The biggest slap in the face for me was how Varric's voiceover at the end talked about the importance of stories and the stories of previous characters, yet they got rid of the Keep and made all of the choices and stories of those characters completely irrelevant. The absolute audacity and hypocrisy
@@thepuppyoverlordYou’re not too dissimilar from me in so many ways. I played Seven characters in Origins. One Warden for every origin. (I counted elf mage and human mage as separate characters.) That led to seven versions of Hawke. And a few different Inquisitors. Was it a chore? Honestly for the vast majority of it, no. I think I created about two world states where I would do everything opposite to what I would naturally choose and those really did take discipline to push through to fully create. Where we differed was that ten years had been too long. After the poor quality of DA2, the ending of ME3, Andromeda and Anthem I no longer trusted BioWare and honestly I had made my peace with Thedas. If you ignored the existence of Trespasser, things ended on a decent note. So while I wasn’t blind to the flaws, the reused assets and maps, and other consequences the rushed development of DA2, I was generally forgiving and mostly enjoyed it. Fortunately I bonded very strongly with my Hawke(s) and the surviving sibling. Anders and Fenris annoyed me with their singleminded love or hate of mages though they were understandable and relatable in many ways. I liked the others and came to at least warm to Kirkwall. Inquisition was the anomaly for me, given how very different it was to DA2 and especially Origins I shouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did. And while I never did quite finish making seven play throughs and never even tried the Dwarf versions, the four Inquisitors that I did make… I really enjoyed and many of fun hour was spent as them. I always had a weakness for playing a human female mage, an elf rogue and Vashoth sword/shield female warrior. (Though in Origins it was the male sword shield warrior dwarf from the “noble” origin instead of the Vashoth.) Although I wanted to hope after the long wait, like you I was wary when the Veilguard change was announced. And because I had been burned for trusting another developer, I never buy a game on release day and I darn sure never preorder, I perform a quality test before parting with my money. But this wasn’t relevant to Veilguard because I saw the red flags. But I hoped my instincts were wrong this time. It was the removal of the World State system that was the first dealbreaker. The first of many to come. I will never play Veilguard. There’s just too much wrong with it.
@@mikoto7693 I think the guise of what the developers told us what we would get with Veilguard, led me to preordering it. I was wary with the name change, but still optimistic. I've been burned a few times now with pre-ordering newer triple A title games and I think with Veilguard I've finally learned my lesson with preordering. Never again.
The more I played the game, the more negative points I found. The last nail in the coffin for me was the missive that told us about the destruction of FERELDEN. By that time I was already done with the game and I had to force myself to finish the game, I didn't even care about any of the final missions by that point. When I finished the game and that slide about the past heroes narrated by Rook happened I felt like I was being laughed at by the Veilguard developers. This game felt like a total disrespect.
@@thepuppyoverlord. I also think that the love we have for the franchise and the 10 years of having an incomplete ending with Trespasser also pushed us to buy the game and fall into Bioware's trap. Just as you, I have learned my lesson, I am done with Dragon Age, and I am done with Biowre If I play the DA trilogy, now I will stop as soon as I defeat Corypheus, for me that will be the ending of Dragon Age, no more Trespasser. Veilguard is not canon in my book.
The most disaponting thing for me (beside everythig you said) was the false decisions. Nothing changed the end, none of the decisions changed anything. This game was painful I love DA but I wish, from the botton of my heart, that Larian makes the next one.
Its true. The only decisions that matter are if you helped your companions so that they may live or die and what ending you get. Arguing with solas doesn't do anything agreeing with him doesn't do anything. Bleh
It was made for people that needed therapy and friendship. Which a game for those purposes isn't a bad game. But for a favored dark fantasy franchise. It is a very bad game.
@BigJBear I couldn't agree more! I just don't understand why they had to use an established game for this crap, if they done this kind of dialogue in another game unrelated to a game series it would have been better.
The planets don’t have the power of friendship on their side!! And rook has her team and they’ll do whatever it takes! *cue rook doing that stupid pose with her hands on her hips*
@@thepuppyoverlord oh! and the first fight with Ghilan'nain when she finds out Rook has the very IMPORTANT dagger and she just leaves, she is winning and she leaves... didn't they desperately needed that dagger?
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The only thing all powerful gods need is the dagger from Rook and that’s why Ghilanain sends arch demon to fight Rook and company . However when the arch demon’s health goes low Ghilanain just decides to call the arch demon away. Wtf? That was the only reason for the fight. At that point she would enter the battle and instantly kill Rook. The writing sub par and light years away of the bought reviews of “BioWare’s return to form”
The worst part of the “trying to appeal to kids” point you mentioned, is that I’m not sure if it was intentional, or just reflects the maturity of the current writing team…
BioWare tried to recreate the Virmire scene in this game and it made 0 sense. What was the point of acquiring companion loyalty if this situation could not be avoided at all? And while I liked the idea of talking Solas down, as it mirrors the beginning of the game, the way they did it was at odds with Solas' motivation. He never did this for Mythal, as the end credit of Inquisition showed us.
Yes, every single motivation for Solas' actions made absolutely no sense in this game. Just more examples of poor story writing and not taking into account the arc of his character.
Yes. It felt like DAV was trying to be the Mass Effect trilogy. The Virmire choice from ME. The loyalty missions from ME2. Getting faction support for the final battle from ME3, even to the mid-battle pause to talk to your companions before the final push.
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Only, all the elements were worse than in any of the Mass Effects
Not sure if I would have even looked at it. Loved origins, really enjoyed 2. But inquisition just didn’t do anything for me only played about 10 hours and 😒
@@OwDoGaming-kx9jo loved origins and liked 2, and inquisition was probably my most favorite for me personally. Definitely give it a chance if you find yourself missing dragon age!
@ tbh me 🦆 I have now found myself lost in Balders Gate 3, unbelievable game. Couldn’t see myself going back to DA again basically having to pay for it again
I honestly feel the same. I wish the series had simply been canceled and ended with inquisition. Veilguard feels like a terrible tv show finale where the finale is so bad it kind of ruins all the previous episodes (ex: Lost, How I Met Your Mother, etc). I just wish I could erase veilguard from my mind and from dragon age discourse. I used to love watching dragon age lore videos and reading theories but now all of it is based on veilguard and I HATED the lore reveals in that game. I would much prefer the mysteries remain forever
like many other developers, Bioware over the years has slowly been taken over by activists who see videogames the same way their counterparts in film & tv see them: vehicles for their narcissistic identity politics and nothing more. they do not understand that most people don't need to see their own reflection in a story in order to resonate with it - hell, my fave videogame hero as a girl growing up was Master Chief, and he was a 7ft tall faceless man. normal empathetic humans love stories with passion and moral dilemmas, and characters with heart and complexity, that challenge us to consider different viewpoints and experience a life that we will never live IRL. we don't want vain self-insert characters and sermons on real-world social issues in a medieval fantasy RPG.
My older daughter is 16 years old. She really disliked this game. So I think it’s not even made for a new generation. It’s made for a very specific type of person .
@thepuppyoverlord Yeah, I actually would have liked to see it happen at the end of a short Act 1. Playing as the Inquisitor, so you spend the entire rest of the game navigating a world that is completely altered. You would pursue Solas, experiencing all the good and the bad this change has wrought, deciding by the end how to deal with Solas. In my version of the game the vast majority of elves would have joined Solas, as well as most of the spirits/"demons", and they could offer insite on how the world used to be before the Veil, to inform your decision. Then maybe as an after-credit scene you would see the Elven God(s) escaping their imprisonment, setting up for the next game. That is the game I was expecting "Dreadwolf" would be, and instead we got this. My disapointment is immeasurable, and my franchise is ruined.
The only time this game was offensive was on release! I can remember an interview with the previous DAI Devs shortly after the trespassers Dlc was released. They said they have already planned 2 games in advance for the future. I don't know what they where planning but I hardly believe it was anything like DATV. This game was such a slap in the face! Can we pretend it's not canon and the story ended with Inquisition!?😓
getting rid of the dragon’s keep pretty much sealed the game’s fate , using the “ outdated technology “ excuse pissed me off so bad bro . Nice video though.
Words cannot express how much i hate how sidelined Solas was in Veilguard. Its unfathomable to me, after what happened in Trespasser, that Bioware would toss him in favor of two mega-bland stereotypical evil big bads. Sigh...
I can't wrap my brain around how they thought this was the best path for his character. Just shows that Bioware doesn't give a shit about their fan base.
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The original writers left the team and the ones responsible now seem to unable to write anything in depth so they replaced Solas with 2 generic bad guys who have no depth, motivation or logic in them.
Crazy how Veilgaurd was the nail in the coffin for this series. It completely disregarded the previous titles and their history. What should have been something engaging and immersive we instead got a hack and slash generic fantasy game with elements of Dragon Age
Prior to veilguard to being released I did dream of a day where we would get a few more games out of the DA universe.. but I don't dream about that day anymore after playing it..
also can we talk about how we get punished for actually treating the gods like a threat??? why can't they all just get their shit together and fight for the end of the world? but boo hoo god forbid i don't have time to do my scooby doo mission or tell my mum about my feelings
I would have been happier if they hadn’t made Veilguard. I started with Origin when it was released. I enjoyed DA2 despite the flaws. And strangely I really enjoyed Inquisition . I really cared about the cliffhanger left by Trespasser. But after so long between them I no longer cared anymore. I was staying away from videos to avoid being tainted. But then I learned that a lot of the people and places from the first two games had been destroyed and there would be no World State system and I was done. Didn’t want to even try. But for the story, what made it even worse and for me was learning that Rook had his/her memory wiped/tampered with… JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INQUISITOR with the Nightmare Demon. And this is even before I would try to address the DEI issues, modern language issues and being unable to connect to Rook. That would end the game for me. Another dealbreaker. There are SO many things wrong with it that I don’t want to try.
I got into the whole DA universe recently actually. Played origins and loved it. Then played inquisition and honestly I think Solas is one of my favourite characters in like any game. Finished Veilgaurd a while ago and maaan... im really happy i didn't wait 10 years for it. I'll say in case you haven't played it, if youre looking for a fantasy story about interesting companion characters, complex social and political themes with oppressed but also dangerous mages, and weird gods, try out Divinity Original Sin!!
Solas is definitely one of my favorite characters too! He was so well written in DAI. I actually have Divinity Original Sin on my list of games to play next but I think i'll give it shot soon! I've been looking for my next game to play during the winter months!
@@khashayar1994 Do be kind to it, it was made in less than a year and four months. Developers for DA2 had to re-use many maps and enemies attack in a lot of waves. But, you can enjoy the story and companions. The banter is great and the friendship/rivalry system is unique.
@@thepuppyoverlordI definitely recommend Divinity Original Sin! I wanted to play something with magic and party turn-based combat other than Baldur's Gate 3, I am now playing the first DOS, and I am having a blast! Strongly recommend!
It just occurred to me, and can someone who played the game clarify this for me: if the game doesn't provide any real choices and you're not allowed to do anything your companions don't like... Does this mean there is no approval/disapproval? Besides, of course, Neve/Lukanis being upset if their city is destroyed. Does this mean you don't ever fight with your companions, you either do their quest and then you're friends, or you don't, and then you just have a more distant, but still nice relationship?
@thepuppyoverlord that's so disappointing. What's the point of having a relationship if there are no stakes?( All the things I loved about DA: companion approval, complex choices, deep romances and party-based tactical combat system - all gone. I have known for a while I wouldn't want to buy this game, and the more I learn about it, the more I feel I was right and I probably wouldn't enjoy it.
