#but i will say the only reason why i haven't played bg3 is bc my pc would spontaneously combust before reaching the title menu

[omivioarts]

i have never played baldur's gate 3 but he's mesmerizing

bonus astarion-from-memory under the cut!

[ytdn]

Finished Veilguard

so, I finished Dragon Age Veilguard having played all 3 previous games right before it (hence why I only started after christmas) and here's my thoughts having finished 5 minutes ago

SPOILERS AHEAD obviously

THINGS I LIKED

SOLAAAAAS. Like, he was the main reason I was excited for this game, how he got treated would be the make or break for me and I'm soooooooo happy that he was written with exactly the respect he deserved. He was proud, he was compassionate, he was a backstabbing dickhead, everything was perfect and I looked forward to every one of his talks with Rook. and I, being a solavellen truther for 8 years now naturally picked the change his mind ending and I got my reunion which is all I really wanted (I would have liked if it was longer but I understand its not solavellan simulator even if I want it to be)

GREY WARDENS I have loved them since Origins and I'm soooo glad they got a big focus along with the blight like in my heart that's what dragon age is all about (and naturally I rolled a Warden so it worked soooo well for me)

On that subject, I was very impressed with how well they integrated the Origins into the plot/dialogue like if I didn't know better I would say the story was written for an Elven Warden (it could be the case that its different for other faction/race combinations but idk)

They put soooo much effort into the character quests like its funny coming from just playing Inquisition where some characters have like a 5 minute character quest and others its an hour, here all 7 playable companions have fully realised multi part quests with bosses and everything

the gameplay is the most fun I've had in DA, sorry I don't like quasi-tactical gameplay so them committing to full action rpg is great for me

this is probably the best "presented" dragon age game and part of that is just because of the passing of time (and also showed me that I really haven't played any recent games except for BG3). There was 0 jankiness, the graphics were beautiful, the music is beautiful and the environments were really fun to run around in

the plot itself was extremely well paced, we didn't have the huge amount of downtime that Inquisition had, the shortness of Origins or the all-over-the-place-ness of DA2

THE LORE! I was so pleased seeing everything we'd speculated about was right :D

I liked pretty much all the companions with Davrin and Bellara being my standouts (Davrin especially bc I romanced him :D)

The whole end section from the Point of No Return was just... stunning. Like, I've never expected DA to have a good ending sequence - the siege of Denerim is laden with bugs, DA2's ending is dramatic on a character level but contrived as fuck, and DAI's ending is so sudden that everyone considers an expansion pack the real ending. Here though we got a 5 hour extravaganza of gauntlets, boss battles, and what I actually did not expect (see my thoughts later) actual character deaths that stuck. It was a complete mood whiplash and I loved it.

The Siege of Weisshaupt is getting a whole bullet point bc as setpieces go it was absolutely stunning, I really felt the panic and the terror fighting the blight and by the end of it I was shaking. Also Giant Ghil'inan face was hilarious.

THINGS I DIDN'T LIKE

You know the line about characters written like they're trying to get a good grade in therapy? well uh if you want an example this is what a significant amount of the dialogue especially in character quests is. Like I was rolling my eyes at multiple points bc the script would just not! let characters get angry and stay angry! The worst was after Weisshaupt when I thought there was gonna be some good friction between Davrin and Lucanis and it was just. cut off. I wasn't expecting DA2 level of character friction (and that wouldn't be good anyway, I have my own problems with DA2's character system) but like. Inquisiton level would have been nice!

Specifically on Lucanis he was very disappointing as a character for me bc they introduced him as a guy with a demon stuck in him and they barely explored. Like the last guy we had with that issue was Anders and well. I was expecting more with Lucanis?

Emmrich was another character I liked but I wish they hadn't made his choice to become/not become a lich be about saving Manfred it felt like a cheap way to avoid the actual moral/ethical concerns.

There felt like a lot of punch pulling in quests with killing people. like I should have got the option for Lucanis to stab his cousin, and in Bellara's quest I groaned when we found out her brother wasn't evil really and all her stressing over having to kill him was for nothing. This is probably why I liked Davrin and (the final part anyway) Taash's character quests my favourite bc they did not pull the gruesome punches. And also why having to kill off two of your companions in the finale shocked me so much bc the game had lulled me into thinking they didn't have the balls.

