t absolve him of anything he did, like, she still thinks he’s a bastard it’s just that she doesn’t really believe at all in the concept of justice being done if it doesn’t serve a purpose. when he’s in the party they do build up respect and a weird kind of friendship. he sucks and she’s bitter about what sparing him cost her, but that isn’t relevant, it’s not going to stop her learning from him, or fighting at his side as the best team she can quickly make them, or simply finding him entertaining to talk to. so by the end it’s as a friend that she asks him to do the dark ritual, whatever that means. post dao she agrees with weisshaupt that him being assigned outside of ferelden is wise but they continue to write to each other extremely regularly, mostly on matters of news and strategy but occasionally on the more personal

is that everyone i think thats everyone

[mythalism]

ok im going to try and parse through my feelings on the entire game in the hopes that expelling these thoughts from my brain will allow me to actually sleep because i am running on about 3 hours right now

i will start positive with the things i absolutely loved:

solas. whos suprised

just kidding i will elaborate further of course. genuinely, from a (mostly) objective writing perspective, he is the best part of this game. like hands down. his writing is bonkers insane. he has the best lines and the most complexity out of any character in the game (besides mythal perhaps). i was so so so afraid they were going to completely woobify him into someone who was right all along and never did anything wrong in his life blah blah to make him sympathetic to a new audience. they did not give a fuck however and i could not be more glad. he is exactly the dread wolf and bringer of nightmares of legend. he is so wonderfully in character, even if that character is not someone we saw in inquisition (we saw solas, not the dread wolf!). there are moments that solas shines through, like in his mentions of varric in the very beginning, when he mentions his love for the inquisitor, his convo with a rook he respects (which i do believe was genuine, even if he betrays them anyway. we know that he regularly betrays people that he likes and respects lol), the way he helps the shadow dragons and saves the dalish, and of course in his final scene with the inquisitor. he manages to retain that perfect back and forth, mask on and mask off, solas vs. fen'harel dichotomy with a different balance than the one we saw in inquisition. in inquisition, we saw solas with hints of the dread wolf peeking through. in veilguard, we see the dread wolf with hints of solas peeking through. ok i need to move on or i will talk about him forever. but they nailed the moral ambiguity with him. they nailed the theme of forgiveness being hard. i loved when harding said something along the lines of "there is no one who doesnt deserve forgiveness" this is one of the few consistent themes that this game was successful in exploring. ok ok moving on now i promise

i also loved mythal (fragment mythal, not morrigan mythal who was a flop). admittedly i am a mythal stan, but her integration into this story was a highlight for me. she haunted the narrative in such a great way. it added so much complexity to solas. hearing him GROWL at elgar'nan in rage "you have lost the right to say her name" made me scream in glee. i loved talking to her and having to prove my worth to her. i love that it was hard and she would kill you without hesitation if she found you unworthy. i love that if she does find you worthy she is instrumental in changing solas's mind. i loved her dragon appearance even if she was useless in the damn fight lol. morrigan mythal sucked tho but thats for later

similar vein but the main quests were fantastic, with a few caveats. but overall every main quest had me hooked, having so much fun, at the edge of my seat and screaming and flailing in my chair. weisshaupt was incredible, BLOOD OF ARLATHAN WAS INSANE (the solas elgarnan bitch fight will go down in history as a moment of all time for me) and of course the finale was some of the best writing ive seen from bioware. the way suspense was built was well done, the stakes felt high, and the twists were interesting.

choice and consequence was absolutely banger. i gasped when i went back to dock town after leaving minrathous to fend for itself and saw a gallows with bodies hanging from nooses and piles of bodies in the streets. i gasped when harding died. i gasped when bellara got blighted. definitely the best choice and consequence in the entire franchise and it was very satisfying. i feel motivated to play again to see different options play out.

the environments are fucking insane. genuinely insane giga brained genius. i have never been so gagged by a video game like this. not only were they beautiful but they were well-designed, interesting and diverse. i rarely got bored anywhere (except treviso lol) and i was regularly picking my jaw up off the floor. some highlights for me were the anderfels area where you first meet davrin with that amazing vista, kal sharok, the docktown catacombs, pretty much anything in arlathan, the deep roads, and honestly so much. absolutely beautiful.

this game felt incredibly cinematic and the direction was fantastic. the cutscenes were so well done and they transitioned so smoothly into gameplay. the animation was fantastic, and everything was so engaging to watch. my favorite cutscene has to be when solas is about to switch places with rook and you see him in the background out of the corner of your eye twice, though rook doesnt know. i was literally screaming it was so fucking cool. it genuinely felt like watching a movie a lot of the time

i genuinely enjoyed the gameplay loop of exploration. i had a lot of fun just exploring around docktown and arlathan, there was always something new to find, i loved the puzzles, and i loved finding codex entries. this is a crazy thing to say but it actually reminded me a lot of genshin impact LMFAO. which i know a lot of people would probably consider to be a negative but i thought it was engaging and fun.

combat fucks. it got a little repetitive by the end, mostly because i think i just wanted to find out the end of the story and fucking darkspawn were in my way, but it was a huge step up from previous games and i think action combat was a good choice.

this game has an incredible amount of genuine heart and soul put into it and you can feel it in every facet of the game. i can tell that the devs were passionate and their creativity was genuine. i could feel their love for the characters and the world. this game is unflinchingly sincere and not afraid of being cringe (though it definitely is cringe at times, i respect the commitment to it so i dont mind it). it genuinely does not feel like an EA cash grab, which is a huge win considering how likely it was for years that a cash grab was exactly what we were going to get.

i enjoyed the varric ghost twist. i knew something was up with him but i didnt fully call him being dead until right before the reveal. i get why people are going to be upset about it, its a pretty fucking crazy decision, but i think what saves it is the quote he gives rook in the fade about his choices being his own and still encouraging rook to try to get through to solas despite being KILLED BY HIM.... fucking crazy. it ties in enough to the overall theme of regret and forgiveness that i think it works.