Joplin would’ve been great; it was the first version of Veilguard that was scrapped when EA wanted multiplayer. I blame EA for the meddling, but yes the writers also dropped the ball with Solas. The artbook showed show much potential lost. And no, that ending for Lavellan was not happy. Solas was relegated to her and whatever she wanted. He intended to go alone and refused her until Mythal released him. Then he is okay with it? The devs even said the ending was for Lavellan, not Solas. Not sure how spending eternity in a prison is a happy ending with a man who you had to twist his arm to accept you.
2 things I'd like to say : - Lots of people dislike DA2 because of how badly the combat encounters, environments and areas are designed (reused assets etc...), but you can't deny that the game has great characters and great storylines. - After the initial "hype" and outrage about this game when it came out, we see more and more people providing actual constructive and legit criticism which is a good thing, the honeymoon phase is over now. Even some gaming media have posted some articles about how the game is disappointing. Though you still find diehard fans that will swallow anything this game has to offer.
I have loved DA2 since my first playthrough. Glad to see more people are realizing the game is not bad at all. The only problem I have with the game is the reused dungeons, but after multiple playthroughs I don't even notice them anymore 😂.
@@SeventhheavenDK the game has its faults but the story and characters make up for it, something that the Veilguard fails to do, everything is mediocre in it.
As someone’s who’s first dragon age game was also origins (and I also went on to play da2 and dai and surprisingly fell in love with dai), I love your perspective on dav. I also defended the initial release trailer only to be disappointed with the game later (and frustrated with myself for buying into the hype). I also had pretty low expectations. I didn’t care if the combat was bad or the romances were bad or even if the companions weren’t my favorite. All I really cared about were the story and the worldbuilding. I think thedas is a really unique fantasy world and I just love the setting and was excited to see more of it. I thought the devs might mess up a lot, but i figure the one thing they wouldn’t mess up was the world, and I think they messed the worldbuilding up most of all. So much of dav just seems like any other generic fantasy. I mean down to the lich’s which were never present or mentioned in previous games. Everything was just so bland. I don’t know how the writers managed to take such a vibrant, living world and make it so boring. Greatest disappointment of a video game and it almost made me hate the previous games too (like how a really bad series finale sours the rest of the series). This is a really great video, well thought out and organized, I think it was fair but passionate. Thank you for making this! I needed this sort of validation for real. I have been borderline heartbroken about veilguard so hearing someone share similar opinions on the game helps in a weird way! Also you have a very soothing voice!
Thank you! I found a lot of validation about how I felt through other reviews and wanted my own perspective out there too. I totally agree with the worldbuilding; how they took such a vast and expansive story from the previous games and just.. completely butchered it. It's sad to see my favorite franchise and what really got me into RPG's just lose all of its charm.
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Just one example of complete ignorance and disregard to the world is the Tevinter and Shadowdragons whose mission is to release the slaves. There are no slaves anywhere to be seen in Minrathous. There are no alienages with oppressed elves who should be flogging to Solas’ cause from Tevinter and fighting for him. These basic building blocks were written in the previous DAs and the trespasser DLC as well as the project Joplin art books. The only thing they needed to was take these but instead they blanded everything down to make it more digestible for young audiences at the same time destroying what was already really rich and well made world
One correction - you can kill Lucanis at the end if you pick him to go against the huge robot mech thingy. I did this and genuinely laughed - i was like, oh, look at that I accidently killed puss in boots....and i did all his quests. Otherwise, you're right - they live or die based on companion quests.
life hack: just come to terms with who your least favourite companions are, skip their quests, and let them be sacrificed for the greater good. those goods being: killing a god, and not wasting my time
Half way through 2nd playthrough, I realized I wasn't having any fun. I switched to BG3, which I had never played before. In learning BG3, I got so pissed off at how lazy and bad the writing was for Veilguard. I mean just comparing Taash to Karlach, it's like what the fuck, man. Both are big women with foul mouths and fire inside, but Karlach is fucking awesome and Taash is the literal face of every Veilguard hate video thumbnail. No choice, no consequences, no conflict and no steam/spice at all. Just a lukewarm lump of shit, and pushups for the high crime of unintentional misgendering.
When you say no mystery to the exploration, are you including the hidden quests and post credit cut scene? That aside, there's so much missing from this game. Some stems from the decision not to include the keep. So much grey wardens yet a lost opportunity 0:02 to find out or even mention Carver, Bethany, Alirstaire, Loghain, Stroud or Rainier. What uf Hawke went to Weisshaupt? Why was the no information out of Weisshaupt after Inquisition? What happened? Then there's the bad writing. Wheres the moral ambiguity? The snarky characters? The companion who betrays you? The religious debates? Two Chantries that you can visit and yet not a single Sister or Brother to be seen. Instead you fight Venatori in both. I had fun playing the game and liked the lore reveals, but the rest just frustrates me. Edit: Where the frick are the giant spiders? How can there be no giant spiders in the deep roads?
@thepuppyoverlord I agree that was annoying. But, it wasn't what I was referring to. I meant the candlehops, the statues in Arlathan that spawn a rage demon, the braziers in the wisp puzzles in the Necropolis or the candles in the hall of the Beloved.
@@zahierabaloch8118 I see what you're saying and yes, they do offer these things in exploration, but it goes back to my point how you come across these hidden quests through an active side quest; at least that's how I perceived it. It didn't feel like natural exploration to me. In wasn't in a weird/random part of a map where a player has to go out of their way to explore because it's not tied to a quest I guess is the point I was trying to make.
A thoughtful and eloquent review. Your video proves that even if you set all the woke stuff aside, the game still fails on its own. They tried to rewrite the lore regarding the taint, the Golden City, the veil, the old god dragons, etc., and what they came up with to replace it was boring and didn't make sense. I understand the idea of presenting an initial story as legend and then later revealing the true history, but in that case you need to come up with something better than the legend that fits the established observations within the series. Veilguard and its plot twists fail to do that.
It also drives me up a wall that all this major lore changing information is basically just told to us and we sit around a table making jokes and shit about it with our companions. They like briefly talk about its implications but it’s never something that has actual weight like it should.
@@SophiHan02 Yes. Presentation was also severely lacking, as was player choice on how to respond to it. The Inquisitor could react in a number of ways to the Andraste theory, and craft specific public statements about it. Rook, not so much about the "answers" outright told to him or her.
About the writing... Something I never thought about is that in earlier games, they apparently banned words created after a certain time. Except for some characters (like Alistair, apparently). Skipping that part is why everything sounds awkward in comparison. Even normal conversations in DA:V sounds awkward way too often. Dragon Age's current writers seem to want to reboot the series and completely start over. It's absolutely not what the fans wanted, but... I have never and will never play this game. Learned my lesson after DA:I (felt like playing an MMO). Also, I never played ME:A either, after all hullaballoo after ME3. I used to love BioWare's games, and own all the older ones. Nowadays, though...they're not BioWare anymore - they are EA Jr.
I haven’t even managed to make 1 playthrough. There are so many things off in this game. I don’t want it to ruin the other 3 games for me by playing this game.
People have tried to gaslight me into thinking the writing is amazing, and I won't stand for it. Opinions are opinions, sure, but there still is an objective quota for most writing and Dragon Age games of the past have set the standard. Veilguard is an outlier eith the writing and no one can convince me of anything else. Great video, though.I hope your comment section doesnt turn into a warzone because the people that love/hate this game are so stupidly passionate that they attack anyone who do not share their exact opinions. Bunch of nutters.
May I say that for such a young and small channel you have great editing, narration and script? I really enjoyed this analysis and review, you're pleasant to listen to, and I hope to see more from you in the future, if you're inclined to continue!
@@katerynasirko1832 wow! This is the nicest comment ever!! Thank you!! I do plan on doing more on this channel in the future! Just have to play the games first haha!
Let me tell you what this game needs. Anders. He needs to come and nuke this game. It would solve all the problems.
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I also didn’t like the Rook I created which is first time ever in any game starting from the ages of eye of the beholders.. Being able to make me not like my character is the only achievement this game was able to deliver in addition to complete apathy
I only played through the 4 Dragon Age games last year, so my thoughts don’t hold much weight. Andromeda and Final Fantasy XV came out the same year if I remember right and I found both those games disappointing. But both of those games there were some stuff I found fun or liked. Veilguard there was so much I did not like, it felt like a chore to finish the game. The companions are weak to me personally. I really see the comparison with Veilguard and Mass Effect 2, where both games are mainly focused on the companions. It’s really hard playing a game where you don’t connect with the characters, I can’t imagine if ME2 cast was as weak as these companions. I agree the game is for an entirely different audience compared to the past 3 DA games. The choices are so bland, in DA2 even with the limited options, Hawke does feel different if you pick an aggressive dialogue or a Boy Scout one. Rook doesn’t stray far at all, feels like the dialogue wheel is pointless. And the whole absence of what you did in the past 3 games is sad too. I’m expecting the next Mass Effect to turn out similar to this game, which makes me sad. Those are my rambling thoughts 🙃
I never once felt connected to Rook and part of that was because dialogue choices were so weak and made no impact on the main character arc aside from the other points mentioned in the video. If the companions weren't written as weak as they were, this game would've been waaaay better. If you're going to have the game focus around the companions, they need to have a strong narrative to go with it and that's where Veilguard just falls short.
I wish we could have played as the Inquisitor, or have them apppear throughout the whole game. The fact that you can choose who you romanced in Iqusition but it has no significance if you romanced anyone but Solas is just painful. I am a huge Cullen fangirl, I though he will appear if I pick him here as well, but no. Such a letdown honestly. I love how they tried to explain in the previous game that they need someone Solas does not know, yet Solas himself tells you in game that he knows for a year that you've been chasing him. So what's the point in a new character if Solas knows he's being tracked? Although I had fun with this game and started multiple characters, I had to remind myself I couldn't finish it with all my characters, but two.That was because I was invested in the romance, only to run to a brick wall anyway. Inquisition was my first Dragon Age game, so I'm just a casual fan, but that game made me play 555 - fun number I know - hours. And all those were spent playing through the game, not just start and finish it, because I started feeling bored.
I've romanced both Solas and Cullen but I prefer Cullen's romance. As soon as I saw the option to pick which romance from Inquisition to bring into Veilguard I picked Solas for obvious reasons, but that choice only matters if you romanced Solas for the Inquisitor. No other romance from previous games truly matter in DAV. I feel this was just a way to make previous players feel more "connected" to veilguard in a way but it has absolutely no impact on the story whatsoever. Just another empty promise
I am currently replaying mass effect 2 LE, and to see how superior that game is in every way, made me realize how precious older games are. I can sit for hours exploring, listening to Shep, her companions, and side characters talk about anything because they are likable and interesting. Bioware has truly degraded in quality through the years. As they release newer games, the worse it gets. Veilguard is an abomination, gamers who love this franchise do not deserve this.
I purposely ignored Taash. I refused to play along with the pandering. I didn't do a single mission in that quest line. Yet, somehow, EVERYONE survived. I've never been more disappointed after getting a "perfect" ending in an rpg, 😒.
Yeah, I got something similar. I ignored Taash completely (and even so there's some of her content forced on you) and didn't finish Neve's last missions because she bored me. I was very surprised to find that Taash survived (even when I sent her to fail), while Neve didn't despite being more advanced with Neve's quests. It's obvious the devs were playing some favorites here. Whatever, I am not touching this game again, anyway, and it' s not canon for me.
