Dragon Age: When you pay your writer enough VS When you DON'T Part 2

Dragon Age: An Analysis of Hawke scene vs Inquisitor Scene
(When you pay your writer enough vs When you DON'T Part 2)
This video analyzes the Hawke scene in Dragon Age Inquisition and the Inquisitor scene in Dragon Age 4 Veilguard.
Overall, the lack of refined language, lack of drama, lack of worldstate made the scene much worse than it should have been.

[@legacian4039]

The Inquisitor name dropping over half the companions/cast from Inquisition in the same sentence, and referring to them vaguely based on superficial personality is so f*ing jarring. It’s like the writers were checking boxes on a list and didn’t even care. “Ah, yes, the plot of the previous game. We never would have overcome our challenges if not for Dorian’s wit, or Josephine being a politician.” Like… wow. Just wow.

[@Butlee]

Did the same thing mentioning all the locations from previous DA games as well. Just rattle off a name and a city and then 'check'.

[@Shadowwand]

And they patted themselves on the back: "look how much we Included from the previous game! Remember when Dorian helped us with Magic?" "Actually in my game I punched him in the face and he left." "10/10 best dragon age game we ever made."

[@anbeegod]

They were just checking boxes and tell the player "hey, we remember the past games"

[@YoungMrBlue]

@@anbeegodand yet didn’t include character history because and I quote them, “it’s not worth importing choices just for a line of dialogue”

[@sub-jec-tiv]

The writing in this game is so bad, it actually makes me upset. "Look how they massacred my Dragon Age."

[@Did_No_Wrong]

Inquisition might not have been perfect, but holy shit they did the Hawke Cameo perfectly. Keeping their class, what personality type they were, and even their romance and state of all the party members while also having Hawke be a active part of the story

[@chickenbacon5197]

And I got to continue the tradition of my PCs dying in heroic sacrifices.

[@bladeking1231]

@@chickenbacon5197I respect you for making the hard call I just can’t bring myself to do it

[@johnpantag472]

If inquisition isn't perfect then origins is exactly what mediocrity is.

[@Did_No_Wrong]

@@johnpantag472 believe me I liked Inquisition as much as the next guy, but Hinterlands.....*shudder* every time I try to do a new playthrough I hesitate because of Hinterlands

[@curiogle]

For me DAI gets old very fast, the gameplay is repetitive. And the default male Hawke's look is terrible compared to DA2

[@mistermarkham101]

Morrigan??? Seeking to be wherever she can “do the most good???” Now I know this isn’t canon.

[@Shatterstar]

I think the writers are unable to write morally grey, true neutral characters.

[@krasmasov6852]

As we all know character growth is not allowed

[@vladdracul5072]

@@Shatterstar All the alignments from earlier games have left BioWare. Except Lawful Boring.

[@object-13]

​@@krasmasov6852 here's the thing: Morrigan grew as character within timespan of Origin and between Origins and Inquisition. But it was within her character. She has learnt to cherish those few people close to her but never seen the world in general any way different than before. Why would she now, when biggest catalyst for her change (The grey warden) is nowhere to be seen

[@razumovskyi]

@@object-13 oh, I don't know, maybe the memories of an old elven god got something to do with it.

[@muhammadfahimrahman6204]

They have made inquisitor, a politically savvy guy with cunning and courage turned into a bland person.

[@Did_No_Wrong]

Kinda feels like they dragged their feet including Inquisitor in Veilguard.

[@wardensurana8336]

Inquisitor was always bland, especially compared to the Warden and Hawke.

[@jeanniemaycrawford4466]

​@@wardensurana8336warden had the luxury of being made by old bioware, dude/dudette was a menace (depending on your choices that is) Hawk was a premade character like geralt, kinda unfair to compare it to the bland slate that was the inquisitor (who by his or her own right was surrounded by very intresting people and was quite charming depending on the choices you pick) Rook is just like the inquisitor but lacks those intresting companions and interactions

[@chico1786]

@@wardensurana8336 It depended on the class you chose and how you played your Inquisitor. Mine was a funny and quick witted Rogue that was an Andrastian, but dared to doubt the Chantry. In my case he wasn't bland, but that was up to player choice. For anyone asking: You could doubt the Chantry when talking to Giselle and when it came to choosing the new Divine. Also the Inquisito could be an absolute menace when you played him like a jerk and lead the Inquisition to only further your own power and completely deny the Chantry. That Inquisitor was funny in a different way.

[@birb1gaming]

​@@chico1786 wow it seems like we made the same inquisitor, only mine is a female lol

[@kualarompin589]

Even in Inquisition, during the cutscene, the 3 characters seemed alive. We can see Varric was drinking, taking a gulp from a bottle and then chimed into the conversation. We can see Hawke was pacing, leaned his elbow on the wall, looking at a distance thinking and remembering. In Veilguard, everyone was standing talking in a bar. I think all the cutscenes I saw on KZbin, they all like this, just standing,or holding a cup, or just sitting. Only the part that move during conversation, their necks, their mouthes and their heads.

[@Butlee]

They also seem to take turns doing their exposition dumps in Veilguard. In the Inquisition scene it was framed like Varick wanted to let Hawke tell the story, but the dwarven storyteller just couldn't help but get animated/disgusted when cutting in to add comments. That's such a relatable scenario and it helps this whole thing feel like an actual conversation.

[@toorukurihara7657]

exactly, dialogues from Veilguard would fit nicely into Genshin and that's terrifying

[@anbeegod]

I think they lack a competent cinematic director in Veilguard

[@fierceslagga2084]

That feels like Family Guy's static animation in 3d

[@MD-yd8lh]

​@@toorukurihara7657 genshin ten times better

[@loodeedoo560]

"Hi I'm the Inquisitor and I am basically useless now for no apparent reason other than to burn and bury the lore or any hope for good writing/ story."

