I'm so glad to see this perspective from a larger UA-camr. So many bigger video game influencers are completely crapping on this game, I genuinely enjoyed it and felt much the same as you. I definitely have my fair share of criticisms of it, but your perspective is SO refreshing!!
There can never be a perfect game. Every player's 'perfect' is different. For me personally, and I've not finished my first playthrough, this game has some things that I wish were different, but over all it is a really good fun game that I am thoroughly enjoying. I can imagine that I'll play Veilguard as many times as I did Origins, DA2, and Inquisition.
I loved this game but I feel they avoided talking about the darkness that is tavinter slavery and the Antivan crows training it’s still a great game tho I was invested in the characters and story just wish there was more quests that delved into the darker parts of this new part of Theda’s were exploring
I feel the same way. Really enjoy the game but the lack of exploration of the crow training and slavery (Tevinter really just appears like a completely normal place) is a big disappointment.
They tried to play it safe in general. I can excuse lack of talking about Blood Magic and slavery, or how Crows love to buy orphans as slaves. I can excuse it because of times we arrive in both Treviso and Minrathous. However most jarring is absolute lack and trying to dance around anything that should be carried over from Keep. I facepalmed myself when Emmerich had banter with Taash telling her how Morrigan turned to dragon to fight Corypheus. That did NOT happen on my playthrough I was playing for. Inquisitor drank from well. Then we had cameos of Morrigan and Isabela both feeling half-hearted because .. again, lack of Keep. I didn't wait all these years to see members of DA II cast, just to be like Isabela is here. Like she isn't even there. Like she has amnesia or something.
@@cracmar03 I feel like they played it too safe and in some parts I can tell the writers and ppl didn’t know much lore concider if how Taash says “the Qun isn’t a prison” yet the Qun is known to hunt and kill those who leave the Qun?
Yeah my one critique is that I wish some of the quests felt darker, the last 3rd of the game gets so extremely dark, I kind of wish the whole game had been that way. But honestly even then I find it hard to be disappointed I still just really enjoyed the hell out of this game.
I've got say we had different experiences of Vielguard (although I did really love the ending), for the most part I was meh to actively disliking it, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! One thing I'm looking forward to is some lore theories/deep dives in the future! 🥰
been a fan since origins and it feels we played different games man. i felt like 75 % of all dialogue to be either bland or patronizing. the game offered very limited roleplay options and had mostly boring companions and extremely dull side quests. I grew to enjoy the art style but the overall change in tone ruined a lot of that i loved in previous entries (rp, dialogue, grimdark etc.) the main quest itself and the combat were decent which helped me push through. the ending was great and i appreciated the lore revelations. Overall this is the worst dragon age game: 6.5/10
Ive only watched playthroughs of it so far, it looks fun. But i think the dialogue criticism is a real one, i had a hard time listening to it. But the story itself was great and the gameplay looks fun as hell.
I’d argue that it’s the voice acting that makes it feel weaker. Neve, Mythal, British male Rook, Teia, and Morrigan were all excellent performances and their dialogue felt good. The weaker performances from Bellara, Davrin, Taash, etc all made their dialogue feel stiff, unmoving, and a bit immersion breaking.
@@BBS-dl1ltI thought Neve was weak, sone of the dialogues felt stiff and wooden. Davrin imo was great. Taash was also not good. However, the real downside is from the writings. The dialogue lacks some depths, the voice actors were only given the material. The voice director could also be the problem
@@yohanes2034no idea how you consider neve to be a weak performance. One of the few characters that actually sounds like you’re talking to a human being and not a bad anime dub voice actor. Davrin was…very video game voice actor. Maybe I wouldn’t label him as a weak performance, but definitely not one of the good ones. Yeah I’m sure whoever they brought on to direct the voice actors probably wasn’t great either, but hard to make that call when there were some good performances in the mix too. Honestly I really don’t consider the writing to be bad. I’m honestly not sure if it’s just nostalgia blinding people or what, but origins had a lot of really mid dialogue. So much of the Alistair dialogue was so cringe it’s actually painful to go back and listen to it. Small characters often had such bad performances it made me think they just had random BioWare staff doing the lines to save money. I honestly believe Leliana and Morrigan’s performances carried that game. Alistair has a great performance too don’t get me wrong, his writing was just…meh. Lastly, I just watched the full Taash romance and honestly it had some good stuff. A lot is definitely kinda cringe and not the best, but there were some one liners that actually got a chuckle from me. Honestly I think it’s difficult for a lot of people to pinpoint what they dislike about the dialogue…whether it’s the performances, the writing, the direction. I see a lot of people complaining about it sounding too modern and informal, but that just makes me think they haven’t played dragon age games before. Iron bull and varic both have a very modern way of speaking and swearing. Even Alistair had a rather modern way of speaking, people just overlook it because to them British=fantasy voice. Do I think this game has excellent writing? No, but honestly I think most games have bad writing. This game is fine and absolutely playable and enjoyable with better lore than the vast majority of other games out there.
@@BBS-dl1lt imo never sounded wooden and 1 note to my ear. Maybe that’s what the character needs it to be or the art director could do the job better. I didn’t play DAO when it launched, I played it 3 years ago. I played DAI first and I noticed several DAO dialogues are indeed dated and cringy. But c’mon don’t drag Alistair dialogue cause it’s funny lol. I know it’s not thematically correct but he’s made to be a comic relief. I guess main criticism is about the variety of response and the renegade options lack punch. Even though I always play as good and silly protagonist but I still think it’s a valid criticism.
@@BBS-dl1lt I feel like british male Rook is *THE* way to go for Rook. Can't speak on the female options, but the american male one feels quite wrong. It's not so much the performance, but the tone of it I think. But I genuinely don't see any weak performance in this game. I adored Bellara, Davrin and Taash's voices.
I just finished this game tonight and I am beyond impressed. Every single thing I wanted out of this game I got. I loved it. No spoilers, but the ending made me sob so hard that I almost choked. I am just ao happy. If this is the last DA game we ever get (i hope not) then I will be happy that it ended this way.
I love this breakdown. I also played as a Reaper Mournwatcher who romanced Emmrich, and i would recommend that playthrough to anyone. Every aspect of the game with that playthrough felt very satisfying.
I have been WAITING for this video! You did this in the perfect way, too-I am still in the game and you thought of that. I don’t know anyone into it like I am, so it’s so great to connect with those that get it. 🎉
Same. I enjoyed the game by NOT thinking of it as a Dragon Age game, but other than that - no it had no impact. I am a Solavellan and I don't even enjoy Solas at all anymore. He is so poorly written in some aspects. The companions are alright, but I don't get to love any of them and I cannot get myself to care if they live or die. Manfred and Assan are the only things that arfe genuinely great about this game.
i’m about halfway through act 2 right now and i am OBSESSED with this game !!! i can’t stop playing, and i really wish my real life could just pause for a little bit so i can finish it
I am about 45 hours in and only about halfway through. The amount of unique dialouge my mournwatcher mage has had, be it with an optional side-quest, with her own faction, ambient dialouge while out in the world during some sidequests -and- unique reactions. The fact she can go on a side-tangent mid animated cutscene with Emmrich about spirits and have another companion react to it is one of the small things that won me over into loving it. "You sound more fancy talking about mourn watch stuff"-..xD Shall watch the video when I finish up, but hope everyone else is having fun when they pick it up!
im having a more mixed experience with the game otherwise, but my feelings are mutual playin as a mourn watch mage, im very satisfied with how the game has given me dialogue options to explore an idea of a delinquent student meeting the teacher he never had and who he wouldn't be able to be bonding with now if he hadn't been off being a delinquent back then. very similar to the rp I imagined going in. and its chill I can just pepper in every once and a while that I dig eyeballs and spleens and stuff too.
I went for an elven Veiljumper mage first round because I'm angling to get close to Bellara and like their lore, but Mournwatch sounds so cool I'm probably going to need to run a second mage that way, ha.
@galaksina I restarted for Shadow Dragons and Neve, and will probably start another as a rogue for the Veil Jumper synergy and Bellara. If I go for the Mortismal hat trick and do six runs of at least the main story, I'll probably do Mourn Watcher Mage, Antivan Crow Rogue, and Warden/Lords Warrior with at least one of each race. Really though, I'm not seeing this so-called terrible dialogue people keep going on about, at least in the intro scene up to the Lighthouse. And the game is gorgeous. Reviews gaslighting me once again.
Despite the many flaws of the game, I really enjoyed my experience of the game. The Dreadwolf regrets mural really had me going for them back to back, so many years of tin foiling being confirmed in front of my eyes was incredible! Also Lace Harding companion quest was really interesting, can't way to get your view on it.
Ali Hillis's voice acting in the latter half of Harding's quests made me CRY. It was so well done - a fascinating reflection of both lore and Harding's character.
Eh, he's a conditional character, right? So it would have been difficult for him to make a major part of the story. Granted, Isabella was too, and having her randomly show up looking 20 years younger than she is supposed to be was... awkward.
With the warrior and slayer comment you said about it being sluggish and the rage. The combat feels heavy to me but does feel realistic. With the rage, you just need the right skill points and items, I build rage in seconds, never been a problem for me!
Ok because there only seems to be one other person here saying it, I will join in. Don’t read if you have not finished as there will be some spoilers. The game was a disappointment in almost every manner. The story has an amazing and tantalizing quality to it since it tackles some interesting lore but is held back by some of the most mediocre writing I’ve ever seen whether it’s giving generic and uncharacteristic reasonings for secondary villains, cyclical discussions, or literally the worst “sacrifice” I’ve ever seen in a video game. Even with all that I could forgive it because it was a fun game. I loved the skill tree and and GoW style even though I still wished they had a better skill system. What really irks me is that they invalidated the entirety of the whole last 3 games in a series of dumb letters written by the inquisitor. Ferelden? Basically destroyed. Orlais? Heavily weakened with venatori poised to take out the ruler. Kirkwall is literally just bulldozed and with everyone moved to Starkhaven. All of this and we didn’t even get to see any of it. Your choices didn’t matter because the writers took the easy way out and wiped the board. Oh and to top it all off, it’s literally All Elves TM. We got one good thing on titans, a hint for Qunari, and zilch for humans. Actually, scratch that. We got worse than zilch for humans. We got, “Your religions are elves lol.”
I'm about 50 hours in and just finished weishuppt, I am having such a joy soaking everything in that I can. I KNEW you were gonna love it lol I could picture you freaking out at certain reveals 😂
I loved the game, as a long time dragon age fan it gave me what I wanted. It wasn’t perfect but these comments are way over the top on how “bad” it is. It is very much Dragon Age still
I finished my first playthrough last night (after staying up over 24+ hours because I just couldn't stop). I was so eagerly waiting for your thoughts. Didn't realize I didn't have to wait long! 🥰 I absolutely loved this game. I have my complaints, but ultimately, I adored every minute. I played a Crow Spellblade who romanced Lucanis. I felt seen with my coffee obsession. And being able to play a Crow (FINALLY) had me sooo happy. I've been a fan of this franchise since 2009. Origins is one of my all time favorite games, but damn, this one comes close to it for me, despite my complaints. Many of which you mentioned here in your video. (Though the upbeat tone from Rook actually worked perfectly for my Crow this time, though my future Rooks it might not). As for combat, I actually played on the Adventurer difficulty. I tend to love harder combat in most games, so thought I'd start out on something above the easiest difficulty. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed the combat. However, that might be because I played a Spellblade build that was VERY bursty. I was tearing through enemies with relative ease. Even tougher bosses, so long as I had the right companions with me. It was just all about that stagger meter lol. And yeah, the final act, the final mission...I'm still shook. I still find myself tearing up. From start to finish, I was screaming...crying...cheering...AND GOD I KEPT CRYING! My roommate was very concerned for me. 😂 And the CAMEOS! From every book and comic character that showed up, and the little notes seen around the world that reference so much..I wasn't expecting it. For me, this was worth the wait. My Solavellan hell is over. And I wish I could thank each developer personally for the work they put into it.
Dock town really reminded me of Kirkwall which made me so reminiscent about DA2! Also, since Kirkwall was a tevinter territory I really appreciated that there was a resemblance in architecture. Fun extra detail to me!
i need that video about the last act. i need a comment about the after credits. confusion, sadness, spechlessness - it was all so mixed up when i finished the game but i am so happy about the game
I'm so glad you are enjoying it! I just finished Act 1. I'm so hooked! Looking forward to see what else remains. The LORE has had me screaming (in the best way)
It's genuinely pleasant to hear someone unabashedly having a great time with the game. It's not perfect, but really love this game and it will probably be the only thing I'm playing for a long while.
1:19 i could only watch up until this point since i don’t want the game spoiled for me 😅😂 However I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and will be back to watch this & the rest of your videos after i complete my own personal play through. Cheers !
Jackdaw! I loved this review - I have lots of mainstream casual friends who are hating on this game, and they compare it to Baldurs Gate and the like. I approve. Also how do I join your discord?!
Sorry for being such a killjoy, but The Veilguard cannot hold a candle to the rest of the trilogy. Every aspect of it is a dumbed-down,optimistic and light themed version of DA, without the moral complexities , ambiguities and terrible consequences your actions had, in the first 3 games. This is not dark fantasy-not anymore. I do enjoy playing it, but I try to separate it in my mind from the rest of the trilogy. I am not a purist by any means, but I've been playing DA since 2009, and having played all 3 games many-many times, I can't help noticing the huge differences between this game and the previous ones. Probably the best written character in game is Solas..Thank goodness they did not butcher him!
