#and I was playing veilguard but not super super into it like previous DA games. and now that's over too

[velkyr]

man I am so tired of floating around in a sea of next to no emotion about anything I need to be held afloat by some kind of rabid fixation again. or maybe just not be coasting along on depression and the occasional sprinkle of dopamine idk

[yamisnuffles]

DATV Spoiler Free Review

I beat Veilguard a couple days ago and have had some time to let it settle in my brain. So, without getting into the nitty gritty and more spoilery things, here are my overall feelings on the game.

The Great:

The world itself. The scenery. It was really gorgeous and felt fully alive in a way that none of the previous games have quite managed. Since it wasn't as open world as DAI nor as narrow in scope as DA2 (nor as old as DAO lol), it felt more vital. Definitely a place where the advances in graphics helped, I'm sure.

The Good:

The companions. I wouldn't say any of them blew me away but they all at least ranged from enjoyable to very good. I definitely had my quibbles here and there but I think they were all pretty solid. As such, though I've only done one romance, I'll suppose they're all good. A bit... sparse in my experience and from what I've been hearing, but nice enough.

Overall, I also think the story was pretty good. Like much in this game, nothing that blew me away, but solidly compelling.

Also, mechanically, the gameplay and the glamour system. It still doesn't feel like DA to me but it was enjoyable once I got used to it. It works well with how I play games. And it was nice to just set looks for myself and my companions and not worry about stats vs appearance.

Rook. I have some definite Complaints, and so this point is probably closer to the good to mid range, but they did a pretty good job with letting you pull in your faction stuff. I'm prevented from saying great because it feels like, even with what are supposed to be rougher dialogue choices, you're limited to being mildly pleasant.

The Mid:

The music. This is tragic to me because every previous game had some really standout songs and DAI especially was such a solid soundtrack. I love soundtrack music. Also because Hans Zimmer! I love Hans Zimmer. But the entire thing felt very generic epic fantasy to me. It wasn't bad but it didn't feel good. The only times I ended up moved by the music was when they lifted DAI songs.

The lack of imports. It wasn't the end of the world but did make some cameos feel really off. And for all the talk of making what few things were imported matter, that really didn't feel like the case at all (unless you were in a specific subset of players). I didn't care too much, but it was just enough to make things feel weird, especially with characters like Harding who are so attached to previous stuff.

The Bad:

The world felt so sanitized. I have no issue getting rid of real life bigotry that makes so sense in the context of the world. For example, the sexism in DAO especially made no sense. That said, there was a lot of in world nastiness that is just... gone. The game does a lot of telling us the elves have it bad but doesn't show it. No one bats an eye at a Tevinter mage running about outside of Tevinter. No one cares about a Qunari in occupied Treviso. I suppose it's not the worst thing in the world but it feels weird, especially when it's so central to Solas' motivations.

This sanitization carried on through pretty much everything. All of the factions are presented as good and heroic, even the ones that are historically pretty shady. Your companions are all pleasant and palatable. They have the occasional minor squabble but even when they almost have actual beef, it's solved super easily. You might get some disapproval for decisions but companions never seem to much care or hold it against you, even on really big things. I don't need DA2 levels of interparty drama but, boy did I want a bit more tooth sometimes.

The Awful:

I can't get into it without spoilers but it did a Thing that Bioware sometimes likes to do that I absolutely loathe. This is definitely personal but it ruined some of my desire to replay.

Overall:

I'd give the game a 7/10 or maybe 6/10, depending on how I'm feeling. It was enjoyable for the most part but it had so many things that felt like splinters. Lots of little things that stuck under my skin and bothered me. Would I recommend it? Genuinely depends on the person.

[justshepardthings]

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

my thots on previous games:

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

[eledritch]

hey! are you playing the new dragon age? thoughts!

yes, I finished it!

I have.....a lot of thoughts, but what it boils down to is that while I'd recommend the game (it's generally quite fun as a game, polished, gorgeous environments, combat that is overall fun & dynamic, & it actually made me care about Solas so that's a point in its favor) and I think it's amazing that it exists after such a long & fraught wait, it was disappointing for me in several big ways:

1. I didn't like Rook's character (someone said it feels like a JRPG in the sense that the protagonist is kind of already a defined personality meant to serve as more of an anchor to the party characters and I agree; it felt like Rook got minimal characterization & development throughout). I wish we'd gotten to play Rook's origin story and/or had way more dialogue choices. The flatness of Rook as a PC consistently made it tough for me to get engaged with this game the way I have with the other DA games.

2. Yikes @ Taash & all of the nonbinary/trans rep in the game. I wanted to love Taash so fucking much, you guys. I could not. Every aspect of Taash's character fell flat for me (except their design, that's great), especially their coming out scene with their mom (I thought Shathann was a super interesting character and I felt like the game did not want us to like her, much like DAI wants you to dislike Dorian's dad...but only one of these parents is worthy of disdain). I think the game also does an astonishingly poor job at trying to make a storyline about intersectional identity. Don't get me started on how Qunari, particularly the Antaam, are portrayed in the game...

I also played as a nb Rook and those dialogue choices all felt weird (& sometimes viscerally cringe & HUH) to me too, it only felt affirming when other characters used they/them pronouns for my Rook and bro that's the BARE MINIMUM. so I was just totally disappointed and also confused as to how this happened, given that I've really loved Trick Weekes' writing in the past.

3. There is a lack of inter-party conflict and the romance leaves a lot to be desired. I do think that especially by Act 3 this game does have some ~Dragon Age Edge~ to it (I liked a lot in Act 3, big Mass Effect vibes...at the same time tho, why does a Dragon Age game have Mass Effect vibes?? They've always felt so distinct to me in previous games; less so here). But I get why people were upset that, for example, your Rook can't be a jerk or even critique other characters (though Rook does have a lot of dialogue with what felt to me like an unintentionally condescending tone). They do try to create a confrontational dynamic between Lucanis and Davrin but that felt forced and unconvincing to me.

Because of this, because I never felt like I really knew my companions' core beliefs or flaws, and I wasn't able to argue with them or change/challenge any of their beliefs, I didn't feel very attached to many of the companions. I do think Emmrich was quite well written, and Neve is good too, but I romanced Davrin and I gotta say, the romance in this game was weirdly minimal (in my experience at least). You can't talk to your companions whenever you want. You can't give them a little kiss whenever you want. This is a core aspect of DA games for me so it was a bummer not to see it in Veilguard. There ARE a lot of cool cutscenes and interactions between the other party characters, but Rook is just a witness to those, kind of standing on the sidelines or awkwardly interrupting. Which comes back to the problem of Rook in this game! (For me, at least.)