[@hansofaxalia]

You’d think the race of the inquisitor would be a very big deal in the long term. Non humans are shunned by the chantry and aren’t even allowed to be priests, so a non humie inquisitor should be worldshaking. Guess that’s gone now

[@birb1gaming]

​@@hansofaxaliaThey added other races in the last minute and i wish they took their time than releasing the game at that date but i guess there was a pressure from EA

[@TheCatWatches]

Notice also Hawke gets to appear in their Champion’s armor whereas Inqy shows up in pajama tights (again) … why couldn’t Inquisitor appear in their Box Art look? maybe a cloak to disguise them? In the Veilguard character creation screen, Bioware should’ve let the player pick Inquisitor’s outfit

[@Ailyn_101]

Yeah, it bothers me when inquisitor was wearing the same Shadow Dragon Rook's pajamas.

[@weareharbinger914]

Laziness. A lot of people also missed that they should be missing a fucking arm and just aren't. Considering Neve is missing a foot, it doesn't mean someone suddenly developed limb regeneration magic. So the devs just forgot that rather important part at the end of Trespasser.

[@TheCatWatches]

@@weareharbinger914 the ending Rogue art in Trespasser credits displaying Inquisitor with a crossbow arm … how cool would that look?

[@leodaronimperial6298]

@@weareharbinger914 I thought the arm was a prosthetic, it looks like a prosthetic

[@hanli5416]

@@leodaronimperial6298 the left arm is, but some people that like to complain tend to like not paying attention to cutscenes to make a point about themselves. Btw i fully agree on the awfull choice they made with regards to the inquisitors clothing choice, why give her shadow dragon faction clothing?

[@anders8461]

Did you guys notice how insignificant the effect of Varric's death when Lavellan speaks about Rooke taking over? Like seriously??

[@adrianreichelt7057]

Ofc, if it did have ANY effect, there's a risk more than the few players smart enough to notice nobody ever talking to Varric and vice-versa would actually notice something's fishy. Even though the Varric moment of "I guess I already suspected" is an option, yet your character never suspects shit. You're never given the choice to suspect anything until the reveal, because you're given few (aka = no) choices to talk about it in-character and so on and forth..

[@izrojas]

Harding straight up interrupts rook talking to themselves early in act 2 or the end of act 1. But nothing is addressed well

[@PaulXPZ]

@@adrianreichelt7057 The funny and somewhat ironic thing is that companions talking about Varric like he was dead while he was in the other room threw me off and didn't make me suspicious because I just assumed it was a simptom of the piss poor writing

[@weareharbinger914]

@@PaulXPZ My reaction too. I thought him surviving a knife through the heart was just bad writing. The companions also never directly talk about it, theres never a ceremony to send him off or anything. I think the most notable thing is that in the meetings he's in, nobody offers the dude who was stabbed in the chest a chair. Also he's always absent from the 'solas mural' discussions, even though everyone else is there and hears it regardless of where they are at in the lighthouse. The guy who worked closest with him might have something to say about those, but you cannot ever talk to Varric about them.

[@weareharbinger914]

@@adrianreichelt7057 The most glaring thing that Rook can never say, especially directly to Solas, is when Rook asks Solas 'hey, how are we connected' Solas basically says 'blood magic'. And Rook literally cannot say, at any point 'hey, how come Varric isn't here then, he got a knife through the chest, surely that produced enough blood for him to be here too?' It was my literal first question upon learning Varric was 'alive', but that and surviving the knife to the chest in the first place i put down to just terrible writing.

[@shickey74]

Morrigan "she'll make sure the rest of the world doesn't fall" Inquisitor 2 minutes later "I'll make sure the world doesn't fall" Why does this game repeat dialogue so often and so quickly

[@Palindrome3945]

AI. If it's in the prompt, it must be explicitly said regularly. AI can't manage subtext. A shameless example is a conversation with Varrick I watched on YTB. It's around the beginning, when they settle after the intro, you get to have a conv with him, so he "teaches" Rook to lead. The dialogue is awful, and he repeats "to be a good leader, you have to..", or a variation of it, as a conclusion to every string of dialogue. You can literally guess the prompt. It's blatant use of AI.

[@coraline3767]

Because written by ungrammatical kids who never hold a book in their hands. But at least they wish to fight for rights of none binary 😂

[@professorhaystacks6606]

I don't know, but why does this game repeat dialogue so often and so quickly?

[@Squirmychair]

Because it’s so fucking boring they know you’re going to forget everything you hear instantly, so they repeat it in hopes you’ll remember

[@YueAki]

Inquisitor: Tevinter hates me. Let's meet, two elves, with influential power in a bar with open windows in Tevinter. What did they do with my Lavellan 😢

[@anbeegod]

Logic not found in the writing...

[@Jameskaimuki]

One of the main reasons I didn't want to get this game is because I found out they don't mention Hawke at all, also found out they don't mention the Hero of Ferelden at all too. I remember thinking in Inquisition when I choose to leave Hawke in the Fade, "In the next game we will come back to rescue him," or at least something interesting. Instead just wiped clean, Isabela talk about her romance with him? Varric depressed he was left in the fade? Bethany or Carver apart of the current Grey Wardens? Yeah it is a bummer that all of our past decisions do not matter in Veilguard except Solas x Inquistor. Really reinforces the current game saying your choices matter.

[@TheMrShnickers]

The biggest sign of this was when the main director mentioned they wouldn’t be using Dragon Age Keep that’s when I knew I should keep money and see, best decision I’ve made.