ok time for the negatives

its hard to pick my biggest issue but i definitely have a top 3: the lore flopped majorly, much of the writing felt juvenile, and there was an overall lack of nuance to everything about the game except for solas's storyline that did feel very not-dragon age to me

i actually dont give a fuck about lore retcons, especially if they are explained well. i think they are often necessary and can be pulled off. but this game literally just pretended to answer decades long questions about the lore and then does not. which would be fine if we didnt have someone who knows all the answers to those questions hanging out in our brains and willing to answer them. we did not learn what exactly a titan was. we did not learn what they were like when they were alive and before they were blighted. mythal called them monsters. harding suggests they might have been violent like the elves. we literally dont know anything about them except for what solas and mythal did to them. i dont think anyone even actually gave a clear answer on what the blight is. ok it was the titan's severed dreams but what the fuck does that mean? it was their rage and pain? then why does harding say the red lyrium manifested by her rage and pain was not blighted, just red? if blight equals titan nightmares then that lyrium should have been blighted? so what the fuck is the blight that ghilan'nain cooked with? red lyrium? how did the original darkspawn get made? did she start injecting people with red lyrium? but we know what that does to people because we saw it in inquisition. it makes them red lyrium freaks but it doesnt make them darskpawn. WHAT ARE DARKSPAWN? WHAT IS THE BLIGHT? did i miss this in a codex entry or something guys im so serious. how did we play this whole game and not actually learn what the blight is. we also learned almost nothing about the forgotten ones, which is fine except we literally met one and all they really had to say about it was "evil spirit" ? ok. also um. where are the rest of the evanuris. ok they are gone but where did they go. we know where their archdemons went, but where did they go? ghilan'nain exists separate from her archdemon so its not like killing an archdemon kills the evanuris, it just makes them vulnerable. should they not all be still alive in that prison together, just mortal and archdemon-less? they literally just say "they're gone" and expect us to be like ok! WHAT THE FUCK??? WHERE ARE THEY?? WHERE ARE THEIR BODIES??? WHAT??????? also the explanation for archdemons was boring. it felt like the team literally did not know the answers themselves (and didnt feel like calling up david gaider) so they just gave us vague non-answers hoping we wouldnt notice. I NOTICED.

similar vein; we learned nearly nothing about elgar'nan and ghilan'nain, and they overall felt cartoonishly evil and one-dimensional. and this is a greater problem that ill talk about next, but they were afforded none of the nuance that solas and mythal were given, and it feels glaring in comparison. why was elgarn'nan evil? was he just born fucking evil? we know thats not true. he originated as a spirit, what kind of spirit? what was his relationship with mythal like? what was his relationship to the other evanuris like? he calls ghilan'nain "sister", were they always close? did they become close in their prison? what are his goals beyond tyranny? or do you actually want me to believe he is just full stop evil? if he was one of the original spirit born elvhen what virtue did he embody and what polluted him into something so terrible? why does ghilan'nain love the blight? why is she obsessed with creation? we only get a single codex about she and andruil (that i found). what was her and solas's relationship like before she ascended to godhood? he calls her "the best of them" but we never see anything about their relationship. neither of them has any nuance. they are just pure evil, corrupted by ???? something ??? power??? i guess. and we are supposed to just be fine with it lol. what are even their motivations? why do they want to cover the world in blight? what is their emotional connection to this pursuit??????? we get such an exploration of this for solas and just NOTHING for them. they feel so one-dimensional in comparison, literal comic book cartoon character villains.

similarly, this game lacks nuance overall. bioware is known for its exploration of grey morality on both personal and sociopolitical levels. this game has that only for solas and literally no one else. qunari antaam? evil (super fucking racist depiction as well). venatori? evil minions. elven gods? evil. forgotten ones? evil. meanwhile, crows? suddenly good. its okay. just forget the MURDER, child slavery and abuse. seriously its fine. caterina dellamorte is a sweet old lady :) dont worry about it :). every faction is good and every antagonist is bad. its genuinely insane coming from the studio who gave us dragon age 2 to now give us something so fucking boring and black and white. they got SO CLOSE with the wardens and isseya and in the end davrin still kills her. why does solas get a chance at redemption and no one else does? here we are with an entire story centered around this morally grey character, interrogating whether or not his actions are justified, whether his intentions matter, whether his abuse informed his atrocities, asking ourselves if he deserves forgiveness asking if he deserves to be saved, where do we draw the line? what is the point of no return? why do people do the things they do? its fantastic. and then you go and do a faction or companion quest and its just like, these are the good guys and these are the bad guys. dont ask questions. have fun! WHAT???? FROM BIOWARE??????????

this issue bleeds over into the companions as well. i genuinely liked all of them. they are likable. but holy shit they have no flaws. all of them are genuinely good people and their problems center around others rather than themselves. there is little to no complexity, to the point where honestly they did not feel like real people to me. harding is sweet and perfect and her worst trait is being *checks notes* TOO AGREEABLE? davrin's worst flaw is raising his voice at his pet too much. emmrich's only flaw is FEARING DEATH LIKE A NORMAL HUMAN BEING? neve is kind of cold. thats it. bellara never does anything wrong. lucanis doesnt sleep enough? taash is the closes they come to any sort of complexity and i did genuinely enjoy their identity struggle and i loved seeing their complex relationship with their mother. but none of those are flaws. like these characters are cookie-cutter perfect. we used to have companions who committed acts of terror and blood mages and mean jealous little brothers and did horrible things and said horrible things to each other and struggled with things like internalized racism and complacency in violent corrupt institutions and addiction and facing your fucking war crimes and they are some of the most beloved of the franchise because they feel SO REAL. like genuinely going from characters like anders and blackwall to these companions was so jarring and disappointng. i LIKE them all, dont get me wrong. but they do not act like real, complex fully fleshed out people, and the writing overall suffers greatly for it.

again connected, the writing in terms of literal dialogue but also what i mentioned above comes together to feel incredibly juvenile. i know some big reviewers beforehand said that the game feels like a pixar movie at times, and unfortunately i dont think thats inaccurate. a little harsh maybe, but there are moments that are truly written in such a way that it feels like the audience is children. and that doesnt mean its bad, because i am a lover of childrens media and most of my favorite media of all time is actually for kids (avatar the last airbender, fullmetal alchemist, etc), but this game oscillates back and forth so violently it will give you literal whiplash. it reminded me a lot of the way young adult fiction is written. GOOD young adult fiction, where its well-done, but its deliberately written to be simpler in both diction and theme and focuses on concepts that young people can identify with. this is how i felt during much of the companion quests during this game. again, it was GOOD young adult fiction, but it had the narrative styling and lack of nuance and complexity that is characteristic of such things, and that is just literally not what the game is supposed to be like. and there are great writing moments that do feel appropriately mature and complex, but they are mostly in the main quest and their presence makes the lack of maturity in the rest of the writing feel even more jarring. i have no idea why they wrote it this way.

morrigan's mythal flopped and was out of character. i missed flemeth's crazy ass. they literally nerfed her. i think this is connected to everyone being nice and good and perfect (no abusive mothers allowed!) which is crazy because the other mythal fragment got to be a crazy bitch. so what the hell

the lack of world states is still a major L. it felt like things were missing that should have been present and had no reason not to be other than just no worldstates. well of sorrows needed to be there ESPECIALLY considering the solas/mythal/lavellan dynamic.

this one is self-indulgence but solavellan could have benefited from better pacing. packing so much into act 3 made it feel rushed. i loved the scenes themselves, but there could have easily been more build-up with a few codex entries.

no fenris. i will never forgive

ok im running out of steam and actually feeling more able to sleep now (thank god). i know i said a lot of negatives but i actually believe this game is very, very good, especially within the context of its development. i think a lot of the issues likely do stem from their fraught development cycle, and overall they did a great job of identifying their priorities and pursuing them to the fullest. i dont necessarily agree with what they prioritized or what their vision was at all points, but i respect the clear direction that this game had. i do not believe it will stick with me the way the previous games did, and while playing i often found myself just missing the characters from 2 and inquisition that i love, and the writing that so often had me screaming crying throwing up and/or giggling and twirling my hair. however, this game gave me the #1 thing i wanted which was a satisfying solavellan conclusion, and though yes it could have been done a bit more... artfully, i think its incredible considering where we were just a few years ago with this game. i will play it again a few times, and the fact that it has sold well enough to guarantee bioware gets to stick around and make new games is a major win. 7.5/10 thank u for listening

[the-blue-wraith]

My review for Dragon Age: The Veilguard (SPOILERS BELOW)

These are my personal opinions and not personal attacks to anyone who loves the game.

