Dragon Age Veilguard: A rook can only move horizontally or vertically

[MrBrown]

Hi

Since this released in a few days, I thought people might want to chat about it in it's own thread.

For a start, here's Mortismal's review: 

 

I only watched the pos/neg and wrap up parts since I don't want spoilers, but he really seemed to like it. Says it's his GotY, and best entry in the DA series.

Seems high praise, IIRC he was really into the pathfinder games etc, more party based RPGs and stuff.

[Hurlshort]

This game comes out soon? I have so little hype about it despite playing and completing all 3 of the other games. I even read a couple of the books. Huh. Anyways, I've got a bit of a backlog with Drova and USC: Counterforce on my docket.

[MrBrown]

I don't have a backlog at the moment, so I'll play it on release. Not expecting it to blow me away, but would be nice if it was decent.

[Wormerine]

Skill up isn't a fan. Curious what Mort will have to say. To me the question isn't "is Veilguard good or bad". To me it's "how bad is it when compared to Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition".

Edited October 28 by Wormerine

[BruceVC]

I will definitely play it but in a couple of years when I can mod it and when its on a sales special 

I play all Bioware games eventually 

 

[melkathi]

22 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

 USC: Counterforce on my docket.

Should I feel guilty?

[Hurlshort]

49 minutes ago, melkathi said:

Should I feel guilty?

Yes.

But I played through the tutorial and it does seem like my jam. 

[kanisatha]

3 hours ago, BruceVC said:

I will definitely play it but in a couple of years when I can mod it and when its on a sales special

Same with me.

[melkathi]

Me as well. Maybe by that time I will have forced myself through inquisition.

[uuuhhii]

just wait for dlc

it is the only content that can convince player bioware can still make game

[bugarup]

I skipped Anthem no problem, this one also looks skippable. Especially with scathingly dismissive reviews like this: 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/with-the-veilguard-dragon-age-has-forgotten-its-dark-fantasy-roots-and-become-biowares-avengers/

[Wormerine]

The reviews are so all over the place:

Eurogamer: "This is the best Dragon Age, and perhaps BioWare, has ever been."

https://www.eurogamer.net/dragon-age-the-veilguard-review

Matty echoes a lot of the same woes as Skillup (and PCgamer from what I have glanced):

It seems to me that for people who liked Bioware's pre-Anthem output and wished for a "comeback" it's a big miss. Everyone seems to agree though, that the final couple hours are pretty darn good.

[BruceVC]

On 10/28/2024 at 7:23 PM, MrBrown said:

I don't have a backlog at the moment, so I'll play it on release. Not expecting it to blow me away, but would be nice if it was decent.

When you  have played it make a detailed post about your experiences in this thread 

Im interested in an objective opinion 

 

[BruceVC]

4 hours ago, bugarup said:

I skipped Anthem no problem, this one also looks skippable. Especially with scathingly dismissive reviews like this: 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/with-the-veilguard-dragon-age-has-forgotten-its-dark-fantasy-roots-and-become-biowares-avengers/

@Wormerine

Wormie its got Romance, does that make it immediately better 

"  And don't get me started on the romance dialogue. If you choose to do some very light flirting with a character once or twice, the game tries to fast track you into a relationship—complete with all the cliches. In a single hour I had not one but two stammering, bashful romantic encounters that turned the game into an antediluvian romcom. You know the ones: the "It's a date… no, I mean, not a date date" variety. There are some solid romantic encounters, eventually, but you have to trudge through a lot of rote rubbish to see them." 

 

 

[Hurlshort]

6 hours ago, bugarup said:

I skipped Anthem no problem, this one also looks skippable. Especially with scathingly dismissive reviews like this: 

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/with-the-veilguard-dragon-age-has-forgotten-its-dark-fantasy-roots-and-become-biowares-avengers/

I dismissed that headline out of hand, since Dragon Age has never been dark fantasy. Blood splatter does not make a game dark fantasy. Slaughtering refugees in DA2 was pointless and nonsensical, not dark.

