Dragon Age Veilguard - Anatomy of a Disaster

[@TheDezembro]

Hey everybody! Thanks so much for watching! I know there's a looot of videos on Veilguard all over the internet and some people, even within my own subsribers are already tired of the topic, but I'm really unable to put them out faster. Don't worry, I'm not shifting my channel's content to DRAGON AGE only but I do have a couple more videos planned that I don't intend on pulling the plug on. Which are: 1- Taash, just how bad and ideology-charged this character is, how TERRIBLE the representation they're trying to do through her really is (it literally looks like a parody, given that the director is trans and dedicated an entire page of her dev diary to identity politics, we know it is actually genuine tho) and a couple of examples trying to correct her scenes. 2- Following up on THIS video to conclude the "review" which at that point will be more of an autopsy. 💀 After that it's business as usual and also, I'll take any suggestions any of you may have for topics you might want to hear my take on. Thanks again.👾

[@zikli9249]

As a path of exile player, the skill tree with its incremental upgrades felt right up my alley. And the health bars aren’t bad at all, even on nightmare. I honestly felt like they gave too many skill points. But seeing everyone else’s builds it feels like they tailored to the wrong audience with their combat (also the light/heavy/ranged/detonation nonsense that the game tries to push so heavily is a complete trap).

[@neil9815]

Taash is actually a dude pretending to be a girl, not a "her".

[@SirUlrichVL]

Taash "The Lords of Fortunes aren't thieves" Isabella "Well, there was that time when I stole a Qunari book and sailed off with it whilst a backwater town was laid siege to by the Qunari, but we'll totally hand wave that as if it didn't happen."

[@evilworld3147]

Isabella: But I did do those push-ups while the city burned.

[@A.D.I.D.A.S-916]

“iM n0n bEneRi YoU hAvE t0 rEsPeKt *MEEEEEE* “

[@rexcyjones9416]

She did a 5counts of barve for all the dead people of Kirkwall and sweat a little bit so that it looks like she meant the apology 😂

[@vancodusan9554]

she doesnt need to pretend it didnt happen, she just did a barv

[@humrH2360]

"Today's Pirate Pledge A good pirate never takes another person's property!"

[@williamdrahir4239]

It's overwhelming to see all that rot and decay festering in the same franchise that bore the lines "Wisdom and Purpose are too easily twisted to Pride and Desire" and "Beg that I succeed, for I have seen the Throne of the Gods-and it was empty."

[@karandullet380]

I wish he succeeded I wish my inquisitior didn't stop loved inquisition tho except for that one quest although it was funny too like My boy go find your own lamb I am the fucking inquisitior I Have more important shit to do

[@cattrucker8257]

I guess it became a self-demonstrating point with the Pride and Desire bit.

[@FilipinoDaveDigital]

Being a culture-sensitive treasure hunter in a medieval fantasy world is like being a pacifist in the warhammer 40k galaxy.

[@predatitor4183]

Only that in 40k at least there posibily if you take the right place (Exodites)

[@Silentpoppy]

pacifists exist in the 40k universe... as vessels for the daemonculabra

[@sinenomine3449]

I love the dialogue choices in this game: 1)yes 2)yes but also im really gay 3)yes (sarcastic) 4) absolutely yes

[@TheDezembro]

5) no. but actually yes.

[@A.D.I.D.A.S-916]

Perfectly accurate tbh I am honestly shocked by some of the dialogue in this slopfest

[@CinderFall96]

And (press for more) 5) what is it?

[@Brindlebrother]

6) Not no

[@DerdOn0ner]

You forgot “Oof”

[@Tosnoob]

Where's the slaves in Tevinter? Their use of slavery and mage supremacy were like the two biggest things of the imperium. Where are my slaves?

[@joshuakim5240]

Yeah, wasn't the entire premise of Tevinter that it's one of the least moral places in existence with rampant slavery and sacrificial magic slaughtering said slaves en masse?

[@64chrom]

Not in the docks. We only saw part of the City. Because someone was a coward

[@CecilioSprayetti]

I mean they can't even use the WORD slave anymore, they refer to them as "enslaved people" now. You think they're gonna add actual depictions of slavery? lol

[@mariamstaton2443]

The devs are fedora-wearing atheists who think anything opposed to the Southern Chantry is morally good, therefore everything about Tevinter is morally good.

[@Buckdalorian1000]

I agree but I also thinks its kinda weird your mad you can't be a slave master. Bet you wish it was the 1800s

[@protator]

That scene from Origins at the beginning gave me chills. Shows that you don't need photo-realism and a 500M budget to convey the emotions of knights making their last stand. Just good writing and cinematography. In other words: Skill.

[@cabbageleon4914]

The entire time I watched that bit unfold ingame, my jaw was on the floor. Nevermind the graphics, my brain filled in the gaps and the atmosphere/writing was more than enough to compensate for it.

[@ichigokage]

Okay. Correct me if I’m misremembering but in 2 didn’t Isabela essentially steal the Qunari Bible? A very important religious text. And that’s why the Arishok and his men were stuck in Kirkwall. But yes. She now suddenly doesn’t steal culturally significant items.

[@jeice452]

😂

[@samends8863]

Its not "Qunari Bible" its called "Qun" and the Bible is not even close to the Qun.

[@williamedwards4151]

She also betrays you at one point in DA2. Then apologizes after. And doesn't do push-ups. Funny that.

[@nananderson7259]

And if the game had let Isabela have a moment to be like "Hey, look, we can pirate and thieve but take it from me, there's is a line you shouldn't cross. Not because I'm suddenly a moral person but because I've seen what the consequences can be." But no. She's apparently done a 180 when we weren't looking and the writers are just shrugging like "people change lol"

[@64chrom]

​​@@nananderson7259 because they can and it's been like 13 years, but to convey this kind of message you need to put in the effort. They simply went lazy about it.

[@Zero-no5vf]

As an old Dragon Age fan (Since the first) I really wanted the game to not get involved on this garbage, but at last, almost every single franchise gets tarnished from this poised obsessions with modern ideologies

[@TheDezembro]

Dragon Age didn't just get "involved" with it, it honestly dove head first into it. I just didn't focus this particular video on that topic, out of interest of simply showing just how had it is as a GAME in a more technical approach. So that certain people can't even say I'm calling it "bad because bigot". But yeah, it gets wild. It's like a mutation lol 🤢

[@Zero-no5vf]

@@TheDezembro Sadly this is still spreading to every place, recently there is a massive movement of Credit Card companies removing their services from Manga sites, forcing them to close down or censor to the max.