Pros:

Combat is invigorating.

Exploration is just fine, not too overwhelming.

Side quests are not lengthy.

CC was great and had lots of sliders and lots of good hair too.

Harding, Bellara, Lucanis, and Emmrich’s voice acting are in point.

NPCs are more active in terms of animation, unlike in previous games.

The codex you found in areas is short and easy to read.

Dragon fights are more challenging.

Banters outside the Lighthouse are compelling.

Emmrich and Harding's quest are impactful.

No major glitches, only encountered a few minor glitches.

Cons:

Writing is just basic. Humorous/aggressive dialogues are not totally funny/aggressive. Companions/Rook are too polite.

Dialogue after the fall of Weisshaupt feels off, they don't need to say directly to players that companions need to resolve their problems before fighting the Gods.

Interaction inside the Lighthouse feels like an interaction inside the workplace. I wish I was kidding.

Some dialogues are repetitive (ex. “The elven gods have broken free from their prison” “Dragons don’t have kings, they have queens”).

Factions lack introduction. We didn’t get to know each faction in depth.

Story and companions lacks conflict/disparity.

Choices from the last 3 games didn’t matter, and became a wasted chance to explore in Veilguard.

Can’t talk to NPC like in DA:I.

What's the point of having gifting scenes where all they could say is "thank you"?

Some voice actings are a bit off, lacks emotions (American Female Rook/Neve)

Enemy designs are repetitive.

Ability wheel is lacking, it should’ve let us get 5 abilities to use in battle.

Qunari designs are not good.

Overall music is too ordinary.

Romances are lacking and have no growth

I really enjoyed the combat it reminds me of Mass Effect. The best part here are the dragon fights because this was one of the things that I anticipated years ago, and I'm quite satisfied! I like the flow and conflict at the end of Act 2 up to Act 3. That scene with Varric in the Fade still hits hard to me. 😭 I know it was sad, but in that phase I was motivated to finish the game. I just wish the flow of Acts 1-2 were intense like Act 3. Like I said, it lacks conflict.

After finishing the game, I ended up liking Emmrich and Harding. I didn't give a shit about Harding back in DA:I but now I like her even more 😆. Emmrich's quest was the most impactful to me, I chose to revive Manfred, and after that, I saw how much he loves him, that scene was heartwarming. Kudos to their voice actors 🙌🏻

I resonate with Bellara's quest, but I wish it could've been more dramatic. Like after what happened to her brother, her companions should've given her a hug and comfort. But I still like her quest; kudos to her voice actress too.

What bothered me was that Varric and Solas both got sidelined. I wanted Solas to have more screentime! I wanted to see him more as a villain. I don't know why Bioware decided to kill Varric, to me, it felt like they just used him in the game to attract fans. If you ask me, that's disrespectful to Varric's writer, who got laid off.

The romance here sucks. I was disappointed in how they handled Lucanis' romance. I didn't feel the buildup of my Rook's relationship with him. I felt like he was interacting with me as a friend 😭. Veilguard has the weakest romance system in Bioware games.

Overall, I would rate this game 7/10. I think the game is decent, but not for everyone. This game is for casual players who want to experience different RPGs, but for DA fans? It really depends. As a longtime fan, I would say I'm half-satisfied with Veilguard. I just wish the writing/dialogue could've been better and not repetitive. I wish we had an option to become evil and upset companions if we make bad choices, but sadly the game lacks conflict and disparity. Veilguard didn't keep up with the current RPGs, despite its lack of RPG elements.

Will I replay this game? Yeah, someday maybe. Do I think the game is that bad? Nope, but it's lacking. The game is not for everyone. Do I think the game deserved the hate it got? Yes and no. Yes, because the writing/dialogue in this game is basic and some times felt off. And no, because I still think the game is fun. Do I want DA5 to happen in the future? Sure, why not.

Despite all my criticisms of this game, I still love Dragon Age. This series saved me in high school. If my younger self were here and witnessed Veilguard, I know she'd be happy because she waited so long for this game.

[arrenkae]

The main problem with not importing previous choices into Veilguard is not even having no references specifically to our characters - it sucks, but I can deal with that. Technically, yes, it is perfectly plausible that they don't get brought up. It's been many years. Varric already told Rook everything about Hawke. Morrigan is a private person. That's fine. Leave their eventual fate to our headcanons.

The main problem is all the other events, *important* events that now can't be brought up and have to be side stepped around because there are too many variables that could be potentially changed by our choices. We are having a mega-blight! What could be a better time than to bring up the history of the fifth blight and how it ended? Just a few lines. Mention our Warden's origin, tell us how the history remembers them now. Honestly, this alone would be enough to make any Origins fan tear up a bit.

But nooope. We can't do that. Not when we don't even know the Warden's race, gender, whether they survived the archdemon or not. Come to think of it, wouldn't it be a BIG FUCKING DEAL if our Warden survived killing the archdemon? This story is recent and well-known enough, especially among the Grey Wardens. We are fighthing archdemons now. Morrigan WAS THERE. Surely SOMEONE would remember this and think about bringing this up? Right??

And we had so many characters "heading to Weisshaupt" in Inquisition and then... nothing. Yes, at this point both Loghain and Alistair could plausibly be dead already. But this means they didn't even have to bring them back! Just show us a small memorial as we're running through Weisshaupt. Give us a couple of lines about them being there. Show us our Warden's grave if they died against the archdemon. I saw so many people getting emotional over seeing the chalice from Ostagar - can you imagine how much of an impact *this* would make?

...tbh, I am fully convinced that SOMETHING happened in the development cycle that made importing more choices impossible, and then bioware had to work around that. I don't think that it was a deliberate writing choice, despite the weird excuses we saw from the writers. This created a lot more problems than it solved.

[aeantizlkamenwati]

Final Veilguard Thoughts

I just completed Veilguard 100% platinum (though honestly it is one of the easiest platinums so not much accomplishment there). I have to say again it is not a bad GAME just bad Dragon Age. It reeks of multiplayer and loses everything that made DA unique because of it. And the epilogue is a slap in the face with their “we honor past stories and stories are about change” fourth wall bs and lack of closure. But below the cut is a massive amount of spoilers.

