#whew okay this wasn't supposed to be this long but oh well lmao here we are

[apostaterevolutionary]

So veilguard thoughts. I have a couple topics about it I want to go into more detail on which will probably be posts of their own, but this is my kinda initial, not as brief as I originally planned lmao review. This will have spoilers

TL;DR: I consider the game to be notbad.png. I liked some things but I have some criticisms too. A lot of it is going to be up to personal taste, but for me it’s. Not bad. It’s better than inquisition but not as good as origins or DA2. It feels a lot like a midway point between inquisition and DA2 with a splash of ME2 for flavour. I don’t regret playing it and I am planning a second run, but I’m going to take a break first and not do it right away. Also my final hour count for a completionist run was 86 hours

So the structure of this review is going to be various aspects, a letter grade rating, and then a little paragraph or 2 explaining my thoughts. I’ll also say that my expectations going in were not super high. Really, all I wanted was for this game to not ruin the other games for me and make me regret ever getting into the series. Not a high bar lmao, but I’ve had things limbo under it before. This didn’t – and I think I’m going to move forward with the DA2 tattoo I’ve been thinking about for the last few years. But yeah. Back to veilguard. I just wanted to mention it cause I do think expectations matter when it comes to assessing how good something is for you personally. If you were expecting something different, you may feel differently

(This is 3.5k words! What the hell lmao. You’ve been warned though)

Overall story: B

I have some thoughts about the lore and like. How the world has been made smaller by tying absolutely everything back to the evanuris, but I think I’m going to do a separate post about that cause it’s kind of a topic in and of itself. But it’s a weird combo to have like. The plot is Big and Epic (a bit too much, imo) but the lore feels like it’s shrinking, which is strange. But ultimately the story isn’t bad. I predicted the Varric twist thanks to a movie I watched a few years ago that pulled similar tricks lmao, but there were still enough twists and turns to keep me interested. Solas was infuriating for most of it, which really annoyed me right up until the end because you actually do get to conquer him. And ngl it was really satisfying lmao. I chose the trick ending (though I did also try them all) and it did feel damn good honestly. Weisshaupt is absolutely peak though, that mission I loved (and second run will be as a warden for maximum suffering there skdlsdk). Those two parts were absolutely the highlights for me. Also the double dragon fight was actually pretty epic

Also there’s been a lot of talk of “sanitizing” the politics and while I do agree with that, I think it’s more… it feels like they skipped over a lot of the politics more than anything. Which I don’t love, but my like. Specialty in DA was a political topic lmao. If you’re really into elf lore and the more truly fantasy elements, you probably loved the focus here. Dwarf lore, you probably liked it a lot too. But me being a mage freedom expert, well, there was one side quest in Rivain (which I did really like tbf) and one codex letter from Dorian and that’s about it lmao. I wish they hadn’t skipped over so much of it, but I do think that may have been a response to fan criticism of how they handled things in the past. Which is like. Okay, yeah, you did fuck up a lot, but that doesn’t mean just give up on it you know. I played as a shadow dragon and even then, slavery in Tevinter is skipped over a lot. I feel like there was room for more of the political topics, which is the stuff I really like. I’ve seen some theories that it could be corporate meddling and that’s believable to me, but I think the real thing they wanted to make was a game that was as likeable as possible. They wanted to please everyone. The problem with that, though, is you can never please everyone and the result is never as good as it is when you just go for what you want. And I do get a bit of that feeling here. There is some lost potential

Rook: B

While I realize Rook is player controlled, so how you play may change your opinion, but I decided to play as a sort of discount Hawke, with that similarity being why Varric chose them for this. And that vibe really added some flavour to it. It also meant that I was using the aggressive/direct option for most of the game and I definitely do see the criticism that you can only be so mean in the game. And like. Yeah, this person was chosen for their heroism, but there was room for a renegade “whatever it takes” (what ended up being the quote in my game) kind of character, which I don’t think Rook is even at their most extreme. Though tbf I wouldn’t have played them like that and I did enjoy them overall, so I’m mostly happy with what we got. Apparently a lot of people don’t like the accent? But I do ngl, like I specifically recall enjoying it. Not as much flavour as Hawke, but who is ever going to have that honestly lmao