[@A.D.I.D.A.S-916]

It’s honestly really really depressing. Seeing all these once great franchises fall from grace only to be bastardized leftist propaganda….

[@proggz39]

It’s like one of those crazy drugged up hobos you see swimming around in dumpsters in any major American city if it was a game

[@chrisbennett1358]

Ya know I could actually excuse the modern day politics in the game if it was still quality writing, but this.. what the actual fuck is this? It's as though it were made by toddlers for toddlers

[@Left4Coragem]

You know what better about the scene with the old lady of the assassin family? The people in bioware literally don't know how to set up a scene anymore. You just arrive at the room and the woman is sat on her chair in the middle. She has no badass line, nobody presents her in a dignified manner, she is literally doing nothing. The other characters just say flatly "this is our leader". There's also no interesting camera angle and lighting to complement the scene. It's like the people working in bioware never watched a movie before.

[@karandullet380]

Also in the previous games Antivan crows are fucking evil or at least grey their recurites are fucking children bought off from slavers and the desperate and trained to be assassin's and those who don't pass the training are killed and that they have actively assassinated kings and thwarted any form of governance other their own to keep cities under their their thumb and in origins Zevran tells you all this and also that he was Gonna hunt them all down to extention since they have a contract on his head and the only way to stop them is to kill them all or at least the entire house which has his contract since every other house has abandoned his contract after facing heavy losses so where is zavran he should be in treviso hunting crows down...

[@shyviking]

"t's like the people working in bioware never watched a movie before.". Yes, agree with that. Compare that to, say, the BG3 scene, where you have just completed the battle at the gate of the grove (cool character intro of Wyll, BTW. From the way, he enters the scene, you can already deduct a lot about him); Aradin, the leader of the mercs, that did the failed first assault at the goblin camp stands face-to-face with Zevlor, the leader of the tiefling refugees in the grove. They are both angry at the other, which is shown in dialogue ("We were running for our lives" vs. "There are CHILDREN here, you fool!!"). That makes you, the player character, already invested in the scene; you have to resolve it (or alternatively, ignore it, and just let it play out). In other words, it is shown, not told, what is at stake here, AND on top of that, you have player agency. Both things show good narrative and that it is a good RPG, we are playing here.

[@cyberpunk4560]

literaly chatbots make far better character intro that im hooked

[@enightc]

Yes exactly, when I saw that scene, it just felt like it's there to give exposition and quests and that is it. I didn't feel like there are any depth to the characters, is like they are only there for you and they don't have a life in this world. A good RPG makes characters as if they have a life in the world with their own secrets and duties, it makes the world alive. Veilguard does not do that

[@Walamonga1313]

I still can't believe there's no blood or gore outside of a couple cutscenes. One of the most memorable things about DAO was how your characters get absolutely drenched in blood and there's a lot of brutal and gory kills

[@shyviking]

"One of the most memorable things about DAO was how your characters get absolutely drenched in blood and there's a lot of brutal and gory kills". Yes...like when you (city elf) says the (in)famous "like dogs, Shianni"-line. Rough start on your life as a grey warden. Sets the tone for the entire game.

[@Kat1kafka]

Veilguard is not a return to the origin form. Fortunately, i got that Dragon Age Origins feeling back with Baldur's Gate 3. And I'm not even looking forward to mass effect 5 anymore.

[@A.D.I.D.A.S-916]

Me either & that really sucks. As a huge fan of Mass Effect 1-3 I am very worried about what ME5 will morph into in the hands of modern BioWare

[@joelhodoborgas]

I still miss the hybrid turn based that dragon age had on origins. I find full turn based from BG3 a little too slow for my taste, loved the game tho

[@NickSargent-cy1il]

Devastating.. I can't even watch what they're about to do to my precious mass effect lore.. they're gonna find it in a dark alley walking alone late at night and just have their way with it.. its so sad.

[@EM-vw7im]

Which is sad because mass effect is on of my top worlds to play in. Emotional moments from it still stick with me.

[@karandullet380]

I hoped they make a dlc to fix this but that's not happening either they think their creation is prefect

[@joshuapatrick682]

This game’s characters legit look like Larpers, asian elf, black gray warden, Latino assassin, thing with horns, ginger dwarf. And they interact with each other like literal children…

[@Agaryunaer]

Considering the level of dialogue writing and wrong/bad face animations, they feel like larpers in every other sense too. But that may be an unjust offense to some larpers i know.

[@gobi7959]

if the game wasnt called "dragon age" no one would be talking about this game at all

[@timothybeaulieu5103]

Yes they would, just in a much more general sense, because this crap is happening across the media spectrum.

[@darkestccino5405]

I think the existence of Dustborn proves you wrong. That game was a flop that got very little players, but still got talked about a lot because of how bad (and malicious) the writing was.

[@lmhfl11]

Remember when you could choose between Loghain and Alistair? Now you can choose how much you agree with a moron like Taash, and your choices are: totally, completely and yaaaas non-queen. The character is the worst version of representation possible, bullying another character with name-calling, lashing out at her mother who was trying to be understanding and share their culture, growling like a cat. They are a mess. Krem was a great character. I wish he was in this game instead of the Trash we got.

[@reecesinacori2498]

So she's a perfect representation of those she is supposed to represent. 😂

[@maximillionroivas3893]

​@@reecesinacori2498They're all definitely like that, lol.

[@nicosonico94]

@lmhfl11 Would've been great to have Krem as a companion (well, maybe not in this dumpster fire of a game...) We know he's fairly competent, being trained by The Iron Bull as a de facto second in command. We also know snippets of his backstory from dialogues and Cole/Iron Bull banter, giving us an idea of who he is, but leaving it open to further characterization. In a better game that allowed save importing, I can even see another, hardened version of Krem, who secretely survived Bull's loyalty mission despite the latter leaving him to die.