4. This game's approach to slavery or lack thereof is a glaring issue. I could write a whole essay on this but I won't do so here. Suffice to say: I thought this was handled poorly and in a frankly cowardly way, considering that this game was so big on inclusion and social justice. I played as a Shadow Dragon elf Rook and there was ONE conversation about how "being an elf in Tevinter must be hard" (DUDE...). We do not see slavery in Tevinter except in a few codex entries (one by Dorian which...I HAVE THOUGHTS) and allusions, random NPCs here and there, and "uh oh gotta help the Dalish," etc. Fenris's absence haunts the narrative HARD. This is a big problem and I haven't seen a lot of talk about it, but especially since slavery also existed under the Evanuris, and Solas is supposedly anti-slavery, the way Veilguard consistently swerves around slavery is wild.

Idk, it just feels shitty that they devoted the resources to hiring diversity consultants to write a nonbinary character (presumably, because most of the dialogue about that reads like a DEI statement) but they did not devote time and energy and nuance to including slavery in the narrative in any meaningful way. Although maybe it's for the best that they didn't, given how not nuanced a lot of the writing in this game felt to me.

So, yeah...some things I liked about it and I do think when it comes down to it, Veilguard is a good game, but it's not a great Dragon Age game, and it's certainly not the DA4 I personally wanted :/ I am planning to try to replay it and maybe my thoughts will develop more after that, because believe me I wanna give this game all the chances.

[mogwaei]

No cause I 100% agree about the disappointing lore direction of veilguard. It's a beautiful game (and I'm def gonna play when I get a computer that can handle it, esp for that baddie Emmrich and the overall luscious hair physics I've seen so far), but after all the deep twisting lore build up of the previous games, DAV just felt a little glossed over and shallow in terms of everything that makes a DA game a DA game. Skin deep romance, lack of meaningful choices or sometimes any choices for that matter, and unsatisfying answers to the legacy of questions and theories that the series bore for decades.

(Personally your Ouroborous is my canon continuation at this point and DAV itself is an admittedly very pretty but glorified character creator lol. And besides, your skill and dedication to your art and storytelling practically makes you just as official as any BioWare exec in my eyes 💞💞)

ASFHFKJHGJ (thoughts under cut)

I have WAY too many thoughts about this game as far as the lore goes, but I am not articulate about it the way some others are (Corseque/northgalis on here and twt has pretty much nailed all of my sentiments though). I'm also very careful about what I say because it's annoying to me when people take Very Subjective thoughts personally and get mean about it. That being said, I've read fic that had better lore...and like, I'm proud of mine too! I don't think there's anything wrong with being proud of something you've poured your whole self into, but I feel like I have to say that because someone on twt got offended😂

NOW:

They had me fooled in the beginning! I was super excited and surprised at a great number of things that they touched upon. One of my bigger excitements was the Forgotten Ones + the Forbidden! LIKE HOLY SHIT!!! I can't believe they're more than vague codexes! So there I was waiting for the revelations to get more intense and blow my fuckign mind as I progressed the game, I'm waiting for that detailed lore and insight into who and what they were like...and well, I was a let down. And then it kept happening. A lot, with other things. Many started off strongly and then either didn't go anywhere or stayed superficial? Or the lore was simplified and made into something not deep at all...or deeply unsatisfying lol. Lots of "oh that was almost good!" I'm sort of repeating everything you said, but basically I'm just trying to say I wholeheartedly agree -- also about all the choices, the cutting down of our worldstates...all of it. :(

But YES! The game is achingly gorgeous, I'm a huge fan of the art direction and style. I also adore all the companions and enjoyed them a lot! I think that their quests also suffered a bit of writing issues like the lore did, but whatever...I guess, that's what fanfic is for. I fucking LOVE Emmrich okay, he's my new fav along with Solas (and Varric. And a few others). He's perfect to me and so is my son Manfred. I can't wait to play the other romances too.

!!!!!!!!

And finally, I'm going to spin into the next dimension??? THAT'S INSANE OF YOU TO SAY AND THE HIGHEST COMPLIMENT EVER THANK YOU SO MUCH. omggfgg seriously wow thank you, I'll be floating on rainbows and clouds possibly forever lol💜💜💜

[logarithmicpanda]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - a full review

This is going to have extensive spoilers! the TL;DR is that I had a lot of fun with the game, a very good 8.5/10 overall, also be aware this is highly subjective to my experience as a DA fan

And I lied previously, I am actually doing a second run immediately as an Antivan Crow Rogue hehe

Gameplay

The Good

Actually functional map (I hated the Inquisition map that wouldn't actually let me know where I could walk)

Fun and dynamic combat, the animations are really pretty, the style is fluid

Combos are nice and a good alternative (at least to me) to the stilted strategy stuff. I liked not having to keep track of the companion's healthbar, only their attacks cooldowm

Not overwhelming with useless quests, everything feels tied up either to the companions storylines or to the main issues

Exploration feels nice, probably my favorite part

I realized fairly late in the game that I could boost the broken faction by selling valuables through the Crossroads ship! I think it's fun, and it makes sense, like you're giving supplies to the city that needs it! I wish the shop were in the city itself, but it was fun so I'll allow it

A bit of an occupational bias on my part but I enjoyed how easy the UI made things? Comparing new equipment as soon as you get it, ease in reassigning points in the skill trees...

It's not specific to this game but I really like that there isn't that many weapons/armors but that you gain levels on them. Also huzzah for getting rid of inventory limitation and allowing me to pick every single thing on the map like the gremlin I am. Also also, bonus points for the appearance override on stuff, love being able to be vain rather than wear whatever is stronger even when it's ugly haha

The Bad

The way some zones are blocked with no explanation or hint of when they will unlock is frustrating. I love backtracking when I get a new item/ability and that I can remember several places where to use it, not so much having to go back to random spots and just hope for the best.

Gift giving feels useless, there's barely one line of dialogue and no visible effect on approval. I really wish there had been more gifts and that you'd be able to help each companion make themselves at home throughout the game

I cannot understand the reasoning between making an early choice like the Treviso/Minrathous one lock the romance entirely. I wanted so badly for it to simply make things angsty, to make me work for the romance, only to be rewarded by Lucanis and Neve suddenly being a thing, even as I had been trying to get with either lmao (let me have polyamory if you want to play it this way??)

