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This is BioWare’s direction, and I sensed it with Andromeda. I probably won’t buy it. I watched Wolfheart play it last night, and he was actually able to get through combat with his eyes closed. He literally did a blind play. I just want to see how the story is tied up.
Remember all those shrill screams of total freak outs from devs about BG3 being something you cant compare other games to, "because because because!!!!"..? Makes more sense now doesn't it
Is Dragon Age Veilguard sitting higher than Shadow of the Erdtree really that surprising? If you remember, the game had an issue with negative reviews going in due to its difficulty and players having trouble interacting with the progression mechanic of the DLC.
Honestly it's probably the best description I've seen, and it may mean it's even good enough for some people, but older fans of the series are just going to be disappointed.
Dragon Age has been cosplaying as Dragon Age since the second one. I think this game is on par on everything with Inquisition. In fact I would call this game DA Inquisition 2.
"Dragon Age of the veil guard is an average action adventure RPG light cosplaying as a Dragon Age title. Had they been honest about their offering, the backlash surrounding this title like wouldn't have happened but then again they likely wouldn't have sold any copies either." Says it all.
Qunari have no "family units": they do not marry, choose partners, or even know to whom they are related. A father's role ends at conception, a mother's ends at birth. And in Veilguard, Taash has mom, rising her up. They don't even read their own lore.
Actually I have to argue with this, Taash has a mom rising her up because her mom escaped from the land of Qunari to Rivani with her daughter. Her mom actually explains qunari culture and that she wasn't supposed to be a mom. They made worse mistakes culturally than Taash imo. The Antaam is full of mindless war-mongering orcs who somehow join with the Evanuris, when the Antaam is pretty much against mages, Venatori is just meh. I didn't see a single slave in Tevinter, the elves don't even think about the Evanuris or joining them despite the fact that they worshipped them for centuries. Tevinter had a bad reputation in all dragon age games, but here nobody cares. And there's also all the other atrocities that happen towards the end of the game, that I'm not gonna write here, but those are even worse than these.
Nah, they've used lore to explain why Taash' mother is failing at this particular role. I'd say it's decently executed, but the writing is so poor in this game (for companions' quests at least) that it feels like a total mess
I disagree. The Development Team loved the game. The corporate side of gaming hates the consumer, I doubt people who work on something for 10 years actually hate it
@@MarcusTheJRPeople who see Game Development as a Job have no attachment to the Franchise. You do not even need like playing Video games to be a Developer.
Or maybe we just hold Bioware in too high regard. They haven't had a good game in like 15 years but every time people always hope they found the magic again and get let down.
@@TheKageshimura The main story of Inquisition may have been a bit meh, but the DLCs are outstanding imho. Now if only Solas retain his significance in Veilguard after being so hyped up in the Tresspasser DLC. Also, the dragon bosses in Inquisition are done really well.
“Cosplaying as a DA game” 😂😂. “If they be honest there would be less backlash, but would not have sold many copies”. My dude was cooking on this video.
It's a good point- look back at OG Baldur's Gate (a rpg) which was eventually followed by BG Dark Alliance (an action rpg) Dark Alliance dipped into the same fan base with success, without dumping on its the legacy predecessor
In the 4-5 years I've followed this channel. This might be the first time I've heard them cook a game with grease on an open skillet😂. Summed it up with..."Meh... It's like junk food" 😭
funny thing is, they haven't sold as many copies as people might believe. active players shows it's not going well for such a big release. it topped at 80k players on steam yesterday.
@@reignmans I think the sales on console will be a bit higher. Mainly cause you have more younger and causal Gamers on their compared to PC, and I don't mean this to be a dig towards console players
@ninetailedfox579121 even the first one wasn't. People just have shitty memories. They also forget they had these same complaints about every sequel, but now pretend they always loved them. 😂
As an RPG lover (the ones that give you a story and agency over it) I'm utterly incapable of doing an "evil" char, still the evil option is needed to validate the good one: In Dragon Age Origin (a true masterpiece), you have the choice to bargain with a Demon to get power at the expense of a kid's soul, similar things happen in other games (like Pillars of Eternity 2), point is there's no satisfaction in choosing the morally good option if it's the only option you have and it doesn't cost you anything.
One of my favorite scenes in dao is the succubus demon with the Templar who will never be allowed to have a family but through that demon he could and I always ended up giving her the Templar because if he's never none the wiser then he gets to live his last bit of life in a life he never could have.
@@TheSinsOfAvarice97 That is a good and unique one. A lot of the choices are evil to be evil or have an alternative "good" option (e.g. side with Sophia to mend the Veil or with the old Mage Warden).
How far they have fallen, considering I thought DAO did this even better to some degree than BG3 cause you have vastly diff nuances of between evil & good at various points in the story, and playing a machavelian char that say, mby wants to become ruler of Ferelden would need you to plan out how to get rid of "competition" i.e. Alistar, and get in the nobles & standing rulers good graces (Anora, Logain) , so you get your power-fantasy. Now you can't even call someone an idiot.
@@CarlosSuarez-tk8qk Don't have high hopes, all the key talent that worked on TW3 including the director have left CDPR The DEI hires are making the new witcher so you can expect a black Ciri from now on
This. It drives me crazy that people are so used to this kind of writing that they don't even notice it anymore. The writing has more in common with the Vampire Diaries than DA
As someone that grew up in the era of CW shows, don't blame that. Supernatural and Smallville were good in the early seasons and Reba counts as a CW show on a technicality. And Reaper was funny, dumb but funny.
Man I personally would view Veilguard much more harshly than you guys, so to see EA/Bioware trying to "punish" you in this way just makes no sense. I am absolutely not giving them my money. Thanks for the transparency, and sharing your insights, Fextra 🙏Hopefully sometime soon, noting reviewers who did NOT get an early access to this game will be seen as a point of pride instead.
I got it to review it personally, but the problem is that Shadow PC's quality is as about as great as this game's ability to run on Steam Deck right now without crashing.
@@mattm7798I actually completely disagree. I think dragon age had fallen out with it's original Fandom hard during inquisition. As a matter of fact, us old fans didn't hold up the title at all. It was all the newer role play story narrative people. The game was never meant for DA:O players and it never will be a title for them again. This also introduced bioware saying every story option in the game is Canon, to not upset these specific players. Which, in my opinion, cooked the title. Edit - When I say role play, I don't mean in an in game sense. But a community of people who will take their created characters and roleplay them on forums etc.
I'm finding the storyline to be very good actually. Depends on what you want from immersion? I mean, if you're the kind of person who solely lives your life in a tiny microcosm that never meets people who are different, then yes, DA:VG would break your limited immersion experience. I grew up in a small town, I know all about not knowing anything about the world outside, but then lived in several major cities and learned about diversity, then returned to the small town... and it can be very difficult living with all the small-minded people with limited life experience.
There is no way this guy fully dived into the game to give an honest review. The game has so much content, to get through it in the of release to the review would be impossible
I love your honest and straightforward reviews, keep them coming! Really digging these deep dives where you spill your true thoughts about the games. Totally appreciate this level of detail
Remember that quest in Dragon Age 2 where a mage animated the corpse of someone beloved to you and made it prance around in a grotesque caricature of what they once were? Turns out that was meta-foreshadowing.
This game is secretly brilliant. The creators made it in a way to make you hate the game so much you come to understand just how much the creators hate their audience and more importantly, themselves.
I cancelled my pre-order after hearing more about the game and I'm glad I did. I absolutely loved the first 3 games. And at some point I do want to know what happens in Veilguard, but I'm definitely waiting till it's on a good sale. I don't want to give Bioware and EA full money for a game that I feel they could and should have done a much better job on.
i don't usualy say this but...pirate, see if you like, than buy it if u do, don't let the reviews put you down (by the way i hated the game, 10h in i quited)
It’s got all that woke pronouns whatever shit included but the world we live too include that and just play for fun just like how we choose to not support those stuff . The game is fun and it doesn’t force you to be woke . The combat and what ever I have played so far is fun and I kinda think they should have made a different named game with a plot as this game looks exactly like Howard’s legacy kinda wibe animation style game but super smooth and cool gameplay ngl
Honestly as a long time fan that has been getting whiplash from all the positive reviews and then playing it myself. I can really appreciate an opinion that is more than just a toxically positive view of the game.
I recently played dd2 before starting dav, it is so jarring. First of all the gameplay,fighting. Night and day, dav is so basic it makes me fall asleep after dd. Also never thought dd feels more immersive than a bioware game, I was more invested in my pawns and the worldbuilding, grounded feeling which dav lacks in any capacity.
Yeah idk why it faded from peoples memory so fast, I dont hear ANYONE talk about it anymore. I thought it was incredible, easily ten times better than this game.
it's grim, but not entirely hopeless. it's an almost certainty that the quality bioware was known for is firmly a thing of the past, and the more practical hope is that they become a purveyor of guilty pleasure trashiness akin to ubisoft; the technical aspects and lack of cartoonishly evil monetization practices could give them a leg to stand on, if DAV has given anything positive to cling to
The lead designer on mass effect has recently started that mass effect will not take this immature approach. I believe he was being sincere but then again I am occasionally overly optimistic.