[@adamaccountname]

Krem is what they claim they represent, Trash is what they actually represent. They don't want live and let live, they want their narcissism recognised and for everyone to be forced to comply

[@renevatia939]

Imagine if you could just toss the edgy trash aside and get the Dragon King on your side instead

[@david328ci]

Veilgard’s failure became mandatory once it became ideologically driven. It never had a chance.

[@joelhodoborgas]

Idk man, i do fucking hate woke culture, but like zhevran being gay never bothered one tiny bit. It actually enriched the world in general

[@JimmyThree-Balls]

​@@joelhodoborgashaving gay characters doesn't mean you're pushing an agenda. Not being able to call them out or say you don't agree with that, is an agenda. It's different when I come to trans characters though, there just isn't enough of them to justify a place in a game for normal folk. Besides you can choose your sex, just play as your "preferred" sex

[@kmdgaming6039]

@@JimmyThree-Balls That and it wasn't shoved in your face with Zhevran. You only really found out about it if you actively pursued a romance with him or read between the lines with some of his prior dialogue.

[@JimmyThree-Balls]

@@kmdgaming6039 that's the way it should be

[@ichigokage]

Nah it should’ve been written off when they initially tried making Dreadwolf a live service game. I gave up on it years ago.

[@rexcyjones9416]

for a 10yr produced game, it feels like it has less than what DA2 had achieved in a span of less than a year. What more if DA2 was given a full game production cycle of 5yrs, they would have cooked so hard that Inquisition wont need to exist.

[@EM-vw7im]

DA2 is my favorite dragon age, even when I can objectively say that it is not the best, veilguard is nowhere close.

[@rexcyjones9416]

@EM-vw7im all Veilguard has to beat DA2 is it's beautiful graphics and effects. The rest, it's incomparable.

[@TheRobo6]

What the fuck does cook even mean in this situation like I am getting fucking old Jesus

[@blackmambo8702]

Absolute facts. I think Da2 is better than Inquisition, at least I enjoyed it much more. If they actually had time to make it, I genuinely think they would created a sequel that would’ve rivaled if not surpassed Origins.

[@rexcyjones9416]

@TheRobo6 in this context: to give time to produce or create something great or amazing.

[@renardnoir2581]

Damn, you know you Fkd up when Skyrim is beating you in story telling

[@sebastiangrebe8276]

Veilguard is identifying as Dragonage, but is definitely not passing😂

[@joelquinn5347]

haha

[@cheekyjebus5559]

as an avid dragon age fan who never missed out on a title, this release has been utterly painful to see, it's like a desecration of something once held dear.

[@Prezboy98]

That’s modern entertainment for ya

[@karandullet380]

Yes

[@CJ-wh7ik]

"Avid dragon age fan" - I find this statement very weird. I understand being a mass effect fan because each game in the trilogy built on and expanded on the predecessor yet when it comes to da franchise there are 4 totally different games that only have a name in common. Origin is its own thing, da2 is an action rpg, inquisition is woke gay ugly MMO, and veilguard is an action game. On top of that da lore is dumb af - one of the worst fantasy setting I came across. I understand being origin fan and having fond memories of playing da2 but inquisition showed how rotten and incompetent BioWare is. If you think that's an even remotely good game you should really give it another, objective look.

[@cheekyjebus5559]

@@CJ-wh7ik DA 1 and 2 I enjoyed quite thoroughly, inquisition I would say I was more. . .suckered into buying, it's not a game I can defend outright, it had too many flaws and a lot of this nonsense from the writers was starting to rear its ugly head. Inquisition was the reason why I reserved any hope I had for veilguard and wait for reviews, and boy was that the right decision... basically, "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me."

[@reecesinacori2498]

DA2 is not an action rpg. If it had the isometric camera option it would have played the same as origins. Characters moved faster and animations were flashier. To call it an action game is disingenuous. ​@CJ-wh7ik

[@bolladragon]

So I read a few of the “Tevinter Nights” short stories that were actually introductions to many of the new named charactersin DA:V and Lucanis’s introduction story, The Wigmaker, actually makes the lack of emotion around his disappearance and grandmother’s death more baffling. Lucanis actually kinda hates her because of how abusive her training was and he relied heavily on his cousin (same guy in the cutscenes) for emotional support, and said cousin had a total breakdown when Lucanis had “died” and was drowning his sorrow with booze. All an incredible set-up for Lucanis’s backstory. All immediately brushed aside for his coffee addiction. It’s depressing.

[@MjollTheLioness-o4y]

As far as I'm concerned DA was a trilogy. DAV was nothing more than a fever dream my Warden experienced as a side effect of the Calling.

[@yochaiwyss3843]

Must be one of the nightmares Alistair described. Frankly I'd put DAI among them too

[@Spectre117-hk4ot]

@@yochaiwyss3843 Inquisition is still a Dragon Age game. Does it have a lot of bloat, sure, but I'd rather go through that bloat and still play Dragon Age, instead of going through Veilguard and play the bootleg version of Marvel's Avengers.

[@SenpaiXcore]

At this point it's like a soothing drug to watch videos about the game failing. It just feels so good.

[@profestia]

Yes! It really is. It just represents so much of what is awful in gaming today

[@kevo300]

If it deserves to fail yes, dont tell me you enjoy just any game failing?

[@tartatovsky]

@@kevo300 you don't know how to read? He said "videos about the game failing" This game specifically. This ideological cringe-fest of a game.

[@SenpaiXcore]

@@tartatovsky This. Exactly.

[@HowardSmyth]

Why does it deserve to fail. I think it’s fine to go away from the dark fantasy look.

[@chrisbennett1358]

Actually breaks my heart to see how far Bioware have fallen. From my favourite studio to this childish, brain dead, cartoonish nonsense. It's depressing

[@alkostach]

Bioware does not exist anymore. For a decade now. It's a husk, a logo now. It's like Manchester United after Ferguson left. It's not the same. I don't feel bad not supporting Bioware nor Man Utd. I have no allegiance to a logo.

[@SeventhheavenDK]

This game is not canon for me. Dragon Age ends after the Inquisitor defeated Corypheus. And my Hero of Ferelden found a cure for her calling and Alistair's.

[@autobotstarscream765]

Why doesn't Ghilan'nain kill all the heroes early in the game and take the Dread Wolf's dagger from them? Is she stupid?