Some of the "Outings" and "Conversations" felt like the worse parts of a genshin character quest like sorry you are wasting my time going on a date. please tell me your tragic backstory and fuck off thanks.

I'll have to look at what divergences are available but from my PoV the first time round the only "big" choices are Minrathous vs Treviso, how you treat Solas (and I assume you can change your mind on that in the end) and who dies in the finale. Now true, they've been decreasing the amount of choices ever since Origins but like it felt very obvious here especially with character quests, like I should have been able to get Lucanis to kill his cousin (can you tell I hate that guy). This does make me wonder about replay-ability overall.

EDIT: Oh yeah I wish we'd seen more of the Butcher bc that one conversation turned him into THE most interesting villain and its sad thats all we got

EDIT: something that bothered me in early game and I kind of forgot about but now remembered is how like. blase everyone is about the elven gods coming back and being evil? like thats a dozen levels of religious blasphemy there. and it was a real shame they didn't have any elves following them bc like. they should!

THINGS I AM NEUTRAL ABOUT

I am kind of sad there wasn't really a political plot here (like the Landsmeet or Wicked Eyes) but then again I hated Wicked Eyes so I'm not gonna miss it

The absence of the mage-templar conflict makes sense and I absolutely won't miss it but it is crazy playing this right after DA2 and DAI where its such a big part of the plot and people's characterization. Like there's a big inbuilt friction that just isnt there.

I never thought they'd kill off Davrin at Weisshaupt for obvious reasons but like I wish they'd given a better explanation that "blights weird now idk". Like I was genuinely expecting Razikale to pop up again bc Davrin hadn't killed him properly or something

villains were completely one dimensional psychopaths but again, DA has never been known for its good or interesting villains. They were more successful and fun than Corypheus anyway.

I was slightly annoyed that there wasn't an apostate that betrays you and then I realised that's Solas. Again.

I wish there'd been more cameos from previous games but again I understand why they would limit that bc its mostly fanservice. Also since I picked Treviso I assume I miss a lot of Dorian content with the Shadow Dragons.

Taash's storyline did have me rolling my eyes at various bits bc well, its pretty on the nose. But her voice actress is amazing and really sold it and her whole final quest made my cry buckets.

Varric felt a little boring for me for most of the story but then we got the reveal at the end and I was like huh. that makes sense.

so, thats my thought vomit immediately after playing, I will probably change my mind a bit after letting it settle but basically like every other DA game, its got good bits and bad bits. and I will admit that the final questline ups my rating of the game a LOT like before I would have given it a 6-7 but now I might even give it an 8. idk.

anyway now I can finally unmute the tags and see what people are discoursing about lmao.

[ryttu3k]

List of cool bits of foreshadowing, compiled from this post

Volo being freed from the Goblin Camp: "I can't wait to pick your brain!"

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'Wyll thanking Balduran that we haven't sprouted tentacles yet.'

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Raphael in act 1: "Hope… SUCH a tease."

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'First time I heard Barcus Wroot say "If we meet again, then we will have met again," I knew I'd be seeing him later.'

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'After saving Arabella, I was SHOOK about Arabella’s parents in Act 2 in my first run. In my second run, after you save the Grove, their parting words are surprisingly negative compared to everyone else’s and it’s very sad in hindsight. Komira says “We didn’t die today. Tomorrow perhaps, but not today. Thanks to you” and Locke says “One sorrow ended. The next soon to begin.” the FORESHADOWING-'

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'Astarion's sardonic laughter upon discovering what the tadpole will do'

'of course it will turn me into a monster…'

'hows this one foreshadowing?'

'The laughter comes with the line "of course it will turn me into a monster"

It's foreshadowing that he is 1) already a monster (which the PC technically doesn't know yet) and 2) his whole situation around escaping from cazador

He says it with a tone that's like "oh of course, I thought I was free but in reality I'm about to turn into another fucking monster bc that's just how shitty my life is." You don't really pick up on this tone until your second playthrough, after you've learned more about him'

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'Better: He say “I hope when we next meet, we’ll be wearing the same skin” if you don’t recruit him, and when you see him again at Cazador’s, he’ll have been flayed.'

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'Similarly, the option to say "It felt like you weren't really there" after the first romance scene with him. I remember thinking it was kind of a strange choice to include and his excuse about not wanting to lose control seemed convincing but somehow off.

Finding out why that line was an option in Act 2… oof.'