I absolutely agree with your opinion about this game. I hate how they've handled the story in The Veilguard. It ruined everything! 😞 I think that the best thing the devs could do now to save DA franchise is to remaster/remake DAO. I know there're plenty of us who would give a fortune to play that ✨️masterpiece✨️ again. Or even better - to just proclaim The Veilguard as a standalone game (like a parallel world or something of sort) and make a new DA game that would suit better as a 4th entry.
Good review. I've loved every DA and ME game they've made, and I quite enjoyed this one too. But - I did agree with most of your points and also felt like this one was quite watered down. I wish there had been more choices that really changed the outcome. I want the chance to make a morally ambiguous choice and need to live with it. It was a little too black and white and I felt like all paths lead back to the same main road. And as always, I wish there were more interactions with our romance choices. I know it's not intended to be a romance simulator but I really play RPGs to get to know the characters and often feel left wanting more. (Solas broke my heart in a way no real person has ever done LOL I was left moping for days hahaha) I did find Emmrich quite charming but whenever I went to visit him, he didn't give me much in the way of conversation. I found myself trying to get low health in battle just so he'd call me "darling" hahahaha (I know...shame. c: ). Like others have mentioned, I felt a little bit like an outsider. All of my companions seemed to have such close friendships, and yet with me, they were kinda.. uninterested? Which brings me to another point. Poor Lucaris fans. lol. It must have been painful to watch him clearly be in love with Neve (he never shuts up about her) and yet you get little to nothing in a romance with him. Also, it's no big deal to me because I don't require smut to enjoy a game, but why was there a nudity slider? There were no sex scenes. lol The only time you see any nudity is during character creation if you change Rook's underwear options. And yeah, some of the character creator choices were.. strange. You can't choose a different eye shape but you can control bulge and adam's apple? Why? And why are our heads SO big? I've seen people say that they made it more realistic and we're just too used to seeing "hero proportions", but I don't think that's it. My character's head was way bigger than my companions'. She looked like one of those bobble heads people put on the dashes of their cars. I had to go back and fix it multiple times. Eventually I did get something fairly normal looking, but it took a lot of tweaking... xD Lastly, the aggro was really weird. Now that companions can't die, all the aggro goes on you, 90% of the time. As a mage, it was a huge pain in the ass to do anything with a dragon landing on my head all the time. I realize some of your warrior companions have taunt and I did find a rune that helped for a few seconds but I found it very weird. Like, are my companions invisible? Why is nothing attacking them? I ended up setting my game into storyteller mode for most big fights because it was so tedious to just run around in circles trying to dodge constant attacks. I would have definitely kept companion deaths over this version.
I didn't hate it but they could've done so much more. Specifically with romance. The story was really lacking. What were they even doing that whole time during development? It's fun but it's nowhere near what the other Dragon Age games were.
Anyone else kinda creeped out by the hands in Veilguard? They seemed just so small and baby like and the way the ring finger tucked under the middle finger kinda felt natural and strange.
The reused the assets but applied that nasty bloom effect and other shaders creating this baby hand appearance. They did the black emporium dude dirty. Zoom in on him with camera mode, they didn't even bother touching him up
This game broke my heart. I’m also a huge dragon age fan, and I grew so attached to my inquisitor. I played as a male trevelyan, so I didn’t have that tie in to solas which felt like they expected me to. He had absolutely no care for him at all. When rook asks solas about him, he says “he was.. useful.” USEFUL?? I may not have been kissing him but I was so betrayed when he turned against us. We didn’t get along at first, solas even told me as much, but eventually they became friends, I did his quests, I exhausted his dialogue, and I really enjoyed his storyline with Cole even though I disagreed with him. And then nothing. If you didn’t romance him that relationship just doesn’t matter. Like he still took me to skyhold, we grew to respect each other, and he was there from the beginning, keeping us alive when we got the mark. My inquisitor vowed to stop him after that because I felt so betrayed, and he didn’t seem like he’d be willing to change his mind. I expected that to carry over, and yet my inquisitor sits around the table and says “do you think there’s anyway we can still save him?” ???? My brother in Christ he took your arm, we vowed to stop him, you know, the one out of the three only choices that carried over from the last game? The fact that I disbanded the inquisiton gets one throw away line, and my romance which was Cassandra doesn’t even get mentioned once. Not a single time. It felt like a spit in the face for ever being invested in this story. I wanted to see my inquisitor at least fight alongside rook for the final battle, where we could choose what class they were snd see them geared up in armor ready to finish their story but no, no we don’t even get that. He shows up in the fucking shadow dragon pajamas for some fucking reason like dude were you not fucking fighting ?? There’s a war going on. And then nuking southern thedas in the codex entries like that? This game felt like EA standing over me with a foot on my neck counting the dollars they made from idiots like me who ever held out hope that this game would deliver. I wanted to like it so bad. I followed the development for years. I was excited by every leak, every little trailer. The gameplay footage looked so cool, and I loved the sneak peak at tevinter. I didn’t care when people said it would be shit based on the name changing or the character trailer. I held out hope. And then I played it and it just killed my spirit. I agree with everything else you said. The gameplay is laughably boring. The dialogue is boring and anachronistic. There’s nothing to find, nothing to discover. Every puzzle holds your hand, you don’t have to care about loot or selling old equipment or party formation. You cant talk to npcs or companions. The game tells you to do your companion quests like you’re a fucking baby and you’re expected to babysit your companions whos stories are all the same cookie cutter quests where they have to overcome a darker version of themselves, and each quest feels like they end before they get a chance to go anywhere good. And then at the end you get a binary choice that doesn’t matter at all. The only one that actually made me think was emmrich’s. Honestly he was the only character I thought was done pretty well. In inquisition the slower, silly moments with the cast were a welcome reprieve from the usual chaos of being the inquisitor because it wasn’t all the time. You weren’t teasing Cassandra for her romance novels or playing pranks with sera constantly. So when it happened it was endearing. It was special because it only happened if they warmed up to you. This game doesn’t do that. The approval means nothing. They all like each other and you no matter what. They won’t tell you to shape up or they’re leaving or have a cutscene where tensions rise between you. Nothing. They’re always smiling and happy and goofing off like the world isn’t ending and you’re expected to make sure their little squabbles get cleared up in a neat little cut scene in the most bland boring baby way possible. The lore is sanitized and broken. You don’t get to talk to the people in the different factions to learn more about them, and your companions banter rarely triggers. I also considered a second playthrough because I made the mistake of using mythal for the ending which ended up being pretty lackluster and I was curious about Lich Emmrich. I made my character again, started it up, but like you, I realized I had seen all there was to see. Nothing was going to be different. I wasn’t gonna learn anything new, my companions weren’t going to change in meaningful ways, and I wasn’t going to make any choices that changed my experience. It was so disappointing, so heart crushingly bad. I’m glad some people managed to enjoy it, and at times I did too, but the more I thought about it the worse it became. I sunk so many hours into inquisiton, a game a lot of people didn’t like, but I loved the companions, I liked not getting along with them or kicking one out or choosing to drink from the well or side with the mages or become a reaver or let Celine be assassinated or make Vivienne the divine and then do it all differently in the next playthrough. The judgement sequences cemented you in the world as a figure people looked up to. You were the goddamn inquisitor. The herald of andraste, this religious symbol of hope even if you were a dalish elf, or a qunari, or in my case just a guy who didn’t believe in the maker. And you had options to reflect that, snd characters remembered that. I remember Cassandra bringing up the fact that I didn’t believe in the maker way later in the game, and us getting into an argument when she wanted to be divine because of it, and he says “I’m not going to lose you to the maker” and they make up like it was good! Characters actually had religion, values, principles, shaped by where they grew up and the world around them. It created natural tension, it informed the way they acted towards each other, and you as the inquisitor could also have tension with. If you play a mage you might disagree with vivienne’s support of the circles, or if you’re dalish you might clash with Sera, my guy never got along with Blackwall for some reason and often argued with solas at first. And there were so many iconic missions. IYHSB, with corypheus’ insane speech and the inquisitor seemingly sacrificing himself so that the others can escape, only to walk out of the snow. I got chills when they sang around him. When you’re given the sword to be the leader you always were. Ugh, it makes me so sad. Maybe they wanted a new approach, for a scrappy kid whos no hero or chosen one, and I can understand that, but they gave us so few role playing options and every other character so much more important in the factions you can choose from that they just feel unimportant. I had no idea why everyone was trusting them to lead the fight against the gods. It should’ve been the inquisitor! We should have just been working for him, it’s his fight! I grieve for the game that we never got and for the dragon age franchise as a whole. After this I can’t be bothered to look out for whatever comes next. I don’t care because they don’t care. They just want money.
You perfectly encapsulated everything and more of what I thought about this game and how I wanted to go back and play Inquisition again. I agree, I can't be bothered with another dragon age game after this. Bioware completely ruined a loveable franchise.
They should have done a New Game Plus option or given us players a way to traverse Thedas after Solas is sealed in the fade forever. The replay-ability is extremely low with this game imo.
I didn’t buy it and I used to love BioWare. Once you see the childish art style and trailer you can tell all you need to know. I’ve spent ALOT of time watching people’s reaction to it though and I hope it wakes people up to the problems with AAA gaming. Saints row reboot had the same issue of trying to be the good guy at all times
I think this last year of gaming has really opened a lot of people's eyes that game studios don't care about what you want and will push out unfinished games either way because they know people will pay for it either way. Hopefully this year and the future that changes, otherwise, we'll just continue to see studios that produced beloved franchises close down.
@@thepuppyoverlord yea I think ppl working from home building these games had a lot to do with how half baked and leaned towards a goody two shoes ideology they have become. I think it’s starting to improve but I’m sorry creatives are cool and all … sometimes they make good products but I do not care to be lectured about the things they think I should be
I actually had to follow a tutorial with very detailed instructions on how to use the sliders to make an attractive human. Judging by my profile pic, I think I did an okay job. LOL
There was no excitement for me it was clear that this was a dragon age name but not a dragon age game so i put it into shelf trashware bin of ignore on steam 🤷🏻 Wish you did this without background music tho ngl This game is not written for children with better memory than many adults, this was autism audience un mind special needs writing which is fine but just market it correctly 🤷🏻🤦🏻♂️.
I hate the bar fight .. i played a mage not a brawler .... These devs didn't had a clue how to make choiches , they just stitched togheter all the mmo cutscene and writed random fake choiches .... 10 years my ass. The mmo was ready in 2-3 and the stiches were made in 1 year max .. that's why you cannot use your companions , cause it was not implemented in the game since it was a "Destiny" look alike game. Companions probabily were the real quest givers . Terrible dragon age game , okaish fantasy adventure game but this is not a RPG.