[@karandullet380]

Or they can show a bg3 part where tries but the dreadwolf stops her you know like the emperor in bg3

[@BehuraStudio]

“Uh, your character was imbued with a certain magic after the ritual failed, its a good counter against the gods magic directly, but hurry up and get the dagger since you won’t have that power forever” there, I came up with something for the writers in a few moments. Hire me Bioware plz

[@Cryosxify]

I believe the dagger can kill them lol

[@bendrix1932]

This was heartbreaking. I just don’t think it will recover. The Chant of Light has been extinguished.

[@electriclott]

So sorry you had to sit through this game. No way was I going to buy this game.

[@TheDezembro]

It's so much worse than I could've expected. No idea why they made this a sequel, it's a total reboot. Solas doesn't even matter. Gameplay totally different... Atmosphere totally different... Look totally different... Altered/Retconned lore... RPG elements totally watered down... Wtf I am a far bigger fan of Mass Effect than Dragon Age. I will lose my shit if this is what they do to it too.

[@pandadada3355]

@@TheDezembro if the studio survive this shit, they will surely do it again. embrace yourself.

[@A.D.I.D.A.S-916]

For real. Man is a trooper for being able to handle this much cringe slop. Dezembro is a real hero

[@lordofgingers]

@@TheDezembroI see the word retcon everywhere in discussion and I played the whole thing. What exactly got retconned (vs expanded upon)

[@Kazia0002]

@@TheDezembrodidn’t they already do that with Andromeda tho? I hated that game esp as a followoup after me3

[@GoatfortTrue]

One of the things that got me going was that the writers for this game used the word Crusade in this setting. If you are a Dragon age fans you know that in universe the equivalent for crusades are called exalted marshes. Who's the tourist now? Another in lore thing forgotten is that children of the Qun are taken from their parent at birth so the parents can never know what child is theirs and are raised away from them. But Taash's mother fled with her from the Qun after she discovers she could breath fire? In-lore this situation would never happen.

[@Cryosxify]

Don't they address this in the game? They specifically state that qunari children are taken away from parents and something about fire breathers being drafted into military service and not wanting that

[@EM-vw7im]

I said when i first saw glimpses and peeks at the game, that we would never get lore or stories like the broodmother again. The lead up to the reveal between the voice in the background, the codex entries, the atmosphere, everything was actually chilling. Or even hawkes morher be killed by a serial killer. Its a symptom of "modern writing" And when i saw/heard what they did to characters like isabella and morrigan, i was done. I couldn't stand to even attempt to play a game that disrespects my favorite universe that means so much to me.

[@sagacity1071]

Every day, another reasonable take against DAV is another day I ask wtf morty gaming was smoking

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

Access.. that's what he was smoking.. Future access

[@thewretch4081]

Stopped watching that spineless buffoon that plays video games with his ass midway through that video We need to stop supporting content creators that sell themselves out like that

[@NickSargent-cy1il]

Haha he was smoking his credibility for sure.

[@EM-vw7im]

I posted something similar on his video. This game flies in the face of many things he criticizes in rpgs. Seems to downplay negatives. Something smells for sure. Makes me take his reviews with a little more salt.

[@Yoids]

He just enjoyed the game, I believe him. He enjoys repetitive stuff, he enjoys diversity of builds, he took the part of the game that is good and really vibed with it. He knows which parts are bad, he tells that, but it does not care him so much. I believe him 100%, I disagree with him 100% as well, since for me repetitive combat gets repetitive (do not even like Diablo, which he loves)

[@bloppyzefish6932]

Its so sad that this happens in Dragon age, it has always had diversity in it but they did it right, with respect and not shoving it into your face so you can form your own opinion. It just hurt the minority they sought to represent even more...

[@EM-vw7im]

No one has ever care(outside of a small minority) about diversity in games. They only about good writing and gameplay

[@SDRaaz]

When the antivan crows head honchos introduced themselves as "Dellamorte" I just groaned and alt+f4'd.

[@justaquietpeacefuldance]

yup, very ominous 😂

[@SDRaaz]

​@@justaquietpeacefuldance 9yo level writing.

[@TheDovahkinia]

7:46 this ENTIRE choice is beyond stupid and I don't understand how someone in Bioware approved it. You have Minrathous, big city full of powerful magisters that clear Rook out of the water if they want, the entire city is build around defense. The other one is a city under occupation, that won't be able to defend itself. For me the choice is clear, I go help the city that is in worse situation. But no, Minrathous gets destroyed, because ONE RANDOM PERSON named Rook didn't show up. The entire city full of capable people couldn't defend itself because ONE person wasn't there. It's a stupid and illogical choice and game would be a tiny bit better for me if it simply didn't exist.

[@joelquinn5347]

Those guys had a flying spaceship firing stuff in the intro - probably worthless against a dragon. Anything smaller than the dragon should get wiped by the Magisters as you have said. Certainly, what I could see is a power grab by something even more evil and turn the city against you, but anything else was stupid. I actually based my first decision on that perspective. I helped Minrathous because I did not want them to become my enemy and that other city was already under occupation of some hostile faction. The crows run shit over there, so might as well let it get ravaged and be happy that a bigger fish mettles with another hostile group. Civilians are fucked on both sides. But how it played out one can't even call one dimensional - would not do that mess justice, fucking even up the one dimension they looked at.

[@BodaciousDerb]

I didnt help Treviso because i was sick of the horrible voice acting and terrible characters there. Neve and Minrathous just seemed like the better choice. Still not good, just better.

[@MistahJay7]

This game was made to appease mentally Ill twitter users. Im not even kidding this game had a whole "council" of twitter users apart of the game. This was made for them. Not actual gamers

[@klittle5627]

I think this game is the Gettysburg of the gaming culture war.

[@sensoeirensen]

Yeah most gamers who bought it aren‘t even at the worst scenes yet. The woke crap rly takes off after 45hrs mark. In german those fantasy „pronouns“ are words that doesn‘t exist at all! It kills the immersion immediately!

[@adamaccountname]

It's the problem of dm npcs. If they've invested so much in you being forced to see their story, they can't let you have your own. They have to get over fomo, let people miss things, because it's a single player game you can play multiple times. Trying to optimise my playthrough is only fun because there's the ability to fail

[@heyygallo]

the final act of this game feels like it was written by entirely different people. The whole game is so lighthearted and Disney-fied and then you get to the end and suddenly there are real stakes and you have real say in who lives and dies. I thought the ending was great, hindered only by the mismatched tone of the rest of the game

[@Spaforraz]

AGREED!