Minor Spoilers for act 1 I really don't like how they shafted Varric. I personally would have been happier if he'd died in the first act. It would have been so emotional. But instead, he's just there now. I loooooove all the callbacks to the book and the camios though. The diolog in the first act was super jagged and weird though. But it's warmed up a lot post. I couldn't figure out who I was gunna romance at first and broke a few hearts. Unfortunately I'll be breaking Emmerich's too cause I chose Lucanis cause Lucanis is my precious Coffee Bean~ And I must protect him! ❤ Wish I could romance multiple characters though. Cause I would totally romance Lucanis and Emmerich and be polly. I also love love love Viago and Teia. They're lovely. The Veilgaurd, to me, feels like a mix of DA2 and Inquisition. And they've thrown in some things from the first game. It's cool. It took me a while to figure out the combat and I'm still struggling to remember the different combos. But once I learned how to regenerate my mana I've been killing it. But being on the autism spectrum, it's a lot. I forgot stuff and get overwhelmed easily. And it's so easy to miss things. It literally took me the whole first act to to figure everything out. Like I didn't know I needed to go back to the light house after missions to get new diologs with the companions. So I wasn't getting the continuations cause I wasn't visiting enough. Cause I like to grind and beat all the side missions first but turns out I needed to be visiting my companions. So my relationship with Lucanis was progressing too slow and that's where all the other characters were asking me to romance seriously and I wasn't ready cause I wasn't getting much from Lucanis.
@fox7378 are you laughing about my bein a whoe and putting myself in a tough spot? Cause I'm really glad there was no confronting like in previous games. I feel bad about breaking hearts, but I wanted to test the waters 🥲 or are you laughing cause I talked shit and then poor, sweet, precious Varric.. 😢
I really loved this game. It was like Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 2 had a baby. Delightful combat (Orb and dagger mage was great). The dialog was a bit weak in the first part of the game, but it got better. Initially I thought Elgar'nan and Ghillan'nain were a bit weak, but then I realized it's not really about them, it's about Solas. I liked the skills system, I liked the character-specific gear that minimized time spent faffing around with gear. I loved the areas like Arlathan Forest, expanding as the game went on, with great verticality and increasing puzzle difficulty. And yes, the final mission was great, with two great ways to win, and everyone possibly dying in the process.
I'm happy that you like it. But I have different take 😅 I'm rpg gamer first, DA fan second (but only played games)... For me the important parts in any game are companions, dialogs, roleplay, main story, gameplay, lore, visuals, music (in this order 😅😅😅)... And for me everything felt flat or worse than in previous games (only Solas story and visuals are better - plot twist and secret ending were huge let downs). This is the first time for me where I prefer "bad" ending 😅🤣 So I'm disappointed. But I see a lot of people are satisfied and happy, I just hope it's enough for BW to do next ME and DA games. 🤔
Not watching the video because I'm a slow player and still in act one but want to comment! I'm happy you're liking it Jackdaw! I think there's a lot they did well but also a lot that really drags the game down. At least so far for myself, it's not the masterpiece i would have expected after such a long development, but I'm still having fun.
As soon as FG-R put the game out, I downloaded and played it from begin to end (I do it for most games; I am not sure if I want to buy and support), and I have to say how they treated Varric is horrendous; there is no excuse for Hawke to not be there for his best friend. You can explain treating side characters as the vessels for the message because of the demands of the morrons from SB Inc., but butchering with no remorse one of the original characters only to gain some dumb plot twist was just sad to watch. Then there is the "secret ending." Did you get it??? It's bullshit all the choices you've made in previous installments were meaningless because of some "Deep & Secret" plot; no wonder they killed the Keep.
I’m currently about 20 hours in, and yes, the game is STUNNINGLY beautiful, and the lore drops have been amazing…but the writing is, soulless, or maybe the characters lack of proper facial expression matching their dialogue is the issue? Besides that my only, and glaringly large, gripe with the game is the lack of impact; being able to import NOTHING from my prior 15 years of DA is a huge blow.
Same thing but I thing he's a lot happier knowing how hard the dev had it the last 10 years and it's impressive how they manage to at least make a decent game.
@@skelitonking117 finish the game first before judging the story, jeez. The writing from the second half of act 1 onwards is up there with BioWare's best.
I'm really looking forward to hearing what you have to say about the Solavellan ending. I'll be honest these games are EVERYTHING to me and the romance with Solas has consumed me for years so going into this game getting a spectacular payoff for that was my main focus and I was also left in tears but I'm interested to see if we were moved for the same reasons.
Thank you for this review . I am currently partially through the 1st A.C.T as just got my whole party and I also have had a few OMG!!! moments. I want to savior every moment and actually just hang sometimes... Love the cities and learning to love the Beach lol. But with everything being so quick to judge and wright something off because a little thing isn't what one wanted is to me somewhat indicative to the reactionary and viral society today. So Thank you Jackdaw for being once again the voice of a well balance and positive view on this fantastic journey and I am so hoping for ME4 or 5. I have really grown to love that trilogy as well so been trying to support Bioware as much as my wallet will allow. Be safe out there Jackdaw. Please take care of you and don't pay attention to the idiots in charge , they ruin everything lol
Finished the game this night and oh my do I have strong emotions and thoughts... The impact, that the ending of act 2 and the whole act 3 left on me is simply indescribable. There are no words, that could totally explain the way this game made me feel and I won't try to find them. What is important - I felt every second of that time count and it all had a meaning, resonated with me and was exactly what a fan would expect out of this game. The characters were, as usual, deep enough to have different sides to them and to have engaging storylines and missions. Although, the beginning of their quests often felt too dry with those short dialogues. And the gift system had me frustrated. On one hand, we have Origins and Awakening, where you simply gift something through the character menu and receive mostly a short reply. But some special gifts, like mother's amulet for Alistair, had cutscenes, where you could really see, that the gift was appreciated. Then in DA2 we also had special items for our companions, that had longer dedicated cutscenes. Inquisition didn't really have gifts for all of the companions, but in the Veilguard the gifts felt lacking. One short reply and a notification about approval - that felt really awkward to me. Companion quests themselves were interesting and felt fitting for each character's story, personality and goals. Although I still questioned the logic and plot integrity in Bellara's quest in Act 2 and asked myself if Taash was a character, that was only created for a single purpose. I liked her, but I like queer characters being simply queer, without it being so in my face in every dialogue. All the areas are simply gorgeous, there is no place, where I wasn't impressed by the incredible landscapes or attention to details. It felt great to run around and just admire the view, as well as explore it all. I kinda cringed at ziplines in some of the locations, where I found them out of place though. But it may be just me. What I also found interesting to compare, was the music. So they clearly reused some of the Inquisition themes or made new tracks, inspired by / based on Inquisition music. And it were mostly those tracks that I really enjoyed. Battle music of the Hossberg Wetlands is also mostly to my taste. But the main theme is too generic. I am a huge fan of all the previous main themes, they are recognizable and have a style, a character, a whole story if you will. Trespasser music with that Lost elf theme? How many of us cried ourselves to sleep with that one. Veilguard though - just one of a thousand other forgettable tracks in the gaming industry. 100% agree with your opinion on combat with 3 abilities, potions being simply there to be there etc. The ability tree seems vast and is vast, but there are really only so many abilities and only so many slots to try to make your combat more varied and interesting. The fact, that we couldn't really control our companions only made that all even more repeatative in my opinion. But I wasn't there for the gameplay anyway tbh. What I was there for was the story of this world, that captivated me since I first played Origins in 2019 and stayed on my mind ever since. All this incredible lore with so much depths, that can be explored! The masterpiece stories of the previous games, that left many questions unanswered and here, in this part, we got some lore, that quenched our thirst. I loved the way, that companion stories were intertwined with the lore reveals and how we got to know more about Solas and the Evanuris. The ending scene, that promises more had my crying broken self be reanimated after I was devastated by the fact, that I finished the game. The story of Solas in my playthrough ended the way I always wanted it to end. As a Solavellan, that never romanced any other character in the Inquisition, I got a lot of what I wanted and am overall happy with the direction their story took. Despite him being at his peak in this game, I still think he could have been more present. He was in our head, after all. We could have at least some more commentary from him or some more advice, but no. I loved every scene of him and all his schemes as well. He stayed true to himself and got what he deserved imo. One thing I didn't like was the way they handled his very last decision, but it is full of spoilers, so I'll say no more. I romanced Lucanis and I felt lack of actual romantic development. Every previous game gave us more romantic interactions, cutscenes, small details etc. Here it almost didn't feel like he was really interested in my Rook until Act 2. Maybe it is different with other companions, I will try Davrin next playthrough, but there we are. And I like, that companions will romance each other, if you don't romance them, that's a nice touch. My Rook was trying to be a funny Veil jumper with a bit of a rough side to her. And I really wanted to have more rude options, especially when talking to some scumbags, that I was going to kill. But nope, you need to stay kind. All in all, there are places, where you make big decisions, that have a large impact on everything. Act 1 decision making quest came so out of nowhere, I wasn't expecting that and it really changed the world itself, which is so great. And then we have decisions, that affect our companions or the world, but not all of them feel impactful for me. Mostly because those smaller decisions don't have an impact, that would change the world enough for me to want to try playing it differently. I always try to finish all the side and world quests, so I never had to decide whether to help my companions or allies or not - there lies a path to make your replay different, but I don't think, I will ever do a playthrough, where I leave some unfinished quests, tbh, that is simply not my style. All in all, it was so worth it. Getting through the large first act with it's ups and downs and getting to experience one of the best gameplay and cinematic and storytelling experience, that I could ask for in this game - it is priceless and I cried so hard starting in the act 2 and almost throughout the whole act 3, as all that happened hit me more and more. Even if they don't make any DLCs - I'll take it. Of course, there is always hope for more of this vast and beautifully rich world of Thedas, but money dictate the destiny of Bioware and Dragon Age. If it was the last game - I'm grateful, that I was able to experience it. And it was also a very special playthrough for me, because the person, that introduced the game to me, passed away last year and playing it meant even more.
The game made me feel like a slow-witted apprentice, who needed constant instruction/correction from the team. When the dialogue started throwing in modern/RL ideas and phrases, I, as Rook, started to wonder why I was there, so after about 12 or so hrs of gameplay, my Rook left the team/game. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.
I'm so happy that you enjoyed the game, and I agree that there were some great highlights. Sadly, overall i was disappointed by the game as a whole, which didn’t feel like DA at all to me. Whilst we have alot of dialogue with companions we dont actually get to know them. Take Lucanis, my LI, i know he likes coffee but not what happened to him in the ossuary, or what it was like for him growing up, or even what it feels like having reached an agreement with Spite. Just coffee.
Yeah that was my issue too. I was very curious to talk with Davrin about how long ago he joined, or what his clan was normally like. Or hell tell me about monsters you've killed, or whether or not his world was shaken when it turned out Evanuris were mere tyrants. BLIGHTED tyrants. Like both him and Bellara should have some really hard time accepting who are we fighting for, as should Dalish Rook like mine was ... but it never happens, because I guess game had usesless timeskip of 10 years since Inquisition and Evanuris being tyrants is old news .. I genuielly believe timeskip was a mistake. I also think BioWare made a whoopsie with Uncle Eldrin being your average dalish. I thought they should have explained why Davrin and Bellara both look nothing like your average clan of Dalish from DA Origins, II and Inquisition. Like I wanted a bit more ethnicity there for world building. Like I get to know Davrin's personality, but not exactly the past. He does speak of his reasons to be Warden and how he was not happy from clan's life perspective. But that's it. Nothing about parents, or actual relatives .. I know uncle is not uncle at all. However that's also issue with Rook themselves. BioWare should have taken note from ME 1 where you had two part backstory. One was origin and second was career path. I did not felt anything towards Lords of Fortune given how backstory went. And hearing Isabela talk only boasting about Taash .. was just annoying. Like I want to learn about companions AND protagonist. This is like 4th game ...and protagonist, minus Hawke, has next to no personality whatsoverer and cannot be defined in dialogue either. I was yearning for more heart to heart conversations between Rook and companion. I hoped Emmerich when he initially expresses some excitment over meeting Rook would land us on some dive deep onto our past and defining who we are, but sadly not. It never happened.
Yeah, like Lucanis is actually a bloody abomination! I was expecting major drama, conflict and actual danger from this! It's a complete redcon to everything we ever learned about abominations in previous games. So.... Coffee? Wtf?
