#and the fact there is Actual romance in Veilguard while I just have to make up most of the love story between my arisen and main pawn

[nadas-dirthalen]

just want to say again that bioware did an amazing job with the inquisitor's missives. it's impossible to nail the voice of every single inquisitor that has ever existed in the last 10 years, but if you go over the actual events described in the missives, they are perfect.

they fit just as well for celene being kept as empress, gaspard ruling alone, or briala using gaspard to rule. they impact the divine no matter who you chose as divine because val royeaux falls to the same anti-emperor/empress rebels. ferelden/orlais tensions are kept high throughout, with the inquisitor acting (again!) as the sole peacekeeper between them.

oh, and the dwarves? orzammar is mentioned throughout, has its own storyline, and survives the final blight. the avvar? good news! the chasind/avvar are recruited as the inquisition's allies, and negotiate a temporary peace with ferelden, and are responsible for most of the inquisition's resources/food in the late game!

the entire series of missives is filled with constant callbacks to da:o, and even goes out of its way to say that the events of da:o are why the blight is shaped like it is in the south. the blight left behind seeds of itself, which makes sense, because all along, the blight has been the evanuris' weapon controlled through their archdemons, and elgar'nan/ghilan'nain would know that june's recent death was due to the hero of ferelden. the evanuris are family (however you decide to interpret that) despite their disagreements; of course both remaining evanuris are spiteful enough to re-enact origins just to hurt the people of thedas that much more.

i constantly see posts saying the inquisitor has no role, no purpose, in veilguard.

to me, they're wrong.

the inquisitor's role is holding all of southern thedas together as solas' failed ritual threatens to tear it all apart. everything they worked for, together. everything they did, everything they feared losing once, together. whether you headcanon that as an incredibly angry and upset inquisitor seeing the last of the good parts of solas' efforts destroyed, or you romanced solas and your inquisitor is fighting to preserve what remains of their relationship with solas while rook works on freeing him... the inquisitor is doing something, and on just as grand of a scale as rook.

and there is no one else who could do it but them. the only person that both orlais and ferelden will listen to equally is the inquisitor.

they are not going through da:tv to free solas. that has to be done by someone that solas doesn't expect, doesn't know (and no, he does not expect/know rook; they continually surprise him in ways not even the inquisitor surprised him).

the inquisitor is holding the world together so that there is anything at all left in the south to rebuild, and the instant they have a free moment, they charge into minrathous as the very last (and perhaps most vital) piece of rook's entire plan. something rook kept carefully concealed the entire time.

you know.

the pawn who was subtly moved all the way across the board, despite the fact that solas was looking for it the whole time.

that isn't rook being stupid, or mindless. that is rook, morrigan, and the inquisitor being incredibly smart.

don't believe me? still want to cry "but the art book" about it? go look for the page where it says that trying to reason with solas too early led to the game ending prematurely, with rook dead.

[kaija-rayne-author]

Dragon Age, as a series, deserved so much better than Veilguard.

Spoilers for Veilguard and maybe other DA stuff.

Obligatory 'I'm not an asshole' disclaimer. Feel free to jump to the cut if you've read it.

Something came to my attention. I need to make it crystal clear that I utterly love the diversity in DAV. It's fantastic. I'm also a heavily left leaning, non-binary, queer as fuck reviewer, editor, and author.

I was on media blackout while I played DAV. Please be safe and take care of yourselves. Arguing with incels and white supremacists is completely pointless. They sea lion worse than an actual sea lion. Your mental health is important.

Though, every single time the anti-queer brigade comes out for a new DA game, I sit there thinking 'have you bozos ever played any DA game, like, ever?' My guess is nope.

Note. None of my writing on DA, but especially DAV, is edited. This is just my off the cuff writing. I don't have the time, energy, or heart to edit them properly.

The Solavellan romance deserved a much better end than 'die and go to fade prison'. I agree that Inky would likely be happy to leave. She's as traumatized as Solas for having to lead when she didn't want to. But I needed more than a craptastic Romeo and Juliet ending.

I refuse to do the heavy lifting for the writers. If it wasn't shown in the game or in supplementary materials, it didn't happen. Showing us the story was the writers' and devs job, not mine.

I mourn what will never be, even as I work on a Solavellan fix it fic.

How could they betray the IP so badly?

How could they betray their fanbase so badly? The fanbase that kept hope for that game alive for 10 years. I've seen so many people saying they've lost their interest or passion for the entirety of Dragon age. That they're not even remotely interested in another game because absolutely none of the choices we made in previous games matters anymore. They've wiped everything clean... or blighted it anyway. (I have absolutely no interest in another DA game. Not with Epler/Busche/Weekes involved. And whoever designed that ridiculous fighting system.)

The only way I could possibly be interested in another game would be if they loudly decanonized DAV, gave us a DLC (they've already confirmed there will be no DLC) that showed us Solas and Inky happy and not in a horrible place. One that showed us that somehow, something changed for the elves.

But that's so unlikely it's laughable.

The elves deserved a better ending. Are the survivors still enslaved or living in alienages? What actually changed for the elves except the largest portion of the Dalish being dead from blight? (That’s a real elvish win, isn't it?)

I'm a stubborn person. I refuse to let Epler's 'hate-revenge on Solas fan fic' ruin something I've loved for years. I still have the first 3 games. I'll make an actual happy ending and a decent romance for Rook in my fic.

And by the fact they paid a fortune to big gaming magazines while denying game keys to bigger honest reviewers... they knew.

They knew gamers wouldn't like it and tried to blow so much smoke up our asses with the interviews and AMAs.

How do they even sleep at night?

I'm a creative too, I write, do graphic design, digital (learning) and traditional (good) art.

My stories are important to me. They deserve not only an ending, but an ending that respects the characters, lore, and world that I've created.

My readers deserve that, too.

I, as the creator of my stories, deserve a decent, respectful ending.

Dragon age deserved it, too. A good, well thought out, and well written ending to the story of the Dreadwolf storyline, which, if you're paying attention, is intertwined through all 3 games. It's not just in Inquisition. One that made sense to the collected Lore, his struggles and mistakes, his literary role as an anti-hero.

I would never be able to do what they've done to a beloved series. I could never knowingly mislead fans like they did.

It's just a really painful reminder that beloved stories can be utterly destroyed in the wrong hands. And a reminder that there's so much talent and skill in Fan fic.

Busche worked on the Sims. No wonder the companions often feel as interesting as wet cardboard. Most Sims NPCs do, too. (I actually enjoy the Sims, but the NPCs aren't why I like it.)

And she had the gall to blame 'culture wars' and 'identity politics' for why the game is tanking. Rather than take ownership of the incredibly bad calls made for DAV.

It's just gross. I wish I could stop thinking about it. But Dragon Age got me through some tough times. It means a lot to me.

And it just deserved better. So did we.

[birbycakes]

wait I should draw a "My Chad Arisen vs My Virgin Rook" meme. Emphasis on my Arisen's perfect round sweet face, soft round body and glorious F cups. The only thing my Rook has on her is the longer hair LOL

[thewardenisonthecase]

About the Lucanis Romance

(this is a long ass post ok so bear with me)

So I've been meaning to adress some of the complaints/criticisms of Lucanis's romance and I was thinking on how to do it and I finally figured it out. While I don't like making comparisons because I think they're somewhat unfair, but this time, I'm gonna do it to show why I have some many complaints about the Lucanis romance.

And I'm gonna compare it to Fenris's romance arc in DA2. The main reason for that is that 1) they're both very troubled man who brood and went through A Lot tm and 2) considering DA2 also doesn't allow you to just talk to the companions whenever and doesn't have a spam kiss button and is a shorter game, it feels the fairest comparison.