[@BodaciousDerb]

That would be true except all they did was a shitty watered down version of the Me2 ending but multiple factors comtributed to crewmates survival in Me2 not simply their companion quests. Veilguard not only shits on Dragon ages legacy but Mass effects as well

[@Omega068]

25:00 This is one part of the game where you can tell someone had cool ideas and someone else poured gas on them and lit them on fire.

[@gameoverinsertcointocontin8102]

Don't forget Homeworld. It was also killed this year with dumbed down gameplay compared to its predecessors and a story that was as deep as a puddle with 3! girl boss protagonists.

[@kalenics123]

Damnit, you made me remember that game... The only good thing that came out of that game is the Mandalore video.

[@joshuapatrick682]

I miss the Arishok, someone who was a core antagonist of the unfortunately rushed DA2 and to whom you as the player could interact in many different ways, sculpting the narrative with different outcomes at the end of his arch. My first play-through was a goody two shoes who handed Isabella over to him and let him go peacefully. My second was an Isabella simp who had gained his respect and so dueled him to the death for that ass.

[@ichigokage]

Arishok was an awesome character as a whole. You could gain his respect and honestly his guys weren’t really causing trouble while they searched.

[@Kaijudomage]

All the shit people gave Fallout 4 and Starfield, this is just yikes People at least played those, a big IP like this not even breaking 90k on it's opening weekend is really bad

[@ichigokage]

I hate that this makes Emil at Bethesda seem competent. Won’t forgive them for that.

[@MartinOReilly-mb4um]

Just because veilguard is awful, don't make starfield good, just slightly less as awful. Remember the Overtom Window, they both need correcting.

[@r3dr4te963]

Emil's writing still not good, but he still not on-the-nose preaching and condescending like this game. Starfield, handholding as it is, still not treating their players like "ignorant children"

[@Axterix13]

Yeah, that's been my thought as well. I might be pretty apathetic about the Starfield companions, but the DA:V ones I despise for just how badly they are written/characterized. Which I think sums up the difference pretty well. Starfield you quit playing because you get bored and apathetic, you just can't be bothered. DA:V, though, actively annoys you.

[@BehuraStudio]

Fallout 4 is definitely above Starfield, but Veilguard makes Starfield look like Macbeth

[@ileamonster]

love the VTMB music in the background

[@TheDezembro]

Always love it when someone recognizes it. Such a great game. ✨

[@karltech1012]

Duncan from Origins in his 10 min gave us more maturity and character than Veilguard in all their gaming, hours. The Arishok was very complex, dark and on his mind all the damage he did to Kirkwall was justified, Commander Meredith, her obsession with the mages was her downfall. The 2 baddies from Veilguard; their never develop character or present another face than being vile villains. The worst offend: put Solas a great complex with great determination in the background just like a counselor or something. Veilguard's Rook, should have been The Inquisitor, he/she got motive, reason and history with Fen'Harel. If this game would have being done well, it should have been the farewell that the franchise deserved. Sorry for my English.

[@EquineAnoesisCinematography]

As a massive dragon age fan (DAI is probably the game of my life) I just finished the Veilguard and I am forcing myself to forget this game ever existed.

[@noahbuster4333]

Forspoken's dialogues. Concord's graphics. Dustborn's preachings. Anthem's gaslighting. Suicide Squad's disrespect for the source material. By your powers combined... 😂😂😂😂

[@BodaciousDerb]

Wokensteins monster

[@cabbageleon4914]

Lucanis' character introduction could've been such a good quest. So much opportunity with the initial reveal of him having been dead for a year now, like Garrus' quest in ME2 where you find out he's Archangel. But no, the grandma spoils everything for you exactly when you conveniently appear. It doesn't make sense either for the Antivan Crows to dump this all onto Rook - you'd think as assassins, they'd be more sworn to secrecy and that it would require a lot more than just "where's Lucanis?". The entire thing could've been such a good spy thriller segment - the family being weirdly vague and suspicious of Lucanis' whereabouts so you decide to investigate for yourself. You find clues that drive you further, you find the "dead body" yourself and maybe you or a companion could note that it could've been the work of a blood mage. You find Lucanis himself and he reveals information that contradicts everything you know so far - giving the player a dilemma and a stronger incentive to confront this mystery surrounding the crows. Lucanis' demon aspect could be utilized as well, should you trust him? is it the demon speaking? was it right to keep him locked up and a secret?

[@TheDezembro]

YES! Through this route they could've also implemented the whole coup from Illario with the Venatori in the background, thru that whole year that Lucanis was missing, rather than doing it in ONE quest. No setup at all, no NOTHING 😂 You just "ayo Illario is establishing an alliance with venatori they are throwing a party together to announce it" When just a few days ago the venatori had attacked their hideout and supposedly killed their leader. Ugh. They just don't bother with setting anything up. They just thrust these onto the player, make a couple of cutscenes and call it done. Needless to say, as I've been progressing thru the story, things haven't gotten better. Glad to have gameplay out of the way. It let's me focus on story and companions next.

[@briancalanchie1527]

It's a shame that the Frostbite engine isn't as mod-friendly as say, the Creation Engine, because it would appear that there's no fixing this. Ever.

[@profestia]

I think i would go crazy in a room with taash and bellara. Taash is a insufferable petulant child and Bellara is so awkward and quirky she cant even finish a sentence without 2nd guessing herself.

[@adamjenkins7653]

The rest walk in 5 minutes later... "What happened here?!" "I made a smoothie?"

[@ateeshJ]

Return to Ostigar DLC from the first game had more emotion than this game..... And this is part of the main quest. It gave you the option to mourn the dead king and if you had Alistar in your party it gave you more dialogues.

[@ainikki7006]

Wynne had unique dialogue, too. She was also in Ostagar that day. I always bring them both.

[@TheAdarkerglow]

>Gives 3 Dialogue Options. >Pick 1 > Reads all 3 clockwise from your choice. Is this Player Agency?