[Wormerine]

4 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

I dismissed that headline out of hand, since Dragon Age has never been dark fantasy. Blood splatter does not make a game dark fantasy.

When Origins came out it was a much darker, morally grey fantasy setting - up to that point Bioware games dealt in very contrasting and simplistic saint vs devil options. And I think there were bits of Origins that delivered on the promise, but overall I am with you - outside endgy venieer it was still mostly a straightforward fantasy world.  Each sequel seemed to me to move further away from the bits that I liked the most about Origins. Veilguard seems to continue in that direction.

[bugarup]

I agree that it was never dark fantasy, just plain old heroic fantasy with darkish curtains. But when compared side to side with this safe and fluffy amalgamation of Fortnite and Disney, I can see how in retrospect DA:O might look pitch-black. 

 

P.S.: Speaking of Fortnite, maaaaybe in a few years I could slip this DAV as a gateway drug into RPGs to my nephew, who is currently Fortnite-loving eight-year old. 

Edited October 30 by bugarup

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

On 10/28/2024 at 12:30 PM, Wormerine said:

Skill up isn't a fan. Curious what Mort will have to say. To me the question isn't "is Veilguard good or bad". To me it's "how bad is it when compared to Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition".

I didn't watch the whole thing, or even most of it, but I have to say the characters do look pretty damn uncanny. There's just something off putting at seeing the not-quite-giga chad protagonist awkwardly talk with minimal facial movement.

The combat also looks like a Dragon's Dogma knockoff.

[melkathi]

It is the darkspawn brood mother encounter in the deep roads that was a lot darker than anything BioWare had done.

Most other "dark" bits were not that tone setting. Yes there was racism, yes the mages were a copy of WH40K psykers under the constant threat of demonic possession. But the cringe dopey romance kept dragging you right back out of the darkness.

Only in that one section was the atmosphere not broken by Liliana wanting to shop for shoes or Alistair licking lampposts.

[MrBrown]

The color palette in DA:O was less saturated.

I think that's what people mean when they say it was dark fantasy.

[melkathi]

So dark = stale dirty brownish paint water?

[majestic]

Guess you guys will just have to wait for Veilguard: The Snyder Cut.

[bugarup]

4 minutes ago, majestic said:

Guess you guys will just have to wait for Veilguard: The Snyder Cut.

If it allows me to kick those Pixary twee bobbleheads into a well King Leonidas style I'm good with it.   Won't even need a ~*snarky*~ quip afterwards.

[Tale]

The reviews I've seen all point to some big emotional finale of the franchise so far. And that has kind of sold me on it. If it can stick an ending and wrap things up, I guess I can work with that.

DAO will always hold a dear place for me. And I think each installment has less magic than the last. 

But if this is potentially answering some of those big questions from long ago, I can't resist. I think I spent way too much time after DAO speculating on the nature of the Fade, the Blight, and the Black City to pass up.

[Zoraptor]

9 hours ago, melkathi said:

It is the darkspawn brood mother encounter in the deep roads that was a lot darker than anything BioWare had done.

While about 95% of Bioware 'evil' has always been low effort chaotic stupid moustache twirling they have occasionally come up with something genuinely dark as opposed to grimdark. The other 5% is (part of) what kept people hoping for something better.

Personally I'd definitely put forcing a wookiee to strangle his best friend, who was also a 14 year old girl, via his life debt to you as being above anything in the Dragon Ages in terms of 'good' bad and you can't get much darker than that as a concept. Indeed that was not just good for Bioware, but good for any video game.

10 hours ago, PK htiw klaw eriF said:

I didn't watch the whole thing, or even most of it, but I have to say the characters do look pretty damn uncanny. There's just something off putting at seeing the not-quite-giga chad protagonist awkwardly talk with minimal facial movement.

Sounds like Bioware really is getting back to its roots.