Dragon Age the Veilguard Is a Wake Up Call for Gamers

[@JoeBauers]

Your circle advice was great. I'm a teacher and I like talking about this stuff with students

[@GingerPrimeGaming]

I'm glad you liked that; I see a lot online confuse their circle of interest as their circle of influence which ends up with them being angry and disillusioned. Hopefully more people start to compartmentalize where they are spending their time so that they can know if they really can make a change, or if it's out of their hands.

[@smellykat6481]

It’s not a wake up call, it’s the alarm that we’ve kept hitting snooze on forgetting that we have the day off!

[@tommycore]

very well put!!

[@MrAngryMonkey100]

been saying this for years and people thought I was crazy...looks like I was right all along...

[@JJ-to7hj]

Putting politics and ideologies aside, it’s baffling how critics aren’t cringing at the writing. Judging waiting for writing sake, and they are still saying 10/10?? BioWare games have always been about the writing

[@jfkst1]

Most critics want this social engineering.

[@aaronhumphrey3514]

It's not baffling. They are lying.

[@jfkst1]

@@aaronhumphrey3514 I wouldn't even call it lying. What this game is, is what these people want. They don't recognize it as a shortcoming, but as a strength.

[@vanyadolly]

I think the problem is a) most reviewers aren't familiar enough with the rest of the series to compare, and b) low standards in writing in all kinds of media nowadays. We have a whole generation of YA readers, and corporations that specialize in pushing generic entertainment to the masses that has zero artistic or literary integrity.

[@gogoof1791]

@@JJ-to7hj you played it?

[@aaronhumphrey3514]

It's not about power shifting to the right, it's about power shifting to players who don't want their games preaching to them, regardless of the content of the sermon.

[@EugeneAnderson-z5r]

@@aaronhumphrey3514 exactly

[@m.j3113]

@aaronhumphrey3514 yes, we don't want propaganda in the face from anyone. Just interesting and epic adventures

[@KatallinaVT]

@@m.j3113 The issue with this stance is that what you view as propaganda, trans and non-binary peole view as acknowledgement of their existence. NORMALLY I'd be right there with you. But there is one key distinction about this game that most games targeted for boycott do not share. The "wokeness" in this game is organic. It's not typical wokeness, but rather a traditionally progressive studio standing by its values in a way that truthfully reflects the progressive values held in 2024. That does not mean you are required to like that. Nor that you need to play the game. But you should be aware that you are on the offensive, and that to people in the middle, this go around you are the villain. This is the right's / antiwoke's Hogwarts Legacy moment. You are welcome to your opinion, but I would advise not stooping to the levels reached by your opponent in their 'not-so-finest' hour. Because that stripped a LOT of support for the LGBTQ+ movement when it went down.

[@ddp4894]

@@aaronhumphrey3514 yeah the important is not the gameplay, technical features, storytelling, combat system. The important is there are not sermons or preachers. Nice way to judge a videogame 🤯

[@helquine]

Ff7 is about as hard left as you can go... It's just good, that's why people like it, even if they disagree with the writers view on oil politics.

[@timtaifig6873]

I would have loved to play this game, but unfortunately I am too busy doing pushups for using the wrong pronouns.

[@sensoeirensen]

😂 same. I cannot believe they actually keep this in after the sh**storm in the last weeks

[@billbombshiggy9254]

Me too. I'm totally jacked now.

[@MrParis215]

@@billbombshiggy9254 Bruh😂😂😂😂

[@jbear3478]

Sounds like an easy mistake to correct

[@viking9442]

Im going to look like the hulk when im done

[@AMgangwolf]

They change major aspects of the game from the combat to the tik tok Disney design of the characters to the writing style, basically resetting, aesthetically, the entire franchise, and expect people still think it’s a return to form? These people are delusional.

[@Simplecrow7584]

IT DOES LOOK LIKE DISNEY!!

[@patrickblah]

The return to form is the reviewers thinking it feels like a BioWare game. So a focus on single player gameplay and the companion’s being a large focus. The common use of the phase was probably someone thinking it sounded cool then others copying them. I don’t mind the changes and was going to buy the game regardless since I tend to enjoy BioWare games. The closest i got since inquisition was Greed Fall. Pillars of eternity, divinity, and Baulders Gate 3 are awesome, but top down games don’t feel the same a third person.

[@MAJIMAXKIRYU69]

@@AMgangwolf according to them the dark spawn change was to suggest they are gaining sentience

[@mykeh8697]

I cud look past the character creation top scar whatever crap, but I don’t want to be lectured throughout my gameplay on pronouns and how you can never apologize enough etc, there’s enough of that In Real life and I play games to get away from that not further have it forced down my throat

[@Over-torture]

@mykeh8697 my thoughts exactly, I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt. I never use any scars on my characters anyways but after seeing the pushup scene it's a hard pass.

[@vanyadolly]

Also it's just... not a good way to push social awareness. Being lectured is only going to make people more set against trans people irl. Alternatively the fans who don't care about the culture war are upset about the lazy writing. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish here.

[@anthonyweston5588]

@vanyadolly I've always been of the mind that people should live and let live. I totally agree with what you said there. This kind of stuff has actively made me avoid anything to do with this weird agenda, and has had a negative effect.

[@andreasl_fr2666]

Why on earth would you look past that lol.

[@outforbeer]

It’s a wake up call to not trust gaming journalists

[@arostwocents]

@@outforbeer hopefully it reaches more normies

[@verysadcatc7897]

There is a literal 2 minutes of cutscene about misgendering someone, bruh...

[@tomigun5180]

Watch The Three Little Pigs and learn from it. Better late than never...