'Lack of reactivity when it comes to the flirting dialogue options'

One of the biggest complaints when it comes to Lucanis romance is his lack of reaction to the flirting dialogue lines. I've seen the argument that 'oh but he's awakward, he doesn't know how to react'. I'm not the biggest fan of this because there are ways to better portray a character being bad with flirting than having 0 reaction.

During Switch and Bait, the quest where Fenris is recruited, you can flirt with him. And how does he react? He gives a nervous laugh, because he's not used to do. But that conveys that he listened to the flirt line and is responding to it, even if he doesn't actually say anything. There are other moments where his reaction is looking away, smirking, and a few times he does flirt back.

Even if small, I never felt that Fenris wasn't reacting to what was being said. Meanwhile, Lucanis has a painful moment where Rook tells him "I'm here" and he, with the straightest face ever, responds with "We need to talk about Ilario". And this is not the only time where it feels like there was no response to the flirting, its just the most egregious of them.

So, while I can understand what people mean by the fact that he's awkward, there are better ways to portray this. It's important to remember that this is a video game, which is an interactive media, and on top of that, it's an RPG. The player HAS to feel like what they're doing matters, because if it doesn't, it's easiert to just read a book.

'Not enough romance scenes'

I think this is a criticism that has been misunderstood by many people. Romance scenes do not mean just sex. I'm asexual, the sex scenes are the thing that least matter to me. Like, Fenris only has 1 sex scenes and it's a fade to black where he immediatly dumps Hawke after, so clearly, sex is not what I care about.

What does matter are scenes that establish a connection between the two character.

And while Lucanis has them, and I think they're great (the coffee scene and the almost kiss one are the highlights for me), due to the way these scenes are spread out, it feels like there's something missing.

DA2 also doesn't have a shitton of romance scenes, and considering the fact that Fenris breaks up with Hawke halfway through, its understandable. But the difference is that DA2 is a much shorter game than Veilguard, or, at the very least, Act 2 of DA2 is waaaay more concise than Act 2 of Veilguard, which is where most of the romance is happening.

That means that, even if there aren't that many romance scenes, they are better splayed out, so you don't feel like you're missing stuff. Another thing that I think happens is that you can really dive in and just ask the companion a lot of things.

Take Fenris's Questioning Beliefs quest in Act 2, which is a really important scene for the romance. Much like veilguard, its a scene that doesn't begin as a romance one but if you have been picking the flirting options, it can turn into Fenris and Hawke discussing about being intimate in the future. And in this scene, Fenris confesses to not having been with anyone in long, and doesn't remember if he actually ever has been with anyone.

This can be made so much longer by the fact that Hawke can ask multiple follow up questions from there, and that helps in both creating a connection between the two and also establishing the romance. Even if they don't do anything then, Fenris will say 'another time'.

And this happens in the act 3 version of Questioning Beliefs, which has the culmination of Fenris's and Hawke's romance, where their relationship is rekindled. And I think they do what Veilguard should have done: they let the player adress Fenris leaving Hawke.

One thing that bothered me, and that other people have brought up is that after Lucanis's runs away from the almost kiss, it's never adressed again. And I think if they could have had a moment where Rook and Lucanis talk about this, it could have been great to understand Lucanis and his history with relationships, how he feels internally about what's going on with them, heck maybe even apologize. Just something to feel that that wasn't a random scene, that was something important that happened.

Also, because you can interrogate Fenris so much in those scenes, the feeling that he was yearning for Hawke but all his trauma was stopping him felt more natural/real/explicit. I remember getting to the endgame portion of Veilguard and Lucanis pulling out the 'when i wanted to be with you but was scared' and thinking this is a lovely sentiment but why it hasn't been shown before? Because yes, the almost kiss is a good way to establish this, but if it had been actually delved in, that feeling could have been made more explicit.

I also wanted to add that, while the gift giving in DA2 is nowhere near the mechanic it was in DAO, it still helped with establishing that connection, and it gave even more chances for characters to flirt, and if DATV had used this opportunity, it could have helped a lot, instead of just having the character go "for me? thanks"

'Banter'

I'm gonna adress two issues here at once. The first is Neve.

Out of the gate, hating on Neve just because she flirts with Lucanis and gets with him if you don't romance either of them is weird, and at the very least, sexist.

So, what I want to talk about is that if you're romancing either of them, for some reason, their flirting banters still trigger and that can be uncomfortable. It sure is weird to be romancing a character and have them still flirt with another, because it comes across as 'oh maybe the choice to romance them doesn't change much' which isn't good for an RPG.

DA2 also has a couple that flirts through banter and gets together if Hawke doesn't romance them, and those are Isabela and Fenris. The difference is that, if you romance either of them, those flirty lines of banter do not trigger. At all. So much so I had no idea they got together because I've only romanced Fenris so far in DA2, so i never even knew of these banters until I looked at the wiki.

So, truly, lucanis and neve getting together is fine (i think neve should have been with bellara but that's another story) but these flirting line should not trigger if either of them are being romanced by Rook.

Still on the topic of banter, maybe I was unlucky and didn't get it to trigger often, but I felt as if, even though everyone was living together, the fact that Rook and Lucanis were in a relationship was not really ever addressed by anyone else? Like, I know these banters exist because I've seen them online, but I feel like there were just too little of them?

In comparison, the DA2 characters have a LOT to say about Hawke's choice of partner (and again, I'm focusing on Fenris here). Merrill adresses the romance through banter ('you make sad puppy eyes whenever Hawke looks away'), Varric, Isabela and Anders have specific scenes where they talk to Hawke about Fenris and give their opinions on the two of them together. Heck, in Aveline's quest where she gets with Donnic, she can briefly mention the two of them. And these all of them also have banter in which they adress the romance.

And its this sort of thing that really helps filling in the gaps of the romance scenes but also showing that these characters know what is happening. And the DA2 gang doesn't even live together!

And for Lucanis in specific, if there always was going to be less scenes with him due to how he is a person, having a few scenes where the other companions talk to Rook about it would have helped bridge that gap, in my opnion. Again, considering you can't directly talk to this characters (as in, click on them and start a dialogue), this would have been a nice touch.

And now a very personal complait of mine

'Kisses and the Commit to Romance scene'

While I stated at the very begging that I don't care about sex scenes, that is another story when it comes to kissing scenes, and I'm sorry, but it's WILD to put the ONLY kissing scene in the romance AT THE ENDGAME PORTION OF THE GAME.

Give it or take, kissing is an intimate act and it can be used, in my opinion, to show that a character is comfortable with that sort of physical touch. And for a character like Lucanis, who is just so troubled, maybe one kiss before the grand finale would have been really fucking welcomed. In fact, I know the scene they could have added that - the one in the café after Ilario is taken down.

It could have been a short, sweet kiss, that was just a follow up to the almost kiss scene. Just something to hammer in more that these characters are together.

Because let me tell you, it is not a good sign when people say they thought the game was bugged after the dessert scene.

That scene, while lovely on its own, does a bad job of making it clear that yeah, these characters are dating now, and that's due to the fact that that is not something really said out loud.

I'm rewatching this scene as I type this out and at no point, is it made clear through dialogue that Rook and Lucanis are agreeing to being together. In fact, Lucanis says that what he's doing is not enough, and Rook disagreed with the sentiment and says they're easily bribed. That's it.

Meanwhile, in DA2, not only in act 2, do Fenris and Hawke lowkey make plans about being intimate at a later date, and Fenris explicitly says he wants Hawke, but in act 3, he once again makes it clear that he wants to be with Hawke, and I feel like this only really happens with Lucanis at the endgame portion of the game.

This is all to say that: The Lucanis romance is lacking, and that Bioware has done something like this before and they did a better job then than now.

[bastigone]

My “Bad End” Run of Dragon Age: Veilguard

So one of my top complaints about Veilguard (besides the dialog sounding like AI sometimes and choices not counting from Inquisition) is you really can’t be mean. Your answers are all, well, milquetoast at best, and blunt at the absolute worst. And honeslty, I felt like the game held my hand so much it wouldn't let me make a bad choice. Or a choice at all. So that made me decide hey, I’m going to play the worst Rook of all time and see if the game lets me fail horribly.