That's exactly how I feel, it is a matter of expectations. However, if you are invested in the franchise since its early days, I find it hard to be happy with this result. Great review, Cas!
This exactly. I like the combat. Everything else is...clearly made for a different audience. Bioware is gunning for the "raised on Marvel movies" audience.
Love your videos man, I know you got screwed over with the review codes for this one, but I wanted to let you know I was waiting to watch your video because you always have quality and integrity in your stuff. And I know I’m not the only one. I don’t think I was gonna get this game either way because… it just doesn’t look very good, but I still wanted to give your video a view. Keep doing what you’re doing bro 👍
This was the most polite way of saying, this game sucks. Also , I like your analogy with fast food, but I have something to add. This game is like going to MC Donald's , expecting to buy a Big Mac Menu for 10 bucks and be faced with having to pay 50$ just for the burger, all the while you know that there is the local burger place down the road which offers junk food with higher quality at a lower, much more reasonable, price.
Inoffensive and bland blockbuster junkfood. You really described this game perfectly. This should have been a complex narrative RPG with tons of choice and consequences that is not afraid to tackle complex things, instead we get a marvel-like dragon age where everything is suppressed so it can be enjoyed by everyone but not loved by anyone
After almost a thousand hours in inquisition and 500 in origins, this is the first time I'm just not going to buy it. I'm going to wait for that 90% sale in 4 or 5 years. It's really a disappointment that something we all loved has devolved into this cash grab situation.
Game already announced it won't have DLC they will most likely abandon it very soon like they abandoned the last 2 games they released shortly after launch. Will most likely be on gamepass within a few months.
@@dt5690 I don't think this was a cash grab just a bad pivot and personal inserts from the new writers. I am very pessimistic on the next mass effect and bioware in general.
Going to get one day on sale because Inquisition got me interested in what's coming with the story. However I already feel myself going into disappointment.
the thing about steam user reviews is that many of the positive listed reviews are actually mixed/average reviews, heck one of the top recommended reviews starts off with: "Conflicted on whether I can recommend this game or not." and his review is overall mixed on the game, yet his review (and many like that) is listed as recommended cause there is no middle option on steam. the reality is that many of the positive reviews are actually mixed on the game, ppl taking the positive % at face value are ignoring reality and the actual substance of the reviews. It's actually mixed on steam if we look at what the reviews are saying.
That's my biggest problem with stream review score. You can't differentiate between a very good game that is somewhat controversial and a very mid game that does not offend too many buyers. Not offending anyone is the best strategy for good steam ratings
Personally, I think if a game is mediocre, it should not be recommended. Most people would not genuinely recommend a 6/10 game to their friend, so it should be the same for strangers online.
There is just over about 6000 reviews total for the game on steam. Almost 2000 of them are negative. Yet its sitting at 79% mostly positive....almost one third of the reviews are negative. So it should be sitting closer to 35 percent review score.
Exactly this! While the metacritic user score is basically completely useless with a divisive title, steam user review numbers don’t mean anything. If only people who went so far to put money on a game are the only ones that can leave an opinion, it’s more often than not a circle jerk. And on top of that you only have thumbs up or down. If anything steam should also make a 0-5 or 0-10 system for everyone who bought and played it more than 2 hours. I’d think that then scores wouldn’t be as good. But steam wants to sell all those games so I don’t think they are inclined to change the current system.
Im glad that you guys would rather be transparent and objective even if it was making a mostly negative review, or giving it positives as it is so disliked. After all thats the only way to improve things, which is what the vast majority of people want, and ultimately what sells is quality. Reminds me of the saying: The audiances boo because they want to cheer.
From what i've seen of the writing, it feels like at any moment a character could say something like "dude, im SO craving a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks right now", "brain rot" or any other dumb "currentdayism" 😒
Dude finally got it and stopped crying. Finally he can get views and earn that money. Game has been getting mostly great reviews. Also selling good. The cope is happening lmao 🤣🤣
@@rayromano6249 the game quite literally is not selling well. Cope as much as you want, not even breaking 100k conc. players on steam is pathetic for an established IP AAA game.
@@rayromano6249 it capped out at 77k users on steam. maybe 100k total copies sold.... game needs like 5 million copies to break even. Good for an indie not a AAA
I dont know if many people outside germany know these games, but for me the "Gothic" games are peak RPG games and i would love to see games like that again. A rough world with great setting and an artstyle that fits perfect. Handcrafted worlds, well written npc's etc. These games had their focus right. I miss the time when love und passion were the most important ingridients for making games
@murderycatdoll1380 ja :( es gibt ja nach wie vor wirklich geile Spiele, man muss nur danach suchen und mehr Fokus auf kleine Entwickler werfen, aber was fehlt sind richtig gute RPG's..
I heard the German translation for the game had some godawful attempts at gender neutral dialogue, for a language with gendered words. Which would make things somewhat awkward to read or understand.
Well done review. I had a lot of fun with some aspects but in the end it feels like a mid game where everything was not terrible but also not amazing. Though, not having played through previous DA titles I only was able to experience it as a standalone game.
TY for the review i've watch enough of these and hours of streamers playing it and i will not be buying it. I'm old retired and money is no issue for any game at any time. But i always make a stand on which games to not support because of reasons. Again TY for all the content you guys put out.
I've been very skeptical of what I've seen and the fact a lot of reviews say return to form which just seems ficticious. The narrative from what users have been saying is a weak point. In the words of acg I'll wait for a deep, deep sale
The most telling thing for me is when he admitted to finding other things to do instead of playing it, even when he had plenty of time and nothing else to do. That doesn't happen with good games.
Just not interested anymore, and this is coming from someone who was invested enough in Dragon Age read all the books. The original staff of Bioware has moved on and I think it's time we did too...
My impression from reviews (I will play it on gamepass someday) is that the guiding principle for these devs was “accessibility”. I’m sure they are proud of that and that many of the reviewers they chose value that too. But the best games are the ones that push the envelope in some way, and make the player feel that there are real stakes involved. This game wasn’t going to satisfy hardcore RPG lovers because we crave the freedom to fail (Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate) or to walk down a dark path (Baldur’s Gate). I typically do good playthroughs, but the knowledge that I couldn’t choose to be bad undercuts the satisfaction of doing that for me.
And, I'm not even sure that's the biggest problem with the game. If the *only* problem with the writing was that there wasn't much choice, and you were forced to play "the good guy (tm)" (which, as you stated... I am also a person that typically will do a "good" playthrough of RPGs)... At least I, personally, would've at least *considered* still buying this game (as an example, I quite enjoyed Marvel Midnight Suns... Yes, including the story. Because it was just that "corny B-Movie fun"). No, to me, the biggest problem is the absolute insane levels of cringe and, I'll go ahead and say, the blatant and terrible DEI and the absurd politics being pushed. Some of the character conversations that I've seen in some reviews are just painful to watch... To the point where seeing them once is MORE then enough. I also don't want Leftist/DEI politics shoved down my throat. I don't want to play a game that, at times, looks and feels like bad propaganda for a particular political party that I *strongly* disagree with.
@@alexsawicki I genuinely do not understand the notion that something existing means that it is being shoved down your throat. Nobody is forcing you to change your ideology or making you interact with it in any way.
@@ninetailedfox579121 Dragon Age is an RPG, in a series that in the past, valued player choice. If reviews that I have watched are true (which, just based on watching the cutscenes that they've shown... The evidence is pretty solid)... There's absolutely NO way for me to to make choices that even come remotely close to aligning with my ideology... And, I guarantee that the developers would probably call me a "bigot" for parts of my ideology (There's lots of elements there that I'd be more then happy to explain, but that would make this already long comment MUCH longer. Needless to say, I'm not actually a bigot in any way, these people just don't understand my ideology)... THAT is what I mean by the game "shoving an ideology down my throat". But, you're right: I don't have to interact with the game. And that's *exactly* what I'm choosing to do.
Holy im early :O Always appreciate your cut and dry reviews, watching this just makes me want to replay Origins since it's been 4 years since I last touched it lol
I think RPG's only require people to take the role of a character. If you have to be given options to be evil for a game to be an RPG, I think we would have to stop calling the Zelda games RPGs. Veilguard just doesn't follow the true bioware spirit.