I am not a native English speaker by far it is my third language. I found the writing SO bad at times it took away from the better parts. Especially when you get to the murals. SPOILER the characters force their limited thoughts and shallow opinions on you after each and every mural / solas memory. I wish they had just taken that out kept Morrigan speaking after. There were times it felt forced bad writing mixed with bad delivery of lines meshed with good writing mixed with good delivery of lines... Da2 was made in 15 months and aside the copy/paste assets it was such a good game. But Dave just didn't reach the somber and heavy hearted tone of some scenes. They had more then 15 months to make this game and DA2 is honestly better written....but the art/music/fact no bugs crashes glitches make the game decent along with some lore not the lazy rewrites. 😅
"Cameo from a novel" that was part of problem for me. I do care for lore. And I do care for characters. From games. However BioWare when they get rid off DA Keep they just .. ditched games. I am still sad that we got Isabela back but she speaks nothing about DA II beyond "Kirkwall taught me about family" ... BioWare tried to play it safe due to Keep lacking, but it's clear Veilguard suffers from it anyways. There are cracks in narrative that assume something happened in your playthrough that didn't and it takes you out of experiance. Great example was me seeing Emmerich and Taash banter how according to Emmerich Morrigan took shape of dragon to fight Corypheus own dragon. That did NOT happened on that playthrough. My Vashoth was so fed up with Morrigan treachery that she drank from Well instead - granted my Vashoth was both mage AND scholar herself. Had Keep been in place this bug wouldn't happened. Lack of Keep robbed people who played video games out of many enjoyable things. Cameos. Where is Zevran ? Like I kept Arainai sword that game dropped because it was cool, but it also was the only thing that even remembered Zevran. All this time since Origins I wanted to see Antiva because of Zevran. I am here and he is not. Why ? Aside killing him, all other endings for him end on offing Arainai First Talon and becoming the leader of that house. Another issue is lack of Merrill and Fenris. Especially when Trespasser even remembered Merrill's eluvian. Why aren't crossroads having it ? I would die on the inside if we bumped onto that eluvian, awoken it and ended up in Alienage house or wherever Merrill would move surprising her. The lore also I think suffers from time skip. I would say Veilguard had two major problems - abandoning Keep AND timeskip. I would say it should lean even more to DA II structure where game takes place accross almost 10 years. I would say Veilguard should have started somewhere after Inquisition but before Trespasser, because if I didn't replay DA's before Veilguard, I would have completely and utterly forgotten that slider of Trespasser where Solas supposedly emptied alienages and forests out of elves because they all joined cause. World Wise, Keep missing also hurts world stage. Why are Free Marches considered South when Veilguard features Nevarra that is RIGHT NEXT TO THEM ? Why isn't Hawke in charge of leading battle for Marches ? I did not left them in Fade even once. Where is HoF ? Ferelden situation should be up for them. Meanwhile Inquisitor should tend to Orlais. Veilguard just missed big opportunities because BioWare instead of recognizing what a genius tool Keep was, just probably was shown EA's displeased bill for having to upkeep web page, and decided to ditch it. They still will HAVE TO rework Keep, because if EA don't want to pay for webpage hosting and wants to close it, then Inquisition has no other way of reading world states anymore. They should have done as priority, after Veilguard is out and they can see complaints exactly due to Keep lacking, an offline app that is functioning and readable as Keep was to Inquisition AND update it of Veilguard. I know that full rework of Veilguard is out of question, as they would have to rehire VA's for additional lines ... but future DA should use Keep again. Breaking immersion is gravest of sins for an RPG, and despite how much I really liked Veilguard, it had commited it several times BECAUSE Keep is absent. About maps, I enjoyed them very much. Gameplay wise ? Aside of DA II, this was probably best gameplay in DA games to date for me. It was relatively close to dual wield rogue gameplay of DAI just cranked up to 11. On gameplay note, I think game should have better tutorial. I did played whole game, and I basically .. never used combos ?? Bow gameplay was just too fun, and I played too many games with such bows to even need it. I was sniping enemies with headshots left and right too fast. As for companions. I was finding them enjoyable. I was worried Taash and Bellara might tire me .. but Bellara is just awfully cute and Taash was .. well okay, she was fine. I really expected that she would be tiresome stereotype like Steve Cortez in ME 3 was. She was not and I was finding relations with her mother to be .. realistic. Ofc crown for companions stole the two main reasons I played - Davrin and Emmerich. I love these two too much lol. Also Davrin, for calling Solas "Baldy" you won the game lol. I had never before a need to pause game irl just to laugh so much, but I had to because of your remark. Now I think the tone of game is a bit unbalanced. It was kinda hard to get through emotions of questline, especially for Davrin with what happened to Isseya. You know I don't read comics, I at best read mere recap on wiki, so I knew who Isseya was from tidbits .. and watching what she had become was .. baffling and hard doubled with Davrin's mission of saving this clutch. So we have these hard tense moments in companions story, only for some minutes later be slapped with downright some cringe joke. Like BioWare for no reason make the line "Please don't." from Rook to Taash bickering to her mother how she can wet bedsheets like a baby again if mother won't treat her as adult ever. Like .. I would say "Please don't." is fairly normal reaction when hearing some disgusting idea like that. However BioWare wanted to turn normal reaction into .. a joke ???? That is not funny. It's just .. lame. Another absolutely awful tone wise joke was some stupid scene with Rook being tricked to dress as Antaam to make gryphons attack them. It should never happened, especially on Rook romancing Davrin. Like ever. That's not cute nor funny, it's just dumb.
Don't bother telling them all these critique. The shills like the simplified game and retcon lore. Us fans that actually cared about continuity between games are just put aside. Bioware is dead.
@@tartatovsky You clowns really think your opinion is the only one that matters. It's hilarious." Bioware is dead. This isn't dragon age!" Lol crying it's just hilarious.
@@sidneyday8927 Of course you found it hillarious. You're the target audience of current day Bioware. Disney adults with obsession of safe space and toxic positivity. Bioware is dead and its hilarious LMAO. Don't bother replying either, I already know what cringey respond you're going to give. Reeks of Marvel-fied irony dialogues lol.
The game wasn't entirely bad, it's actually a somewhat fun ARPG, but it's a TERRIBLE Dragon Age game. 80% of the time I forgot I was playing Dragon Age. As an ARPG 6/10 As a Dragon Age game 3/10, imo. Gameplay: It is actually fun at first, the problem is that the game is quite long, and the battles and enemies aren't varied, that's what makes some people feel it is repetitive. I played a mage, and it was fun. But by the end I was very tired of it. Puzzles: Monotonous and repetitive, a terrible lack of creativity. Characters: They are very mid, that's not bad, but the devs marketed them as the best thing ever in the franchise, and they aren't. Davrin and Bellara are great. Harding and Emmerich are okay. Neve is really boring. Taash, the worst character ever created in DA, I forgive you Sera. Lucanis, he is okay too, but feels very underwhelming, he had a lot of potential, but it was badly executed. Main Story: It has really good moments, especially the Weisshaupt, Fire and Ice, and the Ending missions. Sidequests: I didn't like them much, especially the companions' quests, they felt very disconnected from the main quest and were the ones that specifically made me feel this game wasn't Dragon Age at all (only exception being Harding). Music: Wasn't that good, and again, one of the reasons that made me feel it wasn't Dragon Age. Writing: Bad, just bad. As Skill Up said, HR is in the room in every conversation, this line 100% describes the writing of the game. Tone: Everything is so positive and safe, so soft, it doesn't feel like a Dragon Age game in any way, and because of this; nations like Tevinter and Antiva were a total disappointment, they were totally sanitized. They didn't deliver what was promised since Origins and DA2. Emmerich's missions had the potential to be something dark, and it ended as a parody of a kiddy Halloween 😂. The dancing hand, and Hezenkos' personality made me laugh so much, and not in a good way. There is no real player agency in the game, Rook is easily the most boring protagonist so far. I forgive you Inquisitor...or not, as the Inquisitor was very disappointing and boring in Veilguard again. The game suffers a lot from not being able to import our past decisions. Wasted opportunities of cameos, references, and I have found instances where they stomped on my decisions. Mentioning characters from Inquisition that 1) Their recruitment is not mandatory (Like Cole and Sera). 2) or characters that can have bad endings in Inquisition. Also, I felt they disrespected my decisions in the past games by what they did in the South, technically everything destroyed, and no mention of my Warden and Hawke. It was already bad enough that they ignored the Warden's quest to cure the calling, and to make it worse they went out of their way to undo everything they accomplished in the past games. And the twist with a certain returning character in the end was really, REALLY bad. And the post credit scene is just BS, and ruins a lot of the complexity of characters like Loghain and Flemmeth. The only time the game reminded me it was a Dragon Age game was during Solas' scenes and when Morrigan tells you her "secret", no more. This game feels like a new IP wearing the Dragon Age skin in order to feel safe. And just as I thought, the 10 year gap affected the game, the devs didn't know if they wanted to target the old fanbase or a new audience, and IMO they failed at both. Not a bad ARPG gameplay wise. Worst Dragon Age in the franchise (if we can even call this game Dragon Age). Very disappointed, especially after 10 Years, the result wasn't worth it.
I couldn't agree with you more. These companions were my least favorite in all the Dragon Age games; none of them clicked for me. Davris's death scene was the only moment I felt anything for a companion in this game and even that feeling was minor. The general Disney-like atmosphere, the in your face horrible dialogue, and the modern, out of context terms and language all felt out of place in a medieval fantasy RPG. This is the first Dragon Age game where I can't recall any of the music, not a single track stuck with me. It’s strange because I still remember and listen to tracks from all the past games. Weisshaupt was the very first time the game actually felt like Dragon Age. That, along with the final missions, were the only parts I genuinely enjoyed. It was only at the end that I finally felt like I was playing Dragon Age. Oh, and I didn’t really feel connected to Rook. I guess the game just wasn’t immersive, with the few exceptions I mentioned above.
I think this is basically my feelings... but I think I would have forgiven it all if the tone was different, in the same way I do DA2 its flaws... I was just begging for the characters to take their situation seriously...
Right? I know he liked it but god damn, I feel lied to. All the Dragon Age UA-camrs assured me that the game was great and that it wasn't a Marvel-esque nightmare filled with shit and cringe writing but they definitely lied. Or they legitimately thought this was a product that was worth the 10 year wait time. I was honestly so excited for this game, ready to spend $60 day one but I can't even be bothered to buy it on sale. Yikes.
I was over my grievance about the whole combat thing because bioware games are never about combat anyways it's about rpg, companions and story which all three previous games did well some or the other Origins had good rpg elements Da2 had a fantastic story Inquisition had decent companions Veilguard had nothing that made bioware games special, rpg elements were gone, companions are insufferable and the story went from the cool and intriguing dreadwolf to some other BS thing And the dialogue by god the dialogue is terrible, in the other games you felt like the dialogue was pretty immersive to the world and non human characters acted non human for the most part like the qunari But apparently god forbid non human races don't talk like college students finding out about sexuality and reminding us every 5 minutes about the god damn "evil gods" like oh gee how quirky of you
I played every Dragon Age day one did multiple playtroughs of them throuought the years invested so much time in the lore.. and Veilguard is the only one in which i skipped dialogue, rolled my eyes a lot, ignored companions and abandoned the game mid playtrough with a bitter taste in my mouth. But i genuinely am happy for you if you enjoy it. To each their own. You are an awesome person Jack!
I found the writing so weak and the lack of choices for role playing such a turn off.. i started playing BG3 again. But i so so agree Jack is such a gem i am happy if he enjoys the game❤
Its a bit of a double-edged sword. There are a couple of scenes with great dialogue and emotions where peak Bioware shows. But there is also a bit of cringey dialogue, especially the first 10 hours. All in all for me the writing is not worse than Inquisition or DA2 but obviously not on Origins level.
@@endlezz2k11 yes it is worse than DA2. Just look at the endless tautologies and simplistic language these characters speak, and there's no edge in their banter, too, while in DA2 they were taking jabs at each other constantly.
@@VerminaeSupremacythe characters in DA2 have no character arcs and pretty much stay the same from beginning to end (besides Anders who is by far the most interesting companion in that game).
@@iamcsxii4043Bro you gotta be smoking crack. They have no character arcs?? They have more personality and conflict with each other than Veilguard and even Inquisition.
I'd have rather waited another 10 years than get this empty shell of the world that means so much to me. The gameplay and visuals are fun, some companions are well written, so I get that casual players would enjoy it nonetheless, but as someone who is deep down in the lore trenches as well I am confused that it's everything you hoped for, when the worldbuilding of the franchise was ignored to such an extent and generally written so poorly that it might as well have been set in any generic fantasy world without nuanced motives or political forces. And what they retroactively do to past games feels downright disrespectful to fans... I am beyond disappointed, I'm heartbroken.
Disagree completely. I’m in the same boat as you when it comes to lore and such and I had a great time with the game. It’s no 10/10 but it’s a solid 8. It’s not aggressively bad and not fantastically good. However more good than bad for sure.
@@blaize2638yeah but that’s Reddit people. They’re not real. Honestly so far most people that have qualms with the lore are generally wrong or have misunderstood previous lore. Honestly the loudest most outspoken complainers seem to be the least informed on the lore.
I get it as I am deep in the lore as well. However after 60+ hours of gameplay I can honestly say I am enjoying the game. I think it may be more enjoyable as it reminds me so much of ME2. My biggest complaint is my choices in the other 3 games do not really matter. Lol I didn't work so hard to get Vivienne to be Divine lol. Also on PC it is very much not optimized. Overall I am truly loving this game and the lore dumps have gotten many reactions from me. It is a good experience if you give it a real chance.
I’m enjoying it… but I have a few issues. 1: The dialogue is downright campy in the beginning. It feels like they tried to make it more geared to young teens rather than a mature audience. 2: The way they lock you out of a certain romance and make it impossible to have the best ending if you make a certain choice. (If you know, you know.) 3: The ham fisted way they handled the Taash storyline. You cannot be disagreeable, you cannot steer the story, you cannot skip the questline without being punished for it end game. It’s lazy. It’s sloppy. It’s preachy and obnoxious. Ugh. I still intend to play and enjoy the game, but I am disappointed at such glaring flaws.
Waited for this ! Glad you enjoyed it, I’m only 15 hours in and I’m so blown away with it, 10 years paid off. I will say I am disappointed with the dialouge I’ve seen so far I hope it improves, the flow is stilted and sometimes nonsensical conversations that are too much exposition.
I’ve loved the game and on my second play through and romancing Lucanis again because I adore him. Treviso is my absolute favourite map. Combat is chefs kiss. There are some weak areas for sure in the game, but I’m loving my time in it.
I was really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Heligards. I’m currently a bit past Act 1, and I don’t understand how some people have finished the game so quickly-I’m really taking my time and enjoying it. That said, it definitely has its weaknesses. I miss that more adult tone that Michael Gamble emphasized, as well as the renegade options. There are moments where I’m rolling my eyes, which I mention because I hope this feedback reaches the developers in case there’s a future game. Veilguard delivers - it DOES!
That’s the first time we don’t agree on something. I found the game incredibly dull and the writing terrible. And don’t even get me started on the romances.
I'm not 100% sure where I am, decently sure I'm in act 2? I'm liking it so far. That first major choice hit like a gut punch. I've been having some issue with the dragon fights. Not sure if I need to bring Taash along, if I'm underleveled for the fights, or if I need to regear...but over all enjoying myself.
Btw! Been waiting for your video on this, no one understands dragon age and what i love about it more than you. Well maybe Ghil, but i needed to hear what you had to say about this game, i really appreciate the honest review. I think inquisition will stand above the rest of the series, I love origins but inquisition just scrathes an itch like no other.
This is my game of the year, loved this game and seeing the story continue. Only thing I wish they kept were the Dragon Age Keep choices, otherwise worth the 10 year wait
Hi Jackdaw, while I am still working my way through the game I just passed the dragon attack: I don't feel this game is better than any other DA game. In fact it's at the bottom for me but I am still enjoying it. I don't love Rook and the dialogue wheel and tone don't match and it feels like a Fallout 4 issue all over again.