Aside from unlocking the shops and I'm assuming changing the result of the end battle, the factions were a bit useless. I expected to be able to really send out armies like in Origins maybe...

Dragon battles get repetitive I swear there was like ten of them or something

The final battle dragged a bit for me, it was long but not that hard, just wave after wave of fodder until getting to the main baddie, which. Could have been faster! (I would actually have loved if, for example, the factions allowed me to skip those boring battles lol)

World

The Good

The environments are amazing, Treviso is an incredible city, I liked the designs of the story cards and of the enemies

Some parts (mostly explorations of buildings) felt super reminiscent of DA2 in the best way

The Solas lore is driving me absolutely insane!!!

I really enjoyed the way some things were recontextualized

The choices in the ending feels weighted, like I had to really think through my actions

I really enjoyed the variety there was in terms of side characters and their dynamics

It felt very rewarding to go after the world's hidden secrets, both in terms of story and gameplay

The Bad

There is maybe too much magic. Like put some back.

Where are the consequences of the choices of the previous games? It doesn't even feel like it matters all that much whether the Inquisition disbanded or not

What happened with the Mage/Templar conflict?

Minrathous in the intro is all cool and futuristic why don't we see that for the rest of the game? Dock town is both poor and somehow super sanitized.

Speaking of sanitation... Like I disagree when people say the game is not dark, it has plenty of twisted shit, but there are ways in which the game feels retconed to avoid callouts. You put us in a city built on slavery, but we never really see that. You put us with the Crows, but the horrible, mafia aspect of it is reduced to nothing, smoothed until they're vigilante rather than people who buy kids out of brothels to train them to become assassin (notably through torture!) Also for a game with that much blight - where are the brood mothers? The horrifying concepts that existed in previous games feel like they're being either hidden away or forgotten entirely, to be replaced with only smaller chunks of darkness, if that makes sense.

It feels like the good guys are all good, and the bad guys are bad but really they had reasons to, rather than how it was in previous games: even the good guys are unbelievably morally fucked.

Characters

Just to start, I really enjoyed the variety of options in the character creator. I was able to do the same noses that elves had in DA2, which I really enjoyed as a design choice. I'm also super glad the game had options to be trans and non binary, with no restriction to what that looks like! I was already delighted in BG3, but I am not over having game characters use they/them for me <3

I wish the romances were better (longer, less formulaic, more involved) and that the characters didn't start up morally upright. They're all a bit too wholesome, they don't really have conflict, which I missed from previous games, though I have to say, I love the companions overall a lot more than in Inquisition!

Companions

It was nice to see Harding again, I flirted with her in Inquisition haha. Her questline with the dwarves and the titans ties up nicely with the overall theme of the game

From the trailers I expected to adore Neve and to have a lot of romantic tension with her, but uh the romance was rather underwhelming. I do like her a lot, and her calling Rook Trouble as a cute nickname made me giggle, but tbh I shipped her more with Rana. I already said it but I was not a fan of her and Lucanis, it feels unfair that she and my Rook were both shadow dragons but Lucanis only got mad at me lol. I don't really understand that design choice

Bellara is my surprise fave. She looked kinda interesting to begin with but ended up being sooooo relatable. She's brilliant and awkward and writes books? She got blighted in my run and it was so satisfying to get her back, and to see her exploit the blight for her own ends. I was afraid she was going to remind me too much of Merrill, but the similarities are only surface level.

Lucanis broke my heart and is the main reason I'm doing a second playthrough straight away. I did watch his romance and I think it is a tad underwhelming compared to how the writers were hyping it up, but as a demi, I actually really love the slow burn lmao. I wish his storyline had more conflict with Spite, and touched more on the darker aspects of the crows, but I really liked that they went countercurrent and made him a bit awkward and shy, and obsessed with food and coffee. He's a nerdy (affectionate)

Davrin gave me so many fuckboy vibes at the beginning hahaha he grew on me, his relationship with Assan is lovely and the evolution he has might actually be my favorite of the lot (then again, when have I not enjoyed a character that's just a little bit suicidal). He died in my first run and I cried, definitely changing that for my second run, RIP Harding

Emmrich was really interesting for the lore, but also tragically reminds me of my ex xD so he was off the table as a romance for me but I looked around and it seems he actually has the better romance of the lot! I loved his questline, I'm a sucker for spirits and skulls and green fire hehe. I wish the lich thing was a bit more problematic like. Yeah no I do not actually think turning into an immortal undead that watches over mortals makes any sense, especially when an overall theme of the game seems to be that immortals keeps fucking people over?? Such a weird take to make liches into good people imo

I know Taash is controversial, and I'm not gonna lie they weren't my fave to start with. I do find their storyline a bit too simplistic on the gender side, and plain weird on the cultural side. Why would they have to pick one culture or the other? It's bullshit and it feels tone deaf after the whole argument that they don't have to choose between being a woman and a man. Also (and that's more a general gripe I have with games that touch on dom/sub dynamics) why are the beefy tall people always the doms. Why can't my tiny Rook be the dom, uh?

Returning Characters

The Inquisitor felt like they really were there just to placate fans of Inquisition tbh. I did lookup the solasmancer scene and it is pretty sweet, but for me seeing my Inquisitor again did very little, especially since I had romanced Dorian but that barely seemed to matter.

Speaking of Dorian I was so hyped to see him again, and then felt kinda underwhelmed. His little fight with Maeveris made me feel like I was supposed to pick her over him but tbh I think he's right lol

It was nice to see Isabella again but my Hawke had romanced her so not really seeing her mentioned felt weird as hell. It also felt like Isabella was more a caricature of herself than a character tbh

I was sure Varric was dead from super early in the game because everyone was weird in his scenes hahahaha *sobs* I was sad but I also really liked the way they handled it

Solas is so much more of a dickhead hahaha I was tempted to do the bait and switch even though I had everything ready to reason with him one last time. I liked that I was able to change his mind, but I feel like I should have been allowed to kick him. Just because. His dreadwolf transformation was fire though, 10/10 no notes

Morrigan my beloved I kinda wish they hadn't brought you back. I guessed very early the meaning of her wearing Flemmeth's headpiece thingie, but I think it was underexploited! Their relationship was frought with angst from Origins on, and it feels like it's been retconned, and Morrigan made into someone overall way too nice??? Where is the sense of danger?