@aquatres3491 Yeah, but they're severely limiting the players in what they can or can't do. I mean, good and bad, that's basic RPG stuff. I don't think Zelda games are true RPGs, and I don't even consider CDPR games to be RPGs. I mean, Witcher 3 is not an RPG seeing how you can't role-play at all. Cyberpunk is not an RPG by any stretch of imagination. You can't even join gangs in that one. It's ridiculous. Having stats that you can upgrade does not make a game an RPG. Something like KotOR is an RPG. Fallout New Vegas is an RPG. I want to role-play as an evil character. If you're telling me I can't do that, then you're not really offering me role-playing experience.
you perfectly summed up why i'm feeling like nothing can top BG3 for an RPG game experience, like they even made NPCs incase people murder-hobo quest givers!! they really leaned into the player spectrum
This seems like the most fair review I've seen of Veilguard. Kudos! I was a huge Dragon Age fan; but this does seem like a wait for a sale and grin and bear it through some of the cringe.
I am in the same opinion. I have been a long-time fan of Bioware RPGS from back when I grew up playing the original release of Baldur's Gate 2. Between this and Mass Effect Andromeda, it hurts to see that the studio what made those games I loved isn't really there anymore.
“If you expect a complex or nuanced RPG you might be disappointed.” Uhhh anyone who doesn’t expect at least that, is dumb. This is a massive triple A title sequel to some of the most popular RPGS ever made. People not only have every right to expect that and more, but they should expect that at a bare minimum. Technology, budget, and competition have all gotten massive improvements since the last game. This game being anything less is not only a disappointment, it’s a scam. It’s like seeing a trailer for spiderman 2, going into the theater paying full price and then watching some teenager’s homemade spiderman video where they say cringe lines in a suit where the Face is on at a 40degree angle and then the camera just follows this kid aimlessly for 90hrs of nothing.
Thank you for the honest and detailed review. As a long time dragon age fan myself, I was excited to see what this new iteration would bring. However, with so much controversy I was unsure who's opinion I should trust. Your channel has always provided the most comprehensive and straightforward reviews for RPG's and I'm glad I waited to hear your opinions. To answer your last question, I'm no firmly in the "wait till it's on sale" faction. Once again thank you for your insightful review.
The writing is actually some of the most miserable drivel I've ever been subjected to. I actually can't imagine how writing like this gets through all the layers of approval and implementation to make it into the final product.
Because it's a game made for kids, or immature gamers. Which is whatever. My issue is Bioware pretending that this game was for old fans. They lied, and we knew theyl ied.
@Grogeous_Maximus Yeah, there's nothing about this that would appeal to an old-school fan like myself. This is about as far from being like Origins tonally as possible.
Gaming is becoming infested with these people. I ve had people on chat acusing me i was a tourist, im sure none of them played origins at launch. We had different expectations.
This is hilarious when you realize that Dragon's Dogma 2 sold 2.5 million copies 10 days after release. That means that by all accounts, Veilguard is underperforming commercially.
@Dr.Yakub22 it will do reasonably well considering it's still a big franchise but nowhere near as a good da would do. Especially considering how long it's in development
@GothPaoki depending on the budget, it could be a financial disappointment. EA won't take 3 flops in a row and will probably either downsize Biowere or completely shut them down.
@@GothPaoki But they need to pay the dev cycle of this game and the next ME, I doubt they can sell more than 3mi copies at full price with this quality.
O jogo custou 250 milhões de dólares, e seu tempo de desenvolvimento foi de quase 10 anos!!! O jogo teria que vender 4 milhões com preço cheio pra se pagar. Pra depois gerar lucro ao longo do tempo. E como dito acima.....seus números conseguem ser 3x pior que dragons dogma 2👏🤡
This is the prime example of what happens when you remove the passion from game development and replace it with corporatization, political pandering and developmental tick-boxes created by people that don't understand, nor care, about their target customer base. Note I didn't say audience. Veilguard and many other new games absolutely have a target audience, but that audience is not the same as the customer base.
to make things short: It's just wasted potential. They got the ressources and the Brand to build a Ferrari-like Supercar game but instead wasted all the budget to build a Fiat multipla with extra sprinkles and pink color which looks flashy from the outside but offers nothing extra from a quality point of view
I would 100% describe this as a sports car. But one with a formulaic approach that isnt remotely the same as their older cars. But you can't hold it against them that their game isnt presentable. It looks amazing, RPG fans just wont like what is under the hood.
Great Review. Succint, not jumping to extremes and manages to convey main points in 10 minutes. Actually better than a couple other, 40 min ones I've seen for this game. Learned all I needed to make the decision, thanks.
This is (as is typical for this channel) a great and enlightening review. For example, I didn't really understand what people meant by not liking the character models, but you broke it down perfectly. It's a fair, objective review with concrete examples of where the game's strengths and weaknesses lie.
Buy, Sale or Never Touch? Never touch for me for multiple reasons. (1) This isn't what I want from this franchise. I don't want Dragon Wars Fallen Veilguard or Hogwarts: Dragon Age Legacy. This type of mind-numbing, dumbed down gameplay (gameplay that's been done far better elsewhere) isn't what I'm looking for from a DA game. (2) The lack of decent dialog, role playing or respect for choices in prior games. (3) The review shenanigans. The reviews from certain mainstream platforms are so similar that either AI wrote the reviews or there was some sort of primer put out be EA. That folks your yourself and Wolf didn't get review copies screams manipulation and I don't support that.
@@chrismeandyou Which is still ridiculous. I mean come on. The game gave you so many options to make things easier. You just had to explore a little bit. The only boss that felt unfair was the final one and that's mostly because the second phase has that twink's hair hiding most of the attack windups.
I love you fextra. You age like fine wine. You're the perfect gap closer between the main stream media and the average youtube reviewer, keeping integrity, professionalism and a dose of reality in every single video you make. You're my personal beacon.
Thank you for the honest and balanced review. Throughout previews I was worried most about the combat. I don't like a warrior magically having a harpoon-throw or a healing spell, etc, and your comment about not really being able to see the combat chimed with my impression that I couldn't see what player or enemies were doing underneath all the fireworks in the demo videos. The warrior shield ability reminded me of mariokart when you have three turtle shells orbiting you. So the fact that the doesn't-really-matter-how-you-build combat was the most enjoyable part for you reaffirms my "not going to bother" gut-feel. All the marketing did feel like mining the existing goodwill rather than building on it. Am I the only one who disliked Solas *immediately* in Inquisition? I never took him on any mission that wasn't his side quest, and am frankly annoyed that Veilguard was gonna be all about him again. I wanted a new story rather than a continuation. I'm not gonna buy it, but is killing him and shutting him up permanently an option? That would be satisfying. For the sake of the times we live in, I feel I have to point out that I have absolutely zero issue with the representation Bioware put in their games. I applaud them for it. My criteria is good writing and satisfying gameplay, and it seems on all fronts; Veilguard has become cartoonish, and not in an entertaining way like the anime series.
@@tokatokatoka0880 steam lowers the relevance of negative troll reviews that refund the game under a certain playing time. those reviews arent factored in the score. they've always done that though
Steam wouldnt scrub reviews. Only way they disappear is if someone left a review, then refunded it. Most people won't leave a review, and even more people won't leave a review until they finished it.
@@MoONSHO7 LMAO ive seen reviews with 0.5hr playtime. you dont need to experience the whole game to get a feel of what its about. and judging from multiple clips of veilguard. its TERRIBLE.
I was here when you had maybe like 100k subscribers a few yrs back and I told you that this channel is so underrated. I was right, you still underrated. This is the best videogames channel out there
You got it, but it wasn't even worth buying. Another franchise is DEAD. Prepare for Mass Effect to eat dirt too, unless you already count Andromeda as it's death sentence.
The most respectful way of saying “this game is a cringy dissapointment and it sucks” is “it’s meh/it’s an action rpg cosplaying as dragon age”. Least it runs well tho!
If I'm not mistaken, it had a much bigger peak launch player base as well. It definitely wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed that game way more than the new DA.
@@joshshirley8568 I immediatly looked up reviews after posting. I noticed it's on sale for around 40% today. It seems to be so-so but on sale its gotta be a solid choice in lieu of a 60+$ first week AAA drop.
So, I found this channel when Elden Ring came out and loved all of your content and reviews. Thank you for this review. This is exactly what I needed to hear to help determine when to buy. Keep up the good work!
Probably get it on a sale. If a DA5 plan ever starts, either hire back the old staff or have all the staff, designers, writers, etc. PLAY ALL THE PREVIOUS GAMES TO LEARN WHAT DRAGONAGE IS ALL ABOUT!!
A lot of the writing staff were dragon age fans The issue is corporate meddling, they made veilguard not in ten years, but less than three While the project took ten years this is an Andromeda situation where the game was scrapped and remade ground up more than once
1:13 This, aside from the controversial topics is probably why I won’t end up playing this at all. I’m really tired of the Marvel style. I want serious, gritty-realism, not goofy sarcasm. Elden Ring reminded me of what gaming used to be like.
Great review. It was unfortunate that Bioware delayed your review. You were spot on for it. It's not a true RPG like Dragon Age Inquisition or Elden Ring. It's an RPG Lite. The fast-food of RPGs. Thanks for your honesty and consistently accurate reviews.