My thought process is, if there’s no way to really fail at the game, like be a “bad” Rook, then the gameplay doesn’t really matter at all. Will the outcome of this change that fact that I have eight Rook playthroughs going right now or ultimately change my opinion of the game? No, but I’m curious.

I did the bare minimum on this playthrough, because that’s really the only thing the game lets you do that could be “failing,” so I had it on Storyteller difficulty with the optional setting to not let you die in combat. I want to know if I could conceivably “win” the game without trying, not bash my head against Hurlocks for a half hour.

What I consider failing the game has a lot to do with the final battle, so if you want zero spoilers, stop now, this is going to be so, so spoiler heavy.

Spoilers ahead plus a tl;dr below the cut.

Tl;dr: YES YOU CAN HAVE A BAD END. I actually like the "bad" end enough to recommend you do it!

Tenants of being a bad Rook:

Look like a failson (optional).

Have an Inquisitor who wants to stop Solas at any cost, and also looks like a pathetic failson (optional).

Do ONLY quests required by the main questline.

Choose the “angry suit of armor” option every dialog choice. I had two exceptions to this. I was constantly freaked out by necromancy, so mean to Emmerich, and if another option was going to be meaner, I chose that one. I did also do a couple Shadow Dragon-specific answers, but that’s because I let Minrathos burn and thought it was funny to insist that no really, I’m a good Shadow Dragon. Promise.

Ignore every character moment physically possible, and if you get stuck in a character moment, be condescending and blunt about it.

What I Consider “Successfully Failing”

If I can get several of my companions killed. Not just “kidnapped by a mirror” or “you led the second expedition so whoops into a blight pit” killed, I mean actively choose a horrible option for them in the end battle and have them die horribly.

If I can somehow bring down the entire veil (I doubted this was possible).

If I could make it to the final battle with NO ONE at Veilguard status. This was probably the easiest thing to do during this run, because I clicked absolutely no extra dialogs, did no side quests, and only did what the game gave me under the “Main Story” header.

Things I Actively Avoided

I viewed none of Solas’s memories.

I did absolutely no character quests unless made to by the main plot progression.

I did nothing with Mythal. At all.

I did not clear out a single Blighted Champion. The Crossroads are absolutely CHOKED with blight.

My companions may as well be coworkers because I did absolute jack for them. That didn’t matter really, the game got them to level 6 and up with no character quests done. Which felt like cheating.

I romanced no one because that would be extra work.

I skipped every. Single. Cutscene. Which doesn’t make you a failure of a Rook it really just makes the B button on your controller stick after a while. Caveat, I let the final battle cutscenes play so I could see who lived, who died, who told my failson story.

I did nothing for my allies (think Veiljumpers et al) unless the main story quest helped them. As of rescuing the Dalish from being almost sacrificed, every ally was at a whopping one star strength.

Results

Okay, we’re breaking this down into general stuff I liked, then talking about the final battle where it all matters.

Nice Touches

Even if you skipped every skippable dialog with Taash, the game still tells you about their identity and your character learns their pronouns. Nice touch. No skipping personal discovery here.

Final Battle(s)

Yes, we’re jumping to the final battle (well, two battles, we’ve got the island ritual/eclipse time then the fight in the blighted city) because tbh skipping the rest of the game means, well, nothing really changes for your Rook. You lose a decent amount of approval with Neve because you show no remorse for her city burning (or, I guess, blighting), but that doesn’t result in much of a change, she still follows you, and then everything else is just really damn quick. I probably spent a total of under 10 hours on everything in this playthrough up until the final battle, maybe 12 if we’re pushing it.

In the lead up, Harding mentions your allies are weak and you’re “probably sending them to their death.” Even the game stops you to be like hey, everyone is weak and has so many personal problems, you’re probably going to die.

My Rook did not care and did not stop.

As for the Eclipse Ritual quest, while I sent Harding with party two (primarily because seeing Asaan dive into that blight pit again would break me) and had Bellara go through the mirror (I did Neve my OG runthrough), nothing else really changed. At least, not during the Ghila’nain fight, nor the lead up, nor the Fade prison. I mean sure this Rook has a lot more to regret but none of it is brought up or mentioned.

Now it’s time for the stuff everyone cares about:

What Changed

To start, the final fight gauntlet was about to get a whole lot harder.

I immediately got missives from the Lords of Fortune telling me the Dragon King was around, and then Rana telling me Aelia is making trouble on behalf of Elgar’nan. Cool, I assumed I’d have to fight them in the coming battle as mini-bosses since I ignored the character quests about them.

Here’s my strategy: I’m going to assign the worst possible people to each critical quest and see if it lets me pass still.

Results:

Sent Lucanis after the construct (Actually Hezenkoss’s skeleton thing, cool), died to a boulder.

Sent Taash to guard the Veiljumpers, Strife died.

Sent Neve against the mages (this time, Aelia), Neve lost the beam battle and died.

Viper died to the blight (sorry Matt Mercer).

Taash later died to the Dragon King during the Inquisitor’s siege/last stand.

Bellara died on the throne stopping the Blight.

Emmerich and Davrin died to Solas, when I attempted to stop him.

Rook died/got pulled into a Fade prison to bind Solas to the veil.

So, technically the game let me get down to only two party members (Davrin and Emmerich, because I needed a healer) who didn’t die before the Solas showdown/conversation (sorry Bellara).

But, big thing here, the game let me fail. It let me get a bad end.

So you know how if you play the game nicely, and do every quest, you get to choose to trick Solas? You don't get that option to trick him, or even give him stuff. The Inquisitor wasn't even THERE. No, Solas freezes you in the air, steals the dagger, then as he turns with you suspended in air, your party members attack him and get turned to STONE. Anyway this had some of the most hardcore moments and dialog in the entire game, it's worth your time to do a run through.

Final Thoughts

The ability to fail really did change my opinion of the game for better. Helping my companions actually meant something to me, and helping them did change the ending. Do I still wish that the quests themselves had "bad" options or gave me choices? Yes. But knowing that I chose the "bad" options (in this case, not doing them) and did get repercussions for that, did in fact make me appreciate the game more.

Being honest though, killing Lucanis hurt me physically, so I will not be doing this kind of run through again.

[utilitycaster]

for the controversial opinions thing: Neve and Lucanis's romantic relationship is good actually.

obviously, agreed; I literally considered the potential of their relationship to be an outright selling point for the game, and I've alluded heavily to it in a few posts, but time to actually talk about it.

I don't think you can ENTIRELY discount all criticism on the basis of the fans from which it comes, because that's an oversimplification that fails to provide any sort of defense, just a counter-attack. WITH THAT SAID it does feel like the vast majority of criticism of the relationship comes from people who have a very "I can fix him...and ONLY I can fix him" attitude towards the Rook/Lucanis romance option and are looking for something fraught and dramatic and angsty and are mad that Lucanis is not looking for that in his relationship, either with Rook or with Neve. Like, I cannot stress that the fact that the most popular non-Crow Lucanis romance option is Rook Mercar is WILD to me when it should be the least popular by a country mile has been ENLIGHTENING to say the least. I definitely think the fact that Neve is a woman of color does not HELP but I think even people who like Neve and are not being racist or misogynistic towards her are still mad that Lucanis is depicted as, well, bisexual but not playersexual, and he still has clear preferences and Neve is among them. (I have NOT seen the same criticism among Neve romancers which is interesting to me and I think that again while racism/misogyny play a part, I don't think people are interested in that same I Can Fix Her/I Am Her OTP narrative).