The TL;DR is it’s just a massive missed opportunity and a reboot.

The game up until Weisshaupt is sub par. Boring. It is like they knew the middle and end and then realized they’d have to do a beginning. And then just catered to the newbies and halfassed everything or didn’t do more than one draft. Again the repeating, the handholding the lore while also spoiling everything unnecessarily.

Ghil’s introduction is clownish. Treviso and Minrathous was just fucking blah especially compared to the later missions. It’s just a single fight. And the dialogue Ghil gets? It just makes her a joke. It’s not until Weisshaupt that you see oh she’s crazy and a goddess. It actually felt big while the stupid binary choice was just “eh pick who to fuck I guess”. Maybe if there were other choices like that, it wouldn’t feel so…thrown in there for the sake of supposed stakes.

But the first forty hours (if you are like me and refuse to do main story stuff until everything else is done) is just bad build up. I did not want to push forward until after Weisshaupt. It should NOT take half the game to actually get good. Blood of Arlathan was amazing. It actually felt like I was against a god. It was DIFFERENT than all the other running around quests the game had been up to that point.

I think it would’ve benefitted from more diversity overall. Like gameplay diversity. I think the combat especially needed more. It fucking sucks. It’s just a button masher with no thought. And every boss and big enemy is the same: shield, find the things to pop to break shield, rinse and repeat two-four more times. On storyteller difficulty it’s a joke. And every mission is just fight forward. No puzzle or interesting quests except Blood of Arlathan. Maybe Weisshaupt from the “everything is fucked” thing (it really felt like there should’ve been another REAL everything is fucked, dodging shit that fucked up Treviso/Minrathous to really introduce Ghil) The ending is a bit of a slog too but I enjoyed the cutscenes and war council stuff (again because it was different and interesting and felt like Rook actually had a reason to do it). The end boss battle was cool though not a big fan of the kaiju battles. I called the plot twists at the beginning of the game. Not sure if that's a mark for or against the writing. And the more interesting bits about regret weren’t given enough time to really sink in.

So I think it’s a pacing issue as well as a dialogue issue. I feel like they missed an opportunity to really do something with Rook’s regrets. They are just optimistic and driven all the fucking time that by the time we get trapped in the prison, that’s the first time we see Rook has self doubts and whatnot. There’s this one dialogue line that hit with the masc 1 voice, talking with Solas afterwards that’s “I liked working with you” and it just hits. Where was that emotion before? That level of feeling in the dialogue? If the game is about regrets why didn’t they lean into it??? Instead they leave it blank and deprive Rook of anything interesting, of the thing that made them UNIQUE among the DA protags.

I mean the Inquisitor could be "idk what's going on and why I'm here", but they didn't really have the option to doubt themselves. Hawke was our "everything falls apart around me and I'm just pure chaos" protag. And the Warden was the "Guess I'm in charge now, everyone deal with it" protag. Rook could've been really interesting, to show the different kinds of doubts and regrets. Maybe they are just a scared kid trying to hold it together because they've fucked up everything else in their life. Or maybe they are just pissed that they are the one stepping up. (I also think they could've added depth to the whole elf god thing. Could've also been a nice reason to "fix" the DA racism instead of pastel paint it over). They could’ve utilized the companions to show they cared about Rook that they see what they are going through.

But nope! Bland nothing you have to headcanon your way out of. And Rook is still blander than Origins because everyone knows who they are but the player. They should’ve done something about the backgrounds to set the scene for each Rook. Like resolve them in the game too, not just introductory scenes. Like Aldwir could've had a special mission where them and Strife hash it out (with probably more yelling) cause I kinda felt Strife was Rook's father figure and it would hurt to be constantly told they fucked up by him. Mercar could've had scenes with their family, talking about what it is to lead. SOMETHING to tie Rook to the story and flesh them out beyond headcanons (any developer who relies on headcanons to make their stories interesting, unless the protag is meant to be a Dovahkiin blank space, is fucking lazy, rushed or bad at their job. I don't want to be told "this is the correct Rook", I want enough personality and story to sink my teeth into and Rook is a paper thin vanilla wafer) And they are fucking contradictory? You choose the elf option for tattoos in the beginning and Rook states they were not raised Dalish. They tell Taash they were raised in a city. Then you can say you are Dalish??? And have all the knowledge of a Dalish about the culture. When canonically that’s doubtful. But nope rainbows and sunshine no problems here.

Then the companions are the biggest missed opportunity. I can forgive shitty gameplay (Andromeda) if the companions are good. And this is where the multiplayer starts really showing up. The fact that 90% of their bonding is completely missable and requires you to go into their rooms, stand there, and then just leave without a word from Rook is bullshit (and weird as fuck). Even Andromeda let you have conversations outside cutscenes.

And there’s a lack of balance between the characters. Fucking Taash has like 20 cutscene things and everyone else gets a quarter of that. Why isn’t Lucanis’ healing as important as Taash’s gender journey??? Or Bellara’s grief?? I like Taash don’t get me wrong (at least when they aren’t acting like a moody edgy teenager. That’s just bad writing) but they feel like the favorite child and everyone else is just there. Even NB Rook gets shafted for Taash’s story. I feel I know Taash and have missed everything with the other characters.

This lack of development hits mostly in the romance. Lucanis’ is nonexistent it seems with the majority of flirts doing nothing. One almost kiss and then the companion quest doesn’t change and boom can be in a relationship with nothing new added. It feels like they got the okay to do single player and went “oh shit now we have to do romance…uh just throw the same formula and they’ll be fine”. Like the companions have better chemistry with each other. Rook is just...nothing (no one can convince me they are supposed to be like Shephard because there's having a predefined character and having a blank doll that talks like it has personality) This is a step down from even fucking Origins and DA2. At least those were unique with their own plot lines and themes. At this point I’d take the cringey sex montage of Origins over this nothing burger. Those had more depth than a classic Disney film.

And who’s bright idea was it to put the kiss/make out scene right after you just found out your mentor is dead and you’ve been played with by a god (and why wasn’t that given more room to breathe??? I would feel fucking violated as fuck! But given that one of the writers once wanted you to have sex with a demon masquerading as Leliana I'm also not fucking surprised the idea of consent got thrown out the window) and watched your friend die???? How is that okay???? And didn’t one of the directors say “this is the most romantic da game to date” or something??? Seriously? You call this more romantic than having a literal Princess Bride moment with Josie? Or Dorian learning to want more that he can have more? Be for fucking real.