I've been following you since DAI, appreciating the depth of your coverage and analysis of the incredible DA games & lore because I've been all in - every DA book, comic, game - eating up everything in the land of Thedas. But I strongly disagree with your take here, and suspect there's more than a bit of a rose-colored glasses effect going on. As a HUGE Dragon Age fan and a life-long gamer, I fully stand by the widespread criticisms towards Veilguard, and would categorically define it as a bad game. It has the worst writing I've ever seen. It's cringe-inducing, juvenile drivel which often resorts to either straight up disposition or literalization. There is zero nuance, depth, or complexity. It's such a dramatic departure from the rich, textured story and dialogue from previous games that it's shocking to the system. A lazy storyline with generic mustache-twisting villains. Sidelined legacy characters and story arcs. One-dimensional, caricature party members. A noticeable lack of meaningful player choice or consequence. Watered-down, repetitive combat. Atrocious, comical character designs. Complete shift of tone in music, atmosphere, and game design. Ham-fisted socio-political commentary. And it just goes on.... It's the most disappointing game I've ever played. I've gone through a whole process around it, since I love the DA world so much and have been so deeply invested. It's heartbreaking to see such a wasted opportunity for one of my most beloved franchises. The only positives are the beautiful environmental graphics, fluid animations, and lack of bugs. But what does that matter if the game itself is shallow and dissatisfying in all the ways that truly matter? It's hard for me to understand how someone who loves this series could give such a glowing take on Veilguard when there is such an overwhelming abundance of critical flaws.
Im enjoying the game. There's minor complaints I have about the structure of the game, but I am digging it. I played a rogue the first time and now i'm going to do a mage/spellblade type. I always play elven when I can (looking at you da2) and I was not disappointed by the ending and how they used my inky and her solas romance tbh. Which I heard a lot of people complaining on reddit like "ugh i want the whole game to be made not canon" and blah blah, I think its just a bunch of people who were more personally invested in their own chars than the lore. I was invested in the lore and I'm not disappointed in how they used my previous char either. No spoilers, I just feel bad for davrin :/ I don't foresee me ever picking Harding instead of him.
4:06 Lol There is barely any political intrigue in Dock Town, without mentioning spoilers, it's all very surface-level. You never get a feel of the city that they described in previous games.
I'm about 70 hours in, approximatively 2/3 of the way through act 2 I think (I just reached the quest that's the point of no return in act 2). Can't wait to ball my eyes out in act 3 😅 I love this game so much and it was worth the wait for me. The game looks gorgeous, I adored every locale we go through and like you say the verticality is really nice. I think this is my favorite cast of companions so far, just finished all the companions questline and they are so good. I love that they all relate to the main story as does the side quest in game. And yeah, some of the dialogue is corny so far but it hasn't impede my enjoyement and some questline already made me cry. I went in as a female human mage lords of fortune, mostly self insert. I was planning to romance Emmrich before going in but fell for our favorite antivan crow XD. I do already have a Rook planned for that romance playthrough tho and one for Davrin too. I love the combat so far, been playing on adventurer difficulty (think that's the name ? the third option) and it's been a good balance so far. I'm an mmo player and that kind of reactive gameplay is way more my cup of tea than the rpg style of DAO so it was a win for me but I can see why people don't like it either. Without any spoilers, I can say that I was eating up every bit of lore in there and I love seeing character from books, comics, etc My main negative points are the difficulty of recreating my inquisitor and the lack of choices we have from previous game mainly inquisition and some choices being invalidated with the dialogue there but nothing that made me want to stop playing. Dialogue could use some improvements/depths but I still enjoy the story a lot. Other thing too, is this game is giving me massive Mass Effect 2 vibes and I don't mind it that much since I love ME2. So TLDR : I'm lacking so much sleep because I've been cramming all the gaming time I can between work and life obligation but I'm loving it. Thank you for your awesome coverage of everything Dragon Age all those years Jack, can't wait to hear all your stuff about Veilguard once I'm done with my PT
It’s a lot of fun! 60hrs in. I think I’m getting close to the end. There’s been one or two spots the dialogue has been a little cheesy, but yes, the lore reveals have been very satisfying. I have had a lot of theories about thid and that and so far the payoff has been good. I feel like I’ve gottten my moneys worth.
I'm 54 hours in at the moment, playing on hard difficulty and in the middle of act 2 from what I've seen playing as an elf veil jumper rogue. The first few hours felt really weird 😅 I was used to playing Inquisition so much that fighting especially felt so different I could not get used to it but I've only felt better and better and honestly I love it right now. The companions felt alien a bit for me at the beggining but at the moment in act 2 I already love them all and think of them as a family 🥺 The game is sooo beautiful, the missions are powerful and I have a sense that every side quest is important. From the first time we have seen Lucanis I was planning on romancing him but damn Emmrich did steal my heart so I'm already planning a second playthrough with a Mourn Watcher mage and romancing Emmrich 😈 The only thing that scares me is act 3, I've heard so many good opinions about it and I'm so afraid it's gonna break my heart and my emotions gonna be all over the place 😭 I was very curious about your opinion and while playing I was often like "I wonder what Jack felt about this and that" I'm glad and relieved that you like it as much as me and many others 🥲 Looking foward for your streams!
I'm giving a view and a like for your enthusiasm and because I'm jelous that you managed to find this game and story so positive. I've simply seen too much bad stuff in this game to buy it. I'm curious, lore wise, how you liked the qunari siding with the venatori? Or the breakneck tempo of huge reveals at the very beginning of the game? Or the very light hearted feel of everyone in the start of the game, when the backdrop is literally the end of Thedas? I wanted this game sooo badly to be awesome, but it seems so shallow, rushed and casualized.
Just finished myself- it was INSANE. I had a few issues with the game (how past choices were handled, the lack of investigate options in the dialogue wheel etc) but easily my favourite BioWare game since ME3
The absolute most disappointing and mediocre Writing in a bioware, ever. I wanted to love this game so much and it absolutely ruined the world for me. I'm literally mourning DA right now. This first reaction from Jack just says EA shill to me.
Cannot agree with you more, I wanted to cry when I saw the mess they've created, oh god the lore... And the dialogs! Mediocre is being generous, what have they done...?
Just because someone enjoyed a game that you didn't doesn't mean they're a "shill" I got the same comment when I made a video praising Starfield. I have like 20 subscribers and can barely break 50 views on a good day. No one is paying me for shit. Sometimes some people just have differing opinions, and that is OKAY.
That’s insane I did every side quest, beat the game and spent hours in the character creator changing my hair like 100 times and I only made it to 55 hours 💀 do you leave it on in the background while you do your laundry?
I'm not rushing through at all. Really trying to take my time, find and do everything. I just finished the siege of weishaupt yesterday. I've learned to ignore the volume of content creators trashing this game. I don't get their scorn at all and wish that they'd just move on.
There's def some skills that let you generate rage faster. I was also a reaper and I was building rage super quick and being able to use abilities multiple times
Like what? (Besides the post Credits that is garbage) I curious. Cause I'm just an seven or eight in da lore but i think most ofbthe lore checks out. Sure I found some disapointing or Just New stuff that wasn't stablish before. But l found that little contradicted previos lore .
@@galilea723 for me the most disappointing thing was how they handled the Evanuris. For the most part, they could have been swapped out with any generic bad guys and nothing would change. The elves had no reaction to their literal gods appearing and turning out to be evil. Everyone just casually refers to them as "the gods” and I felt none of the weight of all the lore and setup about them. Also the venatori working with them makes 0 sense
13:27 Im not entirely sure what item I had (I accidentally deleted my 170 hr rook 😭) but when I was surronded by enemies, my rage was nearly infinite to the point to where I could spam rage abilities back to back. 14:16 in regards to jar of bees, I think there is an item that applies bees to enemies. I think this is the best combat in the series.
I am currently struggling with continuing the Game to be honest. Yes the Lore os Dragon Age. But the whole environment, the writing, the characters...they seem a bit off to me. As if the heart is missing. Especially the characters in the past had life, i could identify myself with them. The consequences in this game are...blunt. I treat this game as an own game and yes, it is quite enjoyable somehow now. But its obvious to see that the old bioware members arent there anymore and this franchise is shifting to a very different path. Epler said it will be dark again. Back to the roots of DAO ... i feel lied to. However thats just my opinion. If anyone is loving the game , love it. Enjoy it to the fullest and embrace it ❤
It's dark in the sense of the Evanuris and the blight/darkspawn potential for taking over the world. I could easily see what would happen if you failed and that would be very, very dark indeed.
Definitely loving the graphics, the character models definitely need improvement. I mean Isabella....wtf...and her lines...it wasn't even her personality let alone her body, very disappointed. Same with morrigan, shes all lets be friends.... seriously..morrigan being nice...wow. i actually love her personality in the other games, its just weird how almost every single person in the story is like they moved from mr rodgers neighborhood...taash is just like a angsty teenager...im very disappointed in the character models. But the story was pretty cool so far im in act 2 atm
If you think this is the DA you were hoping for then I seriously doubt your taste for DA. The writing is so bland and has nothing of DA complexity that I can’t digest people liking it.
Hey there, love the content, man! A couple of thoughts, starting from the most important: I think the amount of negativity that surrounded the game's release has gotten people apologetic about liking it. I have nerver heard praise of anything punctuated so often by 'of course it isn't perfect'. Yeah, nothing is. The darlings of gaming or any other media aren't either. It goes without saying. To me, it feels like trying to appease some imagined critic. Of course I don't blame you or any other person I've seen doing it, and it's not that big a deal, but I do think it should stop. Okay, on a totally unrelated note, combat! I played a spell-blade mage on normal difficulty (the third one, whatever it was called). Personally I love it. My one criticism is that enemy variety could've been better, by the end of the game you've seen every thing a lot of times. With that said my build worked out amazingly (focused on takedowns and arcane bombs). I felt very powerful throughout and combat was always a bit of fun. It rarely ever dragged. I also didn't experience much trouble with resource management, but mages do seem to have the easiest time of it as mana regenerates automatically. Completely agree about the tone of the dialogue. I liked most of it, and loved some, but it was just a bit too upbeat for a story about gods threatening to destroy the world. My thoughts on it overall are that bioware did the best any developper could. They had a vision for this game and executed it with a lot of thought and care. With the Dragon Age games being all different, as everyone has pointed out, they couldn't possibly bring everything from previous titles and make something coherent out of it. Personally I'm very pleased with what we got. Veilguard felt very reminiscent of DA2 to me. It's what that game probably should've been with more time and resources. I do miss a bit of the grittiness of Origins and its more serious tone, but I can live with that. Hopefully there's more to come for Dragon Age, but if there isn't; goddamn, it went out with a bang! Wish you all all the best, cheers!
At the end of Act 1 here: I agree with the polish and exploration - love the exploration, going through cities especially! It definitely felt like they were directly addressing the criticisms levelled against Inquisition. But I will disagree with some of the combat stuff. I am playing "normal" mode - sword and board - and I'm not finding the enemies to be sponges (except for the really over-levelled stuff which I've stumbled on). I utilise my companions *more* I'd say than I did Inquisition who I generally only switched to if my Inky died or when a specific class was needed for an encounter. I'm finding the combat overall a very fun, satisfying experience so far. Healing and lack of crafting re: impacts on combat I agree with tho. I miss crafting, as that's usually an element I get heavily into in other RPGs.
I'm so glad to see this perspective from a larger UA-camr. So many bigger video game influencers are completely crapping on this game, I genuinely enjoyed it and felt much the same as you. I definitely have my fair share of criticisms of it, but your perspective is SO refreshing!!
There can never be a perfect game. Every player's 'perfect' is different.
For me personally, and I've not finished my first playthrough, this game has some things that I wish were different, but over all it is a really good fun game that I am thoroughly enjoying. I can imagine that I'll play Veilguard as many times as I did Origins, DA2, and Inquisition.
I loved this game but I feel they avoided talking about the darkness that is tavinter slavery and the Antivan crows training it’s still a great game tho I was invested in the characters and story just wish there was more quests that delved into the darker parts of this new part of Theda’s were exploring
Definitely agree
I feel the same way. Really enjoy the game but the lack of exploration of the crow training and slavery (Tevinter really just appears like a completely normal place) is a big disappointment.
They tried to play it safe in general. I can excuse lack of talking about Blood Magic and slavery, or how Crows love to buy orphans as slaves. I can excuse it because of times we arrive in both Treviso and Minrathous. However most jarring is absolute lack and trying to dance around anything that should be carried over from Keep. I facepalmed myself when Emmerich had banter with Taash telling her how Morrigan turned to dragon to fight Corypheus. That did NOT happen on my playthrough I was playing for. Inquisitor drank from well. Then we had cameos of Morrigan and Isabela both feeling half-hearted because .. again, lack of Keep. I didn't wait all these years to see members of DA II cast, just to be like Isabela is here. Like she isn't even there. Like she has amnesia or something.
@@cracmar03 I feel like they played it too safe and in some parts I can tell the writers and ppl didn’t know much lore concider if how Taash says “the Qun isn’t a prison” yet the Qun is known to hunt and kill those who leave the Qun?
Yeah my one critique is that I wish some of the quests felt darker, the last 3rd of the game gets so extremely dark, I kind of wish the whole game had been that way. But honestly even then I find it hard to be disappointed I still just really enjoyed the hell out of this game.
Thank you for your review !
I loved the game as well from the beginning to the end.
Thank you for all your hard work in these 10 years ! :D
I've got say we had different experiences of Vielguard (although I did really love the ending), for the most part I was meh to actively disliking it, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! One thing I'm looking forward to is some lore theories/deep dives in the future! 🥰
At least you're enjoying it.
been a fan since origins and it feels we played different games man. i felt like 75 % of all dialogue to be either bland or patronizing. the game offered very limited roleplay options and had mostly boring companions and extremely dull side quests. I grew to enjoy the art style but the overall change in tone ruined a lot of that i loved in previous entries (rp, dialogue, grimdark etc.) the main quest itself and the combat were decent which helped me push through. the ending was great and i appreciated the lore revelations. Overall this is the worst dragon age game: 6.5/10
Ive only watched playthroughs of it so far, it looks fun. But i think the dialogue criticism is a real one, i had a hard time listening to it. But the story itself was great and the gameplay looks fun as hell.