Anyway getting to the actual relationship and why it's good: Neve and Lucanis are both people who are quite private about their lives but in different ways. Neve doesn't show vulnerability out of cynicism and the way she's had to force herself not to get too invested because she's lost people in her line of work, whereas Lucanis doesn't because he is proud. Neve's response to you choosing Treviso is "you don't care about Dock Town; most people don't and it bothers me but I can't show it does, because if I did I couldn't go on doing my work." Lucanis's response to you choosing Minrathous is "I begged for your help publicly and you turned me down, so I'm never asking for your help again." And they both, despite those separate motivations, instantly get how the other feels. Neve doesn't blame Lucanis because she's also fighting for her city! Lucanis doesn't have the same hangups about Neve because she was ALSO begging for help.

From what I know they also romance each other in a way not unlike how they romance Rook, and I think that's indicative of like, a well-formed character with clear preferences. Like, they are people who would, indeed, like each other. Everyone in the Veilguard has a great deal of pride in what they do, that's kind of the point, but Lucanis is an extremely patient and cautious person in romance, and Neve responds to that! If you're not going to do a full wisp stakeout with her she's not interested! And Neve is both extremely kind towards Lucanis and supports you telling him he shouldn't be used to Spite taking control, but doesn't turn this into a melodramatic "oh you poor thing" production, and a lot of what Lucanis wants is to be treated kindly but normally.

The canon banter they have about the relationship with other companions really boils down to, well, I know it gets used a lot, but the EEAAO Laundry and Taxes line. They are both people who have suffered greatly but what they're looking for is someone who will make them coffee at four in the morning and be patient when they're not forthcoming. Essentially they're BOTH really sensitive to being treated as A Project To Be Fixed and want someone who will not do that, and who will instead be patient and domestic and blissfully undramatic with them and give them space to open up rather than push them.

I started to go off about this in the tags and realized I should put it in the post but: I think a lot of people DO understand the companions/factions are all genre stories but DON'T get that the companions do NOT (with the possible exception of Taash) want their romance to be that genre. Lucanis is in a soap opera and Neve is in a detective story and BOTH of them want their love life to be a respite from that, not more of the same.

[colorisbyshe]

ACTUALLY one last complaint about veilguard, i think my pettiest but strongly felt complaint is, it's actually obnoxious and anti-dragon age to have companion romances trigger without your involvement. like dorian and iron bull was, in fact, completely avoidable if you did not want them together. if you romance one of them or simply do not include them in your party together, the romance does not happen.

taash and harding happened even though i kept them 100 feet away from each other. if i tried to skip their light house banter, they literally just... would stay at the same place in the light house, together, each time i went back until i finally listened ot their banter. if i left early during the banter, the next time i came back the same banter would start again. i literally was not allowed to not witness taash and harding

neve x lucanis went HARD until i fully committed to her romance. of course i wanted neve in my party because i was romancing her and i often wanted lucanis in my party because once he's hardened, it takes more effort and thus more quests with him in party to build up his relationship. so any time i had them in party, they were one step away from sucking face. while i had neve 90% locked into my own romance.

like i do think if your rook is ACTIVELY flirting with a character, the game should probably not have YOUR flirting scenes OUT CLASSED by the same companion flirting with someone else

what the fuck?? it's especially bad because for a SIGNIFICANT portion of act 1, you only have four companions unlocked and the two main locations you go to are... minrathous and treviso, which makes neve / lucanis an even more natural choice for companions

like... one ship i just don't fucking like (sorry laash or hardaash or whatever you are called) and one is watching my gf flrit with someone else...

and emmrich x strife is actually QUITE lovely but also comes out of NOWHERE and is INHERENTLY what happens if you choose not to make emmrich a lich like it HAS to happen... what? i think it's sweet and emphasizes how keeping emmrich mortal opens him up to more connections in life that lichdom would deprive him of ubt also ??????

why is this game so intent on unavoidable companion romance while aLSO making the romance YOUR CHARACTER has so subdued and kinda left by the wayside? ithought this was a ROLE PLAYING game why are YOU THE DEV playing more with MY BARBIE DOLLS than i am???????????????????????????????????????????

[dippedinmelancholy]

It might be because I'm relatively "new" to the Dragon Age fandom (the last few years) but it feels like people are actually losing their minds over the choices and world state revealed about Dragon Age Veilguard. Hear me out. Does it kind of suck? Sure. Carving out your own "canon" is cool. But if you craft a story around each choice someone could have made, you have to change your development and story planning for each of those possible choices. It's been 10 years since Tresspassor was released.

It's been 15 years since Origins was released. Real years, not in game years. Only Inquisition had the more "open world", widely stretching plot, and even that was barely held together by strings, hopes, and dreams. None of the games have thus far reached into Northern Thedas beyond having characters come from there. This could very well feel like a whole new world for Rook. Without the super nostalgic feeling, why would 99% of what happened in southern Thedas matter at all at this point, for this game? Who in northern Thedas would even know about it? These people? Sure, Morrigan can have a son (she did in my default world state for Inquisition anyways), but at this point he's fully grown? Why would she ever talk about him to Rook, to reveal that about herself? As far as I could tell, the Inquisitor only meets him because his mother is working at Skyhold and he's a child that needs to be cared for. The Well of Sorrows kind of blows, but again, 10 years later and they're finally able to give us a game. Not only are they giving us a game, they're clearly making some space for the unresolved issues between the Inquisitor and Solas (regardless of romance), all the while needing to get new people involved in the game for it to be truly successful. The choice with the Grey Wardens could have been cool, but again, it was in southern Thedas. I have a hard time believing every single Grey Warden was either doomed or saved by the Inquisitor.

I just think maybe people are taking it a bit too harshly, some of the comments make me think people really need a breath of fresh air and maybe to touch some grass. Do I want everyone to have fun in every single Dragon Age game? To feel all of the emotions and pride for what happens in those games? To love and cry for their OCs???? Of course I do. But based off of the fact that Leliana could have died????? But no matter what she's a face in Inquisition???? That tells me Dragon Age DOES have a default world setting with some things being set in stone regardless of what choices you make. But I also think it's a little unfair to call a game a failure, cruel, uncaring for their canons just because it doesn't have 10-15 in game and out of game years of choices perfectly represented. This is Rook's story, and honestly, nothing that happened in southern Thedas matters to their story. To any Rook, the Inquisitor is probably this legend like figure who may or may not have been touched by god(s). Or seduced a god. Who knows.

[paridoxpower]

Dragon Age the Veilguard Review

Personal thoughts and opinions about the game DAtV.

A solid 8.5/10 game, it'd be a nine or higher if not for certain things.

Below the cut are spoilers, but what I like about it, what needs working on/what I felt meh about, and what I didn't like.

What I liked

Character creation: easy to use, hard to master. More on this in the meh/work on section

Graphics: Very pretty game

New demon look: I was hesitant about this, but the more I played, the more it grew on me. However, I never saw the new Rage Demon look since that thing moves so freaking fast!!

New Blight look: it's gross, and I love it

Dialogue Interruption: if companion dialogue gets interrupted, they continue it?? Unprompted!!? Love it. The only time it doesn't seem to work is when you have a story related interruption, which I suppose makes sense. I want all games to have this now

Armor Appearance: love the fact that you can change the look of armor

Explaining terms: think it's helpful, but mainly for non-DA experienced players I think

Pet animals: you can pet cats, and some dogs. What more can I say

Consequence results: It's interesting the game tells you the consequences of your actions (because you did xyz, now ABC won't help). Does it need to be said...eh. But I think it's helpful and I kind of like it

Maps: I love the fact that the maps are smaller than Inquisition, yet still big enough to not get bored, such as some in DA2

The ending: I actually really enjoyed the ending. I'm a hard one to please when it comes to game endings, but I really liked this one. And I can't wait to see what the different versions of the ending are. I'm intrigued by the 'poisoned fruit' teaser.