It so hard to get a feel about this game without playing. The reason why is there so much of the cultural war going on around it. People will bash decent games now because the player can simply choose a pronoun. People see the game been on the opposing side of the cultural war and it now the enemy. They will review bomb the game because its about the politics instead of the game. It makes it hard to work out what the game is like because so many people have butt hurt over the pronouns. I do not care about the culture war when it comes to games. That just noise to me. I do not care what pronouns options a game has. I care about the actual game. This review was done well i thought. It comes across honest and not someone who butt hurt over pronouns.
hmmm, "surprise 100% discount" soudns fitting in this case. I'm a long time Dragon Age fan, and I do feel betrayed by the studio for putting out such a mediocre game after 10 years of waiting. HOnestly, i want to go on a rant, complaining what i miss in this title, what is wrong and what should be removed. But it's pointless, we got what we got, and any chances of the next game in the series are higly questionable. I'm afraid for the next Mass Effect game.
Your verdict matches what a lot of Steam reviews I've read are saying - even "positive" ones often say it's a 6 or 7 that doesn't feel much like previous DA titles, which is a shame. I do really want to see the end of the story, so I will probably get it on sale eventually or play through game pass, but it's sad that the original writers didn't get to make that ending
That is exactly how i have been feeling about this game, without ever playing it. After Skillups review, who i highly trust (outer wilds IS the best game ever), i wanted to wait for other reviews, but now, that the game is out, i just decided to watch all the cutscenes on youtube, so i know how inquisitions story plays out. Besides thtat, i have absolutely no interest in this game what so ever. It was just solas story that kept my interest, and im not in on some light action adventure junk food. You nailed it: its just mcdonalds, and even if i sometimes crave junk food, i also pretty much dislike it.
highly agree: departing from Solas was a huge mistake. I might've overlooked the simplification of combat and the questionable cartoony design, but dialogues/ character interaction was a deal-breaker, at least in Dragon Age series (I play games with cartoony style -Kingdoms of Amalur, King's Bounty)- but in those the combat is fun. I expect much more from Dragon Age, so I will not buy it at its current price.
I would rather play Elden Ring for the 50th time or Dragon's Dogma 2 for the 30th, rather than this bullshit and spoiler alert, I've only beaten those games twice so far.
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This is BioWare’s direction, and I sensed it with Andromeda.
I probably won’t buy it. I watched Wolfheart play it last night, and he was actually able to get through combat with his eyes closed. He literally did a blind play.
I just want to see how the story is tied up.
I think a lot of us are there just to see the end, and it hurts.
Disappointed in you for even reviewing this trash
Remember all those shrill screams of total freak outs from devs about BG3 being something you cant compare other games to, "because because because!!!!"..? Makes more sense now doesn't it
Is Dragon Age Veilguard sitting higher than Shadow of the Erdtree really that surprising? If you remember, the game had an issue with negative reviews going in due to its difficulty and players having trouble interacting with the progression mechanic of the DLC.
"Dragon Age Veilguard is an action RPG cosplaying as a Dragon Age title"
Thank you Fextralife. I needed to hear that sentence from somebody`s mouth.
Hearing him say this was cathartic for me as well
😆 That was so funny.
I never thought of that but the characters and companions do feel like people in 2024 cosplay as Dragon Age lol.
Honestly it's probably the best description I've seen, and it may mean it's even good enough for some people, but older fans of the series are just going to be disappointed.
Dragon Age has been cosplaying as Dragon Age since the second one. I think this game is on par on everything with Inquisition. In fact I would call this game DA Inquisition 2.
I think it's safe to assume HR wasn't in the room when you made your review. Appreciate it.
HR sure as hell would want to schedule a mediation meeting with him though.
That line in skill up’s video is more and more true the more I see
Nod to Skill Up! Love it. Although I felt like this video was much more digestible for the average person.
How absolutely dare you say this bigotry! HR will surely hear about this!
What is HR?
"Dragon Age of the veil guard is an average action adventure RPG light cosplaying as a Dragon Age title. Had they been honest about their offering, the backlash surrounding this title like wouldn't have happened but then again they likely wouldn't have sold any copies either."
Says it all.
Qunari have no "family units": they do not marry, choose partners, or even know to whom they are related. A father's role ends at conception, a mother's ends at birth.
And in Veilguard, Taash has mom, rising her up.
They don't even read their own lore.
Barely any slavery in Tevinter shown either. They say it's there, but you never see it. There are free elves and quanari just walking around Minrathos
Actually I have to argue with this, Taash has a mom rising her up because her mom escaped from the land of Qunari to Rivani with her daughter. Her mom actually explains qunari culture and that she wasn't supposed to be a mom.
They made worse mistakes culturally than Taash imo. The Antaam is full of mindless war-mongering orcs who somehow join with the Evanuris, when the Antaam is pretty much against mages, Venatori is just meh. I didn't see a single slave in Tevinter, the elves don't even think about the Evanuris or joining them despite the fact that they worshipped them for centuries. Tevinter had a bad reputation in all dragon age games, but here nobody cares.
And there's also all the other atrocities that happen towards the end of the game, that I'm not gonna write here, but those are even worse than these.
Nah, they've used lore to explain why Taash' mother is failing at this particular role. I'd say it's decently executed, but the writing is so poor in this game (for companions' quests at least) that it feels like a total mess
@iriselle1918 Taash mom fail at nothing. Taash fails to be a decent human being.
@@regiszeitlos970 oppressive moms are a thing, tho, woke or not
These devs don't love Dragon Age, they used it.
I disagree. The Development Team loved the game. The corporate side of gaming hates the consumer, I doubt people who work on something for 10 years actually hate it
Same thing happened with Star Trek discovery.
Butchered is the Better word for it
@@MarcusTheJRPeople who see Game Development as a Job have no attachment to the Franchise. You do not even need like playing Video games to be a Developer.
@@MarcusTheJR Nobody who loved the game would come up with something as tasteless as the last "twist"
Why is it illegal to play with a dead corpse but EA can do it with BioWare?
@@TheTlMEWARP LOOOL bro 😂
DAMN!!
time to test that theory
If you are dead then you can play with dead corpse :D
I think if you have enough money you can do whatever you want to a corpse... John Hopkins School of Medicine knows that, so does EA.
Looking at Dragon age Inquisition after Veilguard:
"Perhaps I've treated you too harshly..."
Yes but Inquisition is trash too
Or maybe we just hold Bioware in too high regard. They haven't had a good game in like 15 years but every time people always hope they found the magic again and get let down.
I think letting your standard drop because this was worse isn't good either. We should expect a good game with high quality.
"I'm sorry little one."
@@TheKageshimura The main story of Inquisition may have been a bit meh, but the DLCs are outstanding imho. Now if only Solas retain his significance in Veilguard after being so hyped up in the Tresspasser DLC. Also, the dragon bosses in Inquisition are done really well.
People that rated this higher than Shadow of the Erdtree couldn't beat Mohg
Mogh? Pfft. They couldn’t even beat Margit.
“Cosplaying as a DA game” 😂😂. “If they be honest there would be less backlash, but would not have sold many copies”. My dude was cooking on this video.
It's a good point- look back at OG Baldur's Gate (a rpg) which was eventually followed by BG Dark Alliance (an action rpg)
Dark Alliance dipped into the same fan base with success, without dumping on its the legacy predecessor
In the 4-5 years I've followed this channel. This might be the first time I've heard them cook a game with grease on an open skillet😂. Summed it up with..."Meh... It's like junk food" 😭
at least we got some nice quotes from reviewers from this game
funny thing is, they haven't sold as many copies as people might believe.
active players shows it's not going well for such a big release.
it topped at 80k players on steam yesterday.
@@reignmans I think the sales on console will be a bit higher. Mainly cause you have more younger and causal Gamers on their compared to PC, and I don't mean this to be a dig towards console players
"If you want a complex and nuanced rpg, you might be dissapointed" say no more
so similar to Inquisition?
DA hasn't been complex or nuanced since the first one, I dunno how you guys are still holding out hope.
@@ninetailedfox579121there was only a tiny bit of hope but bioware finally crushed it
@ninetailedfox579121 even the first one wasn't. People just have shitty memories. They also forget they had these same complaints about every sequel, but now pretend they always loved them. 😂
Realistically there are VERY FEW actually complex and nuanced rpgs. Period.
As an RPG lover (the ones that give you a story and agency over it) I'm utterly incapable of doing an "evil" char, still the evil option is needed to validate the good one:
In Dragon Age Origin (a true masterpiece), you have the choice to bargain with a Demon to get power at the expense of a kid's soul, similar things happen in other games (like Pillars of Eternity 2), point is there's no satisfaction in choosing the morally good option if it's the only option you have and it doesn't cost you anything.
Good point.
One of my favorite scenes in dao is the succubus demon with the Templar who will never be allowed to have a family but through that demon he could and I always ended up giving her the Templar because if he's never none the wiser then he gets to live his last bit of life in a life he never could have.