[@SteelWarden]

@@verysadcatc7897 that’s two minutes too long. Also the games dialogue is childish. You talk to your companions like they are children. It’s garbage

[@zachb8012]

@@afro_physicist_3143 It's a symptom of a larger problem, totally unnecessary, and peaked the all time cringe for video games. It's the kind of scene an HR department might show their employees when one of their obnoxious colleagues starts complaining about their non-binary misgendering. Nobody wants to stomach that in a fantasy video game.

[@zachb8012]

@@afro_physicist_3143 There's no such thing as the social commentary police who would enforce such a thing. If you say something preachy and dumb in your media, your media warrants the label of, "preachy and dumb". Most people don't want to pay to be preached at. Simple as that. If you do, I question your motives, but that's fine. Waste your money on whatever you want, watch Dharrman videos to your heart's content. I'm sure you if you hope with all your heart, maybe you can find some after school specials about bullying on VHS at your local senior citizens thrift store. You do you.

[@dragonquest3827]

You only think its 2 minutes.....?? Lmao im so glad im not even a fan of this game series.

[@tonybrown512]

I played the old dragon age games, but I'm not interested in this new game if the storytelling and characters have been butchered. I just write it off as not being for me. I have already accepted the reality that most of these modern day western game developers are not interested in selling their games to me. That's ok, because there are still plenty of other games to enjoy. Another reality is market saturation. Even if this new game ended up being a masterpiece and was made specifically with my own tastes in mind, it would still be a while before I ever got around to actually playing it. I'm an older player who has been playing games since 1990. When i got my first Nintendo. I'm married with kids and work 50 hours a week, so I barely have the time to play the games that I truly want to play. People only have so much time, money, and hard drive space to spare. So for me to spend my precious time playing a new game, it really needs get my interest, and this isn't it. And as I said before, that is fine. These guys sound like they really are not interested in getting my business anyway, so there is really nothing lost

[@yusufgerald3969]

Same here. I'm 48 with 3 kids. I get basically 1 hour a day to game, have 600 game backlog on steam. If they want the modern audience then they can have them. I could just play my back log for 7 years. Games like dark souls or wukong will continue to trickle out faster than I can play them.

[@rb98769]

The only AAA western games I've played in the past 5+ years were Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3. If most of these developers suddenly vanished overnight it honestly wouldn't change anything in my life. I haven't enjoyed anything from the likes of EA and Ubisoft in a very long time.

[@Manic.miner2077]

It’s a no buy for me, I find the writing to be pure slop, with it being insulting and condescending. I also don’t like the chosen art style for a game like this.

[@CreedM8]

It’s just bad

[@Manic.miner2077]

@@CreedM8yep, 100%.

[@SkeletorHatesHe-Man]

I see red flags when dev's both restrict which reviewers can review it , Censor what is said and also try and vilify when someone does have honest points to make that are negative. I usually pre-order games but i did not with this one. Infact everything i have seen about this game already has already put me off. I play games to immerse myself into something of a fantasy nature. Either to RP as a adventurer in a fantasy world , drive a race car , Fly a ship etc etc. I do not play games to have modern politics shoved down my throat at every turn. Also seen a lot of complaints about it being repetitive combat wise among a whole load of other issues. No thank you i will spend my money on something i do want to play.

[@SamM_Scot]

A word of waring just what you're supporting here by buying this trash. A former Kotaku journo whom did that slander hit piece against Smash Bros/Persona 5 song lyrics was a consultant on this complete disaster, you know the person that had to go into hiding after being call out not only by games, but developers Nintendo and Atlus themselves over the lies about it :-)

[@georgewendle7467]

Ahh yes. Ole bluey de Retardo.

[@dragonquest3827]

That mentally ill basket case female omg.

[@dragonquest3827]

She thought retort it was 'retarded'. What a phucking hooker

[@ohnosmoarlulcatz]

6:30 The localizers failed horribly at their job. People are reporting that the translations of the game features brand new made up pronouns that are supposed to be gendered neutral using the recent Spanish Latine as a model and changing everything to -e. The problem is that this doesn't quite work outside of Spanish and most people reject this gender neutral model of Spanish anyways. The result is that the game has an awful broken translation in at least Spanish and German so far and I wouldn't be surprised if this is also in the French and Italian iterations of the game as well. So for reference, they messed up the character designs, they messed up the alignment, and they messed up the translation already. Doing this and still getting a 9/10 destroys your own credibility as well as the credibility of the game. It's no wonder that people are already calling this game was/were.

[@caldex1557]

how is it in german?

[@YRVANDUK]

I just wonder what happens in a case where language in question does not have separate pronouns to distinguish genders? My own language does not have that feature. Besides of that this pronouns thing is actually f*** retarded IMO.

[@ohnosmoarlulcatz]

@@caldex1557 English, French, and German are the three available audio tracks for the game. Subtitles are available in about 10 more languages in addition to those.

[@caldex1557]

@@ohnosmoarlulcatz sry i just wanted to know the made up pronouns.

[@ohnosmoarlulcatz]

@@caldex1557 German gender neutral language are generally written with asterisks, colons, and underscores, which is really hard to write here since it sets off all kinds of font formatting. So what you end up with stuff like (S)He is a guard(e) and the captain(ess) of the group. (S)He is the writer(e) of the journal

[@warp00009]

This and "Unknown 9" have made me start to look more closely at how DEI messaging is being forced into the game's I'm interested in playing. So far I've given up on two brand new games that I was interested in, based on the involvement of consulting companies that have been invited in to push possibly "in your face" DEI messaging. I don't need or want that in the games I play at all. DA:Veilguard will likely not meet expectations just as Unknown 9 failed miserably, leaving the very real possibility that it'll end BioWare and we'll never see any ME:5 at all. This year's N7-day may be a wake...