Meh/ What needs improvement

Character creation: Like I said earlier, it's easy to use, but very hard to master. If it were a mix between Inquisition's character creation and what it has, I think it'd be easier to use. Or if it had more presets that you can start with. I have mixed feels about the 3 face morphing thing, but I think that's because it's hard to master.

Pacing/Explanation: I think the game moves too fast and with little explanation about some things. Like the entire time, I don't think anyone outright said that the elven gods were the reason there were 5 previous blights (edit-they kind of did towards the end). Context clues and knowledge of the previous game help, and I suppose I shouldn't complain that they aren't catering to people who haven't played the 3 previous games, but I would've appreciated some acknowledgement about that and other things.

Rook's Therapy words: Please don't @ me for this, but I think Rook is a little too therapist in their speech. Sometimes it didn't feel like a real conversation. I appreciated what was said, but maybe it could've been said differently

Animations: There are some weird animations. My Rook seemed to smile as a default when talking, which I don't know is a result of my options in creation or dialogue, but some dialogue doesn't need smiling. Also, I romanced Emmerich with a short Rook. During the 2nd date, at the end, it was a little clunky. Was that because of the height difference? No idea, but that could've been smoothed out. I have mixed feelings about Rook's hand-shake when talking

Boss Fights and Dodging: I felt like I spent most boss fights just dodging. Not because I couldn't take on the boss, but because they constantly attacked, and their attacks were large. It got very frustrating that I couldn't even shoot off an arrow because I was running from a charging beast.

Enemy Fighting Priority: This is in addition to the above. My Rook was constantly being attacked. As in, there is a field of bad guys, and they are ignoring the companions and coming after Rook. Is this because Rook is considered the strongest by the AI, or is that how the game is set? No idea. But when I fought the undead dragon and there is a field of undead chasing me and a dragon, while my companions aren't even being chased by one, it becomes very annoying, very fast. It kind of links into the above complaint with the dodging. And the companions that have the taunt, it doesn't last long enough to help.

Mementos and Valuables: I'm not sure if this was mentioned anywhere in the game. I personally don't remember seeing an explanation, but if there was, then I suppose disregard this one. But I don't understand why you can buy useless valuables from merchants. I guess it's so you can resell at a higher price? But I just don't get it. Mementos. I understand you get them to upgrade the Caretaker, but otherwise, I don't get them either.

Map: I feel like the map/minimap needs work. Sometimes the layout is a little confusing and not all things are labeled (like the market it Trevso). And the fact that you can't place a marker yourself is annoying

Decorating Rook's room: Cute idea, felt kind of pointless

Darkspawn look: I didn't like the look of the darkspawn in this one. It's kind of explained that they're different/changed because of the circumstances. I'm still a fan of the first game's version.

Talking to Companions: Why. Can't. We. Ask. Our. Companions. Questions???? Sure, you can talk and ask questions sometimes, but why can't we ask simple questions, like in past games? Lucanis, how is it being a Crow? Emmrich, what's with that shadow dude at the Necropolis? Etc, etc. I feel like it would've helped to understand our companions more and the world they come from. And the fact that sometimes we have to learn about our companions by overhearing their convos with others? Ugh.

Tie in with other properties: I love this, actually. But that's because I read the books. I feel like if you didn't read the books, and since this game doesn't explain a lot, you might be confused about some things.

Gift giving: It's cute. But could've been worked on

Approval vs Bond: I'm not sure if this was explained anywhere, but was there an explanation if there was a difference between Approval and Bond?

Varric and Rook's bond: It's kind of implied that Rook and Varric have a mentor-student relationship of some kind. I wish they would've shown this a bit more. It's mentioned they've been traveling together for a while, but when Rook learned Varric had died, I don't think it hit like it should have for Rook. Maybe a future pre-game DLC would be nice or something like that.

Choices you made: Would've been nice to see the choices you made all together in a list at the end or something. Especially since they didn't use the Dragon Age Keep. It's going to make replaying a little harder for me lol

What I Didn't Like

Battle Mechanics: I don't like it. I played on PC. It felt like I should've been playing with a controller the entire time. So I suppose if you played on a console, it worked for you. But I also missed being able to control your companions. To me, that's one of the key things that makes a DA game. I hated the combos that you had to do to achieve your own moves. The companion combos? This was okay, but it felt like it discouraged certain companion pairings. In the other games, you could kind of give everyone a little of everything (if you wanted) so you could mix everyone and not miss out. Battle Mechanics wise, this did not feel like a DA game. It reminded me of the more recent Assassin's Creed games (like Origins and Odyssey), which I also did not like, haha. Edit: I'll admit, by the end of the game, I got better at this, but it's still not my favorite game play of the series

Varric's 'Next Time on DAtV': Why is this here. I'm going to keep playing the game, and now your little teaser ruins the surprise of the quest. For example, Taash and their mother vs Hawke and their mom. Varric outright tell's us something bad is going to happen to Taash's mom. Imagine if they did that to Hawke's mom. After the last quest, Varric said, 'next time, the victim will be closer to home' and then it shows Leandra screaming and bloody. Like....the surprise of that quest would be ruined instantly. I hated this. I don't know if they were afraid of people wouldn't want to keep playing so they wanted to tease or wanted to justify Varric being there, but I didn't like it

Spawn points: I hate. Hate. Hate this. DAtV. Bioware. If I save in a specific spot, there is a 99% chance I want to spawn in that same spot. Maybe I saved there because I wanted to remind myself to check out the building I'm right in front of or turn in a quest. But no. The stupid spawn spots. The only good thing is that there are more fast travel points.

No big previous decisions: Like. The biggest red flag. I suppose you can get away with saying all your decisions were in the South, so nothing really changes in the North. But what about the Well of Sorrows?? If you're going to have Morrigan and the Inquisitor, why not have that decision? This is just a big red flag to me

Missing a companion while traveling: I miss having 3 people. I'll die on that hill

[riddleredcoats]

I just finished my first playthrough of Veilguard and boy oh boy, do i have thoughts.

but, TLDR:

Bros, this game is so fucking strange.

It literally giving me everything I wanted; every theory for the past 10 years I've had to speculate is bang on, they bring niche characters in a way that makes sense, they give us nice romances, they give us cool combat, EPIC set pieces and then [gestures].

Anyway, this is more for posterity than any real, coherent thoughts.

The Good:

I don't know what sort of wizardry the devs at Bioware made for this game, but this game runs smooth AF. Actually insane in the year of our lord 2024 that a AAA viddy game manages to do it. Kudos must be given.

The art-style grows on you really fast, actually. And considering what happens in the game, especially in the back half, I think making it more stylised was necessary to also compliment the aforementioned point of it running smoothly.

There is in fact, a lot of dark themes in this game. I don't know what game some reviewers played, but to say its basically a clean version of a DA game is... just wrong. I have a theory, in the Bad section, about why they believe that is the case, but Veilguard is filled with Dark Themes.

The set pieces of this game are fucking insane. Like, there is no comparison to any other Bioware game. Even ME3 with its bombastic set pieces isn't a match to Veilguard in the prologue. The Siege at Weisshaupt? Gagged the whole way through. That last 2-4hrs of game were amazing and while I have beef with it - further down - for what it is and what it is trying to be? They succeeded. Some of the best viddy game I have ever viddy gamed, frankly.

The lore drops are also insane. I basically watched all of Solas regrets back to back to back and basically it was confirmation upon confirmation upon confirmation. I'm still in the high of the Solas/Mythal confirmation and that happened like 3 days ago, lmao. And if you know me, you know why - it goes wayyy beyond Solas and Mythal for me, personally.

Morrigan's place in the narrative. Keeping it vague, but just [gestures to all of it].

Issenya... Just... Issenya, man.

The companions. Yeah, they're all great, I don't think there's really a dud one. Sure, I connected more with some than others, but man- these companion quests are involved and meaningful and progress the story. You do get to know them very well. Harding, Neve, Davrin and Emmerich will always have a place in my heart for their questlines, even though I love all the other companions too - but those really resonated with me.