'He's also not even aware of whats happening to him in act 1. he only realizes this in act 2 when he starts to be more self-aware about his own feelings and starts to prioritize them over the whims and lusts of other people. Until act 2 he doesnt think about his own feelings at all. in act 1 he has almost fully convinced himself that he wants to do this because he cant see why he wouldnt. there are only benefits to sleeping with Tav. Tav is attractive and the leader of the group who can protect him so theres no reason for him not to do it. but If you play with karlach origin he has a reason not to do it(her burning condition) and is relieved but doesnt understand why he's relieved. So he lashes out at karlach to blame her for the night being ruined rather than his feelings of relief that he has a perfect excuse not to have sex with her.'

'It’s a great example of what long term disassociation does!'

'Yup. And if you manage to get him to proposition before the tiefling party he tells you “you deserve a reward” (for letting him drink blood) and you can reply “you don’t need to do that just because you feel like you owe me” and shrugs it off and says “its more of an excuse it anything”. its like hes trapped in his own coping mechanisms.'

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'Coming from someone who knew nothing about the Forgotten Realms before Bg3, I love the books you can find and read very early in Act 1. They hint at the Dead Three, Astarion’s vampirism, and Shar’s evilness. My favorite book may just be the Shar one, “The Unclaimed.” Is that not a warning for what awaits Shadowheart if she continues down the path of Shar? Amazing foreshadowing about what’s at stake, and the book didn’t quite hit me until my second playthrough, running into it again, and realizing just how much was at stake for Shadowheart. We were fighting for her soul.'

'to add onto this, theres the book that talks about Selunite rituals of children having to fend for themselves in the forest and find their way back to civilization in order to become her follower (paraphrasing) then our first glimpse into Shadowhearts memory is… her lost in the forest.'

'Withers' library of foreshadowing books.

Bro has The Unclaimed, The Curse of the Vampyr and The Mortal View: Eyewitness Accounts of the Bhaalspawn Crisis all in his library, all appearantly hundreds of years before we even come across it.'

'In my head, he actually prepped the temple in a hurry before the gang makes it there.'

(Ry's note: On that note, Withers being Jergal is pretty much spelled out long before any plot-relevant stuff like Durge rejecting Bhaal and the ending scene, mostly in the temple itself.)

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'Talking to Alfira in the grove you can ask if she’s having trouble with her song, she says “I’m about to suffer a grisly death… at the hands of this bloody song”'

'To add to that - the song is called Weeping Dawn, and Durge likely kills her right before the dawn, as you have little time to react before the companions wake up'

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'The cow in Grymforge that reveals Ketheric is back.'

'He also tells you it was a devil that destroyed the place'

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'The extremely blatant musical foreshadowing of the Emperor being Balduran, with a bit of melody first appearing in an instrumental when his true form is revealed and then re-appearing as “The Song of Balduran” in the Elfsong, the lyrics of which tiptoe right up to just spelling it out plainly.

Super obvious and in your face and yet I absolutely did not notice until like my third playthrough.'

'Not to mention the opening Larian logo animation when you first boot up the game :)'

'It just occurred to me that, since the singing in the Elfsong is supposed to be the actual ghost singing, it could literally be the ghost singing to the players about the Emperor, who is also in the room with them. The lyrics to the song actually appear in the game after all, in a book, so they aren't "meta". And the ghost would clearly know who the Emperor was, since his hideout was in her basement.'

'When you meet the Emperor for the first time (the reveal that he's a mindflayer) it's playing an instrumental version of the Song of Balduran in the background.'

'Speaking of the Emperor, he's the first guy we see when we boot up the game as there's a statue of Balduran on screen right before the main menu.'

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'shadowheart will say "we can't save them all" in a banter referring to the refugees at the grove. after my first run, i found out it was an achievement.'

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'Volo says “every story benefits from a dragon!” and then there’s a random dragon in the final battle'

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'Omeluum telling Durge someone else has been in his mind and carved a tunnel through it was a pretty good bit of foreshadowing on the Durges story.'

'Similarly, I love finding the "Disorders of the Nerves and Mind: A Treatise" book everywhere. It's such a cool Durge-related story (very tangentially related). Ditto with Durge's prayer you find in the colony in Kressa's room.'