[@TheXpertGenius83]

DEI messaging being enforced on us? This is sad with you lot. The same way y’all are harping over DEI is the same way whites harped over Affirmative Action back in the day towards black. And NEW FLASH! If you play any bio game you’ll see that they’ve been doing this with their games from the start. So was it DEI beginning pushed on us in the 90s? And a lot of y’all use woke with everything you disagree with not realizing that when you miss you you actually being racist towards the original meaning of the term when it relates to the black community. Because it be really want to use the actual deaf of the term woke or stay woke. There are only a few games out there they represent that and Mafia 3 andBioShock Infinite is one of the best examples. Y’all have been indoctrinated so bad with social media being the main source of indoctrinating that the stuff y’all are complaining about has actually been going on for years and it ain’t no movement nor push. People using fear monitoring tactics to push their agenda because they have nothing to talk about. Now you do have people just trying to force their agenda into gaming, but it’s few and we know who these people are. But every time I see a attack on woke and DEI I think “this must be had a black community field before 1964 when we were still considered 3/5 human and deny and discriminated against opportunities because the color of our skin”). History repeats itself.

[@TheXpertGenius83]

But to be fair 80% of the Contant creators that are saying the game isn’t good or mad because they didn’t get a review copy even though they were privileged enough to get early access unlike the rest of us. Entitlement at its finest.

[@chrisd3000]

@@TheXpertGenius83 agreed

[@TheXpertGenius83]

@ yo I’m like if you don’t like the game developer is really hot on something. Why do you want a review code? And when you got flown down for early access, why didn’t you somewhat voice these concerns? To me this has nothing to do with the game. It has everything to do with entitlement and being first with a review.

[@chrisd3000]

@@TheXpertGenius83 you're 100% correct and what happened to gamers with their own sense of exploration? Too many rely on the reviews and opinions of others instead of finding out for themselves. I bought it and I'll make my own determination, not going back and forth with people on this. Gamers have really become whinny lately and I don't love it. These are the same ones who will cry about the new Assassin's Creed game for the same reasons. It's crazy to me.

[@tomwoods3437]

The large majority of gamers aren't boycotting woke games. We just aren't interested. At 90$ Canadian, im personally not buying any game im not all in on.

[@johnwayne4911]

Unfortunately you are right. Gamers aren't known for principles nor spine. Weak men make this industry ripe for manipulation.

[@KatallinaVT]

Now this I can fully understand. I did buy this game, as I'm a long time Dragon Age fan and Bioware has always been progressive. I knew this tea was coming with a dose of hibiscus (something I generally don't care for) but wanted it anyway. When game studios incorporate this deliberately into games where the core fanbase has no interest in it, it's a grave error. However, as much as it looks like shit to the outside world, this is normal for Bioware. It's just a 2024 update on existing progressive principles. I've got no beef with anyone who's like "Well screw ya, I'm not buying.". Not even with those who say something like "Y'know this has X, Y, and Z, right?". Where my issue comes in is when legit scum bags come into fan videos doing guides and shut and start harassing people. That's NEVER a good look.

[@Satyr42]

@@KatallinaVT From 1 to Karl Marx, how far to the furthest extreme left are you?

[@billbombshiggy9254]

​@@KatallinaVT the games have gone downhill with each iteration. Origins was AMAZING. 2 was a game. it was fine, except for the male romance options being AWFUL. Inquisition was boring, and it was only "saved" by Iron Bull being funny. This one, with all the degeneracy they've pushed into it, there's no way it can be good. Even my son, who grew up with dragon age, and has played them from a young age, and loved them, has cancelled his preorder. He's 19 and is just as sick of this as the rest of us old people.

[@CreedM8]

@@KatallinaVTif you buy this you are part of the problem

[@Katie-hb8iq]

As a huge fan of Origins and even Dragon Age 2, which has its flaws, I have no interest in this game. It's not just the ideological elements in Dragon Age: The Veilguard-though that's part of it-but the changes in combat, style, and tone are completely off-putting for me. With SkillUp clearly demonstrating how basic and uninspired the puzzles are, how repetitive the combat is, and how juvenile and safe the dialogue feels, I have no interest in this game. I think many long-term Dragon Age fans, who know what they’re getting into by watching SkillUp's or Matty's reviews, will likely avoid buying it as well.

[@khal7702]

@Katie-hb8iq it still will sell well, just look at people defending Mortismal gaming for say its his game of the year. I get liking the game but it isn't an Rpg n definitely with that dialogue it isn't over 8 out of 10

[@Katie-hb8iq]

@@khal7702 If someone doesn't have a connection to this series, then these positive reviews might influence someone's buying decision. But how many copies is this game selling? It needs to sell 5-6 million just to break even. It's been in development for 9 years. The game has to sell enough copies to pay for all the failed reboots, not just the development since 2018. So even if it sells 1-2 million, that's actually not 'well'. Like 1-2 million for Metaphor Refantazio is good. But that would be a disaster for this game as the budgets are totally different. I still stand by what I said, if a player has been playing this series since Origins, The Veilguard will likely not appeal to them. It might appeal to the Inquisition-only fan, as that game is also very different from Origins, but there's still reasons why an Inquisition-only player might be turned off too - such as the combat, mission-based design, etc. Also, Mortismal did mention that this title would be divisive despite the favourable review. It's not that uncommon for someone to genuinely like a game that most players don't like. Mortismal is more of a Divinity and Pathfinder fan than a Dragon Age fan - it's worth pointing this out because these changes don't impact him nearly as much, where he might have taken a greater offense if this happened to Divinity instead. I play lots of random niche games people don't like that I think are fun. I'm sure you do too. But there's no denying the actual footage and evidence and points raised in the negative reviews. It's not like they are just giving subjective opinions. SkillUps video examples are damning - they completely demonstrate the game talking down to the player, the repetitive combat, the basic puzzles, the linear levels, the horrible dialogue, the lack of choice, and many other things. If a person cares about this stuff, they won't buy it because it's been proven to be correct. I think most people get that he wasn't cherry picking - I mean, his review is 40+ minutes long.