I randomly clicked on this video to have something in the background to listen to while i play something as i often do, but i kinda stoped paying attention at " fan of bioware " for the love of god do not be a fan of any game studio, or any company from the entertainment industry, els you'll transform into something alike a bethesda fan... ewww. i'm having chills down my spine just thinking about it, but seriously you can be a fan of a product but don't be fan of a company it'll always backfire on you, you'll start blindly buying the shit they made just because "it's them who made that thing that i realy liked in the past" bioware just like many others is just a ship of theseus nowaday, they are nothing like what they used to be when origin or the mass effect trilogy was made, from what we can see bioware is now more woke activists than anything els (same applies to some other game studios btw, cdpr and ubislop to name a few). Always wait and see if a game is good or not before blindly buying it, if a game is good : great, if it's bad then don't play it. Veilgard is a pile of garbage that isn't worth your time or money, and you could see that by miles away. you only need watching some gameplay of it or playing it for about 30-40 mins to see that it's bad, i don't need to finish it or even play it to see that it's a shit game, and if you insta bought it day one just because it's bioware who made it, gaslite yourself into thinking that it's a good game then try and defend it and the studio that made it then congratz you'r a brainless bioware fan and you deserve all that's hapening to you. We'r in the day and age of "always judge a book by it's cover" you'll be right 90% of the time, and if you'r proven wrong then great you now have a good game to play. I won't be buying the witcher 4 for example and i consider myself a witcher fan (i said Witcher not cdpr), not right away at least, there are many red flags about cdpr and the game that make me think it's gonna be a slop at best, if anything all i can hope is been proven wrong, but for the last few years everygame i thought were gonna be bad has been from bad to absolute garbage, so i'd love to be proven wrong but i don't think it's gonna happen here. I love dragon age Origins, DA 2 was meh, i didn't liked inquisition that much, didn't even finished it, The mass effect trilogy is a banger (except mass effect 3's ending, but that's only an ending, the game in itself is great in my opinion) and yet i didn't insta bought andromeda just because it's bioware, i watched it, played it a bit, didn't liked it and got refunded and i did the same with veilguard, watched it, played 1 hour and got refunded. and only because i love origin and mass effect, if it was a new IP or smth i wouldn't even have try it, imo they don't deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore, not after all the shit they spewed. /!\ disclaimer : this is not an attack to this video, i've listened to it and understood that you'r just disapointed in the game and everything, this was just my rant about mindless company fans. /!\ *Edit : I Love Baldur's gate 3, done i don't know how many playthrought of it at this point (i have like 600+ hours on steam) i rly liked Divinity 1 & 2 (i think i have around 300 hours on Divinity: Original sin 2) and yet i won't insta buy the next game Larian will make just because it's them, i'll wait and see before i do anything.
You're completely right though! I fell into the trap because I saw the trailers and saw a lot of the backlash after that first Veilgaurd trailer, but I was so blinded by excitement of a new Dragon Age game (10 long years of waiting) and wanted to be optimistic that the trailers didn't show the entire game and what it had to offer. And I got burned, bad. For weeks after I finished playing, I was so disappointed in how this game went that it made me do something i've never done before which was make this review video. For any game studio going forward, i'll wait for reviews before buying though. I do think that CDPR has learned their lesson from CP 2077 but, again, triple a studio...
@@thepuppyoverlord Yeah that's usually what happen, i bet you were so excited to explore the dragon age world again that you choose not to see the red flags because you wanted for it to be good so mutch, usually when you see backlash there are reasond for it, most ppl don't raise suspicion for no reason, when there is smoke there is probably fire. Review bombing dosn't exist, not to a degree that is relevant at least. (and what about positive review bombing huh? weird how they never speak about those 10/10 amazing review, usually from "game journalists" they are shills and hacks, all of em) As for CDPR, they are a perfect example for the Ship of Theseus that i spoke of earlier (if you don't know what it is the TLDR is : if you have a ship and over the years you have replaced every parts of it, is it still the same ship?) Most of the team that worked on 2077 is gone, same goes for witcher 3, again all i can hope is to be wrong but i don't have high hopes for cdpr going forward (and witcher 4) same goes for bioware sadly.
As a fan to inquisition, I felt it's my duty to play it to see all the flaws. As for bioware, they had a decent reputation, and usually, companies are supposed to be consistent. Inquisition was my only bioware game, and I really enjoyed it, how dare me to think the next game would be better😂
DAV sold well initially. But Its the long term decline that happens after people have played and word of mouth happens. after that i fully expect a massive decline. Regardless of the EA/bioware damage control. The game is solid story and gameplay wise. But the political bs and DEI/pronoun and none binary stuff is extremely off putting in a medieval fantasy game. Its borderline preachy and in your face as well. I still somewhat enjoy it nonetheless. I would give the game a decent 6/10. But hey thats just me being rational. 🤷♂️ I also am holding on cause i loved DAI so much and this game is a direct sequel to that game, giving us a conclusion to the solas story and finally lets me romance Lace Harding. Something we were not able to do in inquisition.. But as i said before my thoughts on the game about all the controversial stuff still stands. As a sequel to inquisition it is fine. But as a "dragon age" game i can understand why people do not enjoy it.
I think if there wasn't previous lore from 3 games prior and being a direct sequel to DAI, then I think the reviews for this game would be A LOT different and there would more players willing to give the game a chance.
@@thepuppyoverlord so many times during the story i wish the inquisitor was the main character. Especially with how DAI ended.. varrick literally says he hired rook cause she had what it takes to get the job done. We know nothing else about the character besides the bits here and there depending on what faction u choose for her. She was literally a vehicle to carry the plot forward. Nothing else.. i do wish however that we played as our inquisitor because i flirted with Harding in DAI but couldn't get a proper romance. But having Harding romancable in DAV, ontop of being able to play as our inquisitor, the romance payoff for me would have been so much more satisfying. Harding is my favorite companion from DAV and her story about the giants and how that tied into the gods and solas, i feel she (Harding) should have had more say in the story and cutscenes given her struggles with the giants etc. She wasn't even present in the final scene with solas either which annoyed the f*ck outta me.. id imagine she would have a few words for him given her situation too.. Shes the canon romance choice for me, for this very reason. Only wish she was done better and more fleshed out..
I disagree with this. The game is very flawed, and the woke nonsense is just one of many, many problems, even without that the game is underwhelming in most aspects. The story is definitely not solid, and in fact, it's precisely one of the most underwhelming aspects of Veilguard. And ignoring the past games affected a lot. Rook could have worked as a protagonist without any problem, but the writing and direction of the game are terrible, that already affects the development of every character in the game. They needed good writers to make Rook work, that's all. Replace Rook with the Inquisitor, and there would be no difference if the writing had been the same. You would still have the Inquisitor functioning as the companions' therapist and a restrictive goody two shoes. The problem is not Rook, the problem is Veilguard as a whole (the Inquisitor was already kind of bland character wise, especially compared to Hawke and the Warden, here he'd been worse because of the writing and...well, he actually was). Gameplay wise solid? I disagree, the gameplay becomes old very quickly in a game that is already full of repetitive subquests. This is also the most restrictive gameplay in the franchise. The problem, is that with Inquisition, Bioware started to dumb down the gameplay to make it more casual, and thus bring more casual fans into the franchise, which at long term seemed as a good idea, but at long term isn't. And even so, Inquisition, despite the casualization of its gameplay, was still within the vein of tactical and party management gameplay of Origins and DA2 (yes, DA2 was still tactical, but with a faster pace). A lot of people didn't even like the change of gameplay to a full action (your Party members are a waste in this game, they are just extra abilities and immortal), many people just said, "I can tolerate the gameplay shift as long as the story, writing and characters are good" (and none of them were good at all). So, how many people like the gameplay, will also depend a lot on what you were seeking in a Dragon Age game gameplay wise, and with which game did you join in the franchise, especially when it's obvious this game is completely targeted to a different audience. Funny, because "rational" would be the last word I would use for your comment. Technically this was just, "Well the game could have been better, yes but, they put Harding in it, and she is one of my favorite characters, and now I can romance her (when her romance is one of the most criticized) and that makes me enjoy the game, and I am happy because I want to romance her in Inquisition so much, and her story is great (her story is actually very generic, you could have given the same storyline to any dwarf with no difference, actually, Dagna, Valta or even Sandal would've make more sense than Harding), and they also gave us an ending for Solas....and...and...did I say I love Harding?" That's your comment in a nutshell. Actually, your comment is another proof of what other content creators who understand Dragon Age as a whole say: "Inquisition, whether a good, mid or a bad game, brought some problems to the franchise, the shift of dark tone to a light tone, the combat downgrade to appeal to casuals, and bringing in this new audience that saw the game more like a romance/friendship simulator instead of a videogame (this one being one of the major problems that is affecting the franchise), all of this to make the game more casual". And well, they seem to be right.
Every single criticism made to DA:V in this video can be made about BG3. If you discount the R-rated stuff put as shock value, the game itself is made to appeal to a very low bar in complexity and choices. Choosing what companions, and therefore chunks of story, you see is not "branching story", it is simply "skipping". You dont have a "different" Astarion story for example, you have his story either cut short, or cut entirely. You dont have "alternative Wyll Stories", you have Wyll story cut short or entirely. The writing is very, very amateurish and silly. And you can say the exact same thing about the way they deal with Gith, Mindflayers or Drow. No wonder people disliked what they did with DnD. The main problem with it is that this video is the same thing it criticizes: Putting feelings as reasoning for quality control.
I completely understand and see your point and don't disagree at all. However, at the end of the day, what Bioware gave it terms of expectations for Veilguard, were considerably low compared to the rest of the Dragon Age IP. I do think that BG3 has better RPG and storytelling elements that were extremely lacking in DAV, which most players of the series were hoping for. Both games came out a year apart from each other and only one still has over 50,000+ people playing today.
Besides the R rated stuff... vielguard had none, where's my Iron Bull ass? I disagree about every single criticism for vielguard can be applied to BG3. Our feelings are exactly how content made for entertainment should be rated. Wtf you want me to say game work right game good??!?!?😂
But with BG3, even the little things: I see some goblins: do I try to intimidate them, do I negotiate, do I start a fight? I can be nice to someone or I can tell them to get lost. I can choose to not have a companion (I have two runs without Astarion, shocking). Maybe shat you say is true in terms of there being less content if I make certain choices, but I can make that choice. From what I gather, DAV doesn't do even that: you HAVE TO collect all companions and you HAVE TO be nice to everyone and go in a specific direction.
The biggest slap in the face for me was how Varric's voiceover at the end talked about the importance of stories and the stories of previous characters, yet they got rid of the Keep and made all of the choices and stories of those characters completely irrelevant. The absolute audacity and hypocrisy
Yep, I thought the exact same thing. That boiled my blood when I heard that for the first time
@@thepuppyoverlordYou’re not too dissimilar from me in so many ways. I played Seven characters in Origins. One Warden for every origin. (I counted elf mage and human mage as separate characters.) That led to seven versions of Hawke. And a few different Inquisitors.
Was it a chore? Honestly for the vast majority of it, no. I think I created about two world states where I would do everything opposite to what I would naturally choose and those really did take discipline to push through to fully create.
Where we differed was that ten years had been too long. After the poor quality of DA2, the ending of ME3, Andromeda and Anthem I no longer trusted BioWare and honestly I had made my peace with Thedas. If you ignored the existence of Trespasser, things ended on a decent note.
So while I wasn’t blind to the flaws, the reused assets and maps, and other consequences the rushed development of DA2, I was generally forgiving and mostly enjoyed it. Fortunately I bonded very strongly with my Hawke(s) and the surviving sibling. Anders and Fenris annoyed me with their singleminded love or hate of mages though they were understandable and relatable in many ways. I liked the others and came to at least warm to Kirkwall.
Inquisition was the anomaly for me, given how very different it was to DA2 and especially Origins I shouldn’t have enjoyed it nearly as much as I did. And while I never did quite finish making seven play throughs and never even tried the Dwarf versions, the four Inquisitors that I did make… I really enjoyed and many of fun hour was spent as them.
I always had a weakness for playing a human female mage, an elf rogue and Vashoth sword/shield female warrior. (Though in Origins it was the male sword shield warrior dwarf from the “noble” origin instead of the Vashoth.) Although I wanted to hope after the long wait, like you I was wary when the Veilguard change was announced.
And because I had been burned for trusting another developer, I never buy a game on release day and I darn sure never preorder, I perform a quality test before parting with my money. But this wasn’t relevant to Veilguard because I saw the red flags. But I hoped my instincts were wrong this time.