I’d argue that it’s the voice acting that makes it feel weaker. Neve, Mythal, British male Rook, Teia, and Morrigan were all excellent performances and their dialogue felt good. The weaker performances from Bellara, Davrin, Taash, etc all made their dialogue feel stiff, unmoving, and a bit immersion breaking.
@@BBS-dl1ltI thought Neve was weak, sone of the dialogues felt stiff and wooden. Davrin imo was great. Taash was also not good. However, the real downside is from the writings. The dialogue lacks some depths, the voice actors were only given the material. The voice director could also be the problem
@@yohanes2034no idea how you consider neve to be a weak performance. One of the few characters that actually sounds like you’re talking to a human being and not a bad anime dub voice actor. Davrin was…very video game voice actor. Maybe I wouldn’t label him as a weak performance, but definitely not one of the good ones. Yeah I’m sure whoever they brought on to direct the voice actors probably wasn’t great either, but hard to make that call when there were some good performances in the mix too.
Honestly I really don’t consider the writing to be bad. I’m honestly not sure if it’s just nostalgia blinding people or what, but origins had a lot of really mid dialogue. So much of the Alistair dialogue was so cringe it’s actually painful to go back and listen to it. Small characters often had such bad performances it made me think they just had random BioWare staff doing the lines to save money. I honestly believe Leliana and Morrigan’s performances carried that game. Alistair has a great performance too don’t get me wrong, his writing was just…meh.
Lastly, I just watched the full Taash romance and honestly it had some good stuff. A lot is definitely kinda cringe and not the best, but there were some one liners that actually got a chuckle from me.
Honestly I think it’s difficult for a lot of people to pinpoint what they dislike about the dialogue…whether it’s the performances, the writing, the direction. I see a lot of people complaining about it sounding too modern and informal, but that just makes me think they haven’t played dragon age games before. Iron bull and varic both have a very modern way of speaking and swearing. Even Alistair had a rather modern way of speaking, people just overlook it because to them British=fantasy voice. Do I think this game has excellent writing? No, but honestly I think most games have bad writing. This game is fine and absolutely playable and enjoyable with better lore than the vast majority of other games out there.
@@BBS-dl1lt imo never sounded wooden and 1 note to my ear. Maybe that’s what the character needs it to be or the art director could do the job better. I didn’t play DAO when it launched, I played it 3 years ago. I played DAI first and I noticed several DAO dialogues are indeed dated and cringy. But c’mon don’t drag Alistair dialogue cause it’s funny lol. I know it’s not thematically correct but he’s made to be a comic relief.
I guess main criticism is about the variety of response and the renegade options lack punch. Even though I always play as good and silly protagonist but I still think it’s a valid criticism.
@@BBS-dl1lt I feel like british male Rook is *THE* way to go for Rook. Can't speak on the female options, but the american male one feels quite wrong. It's not so much the performance, but the tone of it I think. But I genuinely don't see any weak performance in this game. I adored Bellara, Davrin and Taash's voices.
I just finished this game tonight and I am beyond impressed. Every single thing I wanted out of this game I got. I loved it. No spoilers, but the ending made me sob so hard that I almost choked. I am just ao happy. If this is the last DA game we ever get (i hope not) then I will be happy that it ended this way.
I love this breakdown. I also played as a Reaper Mournwatcher who romanced Emmrich, and i would recommend that playthrough to anyone. Every aspect of the game with that playthrough felt very satisfying.
I have been WAITING for this video! You did this in the perfect way, too-I am still in the game and you thought of that. I don’t know anyone into it like I am, so it’s so great to connect with those that get it. 🎉
Have to say my impressions and yours are wildly different.
He was never going to dislike it, it’s been his life for too long… he would always just find the positives in the game whatever it was like
Anyone who prefers DAI over DAO has a greater chance of liking DATV I reckon
Same. I enjoyed the game by NOT thinking of it as a Dragon Age game, but other than that - no it had no impact. I am a Solavellan and I don't even enjoy Solas at all anymore. He is so poorly written in some aspects. The companions are alright, but I don't get to love any of them and I cannot get myself to care if they live or die.
Manfred and Assan are the only things that arfe genuinely great about this game.
thats because you dont have any personal relationship with the devs and writers
It's so nice to see a positive review and not a bald man yelling
I love the game. I took me a little bit of time to get used to the companions and such, but everything has really grown on me
i’m about halfway through act 2 right now and i am OBSESSED with this game !!! i can’t stop playing, and i really wish my real life could just pause for a little bit so i can finish it
I am about 45 hours in and only about halfway through. The amount of unique dialouge my mournwatcher mage has had, be it with an optional side-quest, with her own faction, ambient dialouge while out in the world during some sidequests -and- unique reactions.
The fact she can go on a side-tangent mid animated cutscene with Emmrich about spirits and have another companion react to it is one of the small things that won me over into loving it. "You sound more fancy talking about mourn watch stuff"-..xD
Shall watch the video when I finish up, but hope everyone else is having fun when they pick it up!
im having a more mixed experience with the game otherwise, but my feelings are mutual playin as a mourn watch mage, im very satisfied with how the game has given me dialogue options to explore an idea of a delinquent student meeting the teacher he never had and who he wouldn't be able to be bonding with now if he hadn't been off being a delinquent back then. very similar to the rp I imagined going in. and its chill I can just pepper in every once and a while that I dig eyeballs and spleens and stuff too.
Emmeric is such a surprise 😍 his entire astatic and personality is amazing.
I went for an elven Veiljumper mage first round because I'm angling to get close to Bellara and like their lore, but Mournwatch sounds so cool I'm probably going to need to run a second mage that way, ha.
@@FelisImpurrator I can deff recommend it - romancing someone from your faction deff adds a lot to the dynamic as well I think, for me at least.
@galaksina I restarted for Shadow Dragons and Neve, and will probably start another as a rogue for the Veil Jumper synergy and Bellara. If I go for the Mortismal hat trick and do six runs of at least the main story, I'll probably do Mourn Watcher Mage, Antivan Crow Rogue, and Warden/Lords Warrior with at least one of each race.
Really though, I'm not seeing this so-called terrible dialogue people keep going on about, at least in the intro scene up to the Lighthouse. And the game is gorgeous. Reviews gaslighting me once again.
Despite the many flaws of the game, I really enjoyed my experience of the game. The Dreadwolf regrets mural really had me going for them back to back, so many years of tin foiling being confirmed in front of my eyes was incredible! Also Lace Harding companion quest was really interesting, can't way to get your view on it.
Ali Hillis's voice acting in the latter half of Harding's quests made me CRY. It was so well done - a fascinating reflection of both lore and Harding's character.
I just wish Fenris was in it
Nah. New game and y’all just want old stuff
Would definitely have made sense to have him be a Shadow Dragon. I kept expecting him to be The Viper.
Eh, he's a conditional character, right? So it would have been difficult for him to make a major part of the story. Granted, Isabella was too, and having her randomly show up looking 20 years younger than she is supposed to be was... awkward.
@@WHlSKYtx Yes, because the old stuff is superior in almost every way.
@@Nicgross I thought for sure he was the viper as well hahah
With the warrior and slayer comment you said about it being sluggish and the rage. The combat feels heavy to me but does feel realistic. With the rage, you just need the right skill points and items, I build rage in seconds, never been a problem for me!
Very glad to hear that!
Every time Emmerich says something I'm like Jackdaw would love this man
hahahah awww you are so kind to think of me and SO RIGHT!
Ok because there only seems to be one other person here saying it, I will join in. Don’t read if you have not finished as there will be some spoilers. The game was a disappointment in almost every manner. The story has an amazing and tantalizing quality to it since it tackles some interesting lore but is held back by some of the most mediocre writing I’ve ever seen whether it’s giving generic and uncharacteristic reasonings for secondary villains, cyclical discussions, or literally the worst “sacrifice” I’ve ever seen in a video game. Even with all that I could forgive it because it was a fun game. I loved the skill tree and and GoW style even though I still wished they had a better skill system. What really irks me is that they invalidated the entirety of the whole last 3 games in a series of dumb letters written by the inquisitor. Ferelden? Basically destroyed. Orlais? Heavily weakened with venatori poised to take out the ruler. Kirkwall is literally just bulldozed and with everyone moved to Starkhaven. All of this and we didn’t even get to see any of it. Your choices didn’t matter because the writers took the easy way out and wiped the board. Oh and to top it all off, it’s literally All Elves TM. We got one good thing on titans, a hint for Qunari, and zilch for humans. Actually, scratch that. We got worse than zilch for humans. We got, “Your religions are elves lol.”
Yeah this sums up my feelings about the game pretty well. I was looking forward to this so much, now I wished they never made it.
Then don’t play it and let the rest of us enjoy good bye see you later the community doesn’t need you thank you for your service
I'm about 50 hours in and just finished weishuppt, I am having such a joy soaking everything in that I can. I KNEW you were gonna love it lol I could picture you freaking out at certain reveals 😂
Yesss, I was playing it through and I was like oh jeez, Jackdaws gonna love this
I loved the game, as a long time dragon age fan it gave me what I wanted. It wasn’t perfect but these comments are way over the top on how “bad” it is. It is very much Dragon Age still
I finished my first playthrough last night (after staying up over 24+ hours because I just couldn't stop). I was so eagerly waiting for your thoughts. Didn't realize I didn't have to wait long! 🥰
I absolutely loved this game. I have my complaints, but ultimately, I adored every minute. I played a Crow Spellblade who romanced Lucanis. I felt seen with my coffee obsession.
And being able to play a Crow (FINALLY) had me sooo happy.
I've been a fan of this franchise since 2009. Origins is one of my all time favorite games, but damn, this one comes close to it for me, despite my complaints. Many of which you mentioned here in your video. (Though the upbeat tone from Rook actually worked perfectly for my Crow this time, though my future Rooks it might not).
As for combat, I actually played on the Adventurer difficulty. I tend to love harder combat in most games, so thought I'd start out on something above the easiest difficulty. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed the combat. However, that might be because I played a Spellblade build that was VERY bursty. I was tearing through enemies with relative ease. Even tougher bosses, so long as I had the right companions with me. It was just all about that stagger meter lol.
And yeah, the final act, the final mission...I'm still shook. I still find myself tearing up. From start to finish, I was screaming...crying...cheering...AND GOD I KEPT CRYING! My roommate was very concerned for me. 😂
And the CAMEOS! From every book and comic character that showed up, and the little notes seen around the world that reference so much..I wasn't expecting it.
For me, this was worth the wait. My Solavellan hell is over. And I wish I could thank each developer personally for the work they put into it.
I’m in Act 3 right now and every mural reveal you were literally on my mind 🤣 I was like “oh my god I can’t wait for the jackdaw video on this”
So glad you liked it! Havent even finished act 1 yet but im loving it too ❤
Dock town really reminded me of Kirkwall which made me so reminiscent about DA2! Also, since Kirkwall was a tevinter territory I really appreciated that there was a resemblance in architecture. Fun extra detail to me!
i need that video about the last act.
i need a comment about the after credits.
confusion, sadness, spechlessness - it was all so mixed up when i finished the game but i am so happy about the game
I'm so glad you are enjoying it! I just finished Act 1. I'm so hooked! Looking forward to see what else remains. The LORE has had me screaming (in the best way)
Veilguard is now my second favorite DA after Inquisition 💜
It's genuinely pleasant to hear someone unabashedly having a great time with the game. It's not perfect, but really love this game and it will probably be the only thing I'm playing for a long while.
I am enjoying myself, but this just reminds me of Andromeda so much, it’s so hard to immerse myself in Thedas.
1:19 i could only watch up until this point since i don’t want the game spoiled for me 😅😂
However I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and will be back to watch this & the rest of your videos after i complete my own personal play through. Cheers !
Varric dies, solas dies, taash is non binary 😅
@ you know I’m fine with you spoiling the 1st two but i draw the line at you spoiling Tash gender identity for me 😂
Jackdaw! I loved this review - I have lots of mainstream casual friends who are hating on this game, and they compare it to Baldurs Gate and the like. I approve.
Also how do I join your discord?!
I’m having a great time playing Veilguard.
Sorry for being such a killjoy, but The Veilguard cannot hold a candle to the rest of the trilogy. Every aspect of it is a dumbed-down,optimistic and light themed version of DA, without the moral complexities , ambiguities and terrible consequences your actions had, in the first 3 games. This is not dark fantasy-not anymore. I do enjoy playing it, but I try to separate it in my mind from the rest of the trilogy. I am not a purist by any means, but I've been playing DA since 2009, and having played all 3 games many-many times, I can't help noticing the huge differences between this game and the previous ones.
Probably the best written character in game is Solas..Thank goodness they did not butcher him!
Minor Spoilers for act 1
I really don't like how they shafted Varric. I personally would have been happier if he'd died in the first act. It would have been so emotional. But instead, he's just there now.
I loooooove all the callbacks to the book and the camios though. The diolog in the first act was super jagged and weird though. But it's warmed up a lot post.
I couldn't figure out who I was gunna romance at first and broke a few hearts. Unfortunately I'll be breaking Emmerich's too cause I chose Lucanis cause Lucanis is my precious Coffee Bean~ And I must protect him! ❤
Wish I could romance multiple characters though. Cause I would totally romance Lucanis and Emmerich and be polly.
I also love love love Viago and Teia. They're lovely.
The Veilgaurd, to me, feels like a mix of DA2 and Inquisition. And they've thrown in some things from the first game. It's cool.
It took me a while to figure out the combat and I'm still struggling to remember the different combos. But once I learned how to regenerate my mana I've been killing it. But being on the autism spectrum, it's a lot. I forgot stuff and get overwhelmed easily. And it's so easy to miss things. It literally took me the whole first act to to figure everything out. Like I didn't know I needed to go back to the light house after missions to get new diologs with the companions. So I wasn't getting the continuations cause I wasn't visiting enough. Cause I like to grind and beat all the side missions first but turns out I needed to be visiting my companions. So my relationship with Lucanis was progressing too slow and that's where all the other characters were asking me to romance seriously and I wasn't ready cause I wasn't getting much from Lucanis.