Characters that should have returned >:( (or be mentioned a couple times)

The Warden. How do we still not know what happened to their quest of ending the Calling?? In many ways, the game feels like a sequel to Inquisition specifically, and kinda ignores the first two games. (Yeah yeah they need to let new players come in, but still)

Zevran??? I have no words for how disappointed I am to have a game set in Antiva, and the only hints to Zevran are subtle and missable ( I did not get the banter about Crows no longer taking contracts in Ferelden). It would have been so interesting to have him, who comes from the worst, most violent houses of Crows, as a contrast to Lucanis, who was born into it (and whose worst times are glossed over in the game)

I would have liked a mention of Leliana, but I guess since they don't ask if she became the Divine, it was not going to happen. She already came back once so I guess it's fine but still.

A mention of Sven could have been cool (maybe I missed it)

I am so devastated that a game set in Mirathous makes no mention of Fenris, especially after the whole blue wraith thing????? And the design of the spirits like the Caretaker are so reminescent of his lyrium markings, come on, it's not like the devs forgot he existed??? I low key headcanon that a romanced Fenris with a Hawke left into the Fade created the Shadow Dragons, with the name being a wink to Hawke's love of dragons.

Speaking of Hawke. We spend so much time in the Fade in this game it would have been really easy to add their journal or something even if you don't want to have the character physically there??

I need Merrill and Solas to be in the same room. Come on. The blood mage ready to do anything to learn of the past, and the god of lies who despises the current Dalish culture? I need them to have a conversation. Also I always feel mad that she worked so hard on her Eluvian, and now they're mentioned and shown everywhere but she is seemingly entirely forgotten????

Josephine also feels like she could have been hanging around Treviso but I'm not that mad about it, I was never as insane about the Inquisition characters compared to the other games lol

Conclusion

Is the game perfect? No. Did I expect it to be? Absolutely not haha come on I love this franchise but there has been valid criticism of absolutely every single one of them, and retconned things all around. Plot lines dropped and abandoned.

Honestly I think my biggest disappointment has been the romance (I wanted the angst so bad lol) but I loved the story, loved the gameplay, and do not regret any of the 70 hours I spent on my first run. It never happens, for a game this long, that I want to replay it right after finishing.

8.5/10

[satanstrousers]

A (mostly) Spoiler Free Veilguard Review! I did my best to avoid too many specifics, but also Read More for people who want to know nothing at all.

First, thoughts on all the companions:

Harding - Kind of a surprise to see when she was announced but I really liked her! They built out her story in a really fun way, I romanced her as a dwarf and her story is perfect for that.

Neve - Someone really cooked with the concept of Neve Gallus, but she as a character didn't really grow on me until the last act. Also her hat is stupid in a way that I just can't get over.

Bellara - I'm not gonna lie, I almost forgot to include her on this list. She's incredibly sweet, but I found myself falling asleep during her story. Super basic, super boring, but I saw that based on some decisions she can really grow in the last act, so maybe a second playthrough will have me see her in a kinder light.

Lucanis - What if we took Ezio Auditore and made him an awkward short king wife guy with a special interest in knives and coffee? Super fun, but I did traumatize him a little early on. :/

Emmrich - Undefeated. Far and away the best character Dragon Age has ever come up with and it's not even close. Manfred sweep.

Davrin - Listen, I love Griffons as much as the next guy, but Davrin was not an instant favorite. They rely a lot on Assan to carry his story at the beginning slow-play a lot of the sweeter parts until halfway, and even after I think there was way more that they could've explored with him (unfortunately a pretty consistent theme with DA characters). I did enjoy him in the second half, but I did him dirty, so I'm hoping the next time is a little better.

Taash - Genuinely would be the favorite if Emmrich wasn't around. Two character beats that have a common theme of accepting yourself, I thought it was very beautifully done and something I'm sure many people playing will relate to. Taash is like opposite-Karlach personality-wise and I mean that in the most affectionate way to both characters.

Ok spoiler free Plot:

Solas is a motherfucker in ways previously thought unachievable by one man, and the game knows it.

Seriously though, the best part of this game is Solas. Truly I can't remember the last time a video game made me hate someone as much as I hate Solas, and this game knows it. If you hated this dude in the first game, and you felt like things went a little unresolved, Veilguard has got you covered. If you hate him, you'll get to show it, and if you love him........ Well I hope you guys have a very happy life together far away from us.

Overall the story is... Fine? Its basically 70 hours of waiting to tell a couple gods to go fuck themselves. There's a lot of really fun moments and beats, but the connective tissue is the same as its always been in Bioware games.

Overall, combat and UI is a definite improvement over Inquisition but god I should hope so after 10 years. Dialog is pretty impressive and definitely made me feel by the end that the members of the Veilguard were actually friends. The pacing.... Is terrible. You're either doing nonsense side missions and fighting the same enemy 100 times, or blasting through the story at breakneck speed. They managed to do a pretty good job with returning characters, but if you're not HEAVILY invested in the series the moments where *insert character from previous game* appears feel like they're waiting for an applause break.

Final Review:

8/10 if you're a longtime Dragon Age fan

6/10 if you're just jumping in (which is insane this series is fully inaccessible if you haven't at least played Inquisition.)

[ilovemyqueerattorneys]

*Non-Ace Attorney related stuff*

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is FINE. Sure, it has cringy dialogue at times, and SURE some parts of it are kind of…empty? However, the complaints and the review bombing of users compared to what critics say shows two things: Some of Dragon Age "fans" are ORIGINS fans, not fans of the franchise; Antiwoke people have so much time to spare hating a game they’re clearly not the target audience for ( the franchise has been "woke" since 2009 ffs). However, overall, the game is good and here’s why.

Honestly, I like the game, the companions are super sweet, they feel organic, it’s my favourite crew since DA2. My main complain with DAI was the colleague feeling I had with them, it’s not present in DAV, and it’s GOOD. I don’t mind the very progressive themes, I actually think Taash’s arc is relatively well written ( despite a bit of cringe). Rook is BY FAR my second favourite protagonist, after Purple Hawke ( I’ll see if they grow on me with time like PH did).

The story, once it picks up, is interesting and very dark. The fact choices you make in early-mid game come and haunt you for the rest of the playthrough, even more so than the previous games is very good writing. The romances are cool, but some have a target audience in mind, clearly ( Thinking about Taash, for the bisexuals, Davrin, for queer men, Neve, for Sapphics ( IMO, I love her and I feel catered for)) . I like the graphics, they’re cartoony but very agreeable to look at. Again, I like cartoony graphics, so it’s personal preference here.