[@reallyPheelz]

Here’s the thing. It’s fine to have messaging like this if that’s your audience. The main issue is that if you’re appealing to the average gamer demographic this shit doesn’t resonate, it never will. It’s niche

[@arostwocents]

They believe because everyone has to sit through a DEI lecture by an anti white racist at work, that we love their degenerate racist ideology in our spare time. No thanks!

[@TheBobzzito]

I've watched a handful of reviews and read some as well, and what I can say is that every negative aspect that was presented by the reviewers (specially SkillUp) had plenty of proof with it. It'll be pretty easy to find plenty of examples of below-average to outright terrible dialogue. The combat videos speak for themselves, it just seems bland and uninteresting. The one saving grace is the environmental art design.

[@lordcorporal4247]

It’s poetic. Them trying to cover up and sweep it past as a good game ended up leading to the highlighting of these fake reviews to the public. Amazing.

[@robertperrotto870]

It was even scripted - there is no way that every reviewer who gave it high scores would all use the same phrase "Bioware is back", and gush about the representation, and then give cursory or generic "happy" words on gameplay, mechanics, story, and graphics. None of them went into detail about these things, but "diversity" got in depth and specific details. It's access media all over again, and they're not even trying to hide it. They are going to force this game down everyones throat, and they are going to give GOTY over Black Myth, Stellar Blade, and Spacemarine 2. I am absolutely sickened by this.

[@stubie]

Lots of truth in "don't trust a journalist". I was a newspaper magazine reviewer for a long time and I'd get a product with the note (from the editor): don't give this less than a 4 (out of 5). There are agendas all over the place.

[@Wheatey]

Never trust a journalist. Immediately trust "some dude" saying reviews are being withheld from people who would give negative reviews with no source.

[@BasegFarmer]

I saw the clip of being taught how to apologize for misgendering and decided to pass. I want to play a game and not be preached to.

[@Doggyps3]

Like its hard for me not to pay 80 bucks for these woke sh games.. easiest money I never spent.. and I just bought a card shufler for no reason.. i dont even have playing cards yet

[@RichKelsall]

I like fantasy worlds purely because it’s an escape from the real world. The last thing I want is real life politics.

[@craybest]

like war, treason, death, violence aren't things of the real world? or all that is good and fun, but you draw the line at lgbt people?

[@Landofalcon007]

I quite liked dragonage 2, personally. Had the best characters in the series, imo.

[@DrBiBeatz]

I pre-order, but last night after watching so many people on KZbin complaining about how WOKE the game was, I cancelled my order

[@Satyr42]

NEVER PRE-ORDER. Pre-ordering is for blue pill corpo cucks.

[@craybest]

dragon age has always been woke. wtf are you talking about

[@phantomvox951]

Good, I hope lots of ppl do the same.

[@talimancern7724]

@@craybest Having a gay character doesn't make the game woke.

[@Sniperkitten971]

@@talimancern7724 no, a 3 minutes lecture on misgendering in a game that supposed to be dark fantasy does.

[@adan3956]

Taash: non binary Me: non buynary

[@nunab1864]

As an old BioWare fan (loved KotOR, Jade Empire, Mass Effect, Dragon Age), I'm skipping Veilguard. I was even prepared to ignore the pronoun and scars thing, you know... whatever you can skip it. What's more damning is the goofy art style that stripped out the dark-fantasy aesthetic and the blood splatter, the removal of DA Keep and any really important decision consequences, the floaty and ineffectual looking combat against spongy enemies and companions that do very little and can't die in combat, the absolute drivel writing and choices with false sense of free will (watch gameplay videos and youll see all dialogue choices say the same thing with very little variance, you can not have a mean character either). But then I see the other identity politics driven stuff in this game like trans dialogue choices and several conversations about pronouns and being non-binary. I mean, I don't care if you're LGBT, but this is a fantasy world with modern day terms and politics just pidgeon holed in there. These things werent absent in older DA games, but they were well disguised with in-universe terms and phrases, made it seem more natural and organic.

[@eviscerellaswiftblade5529]

Not a chance I'll give another DIME to Bioware (Biowas).

[@erra4331]

”Content creators highlight that the game isn’t that good” - kind of a weird way to frame it when some content creators have said just that, but many others the opposite?

[@craybest]

sadly many have already chosen a side in this so called culture war, and will always downvote and trash any game with more progressive views.

[@MacSmithVideo]

Their marketing costs are gigantic. No way it will be profitable.

[@TheKillianKanVT]

Dao, da2 and dai - weren't on steam since their release. Dao weren't even tied to origin when it was on sale. I still have a physical copy somewhere in my closet. DA2 and DAI is tied to origin, and we have no way to know what metrics were there. Three games were released on steam waaaay-waaaay after original release. Veilguard on the other hand is released from the get go on steam. And it's most convenient to buy it from steam.

[@cjqnsnyc]

Of course you must realize that those Steam numbers for the original series aren't indicative of those games success. None of those games launched on Steam and only fairly recently came to Steam not so long ago which was also true for the ME series. I played "Origins" in 2009 on the 360. Later, I played "Dragon Age 2" also on the 360. By the time of "Inquisition, " I had already made the switch to PC and retroactively bought the others on PC. There was no Steam option for any of these games, you had to use EA's Origins launcher, which is now defunct. "Veilguard" will be the very first actual DA game launched on Steam on the same day as it debuts. EA only added Bioware games to Steam in 2019, many years after they debuted.