(Ry's note: The Prayer for Forgiveness gives away everything. That Durge is a Bhaalspawn, that it's the Chosen of the Dead Three behind everything, that they used to be Chosen, that Orin is their sibling and thus Bhaalspawn herself, and that there was some kinda Thing between Durge and Gortash. Even if you're not playing Durge, it still gives away that Orin is only a replacement Chosen and there was another one earlier on.)

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'All the hints of Yurgir in Grymforge in Act 1. You find evidence of some massive hellish creature that seemingly wiped out all the Dark Justiciars, but it's a mystery that won't be resolved until Act 2'

'And you piece together why they’re there in the first place if you read books in the shadowlands, as well as seeing a certain debtor in the house of hope'

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'"Who's to say ? Perhaps my Goddess is keen to see me corrupt you . She'd be delight so see a follower of Selûne towards the darkness"

When you romance Shadowheart as a selûnite . It's pretty funny the first time but once you know what happens then it's a little bit more amusing to hear her say that'

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'just got one last night where lae’zel says that she feared the dream visitor was some illithid deception, but after speaking to voss, she believes the dream figure can help them. oh lae’zel, you truly were onto something…'

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'There's a note outside of Waukeen's Rest that basically reads "Statue of Beloved Ranger missing, please return." As someone who didn't play the previous games, it took until act 3 to learn that Minsc is the beloved ranger, he'd been turned into a statue, then un-petrified (hence the "statue" is missing), and also that's why his crime boss name is Stone Lord.'

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'Astarion's comment on Malus Thorm "He just like Cazador, utterly insane!" and both Malus and Cazador actually share the same battle theme'

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'Alfira casually dropping the line, “I’ll be gone by first light”

Yeah, she will.'

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'Act1 Astarion: the biggest threat to a vampire is another vampire. They are scheming paranoid, power-hungry beast, so why would any vampire give up control over response to create a competitor?

Ascended astarion: you wouldn’t just be some spawn on your far more than that to me my dark consort, my right hand, my most beloved spawn.

Tav: spawn? I want to be a true vampire.

Ascended astarion: and you will in good time.

Later when you ask him if whats going to happen to you now that youre his spawn:

Ascended Astarion: 'Spawn' is an ugly word. I really do prefer 'consort'.

Six months later in the epilogue Tav is still a spawn. Well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions.'

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'Shadowheart's wound flaring up anytime she interacts with something Selune-themed in act 1 is my favorite. Shar's method of negative reinforcement is subtle.'

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'There’s a book in True Soul Gut’s chambers that is contains what is very clearly an account of Orpheus pre-imprisonment appearing before some random citizen of Baldur’s Gate, that just seems like normal flavour text when you’re unaware'

(Ry's note: And this appears as early as the Nautiloid!)

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'the symbol of the Absolute being a mashup of the symbols of Bane (handprint), Bhaal (skull surrounded by blood drops), and Myrkul (skull in a triangle). it’s there as early as the goblin camp brands in act 1, well before you learn about the three'

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'When you explore the Emperor’s Hideout and the Emperor points out the cutlery set on his desk, he states that the butter knife is gone/missing. A direct reference to the colloquialism “by Balduran’s butter knife”.'

'Not just that!

Balduran's Butter Knife is a weapon from the previous games. It is enchanted to be stronger against shape-shifting foes.

The Sword of the Emperor, found in the same hideout has the same enchantment.'

(Ry's note: I wonder if that includes dragons who can take dragonborn-esque forms?)

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'You can find a book written by Gortash in the zhentarim hideout in the act 1 inn, before he’s ever mentioned'

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'Right before they meet with Gortash for the coronation, Wulburn fucking Bongle tells Durge, “You have a knack for passing amongst these bastards as if you were one of them.”

There’s lots of other ones, but that one was very TRAGIC! Worst person makes great point!'

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'I just realized that in the camp in the act 2 -> act 3 transition (maybe before that too?? I'm not 100% positive) if you ask Halsin a lot of questions he asks "you're not a doppelganger are you? Trying to learn all about me to take my place?" and I GASPED. It's only sort of foreshadowing since we see Orin shape-shifting in the scene between her and gortash RIGHT before but, you know, still funny'

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'Probably that Durge-specific line with Astarion during the cutscene where he asks how you would like to be killed if you turn into a mindflayer. If you ask him how you should kill him, he says "Oh my dear, I'd like to see you try". Hits different now that I romance him each time as Durge'

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'You can see Bhaal's glowing red circle on the floor beneath the Dark Urge, when customising his character.'