#then it's like okay maybe rook is intended to be hawke-like with being more the glue holding the group of friends together!

[leliwardens]

#i don't want to derail this since this is a veey good post#but in the tags I would like to speculate -#i think that's because these people weren't written to be companions at all#it feels like they were written to be the sylvanus windrunner/grom stormscream of a dragon age MMO#it feels like a product of the fractious nature of veilguard's development cycle#in fact even the art style - and the decision to make unique design aesthetics for each faction - feels like an MMO holdover#it's not clear to me that they ever intended to give you the origins-style introduction quest despite the diversity of backgrounds#it does feel like a cynical mishmash of the 'greatest hits' of dragon age#the origins of the first game and their unique interactions#the wisecracking hawke of the second game#and the lighthouse feels to me most like skyhold w/ it's exploration/development and the companions all getting their own space#throw it all in the food processor and make a new game#except that in isolation none of these things work that well#origins doesn't work w/out setting the narrative stakes for your character before the darkspawn are even introduced#hawke doesn't work unless you are forced to play hawke - sure there's a dialogue wheel and all#but hawke is a fixture od DA2 and you cannot sub in the HoF or Inky in and expect the game to hold up#skyhold and halamshiral work because this is the senate/jedi council from the prequels refusing to help padme -#it's an inherently political game in a way that neither of the previous titles set out to be#you can't just copy what worked previously sans the context that made it great and expect to come up with a masterpiece#and to be clear - I am not anti-homage in any context#if a jazz musician quotes the mario-kart theme they make the music richer by giving a moment love for an entirely different medium#but these things cannot be the framework of new art lest they become parody#and I am sorry to those who have enjoyed the game - I sincerely hope you continue to#but please don't tell me that I am hateful or evil for not finding this a flattering addition to a franchise I love#datv critical (tags via @pip-n-flinx)

What’s really jumping out at me on my second playthrough is that the writers of the first three games understood that your character was the main character. The Veilguard writers clearly thought that the main characters were their characters, the companions.

Every scene is about setting the companions up as cool or competent or sympathetic. Often, this is done at Rook’s expense. The companions get all the witty one-liners; Rook’s attempts at humor not only frequently fall flat, but are frequently called out for falling flat (even when they’re completely automatic and the player has no say in them).

The companions have all the knowledge and skills; Rook just brought them all together and gives them all pep talks so they can focus. I’m trying to edit out all of the comments where Rook is like “Um… what????” from my videos, and let me tell you, it takes WORK. There are A LOT of them. I can count on one hand the number of times when the Inquisitor or Hawke comes across as dumb, but it seems to be a built-in, unavoidable part of Rook’s character. I have not selected a single “purple” option in all of Act 1, and Rook is still coming across as the kid who tries to be the class clown to cover for the fact that he’s always confused. Rook’s role in most scenes is to say “Uhhh… what?” so that the companions look smart.

Rook is always the one offering sympathy and never the one getting it. No one actually comes to comfort you after Varric’s death. No one asks you how you’re feeling about having to lead the team now that Varric is gone. No one tries to reassure you or give you advice for dealing with the trickster god haunting your dreams. We’re told that Neve could keep Solas out of your head, but she never actually offers to do this for you. No one comforts a Shadow Dragon Rook when Minrathous is destroyed or a Grey Warden Rook when Weisshaupt is destroyed. Rook’s problems don’t matter. Only the problems of main characters matter.

Rook is a secondary character in their own story.