[@dandare9055]

I have nothing against 'irredeemable evil' villains. Goodness gracious: those are my favorites. But villains here seem actually: -Weirdly polite -Very generous with handicaps -If not downright idiotic which seems to be the case They are not as much a villains as an annoyance to the main party which is disgusting. By no means they are elemental evil. You can have irredeemably evil villain with some quirks making him flawed but interesting, for sure, but the moment they basically contrive to fit what is happening and become utterly inconsistent is the moment I no longer follow the plot.

[@justaquietpeacefuldance]

but Lucanis likes coffee, clams, knifes and dingdongs, such a complex character written by Mary Kirby

[@joelquinn5347]

First time I gave one of my companions a gift I was struck by their complex and deep response. Everytime honestely, and so much that I seem to miss the cutscenes.

[@tskwerl]

The secret ending may as well remain secret. Completely retcons all of the lore.

[@bhryaen3743]

That "evil mayor" scene was bit more jarring than that... and a bit more evil than that for the player. It's a painfully stupid contrivance in the first place that an elf blood mage "god" whose power entails, well, wielding a dragon, but also that long series of corruption-filled streets in the town w tentacles everywhere... had to trick a guy w the lure of gold... Really? Blood magic has literally completely corrupted the minds of everyone you pass in the town, but the white guy mayor was supposedly sooo corrupt that he did the evil elf god's bidding just for gold? Why would someone that powerful bother to go out of their way indulging one guy's supposed lust for shinies? Just blood magic him like everyone else in town. It's just not reasonable to believe that the mayor was even required, much less at fault. Ghilan'nain could've just dropped into the Veil Pooper camp, grabbed a few poops, killed the rest- done deal. But instead bothered to find Mr. Greedy, lure him w gold, then wait for him to comply? Even if we accept that it was his greed that made him vulnerable (ignoring that EVERYONE in town was apparently vulnerable), it's like killing alcoholics for POTENTIALLY drinking and driving. No, that "choice" involves either sparing one of the few remaining victims of Ghilan'nain's evildoings in that town... or being evil enough yourself to just want to kill him as well. And they do make your character completely callous as Rook stops listening to him and walks away while he pleads for his life. It's similar in scope to the prisoner murder-knife choice in the Ostagar camp in DAO, except you can't even loot the mayor's body for a dung-stained key, and the moral smugness Rook walks away with is more akin to the moral depravity of a Warden who kills the prisoner. I think it was Luke Stephens who admitted in a more recent vid that that scene was described to him by the devs as one of sooo many meaningful, dark choices in the game... having been placed early on where most of the preview players would come across it to go home and report about it... So even though it truly is an evil/good choice, it's more a comment on the devs than part of your character's story since Rook is just as much of a contrivance as the scene... As is the option to make him a Gray Warden since... how would that even work? "OK, I'll meet ya in Weisshaupt and do the Joining then! B-bye!" And actually your first interaction w Ghilan'nain and her dragon was right at that scene. She apparently "senses" you and says, "Fresh blood! Hungry heart!"... which... what? She wants to eat you? She thinks you want to eat her? And then she recalls the dragon... because...? Just as the elf gods inexplicably left the ritual site without simply picking Solas' dagger up off the ground RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM... and simply departed from the city you "save" without getting the dagger then either... she just recalls the dragon and away they go. But that whole tendency of contrived plot twists despite obvious danger is foreshadowed in the first 5 minutes of the game when Varric and Rook are running through town while huge demon dogs (which ever show up again in the game?) run past them as if they're wearing Rings of Demon Invisibility. Every time I watch I count how many just pass right by while grabbing absolutely everyone else in their path. That scene was one of my early gripes w V-guard. I'll only differ on one point: the Antivan Crows actually are the method that Treviso has to defend itself because they have no standing army. That said, they're not "soyboy" freedom fighters, no...

[@adamjenkins7653]

I think it was described in Origins that any army would conquer Antiva, but that none of their commanders would live to see it.

[@monzer0172]

Veilguard is presentism represented perfectly

[@joshuapatrick682]

These are the characters they had to go with, because everyone else in Thedas who was remotely interesting had been taken. It’s sad this game has no stand out side character like Alistair, Morrigan, Isabella, Varric, Cassandra or Solas. Hell even Blackwall from 3 had a more interesting character arch than anyone in this game, who is just a bunch of white bread rejects to check DEI boxes.

[@MasticinaAkicta]

Yup.. This is not a Dragon Age game

[@MoreImbaThanYou]

"It feels like one of those live services" Well, considering it was planned to be one at first, I think thats fitting. I mean, the whole level design and combat system rings VERY close to a live service coop game.

[@Axterix13]

The loot system as well. Chests everywhere to find, items with rarity levels, upgrade by finding duplicates, etc...

[@Kenshin6321]

I thought everything about this game was done poorly. Take the first choice of the game, to fight, or not to fight. If you choose to fight, you see a cutscene of a your character beating up some thugs, but I personally felt this was a missed opportunity to let YOU beat up the thugs. How that choice should have went in my opinion is if you choose to fight, the game uses this to introduce to you the basic combat mechanics. Beating up nameless thugs is a perfect opportunity to teach the player the controls of the game. If you choose not to fight, then you get the normal battle tutorial you get when you encounter the first few dark spawns. They could have even given you the option to kill the lady after the fight, let her live, or knock her out and take her stuff. But Bioware has forgotten how to RPG, so you're just stuck playing a game that is essentially on rails for the vast majority of it. You're better off playing any JRPG than this game.

[@JimmyThree-Balls]

Can you even fight with fists in this trash?

[@yochaiwyss3843]

Wait, isn't it basically the City Elf Origin??

[@zupremo9141]

This is what a real review looks like. Mortisimal who said that this game is his GOTY don't give this much detail all he do is give quick vague discriptions that don't mean anything, the guy is probably the speech writer for Kamala Harris LOL!.

[@thewretch4081]

He's usually more in depth, he sold himself out and said things bioware wanted him to say, it's obvious

[@EM-vw7im]

Nah, he is still one of my go to reviewers, but he was clearly shilling for bioware on this one. My respect for him has diminished a bit, but I'll still take his reviews seriously just with a bit more salt. He turned me on to a number of good games.