I do wish Rook had gone through some more personalized horrors (and I think I’m going to write a longer post about this too), but that’s a preference thing so I’ll touch on it another time. The faction choice could’ve had more to it but like. That’s consistent with other DA games so I’m not that fussed about it. Also character creator is incredible, though my brain was too small to understand how the make up worked lmao. Although why are the qunari hairlines Like That. I used the only qunari hairstyle with bangs sdkls

Combat: D-

I haaaaate the combat. I hate it I hate it I hate it. I did end up finding a way to make it work by playing on Keeper and using what I decided to call the ‘masterchief build’ (high health, archery main with heavy weakpoint boost – basically I played it as a shooter where I just headshotted absolutely everything whenever possible lmao), but playing as a rogue is a nightmare. I’ll be trying mage when I do my second run, so we’ll see how that goes but woof. There’s a tiktok a friend sent me that goes “This is supposed to be a fucking RPG, what role am I playing, the fucking victim???” and that was essentially my experience the whole way through sdklskd. The game could be heavily improved by making it so every little hit didn’t stop whatever you were doing (using an ability, pulling an arrow, literally just trying to move), like if you could really trade hits I think it would be so much better. Also no one say “oh you just don’t like action rpgs” – I played jedi survivor in september and it does action combat SO much better. And I think I’m going to go play it again soon cause veilguard just made me miss how fucking good the combat is there

I will say the dragon fights actually ended up being my fave though cause it’s like. Basically the same fight every time lmao so yay for that considering there’s a lot of them

Exploration: A-

I liked this part a lot – like I said, I played jedi survivor in september and loved it, so the more vertical exploration I liked. The jump was a bit clumsy, like the distance was always just barely in reach so there was a bit too much barely making it ledge grabbing to really feel smooth (and this is why I’m not giving it an A), but I liked exploring the world. I 100%’d all the chests and altars without much trouble and it didn’t feel like a chore (though idk if all the chests are worth it once you’ve settled on the stuff you’re using). The puzzles were surmountable but still required thought and effort most of the time. I liked the inventory and looting system too – inventory management vexes me greatly so I liked the simplified version of it and the cosmetic options were a huge plus too. The only real annoyance was like. The endgame chests all upgrading equipment I was not going to use, why couldn’t it be for the bow I’ve had equipped for the last 30 hours that still isn’t yellow rank lmao. I think it was just a chance thing but still. Oh also adding sprint was an EXCELLENT decision holy shit

Also the hossberg wetlands and dock town were my fave areas cause I love a (not) Fereldan shithole and a shitty city that feels so much like Kirkwall lmao

Companions: B+

I liked them a lot and their quests were kinda the highlight for me ngl. I’ve seen a lot of criticisms and like. I do agree that I wish they had a bit more bite. I wanted Lucanis to get mad at me for saving my home over his even though he can understand rationally why I would do that. Because people are irrational! Let them be irrational!!! He’s literally possessed by a demon of spite, where’s the fucking spite??? I did enjoy the bits of bickering we got from the companions, though I think there was room for more. I’m not saying we need to hit DA2 levels of petty sniping lmao but I do miss a little bit of bite. I do like the companions overall though and I like their stories – I liked the outing concept too, it makes things feel  a bit more intimate. Some of the story beats are a bit clumsy, like I’ve seen a lot of criticisms of Taash’s and I agree it’s clumsy, but also I respect the attempt? Like I can’t say it’s bad, because even though I’m too old to really relate to that storyline, I know someone out there is going to play this game and get hit really hard by it. And I think that’s important, even if it could’ve been executed better. Also the single best line of voice acting in the game imo is that scream when their mother dies so. Controversial take maybe lmao but I’m okay with it. I quite liked the companion arcs, sue me