😉😉
@@BunpeiMiyabiShirato after finishing the game. I regret something I said. I wasn't ready. 😭😭😭😭
@@JazzyBunnyHAHAHAHAHA IM SORRY 😂❤
@fox7378 are you laughing about my bein a whoe and putting myself in a tough spot? Cause I'm really glad there was no confronting like in previous games. I feel bad about breaking hearts, but I wanted to test the waters 🥲 or are you laughing cause I talked shit and then poor, sweet, precious Varric.. 😢
I just finished and I feel really depressed like I’m mourning my family.
I really loved this game. It was like Dragon Age 2 and Mass Effect 2 had a baby. Delightful combat (Orb and dagger mage was great). The dialog was a bit weak in the first part of the game, but it got better. Initially I thought Elgar'nan and Ghillan'nain were a bit weak, but then I realized it's not really about them, it's about Solas.
I liked the skills system, I liked the character-specific gear that minimized time spent faffing around with gear. I loved the areas like Arlathan Forest, expanding as the game went on, with great verticality and increasing puzzle difficulty. And yes, the final mission was great, with two great ways to win, and everyone possibly dying in the process.
This was made for us hardcore fans? I think, it was not made for me a hardcore fan!
I'm happy that you like it. But I have different take 😅 I'm rpg gamer first, DA fan second (but only played games)... For me the important parts in any game are companions, dialogs, roleplay, main story, gameplay, lore, visuals, music (in this order 😅😅😅)... And for me everything felt flat or worse than in previous games (only Solas story and visuals are better - plot twist and secret ending were huge let downs). This is the first time for me where I prefer "bad" ending 😅🤣 So I'm disappointed.
But I see a lot of people are satisfied and happy, I just hope it's enough for BW to do next ME and DA games. 🤔
Not watching the video because I'm a slow player and still in act one but want to comment! I'm happy you're liking it Jackdaw! I think there's a lot they did well but also a lot that really drags the game down. At least so far for myself, it's not the masterpiece i would have expected after such a long development, but I'm still having fun.
As soon as FG-R put the game out, I downloaded and played it from begin to end (I do it for most games; I am not sure if I want to buy and support), and I have to say how they treated Varric is horrendous; there is no excuse for Hawke to not be there for his best friend. You can explain treating side characters as the vessels for the message because of the demands of the morrons from SB Inc., but butchering with no remorse one of the original characters only to gain some dumb plot twist was just sad to watch.
Then there is the "secret ending." Did you get it??? It's bullshit all the choices you've made in previous installments were meaningless because of some "Deep & Secret" plot; no wonder they killed the Keep.
lolwut? This...this is not the reaction I was expecting Jackdaw to have...
Like, sure it's fun game but, "beyond any expectations"?
I’m currently about 20 hours in, and yes, the game is STUNNINGLY beautiful, and the lore drops have been amazing…but the writing is, soulless, or maybe the characters lack of proper facial expression matching their dialogue is the issue?
Besides that my only, and glaringly large, gripe with the game is the lack of impact; being able to import NOTHING from my prior 15 years of DA is a huge blow.
Same thing but I thing he's a lot happier knowing how hard the dev had it the last 10 years and it's impressive how they manage to at least make a decent game.
@@skelitonking117the facial expressions are not much different from BG3
@@skelitonking117 finish the game first before judging the story, jeez. The writing from the second half of act 1 onwards is up there with BioWare's best.
It certainly surpassed all of my expectations I was so, so happy about the ending and everything before that
Once the game got going i started having a blast, the intro had me nervous but i am loving it now!!
I'm really looking forward to hearing what you have to say about the Solavellan ending.
I'll be honest these games are EVERYTHING to me and the romance with Solas has consumed me for years so going into this game getting a spectacular payoff for that was my main focus and I was also left in tears but I'm interested to see if we were moved for the same reasons.
I would have waited if it meant the writers could have done their job and incorporated past Decisions into the current game.
So good to hear a positive response to the game. 👍
Thank you for this review . I am currently partially through the 1st A.C.T as just got my whole party and I also have had a few OMG!!! moments. I want to savior every moment and actually just hang sometimes... Love the cities and learning to love the Beach lol. But with everything being so quick to judge and wright something off because a little thing isn't what one wanted is to me somewhat indicative to the reactionary and viral society today. So Thank you Jackdaw for being once again the voice of a well balance and positive view on this fantastic journey and I am so hoping for ME4 or 5. I have really grown to love that trilogy as well so been trying to support Bioware as much as my wallet will allow. Be safe out there Jackdaw. Please take care of you and don't pay attention to the idiots in charge , they ruin everything lol
I'm also really really enjoying it!! I think it's really good, I'm so excited to finish it
waiting until i finish my playthrough to watch your review, but wanted to thank you for all the great videos you've made for us fans over the years! 😄
Finished the game this night and oh my do I have strong emotions and thoughts...
The impact, that the ending of act 2 and the whole act 3 left on me is simply indescribable. There are no words, that could totally explain the way this game made me feel and I won't try to find them. What is important - I felt every second of that time count and it all had a meaning, resonated with me and was exactly what a fan would expect out of this game.
The characters were, as usual, deep enough to have different sides to them and to have engaging storylines and missions. Although, the beginning of their quests often felt too dry with those short dialogues. And the gift system had me frustrated. On one hand, we have Origins and Awakening, where you simply gift something through the character menu and receive mostly a short reply. But some special gifts, like mother's amulet for Alistair, had cutscenes, where you could really see, that the gift was appreciated. Then in DA2 we also had special items for our companions, that had longer dedicated cutscenes. Inquisition didn't really have gifts for all of the companions, but in the Veilguard the gifts felt lacking. One short reply and a notification about approval - that felt really awkward to me.
Companion quests themselves were interesting and felt fitting for each character's story, personality and goals. Although I still questioned the logic and plot integrity in Bellara's quest in Act 2 and asked myself if Taash was a character, that was only created for a single purpose. I liked her, but I like queer characters being simply queer, without it being so in my face in every dialogue.
All the areas are simply gorgeous, there is no place, where I wasn't impressed by the incredible landscapes or attention to details. It felt great to run around and just admire the view, as well as explore it all. I kinda cringed at ziplines in some of the locations, where I found them out of place though. But it may be just me.
What I also found interesting to compare, was the music. So they clearly reused some of the Inquisition themes or made new tracks, inspired by / based on Inquisition music. And it were mostly those tracks that I really enjoyed. Battle music of the Hossberg Wetlands is also mostly to my taste. But the main theme is too generic. I am a huge fan of all the previous main themes, they are recognizable and have a style, a character, a whole story if you will. Trespasser music with that Lost elf theme? How many of us cried ourselves to sleep with that one. Veilguard though - just one of a thousand other forgettable tracks in the gaming industry.
100% agree with your opinion on combat with 3 abilities, potions being simply there to be there etc. The ability tree seems vast and is vast, but there are really only so many abilities and only so many slots to try to make your combat more varied and interesting. The fact, that we couldn't really control our companions only made that all even more repeatative in my opinion. But I wasn't there for the gameplay anyway tbh.
What I was there for was the story of this world, that captivated me since I first played Origins in 2019 and stayed on my mind ever since. All this incredible lore with so much depths, that can be explored! The masterpiece stories of the previous games, that left many questions unanswered and here, in this part, we got some lore, that quenched our thirst. I loved the way, that companion stories were intertwined with the lore reveals and how we got to know more about Solas and the Evanuris. The ending scene, that promises more had my crying broken self be reanimated after I was devastated by the fact, that I finished the game.
The story of Solas in my playthrough ended the way I always wanted it to end. As a Solavellan, that never romanced any other character in the Inquisition, I got a lot of what I wanted and am overall happy with the direction their story took. Despite him being at his peak in this game, I still think he could have been more present. He was in our head, after all. We could have at least some more commentary from him or some more advice, but no. I loved every scene of him and all his schemes as well. He stayed true to himself and got what he deserved imo. One thing I didn't like was the way they handled his very last decision, but it is full of spoilers, so I'll say no more.
I romanced Lucanis and I felt lack of actual romantic development. Every previous game gave us more romantic interactions, cutscenes, small details etc. Here it almost didn't feel like he was really interested in my Rook until Act 2. Maybe it is different with other companions, I will try Davrin next playthrough, but there we are. And I like, that companions will romance each other, if you don't romance them, that's a nice touch.
My Rook was trying to be a funny Veil jumper with a bit of a rough side to her. And I really wanted to have more rude options, especially when talking to some scumbags, that I was going to kill. But nope, you need to stay kind. All in all, there are places, where you make big decisions, that have a large impact on everything. Act 1 decision making quest came so out of nowhere, I wasn't expecting that and it really changed the world itself, which is so great. And then we have decisions, that affect our companions or the world, but not all of them feel impactful for me. Mostly because those smaller decisions don't have an impact, that would change the world enough for me to want to try playing it differently. I always try to finish all the side and world quests, so I never had to decide whether to help my companions or allies or not - there lies a path to make your replay different, but I don't think, I will ever do a playthrough, where I leave some unfinished quests, tbh, that is simply not my style.
All in all, it was so worth it. Getting through the large first act with it's ups and downs and getting to experience one of the best gameplay and cinematic and storytelling experience, that I could ask for in this game - it is priceless and I cried so hard starting in the act 2 and almost throughout the whole act 3, as all that happened hit me more and more. Even if they don't make any DLCs - I'll take it. Of course, there is always hope for more of this vast and beautifully rich world of Thedas, but money dictate the destiny of Bioware and Dragon Age. If it was the last game - I'm grateful, that I was able to experience it.
And it was also a very special playthrough for me, because the person, that introduced the game to me, passed away last year and playing it meant even more.
Well done thank you so much for your comment and I'm grateful to hear another person felt the way I did, with all the ups and downs 🙏
Same here! I'm really loving the game so far!
The game made me feel like a slow-witted apprentice, who needed constant instruction/correction from the team. When the dialogue started throwing in modern/RL ideas and phrases, I, as Rook, started to wonder why I was there, so after about 12 or so hrs of gameplay, my Rook left the team/game. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.
Can you leave the comment section and the internet too
I'm so happy that you enjoyed the game, and I agree that there were some great highlights.
Sadly, overall i was disappointed by the game as a whole, which didn’t feel like DA at all to me.
Whilst we have alot of dialogue with companions we dont actually get to know them. Take Lucanis, my LI, i know he likes coffee but not what happened to him in the ossuary, or what it was like for him growing up, or even what it feels like having reached an agreement with Spite. Just coffee.
Yeah that was my issue too. I was very curious to talk with Davrin about how long ago he joined, or what his clan was normally like. Or hell tell me about monsters you've killed, or whether or not his world was shaken when it turned out Evanuris were mere tyrants. BLIGHTED tyrants.
Like both him and Bellara should have some really hard time accepting who are we fighting for, as should Dalish Rook like mine was ... but it never happens, because I guess game had usesless timeskip of 10 years since Inquisition and Evanuris being tyrants is old news .. I genuielly believe timeskip was a mistake.
I also think BioWare made a whoopsie with Uncle Eldrin being your average dalish. I thought they should have explained why Davrin and Bellara both look nothing like your average clan of Dalish from DA Origins, II and Inquisition. Like I wanted a bit more ethnicity there for world building.
Like I get to know Davrin's personality, but not exactly the past. He does speak of his reasons to be Warden and how he was not happy from clan's life perspective. But that's it. Nothing about parents, or actual relatives .. I know uncle is not uncle at all.
However that's also issue with Rook themselves. BioWare should have taken note from ME 1 where you had two part backstory. One was origin and second was career path. I did not felt anything towards Lords of Fortune given how backstory went. And hearing Isabela talk only boasting about Taash .. was just annoying. Like I want to learn about companions AND protagonist. This is like 4th game ...and protagonist, minus Hawke, has next to no personality whatsoverer and cannot be defined in dialogue either. I was yearning for more heart to heart conversations between Rook and companion.
I hoped Emmerich when he initially expresses some excitment over meeting Rook would land us on some dive deep onto our past and defining who we are, but sadly not. It never happened.
Yeah, like Lucanis is actually a bloody abomination! I was expecting major drama, conflict and actual danger from this! It's a complete redcon to everything we ever learned about abominations in previous games. So.... Coffee? Wtf?
The writing was pretty bad a lot of the times sadly that pulled down the game for me too much.
The writingis hardly that different from other DA games.
I am not a native English speaker by far it is my third language. I found the writing SO bad at times it took away from the better parts. Especially when you get to the murals. SPOILER the characters force their limited thoughts and shallow opinions on you after each and every mural / solas memory. I wish they had just taken that out kept Morrigan speaking after. There were times it felt forced bad writing mixed with bad delivery of lines meshed with good writing mixed with good delivery of lines... Da2 was made in 15 months and aside the copy/paste assets it was such a good game. But Dave just didn't reach the somber and heavy hearted tone of some scenes. They had more then 15 months to make this game and DA2 is honestly better written....but the art/music/fact no bugs crashes glitches make the game decent along with some lore not the lazy rewrites.
😅
@@MidnightTea7 Are you serious? The writing is the absolute worst I've ever seen in a game. It's horrible, cringe-inducing garbage 90% of the time.
@@MidnightTea7. No, the writing in this game is really bad.
@@EualiaDave did not write DAV. He left Bioware 8 years ago. Trick Weeks was the lead writer here.
"Cameo from a novel" that was part of problem for me. I do care for lore. And I do care for characters. From games. However BioWare when they get rid off DA Keep they just .. ditched games. I am still sad that we got Isabela back but she speaks nothing about DA II beyond "Kirkwall taught me about family" ...
BioWare tried to play it safe due to Keep lacking, but it's clear Veilguard suffers from it anyways. There are cracks in narrative that assume something happened in your playthrough that didn't and it takes you out of experiance. Great example was me seeing Emmerich and Taash banter how according to Emmerich Morrigan took shape of dragon to fight Corypheus own dragon. That did NOT happened on that playthrough. My Vashoth was so fed up with Morrigan treachery that she drank from Well instead - granted my Vashoth was both mage AND scholar herself.