[@DemocracySpreader]

With the value of money/time today, how is anyone surprised? Another game to line the gutter with. I used to love DA series…

[@d0minican0milan0]

Most reasonable people never believed this game would flop to the level of something like Dustborn or Concord. This game was always going to sell reasonably well. The thing is Bioware needs a massive win, they need this game's success to rival something like Black Myth Wukong. This unfortunately will not happen...this will end up simply being an "okay" game, but the obvious attempt from EA to cultivate an image of a masterpiece is what people are noticing and taking an issue with.

[@Axterix13]

Yeah, I'm expecting more of a Star Wars Outlaws or Starfield situation, with the former underselling and the latter selling well enough, but then being ripped to shreds by many of the people that bought due to its many failings, leading to its expansion garnering very little interest.

[@robertperrotto870]

They need this game to have Baldurs Gate 3 numbers and I just don't see that happening

[@L0wki]

the Care Bears invaded Dragon Age and supress the country with rainbows and good mood.

[@SeaRaven227]

Good mood? There's nobody more angry than those people.

[@SpenzOT]

If the Care Bears had a secret Bearstapo going after anyone and everyone who does not share their version of what a good mood should be, then yes, it is kind of like that.

[@jonnyso1]

Personally I don't think the "wokeness" is the real issue, in my opinion BioWare and Dragon Age in particularly have always dealt with this themes rather thoughtfully and smoothly, it rarely felt cringe or jarring, I rather like Dorian on DA I for instance where "wokeness" was at the center of his story but it was very well done, there was no preaching, just a character going through their issues like a real person would. The real issue is that since ME Andromeda BioWare writing fell off a cliff, in pacing, tone, directing, acting, everything. DA Veilgard has the same issues, and on top of that, when the "woke" subjects come up, it feels like He-Man giving you a lesson at the end of the episode but its a teenage twitter pink haired non binary person preaching to you instead.

[@davidkelly132]

Modern Age: Panguard

[@BroadMeadow-d9s]

If you buy the game, don't complain. Otherwise you're like someone whining about high taxes and then voting democrat anyway. EA and BioWare do NOT care if you enjoy the game. They want your $. If they get them, why should they change anything?

[@briandaniels2408]

@@BroadMeadow-d9s exactly!

[@xi_firefly.1915]

Except it's Republicans that raise prices to give tax break for millionaires but I get your point.

[@soliderack]

Inquisition was a triumphant return to form. VEILGUARD is literally a back peddle 15 plus years right back to D.A:2. Lack of character and party customization Lack of ability accessibility via lack of hotkeys PARTY SIZE REDUCED from 3 companions & player character to 2 COMPANIONS AND PLAYER CHARACTER!!!!! INABILITY TO CONTROL PARTY MEMBERS (WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN A THING) and that mechanic alone is a marquee feature that helped differentiate the D.A series from the Mass Effect Series. CONCLUSION- WORSE THAN D.A.2 WHO TF THOUGBT IT WAS POSSIBLE and after Inquisition bow tf do you go backwards and REMOVE key features and mechanics that literally made D.A. , D.A!!!!!!!!

[@warfeest]

Here's my issue with it. I found when older games handled these things, it was done in a way that made the characters and concepts being explored feel actually important and genuinely about trying to tell an interesting story and give genuine diversity and inclusion. Now, I find these devs are more focused on waving a big flag that says "look how diverse we are" but don't actually care to give these characters or concepts the nuance and care they deserve. A prime example of diversity done well IMO would be Claire from Cyberpunk 2077. She is a trans woman who's partner was killed by some gang members or some such. When she opens up to you and you find out about her identity, it's treated like... Well... It's normal. Like that's who she is and not some grand medal she wears. She felt like a person first and foremost with a complex history and such.

[@legomenjj]

Gamers arent liking the game

[@pedromoreira6218]

this game is the living embodiment of how out of the touch the western "gaming" industry is where even when they gave a decently looking character in Isabela from DA2 they couldnt help themselves but reduce her chest and have her preach to you while talking about sex all the time, its the perfect scene to represent what these people are they only think a good looking character embodies sex sex and more sex and at the same time they tried to push the message so its this weird scene that is stuck between 2 things they think

[@DeadPixel1105]

Or how about this little tidbit of reality: progressive 'woke' women constantly preach about 'stop sexualizing/objectifying women', yet the vast majority of female porn actresses and women on OnlyFans are progressive. Hilarious hypocrisy. Such confused people.

[@Xariann]

I think it's undeniable that like you said, Dragon Age put itself at the center of a culture war whether it was intentional or not. BUT. Don't forget who is waging that war. It's not Dragon Age. It's players with different views. Someone listed the amount of threesomes, gay relationships, etc that went on in Inquisition and before then. There was WAY more than just Krem. But people are now hypersensitive to the whole "woke" stuff, and don't say that's not the case, because there was a player who I swear was about to have aneurysm just because Starfield had pronouns on character creation. More and more people are making a living out of controversy on KZbin and stuff just gets amplified out of proportion.

[@0605338c]

This! KZbinrs peddle this culture war crap for clicks and likes and are far less trustworthy than established reviewers these days. See Ghost of Yutai. KZbinrs and the terminally online have already written it off because "women = woke"

[@Michael_ATL_82]

It just seems lame...LAME AF actually.

[@culticfrog]

Half of you are using iPhones, right? The company that made the iPhone has a gay CEO, and the company heavily supports the LGBT community. You don't have a problem with that, but suddenly you have a problem with the game. You are all hypocrites.

[@patron7906]

Nazis do not have brains, so you're wasting your words.

[@bergeremit2530]

The sad thing is: The game shows promise on some aspects. If they had pushed and polished instead of "lecturing" and "double down on bad design" we would have now an amazing Dragon Age. This is such a waste of people, time and resources. To further deepen the sadness or make one even angry, they knew that it is bad. They knew the writing has quality issues, they knew about the beautifull but unsed and boring areas, they knew figthing is boring and repetitive, they knew about the Dev's that "unsupervised" used twiter and such. All was known and still they choose grandstanding and lecturing on politics instead of making a game.