Harding was the weakest for me but tbh I'm not sure if I just don't remember her from inqusition well, or if it's cause she got kinda shackled with lore dump duty, or if it's the voice acting, or just that kind of character not doing it for me. But she just felt... off to me, in a way. Idk. I don't hate her, but she would be the one I like the least if forced to choose

I do agree about the lack of romance content criticisms though. I went with Neve and while I like her a lot, the like. Amount of romance content was a bit lacking. Given she’s a bit reserved and hesitant about things, it could be a characterization choice, but I’ve seen the criticism a lot so I’m not sure if they’re all like that or not. I’ll have to see when I do my next run (romance undecided as of yet)

Also. This is related to the personalized horrors mentioned above, so I’m going to go more into it in a separate post later, but while I love the companions interacting with each other and the way Rook interacts with them, I wish there’d been a bit more of them being the ones to go to Rook? Like if there had’ve been some kind of really terrible act 2 personal angst for Rook (as mentioned above), like having the companions comfort them would’ve been nice. I liked the rescue from the fade prison, but I really would’ve loved just. Even a 10 second scene of everyone being so relieved and happy that Rook was back rather than immediately jumping to business (especially as apparently Rook was trapped for weeks???). It made things feel a bit one-sided. But yeah, I’ll go into that a bit more separately I think

(I guess I am just always seeking the mid-game emotional gut punch of All That Remains and its aftermath lmao)

Past characters: C

Now we already knew about the keep situation, which does still annoy me but it’s whatever. I don’t like it, and I don’t like how bioware is like ‘well it’s too hard now’ well yeah, but you chose this when you made the series about choices and how they mattered. Like sorry, that’s the selling point you gave us lmao. You’re kind of stuck with it unless you pull an elder scrolls and start having the games take place further apart (and controversial take: for all its flaws as a game, I liked the Andromeda solution to that. The idea of having it be removed in space and time but still connected. Maybe I’m the only one lmao but I liked that idea). But anyway, it seems we weren’t going to get the game otherwise so I can deal with it. The appearances we did get though… Morrigan was fine I guess, I do enjoy her.  Isabela was mostly just key jingling, which I don’t hate but was also meh. Dorian was good – I liked him. Though when it comes to key jingling, I strongly prefer codex key jingling. Like when I got a sword that represented Zevran – that was fun (also wild that he is the only origins companion other than Morrigan even referenced??? That I saw at least). Also would’ve liked literally any mention of the DA2 crew in addition to Isabela but it is what it is lmao. Even a codex referencing Hawke would’ve been fun

The one I didn’t like though was the inquisitor and the grade here would be higher if not for this part. Typically speaking, I’m not a fan of previous protagonists coming back, but Hawke in inquisition worked better imo. It’s a one and done. Varric asks nicely, so they show up, do the thing, and then head back to whatever they were doing (or die, but I didn’t do that lmao). The inquisitor though… I get that if you romanced Solas, it probably works well. But for my inquisitor? Mine retired imo lmao. She’s chilling. She feels no responsibility for Solas cause if your friend suddenly idk becomes a serial killer, that’s not your fault. So my inquisitor absolutely would not be doing All That. Also I don’t love that southern Thedas is just… completely fucked I guess??? Cause why would the gods worry about southern Thedas when they are in the north? Makes more sense to conquer the area you are in first, send every troop in your arsenal there, not some other place. They can control the blight, why send it down there, where you are not? And they ruled as tyrants for centuries, foiled Solas for ages, so clearly they have some strategic skill and thus it makes more sense for them to focus fully on where they are and get that area fully conquered before moving on. These aren’t stupid villains, or at least they’re not presented as such, so they shouldn’t be doing something stupid like that. I get it’s to raise the stakes of the story, but I feel like the stakes were already more than high enough given all that’s going on in the north. Hasn’t Ferelden been through enough??? So idk, maybe the inquisitor showed up the first time and then retired to get drunk at 9 am every day and wrote a bunch of fake letters so Rook didn’t bother them further lmao. Or maybe those letters were more hallucinations from Solas. I didn’t like that part so I’m going to be headcanoning around it I think