Had Keep been in place this bug wouldn't happened. Lack of Keep robbed people who played video games out of many enjoyable things. Cameos. Where is Zevran ? Like I kept Arainai sword that game dropped because it was cool, but it also was the only thing that even remembered Zevran. All this time since Origins I wanted to see Antiva because of Zevran. I am here and he is not. Why ? Aside killing him, all other endings for him end on offing Arainai First Talon and becoming the leader of that house.
Another issue is lack of Merrill and Fenris. Especially when Trespasser even remembered Merrill's eluvian. Why aren't crossroads having it ? I would die on the inside if we bumped onto that eluvian, awoken it and ended up in Alienage house or wherever Merrill would move surprising her.
The lore also I think suffers from time skip. I would say Veilguard had two major problems - abandoning Keep AND timeskip. I would say it should lean even more to DA II structure where game takes place accross almost 10 years. I would say Veilguard should have started somewhere after Inquisition but before Trespasser, because if I didn't replay DA's before Veilguard, I would have completely and utterly forgotten that slider of Trespasser where Solas supposedly emptied alienages and forests out of elves because they all joined cause.
World Wise, Keep missing also hurts world stage. Why are Free Marches considered South when Veilguard features Nevarra that is RIGHT NEXT TO THEM ? Why isn't Hawke in charge of leading battle for Marches ? I did not left them in Fade even once. Where is HoF ? Ferelden situation should be up for them. Meanwhile Inquisitor should tend to Orlais. Veilguard just missed big opportunities because BioWare instead of recognizing what a genius tool Keep was, just probably was shown EA's displeased bill for having to upkeep web page, and decided to ditch it. They still will HAVE TO rework Keep, because if EA don't want to pay for webpage hosting and wants to close it, then Inquisition has no other way of reading world states anymore. They should have done as priority, after Veilguard is out and they can see complaints exactly due to Keep lacking, an offline app that is functioning and readable as Keep was to Inquisition AND update it of Veilguard. I know that full rework of Veilguard is out of question, as they would have to rehire VA's for additional lines ... but future DA should use Keep again.
Breaking immersion is gravest of sins for an RPG, and despite how much I really liked Veilguard, it had commited it several times BECAUSE Keep is absent.
About maps, I enjoyed them very much. Gameplay wise ? Aside of DA II, this was probably best gameplay in DA games to date for me. It was relatively close to dual wield rogue gameplay of DAI just cranked up to 11. On gameplay note, I think game should have better tutorial. I did played whole game, and I basically .. never used combos ?? Bow gameplay was just too fun, and I played too many games with such bows to even need it. I was sniping enemies with headshots left and right too fast.
As for companions. I was finding them enjoyable. I was worried Taash and Bellara might tire me .. but Bellara is just awfully cute and Taash was .. well okay, she was fine. I really expected that she would be tiresome stereotype like Steve Cortez in ME 3 was. She was not and I was finding relations with her mother to be .. realistic.
Ofc crown for companions stole the two main reasons I played - Davrin and Emmerich. I love these two too much lol.
Also Davrin, for calling Solas "Baldy" you won the game lol. I had never before a need to pause game irl just to laugh so much, but I had to because of your remark.
Now I think the tone of game is a bit unbalanced. It was kinda hard to get through emotions of questline, especially for Davrin with what happened to Isseya. You know I don't read comics, I at best read mere recap on wiki, so I knew who Isseya was from tidbits .. and watching what she had become was .. baffling and hard doubled with Davrin's mission of saving this clutch. So we have these hard tense moments in companions story, only for some minutes later be slapped with downright some cringe joke.
Like BioWare for no reason make the line "Please don't." from Rook to Taash bickering to her mother how she can wet bedsheets like a baby again if mother won't treat her as adult ever. Like .. I would say "Please don't." is fairly normal reaction when hearing some disgusting idea like that. However BioWare wanted to turn normal reaction into .. a joke ???? That is not funny. It's just .. lame. Another absolutely awful tone wise joke was some stupid scene with Rook being tricked to dress as Antaam to make gryphons attack them. It should never happened, especially on Rook romancing Davrin. Like ever. That's not cute nor funny, it's just dumb.
Don't bother telling them all these critique. The shills like the simplified game and retcon lore.
Us fans that actually cared about continuity between games are just put aside.
Bioware is dead.
@@tartatovsky You clowns really think your opinion is the only one that matters. It's hilarious." Bioware is dead. This isn't dragon age!" Lol crying it's just hilarious.
@@sidneyday8927 Of course you found it hillarious.
You're the target audience of current day Bioware. Disney adults with obsession of safe space and toxic positivity.
Bioware is dead and its hilarious LMAO. Don't bother replying either, I already know what cringey respond you're going to give. Reeks of Marvel-fied irony dialogues lol.
So, it's choice driven, is it? Can you do an evil playthrough?
Nope
You can't even disagree with people.
The game wasn't entirely bad, it's actually a somewhat fun ARPG, but it's a TERRIBLE Dragon Age game. 80% of the time I forgot I was playing Dragon Age.
As an ARPG 6/10
As a Dragon Age game 3/10, imo.
Gameplay: It is actually fun at first, the problem is that the game is quite long, and the battles and enemies aren't varied, that's what makes some people feel it is repetitive. I played a mage, and it was fun. But by the end I was very tired of it.
Puzzles: Monotonous and repetitive, a terrible lack of creativity.
Characters: They are very mid, that's not bad, but the devs marketed them as the best thing ever in the franchise, and they aren't.
Davrin and Bellara are great.
Harding and Emmerich are okay.
Neve is really boring.
Taash, the worst character ever created in DA, I forgive you Sera.
Lucanis, he is okay too, but feels very underwhelming, he had a lot of potential, but it was badly executed.
Main Story: It has really good moments, especially the Weisshaupt, Fire and Ice, and the Ending missions.
Sidequests: I didn't like them much, especially the companions' quests, they felt very disconnected from the main quest and were the ones that specifically made me feel this game wasn't Dragon Age at all (only exception being Harding).
Music: Wasn't that good, and again, one of the reasons that made me feel it wasn't Dragon Age.
Writing: Bad, just bad. As Skill Up said, HR is in the room in every conversation, this line 100% describes the writing of the game.
Tone: Everything is so positive and safe, so soft, it doesn't feel like a Dragon Age game in any way, and because of this; nations like Tevinter and Antiva were a total disappointment, they were totally sanitized. They didn't deliver what was promised since Origins and DA2.
Emmerich's missions had the potential to be something dark, and it ended as a parody of a kiddy Halloween 😂. The dancing hand, and Hezenkos' personality made me laugh so much, and not in a good way.
There is no real player agency in the game, Rook is easily the most boring protagonist so far. I forgive you Inquisitor...or not, as the Inquisitor was very disappointing and boring in Veilguard again.
The game suffers a lot from not being able to import our past decisions. Wasted opportunities of cameos, references, and I have found instances where they stomped on my decisions. Mentioning characters from Inquisition that 1) Their recruitment is not mandatory (Like Cole and Sera). 2) or characters that can have bad endings in Inquisition.
Also, I felt they disrespected my decisions in the past games by what they did in the South, technically everything destroyed, and no mention of my Warden and Hawke. It was already bad enough that they ignored the Warden's quest to cure the calling, and to make it worse they went out of their way to undo everything they accomplished in the past games.
And the twist with a certain returning character in the end was really, REALLY bad. And the post credit scene is just BS, and ruins a lot of the complexity of characters like Loghain and Flemmeth.
The only time the game reminded me it was a Dragon Age game was during Solas' scenes and when Morrigan tells you her "secret", no more.
This game feels like a new IP wearing the Dragon Age skin in order to feel safe.
And just as I thought, the 10 year gap affected the game, the devs didn't know if they wanted to target the old fanbase or a new audience, and IMO they failed at both.
Not a bad ARPG gameplay wise. Worst Dragon Age in the franchise (if we can even call this game Dragon Age).
Very disappointed, especially after 10 Years, the result wasn't worth it.
I couldn't agree with you more. These companions were my least favorite in all the Dragon Age games; none of them clicked for me. Davris's death scene was the only moment I felt anything for a companion in this game and even that feeling was minor.
The general Disney-like atmosphere, the in your face horrible dialogue, and the modern, out of context terms and language all felt out of place in a medieval fantasy RPG. This is the first Dragon Age game where I can't recall any of the music, not a single track stuck with me. It’s strange because I still remember and listen to tracks from all the past games.
Weisshaupt was the very first time the game actually felt like Dragon Age. That, along with the final missions, were the only parts I genuinely enjoyed. It was only at the end that I finally felt like I was playing Dragon Age.
Oh, and I didn’t really feel connected to Rook. I guess the game just wasn’t immersive, with the few exceptions I mentioned above.
I think this is basically my feelings... but I think I would have forgiven it all if the tone was different, in the same way I do DA2 its flaws... I was just begging for the characters to take their situation seriously...
Would also like to add I hope I'm not the only one who can appreciate what an absolute smoke show Solas is in this game!
I honestly wish Rook could have romanced Solas. They had so much chemistry.
We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one mate
Nobody cares what you think though
@@WHlSKYtx ^ found the target audience
@@WHlSKYtxwell I do so now what
Homeboy gotta keep his channel alive somehow
Right? I know he liked it but god damn, I feel lied to. All the Dragon Age UA-camrs assured me that the game was great and that it wasn't a Marvel-esque nightmare filled with shit and cringe writing but they definitely lied. Or they legitimately thought this was a product that was worth the 10 year wait time. I was honestly so excited for this game, ready to spend $60 day one but I can't even be bothered to buy it on sale. Yikes.
I was over my grievance about the whole combat thing because bioware games are never about combat anyways it's about rpg, companions and story which all three previous games did well some or the other
Origins had good rpg elements
Da2 had a fantastic story
Inquisition had decent companions
Veilguard had nothing that made bioware games special, rpg elements were gone, companions are insufferable and the story went from the cool and intriguing dreadwolf to some other BS thing
And the dialogue by god the dialogue is terrible, in the other games you felt like the dialogue was pretty immersive to the world and non human characters acted non human for the most part like the qunari
But apparently god forbid non human races don't talk like college students finding out about sexuality and reminding us every 5 minutes about the god damn "evil gods" like oh gee how quirky of you
I loved a lot of the game but am patiently waiting for you and others to talk about the Solavellan ending.
I played every Dragon Age day one did multiple playtroughs of them throuought the years invested so much time in the lore.. and Veilguard is the only one in which i skipped dialogue, rolled my eyes a lot, ignored companions and abandoned the game mid playtrough with a bitter taste in my mouth. But i genuinely am happy for you if you enjoy it. To each their own. You are an awesome person Jack!
I found the writing so weak and the lack of choices for role playing such a turn off.. i started playing BG3 again. But i so so agree Jack is such a gem i am happy if he enjoys the game❤
Its a bit of a double-edged sword. There are a couple of scenes with great dialogue and emotions where peak Bioware shows. But there is also a bit of cringey dialogue, especially the first 10 hours.
All in all for me the writing is not worse than Inquisition or DA2 but obviously not on Origins level.
@@endlezz2k11 yes it is worse than DA2. Just look at the endless tautologies and simplistic language these characters speak, and there's no edge in their banter, too, while in DA2 they were taking jabs at each other constantly.
@@VerminaeSupremacythe characters in DA2 have no character arcs and pretty much stay the same from beginning to end (besides Anders who is by far the most interesting companion in that game).
@@iamcsxii4043Bro you gotta be smoking crack. They have no character arcs?? They have more personality and conflict with each other than Veilguard and even Inquisition.
I'd have rather waited another 10 years than get this empty shell of the world that means so much to me. The gameplay and visuals are fun, some companions are well written, so I get that casual players would enjoy it nonetheless, but as someone who is deep down in the lore trenches as well I am confused that it's everything you hoped for, when the worldbuilding of the franchise was ignored to such an extent and generally written so poorly that it might as well have been set in any generic fantasy world without nuanced motives or political forces. And what they retroactively do to past games feels downright disrespectful to fans... I am beyond disappointed, I'm heartbroken.
I share all the same sentiments. It's heartbreaking.
Disagree completely. I’m in the same boat as you when it comes to lore and such and I had a great time with the game. It’s no 10/10 but it’s a solid 8. It’s not aggressively bad and not fantastically good. However more good than bad for sure.
That's why for the past 3 days on reddit people have been calling for non-Canon
@@blaize2638yeah but that’s Reddit people. They’re not real. Honestly so far most people that have qualms with the lore are generally wrong or have misunderstood previous lore. Honestly the loudest most outspoken complainers seem to be the least informed on the lore.
I get it as I am deep in the lore as well. However after 60+ hours of gameplay I can honestly say I am enjoying the game. I think it may be more enjoyable as it reminds me so much of ME2. My biggest complaint is my choices in the other 3 games do not really matter. Lol I didn't work so hard to get Vivienne to be Divine lol. Also on PC it is very much not optimized. Overall I am truly loving this game and the lore dumps have gotten many reactions from me. It is a good experience if you give it a real chance.
I’m enjoying it… but I have a few issues.
1: The dialogue is downright campy in the beginning. It feels like they tried to make it more geared to young teens rather than a mature audience.
2: The way they lock you out of a certain romance and make it impossible to have the best ending if you make a certain choice. (If you know, you know.)
3: The ham fisted way they handled the Taash storyline. You cannot be disagreeable, you cannot steer the story, you cannot skip the questline without being punished for it end game. It’s lazy. It’s sloppy. It’s preachy and obnoxious. Ugh.
I still intend to play and enjoy the game, but I am disappointed at such glaring flaws.
I got the bad ending 😢
I also loved it. It was like Mass Effect 2 set in the Dragon Age universe
Waited for this ! Glad you enjoyed it, I’m only 15 hours in and I’m so blown away with it, 10 years paid off. I will say I am disappointed with the dialouge I’ve seen so far I hope it improves, the flow is stilted and sometimes nonsensical conversations that are too much exposition.