What they did with Varric?.. oh my god. My man. That’s actually a good send-off, rest in peace buddy. It’s so ironic for a writer to die this way…

Only nitpicks I have are the dialogue, especially early game dialogue; It’s a bit too much exposition, and it gets… a bit overwhelming, and I dislike the lack of importance the choices you’ve made in other games have in this one. I UNDERSTAND why nothing of DA2 is following in this one ( Despite Isabela being here), but DAO’s choice of leader could have been mentionned, or even the Warden’s fate. I wish the Mythal choice of DAI followed as well. The Fade choice too. Halamshiral as well. Like… I just wish we could have heard about what happened previously a bit more.

However, this game is good, and there’s a lot of lore. People complaining it’s not a DA game have not played or consumed DA content since Origins and it shows. I’d give this one 8/10, which is a similar score I’d give to Dragon Age 2.

Also the music SLAPS. Hans Zimmer you 🩵

Ps: For context my favourite DA game is DAI, and I’ve been a fan of the series for around 7-10 years.

[runic-kitchen]

Currently playing Dragon Age Veilguard and am 12 hours in so far and I thought I'd give my honest opinion spoiler free.

I'm 12 hours into the game, and here's what I think so far.

The graphics are pretty, but they put too much effort into the graphics. Like my computer isn't considered old yet and even with everything on LOW and OFF for graphics there is still lag with visual and audio tearing. Clipping is kinda of bad, both terrain and people.

Would've expected better from a AAA and 10 years to make this.

The story so far is honestly, really good. I've felt emotional on some of my choices, so they've knocked it out of the park.

Only to swing back and have my game crash "regularly". It's not promising when after the game is installed that you have to look online for fixes so you can play the game you just installed.

I didn't think that only controlling the main pc would be fun for combat, but combat is super fun! If they let you really control the companions like in previous DA games I think it'd be overwhelming.

The AI for the game is actually smart for both allies and enemies.

I've seen terrain glitch kind of bad.

There have been at least 6 audio "breaks" in the 12 hours I've played where the audio full stops and is silent when there should be sound.

Great example a dragon was being noisy around me and roared and then flew off. I only heard it at the first part. At the time of the roar all audio was off; only to turn back on when the dragon flew away.

Honestly, even with these problems, I'm having fun playing. Could it be better and shouldn't it be better? Ya, absolutely. But it's enjoyable enough to put effort to work around the problems.

[eruscreaminginthedistance]

Okay so. I've been sitting on my full first impressions of the game until after the gameplay reveal, cos I know shit can get twisted in marketing.

I was NOT a fan of the trailer. The vibe was off; I cringed a lot; it gave a off very bog-standard hero team saves the day kind of vibe which I inherently dislike because it seems like Dragon Age has just given up on giving you the freedom to be a bastard, or any kind of character that isn't on rails to be everyone's favourite boy. It also failed to bring any dark fantasy to the table. BUT I know from experience, namely the DA2 trailer (not the CGI one. the other one), that marketing is intent on making Dragon Age look like the goofiest shit possible to appeal to the dregs of society (normies). I watched it. Hated it. Moved on to life stuff.

Now with the gameplay reveal out of the way, I have some more solid takes on everything we now know about the game overall.

Things I liked:

The companions all look pretty cool; I've been excited for Devrin for years now, and seeing that he's a Dalish Elf as well as a Warden is quite exciting to see; everyone else are also not only well designed but don't feel like rehashes of our previous companions (apart from Harding)

The return of multiple weapon sets. Thank fucking god. This may even make archer a viable build again. Also I noted that you only have a set number of arrows which the UI tracks, which I'm a huge fan of

The look and style of Minrathous. I like that Bioware is showing their hard work in coming up with a unique area based entirely around magic-tech and I think the result looks great; I am really intrigued by the dark panopticon vibes and hope that becomes a major theme going forward

Different demon designs. I hope there's a bit more variation as the game progresses, but I liked little details like the Pride demons having some kind of armour aesthetic

Dialogue wheel. No notes; she's here, still the same comforting presence as ever. Praying with fingers crossed that it doesn't turn into a super bland protagonist situation like Inquisition

Choosing a faction in character creation that isn't locked to one's race; this one is a really cool idea and if origins don't come back it can be a decent alternative if the reactivity to your choice is the same as in the prologue

Things I didn't like:

Action wheel. Like. I'm a PC person, so I have no idea what the final UI will actually look like for me. But Bioware hasn't elaborated on their UI style at all and if Inquisition is anything to go by, I'm stuck with shitty console-centred UI for the whole game. I would rather just have the ability bar back, for my sanity.

The two-person companion limit. It automatically restricts people into a specific party build depending on their class and I hate that

The Mass Effect-style gameplay. Party tactics was a HUGE draw to the DA series for me, and is what got me into retro RPGs in the first place. Seeing it replaced completely to the point where we can no longer manually manage our party is a huge disappointment. I am willing to keep an open mind, just because I love Mass Effect that much, but it hurts knowing for a certainty I'm never gonna engage with Veilguard like I did with Origins or 2 as a result

The voice acting. Was this an out of date take, or did everyone sound super flat to anyone else? Especially Neve, who didn't seem to know what she was reacting to, just really wooden. It was disappointing, cos I love her voice overall. Wasn't a fan of Rook's voice but I don't plan to play a man anyway

The breaking pots method of looting. This is gonna feel like such a nitpick but I immediately pulled a face seeing that cos I could TELL some suit somewhere asked the Bioware team to "make it more like breath of the wild" and now for some reason it's not dynamic enough to just click on a crate and choose what loot to take; now Tevinters are storing exactly one (1) random health potion in decorative clay jars around the city (more likely than you think!)

The aesthetic of the veil and spirit stuff so far; it's just all a bit bright and noisy, doesn't really grab me as something fun to explore or fight (again, I'm an Origins girly so I'm biased)

Harding coming back. I know she's cool and everyone likes her and I like her too. In Inquisition. This is just a preference, but if I'm gonna start a new game as a new person I don't want to be inheriting pre-bought friends from the last protagonist ://

Things I HATE:

Why does everyone look like play-doh; it's disconcerting.

Like guys I know DA2 is having a renaissance but I don't think anyone was getting nostalgic over everyone's pudding faces.

Everything put out so far has basically crushed any hope I had for this becoming Dwarf age :/ No new dwarf characters, no mention of Kal-Sharok, Harding being the only dwarf companion basically confirms that dwarves will be unromanceable AGAIN. not a fan

TLDR: This is still definitely not a day-one buy for me. The series has just strayed completely from the genre and format that I loved about the previous games into a full action RPG derivative of games from four years ago. Without the focus on party tactics and the low-tech, dark and gritty worldbuilding from the first two games it just fails to excite me. It looks too much like other games for me to really register it as a Dragon Age game.