[@rociohernandez3077]

It's especially painful when looking at the art of development, back in joplin and post inquisition, and seeing that returning to the Fade and seeing what became of the person left behind was pitched. So many interesting ideas left on the cutting floor

[@anbeegod]

They had to remove worldstate but the world is boring without worldstate

[@Squirmychair]

That shit pissed me off so bad. At the beginning it asks who your inquisitor romanced and if they think solas can be reasoned with. Well I told it Cullen and it literally never came up and I said the inquisitor thinks solas needs to be taken down at any cost, yet at the end of VG, the inquisitor suggests talking Solas down???? Huh????

[@BrandonL_00]

I hate how static Veilguard is most of the time. It just feels good to see the characters actually moving around or doing little things during the cutscenes while playing Inquisition. Plus you can't beat Hawke's entrance. The music playing as the camera stays on his face for those few seconds always gives me chills. It felt more impressive and respectful of a cameo compared to the Inquisitor just walking up in Veilguard.

[@Whatdeyheyul]

They made the inquisitor showed up in pajamas 😂

[@adrianreichelt7057]

It's a common shadow dragon uniform, as presented by the Game, but IT DOES just fucking look like a Pajama. Also the Inquisitor supposedly is the only reason southern Thedas remotely unifies against the blight and doesn't seem to use Eluvians to travel. So you're gonna tell me the Inquisitor, in a city crawling with Venatori to different degrees (depending on chosing Treviso or Minrathous) is just secretly smuggled into a Tavern all the way at the docks of dock town and isn't even remotely geared up to defend herself, even though she'd have to travel from a blighted south to a turmoil-ridden similarly-blighted north? And don't get me started on the Travel System being Eluvians to begin with for Rook and then them (the writers) trying to keep the excuse going that "The Game focuses on the North of Thedas hurr durr, urrrgh, the Inquisition is in the south" as the excuse to the fact that EA wasted their Time twice, fired all the capable writers and then put DEI hires in charge, so they have to cover their asses to avoid inevitable damage to their reputation and thus, diversity agenda. Meanwhile we could just jump through "Eluvian Prime, that connects to all Eluvians, hurr durr" to help out the South, so more forces get the sliver of a chance to unite with us against the Gods (since the Inquisitor shows up at the end anyways and Ferelden gets anal'ed deeper than Corinne Bushe)...

[@mrhappyartworks]

@@adrianreichelt7057wait, the Inquisitor did travel by Eluvians through the help of Morrigan. Idk where you get the idea that she was smuggled via boat.

[@HimeBurrito]

So first of all , they quite literally SAY that they used eluvians to get the inquisitor to the north if you ask how they got there. And second: you used the word dei, so your opinion is invalid, i hope you have a miserable day, since that seems to be all you can comprehend ​@@adrianreichelt7057

[@bismarck5537]

@@adrianreichelt7057I definitely agree. There are already Inquisitor’s armor designs from DAI. No matter the Inquisitor’s class is, an armor would have worked fine. Besides, I loved the Inquisition armors, for example, Ameridan’s armor. Jaws of Hakkon is canon no matter what so it would make sense if the Inquisitor shows up in that armor. A hood and a cloak to hide Inquisition insignias and that’d be so cool. Then let Rook unlock those armor fashions for transmog as well. Showing up in a pajama is so lame and stupid for one of the most influential people in the South.

[@BrotherAzrael]

Like the olden days. Solas liked to do that too, silly old elf.

[@nananderson7259]

Even with just the Diplomatic, Humorous and Aggressive tags the writers made Hawke(s) that were distinct from one another. Meanwhile there is only Good and Helpful Inquistior (even if you kicked out your companions, executed all prisoners, enacted harsh judgements, etc). Respect the player? I hardly know her!

[@thevelbaetum4118]

Yea I get that, I'm quite biased in my takes as Inquisition is my favorite game, but I do like that if I wanted I can 100% play up the 'im the chosen one' character, but I definitely agree I should've been able to be a bad person, not just a rude one. To be completely fair though, the characters in Inquisition make me want to be nice to them, as opposed to veilguard...

[@nananderson7259]

@thevelbaetum4118 o sorry I think we're confused. I mean coming into inquistion Hawke can still be distinct whereas the Inquisitor coming into Veilgaurd there was just Good Guy Inky. While there's def less options, the customization of the Inquisitor still puts Rook to shaaaame

[@thevelbaetum4118]

@@nananderson7259 OHHHH I see what you mean now, I still agree with you, part of what made dragon age really immersive was importing a world state. Also so true, for all the fancy visual customization, not a lot I can do personality wise, which is a shame

[@PixieDrag0ns-r1h]

We don't get the inquisitor that made all his companions leave, the one that punched the egg in the face. Solas still claimed him as a friend.... instead of a tyrant that he'd gladly watch burn if we made the right choices.

[@anbeegod]

They force the Inquisitor to be a lawful boring generic plot device

[@ShoppingAttic]

" I only sealed the breach because I had people like Cassandra Liliana and Cullen by my side" LITERALLY Solas held up your arm at the very first rift you closed WTF

[@carloscrispens4816]

He was more about fixing his mess than helping others.

[@anbeegod]

The power of friendship!

[@victoriaanne6332]

Not to mention, it’s made abundantly clear in inquisition that recruiting the mages/templars is the only way to seal the breach. This was a perfect opportunity to say “I only sealed the breach because [the Templars suppressed its power/the mages augmented the anchor] and then have a second sentence to reflect on your relationship with the faction: “[they served their purpose/together we made a great team]”

[@Oozaru85]

When Davrin/Harding die during the last act: everyone talking to Rook about it. When Varric dies during the first act: No one gives a sh*t.

[@MsSilentGaming]

Imagine fighting a blight lead by two Arch Demons with the armies of the Free Marches, Orlais, Ferelden, all the circles(or whatever they have been reformed in after Inquisition) and the Gray Wardens while hunting for the Elven Gods... now that game i would pay money for.