It was the removal of the World State system that was the first dealbreaker. The first of many to come. I will never play Veilguard. There’s just too much wrong with it.
@@mikoto7693 I think the guise of what the developers told us what we would get with Veilguard, led me to preordering it. I was wary with the name change, but still optimistic. I've been burned a few times now with pre-ordering newer triple A title games and I think with Veilguard I've finally learned my lesson with preordering. Never again.
The more I played the game, the more negative points I found.
The last nail in the coffin for me was the missive that told us about the destruction of FERELDEN.
By that time I was already done with the game and I had to force myself to finish the game, I didn't even care about any of the final missions by that point.
When I finished the game and that slide about the past heroes narrated by Rook happened I felt like I was being laughed at by the Veilguard developers.
This game felt like a total disrespect.
@@thepuppyoverlord. I also think that the love we have for the franchise and the 10 years of having an incomplete ending with Trespasser also pushed us to buy the game and fall into Bioware's trap.
Just as you, I have learned my lesson, I am done with Dragon Age, and I am done with Biowre
If I play the DA trilogy, now I will stop as soon as I defeat Corypheus, for me that will be the ending of Dragon Age, no more Trespasser.
Veilguard is not canon in my book.
This entire game can be summed up with one question... "why am I not playing Origins?"
The most disaponting thing for me (beside everythig you said) was the false decisions. Nothing changed the end, none of the decisions changed anything. This game was painful I love DA but I wish, from the botton of my heart, that Larian makes the next one.
Ugh I would love to see a Larian DA game, or something similar to DA. We need something fresh in the fantasy RPG realm!
Omg omg I said the same thing. They took BG from bioware already please just take all the rest and do us right 🙏.
Its true. The only decisions that matter are if you helped your companions so that they may live or die and what ending you get. Arguing with solas doesn't do anything agreeing with him doesn't do anything. Bleh
They didn't even get close to Og Bioware's "illusion of choice"
This game is a slap in the face to passionate fans. You did a great job of highlighting this. Thank you!
It was made for people that needed therapy and friendship. Which a game for those purposes isn't a bad game. But for a favored dark fantasy franchise. It is a very bad game.
I need therapy after playing this game(
@BigJBear I couldn't agree more!
I just don't understand why they had to use an established game for this crap, if they done this kind of dialogue in another game unrelated to a game series it would have been better.
Part of me wish Veilguard was not created
also, the Gods can move planets but can't defeat a non special person?
The planets don’t have the power of friendship on their side!! And rook has her team and they’ll do whatever it takes!
*cue rook doing that stupid pose with her hands on her hips*
@@sarawawa8984 haha I meant to mention that in my video but forgot! the superhero pose!
Yeeahhhh... never understood that either. Could've easily squashed Rook and pals
@@thepuppyoverlord oh! and the first fight with Ghilan'nain when she finds out Rook has the very IMPORTANT dagger and she just leaves, she is winning and she leaves... didn't they desperately needed that dagger?
The only thing all powerful gods need is the dagger from Rook and that’s why Ghilanain sends arch demon to fight Rook and company . However when the arch demon’s health goes low Ghilanain just decides to call the arch demon away. Wtf? That was the only reason for the fight. At that point she would enter the battle and instantly kill Rook. The writing sub par and light years away of the bought reviews of “BioWare’s return to form”
The worst part of the “trying to appeal to kids” point you mentioned, is that I’m not sure if it was intentional, or just reflects the maturity of the current writing team…
21:18 "oof"
BioWare tried to recreate the Virmire scene in this game and it made 0 sense. What was the point of acquiring companion loyalty if this situation could not be avoided at all? And while I liked the idea of talking Solas down, as it mirrors the beginning of the game, the way they did it was at odds with Solas' motivation. He never did this for Mythal, as the end credit of Inquisition showed us.
Yes, every single motivation for Solas' actions made absolutely no sense in this game. Just more examples of poor story writing and not taking into account the arc of his character.
Yes. It felt like DAV was trying to be the Mass Effect trilogy. The Virmire choice from ME. The loyalty missions from ME2. Getting faction support for the final battle from ME3, even to the mid-battle pause to talk to your companions before the final push.
Only, all the elements were worse than in any of the Mass Effects
I wish the game wouldn't have come out at all....the mess up is worse than no sequel at all..
Same here 😔
Not sure if I would have even looked at it. Loved origins, really enjoyed 2. But inquisition just didn’t do anything for me only played about 10 hours and 😒
@@OwDoGaming-kx9jo loved origins and liked 2, and inquisition was probably my most favorite for me personally. Definitely give it a chance if you find yourself missing dragon age!
@ tbh me 🦆 I have now found myself lost in Balders Gate 3, unbelievable game. Couldn’t see myself going back to DA again basically having to pay for it again
I honestly feel the same. I wish the series had simply been canceled and ended with inquisition.
Veilguard feels like a terrible tv show finale where the finale is so bad it kind of ruins all the previous episodes (ex: Lost, How I Met Your Mother, etc).
I just wish I could erase veilguard from my mind and from dragon age discourse. I used to love watching dragon age lore videos and reading theories but now all of it is based on veilguard and I HATED the lore reveals in that game. I would much prefer the mysteries remain forever
like many other developers, Bioware over the years has slowly been taken over by activists who see videogames the same way their counterparts in film & tv see them: vehicles for their narcissistic identity politics and nothing more. they do not understand that most people don't need to see their own reflection in a story in order to resonate with it - hell, my fave videogame hero as a girl growing up was Master Chief, and he was a 7ft tall faceless man.
normal empathetic humans love stories with passion and moral dilemmas, and characters with heart and complexity, that challenge us to consider different viewpoints and experience a life that we will never live IRL. we don't want vain self-insert characters and sermons on real-world social issues in a medieval fantasy RPG.
My older daughter is 16 years old.
She really disliked this game. So I think it’s not even made for a new generation. It’s made for a very specific type of person .
My happy ending would have been Solas succeeding. But that would require creativity from the devs.
That would've been a cool storyline to see Solas succeeding. Definitely would've been a great way to set up future games!
@thepuppyoverlord Yeah, I actually would have liked to see it happen at the end of a short Act 1. Playing as the Inquisitor, so you spend the entire rest of the game navigating a world that is completely altered. You would pursue Solas, experiencing all the good and the bad this change has wrought, deciding by the end how to deal with Solas. In my version of the game the vast majority of elves would have joined Solas, as well as most of the spirits/"demons", and they could offer insite on how the world used to be before the Veil, to inform your decision.
Then maybe as an after-credit scene you would see the Elven God(s) escaping their imprisonment, setting up for the next game.
That is the game I was expecting "Dreadwolf" would be, and instead we got this. My disapointment is immeasurable, and my franchise is ruined.
The only time this game was offensive was on release!
I can remember an interview with the previous DAI Devs shortly after the trespassers Dlc was released.
They said they have already planned 2 games in advance for the future.
I don't know what they where planning but I hardly believe it was anything like DATV.
This game was such a slap in the face!
Can we pretend it's not canon and the story ended with Inquisition!?😓
A part of me wants to think that the series ended with Inquisition minus the Trespasser DLC
getting rid of the dragon’s keep pretty much sealed the game’s fate , using the “ outdated technology “ excuse pissed me off so bad bro . Nice video though.
Words cannot express how much i hate how sidelined Solas was in Veilguard. Its unfathomable to me, after what happened in Trespasser, that Bioware would toss him in favor of two mega-bland stereotypical evil big bads. Sigh...
I can't wrap my brain around how they thought this was the best path for his character. Just shows that Bioware doesn't give a shit about their fan base.
The original writers left the team and the ones responsible now seem to unable to write anything in depth so they replaced Solas with 2 generic bad guys who have no depth, motivation or logic in them.
Crazy how Veilgaurd was the nail in the coffin for this series. It completely disregarded the previous titles and their history. What should have been something engaging and immersive we instead got a hack and slash generic fantasy game with elements of Dragon Age
Prior to veilguard to being released I did dream of a day where we would get a few more games out of the DA universe.. but I don't dream about that day anymore after playing it..
also can we talk about how we get punished for actually treating the gods like a threat??? why can't they all just get their shit together and fight for the end of the world? but boo hoo god forbid i don't have time to do my scooby doo mission or tell my mum about my feelings
I would have been happier if they hadn’t made Veilguard. I started with Origin when it was released. I enjoyed DA2 despite the flaws. And strangely I really enjoyed Inquisition . I really cared about the cliffhanger left by Trespasser.
But after so long between them I no longer cared anymore. I was staying away from videos to avoid being tainted. But then I learned that a lot of the people and places from the first two games had been destroyed and there would be no World State system and I was done. Didn’t want to even try.
But for the story, what made it even worse and for me was learning that Rook had his/her memory wiped/tampered with… JUST LIKE WHAT HAPPENED TO THE INQUISITOR with the Nightmare Demon.
And this is even before I would try to address the DEI issues, modern language issues and being unable to connect to Rook. That would end the game for me. Another dealbreaker. There are SO many things wrong with it that I don’t want to try.
I got into the whole DA universe recently actually. Played origins and loved it. Then played inquisition and honestly I think Solas is one of my favourite characters in like any game. Finished Veilgaurd a while ago and maaan... im really happy i didn't wait 10 years for it.
I'll say in case you haven't played it, if youre looking for a fantasy story about interesting companion characters, complex social and political themes with oppressed but also dangerous mages, and weird gods, try out Divinity Original Sin!!
Solas is definitely one of my favorite characters too! He was so well written in DAI. I actually have Divinity Original Sin on my list of games to play next but I think i'll give it shot soon! I've been looking for my next game to play during the winter months!
You can't skip DA2!!!!!
@@shortylove876 ahh yeah idk why i did. Guess ill have to play it if I wanna join the DA club lol!
@@khashayar1994 Do be kind to it, it was made in less than a year and four months. Developers for DA2 had to re-use many maps and enemies attack in a lot of waves. But, you can enjoy the story and companions. The banter is great and the friendship/rivalry system is unique.
@@thepuppyoverlordI definitely recommend Divinity Original Sin! I wanted to play something with magic and party turn-based combat other than Baldur's Gate 3, I am now playing the first DOS, and I am having a blast! Strongly recommend!
It just occurred to me, and can someone who played the game clarify this for me: if the game doesn't provide any real choices and you're not allowed to do anything your companions don't like... Does this mean there is no approval/disapproval? Besides, of course, Neve/Lukanis being upset if their city is destroyed.
Does this mean you don't ever fight with your companions, you either do their quest and then you're friends, or you don't, and then you just have a more distant, but still nice relationship?
@@katerynasirko1832 yep thats correct. There is no disapproval or approval. It’s exactly how you wrote it out in your second paragraph
@thepuppyoverlord that's so disappointing. What's the point of having a relationship if there are no stakes?( All the things I loved about DA: companion approval, complex choices, deep romances and party-based tactical combat system - all gone. I have known for a while I wouldn't want to buy this game, and the more I learn about it, the more I feel I was right and I probably wouldn't enjoy it.
@ you made the right choice not buying the game!
Joplin would’ve been great; it was the first version of Veilguard that was scrapped when EA wanted multiplayer. I blame EA for the meddling, but yes the writers also dropped the ball with Solas. The artbook showed show much potential lost. And no, that ending for Lavellan was not happy. Solas was relegated to her and whatever she wanted. He intended to go alone and refused her until Mythal released him. Then he is okay with it? The devs even said the ending was for Lavellan, not Solas. Not sure how spending eternity in a prison is a happy ending with a man who you had to twist his arm to accept you.