[@soulward6334]

It's not a waste to them. They've injected their personal lives and beliefs into it. It's for the 3% and their little circles to enjoy. Hope that 3% has lose wallets.

[@bigsteve8921]

Just play rise of the ronin guys. Was so fun and no woke nonsense Also kingdom come deliverance is coming soon. Historically accurate no out of place out if time woke nonsense lol

[@davidkelly132]

The fact that the game is DRM-free tells everything, they know that people don't even wanna pirate this shit. But this Dragon Age Wokeguard will give us many funny memes so I'm happy about that

[@latimsafterhours]

Your closing remarks actually hit home. As an Ugandan leaving in Germany, the cultural shock I received sent me spiralling into a deep dark depression. I pulled myself out of as many circles as I could that challenged my “normal” world view and got better. It’s about 3 months now since I regained some control. Once in a while I spiral back (that’s how I’ve landed here) but I’m glad I spiralled onto this particular video. I’ll abandon this circle of interest around veilguard and head back to my general love for video games 😊

[@devincooper7821]

This is about consumers becoming aware of what they are buying. Don't trust marketing spin, don't trust shills.. just be highly skeptical of all of your purchases.

[@TLG6669]

Modern politics? I don't play games for inclusion or lack of political content. If this is over sexual orientations, well, it's been a part of Dragon Age since Origins. You can have a foursome in that game--who cares? Video games are art, and art can be controversial. I have my opinions, and there are things within the series I don't like, but I refuse to let those things keep me away from something I may like.

[@Behgork]

i can't tell what is anti-woke/right sentiments and what is genuine critique these days. I have given up on listening to most reviewers and certainly can't rely on ratings / steam reviews bc of review bombing. My friends are where I get the best indication of whether I should buy something and also watching game play. i feel dragon age veilguard will likely be a case of the right shouting about how the game won't sell bc it is woke while it sells just fine (following the trend). I think the game is in an interesting place because it also does seem to have genuine weaknesses too but I will judge those on my own. at this point the right has painted themselves into a circle that makes them look too silly to take seriously in any capacity. they have cried wolf too many times

[@GingerPrimeGaming]

I think your comment perfectly highlights the problem.

[@sensoeirensen]

DragAge Transguard: in the land of pronouns

[@Scragg-]

For it to be a return to form they have to return to form, so…. That’s not going to happen any time soon. More people who are not into this kind of ideology need to get into making games. If those people can we can for sure.

[@ReadyAimFire_]

Im just cleaning my desk right now, thanks to your advice, it was bothering me for so many days but I didnt have energy to do it.

[@IrishAmericanNinja]

I’m not buying this or downloading it for free just to be clear

[@dustingre8]

Why are they so heterophobic?

[@bayramaktas4135]

😅 Despite all the negative videos about the game, what I saw in the gameplay videos was enough for me to buy the game. I'm looking forward to it, the game will be downloaded today at 5 p.m. and then it starts. Conveniently, I'm free until Sunday

[@Chris-fo7zn]

Kind of shame EA botched the marketing and review manipulation for this game. BioWare should be pissed at their EA overlords for basically sabotaging what should turn out to be a pretty good game. I wish they could go back to being an independent studio.

[@johnswanson1977]

Real question is when did content creators have so much weight?

[@macatron69]

I’m sorry but the new Dragon Age game is WAY too full of DEI for me. When I play a high fantasy game I am looking for escapism from the modern world. I don’t want to be scolded for misgendering a character and not apologizing correctly. 🙄

[@craybest]

have you ever actually played a dragon age game? they've always had that kind of content, we have had gay, trans, black characters since forever and quests associated with that too.

[@sagacity1071]

​@craybest that's not what he is saying... we know DAO had inclusive ideas... but it also maintained world consistancy instead of trying to be modern day California.

[@craybest]

@@sagacity1071 it’s still not modern day California. But it’s also not a realistic medieval time. It’s fantasy. So they bring some real world elements there as always

[@macatron69]

No, it’s WAY over the top this time and is the primary focus of the game. I’m fine with diversity, but not when the writing and dialogue all suffer from it.

[@craybest]

@@macatron69 it’s not to the primary focus of the game. It’s just some specific scenes please stop making stuff up.

[@rulotron]

This is one of the most ridiculous attempts to gaslight the audience with purchased reviews; what this is going to achieve is the final nail in the coffin of gaming journalism and its credibility

[@youareacoward8459]

get woke go broke.

[@Frogdoddofficial]

Tell tim pool that. Hahaha😂

[@Disco_Tek]

Touch some grass.

[@youareacoward8459]

@@Disco_Tek I train way more than you do. I am certain of that.

[@Cathal.]

@@youareacoward8459 Perhaps. But you also appear to have half a brain cell.

[@drackaris_]

How do people still use this phrase when the companeis that go "woke" (Disney, Blizzard, Wizards of the Coast, etc) are all making record profits? You can dislike it, I do too, but it clearly isn't causing these companies to do worse financially.

[@lostnwalmart9110]

I was a huge fan of the earlier Dragon Age games, cant say I have been paying any attention to the drama around the newest game but now I'm curious to say the least.

[@praisetheoak]

I'm using the reviews of this dumpster-fire to filter which outlets to trust and which ones to ignore. But at the end of the day, I think I do a pretty good job doing my research in knowing what game I want to play and which one I will ignore, I'm not usually sitting on the fence, and let me tell you, Failguard is the easiest hard-pass ever.

[@0605338c]

You get that KZbin reviewers are untrustworthy too because they get clicks and likes by peddling culture war bs. I actually trust KZbin less than established reviewers.