The lack of all of this gives me serious doubt about Mass Effect 5. I expect a full reboot like this where they just nuke everything off screen so they don’t have to deal with it and call it something like “necessary to avoid pointless one liners” again. I can think of several decisions I made that could’ve aided the South. You know like the schism between the Grey Wardens. But nope. Apparently the only things that matter are: did you want to fuck Solas (as Dorian gets one line and everyone else gets nothing), did you want fucking kill Solas, and how would you like to fucking do that. They made it where there’s only one answer that’s given the care to feel correct/complete. And even then Solas’ sudden "k I’ll bind myself" feels rushed or just cobbled together cause that ending needed more. I don’t care if it’s supposed to be vague that’s an excuse for shitty writing. I should feel like I got closure and I don’t. I just feel insulted given how little care they gave for the previous stories and how little they cared about this one apparently. I shouldn’t have to rely on fanfics to fix your damn story BioWare. Fanfics should build upon what’s there not do your job for you. They could’ve done something interesting but instead we get an indistinguishable multiplayer clone trying to masquerade as a Dragon Age with piss poor pacing, dialogue and direction.

I’m out. It felt like them killing Varric was a metaphor for them killing the older games. A nice fuck you to the player base

[pawpotato]

Ranting about DA with some veilgaurd spoilers under the cut

I'm am once again seething at the lack of acknowledgement of the Hero of Fereldan. You mean to tell me the blight is back with a vengance in the south, there's huge revelations on what the blight even IS, Weisshaupt has fallen, and they are NOWHERE to be seen.

I know its because they could be dead in some people's playthroughs and they don't wanna deal with complicated past choices. But it still sucks.

Does Bioware know how much money I would pay them to get a fucking resolution for my girl? She was researching how to cure the taint! What came of that?! Can she and Alistair retire peacefully!?! Am I screaming into the void!?

[utilitycaster]

who out here sieging they weisshaupt

anyway. I understand wardens by definition go to horrible blighted places BUT every warden location SUCKS ASS. Let's do the rundown. A lot has happened.

Siege of Weisshaupt! I took Emmrich with me (Davrin is required and also makes sense) and while, again, I'm on Dumbass mode for combat, I must admit it kinda sucks that two of my healers AND rook are all most lethal with necrotic damage and darkspawn are resistant. this was perhaps a bad idea. I lived though, and I punched the warden and everyone except the academics approved, which is hilarious. Sorry Emmrich and Bellara I am NOT using my words. Also Bellara you'd feel better if you punched someone. Also bringing Emmrich IS pretty funny both because he is a very good healer/buffer and as Davrin and I are both tanks and damage dealers and my physical damage is nothing to sneeze at it's fine; and because Davrin is like IT IS MY DESTINY TO DIE IN GLORY AND DUTY and Emmrich is like the thought of dying makes me sick to my stomach and I am a necromancer.

I'll admit the sad failure family dinner and the solas convo after AND Varric all were like BY THE WAY YOU SHOULD DO COMPANION QUESTS and it was a little clunky BUT some people are stupid and I appreciate the game makes it obvious to them. also, talking to Lucanis, Davrin, and Neve was very fun for me (tragedy enjoyer). I now see why you talk with Davrin so much; he changes drastically after Weisshaupt and becomes much more interesting and you need to have that baseline.

I am slowly regaining Neve's trust! Also Neve being terrible at making coffee and Lucanis flirting with her in the form of "oh my god your coffee is the worst thing ever let me make you some" is a fucking. main quest interaction. Then I took Lucanis to Dock Town for the mission while Davrin dealt with his justified depressive episode.

The scene where Spite possesses Lucanis is missable if you don't check, and that's an oversight on Bioware's part, I must admit. Also I NEVER take the comedy mask option but I had to for the "you can't caffeinate your way out of this line" even though I as a real life person drink a quart of jet-fuel level coffee a day. Once a vending machine gave me three Celsius Essentials for the price of one and I briefly considered finding out what would happen if I drank all of them, and I'd already had coffee that day. Point being Lucanis's inclinations are relatable.

I'm back on that sweet sidequest life before The Cauldron quest, particularly the companion quests. There's like 3in Arlathan I haven't even picked up and of course I must go back to the wetlands my beloathed to see Evka (one of two good things in the wetlands, the other being Antoine). I DID do Bellara's companion quest. I love how the part 2 companion quests are like your friends are GOING THROUGH IT. Again. not subtle. but I do love justified angst. Neve literally the only person who isn't in a deep depression or anxiety spiral right now. I'm even playing Rook as feeling bad enough to admit weakness to Solas. Oh anyway Bellara's quest is great. Matt Mercer is there again, in a performance that made me go "wait is that Matt Mercer?" His delivery is incredible. Obsessed with how everyone was like MATT MERCER IS IN THIS GAME. HE'S A HISSING SKELETON. and actually he's playing two major characters.

I'll make a separate post later about this specifically, but I love the crossroads and could spend all my time there, which is why I've already fought Mythal I guess. I HAVE learned some of my lesson re: sidequesting aggressively though, and I am saving the necropolis dragon for when I'm "not only level thirty...four?" and "am better at this".

Again, my tolerance for clunky-ass dialogue in fantasy is high BUT. This game uses the word "fucking" so why do they keep saying "butt" instead of "ass." It tracks for Davrin, who is a dork, but I'm sorry and not to self insert excessively but Rook would say the word "ass" in front of Mila. there is a fucking archdemon. let the child learn the cuss words.

GOT A BLACK EMPORIUM INVITE BABEYYYYYYYYYYYYY time to FINISH MY GIFT GIVING

[bearsizedant]

I suck at liveblogging but anyway!!! finished the seige of weisshaupt (pretty sure that's also the end of act 1) and whoo boy. that will be living rent free inside my cranium. anyway I don't have anything to really comment on because my brain is still marinating but I need. to make out sloppy style with davrin. it will fix me

[greyswarden]

i keep thinking about how ariel is definitely going to get questioned about the fact that he didn’t die when killing the archdemon when he’s called to weisshaupt post-blight. he lies to the first warden’s face of course saying he doesn’t know anything or why that happened (lol. lmao even) because i think a warden surviving the killing blow of an archdemon should be a bigger deal among warden ranks. i do think he wouldn’t like the first warden because (from what we’ve seen) they seem very traditional and sticks to that while ariel is like. not like that. he will defy tradition, duty and orders if he doesn’t agree with how they do things, like he doesn’t have that ‘whatever it takes!!! WHATEVER IT TAKES!!!’ grey warden mindset. weisshaupt was definitely angry at him and alistair for the whole getting involved in politics thing but that goes without saying but i do feel that weisshaupt gets angry at ariel a lot for different reasons

[skylordhorus]

there ARE things i like in veilguard!! its inherently a fun game to play! its just- it rarely feels like dragon age to me.

the most dragon age its felt so far and where i was having a GREAT time has been the grand necropolis, and the siege of weisshaupt. the latter i think because it reminds me of events in previous games like the end of act 2 in da2, adamant fortress, and the battle of ostagar, but tighter, and the former because it was new* lore abt an area and group we’ve been aware of previously but know very little about, and lore/worldbuilding is one of the key things that makes dragon age. its also just a fun area, especially as a mourn watcher

but other writing decisions?? (BIG SPOILERS below the cut!!!)