Poe 2 has to be one of the best rpg for allowing choices
@@TheSinsOfAvarice97 That is a good and unique one. A lot of the choices are evil to be evil or have an alternative "good" option (e.g. side with Sophia to mend the Veil or with the old Mage Warden).
How far they have fallen, considering I thought DAO did this even better to some degree than BG3 cause you have vastly diff nuances of between evil & good at various points in the story, and playing a machavelian char that say, mby wants to become ruler of Ferelden would need you to plan out how to get rid of "competition" i.e. Alistar, and get in the nobles & standing rulers good graces (Anora, Logain) , so you get your power-fantasy.
Now you can't even call someone an idiot.
Baldurs Gate 3 has set the bar so high, I dont think any studio except larian can match it. Thank you sven, and your team for all your hard work.
Yeah, this game might have fared slightly better in a pre-BG3 world, at least with me.
Baldurs Gate 3 with Elden Ring coming in at a close second. They are the current leaders in the RPG genre, in my opinion.
Let’s see what CDPR does with the Witcher 4
@@CarlosSuarez-tk8qk Don't have high hopes, all the key talent that worked on TW3 including the director have left CDPR
The DEI hires are making the new witcher so you can expect a black Ciri from now on
Turns out BG3 is the game of _this_ year too.
Take a bunch of people that grew up on CW shows and let them make a Dragon Age game. That is this game.
Lmao
So true. For me at first it felt like "The Room" to me.
This. It drives me crazy that people are so used to this kind of writing that they don't even notice it anymore. The writing has more in common with the Vampire Diaries than DA
What is CW im curious. Is this some obscure rpg?
As someone that grew up in the era of CW shows, don't blame that. Supernatural and Smallville were good in the early seasons and Reba counts as a CW show on a technicality. And Reaper was funny, dumb but funny.
The game looks alright, the cringe dialogue is what puts me off most.
Same. I'm so tempted to buy it because of the fast good analogy. I just want something new to play lol.
@@Stevejusttagreed
It looks like a Fortnite side project.
Its not good you can tell from the quest and level design that it was a quick turnaround from crappy live service levels with a shallow hub world
@@Stevejustt play something old that you havent played .
I like Dragon Age so far but sheesh, Elden Ring is a masterpiece. No one should ever mention these games in the same sentence.
Well, you just did :D
Average fromsoft glazer right here
What kind of shit do you recommend?
Elden ring isn't a masterpiece
People glaze fromsoft far too hard, especially when it comes to their worst release in recent years
Exactly bro. Average fromsoftware fan fails to recognize their worshipping of fromsoft is as cult like as the DEI worship at AAA studios. Lmao
Man I personally would view Veilguard much more harshly than you guys, so to see EA/Bioware trying to "punish" you in this way just makes no sense. I am absolutely not giving them my money. Thanks for the transparency, and sharing your insights, Fextra 🙏Hopefully sometime soon, noting reviewers who did NOT get an early access to this game will be seen as a point of pride instead.
I got it to review it personally, but the problem is that Shadow PC's quality is as about as great as this game's ability to run on Steam Deck right now without crashing.
One truth is that this game was developed by people who either don't understand or don't care about what makes dark fantasy RPG's appealing.
@@kevinoneil5120 Dark fantasy isnt a safe space so they corrected it.
It is unicorn fantasy😂😂😂
My guess is whoever directed this game didn't know why DA was so beloved, and set out to make a modern rpg with a DA skin
@@mattm7798I actually completely disagree.
I think dragon age had fallen out with it's original Fandom hard during inquisition. As a matter of fact, us old fans didn't hold up the title at all. It was all the newer role play story narrative people.
The game was never meant for DA:O players and it never will be a title for them again.
This also introduced bioware saying every story option in the game is Canon, to not upset these specific players. Which, in my opinion, cooked the title.
Edit - When I say role play, I don't mean in an in game sense. But a community of people who will take their created characters and roleplay them on forums etc.
it's literally made by a sims dlc director
I play these games for storyline and immersion… it sounds like I won’t get that. I’ll pass on this game .
I'm finding the storyline to be very good actually. Depends on what you want from immersion? I mean, if you're the kind of person who solely lives your life in a tiny microcosm that never meets people who are different, then yes, DA:VG would break your limited immersion experience. I grew up in a small town, I know all about not knowing anything about the world outside, but then lived in several major cities and learned about diversity, then returned to the small town... and it can be very difficult living with all the small-minded people with limited life experience.
You are the one missing out. I will laugh at you if you eventually play it on the long run
Just watch your favorite streamer playing it.
@@danielbob4310 I'd rather replay Origins 3 times than play this game. Just based on dialogue and story alone.
Storyline so far is actually pretty good ngl
I love that I can come to this channel and always get honesty! Never change, us consumers need more like you!
There is no way this guy fully dived into the game to give an honest review. The game has so much content, to get through it in the of release to the review would be impossible
@@ScarfLess117i can pretty much pinpoint a games weaknesses and strengths within the first few hours of playing.
I love your honest and straightforward reviews, keep them coming! Really digging these deep dives where you spill your true thoughts about the games. Totally appreciate this level of detail
"Veilguard is an action rpg cosplaying as a dragon age game" yeah as much I love this game so far thats accurate.
Remember that quest in Dragon Age 2 where a mage animated the corpse of someone beloved to you and made it prance around in a grotesque caricature of what they once were?
Turns out that was meta-foreshadowing.
It's more like God of War than Inquisition
@@ZeroDarkMidnight Your comment should have been the title of the video.
This game is secretly brilliant. The creators made it in a way to make you hate the game so much you come to understand just how much the creators hate their audience and more importantly, themselves.
I cancelled my pre-order after hearing more about the game and I'm glad I did. I absolutely loved the first 3 games. And at some point I do want to know what happens in Veilguard, but I'm definitely waiting till it's on a good sale. I don't want to give Bioware and EA full money for a game that I feel they could and should have done a much better job on.
It's honestly on the list of games I would maybe play if I still pirated games but not giving a penny to EA/Bioware for DEI shovel-ware lol
Honestly from I've heard about the lack of impact the choices you made in prior games make just watch a cutscene video on TH-cam
Stop preordering games
i don't usualy say this but...pirate, see if you like, than buy it if u do, don't let the reviews put you down (by the way i hated the game, 10h in i quited)
It’s got all that woke pronouns whatever shit included but the world we live too include that and just play for fun just like how we choose to not support those stuff . The game is fun and it doesn’t force you to be woke . The combat and what ever I have played so far is fun and I kinda think they should have made a different named game with a plot as this game looks exactly like Howard’s legacy kinda wibe animation style game but super smooth and cool gameplay ngl
Honestly as a long time fan that has been getting whiplash from all the positive reviews and then playing it myself. I can really appreciate an opinion that is more than just a toxically positive view of the game.
The better choice, for Action RPG players, is Dragons Dogma 2.
Right now, it is much improved in terms of Framerates.
I really enjoyed dd2, people gonna hate me when it shows up on our best games of the year list lol
@@Fextralifeif only the last section wasn’t cut short and rushed. The game was perfect until then
I recently played dd2 before starting dav, it is so jarring. First of all the gameplay,fighting. Night and day, dav is so basic it makes me fall asleep after dd. Also never thought dd feels more immersive than a bioware game, I was more invested in my pawns and the worldbuilding, grounded feeling which dav lacks in any capacity.
@@KingKalzak Yes. The ending felt a bit rushed. But overall, i got really immersed in that game, and combat… oh that combat is top notch
Yeah idk why it faded from peoples memory so fast, I dont hear ANYONE talk about it anymore. I thought it was incredible, easily ten times better than this game.
The saddest thing about this game is the foreshadowing it has now presented us with for the next Mass Effect. Fuck this company.
it's grim, but not entirely hopeless. it's an almost certainty that the quality bioware was known for is firmly a thing of the past, and the more practical hope is that they become a purveyor of guilty pleasure trashiness akin to ubisoft; the technical aspects and lack of cartoonishly evil monetization practices could give them a leg to stand on, if DAV has given anything positive to cling to
Yeah im with you about mass effect 5.
The lead designer on mass effect has recently started that mass effect will not take this immature approach. I believe he was being sincere but then again I am occasionally overly optimistic.
@yamahkogribbis6212 where did you see this?
@@yamahkogribbis6212 he did say "while i'm here" ... thats the scary part.
That's exactly how I feel, it is a matter of expectations. However, if you are invested in the franchise since its early days, I find it hard to be happy with this result. Great review, Cas!
This exactly. I like the combat. Everything else is...clearly made for a different audience. Bioware is gunning for the "raised on Marvel movies" audience.
This is the most careful and precise review you've ever given, good call. There is no pleasing the internet, but you're giving it the old college try.