I love the story and the world of Dragon Age though, so I do still intend to buy it when it goes on sale, but this is definitely a "wait and see the reviews" situation for me, which is a first when it comes to this series :/

[fregata-magnificens]

I recently finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and, after digesting a little, want to share some of my (disorganized) thoughts.

I'm coming to Veilguard as a casual Dragon Age fan: someone who's played and enjoyed all of the previous DA installments, but who's also not super invested in what's going on outside of the story that's explicitly told in the games themselves. What follows is from that perspective.

Mild spoilers ahead.

Here's what I liked:

The visuals. The art design as a whole was bright, appealing, and cohesive. Each character was visually distinctive. I really enjoyed the change from the more "photorealistic" palette and animation of Inquisition to something more vivid, and almost cartoony.

The level design. I appreciated the more linear nature of each environment, especially after playing so many huge and desolate-feeling open world games. Even though exploration was limited, there were still plenty of nooks and crannies to poke around in.

The voice acting and dialogue. The talent for most of the main cast and much of the supporting characters felt like a step up from previous Dragon Age games. Conversations (for the most part) felt more natural, and dialogue that sounded stilted or (inappropriately) hammy was few and far between. I chose the British Male voice for my Rook, and he was nice to listen to for my whole playthrough.

The character creator, and the ability to tweak your Rook's appearance right out of the gate. When my Rook ended up with cheeks that were way too puffy, I was able to go right back and fix his face without losing my progress or spending any resources.

Assan and Manfred!

What I disliked:

The slow start. Right off the bat, the stakes are so comically high that I had trouble really buying in. Plus, the game is never really clear on why Rook is there, or qualified to lead a team of experts. Yes, I know that all that information is explained or implied in your character background, but I feel like such an important piece of the story shouldn't be buried in the character creator. I didn't feel invested in my Rook's story, which at times led to me becoming disengaged from the narrative as a whole.

Character interactions. "Eavesdropping" on my party was cute, but I otherwise found the relationships between the characters kind of flat. There was definitely potential that wasn't realized. I felt a lot like the characters were written separately, like the writers didn't actually get to talk outside of a few meetings during production.

Grinding. Sure, there was limited level grinding, as most story-relevant enemies scaled to your Rook's level, but completing small quests and selling items for favor with your allied factions felt like a chore.

The handling of nonbinary identity (mostly). Queerness in the Dragon Age universe is mostly unremarkable: even outside of Rook's ability to date any of their party members, the game references multiple queer relationships, and at least one minor they/them character. So why, in 2024, did the writers feel the need to explain nonbinary identity as if the audience had never heard of it before? Nearly every time the word came up, I felt like I was in a Very Special Episode of a children's TV show.

Dragon fights. For being the game's title monster, dragons were boring enemies. Once you fought one of them, you've fought all of them.

Lucanis's romance arc. I wasn't initially sure which character I wanted my Rook to date, so I went through the trouble of having each of them ask him out one by one. In the end it came down to a choice between Lucanis and Emmrich, because that's what I felt like he'd be most into. I weighed my options and chose what I thought would be a more robust and interesting romance; Lucanis seemed like he was custom-designed for Bioware fans. But his romance arc consisted of maybe a few extra lines of dialogue and one sex scene. It was so disappointing that shortly after I finished the game, I loaded an old save so my Rook could romance Emmrich instead; I'm finding it to be way more satisfying already.

Other random thoughts:

I want a scented candle that smells like the Rivain coast environment: warm sandstone, ocean air, and pine.

I wish there were more reason to hang out in the Crossroads; it was visually one of my favorite environments.

It would have been so cool if each type of combo detonation looked different.

[scurvgirl]

A Short, Non-Spoilery Review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard

I want to keep this to-the-point, so here we go!

The biggest question I ask myself of any game I play, and the most important one is: Did I have fun playing this? Yes, I did have a lot of fun playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard! The point of a video game is to be fun and Veilguard is a fun game - the missions draw you in, the maps are super fun to explore, the characters have wonderful (if not enough) moments.

My favorite aspects: For me personally, the maps and overall world of this game are the best of the series. They took the best from the three previous games and really made interesting, dynamic, full maps that are just so fun to explore. Exploration was my favorite part of this game. The missions themselves were fun and mostly not repetitive (there were a couple but the vast majority were unique). The story itself was very good - I liked it. I liked seeing the different parts come together, particularly with the companions, at the end. I liked some of the reveals that come at the end. Honestly, the last 3 hours of this game will just...bowl you over. The writers did a great job considering how much they had to account for and with the development hell they went through.

Mid aspects: Unpopular opinion but the combat system was not for me. Real-time combat, for me, works in more sci-fi settings. I like turn-based combat for fantasy, so my actual DA combat preference is Origins, believe it or not. That said, combat can be SUPER fun in this game, and the fighting dynamics can be super cool (I love the dagger and orb for mages, or the running attack with a staff). I have only played with a mage, so my opinion may change when I play other classes (I hear warrior is fun!). I am also putting the weapon and armor system here simply because I miss crafting. I like crafting in Inquisition, that was fun, but I also know that not everyone likes crafting. There is a simpler upgrade system here which is fine, but nothing for me to get excited about. The CC...y'all this is petty but the CC is only here because I can't give my character boobs. Boobs max at most a b-cup. That makes me sad. I don't like that.

Disappointing Aspects: I cannot believe I am saying this for a Bioware game but...the dialogue was a bit of a disappointment for me overall. Largely when it came to talking to companions. I felt like there just wasn't enough content to connect with companions - I couldn't just initiate conversations like in DAI. You have to wait until a conversation unlocks. But I wanted so badly to talk to Neve about interesting cases, or ask her about why decided to be a detective as a mage in Docktown - why not pursue politics? I wanted to talk to Bellara about escapades in Arlathan forest, or talk to Lucanis about his recovery or even interesting contracts! In general, I wanted to talk to my companions more and that really wasn't an option. Further, because of that...I think the romance content really suffered in this game. I do not think there is enough romance content for any of the characters, largely because you don't have these "get to know you" conversations. I love the companions, I just...want to know more. I also think Rook's characterization suffered because of this too! I couldn't develop my character's backstory or opinions or attitude within these more casual conversations like I could in Inquisition. I would also put characterization of Lavellan who romanced Solas as a disappointment, as well as sanitized lore - but those are more spoilery aspects.