a ~twist~ being that varric has in fact been dead the whole time?? and youve been hallucinating him??? and for WHAT? to make you angrier at solas?? im already pissed at solas!!!! and youre telling me that NO ONE has gone ‘wow it sucks that varric is dead’ the entire game?? rook and varric and harding have apparently known each other for like a year (thats another issue altogether) and she in particular doesnt sit down with you to mourn? the hell????

the game basically telling you to your face that you should do your companion quests~! if you want to succeed in the final battle!! like i wasnt going to do that in a dragon age game anyway, but also one of two* companions is apparently doomed to die no matter what which is completely unprecedented for this series- even in da2, a three act tragedy, where there is constant friction between you and your companions, if you make the effort, they can all survive. and in dai in the fade, you get some outs with world state flexibility (and particularly stroud. sorry stroud). it fuckin sucks.

southern thedas being fucking obliterated offscreen. hello returning players of the series, you know all those beloved places you spent your time in? gone now! :) this is where previous choices should REALLY have come into play, with i feel, comparatively minimal expenditure since you dont actually go to the south. whether you exiled the wardens or not SHOULD make a difference. who is on the orlesian throne SHOULD make a difference! hello?????

everyone is too Nice. and this is coming from someone who has a mod in da2 to make your companions a bit less awful to each other. theres just. no friction. you had to work in the previous games to get companions to like you, but here, no matter what, everyone is just chill, or gets over something almost immediately. sometimes companions argue with each other but again, its solved almost immediately. intervening between emmrich and taash felt like talking to children. the crows are too nice. there is no racial tension in tevinter. and i feel terrible bringing it up because youve got all these bigots foaming at the mouth about how the game is ~too Woke™️~ and i dont want to be misconstrued as like ‘i think my character should be called slurs! :)’. its not that. its just. how can you progress the societies in your world if you wont address the issues you have previously established and have had a big impact before. theres a massive disconnect here. it feels, i hate to say it, a bit sanitised. (but have no fear!!! /s you have not escaped irl bigotries- the rivani lords of fortune outfits are orientalist as shite and you encourage taash to ~pick which half of her culture to embrace~ for example)

[clowndensation]

okay over-involved asa timeline.

9:24 - born to two circle mages in ostwick. immediately taken to be raised in a chantry, per custom.

9:29 - develops magic a little after his fifth birthday :\ he's packed off to kirkwall's circle with absolutely no idea what's going on. thinks he's done something wrong, and now neither his parents nor the maker want him anymore.

9:29-9:37 - this is not a good time for him. quiet and withdrawn as a kid, but becomes more rebellious as he makes friends. absolutely incapable of seeing his friends get treated poorly by templars without stepping in and making things worse, not always in a way that correctly diverts the templars' attention solely onto him. was in quite a bit of danger of being made tranquil towards the end of this time period, in spite of only being 12/13 at the time.

9:37 - annulment of the kirkwall circle. wahoo! he and a small group of mages escape during the upheaval.

9:39 - asa and his friends make it almost two years outside the circle through constant running and clever shenanigans, but are eventually tracked down outside of perendale through their phylacteries. he also transitions during this period "as a disguise" but never leaves that "disguise" after being found. lmao.

one of asa's friends turns into an abomination in an attempt to kill the templars sent to capture them, but it backfires and the abomination attempts to kill everyone there, including the mages.

by sheer luck, two grey wardens are nearby when the fighting breaks out, and they assist with killing it. the wardens are impressed with asa and one of the other mages, lucena, and after speaking with them, offer to conscript them rather than let them return back to a circle. asa agrees but lucena, shaken by their friend becoming an abomination, says no and is taken back to the kirkwall circle by the templars.

asa is too young to officially join the order on arrival, and instead acts as an initiate, helping out full fledged wardens around weisshaupt.

9:40 - the college of enchanters vote to separate from the chantry. asa hears about this. stand by.

9:41 - the conclave is destroyed! asa demands the wardens help the mages. this obviously doesn't happen, and asa is chastised for taking interest in political matters. asa runs away to see what he can do to help.

a lot happens here that isn't especially relevant atm. he helps out runaway mages until the inquisitor ends up siding with them and bringing them to safety inside skyhold.

he returns to weisshaupt, gets his ass handed to him, and is told that they have no place for deserters, and he's lucky they didn't inform the templars (who still have his phylactery) about him. he argues the semantics of leaving and coming back vs deserting. he's not allowed to join the wardens for a while after this due to his general nature and disposition and inability to even pretend at neutrality in a way that doesn't piss off wardens who suck at neutrality in a more morally bankrupt fashion.

9:50 - asa performs the joining at the tender age of 26.

late 9:50/early 9:51 - the thorne grey warden backstory happens and he's immediately in the fucking doghouse again. he meets varric :)

9:52 - present day

[you-didnt]

Dragon Age The Veilguard thoughts!!

I wrote almost 2k words and I have honestly no clue who the audience is here but if someone asks me “Did you like The Veilguard?” I can just pull this up.

This is all from the perspective of someone whose favourite game was DA2 and who didn’t love DAI.

Massive spoiler for basically everything ahead

It wouldn’t be Dragon Age if it didn’t kinda suck and I have so many gripes with this game. This being said… I loved it. I have to think it over some more because ofc there’s a lot of recency bias right now, but I think I can say for sure that it had some of my favourite parts in all Dragon Age games.

What I loved:

The overall arc of the game. It felt very coherent and also: Things happened. I replayed Inquisition some months ago and was shocked at how few main quests the game actually has. It also helps that almost all companion quests somehow tie into the main story.

The antagonists were scary!! I was genuinely scared of them and could feel their looming threat (quite literally in Weisshaupt) throughout the entire game. They really learned from whatever happened with Corypheus.

I vastly prefer those smaller types of maps to the huge ones filled with nothing in Inquisition. I wouldn’t change a thing about them.

The companions ohmygod the companions. I loved the DAO crew, absolutely adored DA2 and felt pretty indifferent about most of the Inquisition companions. These guys are DA2 level for me. It’s the found family, alright. That’s why I had a physical reaction when, in my playthrough, Davrin died – I really, really didn’t expect it. I actually yelled and started violently sobbing when Assan flew after him. When Solas said “Did you really expect to make it through this without casualties?” I was like, well, yeah??? I was also so afraid of Neve being dead, too and the way this gutted me shows what a great job the game did at making me feel attached to the characters. Manfred, too – the way I played my Rook they would have probably said “yeah man go for litchdom” to Emmerich but I, the player, couldn’t.

Speaking of the ending: I said before that I think it’s one of the best things Bioware has done. The final quest felt very Mass Effect 3 and I love the ending of ME3 so much (minus the last 10 minutes that we’re gonna ignore) so this was a huge win for me personally.