Combat. Holy shit, a DA game with a fun combat system. That's all really.

The Middling

The music. I don't love it but I don't hate it. I can count on one hand the amount of times the music made me feel something - basically the last scene of the Harding questline and when The Main Theme came in during the final quests. Trevor Morris reigns supreme; I teared up more for The Lost Elf theme return than any other musical moment in the game.

The pacing of this game is... baffling. I'm not sure if its my own fault for basically trying to do everything in the first act, but Act 1 took me like 40 hours, while the remaining two acts took me 20. Weird. Will need to experiment because it might absolutely be on me, but yeah.

The Bad

It's basically one thing but honestly, every time it was brough up it was like a dagger piercing my heart while my stomach was stepped on by a bronto.

The lack of geopolitical talk both past and present.

Much as been said from the infamous 3 choices that Veilguard imports - and I will say, that even those 3 are laughably implemented imo - but never is it more felt than in this aspect. The past straight up does not matter. Worse; they actively disregard it imo. There is no difference between world states, no world leader talk, no nothing. It is just... nothing. And listen, the specifics deserve their own post eventually, but im just processing shit still.

The game is really fun, and the themes and characters that are there and the lore is fantastic and when im locked in, I'm REALLY locked in, but then when I try to put it in the context of the past games, what I loved about it - the politics, the disagreements, the sheer brutal way that history and prejudice can just fuck up a country, Veilguard just... it feels hollow, without any bite or flavour.

And this is the crux of all the problems, really, in the present in Veilguard.

The way people talked about the dark tone being gone? Yeah, I can see it here considering that there is no distinction between Dalish and City Elves anymore basically. The discrimination against elves is just... gone, apparently? Which is insane - because we are in Tevinter and it's just... abandoned? The way Rivain is all cool and shit about Magic and Spirits with like zero nuance or, more imporantly, any real consequences when [gestures to the past games] - it just makes the South Really Dumb because of course they are now ig. The Crows - these assassins that bought children to train, in what amounted to a sponsored slavery ring - are now freedom fighters and all the nuance of the assassinations is gone? The Wardens are fine mostly, really, but they are suddenly very above board all of the sudden.

And that's the whole thing here.

They have tried to make everyone stay so above board, to make everyone The Perfect Ally That No One In The Real World Can Criticise, that it retroactively sucked all the nuance and Flavour For Thedas At Large out of the story. It made the story worse because everyone is just so gosh dang nice and A Super Ally when in past games the conflict, the flavour of the Whatever Big Struggle was that everyone hated each other and was constantly in-fighting. Which made it fun and interesting to play.

Okay, sorry i forgot I had another one:

the fuck is that ending credit scene? with the executors implying they have been behind everything since DAO? Oh man, Bioware you can't do those types of stories - you tried in ME3 and [gestures]. Why can't Loghain just be a dude traumatized by Orlais which led to All The Things in DAO? Why can't Bartrand just be a greedy bastard whose actions bring about DA2 and DAI and basically informs Varric's character from then on?

What the hell.

Anyway.

Yeah, initial Veilguard thoughts.

Oh yeah, and Neve is hot and I love her.

[anneapocalypse]

Well, I think I've officially decided I'm changing my world state for my first playthrough of Veilguard!

I decided against using Rogues Gallery, for two reasons:

I still haven't finished Calla Cadash's playthrough. I know, I'm terrible to this girl. I swear I will eventually but I don't want to have to rush through it.

Solas... hates Calla. lmao. I'll be shocked if she even gets the redeem option in Trespasser, with how low his approval is. And I think that's interesting and I'll really enjoy playing with it for a future playthrough... but for my first, I really do want to play with an Inquisitor who wants to save him. Doesn't need to be romanced; I just want to play a worldstate where the Inquisitor thinks there's hope for him, an option I love with Solas friendship (I actually prefer the friendship redemption dialogue in Trespasser to the romance dialogue).

That makes Eleanor Trevelyan the perfect Inquisitor. She was also the first Inquisitor I actually finished! And honestly I love her world state, and I think I'll really enjoy building on it. She romanced Sera, disbanded the Inquisition and all other things being equal would really rather settle down with her wife--except that she swore to show her friend Solas that this world is worth saving, and she hasn't forgotten that promise. I think that however big or small the Inquisitor's presence in the actual game, I can make it work for her.

I will probably have to play a little loose with the theme of that world state to make it work, because previously it was romancing city elves (Zevran, Fenris, and Sera) and aside from the fact I don't want to pick a romance ahead of time, I don't think we even have a city elf romance option (Davrin and Bellara both seem to be of Dalish origin). The option I see is to simply play a city elf Rook. With Rook's origins focusing on factions, and not culture of origins, that should work. So it's looking like my first Rook will be an elf!

In that world state, Ilana Tabris is a rogue, while Alessandra Hawke and Eleanor Trevelyan are both mages. I think their Rook will probably also be a rogue. As for origin, I've been leaning toward Lord of Fortune as they just sound fun. But we'll see if anything else catches my eye. Still not making any major decisions about personality or backstory until I have the character creator in hand! I haven't even picked a gender; I do usually play a female character first, but I might not this time; we'll see.

[dayntee]

Think I’m gonna start posting my Veilguard thoughts. I just finished my first run yesterday, but we can start with a backlog.

Let’s talk about my Lavellan tonight. Up to Act I Veilguard spoilers below, but we’re mostly gonna talk Inquisition and Trespasser.

Aliana Lavellan is a Rogue Inquisitor who specialized in Archery -> Assassin progression. She was a hunter for her clan before the conclave, and as a natural scout, it made the most sense to send her as a spy. In all honesty, she was excited about the opportunity. If anything, it would be thrilling to have new experiences outside her otherwise insulated world.

Clearly, she got way more than she asked for.

Aliana Lavellan: Dalish hunter, Herald of Andraste, Inquisitor, and "She who will hunt down he who is dumb of ass."

Inquisition Relationships:

Solavellan romance, but started out crushing on Cullen. Solas’ smooth talking is what did it, as I played her pretty flirty with everyone. The Egg just out-rizzed her and it was over from there.

Among friends, she counted Cassandra, Cole, Varric, and of course Solas. She was also fond of/friends with all her advisors. (This largely reflects whose companion quests I actually finished to completion.)

She didn’t actively have disdain for anyone else—up until the Blackwall betrayal. This is totally hypocritical of her in the long run, but it's part of what made Solas' duplicity hurt that much more.

She was buddies, but not besties, with Sera and Dorian. I really only got about halfway through both of their companion quests, and likely would have finished them if I had had more patience for the War Table. That's not their faults; this is 100% the person behind the Veil's fault, and had I more patience, she'd likely have made fast and dedicated friends of them both.

Vivienne remained an acquaintance at best. She could not deal with the Orlesian-ness of it all (though that spa day in Trespasser was an unexpected delight, and she could get used to that).

Bull betrayed her in Trespasser, as he remained loyal to the Qun. I didn't see it coming, and neither did she. She is still genuinely devastated by this fact to this day.

Leliana was steeled; Aliana appreciates a "greater good" attitude, and was not inherently opposed to less honorable measures taken.

Cass was made Divine. This directly influenced her desire to keep the Inquisition a peacekeeping force, especially knowing she would serve directly under the Divine (whom she trusted).

Disposition:

Aliana is unequivocally Dalish and driven by an intense desire to make Thedas better for the People. However, she was never satisfied with the way clans kept to themselves and hoarded their most precious knowledge amongst Keepers and Firsts. It struck her as no better than Magister and Circle behavior.

Additionally, city elves and their differences fascinate her, because at least they interact with the world in different ways. They have exposure to other cultures, and while the alienages are unjust, there is beauty in their found communities within. This interest is one of the reasons she volunteered to spy on the Conclave—she firmly believes she needed to leave her clan if she was ever going to bring them justice and peace.