(Also not me always thinking like. Hmm where the hell am I going to put handers during all this so they can have some damn peace lmao)

Overall structure: B-

(Rereading this I realized I ranked it B- and then just complained the whole time lmao but really, I do think it’s overall ‘fine���. There’s a few choices I don’t personally like but I liked the side quests and the main quest progression for the most part so. The criticisms below are still criticisms I have but they’re not enough to knock it down below a B-)

Ngl I’m not a fan of when main quests lock you out of side quests without warning (or like. If you accept a quest to go kill this entire town, obviously no more quests are going to happen there – I’m fine with that). I know it’s a common thing in mass effect, but that’s always been my least favourite part of ME, so I didn’t love that it was here too. Though tbf I don’t know if it’s like. Do all main quests do that? Or just certain ones? I played too early to have a guide so I just erred on the side of caution and did all side/companion stuff first. Which is fine, but I prefer to have the freedom to do what I want, when I want. You can smell the ME2 on it though lmao, like it was pretty obvious what they were doing. I do think it was less frustrating than in ME though cause like. You can just not do the main quests until you’ve cleared out the rest, whereas ME will just surprise you with big main missions at certain times so you have to think further ahead. Ultimately it wasn’t a dealbreaker, but it’s not my favourite kind of way for quests to work

I’m also not a big fan of like. The suicide mission concept in general. Some people like it and that’s fine – it’s a personal preference. But I won’t lie, I looked up the correct people to send where. I did that when I played ME2 too and I don’t feel any shame about it – that kind of thing just doesn’t do it for me personally. I don’t enjoy that kind of tension cause I just get mad and reload if I fuck it up lmao cause how tf was I supposed to know the correct answers. It was nice and easy to get all the factions up to full strength though so that was nice. Like it didn’t require extra effort really, you can do it just by playing the game fully and being slightly strategic with selling items. Which is a huge improvement on the original ME3 conditions but that’s a completely different topic lmao

Something bothers me about the Harding/Davrin choice but I’m not sure if that’s me being sad that a companion died or if it’s actually a valid complaint lmao so I’ll let that percolate a bit. Like why is it one of those two specifically? I understand a death was needed for the regret prison concept to work but idk, the choices just rub me the wrong way. But would I be less bothered if it was someone else? Is the bothered I’m feeling actually cause there’s something iffy about the choice or is it just the intended effect? I haven’t decided yet. I’ll have to sit with it for a bit I think. I did know it was coming, that’s one thing I was spoiled on, and while I’m kinda glad I knew I do wonder how I’d feel about it if I hadn’t

Final Verdict

So yeah. I liked a lot but I have criticisms too. I’ve seen a lot of people call it a 7/10 game and tbh I think I agree with that. But that’s also not a bad thing? It didn’t permanently alter my brain chemistry like the first 2 did but tbf that’s an extremely rare thing lmao. It’s okay for a game to be fun and a good time and one I will play again but not right this second and that’s all. Like that’s okay imo. Not every game has to be 10/10, ‘this has changed the way I think forever and ever’. It would be exhausting if they were (and hell, DA2 is probably my favourite game of all time and I can’t even call it a true 10/10 no matter how much I love it). Maybe it’s a bit of a let down to some given the 10 year wait but ngl I feel… relieved. That’s the only word for it. I experienced it. I had fun. I have criticisms but it didn’t ruin the entire franchise. I don’t regret playing it or paying for it. I will play it again. It’s simply notbad.png. There’s nothing wrong with that outcome. It did make me think of DA2 again lmao, even though I literally just replayed it recently, but that’s just how my brain is I guess. Whatever the hell they put in DA2 will be a high I will be chasing for the rest of my life I think

I’m not sure what else to say now. I do hope it’s successful so bioware can continue to exist. Overall, I liked it, but it has its issues and it’s missing that special sauce to really make it incredible. And that’s an okay thing. Yes, I have criticisms, but I also had a good time and I’m sure I will again when I do a second run. And in the end, I think that’s all I can really ask for