So overall? It is a good game. It's fun. It's not perfect, but that's okay. I want to hope that we get some extra content but I don't think we will. I think it says a lot that my biggest disappointment of this game is "I didn't have ENOUGH of this".

[iamtheoutsideworld]

I'm sorry just finished dragon age veilguard and I'm sorta confused why this game is considered "mid" I give it a solid 8/10 . Like genuinely good story I loved it a lot. And yes this is coming from someone that played all the games since I was a kid

I can't speak for everyone but it was upsetting hearing that "ur choices sorta didn't matter from previous games" but I think veilguard did fine without that being a big "issue" in the end. Others said the other characters from previous games coming back was "ill placed" . I'm not gonna lie I think a lot of ppl got one opinion off of youtube and decided "that's right" lol idk. The game seemed genuinely good to me. I think it's also been a while since I liked ALL the characters whether it's for romance or whatever. I liked the "ME" feel of making sure companions quests are fulfilled I loved that actually. I think at times I found myself repeating the same things with side quests and certain stuff but I was super into the whole story itself. Funny tho only one of my characters was "hardened" through out the story and that was Neve. I thought there was gonna be some super heavy choices being made once's that seemed impossible but for the most part, it seems rook shapes how their companions sorta act.

Other than that idk I loved the game I'm glad I did considering DA fans weren't sure if the fourth game was gonna come out at first idk ..🤷🏽‍♂️

[vannral]

i finished the veilguard. got the good ending. i'm exhausted and done. under are some of my disjointed thoughts and feelings so spoilers, beware.

soooo, okay. so my thoughts as a da fan who has been one since like, 2012.

i can't help but to be a bit disappointed. there were some good things, some things that i did like, but it really didn't feel like a da game, it wasn't made for dragon age fans and old players. i felt like they played everything too safe, too lukewarm.

i did like the scenery. it had variety, i especially loved the imagery with the eclipse and lighting, that was beautiful. nice touch to have the lighthouse reflect the eclipse too. weisshaupt was very interesting but sadly that didn't go anywhere. lavendel was eerie and i thought the cauldron had so much potential with the strange, cursed artifacts kept away because they were dangerous or they didn't understand what they were or what they could do, i thought that was very interesting!!

the game itself was very polished, the hair technology was an amazing upgrade, the sound design was good. the level design was... interesting.

i don't like the writing very much, some of the dialogue is so jarring.

you can't call people out, you can't really be angry. the confrontations between the companions are... strange. no animosity. they are a bit... one dimensional. (i get it lucanis, you like coffee, i understand why you like it and why you drink it, but still!!)

the lack of choice is also very noticeable. i did love rook's voice a lot, (that's important to me!!) and i did end up really liking my rook.

i loved manfred, he was the most adorable freaking thing. i liked emmrich, ended up romancing him. lucanis had some funny moments.

but you can't speak to your companions and ask them questions about their thoughts and past like before. none of the companions really... interested me. very lukewarm. also i wasn't a fan of raising the approval of the factions either, i found that extremely grinding.

solas's memories were interesting but... yeah. that's about it. the lore established in previous games didn't make a lot of sense here or maybe i just didn't get it.

AND VARRIC, i was so happy to see him, i LOVE HIM, and i was so relieved when i thought he survived the prologue, but my heart began sinking at the later half of the game, like no one visited him, he had nothing really to say, no one acknowledged him, there were just vague and super ominous "and varric paid the price".

i cried when they revelead he was actually dead. when he had his speech, i had tears streaming down my face. i was heartbroken. probably the most emotion i had felt playing this game.

i thought solas was the most interesting part, the inquisitor should've been a bigger part but i'm glad they had their happy ending. dorian and isabela were nice to see but they didn't really do anything with them. also it would've made sense to have zevran too but now i'm glad he wasn't, who knows what they would've done with him. maybe nothing i dunno.

yeah. 6/10, maybe. i probably have more thoughts but i'm tired.

i'll go back to bg3 now.

[tokyopewpew]

Veilguard Breakdown Pt 2

Going deeper into each companion, their quests. Factions, Cameos, and some writing stuff. SPOILERS ABOUND, read at your own risk.

These are still mostly chronological notes reacting real time to quests and characters:

I had some HOT opinions on some early game stuff. Solas' comment on abhorring blood magic, some comments on the elves and how the Veil Jumpers were so on board with denouncing their gods. My finger shot up to "well actually" very quickly but I kept playing and they addressed them. They clarify like a little later and I think that's something I and a lot of other people have gotten bad at: being patient with writing.

Now don't get me wrong, there is a lot of bad writing out there that won't address stuff that is important.

But we gotta trust sometimes that we won't get a wall of exposition right away. That we'll get a line that makes us go, huh that's interesting I want to know more about that. And wait five minutes to naturally come back to it.

AAAAAAAA INKY SHOWS UP! Pretty early! Happy to see them so soon!

BACK AND SO COOL I LOVE THE DIALOGUE BEING A LEADER BEING A HERO

BITCH SHES GETTING DRAWN AS THE GENERAL SHE IS!! SAVING SOUTHERN THEDAS. (I did not disband the Inquisition. I had a Solavellan inquisitor which by the end of Inquisition is fucking beat down into playing the role of The Herald, which I like as a mirror of Solas and his mask of Fen'Harel.)

Damn Solas being a catty sexy sassy bitch saying he tortured a bitch with rumors and laughter. Note from later: THE FUCKING ROLLERCOASTER THEY ROCK YOU ON

everyone is def less bitchy than previous games and not dealing with as much overt racism. Not having a base in “the real world” removes some of that. But despite taking place in cities, not seeing alienages or acknowledging that makes it super different. I’m sure it’s something people will criticize but im ok with Thedas being Nicer™️. Companions are less bitchy but there is tension and conflict but it is like. communicated and resolved super easily. Which i know it’s maybe fun for Alistar and Morrigan to fight and argue but you have to have a character like Morrigan to do that. There aren’t really any catty bitches on the squad. This is a group of professionals hired on a job. They all feel more like coworkers than a found family. Like DA:2 as a group gave me anxiety they would shit on each other so much like you guys should not be friends.

Don’t know what the beef people have with the dialogue. It all works fine for me.

Taash’s gender stuff is a little fast. Baby’s first gender story but it’s still good. They are appealing to wide audience. Still nice to see. I love Maddie’s Mini on tiktok’s comment that like the qun’s gender roles are so progressive they wrap back around to being conservative. Men and women have distinct roles and they WILL trans your gender to fit them. So Taash being non-binary is like the one way to be difficult for her mom to understand about gender.