[@Walamonga1313]

I watch him because he goes for 100%, which is something I like doing too but he almost never gives details on what the achievements are actually like. Not to mention he mostly plays CRPGs 💤

[@Ccubed92]

​@@EM-vw7im Respecting KZbinrs when their job is to convince you and earn your views is wild

[@Cryosxify]

​@@EM-vw7imI finished the game, I don't think he was shilling. He was being fair

[@CaptainRed1000]

"He has a Griffon, there's nothing really going on there." *sigh* One of my biggest concerns when I saw that first trailer was how they were going to reconcile the presence of the Griffon with the fact they'd become extinct five ages earlier. If this statement is to be believed, they didn't even fucking bother. One of the biggest changes to a world in ages that you'd think would be important to a whole load of people, the Grey Wardens in particular, and there's just...nothing?

[@TheDezembro]

He's got one out of 12 young Griffons. The other ones got "kidnapped" by some mf called "the Gloom Howler". Part of his personal quest is to go and track him down. The Wardens as a faction have been very watered down though. Aesthetically... Thematically... No one else even brings up the griffons, there were 2 characters that were "caretakers" of the griffons but they die before you even meet them. Also worth noting that Davrin isn't even a "proper Warden"? He's a bit like Rook if you choose to go the Warden route - a bit of a lone-ranger and the griffon is with him, no real mentions of him elsewhere, the First Warden doesn't demand the Griffon be protected / taken care of at HQ, nothing. Outside of a few lines of dialogue talking about how Assan's (Griffon's name) ancestors were trained Darkspawn killing machines he's just treated as Davrin's "pet" who he constantly talks about not knowing how to take care of. Though he does acknowledge how rare they are, and how he doesn't want to screw it up and get him killed.

[@kents012]

But this is Bioware's "return to form" according to many journalists, they even used this exact phrase!

[@Cryosxify]

Well it is if you bothered to play it. Also they haven't released a new game for a long while

[@TheDezembro]

It absolutely isn't. They weren't even trying to return to form that's what's so funny about that sentence. The fact that they turned away from the very genre and recognizable aspects of Dragon Age means that a return to form was never intended, even if this game was of high quality on its own, which, it just isn't. Even the writing and storytelling and character building are screwed. This is far from a return to form, there's just no way to interpret it that way...

[@Kat1kafka]

It's crazy how that vicount head is the only scene that showed gore

[@dannyt503]

Keep up the great work on your videos. I like that in your videos you explain clearly the logical reason why woke is bad in a way that the woke can't really refute.

[@TheDezembro]

Thanks so much for watching! & for the support! :D 🙏

[@macdealer7936]

You can't refute evolution. Others also tried in the past. They failed.

[@Guitaraffinity2023]

I think all the budget went into the look of the hair and hair physics, honestly.

[@Spaforraz]

LOL

[@HansAlRachid]

What a genuinely pathetic, soulless thing this product is. Corporate approved and utterly devoid of substance and creative ambition or integrity. How truly, _deeply_ pathetic.

[@docmacabre]

What infuriates me the most is the utter disrespect shown to previous games, novels, and comics of this IP. Not sure how far you're into the game now, but aside from the very obvious retcons/contradictions and uglification of existing characters (Morrigan, Dorian, Isabela), they actively go out of their way to reference as little as possible, as if out of sheer spite. There's a moment when Harding and Traash talk about, guess what, Traash's identity bc what else does this dumbfxck self-insert Mary Sue have to talk about? Harding then mentions Krem. She says "the Inquisition encountered a mercenary band, the Chargers". Not Bull's Chargers, not "worked with/hired the Bull's Chargers", just Chargers and "encountered". And don't get me started on the character assassination of the Gloom Howler's real identity (leaving this spoiler-free, just in case), or the hamfisted addition of one of the Forgotten Ones to this trash fire of a "game". OR the massive retcon of ALL previous games they pulled with that insolent secret ending!

[@TheDezembro]

I am now very close to the end of the game. I think you're totally right. They leave things so vague and are totally unable to COMMIT to anything. On some quests I actually wanted them to develop on the information of what I was seeing (like for example when going into the Cauldron and finding all those "Gray Warden secrets") but nothing came of it. Or when we could inquire about the ancient qunari tablet from Taashs mother but instead the scene fades to black and goes straight back to talking about Taashs gender identity nonsense. Nothing ever comes of anything. And it's either spite driven or perhaps driven by a desire to REBOOT the series into something new and different while loosely using the foundation and characters of the franchise. Or also it's total incompetence and literally not knowing the lore and story because of being led by a Sims developer. 🤷‍♂️ I'll be covering a bit of this on my next video I'm editing right now. Mainly centered on Taash. Then I'll finish the game and close up my review with a part 2.

[@megieza3727]

They left so much untouched but somehow ruined it all. The world was destroyed but nobody cared. My choices never mattered. The conflicts of religion and race isn’t a thing anymore. The conflict of world issues that overlap the villains and mystery is gone. I can’t even play the first game knowing Thedas gets destroyed but I didn’t get to see my avengers get together of all the characters to fight solas and the after math of it like how it would affect religion or race ethics of the world.

[@ksh2596]

The VtM:B music makes me feel good

[@Foggert772]

Weird this game that cares so heavily about non binary and woke agendas literally boiled everything down to choice A and choice B. Thought the whole point was to not do that

[@MsRafaelRGO]

I wonder if we will ever know the story behind the development of this peace of....media

[@BehuraStudio]

This was a really good review! It also puts a lot of things into perspective by showing off the footage of Skyrim and Fo4 and previous DA games. Props!!!

[@darioactive-man3287]

"You're BORING!" ,...this quote aged soooo great

[@bjornh4664]

I'm currently on my seventh or so playthrough of DA: Origins, and after watching this review, I realize that the dialogue options in Veilguard sound so lame because anything that could be interpreted as "microaggressions" have been avoided. In DA:O, there's almost always at least one snarky or aggressive reply, which opens up for some roleplaying. They should rename "The Lighthouse" and call it "The Safe Space" instead...

[@Kaylinatka]

btw guys: if you havent canceled your EAPlay subscription at this point you're part of the problem

[@verandream6675]

18:34 even going by the reasoning that she didn't trust her inner circle to share that information she immediately spills it when an outsider arrives to ask about the grandson.

[@Cryosxify]

Well because the traitor, the jealous cousin, got him locked up. And wasn't she in contact with whomever (neve? Rook? Don't remember) to get lucanis out?