She was always eager to learn more. This playthrough was my first and I went in blind, and I’m an unapologetic Dalish fangirl. I really did want to know every bit of kernel of info Solas could offer. One could say the romance was a… pleasant side benefit.

Initially, she didn't really trust the Templars or Mages. That said, after Redcliffe, she learned more empathy for their situation, seeing the Circle's oppression of mages no different than the shem's oppression of her people.

Initially, she was a terrible leader and would be the first to admit it. She was bad at The Game, forging alliances, and she often selfishly put the Dalish first. She actually might have empathized with, if not supported, Solas' plan had he revealed it to her sooner.

She really didn't step up to being a savior of anything until Solas broke off their involvement. While not a righteous reason to do so, that's when she threw herself into making better decisions because it was a distraction. She spent the remainder of Solas' time with the Inquisition angry and living well specifically to spite him. (Yes, she's petty, lol.)

She kept her vallaslin. Despite Solas' offer and insight, she cares about what it means to be Dalish now, not just what it meant to be Elvhen then. Without it, she doesn't feel she can make Thedas better for her people. Quietly, she enjoys the discomfort her visage causes nobility when she's at events or summits. Let them stare!

The two years to Trespasser changes her for the better. She was more involved in the Inquisitions' politics, and spent a lot of time with Josie "making up for her past failures." The straw that pushed her this direction was failing Clan Lavellan. Truly, it meant what remained of the Inquisition was all she had for a clan, and she threw herself at it wholeheartedly.

Buried beneath her bitterness and anger, she still loves that stupid egg. Her feelings come from a mix of mortification at feeling so thoroughly manipulated tempered by the hope that what they actually felt was real. She dreams of his kisses and touch, even when she's at the peak of embitterment. Somehow, this is both a frustration and a comfort to her.

Leading Up to Veilguard

The eight years that pass between DAI and DAV are spent thrown at the remains of the Inquisition. She works to pare down their reach and operate in a way Leliana found most appealing—as more of an infiltration and intelligence force than a major military power.

This eventually drives a wedge between her and Cullen, who leaves earlier than he might have after the events of Trespasser, as they do not see eye to eye on most decisions anymore.

She still sends letters to Josie whenever she can, often asking for advice that she wishes she'd learned from her earlier in her role as the Inquisitor. Josie humors her, but only in exchange for the occasional visit and well-to-do events that she knows Aliana only stomachs for her sake.

She keeps regular contact with Cass, given that she now effectively reports to her station of Divine. When they can, they steal away from the stiff trappings of their roles to exchange less formal information—like which issue of the Randy Dowager is the best, or to discuss the latest romance novel they've dug up.

She goes through a bout of depression after losing her arm, as she can't hold her bow anymore, and feels utterly at a loss. Dagna eventually fits her with the prosthesis she has in Veilguard, but by then, she's become terribly rusty, and her aim is never quite the same.

This is when she turns to study, especially that of her culture, emerging information from the Dread Wolf's activities, and study of the Elvhen language. She spends time creating ciphers for Leliana's agents, and keeping her wits sharp.

It takes her at least five years, but the anger and hurt Solas inflicted eventually fades to a dullness. Instead, she pushes to better understand his motives, desires, and intents. Arguably, it becomes an obsession, rooted in the need to know whether or not anything for her lingers in his heart.

Once Varric, Harding, and Rook have the lead on Solas, she starts to have a lot more trouble concentrating on her other duties. Eventually, she has to make an agreement with Leliana to exchange Dread Wolf cell information for the information she's still able to get by playing the Inquisitor role in court.

She absolutely, 100% gave an interview to the writer of that Randy Dowager piece and even provided editorial feedback. Cassandra and Varric may or may not have also been involved. She conscripts one of Leliana's spies to drop it in the lap of one of the Dread Wolf's spies they've identified, because fucking with him at this point is all she's got.

I think this covers most of my head canons for Aliana leading into Veilguard, which leaves me prime in a place to actually be able to write some content around her. So consider this my Aliana/Inky bible, and strap in - I'm gonna write some STUFF.

[icharchivist]

I think you said Siete and Lucanis would get on fine but would Solas like him?

Actually, also, do you think you could leave Lucanis and Solas in a room together or would they be at each other's throats?

Solas and Lucanis?

They do interreact in late game so i have a few ideas about that.

Contains Veilguard spoilers, and unfortunately some negativity about it too:

Mainly esp with a romanced Lucanis, Lucanis wants to kill Solas for what he did to Rook. So huh. Well. That's already not exactly a stellar start. Though he does say that if Rook wants to spare Solas, he will follow Rook's desire -- but if Solas even endanger Rook even once, Lucanis will not hesitate to kill him.

Meanwhile Solas feels a lot of pity for Lucanis. Both Lucanis AND Spite were forced into cohabitating and Solas comments that it's a horrible thing to inflict over two souls. He even offers that, at the end of all things, he could separate them if they wanted. Both Lucanis and Spite refuse on the spot because not only they came to an agreement, but they don't trust him. Not after what he did to Rook. And Spite comments that all he smells over Solas are tears and lies.

(Solas was responsible for the thing that got Rook locked away for a few weeks, and if Solas' plan went according to him, Rook wouldn't have been let out. Lucanis mentions that he cannot bear the thought of losing Rook and those past few weeks are hinted to have been agonizing for him. So even outside of just "you hurt Rook" i think the fact he felt like hell for a few weeks also makes him want to kill Solas. He does fall back on revenge a lot, especially while fuelled by a Spite demon.)

Before that, i'd have to rewatch the Solas regrets scenes to refresh myself on Lucanis' feelings about it but i think i recall Lucanis being a bit more on the understanding side? or maybe i'm projecting.

But i think Lucanis would understand where Solas is coming from but he can't accept the cost or the means to get there. He always saw what a threat Solas could be, and after he hurt Rook this was done and over for him. I think Lucanis will remain hostile because he's good at holding a grudge.

One thing the game never really mentions but is from the books is that Lucanis genuinely goes out of his way to get revenges for slaves and free them. I always thought it would be relavent to connecting with Solas or not because like. The extreme Lucanis goes through to punish slavers and anyone who enable them should be something Solas would connect to. In the same book we see Solas ruthlessly punish slavers as well. As per the books, i think the two of them would actually relate and understand each other a lot. and i think Solas would like the extends in which Lucanis is ready to go to free slaves outside of his orders.

In a way both Solas and Lucanis were forged to become weapons by a matriarch figure in their lives. Solas just eventually rebelled, while Lucanis still is loyal to her, even though he breaks away from it to disobey and free slaves. And i think it's like. In the Books, we have kind of this built up of how Lucanis is more like when Solas was still young, still in the service of Mythal, yet still unable to look away from the misery of people.

And they're both pretty mellow people. They're understanding and listens to others a lot. They have their share of hyperfixation. I didn't pick the option but i think Lucanis also doesn't like tea so it makes them bond on that.

But at their core they are freedom fighter who had been molded into giving death only. Solas broke free from it. Lucanis didn't but he disobey when he can.

The game....... doesn't really touch on that. In fact it barely even touch on Lucanis' complicated feelings toward Caterina despite being a perfect foil to Solas being molded by Mythal to be who he is. .... the game also pretty much just makes Caterina a loving Grandmother, which is understandable bc she has been missing Lucanis when he was gone for one year, but therefore makes nothing to address the very complicated dynamic in the Dellamorte family as it is hinted in the book.

If their storylines focused more on that, i feel like they would see more of each other into the other, or at least Solas would see himself in Lucanis, because i don't know if Lucanis is self aware enough to really understand the depth of the abuse he went through with Caterina.