I’ve loved the game and on my second play through and romancing Lucanis again because I adore him. Treviso is my absolute favourite map. Combat is chefs kiss. There are some weak areas for sure in the game, but I’m loving my time in it.
I was really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Heligards. I’m currently a bit past Act 1, and I don’t understand how some people have finished the game so quickly-I’m really taking my time and enjoying it. That said, it definitely has its weaknesses. I miss that more adult tone that Michael Gamble emphasized, as well as the renegade options. There are moments where I’m rolling my eyes, which I mention because I hope this feedback reaches the developers in case there’s a future game.
Veilguard delivers - it DOES!
That’s the first time we don’t agree on something. I found the game incredibly dull and the writing terrible. And don’t even get me started on the romances.
I'm not 100% sure where I am, decently sure I'm in act 2? I'm liking it so far. That first major choice hit like a gut punch. I've been having some issue with the dragon fights. Not sure if I need to bring Taash along, if I'm underleveled for the fights, or if I need to regear...but over all enjoying myself.
That's great that you're enjoying it! I'm excited to pick it up in the coming months.
Btw! Been waiting for your video on this, no one understands dragon age and what i love about it more than you. Well maybe Ghil, but i needed to hear what you had to say about this game, i really appreciate the honest review. I think inquisition will stand above the rest of the series, I love origins but inquisition just scrathes an itch like no other.
I beat it on N7 Day and absolutely ADORED it.
This is my game of the year, loved this game and seeing the story continue. Only thing I wish they kept were the Dragon Age Keep choices, otherwise worth the 10 year wait
28 hrs in and love it thus far! Isabella is a nice surprise didn't know she would be in it Lol
Hi Jackdaw, while I am still working my way through the game I just passed the dragon attack: I don't feel this game is better than any other DA game. In fact it's at the bottom for me but I am still enjoying it. I don't love Rook and the dialogue wheel and tone don't match and it feels like a Fallout 4 issue all over again.
I've been following you since DAI, appreciating the depth of your coverage and analysis of the incredible DA games & lore because I've been all in - every DA book, comic, game - eating up everything in the land of Thedas.
But I strongly disagree with your take here, and suspect there's more than a bit of a rose-colored glasses effect going on.
As a HUGE Dragon Age fan and a life-long gamer, I fully stand by the widespread criticisms towards Veilguard, and would categorically define it as a bad game.
It has the worst writing I've ever seen. It's cringe-inducing, juvenile drivel which often resorts to either straight up disposition or literalization. There is zero nuance, depth, or complexity. It's such a dramatic departure from the rich, textured story and dialogue from previous games that it's shocking to the system.
A lazy storyline with generic mustache-twisting villains.
Sidelined legacy characters and story arcs.
One-dimensional, caricature party members.
A noticeable lack of meaningful player choice or consequence.
Watered-down, repetitive combat.
Atrocious, comical character designs.
Complete shift of tone in music, atmosphere, and game design.
Ham-fisted socio-political commentary.
And it just goes on....
It's the most disappointing game I've ever played. I've gone through a whole process around it, since I love the DA world so much and have been so deeply invested.
It's heartbreaking to see such a wasted opportunity for one of my most beloved franchises.
The only positives are the beautiful environmental graphics, fluid animations, and lack of bugs.
But what does that matter if the game itself is shallow and dissatisfying in all the ways that truly matter?
It's hard for me to understand how someone who loves this series could give such a glowing take on Veilguard when there is such an overwhelming abundance of critical flaws.
I loved Emmric too ❤ his whole astatic is amazing, and he's just so delightful
Im enjoying the game. There's minor complaints I have about the structure of the game, but I am digging it. I played a rogue the first time and now i'm going to do a mage/spellblade type. I always play elven when I can (looking at you da2) and I was not disappointed by the ending and how they used my inky and her solas romance tbh. Which I heard a lot of people complaining on reddit like "ugh i want the whole game to be made not canon" and blah blah, I think its just a bunch of people who were more personally invested in their own chars than the lore. I was invested in the lore and I'm not disappointed in how they used my previous char either. No spoilers, I just feel bad for davrin :/ I don't foresee me ever picking Harding instead of him.
4:06 Lol There is barely any political intrigue in Dock Town, without mentioning spoilers, it's all very surface-level. You never get a feel of the city that they described in previous games.
I'm about 70 hours in, approximatively 2/3 of the way through act 2 I think (I just reached the quest that's the point of no return in act 2). Can't wait to ball my eyes out in act 3 😅
I love this game so much and it was worth the wait for me. The game looks gorgeous, I adored every locale we go through and like you say the verticality is really nice.
I think this is my favorite cast of companions so far, just finished all the companions questline and they are so good. I love that they all relate to the main story as does the side quest in game. And yeah, some of the dialogue is corny so far but it hasn't impede my enjoyement and some questline already made me cry.
I went in as a female human mage lords of fortune, mostly self insert. I was planning to romance Emmrich before going in but fell for our favorite antivan crow XD. I do already have a Rook planned for that romance playthrough tho and one for Davrin too.
I love the combat so far, been playing on adventurer difficulty (think that's the name ? the third option) and it's been a good balance so far. I'm an mmo player and that kind of reactive gameplay is way more my cup of tea than the rpg style of DAO so it was a win for me but I can see why people don't like it either.
Without any spoilers, I can say that I was eating up every bit of lore in there and I love seeing character from books, comics, etc
My main negative points are the difficulty of recreating my inquisitor and the lack of choices we have from previous game mainly inquisition and some choices being invalidated with the dialogue there but nothing that made me want to stop playing. Dialogue could use some improvements/depths but I still enjoy the story a lot.
Other thing too, is this game is giving me massive Mass Effect 2 vibes and I don't mind it that much since I love ME2.
So TLDR : I'm lacking so much sleep because I've been cramming all the gaming time I can between work and life obligation but I'm loving it.
Thank you for your awesome coverage of everything Dragon Age all those years Jack, can't wait to hear all your stuff about Veilguard once I'm done with my PT
It’s a lot of fun! 60hrs in. I think I’m getting close to the end. There’s been one or two spots the dialogue has been a little cheesy, but yes, the lore reveals have been very satisfying. I have had a lot of theories about thid and that and so far the payoff has been good. I feel like I’ve gottten my moneys worth.
I'm 54 hours in at the moment, playing on hard difficulty and in the middle of act 2 from what I've seen playing as an elf veil jumper rogue. The first few hours felt really weird 😅 I was used to playing Inquisition so much that fighting especially felt so different I could not get used to it but I've only felt better and better and honestly I love it right now. The companions felt alien a bit for me at the beggining but at the moment in act 2 I already love them all and think of them as a family 🥺 The game is sooo beautiful, the missions are powerful and I have a sense that every side quest is important. From the first time we have seen Lucanis I was planning on romancing him but damn Emmrich did steal my heart so I'm already planning a second playthrough with a Mourn Watcher mage and romancing Emmrich 😈 The only thing that scares me is act 3, I've heard so many good opinions about it and I'm so afraid it's gonna break my heart and my emotions gonna be all over the place 😭 I was very curious about your opinion and while playing I was often like "I wonder what Jack felt about this and that" I'm glad and relieved that you like it as much as me and many others 🥲 Looking foward for your streams!
I'm giving a view and a like for your enthusiasm and because I'm jelous that you managed to find this game and story so positive. I've simply seen too much bad stuff in this game to buy it. I'm curious, lore wise, how you liked the qunari siding with the venatori? Or the breakneck tempo of huge reveals at the very beginning of the game? Or the very light hearted feel of everyone in the start of the game, when the backdrop is literally the end of Thedas? I wanted this game sooo badly to be awesome, but it seems so shallow, rushed and casualized.
Just finished myself- it was INSANE. I had a few issues with the game (how past choices were handled, the lack of investigate options in the dialogue wheel etc) but easily my favourite BioWare game since ME3
I totally agree with you
It was awesome, i finished it last night and i am planning my next characters and decisions already :))
The absolute most disappointing and mediocre Writing in a bioware, ever. I wanted to love this game so much and it absolutely ruined the world for me. I'm literally mourning DA right now.
This first reaction from Jack just says EA shill to me.
Cannot agree with you more, I wanted to cry when I saw the mess they've created, oh god the lore... And the dialogs! Mediocre is being generous, what have they done...?
Just because someone enjoyed a game that you didn't doesn't mean they're a "shill"
I got the same comment when I made a video praising Starfield. I have like 20 subscribers and can barely break 50 views on a good day. No one is paying me for shit. Sometimes some people just have differing opinions, and that is OKAY.
Jack you flew through that! Im 92 hours in and havent even gotten half way through Act 2 💀😂😂
100+ hours and I just finished my first run 😭
That’s insane I did every side quest, beat the game and spent hours in the character creator changing my hair like 100 times and I only made it to 55 hours 💀 do you leave it on in the background while you do your laundry?
I'm not rushing through at all. Really trying to take my time, find and do everything. I just finished the siege of weishaupt yesterday. I've learned to ignore the volume of content creators trashing this game. I don't get their scorn at all and wish that they'd just move on.
There's def some skills that let you generate rage faster. I was also a reaper and I was building rage super quick and being able to use abilities multiple times
I’m just kind of confused how you are, as you say, a "mad lore fanatic” but still loved the game. They messed up so much stuff
Like what? (Besides the post Credits that is garbage)
I curious. Cause I'm just an seven or eight in da lore but i think most ofbthe lore checks out.
Sure I found some disapointing or Just New stuff that wasn't stablish before. But l found that little contradicted previos lore .
@@galilea723 for me the most disappointing thing was how they handled the Evanuris. For the most part, they could have been swapped out with any generic bad guys and nothing would change. The elves had no reaction to their literal gods appearing and turning out to be evil. Everyone just casually refers to them as "the gods” and I felt none of the weight of all the lore and setup about them. Also the venatori working with them makes 0 sense
@@vinnigan6502me when I ignore all of Bellara’s or davrin’s conversations
@ not enough for me, it should have been a world state changing event. They could have had a huge elven uprising and way more conflict
i'm glad you liked it! I still have a ways to go. i have LOVED seeing my IQ again
I expected this, but I am disappointed
13:27 Im not entirely sure what item I had (I accidentally deleted my 170 hr rook 😭) but when I was surronded by enemies, my rage was nearly infinite to the point to where I could spam rage abilities back to back.
14:16 in regards to jar of bees, I think there is an item that applies bees to enemies.
I think this is the best combat in the series.
Okay but did they scrap vaeya and turrn her into bellara and where did sten or the warden civil war go
I am currently struggling with continuing the Game to be honest. Yes the Lore os Dragon Age. But the whole environment, the writing, the characters...they seem a bit off to me. As if the heart is missing. Especially the characters in the past had life, i could identify myself with them. The consequences in this game are...blunt.
I treat this game as an own game and yes, it is quite enjoyable somehow now. But its obvious to see that the old bioware members arent there anymore and this franchise is shifting to a very different path.
Epler said it will be dark again. Back to the roots of DAO ... i feel lied to.
However thats just my opinion. If anyone is loving the game , love it. Enjoy it to the fullest and embrace it ❤
It's dark in the sense of the Evanuris and the blight/darkspawn potential for taking over the world. I could easily see what would happen if you failed and that would be very, very dark indeed.
Definitely loving the graphics, the character models definitely need improvement. I mean Isabella....wtf...and her lines...it wasn't even her personality let alone her body, very disappointed. Same with morrigan, shes all lets be friends.... seriously..morrigan being nice...wow. i actually love her personality in the other games, its just weird how almost every single person in the story is like they moved from mr rodgers neighborhood...taash is just like a angsty teenager...im very disappointed in the character models. But the story was pretty cool so far im in act 2 atm
If you think this is the DA you were hoping for then I seriously doubt your taste for DA. The writing is so bland and has nothing of DA complexity that I can’t digest people liking it.
Gameplay is great. Dialogue is horrible.
Hey there, love the content, man!
A couple of thoughts, starting from the most important:
I think the amount of negativity that surrounded the game's release has gotten people apologetic about liking it. I have nerver heard praise of anything punctuated so often by 'of course it isn't perfect'. Yeah, nothing is. The darlings of gaming or any other media aren't either. It goes without saying. To me, it feels like trying to appease some imagined critic. Of course I don't blame you or any other person I've seen doing it, and it's not that big a deal, but I do think it should stop.
Okay, on a totally unrelated note, combat! I played a spell-blade mage on normal difficulty (the third one, whatever it was called). Personally I love it. My one criticism is that enemy variety could've been better, by the end of the game you've seen every thing a lot of times. With that said my build worked out amazingly (focused on takedowns and arcane bombs). I felt very powerful throughout and combat was always a bit of fun. It rarely ever dragged. I also didn't experience much trouble with resource management, but mages do seem to have the easiest time of it as mana regenerates automatically.
Completely agree about the tone of the dialogue. I liked most of it, and loved some, but it was just a bit too upbeat for a story about gods threatening to destroy the world.
My thoughts on it overall are that bioware did the best any developper could. They had a vision for this game and executed it with a lot of thought and care. With the Dragon Age games being all different, as everyone has pointed out, they couldn't possibly bring everything from previous titles and make something coherent out of it. Personally I'm very pleased with what we got. Veilguard felt very reminiscent of DA2 to me. It's what that game probably should've been with more time and resources. I do miss a bit of the grittiness of Origins and its more serious tone, but I can live with that.
Hopefully there's more to come for Dragon Age, but if there isn't; goddamn, it went out with a bang!
Wish you all all the best, cheers!
At the end of Act 1 here:
I agree with the polish and exploration - love the exploration, going through cities especially! It definitely felt like they were directly addressing the criticisms levelled against Inquisition.
But I will disagree with some of the combat stuff. I am playing "normal" mode - sword and board - and I'm not finding the enemies to be sponges (except for the really over-levelled stuff which I've stumbled on).
I utilise my companions *more* I'd say than I did Inquisition who I generally only switched to if my Inky died or when a specific class was needed for an encounter. I'm finding the combat overall a very fun, satisfying experience so far.
Healing and lack of crafting re: impacts on combat I agree with tho. I miss crafting, as that's usually an element I get heavily into in other RPGs.