[@lucianwong420]

Mass Effect Andromeda wasn't as good as the original trilogy, (though i quite enjoyed it) but atleast it wasn't Veilguard levels of bad.

[@mrtoastly]

I wouldn't play this game if someone paid me to.

[@Cryosxify]

Well I'm glad I didn't fall for the manufactured right wing outrage and gave the game a chance, cause I enjoyed it. All the locations we get to go to are pretty cool

[@codykelly1949]

The fact Solas offers to teach you blood magic in Inquisition and turns around to hate it in this game is wild. Like there was a point to show that blood magic wasn't inherently evil but only perceived terribly and that because of it, it typically forces it's users for bad things. Kinda like drugs being illegal, drugs are actually medicinal but used in abundance and selling it are illegal, leading to killing, violence and addiction. So dumb take, also no spiders, and rehashed maps agai, reminds me of a large scale DA2 without the good story and characters

[@TheDezembro]

The focus in trying to bubble wrap everything in Dragon Age's lore and worldbuilding has been insane. I don't know how this game is rated 18+, must be because of the nudity in the character creator.

[@Tom88]

23:14, wait... they made blood magic full evil? Blood magic was one of the most interesting aspects of the world because its moralitiy is questionable, capable of evil yes..... but in the right hands a powerful tool? or will it always corrupt its users? something the other games juggled with constanstly without coming down on one side. Well done veilguard for throwing away a cool piece of the world.

[@datemasamune2904]

Hey there! Deleted my comment, because my information was wrong, regarding FluffyNinja. She apparently didn't pass away, but was away from social media since 2018. She just recently updated this November. However, in her channel, there have been posts saying she may have passed away. However, that was clearly a misinformation. Sorry about that.

[@TheDezembro]

@@datemasamune2904 it's okay, I was just surprised, but now I'm relieved. :)

[@Dragonsphinx]

@14:40 haha, guess I’m not the only one who thought the darkspawn designs look like they came straight out of Spyro 😂 Especially the Spyro remaster (which was incredible IMO)-if I saw these darkspawn pop up in a Spyro level I wouldn’t bat an eye.

[@TheDezembro]

Immediately reminded me of that sort of design especially the Ogres with their goofy ass mouth and cartoony red eyes. 😂

[@promark5317]

They didn't have enough hands on hips in this game. If they added more hands on hips, it would've been a 9/10 game, easily.

[@dandare9055]

10:03 ... I have no words. It is less than a 1st Generation "my Little Pony" logic. It frankly makes no sense and baffles me.

[@johnysimps1191]

25k views in a day. Seeing this channels growth has been awesome

[@TheDezembro]

It pushes me to keep going! 🙏

[@shougunoutlawz87]

Carlin would think both side are dumb and equally unintelligent.

[@Senumunu]

The way this game is written and presented is really copy/pasted from Netflix original shows beat for beat writing that creates artificial "drama" out of events that have no coherence to each other this is what you get when "women" are in charge

[@TheDezembro]

Some of them even look like they're copying Netflix ideas 🤣 the very first mission in arlathan, Bellara mentions a "shimmering bubble" that you can get into but not get out of. And that weird magic stuff is happening inside. And we have to get to the center. Just like the Annihilation movie. Even has shimmering stuff in the air 😂 but then nothing happens. If you return, the shimmering is still there but you and others are able to enter and leave just fine. It's never brought up again 🤣

[@Senumunu]

@@TheDezembro yep. no coherence to the overall structure since the scenes are just there to get milked for fake drama and fake tension. it really is the sewer of cultural produce.

[@voterfraud4creepyjoe60]

The original Mass Effect, 1 and 2 were released about 20 years ago… the BioWare we knew is over, this is what they got now, and they are not sending their best

[@clairesuzanne1]

Also regarding the dagger, if the gods wanted it to open the veil to release the blight, why is the first thing they do with it to put it with a random “champion” far away from them to hold onto for seemingly no reason?

[@-abc--6976]

story about the oppressors wearing the oppressed mask.

[@Not.A.Heretic]

every single dragon age veilguard fan was crying the night of november 5th lmao

[@ZagXcIv]

And this is the team which has "moved on" to the Mass Effect game? LOL! I hope nobody is looking forward to a good Mass Effect game. In fact, it might actually be worse than Andromeda and people will probably prefer Andromeda to whatever abomination the next game is. They might even retcon previously established lore and destroy the whole franchise. This might be one of the times which I want EA to actually close the studio and banish this team back to the Sims games. Don't infect the industry further.

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

Great review Balanced, detailed with examples, logical and funny in adequate amounts Not going too overboard with politics as well

[@Damirit]

Disgusting. Simply disgusting. RIP Bioware.

[@talus9663]

Dai is a slog to play but the companions and story are miles better than Veilguard. Disappointed that I bought and beat this.

[@TheWolfeProphet]

Im sorry to anyone who had to go through this experience. I have no clue what the game devs were thinking. Dialog is literally as stale as a log. The whole game doesn't feel like a dragon age game at all. I have had a very sad experience and am angry as well. I just can't take this game seriously. Everything to the characters and to the sloppy dialogue in the game. You can't even be evil in this game. It's just a letdown. It's just sad as hell to see one of my favorite game frachise, Dragon Age, fail.

[@joshuapatrick682]

17:00 Wow that is absolutely shit. Why not say. Haven’t heard from him in a while and no one we’ve sent has come back. Why don’t you check it out if you want answers? Here is the location the others were sent. Then you go find him, maybe by finding the dead agents sent before you, or one who was captured and has been in jail For months but had a great lead and thinks he’s still alive but in hiding, creating some intrigue through notes or letters but you bring him back and they let him go with you…BioWare couldn’t think that up and it took me 3 minutes

[@forhyrule8428]

one day we will have talented people instead of only diverse people as game developers at BioWare again and their next Dragon Age game will tell us Veilguard never happened. All what happened was Rook hit his head after the Solas ritual in the beginning and Veilguard was just a halluzination

[@shockers12512]

Anders and Logain. even after all these years the choices they made still ring clear in my mind. DA:V had none of that. tbh even the ending that was good was spoiled. its like making a sandwich thats 90% ham and 10% shit its gonna leave a bad taste in your mouth, it still a shitty sandwich.