Love your videos man, I know you got screwed over with the review codes for this one, but I wanted to let you know I was waiting to watch your video because you always have quality and integrity in your stuff. And I know I’m not the only one. I don’t think I was gonna get this game either way because… it just doesn’t look very good, but I still wanted to give your video a view. Keep doing what you’re doing bro 👍
Thank you for stopping by and for the comment!
Ironically, I think they ended up getting a lot more subscribers (like me) out of the whole incident. Great review in the end too! Integrity move.
This was the most polite way of saying, this game sucks. Also , I like your analogy with fast food, but I have something to add. This game is like going to MC Donald's , expecting to buy a Big Mac Menu for 10 bucks and be faced with having to pay 50$ just for the burger, all the while you know that there is the local burger place down the road which offers junk food with higher quality at a lower, much more reasonable, price.
Omg it’s mc Donald’s but at the airport!… or Disneyland XD
While also having the staff at the McDonald's preach to you about the values of Leftist/DEI politics.
@@Fextralife😂
This game = seagull droppings
Would have been better if the title was different and not DA since the combat is fun .
Don't pre-order ever folks.
Unless it’s an ATLUS game, because I’ve never been disappointed by an ATLUS game
I've been happy with all my pre-orders. Maybe choose your pre-orders more wisely
I pre-ordered this game and I'm having a great time. I'm sorry that you're poor and don't have disposable income. 🤷♂
@@phillemon7664You should have no reason to preorder a digital product unless it is discounted
@@phillemon7664 What is ATLUS? Care to introduce?
Inoffensive and bland blockbuster junkfood. You really described this game perfectly. This should have been a complex narrative RPG with tons of choice and consequences that is not afraid to tackle complex things, instead we get a marvel-like dragon age where everything is suppressed so it can be enjoyed by everyone but not loved by anyone
After almost a thousand hours in inquisition and 500 in origins, this is the first time I'm just not going to buy it. I'm going to wait for that 90% sale in 4 or 5 years. It's really a disappointment that something we all loved has devolved into this cash grab situation.
More like in 4-5months. Review scores dont equal sales.
Game already announced it won't have DLC they will most likely abandon it very soon like they abandoned the last 2 games they released shortly after launch. Will most likely be on gamepass within a few months.
I'm gonna pirate it around Christmas and then probably buy it on a 90% discount just as you said.
@@dt5690 I don't think this was a cash grab just a bad pivot and personal inserts from the new writers. I am very pessimistic on the next mass effect and bioware in general.
Going to get one day on sale because Inquisition got me interested in what's coming with the story. However I already feel myself going into disappointment.
Easy aswer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Long answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Short answer: No
@@FeliPeltier😂
It had a translation option. Clicked it. Says the same thing. 😂
So I think even TH-cam agrees. 😅
Once it hits game pass I’ll give it a look
Can we just pretend to like this game so they'll stop calling us racist?
the thing about steam user reviews is that many of the positive listed reviews are actually mixed/average reviews, heck one of the top recommended reviews starts off with: "Conflicted on whether I can recommend this game or not." and his review is overall mixed on the game, yet his review (and many like that) is listed as recommended cause there is no middle option on steam.
the reality is that many of the positive reviews are actually mixed on the game, ppl taking the positive % at face value are ignoring reality and the actual substance of the reviews. It's actually mixed on steam if we look at what the reviews are saying.
That's my biggest problem with stream review score. You can't differentiate between a very good game that is somewhat controversial and a very mid game that does not offend too many buyers.
Not offending anyone is the best strategy for good steam ratings
Personally, I think if a game is mediocre, it should not be recommended. Most people would not genuinely recommend a 6/10 game to their friend, so it should be the same for strangers online.
@frozenburst6463 it's more about not giving it a bad vote. I don't want to give a down vote for something that's was really bad, just not great for me
There is just over about 6000 reviews total for the game on steam. Almost 2000 of them are negative. Yet its sitting at 79% mostly positive....almost one third of the reviews are negative. So it should be sitting closer to 35 percent review score.
Exactly this!
While the metacritic user score is basically completely useless with a divisive title, steam user review numbers don’t mean anything.
If only people who went so far to put money on a game are the only ones that can leave an opinion, it’s more often than not a circle jerk.
And on top of that you only have thumbs up or down.
If anything steam should also make a 0-5 or 0-10 system for everyone who bought and played it more than 2 hours.
I’d think that then scores wouldn’t be as good. But steam wants to sell all those games so I don’t think they are inclined to change the current system.
This is by far the best Review this game can get.
Im glad that you guys would rather be transparent and objective even if it was making a mostly negative review, or giving it positives as it is so disliked. After all thats the only way to improve things, which is what the vast majority of people want, and ultimately what sells is quality.
Reminds me of the saying: The audiances boo because they want to cheer.
From what i've seen of the writing, it feels like at any moment a character could say something like "dude, im SO craving a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks right now", "brain rot" or any other dumb "currentdayism" 😒
Dude finally got it and stopped crying. Finally he can get views and earn that money. Game has been getting mostly great reviews. Also selling good. The cope is happening lmao 🤣🤣
@@rayromano6249We dont care. We don't like, we wont buy. And there's NOTHING you can do to pressure us.
@rayromano6249 people are allowed to not like something other people like. Personally it's mid
@@rayromano6249 the game quite literally is not selling well. Cope as much as you want, not even breaking 100k conc. players on steam is pathetic for an established IP AAA game.
@@rayromano6249 it capped out at 77k users on steam. maybe 100k total copies sold.... game needs like 5 million copies to break even. Good for an indie not a AAA
I dont know if many people outside germany know these games, but for me the "Gothic" games are peak RPG games and i would love to see games like that again. A rough world with great setting and an artstyle that fits perfect. Handcrafted worlds, well written npc's etc. These games had their focus right.
I miss the time when love und passion were the most important ingridients for making games
Das waren noch Zeiten 😢❤
@murderycatdoll1380 ja :( es gibt ja nach wie vor wirklich geile Spiele, man muss nur danach suchen und mehr Fokus auf kleine Entwickler werfen, aber was fehlt sind richtig gute RPG's..
Gothic is getting a remake! Its looking really promising.
I heard the German translation for the game had some godawful attempts at gender neutral dialogue, for a language with gendered words. Which would make things somewhat awkward to read or understand.
@@mrbigglezworth42 If you meant Veilguard, yeah they made up a new pronoum which sounds kinda weird 😅
Well done review. I had a lot of fun with some aspects but in the end it feels like a mid game where everything was not terrible but also not amazing.
Though, not having played through previous DA titles I only was able to experience it as a standalone game.
TY for the review i've watch enough of these and hours of streamers playing it and i will not be buying it. I'm old retired and money is no issue for any game at any time. But i always make a stand on which games to not support because of reasons. Again TY for all the content you guys put out.
Ok boomer
I've been very skeptical of what I've seen and the fact a lot of reviews say return to form which just seems ficticious. The narrative from what users have been saying is a weak point. In the words of acg I'll wait for a deep, deep sale
"recommend getting it on sale"
so no, not a 10 but not a 3
More like recommend that EA pay us to play it
The most telling thing for me is when he admitted to finding other things to do instead of playing it, even when he had plenty of time and nothing else to do. That doesn't happen with good games.
The game has already been pirated and Not even the pirates download it for free
@@FlightdeckJohnnythere was no DRM so ofc it was pirated
@@jaybee4288 Makes sense. I haven't played it. I have SEEN people play it and it is sooo boring.
The ONLY review I have been waiting for, and thank you for not disappointing.
Just not interested anymore, and this is coming from someone who was invested enough in Dragon Age read all the books.
The original staff of Bioware has moved on and I think it's time we did too...
My impression from reviews (I will play it on gamepass someday) is that the guiding principle for these devs was “accessibility”. I’m sure they are proud of that and that many of the reviewers they chose value that too. But the best games are the ones that push the envelope in some way, and make the player feel that there are real stakes involved. This game wasn’t going to satisfy hardcore RPG lovers because we crave the freedom to fail (Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate) or to walk down a dark path (Baldur’s Gate). I typically do good playthroughs, but the knowledge that I couldn’t choose to be bad undercuts the satisfaction of doing that for me.
And, I'm not even sure that's the biggest problem with the game. If the *only* problem with the writing was that there wasn't much choice, and you were forced to play "the good guy (tm)" (which, as you stated... I am also a person that typically will do a "good" playthrough of RPGs)... At least I, personally, would've at least *considered* still buying this game (as an example, I quite enjoyed Marvel Midnight Suns... Yes, including the story. Because it was just that "corny B-Movie fun"). No, to me, the biggest problem is the absolute insane levels of cringe and, I'll go ahead and say, the blatant and terrible DEI and the absurd politics being pushed. Some of the character conversations that I've seen in some reviews are just painful to watch... To the point where seeing them once is MORE then enough. I also don't want Leftist/DEI politics shoved down my throat. I don't want to play a game that, at times, looks and feels like bad propaganda for a particular political party that I *strongly* disagree with.