[@sdmofficial1506]

After anthem I do not trust bioware I’m a dragon age fan but I can’t get this and DA 2 is my favorite one lol

[@naapsuvaimne740]

I WONT BUY any EA GAME, BOUGHT dark spore for 50 euro and after same months they close servers like wtf

[@sdmofficial1506]

@ I even feel bad for putting so much money in apex

[@arkanaloth2617]

I honestly couldn't care less about so called DEI stuff people pitch a fit and piss and moan about, make a good game and I'll check it out. The instant i see a review start wailing about DEI I move on. is the gameplay good? is the narrative good? are the controls good? do the visuals fit the purpose and have good art direction?

[@rb98769]

I don't think there's much point at comparing stats of past Dragon Age games because they were not on Steam at their release, and the amount of Steam users would have much smaller 10+ years ago anyway. I fully expect this game to reach six digit concurrent players, I would expect it to peak at around the 150k concurrent players mark. Like it or not, the game does have a sizable following that has been completely tuned out of what's going on with the video games industry, and the aggressive shilling has been working.

[@outforbeer]

Comparing to old steam dragon age numbers could be misleading as the game didn’t get released on steam originally. By the time it got released on steam lots of ppl already bought it elsewhere already

[@ayersgerry]

WAKE UP CALL?WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE DRINKING,CAUSE I DONT WANT ANY!!!!

[@naapsuvaimne740]

Wake Up Call for Gamers should be if devs or fake jurnos attacking gamers, we give to them our money , these rewwievs are fake

[@XKathXgames]

To be fair. Content creators are NOT entitled to getting a review code. Press sure, but ghey are NOT press. And the fact they later review maliciously because they didn't get a review shows the lack of professionalism. Add the fact that they need views. Some of the content creators like Matty now have every single video "What happened? Whats wrong with? We have to talk about" and I have played some of those games, at point he says things that are completely inaccurate. Also keep in mind, if a company says there's 300 codes. Of course the reviews are curated...its marketing. Reviews are opinion pieces, yet a huge amount of content creators talk about their reviews as fact as if others are stupid if they don't agree. Hell, Matty calls his reviews Objective then when criticized he claims personal opinion. The press is no better. Honestly, I wish Review code would just stop being given to anyone. Review after it launches.

[@Hushacry]

Ehhh. Lost me at taking anything grummz says, seriously. He’s literally just a hate troll. And this type of attention for a dragon age game is nothing new. You’re just taking the loudest negative social media reviewers. There’s plenty of overall positive reviews from long time, actual fans of the series that reflect what the review websites say. Kala Elizabeth being one of them. Overall positive, but lists quite a few things she didn’t like. Maybe you bring her up, I don’t know. Like I said, lost me at grummz.

[@UniqueBreakfastTaco]

Lol...cope and seethe.

[@R.P.G.G]

This game is truely one of a kind, the kind that I and many others will never play

[@dec2567]

I hope dragon age sell well and gets nominated for game of the year just to hear people cry.😂😂

[@Axterix13]

I don't think anyone will cry if it gets nominated. I mean, Starfield got nominated. People just mocked that it did, using it as further evidence of how out of touch those type of things are. The two main things that'll matter are a) will it sell well, and b) will it have legs? The latter being important as it'll show if these initial reviews actually match up with what general players think. Personally, I don't care either way. I knew from seeing the combat, the UI, and the art style choices, that this is not my Dragon Age. And things I've seen since then, like the lame dialogue and so on, have done nothing to alleviate that. I'm not the target audience for the game, and I'm fine with that. I'm not the target demographic for lots of games. I'll just replay DA:O and forget this thing exists.

[@SeventhheavenDK]

That will only expose what's really happening behind the scenes with GOTY, and it's not a bad idea. Don't forget that GOTY is not voted by the consumers , but by these gaming journalists that precisely are pushing this agenda.

[@SteveEagles]

Honestly, I can deal with non binary companions and top scar options…but they keep forcing you to interact with it more and more and it’s getting tiring

[@outforbeer]

I think this will probably sell about a million copies. It has existing franchise advantage and lots of streamers will be buying it to review

[@marcinwoznica5668]

This is a wake up call to all developers to not push this garbage delusional agenda on gamers. The poor sales will speak for themselves lol.

[@Sister_Friede3105]

@marcinwoznica5668 steam sales #3 today. But that glsdly means nothing. But very sad that a studio (even though noone of the old sister still working there) going down like this. If sakes aren't good enough, they'll close down. Or EA forces them to. But light at the end of the tunnel exists... the OG bioware devs working rn on Exodus. Can't wait to see more footage this year at the GOTY event.

[@Gimpo925]

For me personally there is only 1 10 that I can ever remember and that was halo combat evolved when it came out way back when. It was the first of its kind and really defined a genre. All other games that dont redefine or define a genre are not 10s. 10 mean you couldn't do any better, its perfect. imo most games sit in the 6-7 range, if you hit 8 you are doing a damn good job.

[@crafcik1240]

I just want to point out that you telling us steam numbers is a huge omission of truth. Those games released in 2020 on steam. Whoever wanted to play them when they originally released already did so. DA2 4 June 2020 og: Mar 8, 2011 dao is even older. So I think bringing steam numbers into the conversation is pointless or intentionally misleading. So you literally did what Grummz was saying is happening. Overall I think this is a very good video just wanted to point out that it's very important to give context on such matters since not everybody is in the know and casuals might easily take it as misinformation.

[@rb98769]

Correct.

[@ByronJWattsJr]

I have followed Dragon Age since Origins and I cannot allow Myself to just let this go. I WILL purchase the game, it's a lock, nuff said. I enjoyed your interest and influence circles you talked about, and I have many varied interests that I have to make time for, but My influence circle is tiny, so it doesn't matter what My thoughts are cause they are not often considered. I wish I was in a position to influence others, because SO many of us have forgotten things like Loyalty, Honor, and integrity so there for need to be reminded how to be REAL. I subscribed and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

[@ADOS_DSGB]

I think legacy media is judging the game on it's own as stand alone game. Content creators are comparing it to past DA games.