I'm considering doing another vid covering Joplin. But it all honestly, it makes me sad to see what we could have had
2 things I'd like to say :
- Lots of people dislike DA2 because of how badly the combat encounters, environments and areas are designed (reused assets etc...), but you can't deny that the game has great characters and great storylines.
- After the initial "hype" and outrage about this game when it came out, we see more and more people providing actual constructive and legit criticism which is a good thing, the honeymoon phase is over now. Even some gaming media have posted some articles about how the game is disappointing. Though you still find diehard fans that will swallow anything this game has to offer.
I have loved DA2 since my first playthrough.
Glad to see more people are realizing the game is not bad at all.
The only problem I have with the game is the reused dungeons, but after multiple playthroughs I don't even notice them anymore 😂.
@@SeventhheavenDK the game has its faults but the story and characters make up for it, something that the Veilguard fails to do, everything is mediocre in it.
I thought the best story, IMHO.
People don't even realize DAO and DA2 were only 1 year and 4 months apart. Devs for DA2 did a great job with how little EA gave them.
I love this review, because you play EXACTLY the same way and for the same reasons I play RPGs. Your points 100% aline with mine.
As someone’s who’s first dragon age game was also origins (and I also went on to play da2 and dai and surprisingly fell in love with dai), I love your perspective on dav.
I also defended the initial release trailer only to be disappointed with the game later (and frustrated with myself for buying into the hype). I also had pretty low expectations. I didn’t care if the combat was bad or the romances were bad or even if the companions weren’t my favorite. All I really cared about were the story and the worldbuilding. I think thedas is a really unique fantasy world and I just love the setting and was excited to see more of it. I thought the devs might mess up a lot, but i figure the one thing they wouldn’t mess up was the world, and I think they messed the worldbuilding up most of all. So much of dav just seems like any other generic fantasy. I mean down to the lich’s which were never present or mentioned in previous games. Everything was just so bland. I don’t know how the writers managed to take such a vibrant, living world and make it so boring. Greatest disappointment of a video game and it almost made me hate the previous games too (like how a really bad series finale sours the rest of the series).
This is a really great video, well thought out and organized, I think it was fair but passionate. Thank you for making this! I needed this sort of validation for real. I have been borderline heartbroken about veilguard so hearing someone share similar opinions on the game helps in a weird way! Also you have a very soothing voice!
Thank you! I found a lot of validation about how I felt through other reviews and wanted my own perspective out there too. I totally agree with the worldbuilding; how they took such a vast and expansive story from the previous games and just.. completely butchered it. It's sad to see my favorite franchise and what really got me into RPG's just lose all of its charm.
Just one example of complete ignorance and disregard to the world is the Tevinter and Shadowdragons whose mission is to release the slaves. There are no slaves anywhere to be seen in Minrathous. There are no alienages with oppressed elves who should be flogging to Solas’ cause from Tevinter and fighting for him. These basic building blocks were written in the previous DAs and the trespasser DLC as well as the project Joplin art books. The only thing they needed to was take these but instead they blanded everything down to make it more digestible for young audiences at the same time destroying what was already really rich and well made world
One correction - you can kill Lucanis at the end if you pick him to go against the huge robot mech thingy. I did this and genuinely laughed - i was like, oh, look at that I accidently killed puss in boots....and i did all his quests. Otherwise, you're right - they live or die based on companion quests.
life hack: just come to terms with who your least favourite companions are, skip their quests, and let them be sacrificed for the greater good. those goods being: killing a god, and not wasting my time
Or better yet skip DAV completely
Half way through 2nd playthrough, I realized I wasn't having any fun. I switched to BG3, which I had never played before. In learning BG3, I got so pissed off at how lazy and bad the writing was for Veilguard. I mean just comparing Taash to Karlach, it's like what the fuck, man. Both are big women with foul mouths and fire inside, but Karlach is fucking awesome and Taash is the literal face of every Veilguard hate video thumbnail. No choice, no consequences, no conflict and no steam/spice at all. Just a lukewarm lump of shit, and pushups for the high crime of unintentional misgendering.
I redownloaded Inquisition almost immediately after finishing Veilguard. I needed to remind myself why I adored this series.
I did the same thing. Planning on going back for replays of the first three again
Same tho, and immediately put on the banter between Inquisition characters. The difference in dialogue quality is STARK.
When you say no mystery to the exploration, are you including the hidden quests and post credit cut scene?
That aside, there's so much missing from this game. Some stems from the decision not to include the keep. So much grey wardens yet a lost opportunity 0:02 to find out or even mention Carver, Bethany, Alirstaire, Loghain, Stroud or Rainier. What uf Hawke went to Weisshaupt? Why was the no information out of Weisshaupt after Inquisition? What happened?
Then there's the bad writing. Wheres the moral ambiguity? The snarky characters? The companion who betrays you? The religious debates? Two Chantries that you can visit and yet not a single Sister or Brother to be seen. Instead you fight Venatori in both.
I had fun playing the game and liked the lore reveals, but the rest just frustrates me.
Edit: Where the frick are the giant spiders? How can there be no giant spiders in the deep roads?
I don't really consider it a mystery when a character tells me to go check behind that area because there might be hidden treasure there.
@thepuppyoverlord I agree that was annoying. But, it wasn't what I was referring to. I meant the candlehops, the statues in Arlathan that spawn a rage demon, the braziers in the wisp puzzles in the Necropolis or the candles in the hall of the Beloved.
@@zahierabaloch8118 I see what you're saying and yes, they do offer these things in exploration, but it goes back to my point how you come across these hidden quests through an active side quest; at least that's how I perceived it. It didn't feel like natural exploration to me. In wasn't in a weird/random part of a map where a player has to go out of their way to explore because it's not tied to a quest I guess is the point I was trying to make.
A thoughtful and eloquent review. Your video proves that even if you set all the woke stuff aside, the game still fails on its own. They tried to rewrite the lore regarding the taint, the Golden City, the veil, the old god dragons, etc., and what they came up with to replace it was boring and didn't make sense. I understand the idea of presenting an initial story as legend and then later revealing the true history, but in that case you need to come up with something better than the legend that fits the established observations within the series. Veilguard and its plot twists fail to do that.
It also drives me up a wall that all this major lore changing information is basically just told to us and we sit around a table making jokes and shit about it with our companions. They like briefly talk about its implications but it’s never something that has actual weight like it should.
@@SophiHan02 Yes. Presentation was also severely lacking, as was player choice on how to respond to it. The Inquisitor could react in a number of ways to the Andraste theory, and craft specific public statements about it. Rook, not so much about the "answers" outright told to him or her.
About the writing... Something I never thought about is that in earlier games, they apparently banned words created after a certain time. Except for some characters (like Alistair, apparently). Skipping that part is why everything sounds awkward in comparison. Even normal conversations in DA:V sounds awkward way too often. Dragon Age's current writers seem to want to reboot the series and completely start over. It's absolutely not what the fans wanted, but...
I have never and will never play this game. Learned my lesson after DA:I (felt like playing an MMO). Also, I never played ME:A either, after all hullaballoo after ME3. I used to love BioWare's games, and own all the older ones. Nowadays, though...they're not BioWare anymore - they are EA Jr.
I haven’t even managed to make 1 playthrough. There are so many things off in this game. I don’t want it to ruin the other 3 games for me by playing this game.
That's definitely valid!
People have tried to gaslight me into thinking the writing is amazing, and I won't stand for it. Opinions are opinions, sure, but there still is an objective quota for most writing and Dragon Age games of the past have set the standard. Veilguard is an outlier eith the writing and no one can convince me of anything else.
Great video, though.I hope your comment section doesnt turn into a warzone because the people that love/hate this game are so stupidly passionate that they attack anyone who do not share their exact opinions. Bunch of nutters.
Thanks! There definitely was a standard I was expecting with writing compared to the previous games in the DA IP
May I say that for such a young and small channel you have great editing, narration and script? I really enjoyed this analysis and review, you're pleasant to listen to, and I hope to see more from you in the future, if you're inclined to continue!
@@katerynasirko1832 wow! This is the nicest comment ever!! Thank you!! I do plan on doing more on this channel in the future! Just have to play the games first haha!
Let me tell you what this game needs. Anders. He needs to come and nuke this game. It would solve all the problems.
I also didn’t like the Rook I created which is first time ever in any game starting from the ages of eye of the beholders.. Being able to make me not like my character is the only achievement this game was able to deliver in addition to complete apathy
I only played through the 4 Dragon Age games last year, so my thoughts don’t hold much weight. Andromeda and Final Fantasy XV came out the same year if I remember right and I found both those games disappointing. But both of those games there were some stuff I found fun or liked. Veilguard there was so much I did not like, it felt like a chore to finish the game. The companions are weak to me personally. I really see the comparison with Veilguard and Mass Effect 2, where both games are mainly focused on the companions. It’s really hard playing a game where you don’t connect with the characters, I can’t imagine if ME2 cast was as weak as these companions. I agree the game is for an entirely different audience compared to the past 3 DA games. The choices are so bland, in DA2 even with the limited options, Hawke does feel different if you pick an aggressive dialogue or a Boy Scout one. Rook doesn’t stray far at all, feels like the dialogue wheel is pointless. And the whole absence of what you did in the past 3 games is sad too. I’m expecting the next Mass Effect to turn out similar to this game, which makes me sad. Those are my rambling thoughts 🙃
I never once felt connected to Rook and part of that was because dialogue choices were so weak and made no impact on the main character arc aside from the other points mentioned in the video. If the companions weren't written as weak as they were, this game would've been waaaay better. If you're going to have the game focus around the companions, they need to have a strong narrative to go with it and that's where Veilguard just falls short.
I wish we could have played as the Inquisitor, or have them apppear throughout the whole game. The fact that you can choose who you romanced in Iqusition but it has no significance if you romanced anyone but Solas is just painful. I am a huge Cullen fangirl, I though he will appear if I pick him here as well, but no. Such a letdown honestly. I love how they tried to explain in the previous game that they need someone Solas does not know, yet Solas himself tells you in game that he knows for a year that you've been chasing him. So what's the point in a new character if Solas knows he's being tracked? Although I had fun with this game and started multiple characters, I had to remind myself I couldn't finish it with all my characters, but two.That was because I was invested in the romance, only to run to a brick wall anyway. Inquisition was my first Dragon Age game, so I'm just a casual fan, but that game made me play 555 - fun number I know - hours. And all those were spent playing through the game, not just start and finish it, because I started feeling bored.
I've romanced both Solas and Cullen but I prefer Cullen's romance. As soon as I saw the option to pick which romance from Inquisition to bring into Veilguard I picked Solas for obvious reasons, but that choice only matters if you romanced Solas for the Inquisitor. No other romance from previous games truly matter in DAV. I feel this was just a way to make previous players feel more "connected" to veilguard in a way but it has absolutely no impact on the story whatsoever. Just another empty promise
Cullen was way too masculine for any of these writers= we will have none of that toxicity here!
I am currently replaying mass effect 2 LE, and to see how superior that game is in every way, made me realize how precious older games are. I can sit for hours exploring, listening to Shep, her companions, and side characters talk about anything because they are likable and interesting. Bioware has truly degraded in quality through the years. As they release newer games, the worse it gets. Veilguard is an abomination, gamers who love this franchise do not deserve this.