@@alexsawicki I genuinely do not understand the notion that something existing means that it is being shoved down your throat. Nobody is forcing you to change your ideology or making you interact with it in any way.
@@ninetailedfox579121 Dragon Age is an RPG, in a series that in the past, valued player choice. If reviews that I have watched are true (which, just based on watching the cutscenes that they've shown... The evidence is pretty solid)... There's absolutely NO way for me to to make choices that even come remotely close to aligning with my ideology... And, I guarantee that the developers would probably call me a "bigot" for parts of my ideology (There's lots of elements there that I'd be more then happy to explain, but that would make this already long comment MUCH longer. Needless to say, I'm not actually a bigot in any way, these people just don't understand my ideology)... THAT is what I mean by the game "shoving an ideology down my throat".
But, you're right: I don't have to interact with the game. And that's *exactly* what I'm choosing to do.
Holy im early :O
Always appreciate your cut and dry reviews, watching this just makes me want to replay Origins since it's been 4 years since I last touched it lol
Honestly the games artstyle looks more like a Kingdoms of Amular sequel than a Dragon Age.
An Amular sequel would be fire if done right though.
Vailguard isn't an RPG. Its misleading to the fans to call this game a role-playing experience. You can only be good here. Its a linear game.
I think RPG's only require people to take the role of a character. If you have to be given options to be evil for a game to be an RPG, I think we would have to stop calling the Zelda games RPGs. Veilguard just doesn't follow the true bioware spirit.
@aquatres3491 Yeah, but they're severely limiting the players in what they can or can't do. I mean, good and bad, that's basic RPG stuff.
I don't think Zelda games are true RPGs, and I don't even consider CDPR games to be RPGs. I mean, Witcher 3 is not an RPG seeing how you can't role-play at all. Cyberpunk is not an RPG by any stretch of imagination. You can't even join gangs in that one. It's ridiculous.
Having stats that you can upgrade does not make a game an RPG.
Something like KotOR is an RPG. Fallout New Vegas is an RPG. I want to role-play as an evil character. If you're telling me I can't do that, then you're not really offering me role-playing experience.
@@bmsuperstar1 W take
you perfectly summed up why i'm feeling like nothing can top BG3 for an RPG game experience, like they even made NPCs incase people murder-hobo quest givers!! they really leaned into the player spectrum
@@aquatres3491Come on, no one would call Zelda an rpg.
This seems like the most fair review I've seen of Veilguard. Kudos!
I was a huge Dragon Age fan; but this does seem like a wait for a sale and grin and bear it through some of the cringe.
Or wait for the cracked version and get it for frew
I am in the same opinion. I have been a long-time fan of Bioware RPGS from back when I grew up playing the original release of Baldur's Gate 2. Between this and Mass Effect Andromeda, it hurts to see that the studio what made those games I loved isn't really there anymore.
“If you expect a complex or nuanced RPG you might be disappointed.” Uhhh anyone who doesn’t expect at least that, is dumb. This is a massive triple A title sequel to some of the most popular RPGS ever made. People not only have every right to expect that and more, but they should expect that at a bare minimum. Technology, budget, and competition have all gotten massive improvements since the last game. This game being anything less is not only a disappointment, it’s a scam. It’s like seeing a trailer for spiderman 2, going into the theater paying full price and then watching some teenager’s homemade spiderman video where they say cringe lines in a suit where the Face is on at a 40degree angle and then the camera just follows this kid aimlessly for 90hrs of nothing.
Thank you for the honest and detailed review. As a long time dragon age fan myself, I was excited to see what this new iteration would bring. However, with so much controversy I was unsure who's opinion I should trust. Your channel has always provided the most comprehensive and straightforward reviews for RPG's and I'm glad I waited to hear your opinions. To answer your last question, I'm no firmly in the "wait till it's on sale" faction. Once again thank you for your insightful review.
The writing is actually some of the most miserable drivel I've ever been subjected to. I actually can't imagine how writing like this gets through all the layers of approval and implementation to make it into the final product.
Because it's a game made for kids, or immature gamers. Which is whatever.
My issue is Bioware pretending that this game was for old fans. They lied, and we knew theyl ied.
Some member of the alphabet brigade wrote it and you know how u can’t criticize anything they do. This is just a guess tho lol
@Grogeous_Maximus Yeah, there's nothing about this that would appeal to an old-school fan like myself. This is about as far from being like Origins tonally as possible.
@@Grogeous_Maximusits made for the rainbow brigade which is why the writing thinks u are a 5 year old
Gaming is becoming infested with these people. I ve had people on chat acusing me i was a tourist, im sure none of them played origins at launch. We had different expectations.
I like how they gloat for 70k steam peak when even dragons dogma has almost triple that peak.
This is hilarious when you realize that Dragon's Dogma 2 sold 2.5 million copies 10 days after release. That means that by all accounts, Veilguard is underperforming commercially.
@Dr.Yakub22 it will do reasonably well considering it's still a big franchise but nowhere near as a good da would do. Especially considering how long it's in development
@GothPaoki depending on the budget, it could be a financial disappointment. EA won't take 3 flops in a row and will probably either downsize Biowere or completely shut them down.
@@GothPaoki But they need to pay the dev cycle of this game and the next ME, I doubt they can sell more than 3mi copies at full price with this quality.
O jogo custou 250 milhões de dólares, e seu tempo de desenvolvimento foi de quase 10 anos!!! O jogo teria que vender 4 milhões com preço cheio pra se pagar. Pra depois gerar lucro ao longo do tempo. E como dito acima.....seus números conseguem ser 3x pior que dragons dogma 2👏🤡
Brother what in the fuck did they do to my boy varric? His model looks fucking horrific
He colored his hair. 😆
I didn’t even realize Harding tho, just after it was mentioned this should be her. 😆
My guy, keep Varric aside for a moment and look at what the absolute fuck they did to Quanaris. They have a forehead, beforehead and afterhead 😭
He got younger with the years
Have you seen Dorian? He looks nothing like in Inquisition and his writing no more witty one liners just meh.
@@MrRykagethey got sandblasted 💀
Thanks Fextralife, you and Gameranx are the only TH-cam channels I trust when it comes to reviews 💯💯💪🏽
This is the prime example of what happens when you remove the passion from game development and replace it with corporatization, political pandering and developmental tick-boxes created by people that don't understand, nor care, about their target customer base. Note I didn't say audience. Veilguard and many other new games absolutely have a target audience, but that audience is not the same as the customer base.
The people with vision left a while ago. This game does seem a little too by-the-numbers
LOL at "Better than Elden Ring" on the thumbnail. I almost spit coffee on my monitor. Don't even joke around like that.
For real the user reviews for Elden ring sote are lower than veilguard, it’s wild! Go give it a recommended if you’re on steam xD
It's absolutely ridiculous to compare Elden Ring with Dragon Age, they are not even in the same galaxy
Elden ring is fun but sucks at the same time.
@@Fextralife this is because most gamers are casuals who need to git gud.
@@Fextralifethat’s because casual people were crying the game was too hard. Not a valid reason to leave a bad review. The dlc is amazing.
to make things short: It's just wasted potential. They got the ressources and the Brand to build a Ferrari-like Supercar game but instead wasted all the budget to build a Fiat multipla with extra sprinkles and pink color which looks flashy from the outside but offers nothing extra from a quality point of view
I would 100% describe this as a sports car. But one with a formulaic approach that isnt remotely the same as their older cars. But you can't hold it against them that their game isnt presentable. It looks amazing, RPG fans just wont like what is under the hood.
Great Review. Succint, not jumping to extremes and manages to convey main points in 10 minutes. Actually better than a couple other, 40 min ones I've seen for this game. Learned all I needed to make the decision, thanks.
Oh Bioware. From spearheading the gaming industry and rpg genre to follow trends.
The 4chan meme has become real.
To reiterate on Rick Astley's song: "Never gonna pick you up..."
....never gonna put money down...
... never gonna download now and start you.
Never going to buy from bioware...
Never gonna play EA!
Yes
How the hell did u get 1.2k likes in only 25 minutes?
@@Idubbbzfan250bot
This is (as is typical for this channel) a great and enlightening review. For example, I didn't really understand what people meant by not liking the character models, but you broke it down perfectly. It's a fair, objective review with concrete examples of where the game's strengths and weaknesses lie.
Buy, Sale or Never Touch?
Never touch for me for multiple reasons. (1) This isn't what I want from this franchise. I don't want Dragon Wars Fallen Veilguard or Hogwarts: Dragon Age Legacy. This type of mind-numbing, dumbed down gameplay (gameplay that's been done far better elsewhere) isn't what I'm looking for from a DA game. (2) The lack of decent dialog, role playing or respect for choices in prior games. (3) The review shenanigans. The reviews from certain mainstream platforms are so similar that either AI wrote the reviews or there was some sort of primer put out be EA. That folks your yourself and Wolf didn't get review copies screams manipulation and I don't support that.