Rook!!! I don’t mind that they’re somewhat of an established character, because that’s what I also loved about Shepard in Mass Effect. It’s so funny to me that they’re a bit of a cringefail loser and I’d like to think Varric saw them and thought “This kid reminds me of Hawke”, which is why he recruited them.

The CC and hair physics. Can you believe we got a Dragon Age game with GOOD HAIR???

The art direction of the game. Past me who made fun of it looks so stupid right now because everything and everyone is beautiful.

I know the bar is on the floor, but: I played this game start to finish with no major glitches (I clipped through the floor once and my Playstation crashed during the final credits). This SHOULD be normal for an AAA game, but unfortunately it’s not, so I have to give credits where they’re due.

The lore drops. Some require some suspension of disbelief but all in all, the way everything is connected, feels very satisfying. I do feel sorry for everyone who’s annoyed by the “it’s all elves” lore because once again, it’s all elves.

Solas and his dynamic with Rook. Also the way he completely broke down sobbing at the end (Gareth David-Lloyd the man you are). I’ve never done a Solavellan playthrough because I don’t find him compelling in a romantic way but goddamn do I love him as a character apart from that.

They haven’t forgotten about The Forgotten Ones!!! (no pun intended) I was stoked to hear about them and even SEE them and I would love to know even more about them!!!

Isseya. I very recently read the last flight and at some point in the game I started suspecting and when it was actually revealed… very satisfying.

What I feel meh about:

The music. It’s good, no doubt, but it didn’t leave much of an impression. Listened to it on Spotify and I am a fool I take it back.

The combat. At first I enjoyed it but then I got to bigger bosses and as a mage it was just absolutely frustrating. I was Dark Souls-rolling around the place because every single enemy decided to ignore my companions and attack only me so there were 3 mages firing at me from the distance and some big guy jumping me every 0.5 seconds while my companions were chipping away health at snails pace. I was so annoyed I changed the settings of two sliders in the custom difficulty setting – and then I went to Weisshaupt and beat Razikale in 5 minutes lmao. Maybe the new patch changed it, I can’t say, but in my next playthrough I am so going to be a warrior.

The pacing is a bit all over the place. As many people have said before, the game takes forever to take off.

Unfortunately, the writing. Everyone in Thedas seems to be super chill because you just drop that the elven gods are here and they are evil and everyone is like “alright”. The only one who has a valid reaction to it is the First Warden and I punched him in the face for it. I played and elf Rook who at some point said to Solas “Just because I have the same ear-shape as the gods doesn’t mean I’ll fall to my knees in front of them” and Solas replied “Yeah that’s luckily true for most elves” and I was like… really??? REALLY??? I don’t know, I’m not religious myself but if I was and my literal god showed up and said “I can make all your dreams come true if you worship and join me” … idk man. I think I would be sold.

The game really suffers from how pretty much every decision from Dragon Age 1-3 was disregarded. I can imagine this sparked a few discussions at Bioware HQ because it is a bold choice that did not pay off at all. I know why it was necessary and why you can’t include every single choice and option but come on man, more than 3 choices who all have to do with Solas wouldn’t have been too much to ask. You could pretty much feel the strain they went through to avoid saying certain things as not to establish anything from the past games as canon and it didn’t do the writing any favours.  

The romances are really lacking. I watched a few on Youtube and they're all so... bland. And short. I romanced Taash and it started with them pressing Rook against a wall and I was like !!! and then..... nothing really happened? Every time they wanted to talk to me I was like "kith? Kith please?" and I got one somewhere in a dragon den but after that...... nothing.

I personally don’t mind the wiping of the world state in all of southern Ferelden by saying “yeah the Blight killed everything” that much, also because it’s been 10 years since Inquisition, 20ish (I think?) since Origins and I expected things to have changed drastically in this timespan anyway, but I can also see why it’s frustrating.

I also really get it when people say “this game feels like it was written with HR in the room”.  What bothers me even more though is how much hand-holding there is. When Morrigan explained the Mythal fragment and then started to read the Oxford definition of fragment to me I was like oh my godddd.

Speaking of definitions: It breaks my heart to say it, but a lot about Taash’s story made me cringe – and I say this as someone who is on a “gender journey” and romanced Taash. I saw someone on Reddit talk about it and what they said really resonated with me: It feels like Trick Weekes wanted their Dorian moment too and overshot the mark. I think it’s admirable that they included it, especially considering this is what caused the most backlash from the “anti-woke” mob and they must have been aware of that. The coming out story itself was mostly well done and made me tear up once or twice, but the codex entries with, once again, what looked like dictionary entries of the queer bible? Maevaris saying “You are valid”? Including “trans women are women!”? Not even gonna mention the insufferable Isabela scene. It’s like someone went through a checklist and it unfortunately made the non-binary representation they were going for feel like tokenism.

Some plot holes I can’t ignore/questions I have:

Varric. There was a point in the game where I thought “is this some kind of sixth sense bullshit” and I dismissed it because I thought “nah that’s too stupid”. While I do have to say the emotional impact of Varric saying “I think you already know” at the end fucking hit me like a truck, the plot twist didn’t make any sense if you consider how beloved Varric was by everyone. You’re really telling me there was no funeral for him? The inquisitor didn’t care to mention it at all? Isabela??? They were all just like “Yeah Varric died and Rook keeps talking to him but we’re just not gonna mention it” Were Neve and Harding holding all the others at gunpoint like? “Hey if Rook starts talking to Varric… play along.”

Where are the Qunari? I don’t mean the Antaam, I mean the literal Qunari. Inquisition ended with them being close to invading Tevinter, they actually invade Tevinter in the comics and now we just have a bunch of deserters and the Qunari are also pretty chill with it?

The Lighthouse/Fade. Throughout all of Inquisition people keep mentioning how no one has ever physically entered the Fade since the magisters and how it’s such a feat that the Inquisitor did it twice and now we’re all just… chilling here, bringing friends over, and no one mentions how remarkable that is?

I played a Crow and cringed at the found family-fication of them. So was everything Zevran said about them a lie or are we gonna act like all the evil shit they do is actually cool?

Maybe I just didn’t get it, but I don’t think Isseyas motivation made any sense. I thought her corruption and being driven insane from her guilt was extremely cool, but wasn’t it the guilt of blighting griffons that made her that way? If so, why would she think blighting them again would be their salvation?

We saw a Titan from the outside and I think it looked extremely cool, I took several screenshots of it. But did no one ever notice that some mountains look weirdly humanoid shaped? It had a face and hands and everything and sure, if you see that once you think “that’s a fun coincidence” but assuming they were all over Thedas, no one gave this a second thought?