[@amannamedsquid313]

Also fighting against Solas with an army of fanatical elves at his back while Demons and Abominations that have never been seen before plague the land as the raw magic of the Fade bleeds into Thedas and makes the Breach seem like a pleasant memory in comparison. Maybe even the return of the Architect or a full scale invasion by the Qunari. All that potential, wasted...

[@RaRmAn]

@@amannamedsquid313 Davrin's quest was perfect for Architect's return.

[@JasonCrowl-b4j]

right now im an old head, but i want to say that after origins during the development of 2 they were talking about doing a resident evil type story.....where every game you get to control a new hero in a different part of the world and the final game all the previous heros and their crews come back for an all out onslaught of the real big bad that orchestrated the whole thing

[@professorhaystacks6606]

@@amannamedsquid313 I refuse to play this. What did happen to the architect? Is he even mentioned?

[@amannamedsquid313]

@@professorhaystacks6606 I don't even need to play it to know that he isn't even mentioned, that's how little faith I have in Bioware now. As for what happened to him canonically? The world will never know.

[@NadieQueti]

SPOILERS It would have been nice to have Morrigan have her son with the warden and see what that was about, we could have the Inquisitor be Mythal's vessel if they drank from the well, so many important decisions that they could have put into the game to make it interesting but nah

[@VakarisJ]

The Dark Ritual could've been performed by the Warden, Loghain, Alastair or not at all. With how little effort they put into writing, I doubt they would've bothered with all the branching paths even if they had the capacity to think of it in the first place.

[@randomxgen6167]

That requires the writers to have played/watched/read/heard literally anything about the previous games firsthand. Unfortunately, such a task was simply too arduous for people in their field, so Fereldan just gets the superblight and they suddenly don't need to worry about building the world anymore because they've flipped the table.

[@tiffk5768]

@@VakarisJa lot of people seem to forget that one choice alone has multiple branching paths 😅

[@C5Dynamite]

can't have a hetro relationship for thier girlboss, let alone getting f by a man!!

[@NadieQueti]

@C5Dynamite that has nothing to do with it LOL the inquisitor girlboss can have a relationship with Solas, so it has nothing to do with heterosexuals and everything to do with lazy writing to get money

[@ammarahhussaini3126]

Inquisitor - “I have defeated Evil God with the power of friendship! You can too”!

[@jeremygeller9145]

Alright millions of things to harp on but this is particularly annoying, the inquisitor says: Tevinter hates me. But their a specific details in Inquisition that that Archon of Tevinter hates the venatori and corypheus cause he is a threat to his power. In fact you can choose to ally with him to take down a venatori stronghold as one of the Josephine dialogues. The fact that the venatori are still around is frustrating but the fact that they are aro7nd and apparently now in control of Tevinter is stupid.

[@anbeegod]

It makes sense by a stretch but I agree it is a jarring thing to say when you could ally with Tevinter in past games

[@jeremygeller9145]

@@anbeegod in theory, but I killed thousands of venatori in inquisition, not to mention their god. And it’s been like a decade after getting humiliated. Tevinter is described as a land of sharks and you are telling me these broken and beaten losers who were getting attacked by their own government somehow took over the capital. I don’t get it.

[@vanguardangel6912]

I always feel so self-conscious about my writing. Especially when it comes to my passion projects. I’m constantly researching how to improve. Seeing stuff like this…? It…gives me mixed feelings. On one hand, I feel better that I’m actually trying even without a budget. On the other…if this is the level of quality that’s acceptable for companies these days…why is it so damn hard for me to get a job in the industry? (Sorry, just…this whole thing is just…bizarre, for lack of a better word.)

[@alexf0723]

It's a very "you need to know someone who knows someone" type of industry at this point

[@vanguardangel6912]

@ yeah. And it sucks so much cause I live in the middle of bum-fuck nowhere 😭

[@ironictea]

SAME

[@Muircetach]

@@alexf0723 Or you need to be a part of the same echo chamber.

[@tinydragon4514]

When the Inquisitor casually mentioned how southern Thedas is nearly gone, that was the moment I truly felt slighted by Veilguard (yes there were issues well beforehand). ALL decisions made by players in DA and DA2 were invalidated, and most choices in DAI. If it were executed in a way where depending on your past decisions made an impact, such as Denerim faring better by having a battle hardened Alistair as king could increase the defenses, could have actually been cool!

[@andrea-ws4tl]

i don't get why veilguard didn't have the inquisitor as the main character again? it seemed like trespasser set it up to be like that

[@smudgeistired418]

this is one of the things that seemed smart. like, i know every dragon age game starts with a new character, but this seems like the inquisitor’s battle to fight - not a random rebel. ESPECIALLY if they romanced solas

[@andrea-ws4tl]

@ exactly especially since it’s varric gathering a team why would he not bring people he has already worked with. Makes no sense

[@Jaco._.]

They did it so that they wouldn’t have to implement all previous choices from Inquisition. Basically laziness from the devs. Also this game was supposed to be a live service game based in Tevinter.

[@alexf0723]

​@@Jaco._. they really said "let's make the same mistake with Anthem and the MMO Inquisition draft again"

[@Jaco._.]

@@alexf0723 I think when they saw Anthem flopped and died they changed it to a single player game again 😂

[@zentumaisle5925]

The biggest problem of Veilguard is there are no character development in dialogue, there are no emotion only information to let you progress the game like a report. Everything is so safe in Veilguard, everyone is so nice to you while in DAI you can see Hawke was nowhere polite to you, he only came because Varric vouched for you, you can also sense the anger and regrets because he thought he made a big mistake to let Coryphesus live. Also why they made Inquisitor dressed like a servant? What happened to her hand I thought Solas destroyed it

[@ВладиславШаклеин-ч7м]

Look closer. The fingers of it never move, it's a prosthetic.