20 hours in the game. Enjoying it a lot.
You have something against Hogwarts legacy bro ?
Better than Shadow of the erdtree?! 🤣
Too many Erdtree players crying about it being too hard made the ER DLC lower rated.
@@chrismeandyou because they never played a souls game before 😂
@@chrismeandyou Which is still ridiculous. I mean come on. The game gave you so many options to make things easier. You just had to explore a little bit. The only boss that felt unfair was the final one and that's mostly because the second phase has that twink's hair hiding most of the attack windups.
Erdtree is junk tbh. It's not a good game either. It's not hard, it's just a bad game
@@tommills9575 You have to have played ER to play the DLC, but to be fair, it's not a Souls game
Really professional review. You are an absolute industry standard.
I love you fextra. You age like fine wine. You're the perfect gap closer between the main stream media and the average youtube reviewer, keeping integrity, professionalism and a dose of reality in every single video you make. You're my personal beacon.
Thank you for the honest and balanced review. Throughout previews I was worried most about the combat. I don't like a warrior magically having a harpoon-throw or a healing spell, etc, and your comment about not really being able to see the combat chimed with my impression that I couldn't see what player or enemies were doing underneath all the fireworks in the demo videos. The warrior shield ability reminded me of mariokart when you have three turtle shells orbiting you. So the fact that the doesn't-really-matter-how-you-build combat was the most enjoyable part for you reaffirms my "not going to bother" gut-feel.
All the marketing did feel like mining the existing goodwill rather than building on it.
Am I the only one who disliked Solas *immediately* in Inquisition? I never took him on any mission that wasn't his side quest, and am frankly annoyed that Veilguard was gonna be all about him again. I wanted a new story rather than a continuation. I'm not gonna buy it, but is killing him and shutting him up permanently an option? That would be satisfying.
For the sake of the times we live in, I feel I have to point out that I have absolutely zero issue with the representation Bioware put in their games. I applaud them for it. My criteria is good writing and satisfying gameplay, and it seems on all fronts; Veilguard has become cartoonish, and not in an entertaining way like the anime series.
either theyre scrubbing the reviews on steam or not enough actual players played it or gave a damn to even review it
They are definitely scrubbing reviews... I saw the negative reviews fall from 4k to less than 1k in 24 hours
@@tokatokatoka0880 steam lowers the relevance of negative troll reviews that refund the game under a certain playing time. those reviews arent factored in the score. they've always done that though
Steam wouldnt scrub reviews. Only way they disappear is if someone left a review, then refunded it.
Most people won't leave a review, and even more people won't leave a review until they finished it.
@@MoONSHO7 LMAO ive seen reviews with 0.5hr playtime. you dont need to experience the whole game to get a feel of what its about. and judging from multiple clips of veilguard. its TERRIBLE.
proud of your no bs review. i am glad that this channel over the years has remain the same. value true rpg over all else.
I was here when you had maybe like 100k subscribers a few yrs back and I told you that this channel is so underrated. I was right, you still underrated. This is the best videogames channel out there
I’ll pass on this one
Man, I've been waiting to hear your review just because i know it's the truth because of how much you enjoy Dragon Age.
Long story short. Hell no!
PREACH!!!!
New to this channel, no idea why it was never recommend to me on TH-cam. This is SUCH a good review, subbed and will binge some other videos now :)
not gonna touch it. Life's too short and november has amazing games' line up. And election popcorn event.
You got it, but it wasn't even worth buying.
Another franchise is DEAD.
Prepare for Mass Effect to eat dirt too, unless you already count Andromeda as it's death sentence.
More interested in Exodus that’s coming from the people who did the original DA and ME series and left Bioware.
Good review. Mirrored my sentiments about it spot on. I'll pick it up on sale.
Yeah, same. I think I'd be happy enough to pick this up once it gets under around 60-70% off.
Same. I'd love to play the game since it doesn't seem BAD, but for it to have a similar price tag to bg3 is wild. I'm only picking it up on sale.
Just pirate it bro. Lol. Not worth paying for. Maybe $5
Excellent review!
Great choice of words, btw.
Thx!
The most respectful way of saying “this game is a cringy dissapointment and it sucks” is “it’s meh/it’s an action rpg cosplaying as dragon age”. Least it runs well tho!
Dragons Dogma came out not that long ago. Thats a good game.
If I'm not mistaken, it had a much bigger peak launch player base as well. It definitely wasn't perfect, but I enjoyed that game way more than the new DA.
@@joshshirley8568 I immediatly looked up reviews after posting. I noticed it's on sale for around 40% today. It seems to be so-so but on sale its gotta be a solid choice in lieu of a 60+$ first week AAA drop.
I hated DD2. Played 15 hrs a s erased it from my hard drive
@@joshshirley8568 DAV is on steam and the EA app. User base is split
Finally a review that doesn't sound like it was either a press release or "reported" by Fox News.
I wanna hear Tucker Carlsons Dragon Age review lol
CNN is the worst of them all tbh
So, I found this channel when Elden Ring came out and loved all of your content and reviews. Thank you for this review. This is exactly what I needed to hear to help determine when to buy. Keep up the good work!
Probably get it on a sale. If a DA5 plan ever starts, either hire back the old staff or have all the staff, designers, writers, etc. PLAY ALL THE PREVIOUS GAMES TO LEARN WHAT DRAGONAGE IS ALL ABOUT!!
A lot of the writing staff were dragon age fans
The issue is corporate meddling, they made veilguard not in ten years, but less than three
While the project took ten years this is an Andromeda situation where the game was scrapped and remade ground up more than once
I can download it for free atm, and even that doesn't motivate me
"play all the previous games"
As if people weren't saying the same exact things when 2 and Inquisition came out.
1:13 This, aside from the controversial topics is probably why I won’t end up playing this at all. I’m really tired of the Marvel style. I want serious, gritty-realism, not goofy sarcasm. Elden Ring reminded me of what gaming used to be like.
if you ask bioware devs what's dragon age? they'll say, dragon age is a game that identifies itself as a dragon age
Great review. It was unfortunate that Bioware delayed your review. You were spot on for it. It's not a true RPG like Dragon Age Inquisition or Elden Ring. It's an RPG Lite. The fast-food of RPGs. Thanks for your honesty and consistently accurate reviews.
To quote the great Andrew Klavan, “I have had more fun not playing Dragon Age Veilguard than I did not buying it”.
It so hard to get a feel about this game without playing. The reason why is there so much of the cultural war going on around it. People will bash decent games now because the player can simply choose a pronoun. People see the game been on the opposing side of the cultural war and it now the enemy. They will review bomb the game because its about the politics instead of the game. It makes it hard to work out what the game is like because so many people have butt hurt over the pronouns. I do not care about the culture war when it comes to games. That just noise to me. I do not care what pronouns options a game has. I care about the actual game. This review was done well i thought. It comes across honest and not someone who butt hurt over pronouns.
hmmm, "surprise 100% discount" soudns fitting in this case. I'm a long time Dragon Age fan, and I do feel betrayed by the studio for putting out such a mediocre game after 10 years of waiting. HOnestly, i want to go on a rant, complaining what i miss in this title, what is wrong and what should be removed. But it's pointless, we got what we got, and any chances of the next game in the series are higly questionable.
I'm afraid for the next Mass Effect game.
Your verdict matches what a lot of Steam reviews I've read are saying - even "positive" ones often say it's a 6 or 7 that doesn't feel much like previous DA titles, which is a shame. I do really want to see the end of the story, so I will probably get it on sale eventually or play through game pass, but it's sad that the original writers didn't get to make that ending
That is exactly how i have been feeling about this game, without ever playing it.
After Skillups review, who i highly trust (outer wilds IS the best game ever), i wanted to wait for other reviews, but now, that the game is out, i just decided to watch all the cutscenes on youtube, so i know how inquisitions story plays out. Besides thtat, i have absolutely no interest in this game what so ever. It was just solas story that kept my interest, and im not in on some light action adventure junk food. You nailed it: its just mcdonalds, and even if i sometimes crave junk food, i also pretty much dislike it.
highly agree: departing from Solas was a huge mistake.
I might've overlooked the simplification of combat and the questionable cartoony design, but dialogues/ character interaction was a deal-breaker, at least in Dragon Age series
(I play games with cartoony style -Kingdoms of Amalur, King's Bounty)- but in those the combat is fun. I expect much more from Dragon Age, so I will not buy it at its current price.
Been waiting for this. What Bioware and EA did to you was dirty fextralife.
I would rather play Elden Ring for the 50th time or Dragon's Dogma 2 for the 30th, rather than this bullshit and spoiler alert, I've only beaten those games twice so far.
The honesty in your review just earned you a like and a sub! This is the review people are looking for! 💯🙏🏾
What is up with this dragons googly eyes at 10:38
if epic games give for free i might try this game with mute and subtitles off
The devs dont love Dragon Age, they love themselves...and it shows. 🤢