So. Where does this leave me? If I had to rate the game from 1-10… I honestly couldn’t say, and fortunately I don’t have to. It felt like Dragon Age and when I say this I mean the good, the bad and the ugly. I don’t want to outweigh the pros and the cons, I don’t want to have an entire objective opinion because the way I feel about it will always be subjective. There are so many things that bother me, but in the end the game made me laugh, cry, fall in love with the characters and it showed me a new side of this world I love I didn’t know yet. This ultimately leaves me no choice but to say: I genuinely loved the game and I’m grateful I’ve got to experience it.

[alialioxenfreeee]

After 85 hours I've finally finished DA:TV for the first time! And I need somewhere just to throw out my thoughts. Will tag spoilers appropriately of course + will post it under the cut to be safe. SORRY IN ADVANCE, THIS POST IS LONG. I HAVE A *LOT* OF FEELINGS.

So before I yeet all of my emotions into writing I want to immediately say that overall I did enjoy Veilguard, very much, and I don't regret buying/playing it for a second.

The first few quests I remember feeling how happy I was to be back in Thedas and it felt really good. I made an effort before its release to ignore pretty much any discussion, good or bad about veilguard because I didn't want to go in with any swayed expectations. And I think that helped me enjoy the game so much more.

Won't go through everything I liked because this post would be fucking gigantic (and it's already BIG) , but overall the companions were great, loved the quests, the areas were beautiful (Treviso my beloved) and the supporting cast was great too.

Now to the...other bits.

To start I have to mention the development hell this game went through. I remember in the years prior reading how many hands this thing changed, all the Bioware cuts etc and saying "Oh this is never going to release." And the Dragon Age story overall, with all its characters and side plots and backstories, is BIG. And they were NEVER going to fit everything from the past three games into Veilguard. To cover all of the loose ends likely would have needed another half of the game, to at least do it well.

Of course this doesn't mean I wasn't disappointed with the way some things went. How a lot of prior choices weren't carried over and characters were straight up retconned (goodnight Kieran, sweet prince).

But I think the devs needed to make a choice between actually trying to give DA a decent shot at "ending" (I'll get to that) and going back and tying up every loose end from the past 4 games. And there were a LOT of those left in every game prior. I did genuinely think we'd have Fenris maybe mentioned in the Shadow Dragons for example, that he was out there shoving fists through Venatori bodies etc. But they were never going to cater to every single person's wishes in regards to who they brought back. It sucks, but that's how it is.

I also wish, very VERY much that The Warden was at LEAST mentioned somewhere. Even if it's a small cameo. Last we heard they're out (sometimes with their love interest depending on choices) looking for a cure for the Blight. I did like the cameo of the chalice in the Joining, and how it was one of the few things recovered from Weisshaupt. But just some mention, even if it's a letter or a report or something that they're out there would be nice. Maybe they send The Wardens what information they've found and you uncover a very small but slightly better way at defeating the blight. Obvs Hawke had their moment in DA:I and the Inquisitor had their moment here but it would be nice to have a nod of recognition for the one who started this whole thing off.

One last bit before I get to the ending rant but as a lot of people have already pointed out, I do wish that we got just a little more interaction with our Love Interests. Also, not sure if I was just unlucky (I romanced Lucanis, it was...slower than I expected BUT I don't regret it ultimately) but I got FAR more "hang out" mini quests with Taash and Davrin than I did with Lucanis, my LI. I did enjoy those mini quests, but even the ability to share a small moment with them like in Inquisition (a lil' smooch!) would have been nice.

hhh okay the ending.

IT WAS........okay????

We were, admittedly, warned before the game even came out that there would be "sacrifices" and that "not everyone may survive" but...the way that you had to choose between Davrin or Harding to die defending you was harsh. I think they were trying to stress the seriousness and danger of the situation, given that in DA:I for the most part everyone survives fine.

This was (at the time to everyone's knowledge) the LAST DA game, so they had to really up the danger factor. But because of how little time the team had to stop Elgar'nan's plan, there was little to no time to reflect and absorb the losses. The team points this out too, but even after the game ENDS there isn't a chance to run around the Lighthouse one more time and have some aftermath chats. I get that the deaths / kidnappings were used to push Rook forward in a way, to show that they weren't trapped in their Regrets like Solas was, but for me it didn't have the weight that I think it should have.

The Evanuris / Stopping Solas bit I actually didn't mind. I got the "Secret" ending and putting in the time to learn about Solas, to defeating (or convincing) Mythal to help put a good word in etc wasn't a bad way to wrap it up! Maybe because I am one of the few people who isn't a solasmancer lmao, but I was actually okay with how all of that culminated.

I mentioned it prior but GOD I wish we got the chance to at least run around The Lighthouse one last time after it was all done, or just something other than the quick slideshow recap. I quite literally (not kidding here) yelled "THAT WAS IT?" at my screen when I got taken back to the main menu lmao. I have so many questions left yknow? Like, is Neve (The one that got kidnapped / blighted for me) still blighted, or did they figure that out? Her mention in the slideshow doesn't cover it. And although yeah, your team got to have one last moment with you before the final fight, I really wanted to chat with them again after it was over, especially my Love Interest! It would have been cathartic. Rook never really got that moment to finally deal with all this grief and pressure and stress that they'd been carrying and I think it would have "humanized" them a bit if they had such a moment.

And in regards to the "Secret" ending bit...

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh??????? So there's some even MORE secret bad guys who were pulling the strings on all the other antagonists from the past few games?? It's like that meme in the church where there's constantly another shooter aiming at the last one in front of them.

I don't really know how to feel about this. I'm sat here thinking back through all the previous games' antagonists and how apparently it wasn't completely their own will and decision to do what they did, but that they were ALL being secretly guided and influenced? I can SEE (mainly in Veilguard) the tiny little glimmers of foreshadowing. The "Storm" thing the original Qunari ran from, what Anaris was afraid of etc. But they'd already retconned a lot for Veilguard alone and now it feels like a lot of what made the past games great is going to be changed, slightly.

It's far too early to really tell, of course. Bioware have said they're now 100% focused on ME5 (And I am weeping with joy as it's my favourite game series of all time) and ofc they haven't even so much as mentioned a sequel (probably the execs need to see how well Veilguard does and will make a decision based off of that) but...I guess we'll see!

As I mentioned, way, WAY earlier (if you've actually come this far I am so sorry. I just needed somewhere to dump my thoughts. Tysm for actually reading my rambles) that OVERALL I did enjoy DATV. It wasn't a perfect game by any means but I am very thankful for them continuing DA's story, even if it's not completely the way we expected / wanted.

They have mentioned there are zero plans for a DLC but god I think it would help, like a mini Citadel DLC. Catch up with companions and supporting characters, have better scenes with Romantic Interests, give your Rook the moments they deserve to really process and come to terms with everything that's happened. But I guess, there's always fanfics!

Okay that's pretty much it. Sorry again for the giant walls of text, but I needed this lmao. Aaaaand just as I finish this I see that they released an N7 Day Jacket for the game, ffs. Time to replay, I GUESS.

(Not yet though, the FFXIV update is around the corner and I need to deal with THAT, first.)