[@FunkyTurkeyRabbit6135]

You do realize that's a prosthetic right. We knew they get one in the post credit scenes

[@anbeegod]

They were just checking the boxes...

[@FunkyTurkeyRabbit6135]

@ if you honestly believe there was no character development in the dialogue or emotion then you really didn't play the game and skipped everything

[@zentumaisle5925]

​@@FunkyTurkeyRabbit6135 I don't need to play this game, just look at how they introduced Inquisitor compared to how they introduced Hawke. Also who would play a game that is a self inserted woke propaganda. So.... I'm non-buynary

[@BrotherAzrael]

Hawke?! Where was Hawke when Kirkwall fell?! Where was Hawke when the Darkspawn were closed and around it?! Where was... ...No my Lord Rook, you are alone.

[@ShoppingAttic]

Hawke could have been left in the fade in inq though

[@Carnage7209]

Hail, trevelyan, inquisitor!

[@Jaco._.]

It’s crazy they mention Aveline and not Hawke lmao😂 of course they mention the girl boss Aveline

[@firestar29]

Since Hawke may or may not be trapped in the Fade, they couldn't mention them.

[@Jaco._.]

@@firestar29 That’s bs! It’s just laziness from the devs!! Isabella doesn’t even even mention hawke at all or varric!

[@mayhemmacy1566]

Morrigan wants to do good? Hell naaahhh. That aint her. Shes always been about herself and what she gains. She doesnt go out of her way to help others unless it benefits herself.

[@emhyr344]

rook really is just "a guy in the bar" nothing special about the guy unlike hawke and inquisitor, power of friendship is everywhere on veilguard lol good thing i didn't play and buy it

[@VerminaeSupremacy]

In first draft of Joplin Rook MC seems to be shaped like thief gatherings crew for perilous and daring heists, hence the name. I have flipped through the art book pages available online and it’s just so saaaaad

[@502jackal]

That was supposed to be the point. No more magical whatever with the power only one person could use to save the world. Rook was supposed to be just a guy. But a ragtag group of 7 randoms taking on gods is a bit too big for "just a guy".

[@koshetz]

Hawke team genuinely felt like a friend group trying to survive in a shitty town together despite their differences. Rook's "found family" is forced and unnatural 😭 it doesn't feels earned or organic.

[@502jackal]

@@koshetz fast n furious: veil guard

[@Jaco._.]

@@VerminaeSupremacyit was supposed to be a live service game

[@Rawen1982]

While name dropping all those previous companions, which Rook wouldn't know from Adam, the Inquisitor does everyhting but turn to the camera and wink, it's unbearable

[@JeshuaHicksAuthor]

"Do you remember ME2? We're doing another one of those missions. Get it? If you care about your companions, you really should do their quests- I mean what they need from you. Did I mention you should take care of your companions? Oh, yeah, I should tell you that you need to watch out for your companions. Did I mention . . ."

[@HANNI-YA_ST]

Side note for the "exposition" in. DAVG. It's not even new information, updating the player on their recent events. It's mostly a verbal barf of things you already know. There is no urgency, repeating the "you assemble your team" info, no personality or banter with old characters like Harding, zero cinematography to make the moment meaningful, simply just terrible art direction with the look of the characters and animation.

[@TheOblivionFan]

gods, number of times i heard "team" made me think i'm some kind of office coach

[@cabbageleon4914]

it's like they forgot the word "party" exists. It was probably hard for them to find a workaround for exposition, showing and telling is obviously thrown out the window - but being unable to speak to your companions at the hub is a baffling design choice. That's usually how I learned more about the lore in DAO and Inquisition - by talking to companions and asking about their respective race, culture and knowledge about the blight.

[@onyxrose4349]

@@cabbageleon4914 Bioware:"We renamed the game from The Dreadwolf to The Veilguard, because the story is really about the team and the companions." Meanwhile, in the actual game: Can't talk to the companions much. Can't ask them about their lives, values, backstory, or about recent events. Conversations are short and don't reveal anything except for one time with Harding but it's literally just about Inquisition so it's *still* just things the player already knows.

[@HANNI-YA_ST]

@@cabbageleon4914 Honestly I believe they didn't want to develop the world much more than they did. They avoided the work at all costs. It's why they talk in circles so often throughout the game. Meet a demon assassin? Keep talking about the demon and the assassin, you know, the assassin that is also a demon, the evil demon inside the dangerous assassin, the one over there who is a demon? Oh yeah, the evil elvan gods? The evil gods that are elvan? The Elvan evil gods that are doing evil things? They couldn't even do exposition because they had no world and information to give exposition on. Instead we got padding in the form of dialogue that feels like place holder scene beats that were never fleshed out.

[@assassinb460]

I want to replay Inquisition now. When DA had you know...an actual story?

[@asrafkhalid1231]

this game made me pick up DA2 and redoing the witty and insufferable mage hawke 😂

[@TechLeafRanger]

​@@asrafkhalid1231I'm currently replaying DA:O with plans to go through all three. Failguard has made me appreciate all of them again, despite what problems I have with 2 and Inquisition.

[@Seifer8]

Inquisition sucked though

[@likeAflamingo-i2e]

​@@asrafkhalid1231 witty and insufferable Hawk was the best!😂 to the point that I would've loved to romance myself!😂😂 they had too many good lines

[@irisravenhild9060]

And DA:O & DA2.