I had a strong urge to replay ME:LE after Veilguard just to remember what a strong narrative and complete story looked like again
Make it stop.. 😭 if it was other bioware IP could it be better but not dragon age 😔
I know 😢
I purposely ignored Taash. I refused to play along with the pandering. I didn't do a single mission in that quest line. Yet, somehow, EVERYONE survived. I've never been more disappointed after getting a "perfect" ending in an rpg, 😒.
Yeah, I got something similar.
I ignored Taash completely (and even so there's some of her content forced on you) and didn't finish Neve's last missions because she bored me.
I was very surprised to find that Taash survived (even when I sent her to fail), while Neve didn't despite being more advanced with Neve's quests.
It's obvious the devs were playing some favorites here.
Whatever, I am not touching this game again, anyway, and it' s not canon for me.
I absolutely agree with your opinion about this game. I hate how they've handled the story in The Veilguard. It ruined everything! 😞
I think that the best thing the devs could do now to save DA franchise is to remaster/remake DAO. I know there're plenty of us who would give a fortune to play that ✨️masterpiece✨️ again.
Or even better - to just proclaim The Veilguard as a standalone game (like a parallel world or something of sort) and make a new DA game that would suit better as a 4th entry.
Good review. I've loved every DA and ME game they've made, and I quite enjoyed this one too. But - I did agree with most of your points and also felt like this one was quite watered down. I wish there had been more choices that really changed the outcome. I want the chance to make a morally ambiguous choice and need to live with it. It was a little too black and white and I felt like all paths lead back to the same main road.
And as always, I wish there were more interactions with our romance choices. I know it's not intended to be a romance simulator but I really play RPGs to get to know the characters and often feel left wanting more. (Solas broke my heart in a way no real person has ever done LOL I was left moping for days hahaha) I did find Emmrich quite charming but whenever I went to visit him, he didn't give me much in the way of conversation. I found myself trying to get low health in battle just so he'd call me "darling" hahahaha (I know...shame. c: ). Like others have mentioned, I felt a little bit like an outsider. All of my companions seemed to have such close friendships, and yet with me, they were kinda.. uninterested? Which brings me to another point. Poor Lucaris fans. lol. It must have been painful to watch him clearly be in love with Neve (he never shuts up about her) and yet you get little to nothing in a romance with him. Also, it's no big deal to me because I don't require smut to enjoy a game, but why was there a nudity slider? There were no sex scenes. lol The only time you see any nudity is during character creation if you change Rook's underwear options.
And yeah, some of the character creator choices were.. strange. You can't choose a different eye shape but you can control bulge and adam's apple? Why? And why are our heads SO big? I've seen people say that they made it more realistic and we're just too used to seeing "hero proportions", but I don't think that's it. My character's head was way bigger than my companions'. She looked like one of those bobble heads people put on the dashes of their cars. I had to go back and fix it multiple times. Eventually I did get something fairly normal looking, but it took a lot of tweaking... xD
Lastly, the aggro was really weird. Now that companions can't die, all the aggro goes on you, 90% of the time. As a mage, it was a huge pain in the ass to do anything with a dragon landing on my head all the time. I realize some of your warrior companions have taunt and I did find a rune that helped for a few seconds but I found it very weird. Like, are my companions invisible? Why is nothing attacking them? I ended up setting my game into storyteller mode for most big fights because it was so tedious to just run around in circles trying to dodge constant attacks. I would have definitely kept companion deaths over this version.
I guess it's time to burn all my merch and let the new audience that likes the game ruin that once epic lore even more.
Just sad.
I didn't hate it but they could've done so much more. Specifically with romance. The story was really lacking. What were they even doing that whole time during development? It's fun but it's nowhere near what the other Dragon Age games were.
Anyone else kinda creeped out by the hands in Veilguard? They seemed just so small and baby like and the way the ring finger tucked under the middle finger kinda felt natural and strange.
Inquisition character art is my most favorite.. this game was... well we all saw how the Qunari looked this game..
The reused the assets but applied that nasty bloom effect and other shaders creating this baby hand appearance. They did the black emporium dude dirty. Zoom in on him with camera mode, they didn't even bother touching him up
This game broke my heart. I’m also a huge dragon age fan, and I grew so attached to my inquisitor. I played as a male trevelyan, so I didn’t have that tie in to solas which felt like they expected me to. He had absolutely no care for him at all. When rook asks solas about him, he says “he was.. useful.” USEFUL?? I may not have been kissing him but I was so betrayed when he turned against us. We didn’t get along at first, solas even told me as much, but eventually they became friends, I did his quests, I exhausted his dialogue, and I really enjoyed his storyline with Cole even though I disagreed with him. And then nothing. If you didn’t romance him that relationship just doesn’t matter. Like he still took me to skyhold, we grew to respect each other, and he was there from the beginning, keeping us alive when we got the mark.
My inquisitor vowed to stop him after that because I felt so betrayed, and he didn’t seem like he’d be willing to change his mind. I expected that to carry over, and yet my inquisitor sits around the table and says “do you think there’s anyway we can still save him?” ???? My brother in Christ he took your arm, we vowed to stop him, you know, the one out of the three only choices that carried over from the last game? The fact that I disbanded the inquisiton gets one throw away line, and my romance which was Cassandra doesn’t even get mentioned once. Not a single time. It felt like a spit in the face for ever being invested in this story. I wanted to see my inquisitor at least fight alongside rook for the final battle, where we could choose what class they were snd see them geared up in armor ready to finish their story but no, no we don’t even get that. He shows up in the fucking shadow dragon pajamas for some fucking reason like dude were you not fucking fighting ?? There’s a war going on. And then nuking southern thedas in the codex entries like that?
This game felt like EA standing over me with a foot on my neck counting the dollars they made from idiots like me who ever held out hope that this game would deliver. I wanted to like it so bad. I followed the development for years. I was excited by every leak, every little trailer. The gameplay footage looked so cool, and I loved the sneak peak at tevinter. I didn’t care when people said it would be shit based on the name changing or the character trailer. I held out hope. And then I played it and it just killed my spirit. I agree with everything else you said. The gameplay is laughably boring. The dialogue is boring and anachronistic. There’s nothing to find, nothing to discover. Every puzzle holds your hand, you don’t have to care about loot or selling old equipment or party formation. You cant talk to npcs or companions. The game tells you to do your companion quests like you’re a fucking baby and you’re expected to babysit your companions whos stories are all the same cookie cutter quests where they have to overcome a darker version of themselves, and each quest feels like they end before they get a chance to go anywhere good. And then at the end you get a binary choice that doesn’t matter at all. The only one that actually made me think was emmrich’s. Honestly he was the only character I thought was done pretty well.
In inquisition the slower, silly moments with the cast were a welcome reprieve from the usual chaos of being the inquisitor because it wasn’t all the time. You weren’t teasing Cassandra for her romance novels or playing pranks with sera constantly. So when it happened it was endearing. It was special because it only happened if they warmed up to you. This game doesn’t do that. The approval means nothing. They all like each other and you no matter what. They won’t tell you to shape up or they’re leaving or have a cutscene where tensions rise between you. Nothing. They’re always smiling and happy and goofing off like the world isn’t ending and you’re expected to make sure their little squabbles get cleared up in a neat little cut scene in the most bland boring baby way possible.
The lore is sanitized and broken. You don’t get to talk to the people in the different factions to learn more about them, and your companions banter rarely triggers. I also considered a second playthrough because I made the mistake of using mythal for the ending which ended up being pretty lackluster and I was curious about Lich Emmrich. I made my character again, started it up, but like you, I realized I had seen all there was to see. Nothing was going to be different. I wasn’t gonna learn anything new, my companions weren’t going to change in meaningful ways, and I wasn’t going to make any choices that changed my experience. It was so disappointing, so heart crushingly bad. I’m glad some people managed to enjoy it, and at times I did too, but the more I thought about it the worse it became. I sunk so many hours into inquisiton, a game a lot of people didn’t like, but I loved the companions, I liked not getting along with them or kicking one out or choosing to drink from the well or side with the mages or become a reaver or let Celine be assassinated or make Vivienne the divine and then do it all differently in the next playthrough. The judgement sequences cemented you in the world as a figure people looked up to. You were the goddamn inquisitor. The herald of andraste, this religious symbol of hope even if you were a dalish elf, or a qunari, or in my case just a guy who didn’t believe in the maker. And you had options to reflect that, snd characters remembered that. I remember Cassandra bringing up the fact that I didn’t believe in the maker way later in the game, and us getting into an argument when she wanted to be divine because of it, and he says “I’m not going to lose you to the maker” and they make up like it was good! Characters actually had religion, values, principles, shaped by where they grew up and the world around them. It created natural tension, it informed the way they acted towards each other, and you as the inquisitor could also have tension with. If you play a mage you might disagree with vivienne’s support of the circles, or if you’re dalish you might clash with Sera, my guy never got along with Blackwall for some reason and often argued with solas at first.
And there were so many iconic missions. IYHSB, with corypheus’ insane speech and the inquisitor seemingly sacrificing himself so that the others can escape, only to walk out of the snow. I got chills when they sang around him. When you’re given the sword to be the leader you always were. Ugh, it makes me so sad. Maybe they wanted a new approach, for a scrappy kid whos no hero or chosen one, and I can understand that, but they gave us so few role playing options and every other character so much more important in the factions you can choose from that they just feel unimportant. I had no idea why everyone was trusting them to lead the fight against the gods. It should’ve been the inquisitor! We should have just been working for him, it’s his fight!
I grieve for the game that we never got and for the dragon age franchise as a whole. After this I can’t be bothered to look out for whatever comes next. I don’t care because they don’t care. They just want money.
You perfectly encapsulated everything and more of what I thought about this game and how I wanted to go back and play Inquisition again. I agree, I can't be bothered with another dragon age game after this. Bioware completely ruined a loveable franchise.
Great review.
I would recommend you check the artbook and get a real feeling to how epic and cool Dragon Age the Dreadwolf was suppose to be.
@@SHLN-y4s thank you! I have seen the concept for what Joplin was going to be and I so wish it was what we got instead.
People keep calling this an RPG, but it actually isnt. Its an action game. If your choices dont matter, its not an RPG.
They should have done a New Game Plus option or given us players a way to traverse Thedas after Solas is sealed in the fade forever. The replay-ability is extremely low with this game imo.
I think even with that option, I would not have played this game again
I didn’t buy it and I used to love BioWare. Once you see the childish art style and trailer you can tell all you need to know. I’ve spent ALOT of time watching people’s reaction to it though and I hope it wakes people up to the problems with AAA gaming. Saints row reboot had the same issue of trying to be the good guy at all times
I think this last year of gaming has really opened a lot of people's eyes that game studios don't care about what you want and will push out unfinished games either way because they know people will pay for it either way. Hopefully this year and the future that changes, otherwise, we'll just continue to see studios that produced beloved franchises close down.
@@thepuppyoverlord yea I think ppl working from home building these games had a lot to do with how half baked and leaned towards a goody two shoes ideology they have become. I think it’s starting to improve but I’m sorry creatives are cool and all … sometimes they make good products but I do not care to be lectured about the things they think I should be
Veil guard would have been a perfect opportunity to bring back the origins warden as main char again
"You had 10 YEARS"... same feeling, sister
I actually had to follow a tutorial with very detailed instructions on how to use the sliders to make an attractive human. Judging by my profile pic, I think I did an okay job. LOL
Your character looks great! You did a much better job than me, my character is so simple looking haha
This game was painful to get through.
The only reason I actually finished this game was because I couldn’t get my money back.
Honestly they just should sell the licence! Failing millions of fans and consumers around the world and across 6 continents!