[@spacelion4763]

I was actually still interested after the previews because I'm such a big fan of the series. Origins is probably somewhere in my top 50 favorite games and Inquisition was flawed but still very good in a lot of ways. I saw a handful of cutscenes that clearly showed a complete shift in tone, the Skill Up review displayed the lack of agency with your character and the dialogue not matching the options you choose. Without the ability to really dig into RPG mechanics, the writing seemingly being for a younger audience, the questionable art direction, the simplified combat....there are just too many things going on with this game that I can't even justify playing it.

[@rb98769]

The lack of agency really is what ruins it for me. The amount of agency you had and how pivotal the Warden was in the story is precisely the reason I enjoyed Origins so much. By comparison Rook just seems like a spectator.

[@iroh3203]

2 KZbinrs complained and y’all say all of them did. Just disingenuous

[@patron7906]

2 known racist bigot assholes at that. Everyone actually honest and decent has given the game stellar reviews, 9/10, 100/100, etc...

[@ColeEvyx]

I bought anthem. I loved that game, yes in spite of it's many flaws I LOVED Anthem. Seeing what Bioware did to that game is so incredibly brutally mind blowingly frustrating that no I will never preorder another EA game ever again. And I am quite glad I didn't preorder this. Now I'm seeing it played on twitch this game simply doesn't have the gameplay, class design or character designs I'm looking for. Why can the necromancer mage class the player plays unable to summon? I feel totally shafted. I feel like I can't even play anything I want to likke in DA:O, DA2, and inquisition I DID enjoy party control and where is that here? I am absolutely blown away at how gutted the game is. I will not forget anthem, and ends up that promise I made myself to not preorder an EA game after Anthem... yeah. Good thing I didn't preorder and held true.

[@davidisaacson5806]

I keep seeing the same accusations around "going woke" but what I haven't seen any details or specifics on what the game is "preaching". Anyone have specifics?

[@DarkEpyon]

The problem that those gaming journalists are going to have is that the point system is supposed to mean something which usually they just ignore but the problem that they’re gonna face is they are saying the game is perfect. I will give IGN a little credit for not being as stupid as these other outlets and not giving it at 10 out of 10 or 100 score What those scores are supposed to symbolize is that the game is perfect. You wouldn’t change a thing everything about the game is a plus or it couldn’t possibly get a perfect score. So every graphical issue, every poor story writing, every bad quest design, every plot hole and every other issue players come across is a mock against the credibility of these journalists. If they’re intention was to make all gamers just run out and buy the game just doing the cover of 10 out of tens was not the best they could’ve chose between that and a few of the trusted KZbinrs who were really looking forward to the game coming out and saying it’s Trash it’s not looking good for bare and it sure as hell is not looking good for EA

[@SkiBeeTeaTap]

Hey, thanks for the ending and some psychological tips/reminders i needed those.

[@admiralandy5120]

dude what was the point of using ai generated stock footage of blacksmithing on loop near the end

[@slyaspie4934]

When they said a return to form I'm guessing the form was Anthem lol

[@R2N81]

Call for what😳🤣 😂 I laugh at the publishers and press members who compete to praise this game, but not with my mouth, but with another limb🤨🤭

[@guillermocoronado6850]

When they write the return to from shit makes me so angry. Even since the trailers its far from a return to from. Its so annoying I been waiting for this game for so long and I know the old devs are not there anymore but is so disheartening to see how far from it they are taking it.

[@TheSortilege]

We identify as Non-Buy-Nary.

[@MunKDaDDyy]

Love the way you end the video 🫡 i also recommend sunlight/vitamin d supplement and exercise for anyone not feeling that great, changes my whole outlook on things

[@Barkebain]

Anyone willing to pay $70 for a culture war "game" deserves exactly what they get. I play games to get away from the real world, not to entrench myself in someone's culture war.

[@AntonioRivera28]

How can a person not want to play a game that has cutscenes lecturing us on how to properly use pronouns and how to properly apologize if we get it wrong

[@paragraphenhaft1015]

Sorry, but if in a game are pronounce included im not willing to buy this garbage.

[@craybest]

learn to write before buying games.

[@paragraphenhaft1015]

@craybest Ach weißt du, deine Arroganz ist bezeichnend. Lass uns doch weiter in meiner Muttersprache unterhalten, dies ist wesentlich einfacher für mich als die englische Sprache 😉

[@craybest]

@@paragraphenhaft1015 claro, o hablemos en español, que es mi idioma nativo también, no?

[@makeshiftriot3245]

It poorly written, that is my biggest issue. There may be some parts that are well written, but the reviews are just so overwhelming. Couple that with the rp equivalent of being a “yes man”, being forced to take companions, and the over all redundancy and poor character design is just… enough to make me give up on BioWare. It’s not even red pilling, it’s not the “woke”. It’s just a bad game.

[@simonphoenix3789]

Remember when dimwits tried acting as if making a big deal out of pronouns in starfield was an overreaction, and that it was all just the slippery slope fallacy? But like a lot of us saw from the earliest days, this sort of stuff doesn't stop. Once you open the gate to the intrusion of DEI policies, they quickly take over and get beyond what you are willing to tolerate. But by that point it is too late and you will lose years of games to the banality of games made by talentless hacks. And if people close their eyes to the stuff they dislike in this game and purchase it, then the next game will push another step further, perhaps making it so that you can only have homosexual romances in the next mass effect or fable. This was never about giving players more options, it was all about slowly pushing things until you could do nothing but accept the option they want you to be forced into.