[@ivanhunter6492]

Inquisitor in Inquisition: Politically savvy regardless or race Inquisitor in Veilguard: Name drops everyone in 2 minutes

[@paranoidparak3t]

when the Inquisitor was talking about how South was her responsibility and about all the shit that was going down there, am i the only one who thought "damn, that sounds like a far better endeavor and i would love to be doing that and saving everyone instead of.... well, Veilguard"? i didn't spend the last couple of years saving Ferelden and Orlais just for them to fall! seems unfair...

[@onyxrose4349]

Literally half of Feralden including Denerim killed off in a single line of dialogue, despite saving it twice.

[@502jackal]

I really really REALLY want a Q&A with the writers and fans of the series. I would love to hear their explanation on why so much of the past world state was left out. Like the fact that they clearly only gave a damn about the relationship you had if it was with solas. Imagine if you had your inquisitor romance Cassandra and have her become the divine. Are you telling me no one, not even Emmerich, would have anything to comment about on this?

[@Kyra-qn3nh]

If I had to guess, it's because initially, the game was being developed as an MMO. It's more difficult to maintain world states with an MMO, so they didn't even try. And then when they changed it back to an RPG, they never altered the writing. They just treated it as a soft reboot instead of a sequel, because it was easier to do that than to fix what they'd already made.

[@502jackal]

@@Kyra-qn3nh from what i've learned since all this craziness started, the 2 pivots from previous plans screwed up the games direction. That's why there's so much teleportation travels instead of actual travel, why the 3 cameo characters feel like they have no purpose, their original purpose got lost in the rework, and it's why the middle of the games seems a bit lacking. they basically worked on 3 different games over 10 years with consistently changing teams.

[@hammedburger9861]

I’ve been seeing a lot of critical videos on this game (deserved from what I’ve seen) but I’m glad for this channel because it points out specifically which points are weak in the writing. That’s something I don’t see from a lot of people who are pretty much just trying to make slop content, so I’d like to say nice dude good job

[@NgocNguyen-gn7mk]

Thanks for the video! Veilguard is a diabolical mess, the more you watch the more horrible it feels lol

[@Saerise]

The actors do well with what they are working with here.

[@luxsignifer6996]

i dunno man, Claudia sounded like she just wanted to get it done and get the paycheck already

[@mistermarkham101]

@@luxsignifer6996 And I cannot blame her. “Do the most good??” That’s not the Morrigan I know.

[@ddenozor]

@@luxsignifer6996 Yeah I assume the voice actors know much about the characters they are tasked with. It must have been hard for her to act with all the inconsistencies.

[@artemislove2941]

the way they tried with veilguard to be like “oh see!! your choices from last game do matter!!!” when literally it should just be. “did you romance solar yes or no”

[@MrPainwind]

Where has the budget gone in Veilguard? There is a bar, with chairs and drinks right next to it. This is a perfect setting for your characters to move, be emotional, and do something with their bodies or at least their hands. But noooo, let's stand awkwardly without moving while talking in the same monotonous voice... And Morrigan is just looking at the inquisitor...like she's a bloody statue or something. It's a waste of her presence. Damn, I read Veilguard had some issues, but those issues should have been easy to dodge for a studio like Bioware.

[@Blackness101]

I'd argue the recent staff was paid too much

[@YueAki]

About the Inquisitor customisation, I find soo strange they didn't think of giving us the Default face (or something similar, but in this style) from Inquisition. I can't for the love of the twelve make my Inquisitor in this game. Nothing matches. Nothing When doing Hawke they let you get similar hairstyles and the default face of DAII

[@onyxrose4349]

Yeah Hawke carried over pretty much everything except hairstyle from the base preset in 2. Meanwhile the Inquisitor is just... blegh.

[@roundninja]

I don't love the generically wise versions of the Inquisitor and Morrigan who talk about the importance of friendship. The Dragon Age continuity is more interesting in versions where the Inquisitor is more of a power-mad cult leader with delusions of holy purpose. I'm assuming you can't get that version in Veilguard.

[@RaRmAn]

No, unlike Hawke in Inquisition Veilguard doesn't have any way to pick Inquisitor's personality. Only things from previous games are 1. Inquisitor's romance, 2. What you told Solas in Tresspasser, 3. if you disbanded the Inquisition or not.

[@miloszpawlowski8645]

Isn't voice acting awful too? No matter what, the same cheerful, helpful and didactic tone. Morrigan at 6:32 about "the biggest Blight in history". Like a freaking audio guide in a museum

[@blackcaesar8387]

If I end up playing this game, I am going to take a shot every time I hear the names Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain...and see if I still have a liver by end credits.

[@АннаГубанова-ц1ш]

If you drink a shot for every "Let's go", you won't end the game... 😂

[@emPIEror]

It's been days..bro, you good?

[@YiYaEmperor]

1:37 oh my god... even 10 years later i can remember that cave...

[@55rz55]

If I remember correctly, the way Hawke speaks is determined by how you usually chose your dialogue options in DA2. Like he would speak more sarcastically if you often chose that dialogue option.

[@RaRmAn]

Yes Hawke has 3 different personalities you can choose from.

[@malthazar166]

The peak of epicness would be if the inquisitor was the MC, and if we could recruit the warden-comnander from origins and hawk from DA2, IF both survive, if not, we could get a "random" soldier, like in mass effect, if some companion died in the previous games, they had a substitute in the next game.

[@truegritdirt]

Ya know... where is ole Bodhan and Sandal... last I remember they were heading to tervinter.. so much was dumbed down after 10 years. Imagine this whole Solas fiasco and Southern Thedas fiasco.. combine them... Rook's council is Varric, Hawke(rescued from fade.. 1st thing they tell varric is that he looks old) Morrigan, Inquisitor and Dorian. I could go on and on..