Solas was a spirit! Imean they all were. with lyrium bodies?? ok guess that’s why y’all are immortal. ugh i love all that implies. He hates having a physical form but learning to love all the sensations that come with it. The body is joy but also horror. The miseries too but food, touch, smell.

omg so cute when harding moved a rock she shakes her hands in the air like woo i did it!

wow took awhile to remember to write notes (I played like 15 hours forgetting to do any notes)

Interesting mix of companion quests! Funny I did the Formless One dragon first so now every subsequent dragon fight has been a breeze.

Harding’s personal quest was an easy choice: push for compassion. She’s so nice. Bellara’s final choice felt disconnected from her “omg it’s my BROTHER” lines. and Neve I didn’t really have a say because i didn’t help Minrathous. I think i got her to be a defender of Dock Town?

Taash and Emmerich’s both are the best, most emotional and RP wise, hardest choices. while I didn’t give a fuck about these side boss characters, Taash’s emotional end with her mom was very impactful. Hezzenkoss’ giant skeleton was super cool visually and MANFREED. I chose to revive him because idk. I think when we’re fighting against immortal gods it’s hard to be like yea do that too Emmerich. But it’s still sad and either way he’s having to confront loss and mortality?? So either way is bittersweet which is GOOD WRITING. Cannot believe people choose lich romanced Emmerich.

Davrin’s quest was very satisfying too! It also felt like an easy choice to have the griffons start a new legacy since that is nice symmetry to his own storyline.

loved getting to run around Villa Delamorte locked in with a romance to Lucanis like wait a second this is… your house? This. Is your house. YOUR house. ok ok ok like fuck i’m a backwoods elf treasure hunter wtf and having to meet Catarina again but now as like. Her favorite grandson’s romantic partner. Neither choice for his felt particularly impactful. Maybe if they killed Illario and not just imprisoned him? I think i picked his based on armor tbh. The only one I did that for.

Yay to my inquisitor and rook having a drink together! I do love my Lavellan but Rook is like girl, stand up. Oh my god. (But internally, oh my god I love the dialogue ugh)

Very tame romance scenes (I took this back by the end. I appreciate the ramping up in the final fight and Lucanis only being able to get some comfortable sleep with her there is… oh so good. They have such an interesting dynamic. Babysitting Spite. Will write more in fanfic to explore it). Their lead up was very unromantic.

THANK GOD NO HARD TIME WITH THE GRIFFONS!!! They survive without blight!! Kind of a stupid choice tbh why not have them both get some gryphies? In the forest and the wardens? also rip but i’m hoping the wardens won’t be around much longer

[bakafox]

More Veilguard Rambling As I Inch Closer To Endgame

Veilguard has so much light-hearted and silly companion banter. It's so generally friendly, or at least understanding- Taash says inappropriate things or does them, but they're basically 18 and were raised by mercenaries and a demanding mother, and the other companions don't get super pissed. Other pairings of companions may snipe a little at each other and get each others' goats, especially at first, depending on personalities, but there's still the friendliness to it, or at least a tolerance?

Any real distrust type stuff is saved for the conversations you might steer a little.

It's really funny considering how 'polarizing' the game is and how it's led to so many people being absolute jerks towards other people online- but this banter type, the fact people aren't overstepping or being punished for not saying the best or right things is ABSOLUTELY what my soul needs right now in a videogame where I'm teaming up with some group.

I play on the 2 lowest difficulty settings because I don't really want to be challenged in the combat, I just want a fun escapist game that soothes my soul and Veilguard is delivering this so hard to me right now.

Which isn't to say the story and lore doesn't have grim elements, a lot of the main story and bits of lore you find are grim and/or tragic, as grim and tragic as in any other game, but it's far more my style in delivery than some kind of fixed grimdark level.

And admittedly, I have memory problems, and I don't perpetually replay previous games, I played each of them once all the way through and then maybe 4-5 games that got to varying degrees in, but the vibe to me is still so very Dragon Age. Even the new lore about elves and qunari and wardens or the like that apparently so many people hate- I do like it just fine, and I don't think it clashes badly with what DAO and 2 and then Inquisition set up.

Maybe the companions don't have some complexities that make them difficult for me to have my Rook talk to them, and I can see some people missing that sort of thing, but I like having the conversation scripts with them without even once wishing I could poke them about some belief or opinion they have, or try to get them to change their minds about things the game will never actually let you change their minds or even get more dialogue about where I felt absolutely required to write fanfic. I'm too tired to write fanfic right now. But I also still see where if I wanted to I could write fanfic and where they're all still inspiring enough, just- not in a frustrating way for me.

No game can please everyone. I really can see some of what some people might be calling overly-simplistic at times, though I still absolutely can't fathom the bitter bile levels that were stirred up. The creators of Veilguard clearly did love Dragon Age. They clearly knew and cared about what came before it.

Sometimes maybe it's a bit the 'they're a little confused, but they've got the spirit!' in how the dialogue or story treats a few things, but that's really the worst I find myself saying right now still, as I finish up a mess of companion quests before tackling a new story bit.

And while elves and the Dalish still were given a hard road to hoe- I think it feels a lot less unbalanced in Veilguard? Like, they have wins, they are dealing with discovering what was lost or taken from them, and the game doesn't have anyone acting like it's THEIR fault as the survivors that history was ripped away from them or they're just ignorant, and they're not treated as silly in Arlathan for trying to recover past info- and it feels like the Arlathan area elves did fare better than the southern Dalish in general, with no stupid motherfucking southern chantry, or at least less of it.

I. Do. Not. Miss. The. Chantry. Storylines.

I do not miss the 'must mages be controlled?' thing. Like, I wouldn't mind going back to the south if there's ever any future DA games with how this one's been received, but this is a nice vacation. Yes, there's the Tevinter nonsense, and the Qun stuff is still... hm. But it is really bloody nice to learn Thedas History without the 'big moral question' being whether or not mages deserve freedom or are inherently too dangerous to be allowed to roam.

Tevinter Slavery Bad. Venatori Human Mage Superiority And Lust For Empire And Power At All Cost Bad. And I don't have to explain any of that to any of my companions or allies in game or in fiction.

Unless it goes with some of the choices I did not make in the game saves I have going, there's no 'sins of the past generations should be taken out on the current'.

And right now, with how the world is, I like that. Honestly, also after surviving discourse about previous games to where I absolutely no longer interact with the fandom other than my circle of mutuals other than a rare tag dive for fanart alone- I still really like that.