There was no excitement for me it was clear that this was a dragon age name but not a dragon age game so i put it into shelf trashware bin of ignore on steam 🤷🏻
Wish you did this without background music tho ngl
This game is not written for children with better memory than many adults, this was autism audience un mind special needs writing which is fine but just market it correctly 🤷🏻🤦🏻♂️.
I hate the bar fight .. i played a mage not a brawler .... These devs didn't had a clue how to make choiches , they just stitched togheter all the mmo cutscene and writed random fake choiches .... 10 years my ass. The mmo was ready in 2-3 and the stiches were made in 1 year max .. that's why you cannot use your companions , cause it was not implemented in the game since it was a "Destiny" look alike game.
Companions probabily were the real quest givers . Terrible dragon age game , okaish fantasy adventure game but this is not a RPG.
I randomly clicked on this video to have something in the background to listen to while i play something as i often do, but i kinda stoped paying attention at " fan of bioware "
for the love of god do not be a fan of any game studio, or any company from the entertainment industry, els you'll transform into something alike a bethesda fan... ewww. i'm having chills down my spine just thinking about it, but seriously you can be a fan of a product but don't be fan of a company it'll always backfire on you, you'll start blindly buying the shit they made just because "it's them who made that thing that i realy liked in the past" bioware just like many others is just a ship of theseus nowaday, they are nothing like what they used to be when origin or the mass effect trilogy was made, from what we can see bioware is now more woke activists than anything els (same applies to some other game studios btw, cdpr and ubislop to name a few).
Always wait and see if a game is good or not before blindly buying it, if a game is good : great, if it's bad then don't play it.
Veilgard is a pile of garbage that isn't worth your time or money, and you could see that by miles away.
you only need watching some gameplay of it or playing it for about 30-40 mins to see that it's bad, i don't need to finish it or even play it to see that it's a shit game, and if you insta bought it day one just because it's bioware who made it, gaslite yourself into thinking that it's a good game then try and defend it and the studio that made it then congratz you'r a brainless bioware fan and you deserve all that's hapening to you.
We'r in the day and age of "always judge a book by it's cover" you'll be right 90% of the time, and if you'r proven wrong then great you now have a good game to play.
I won't be buying the witcher 4 for example and i consider myself a witcher fan (i said Witcher not cdpr), not right away at least, there are many red flags about cdpr and the game that make me think it's gonna be a slop at best, if anything all i can hope is been proven wrong, but for the last few years everygame i thought were gonna be bad has been from bad to absolute garbage, so i'd love to be proven wrong but i don't think it's gonna happen here.
I love dragon age Origins, DA 2 was meh, i didn't liked inquisition that much, didn't even finished it, The mass effect trilogy is a banger (except mass effect 3's ending, but that's only an ending, the game in itself is great in my opinion) and yet i didn't insta bought andromeda just because it's bioware, i watched it, played it a bit, didn't liked it and got refunded and i did the same with veilguard, watched it, played 1 hour and got refunded. and only because i love origin and mass effect, if it was a new IP or smth i wouldn't even have try it, imo they don't deserve the benefit of the doubt anymore, not after all the shit they spewed.
/!\ disclaimer : this is not an attack to this video, i've listened to it and understood that you'r just disapointed in the game and everything, this was just my rant about mindless company fans. /!\
*Edit : I Love Baldur's gate 3, done i don't know how many playthrought of it at this point (i have like 600+ hours on steam)
i rly liked Divinity 1 & 2 (i think i have around 300 hours on Divinity: Original sin 2) and yet i won't insta buy the next game Larian will make just because it's them, i'll wait and see before i do anything.
You're completely right though! I fell into the trap because I saw the trailers and saw a lot of the backlash after that first Veilgaurd trailer, but I was so blinded by excitement of a new Dragon Age game (10 long years of waiting) and wanted to be optimistic that the trailers didn't show the entire game and what it had to offer. And I got burned, bad. For weeks after I finished playing, I was so disappointed in how this game went that it made me do something i've never done before which was make this review video.
For any game studio going forward, i'll wait for reviews before buying though. I do think that CDPR has learned their lesson from CP 2077 but, again, triple a studio...
@@thepuppyoverlord Yeah that's usually what happen, i bet you were so excited to explore the dragon age world again that you choose not to see the red flags because you wanted for it to be good so mutch, usually when you see backlash there are reasond for it, most ppl don't raise suspicion for no reason, when there is smoke there is probably fire.
Review bombing dosn't exist, not to a degree that is relevant at least.
(and what about positive review bombing huh? weird how they never speak about those 10/10 amazing review, usually from "game journalists" they are shills and hacks, all of em)
As for CDPR, they are a perfect example for the Ship of Theseus that i spoke of earlier (if you don't know what it is the TLDR is : if you have a ship and over the years you have replaced every parts of it, is it still the same ship?) Most of the team that worked on 2077 is gone, same goes for witcher 3, again all i can hope is to be wrong but i don't have high hopes for cdpr going forward (and witcher 4)
same goes for bioware sadly.
As a fan to inquisition, I felt it's my duty to play it to see all the flaws. As for bioware, they had a decent reputation, and usually, companies are supposed to be consistent. Inquisition was my only bioware game, and I really enjoyed it, how dare me to think the next game would be better😂
Good vid, all true.
DAV sold well initially. But Its the long term decline that happens after people have played and word of mouth happens. after that i fully expect a massive decline. Regardless of the EA/bioware damage control. The game is solid story and gameplay wise. But the political bs and DEI/pronoun and none binary stuff is extremely off putting in a medieval fantasy game. Its borderline preachy and in your face as well. I still somewhat enjoy it nonetheless. I would give the game a decent 6/10.
But hey thats just me being rational. 🤷♂️
I also am holding on cause i loved DAI so much and this game is a direct sequel to that game, giving us a conclusion to the solas story and finally lets me romance Lace Harding. Something we were not able to do in inquisition..
But as i said before my thoughts on the game about all the controversial stuff still stands. As a sequel to inquisition it is fine. But as a "dragon age" game i can understand why people do not enjoy it.
I think if there wasn't previous lore from 3 games prior and being a direct sequel to DAI, then I think the reviews for this game would be A LOT different and there would more players willing to give the game a chance.
@@thepuppyoverlord so many times during the story i wish the inquisitor was the main character. Especially with how DAI ended.. varrick literally says he hired rook cause she had what it takes to get the job done. We know nothing else about the character besides the bits here and there depending on what faction u choose for her. She was literally a vehicle to carry the plot forward. Nothing else.. i do wish however that we played as our inquisitor because i flirted with Harding in DAI but couldn't get a proper romance. But having Harding romancable in DAV, ontop of being able to play as our inquisitor, the romance payoff for me would have been so much more satisfying. Harding is my favorite companion from DAV and her story about the giants and how that tied into the gods and solas, i feel she (Harding) should have had more say in the story and cutscenes given her struggles with the giants etc. She wasn't even present in the final scene with solas either which annoyed the f*ck outta me.. id imagine she would have a few words for him given her situation too..
Shes the canon romance choice for me, for this very reason. Only wish she was done better and more fleshed out..
I disagree with this.
The game is very flawed, and the woke nonsense is just one of many, many problems, even without that the game is underwhelming in most aspects.
The story is definitely not solid, and in fact, it's precisely one of the most underwhelming aspects of Veilguard. And ignoring the past games affected a lot.
Rook could have worked as a protagonist without any problem, but the writing and direction of the game are terrible, that already affects the development of every character in the game. They needed good writers to make Rook work, that's all.
Replace Rook with the Inquisitor, and there would be no difference if the writing had been the same. You would still have the Inquisitor functioning as the companions' therapist and a restrictive goody two shoes.
The problem is not Rook, the problem is Veilguard as a whole (the Inquisitor was already kind of bland character wise, especially compared to Hawke and the Warden, here he'd been worse because of the writing and...well, he actually was).
Gameplay wise solid? I disagree, the gameplay becomes old very quickly in a game that is already full of repetitive subquests. This is also the most restrictive gameplay in the franchise.
The problem, is that with Inquisition, Bioware started to dumb down the gameplay to make it more casual, and thus bring more casual fans into the franchise, which at long term seemed as a good idea, but at long term isn't.
And even so, Inquisition, despite the casualization of its gameplay, was still within the vein of tactical and party management gameplay of Origins and DA2 (yes, DA2 was still tactical, but with a faster pace).
A lot of people didn't even like the change of gameplay to a full action (your Party members are a waste in this game, they are just extra abilities and immortal), many people just said, "I can tolerate the gameplay shift as long as the story, writing and characters are good" (and none of them were good at all).
So, how many people like the gameplay, will also depend a lot on what you were seeking in a Dragon Age game gameplay wise, and with which game did you join in the franchise, especially when it's obvious this game is completely targeted to a different audience.
Funny, because "rational" would be the last word I would use for your comment.
Technically this was just, "Well the game could have been better, yes but, they put Harding in it, and she is one of my favorite characters, and now I can romance her (when her romance is one of the most criticized) and that makes me enjoy the game, and I am happy because I want to romance her in Inquisition so much, and her story is great (her story is actually very generic, you could have given the same storyline to any dwarf with no difference, actually, Dagna, Valta or even Sandal would've make more sense than Harding), and they also gave us an ending for Solas....and...and...did I say I love Harding?" That's your comment in a nutshell.
Actually, your comment is another proof of what other content creators who understand Dragon Age as a whole say:
"Inquisition, whether a good, mid or a bad game, brought some problems to the franchise, the shift of dark tone to a light tone, the combat downgrade to appeal to casuals, and bringing in this new audience that saw the game more like a romance/friendship simulator instead of a videogame (this one being one of the major problems that is affecting the franchise), all of this to make the game more casual". And well, they seem to be right.
@@wardensurana8336 agree to disagree bud.
Every single criticism made to DA:V in this video can be made about BG3. If you discount the R-rated stuff put as shock value, the game itself is made to appeal to a very low bar in complexity and choices. Choosing what companions, and therefore chunks of story, you see is not "branching story", it is simply "skipping". You dont have a "different" Astarion story for example, you have his story either cut short, or cut entirely. You dont have "alternative Wyll Stories", you have Wyll story cut short or entirely. The writing is very, very amateurish and silly. And you can say the exact same thing about the way they deal with Gith, Mindflayers or Drow. No wonder people disliked what they did with DnD.
The main problem with it is that this video is the same thing it criticizes: Putting feelings as reasoning for quality control.
I completely understand and see your point and don't disagree at all. However, at the end of the day, what Bioware gave it terms of expectations for Veilguard, were considerably low compared to the rest of the Dragon Age IP. I do think that BG3 has better RPG and storytelling elements that were extremely lacking in DAV, which most players of the series were hoping for. Both games came out a year apart from each other and only one still has over 50,000+ people playing today.
Besides the R rated stuff... vielguard had none, where's my Iron Bull ass? I disagree about every single criticism for vielguard can be applied to BG3. Our feelings are exactly how content made for entertainment should be rated. Wtf you want me to say game work right game good??!?!?😂
@@Ryi0n. No Zevran to gives us a massage, no Fenris to slam us against a wall, no Iron Bull, no Cullen...
But with BG3, even the little things: I see some goblins: do I try to intimidate them, do I negotiate, do I start a fight? I can be nice to someone or I can tell them to get lost. I can choose to not have a companion (I have two runs without Astarion, shocking).
Maybe shat you say is true in terms of there being less content if I make certain choices, but I can make that choice. From what I gather, DAV doesn't do even that: you HAVE TO collect all companions and you HAVE TO be nice to everyone and go in a specific direction.