[@dirkbsilver9260]

Its less about how much was paid and more about how insecurly political they are. The DAV team were too afraid to get out of their own safe spaces as writers and explore their characters and stories through the lenses of the era, place, and backgrounds of them. They did not want to see the world differently than they currently do, thus they did exactly what they are accusing their critics of.

[@ABH565]

There only a trilogy. Anything beyond is fanfic.

[@topology34]

The person was more than just the Inquisitor; it’s the Herald of Andraste, even if your protagonist never claimed to be. This person would need no introduction. Even if your Inquisitor disbanded the Inquisition, there should no doubt be a small band of devoted followers, a small defense force, and/or a large network of influential people at the very least discreetly supporting them. It’s just lazy to just say, “I don’t have any pull anymore, and that’s why all of south Thedas went to 💩”. 🤦🏾‍♂️

[@BillyKatze]

OMG that is supposed to be Morrigan? What did they do to my girl?

[@rasheltaylor2217]

Most of the Inquisitor's dialogue is just the game telling you "hey, make sure to talk to your companions" and "hey those statues are actually important so here's how to use them"

[@luuin]

Kinda hilarious they ask for who the Inquisitor romanced at game start but unless you pick a female Inquisitor and that they romanced Solas it's never mentioned or used. Where the hell is Hero of Ferelden and where the hell is Hawke. For all intents and purposes HoF died killing the Archdemon and Hawk was left in the Fade. So much for respecting player choices in prior games to build a worldstate.

[@SOAD4ever47]

veilguard written by AI for sure

[@mistermarkham101]

Gods, you might be right

[@SoulessStranger]

ChatGPT can honestly write better things and dialogues, I'm not even kidding.

[@Palindrome3945]

It absolutely is. The way they have to repeat how the dialogue is suppose to make you understand or feel, because AI can't subtext, gives it away.

[@VakarisJ]

So... wasn't the inquisitor "unhanded" in the last game? That arm doesn't look particularly missing.

[@HimeBurrito]

It's a prosthetic.

[@ВладиславШаклеин-ч7м]

Come on its purely metallic, of course you lose an arm at the end of Trespasser. Dagna probably came up with it, who else.

[@onyxrose4349]

@@ВладиславШаклеин-ч7м If the Inquisitor is close friends with Sera she and the Red Jenny's get her a crossbow hand iirc, from Tresspasser's slides. Which they obviously don't have here.

[@ВладиславШаклеин-ч7м]

@@onyxrose4349 Guts: "Hey." Also "oh, there's that ONE SPECIFIC variant of an ending that they don't reflect here, must mean THEY FORGOT!!!!1!!1111!!1!"

[@onyxrose4349]

@@ВладиславШаклеин-ч7м Considering they don't care to reflect anything beyond the most basic choices, it would have made more sense to reflect what Inquisition/Tresspasser actually had available. AKA if you're gonna give them a prosthetic, just give them the one that's already been introduced. Logically all that needs to change is who crafted it, from Red Jenny's to someone like Varric or Bianca.

[@gogetters6639]

Being paid more isn't going to make your crap story better when you're a crap writer.

[@josepher9071]

7:03 God forbid Harding's mom die. They would have had to write in Harding mourning. That would have added something interesting. We can't have that.

[@vexn3699]

Veilguard is a fairly fun gameplay, carrying on it's pretty squalid shoulders a story with no magic, no sparks, and barely anything interesting happening. Characters have no conflict between them, they always agree on everything, you can't disagree with anyone, you can't kill NPCs, you can barely influence the story, there's a tenuous sense of urgency that is immediately dispelled by the side content being too long and unimportant, Taash is an absolute meme, and no decisions matter until the very end. I finished the game, and left me wanting. It feels like whoever made this game didn't know the first thing about the others, and that every now and then they phoned in a consultant to see if anything was out of place or inconsistent with the canon, just to write their way around contrivances anyways. "No, that's not canon". Oh, okay, then let's completely remove any mention of Hawke, the Hero of Ferelden, Alistair, Sten, Shale, Oghren, Loghain, Zevran (EVEN THOUGH YOU LITERALLY MEET THE CROWS), Anora, Fenris, Anders, Leliana, Cassandra, Blackwall (EVEN THOUGH YOU LITERALLY MEET THE WARDENS), Cole, Merril (EVEN THOUGH YOU PERPETUALLY USE THE ELUVIAN, HER BIG OBSESSION), Sebastian, Carver or Bethany, or anyone who at some point had any sort of plot relevance. Fucking hell.

[@lordodin5755]

I can't believe Veilguard is so bad people look fondly upon inquisition.

[@skynet0912]

I'm mostly angry that they never explain or even acknowledge that the Inquisitor is suppossed to be missing an arm... Did they have it reconstructed somehow in the years following Trespasser? Is it a prosthetic arm? Both are fine explanations, but the game doesn't even bring it up! According to Veilguard, it must have never happened, despite Inquisition being the ONLY game to have direct impact on Veilguard...

[@MoostachedSaiyanPrince]

It's a prosthetic. Back in inquisition, you see it during some of the ending slides, but I don't think it's ever specifically said that the Inquisitor had it made for them.

[@skynet0912]

@MoostachedSaiyanPrince That's what i mean. Inquisition does something, only for Veilguard to forget it even happened. If you never played Inquisition, you wouldn't even know the arm thing was even there

[@Madziorek123]

My thoughts exactly! There is not even a line from Rook that would suggest they know what happened. Why can't you ask the Inquisitor or "Varric" or Harding about it? Should the player just assume that Varric summerized last three games to Rook when they were chasing Solas together? Ridiculous.

[@iamshepherdess]

What if your elven inquisitor is andrastian though? And I’m not done inquisition yet but the Tevinter Venatori comment had me scratching my head because I just finished the part where Josephine asks you to help Nevara or Tevinter against the Venatori. Isn’t the leader of Tevinter against the Venatori?