And the problem with Veilguard imo is that, while i love the storyline and i love Spite, focusing all of Lucanis' struggles on Spite leaves no room to actually address the deep root of his trauma (i mean there's Illario but. I think overthinkers can manage to tie the plot back together but the game itself will do very little effort to dive deeper into how it plays on both their CPTSD.). Lucanis has both CPTSD and PTSD. CPTSD because of the Crows, and PTSD because of the experiments made on him the past year. The game only really dive into the PTSD and the way it intersect with the CPTSD when you free him from PTSD prison -- but it does very little to address the CPTSD. Which i get because this would be long and hard (but the ending of this quest makes it very bitter to me), but is definitely something i have to take into account here.

But as the game goes... I don't know i think i still need to get my thoughts more sorted about it, i had years to really dive into Lucanis' story in the book and only a month to think about his story in the game, i'm clearly not on the same level of depth here, and the bait and switch with Spite means i didn't pay enough attention early on -- which is why i'm replaying it too!

And there's also the whole.... The thing is that i think if you take the book AND game together, an idea of them together, you could get something extremely compelling about the Benevolent but Abusive Matriarch That Formed You Into A Weapon, and the Betrayal Of Those You Considered Brothers. Like i feel like if they bothered to show more about the Felassan betrayal in game aside from the revenant, there could be some introspection and elements of Lucanis putting himself in Felassan's place after Illario's betrayal. There is a concept, right here, ready to be explored, that is... just not enough invested in, and wouldn't even be something you'd bother to pick up if you hadn't read the books and read Lucanis' complicated feelings about Caterina and the depth of his bond with Illario, when the game made the two of that... very one dimensional without the context.

But Spite makes things a bit difficult. Still Solas would see that it's two souls being bound, and he detests this idea. He detests the inherent slavery, he detests the way it is altering the both of them. But he admires that they managed to make it work and he admires that Lucanis gave this opportunity to Spite as well, as humans and non mage are rarely this opened to Spirit possession and understanding.

But yeah ultimately i think the difference, especially in game, is that Lucanis is more driven by his personal feelings than the bigger picture like Solas is. So Lucanis will hold grudge over how Rook was hurt regardless of the bigger picture. And while Solas CAN get petty and arrogant with someone who is hostile to him, he's less so when he agrees he's in the wrong, and he does agree it was horrible of him to do that to Rook, so he's been withstanding Lucanis' anger. That said Solas would get rid of Lucanis if Lucanis stood in the way of his goal.

So like.

I think pre-Rook betrayal they could stand in a room together and be cordial with each other. they'd be wary of each other and have difficulties being nice, but they are professionals. They won't start fights for no reason.

(unless Solas would address the inherent slavery of the Crow system but Veilguard kinda retconned everything about it so what is there left to comment on. where is slavery even in Veilguard.)

but Post-Rook betrayal Lucanis would have a dagger out the whole time. He'd be glaring daggers. And Solas can't even be mad because he knows he has every reasons to be treated this way. If Rook tells Lucanis no, Lucanis will behave, but he will make clear he won't forgive Solas and that he's ready to kill him if he does anything wrong. If Rook does nothing, Lucanis will just keep to whatever he would have promised about it before. But if Rook is mean to Solas you can be sure Lucanis will go "AND ANOTHER THING" supporting his lover while making sure Solas feels like shit and knows the dagger is ready to go to his throat anytime.

so huh.

that's my take away. I think.

[thessalian]

Thess vs Surprising Little Touching Moments

So I'm doing the "last conversations with your party before the final battle" thing in Veilguard, and aside from Lucanis, who I expected to be a thing, one reaction got me right in the feels more than expected.

Not Taash (though poor Taash).

Not Emmrich (though he's sweet).

Not Bellara (though also poor Bellara).

Not even Davrin (who is the kind of chill about this that a Rook needs after making some of those calls, lemme tell you).

I mean Assan.

"He missed you while you were gone. I kept finding him prowling around your room, or sleeping on your bed. I thought it was abandoned food, but nope; he was just trying to figure out where you'd gone".

I know he's Davrin's (insomuch as it's ownership rather than 'turlum'), but that ... That broke my heart a little. As much as I feel for Taash, I can't regret not losing them.

And as for Lucanis ... well. I'm actually going to have to play that through again because I was kind of tired and hit loaded to an earlier save instead of saving after the Lucanis thing and my last autosave was before that started. But that's not a hardship. Okay, it's not steamy, it's not nudity, it's not even all that much physical, but that's the stuff I really don't mind headcanoning (especially with an engine like Frostbite, which frankly was designed for FPS games and we're lucky we get half the fidelity with body and face movement that we do, never mind the complexities of ... well, honestly two bodies trying to clip into each other on purpose, which is what kissing and sex and the like are in terms of graphic design of this type). No, for me, Lucanis' romance is about the vulnerability. That much is an Antivan Crow thing - Zevran was the same, in his way - but it goes so much deeper. It's the smile that seems to take up permanent residence on his face. It's the fact that he feels safe enough to fall asleep with Rook, and even more the fact that his objection to sleeping isn't Spite coming out but "I want to spend every last second with you".

It's when he says "So I just have to kill a god to keep you out of trouble. Easy" ... and means it.

If the other romances are stronger than his? I think I'll enjoy them a lot.

But I'll get that one again later on this evening. Right now I have to go torture myself in the name of keeping the office on an even keel.

[justmaghookit]

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

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

Spoilers for companion quests but that's it

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[starthistletea]

Okay I know that dragon age fans, me included, have a tendency to say the games are bad and then decide we like them.

HOWEVER my issues with veilguard aren't the same as issues with dai. And it's insulting honestly to compare them with how absolutely shallow datv is compared to all the other games.

One of my favorite points was choices mattering. The previous games affected the world. The 3 choices here barely matter. Only bit that really changes things is if solas and the inquistor were "in love". Which is insulting as hell to anyone who didn't romance him. The blatant favoritism and devotion to knock off anders.

Sure dai changes the lore but ita got depth it's got bite. Datv has nothing of the sort. The world is shallow, there's no depth, the bite is gone. There are no slaves in minrathous, the crows of treviso are now a cheery group protecting the city instead of a horrific group of assassins that buys and raises child slaves as killers. The lords of fortune are pirates but oooh they don't steal culturally important artifacts and the pit fighting arena they set up is toooootally non lethal and voluntary.

I haven't heard the terms "knife ear" or "shem" once. Which just makes world more flat. The Qunari are reduced fo Taash's one single sweat word and the Qun butchered to produce whatever mess the game wants to paint and not anything that makes sense on the rules we know exists.

What happened to the Qunari sewing their mages mouths shut? What happened to only Tamarassan having kids? How and why would a Scolar cast even be directed to have a baby that she would then keep??? The kids are raised communally.

I'm so so tired of treating datv like it's worth examining the premise when it doesn't even have basic bones in the world outside of set dressing. This isn't thedas. And the fact we waited a decade for it isn't going to make it better. The sunk cost doesn't make it have more depth. It's a kiddy pool game with flashy lights hoping you won't notice how it doesn't care about the story it was telling or internal consistency.

The other games had romances. It had companions woth depth you could talk to anytime and get to know them. You can't even give your li a kiss or a hug randomly. You can't chat with them. You don't even get the same reactivity and when your companions romance one another.

Just showing how poor solas did all this but it wasn't hiiiiis fault. Fuck ass bald writer's pet. I cannot believe how in love with him this game is.

Wow a special bonus "good" ending where he and lavellan end up in the fade holding the veil up forever. Wooo.

Or the stupid illuminati knock off across the sea being responsible for everything. Insulting. Fuck us the players for caring. The mysterious people across the ocean did it. Why? Play our next shitty game where we strip even more individuality from the world of thedas and drag its corpse around.

Veilguard and the other 3 dragon age games aren't the same. There's nothing it's saying, it's a sugary drink that's fun while you have it and does nothing to actually make you feel full.