[@_MaxNeon_]

Never listen to reminiscence of an Inquisitor who walks around Thedas in their pajamas.

[@Raizle777]

I just don’t count this game as a dragon age game, it isn’t canon in my story, Veilguard is just an RPG with the same name.

[@yowaikemen]

I'm so, so glad they didn't touch a surviving Hawke in Veilguard. They would have ruined him, and probably killed him too.

[@solomeyashiukashvili7113]

The South survived number of Blights and has three heroes there, come on! I hated it so damn much(

[@coraline3767]

Everyone whining about Hawke, but they completely deleted the Hero of Ferelden. I see they finally managed to do what they wished. To destroy what left of Origins. Yeah, Ferelden is so stupid that bann Teagan turns against the Inquisitor, yeah, Ferelden is so poor that it would die without Orzamar, yeah the Hero of Ferelden is so meaningless that Sera could barely notice him to come and save Denerim from Archdemon. Yes, everything is exactly what fans wished to hear to, after all they suffered during DAO. Thank you Bioware.

[@ForgetfullyLost]

I've never played DA, but I enjoy watching these comparison videos and one thing i noticed about Veilguard is thw faces...I hate the faces.

[@Aurilndia]

If you like RPG games you should definitely try Dragon Age Origins, it have old graphic and combat can be for some people not such enjoyable, but it have a really good story, music, atmosphere, lore and it can evoke a lot of emotions. Old BioWare team made this game with alot of love and thoroughness. :)

[@SpookiBunny]

god that scene is exhausting.

[@datemasamune2904]

The Hurlocks and Genlocks were more dsngerous than any of these Veilguard spawn. XD

[@domtom9594]

God we gave inquisition too much shit for it’s time. Failguard unironically made it lovable..

[@FeebleAntelope]

The whole shift away from Grey Wardens in Ferelden meant we heard about Corypheus's effect on the Wardens second hand. Instead of directly interacting with the threat through DA:O's protagonist or his crew, we watch cinematics of people standing around talking about the interesting things happening somewhere else. Sloppy.

[@orhblin]

One thing that stuck out to me throughout Veilguard is that elves, even the inquisitor and Rook, keep referring to the Evanuris as if they are actual gods, when at this point, we all, and they all KNOW that that’s not what they are. And the Dalish don’t seem, at least as far as I’ve gotten in the game, to be included in this picture at all. I wanted to see Dalish elves rejoice at having their beliefs confirmed, only to despair at what the Evanuris truly are.

[@GiveSic]

Me before watching this: "don't, it'll just piss you off" Me after watching: "yep, I was right"

[@intelli-gent9863]

That's a whole lot of talking to say, "you know that thing that happened in the last game? Yeah we do. Anyway, goodbye main character. Good luck on your journey! I'm off to do inquisitor things."

[@EcardEcardian]

This is just painfull to watch. I do not think Twinter will be cool with efls showing up in a random bar somewhere in within their borders. Who is watching Morrigans deamon baby? I find it hard to belive that the HOF will just let Ferelden burn to the ground, I left off with my DAO character made the baby with Morrigan, became a living paragon because being a dwarf commoner rouge, also said to the Bhelen that I picked to be the dwarf king, that I whated my face on a big statue, and he was like: Sure, ok. And I got Liana to go back with my character to Orzammar, That Hawk will keep the freemaches somewhat intact, might even get some help from the compaions that made it, also knowing that I romanced Isabella in the 2nd game, is it not so that she will assist Hawk with defending the place. Than there is a lot of other things, that makes zero sense to me, in DAO, DA2, the darkspawn used armour, weapons, magic, tactics, they even got brighter due to the Architect, in DAV they are mindless animals, how can they be a threat at all? Than thinking of all the older chouses will made way for a force to be recond with down south, after all there is no infighting in Ferelden, the elfs and warewolfes have been sorted, who is the dwarf king has been sorted, anvil of the void thingy. Who is Ferelden leader has been sorted. Who is the force that got saved by Hawk, mages or templars, who is the leader of Orlais has been sorted. I think this are stuff that shall not be ignored at all, more like just squzed into the dialog at some point and you get a sense of the world is connected with the older games. What happend is that the inqusitor that is in underware meets some random dude in bar in hostile territory and it is so casual and they name characters but does not give them any personality at all. In DAV the legacy characters have a diffrent personality, after all Morrigan is snarky, sarcastic, sharp minded. In DAV nice, polite, that ain't Morrigan, also bugetcuts, what really makes me go: WHAT? Is what happend to Isabella, a big booba pirate that didn't give a dam about anyone feelings saying sorry for moden day audience brainrot, gave that character massive bugetcuts.

[@watchulookinat271]

I missed my Hawke so much......

[@little.tricks]

Hey guys cant wait for DA4 to come out! Should be any year now we just gotta be patient

[@MarcoEscobarg]

The more you see videos like this the more it hurts. If only they would have done the original game, with Rook a secret agent of the inquisition UNDER the inquisitor's orders. They fucked it up so bad.

[@johnaeryns5364]

Seriously, not one single person in the writers room said "hey, maybe we shouldn't start this story in the middle of an apocalypse that nobody understands."

[@zaffarognes]

Morrigan speaks in such a condescending, misterious way in the first game, the same for inquisition. Now she sounds so mundane? good god, this is so sad...

[@GiantSpaceCatt]

The fact that in Inquisition, despite knowing nothing about your past gameplays, you can easily tell what personality you had for Hawke, who you romanced and other major details(without explicitly stating it) shows just how good the writing is vs in Veilguard. I had a feeling the writing would go downhill once Mary Kirby got the chop, but I didn't think it would be this bad.

[@olsongc8422]

So, something I'm considering is that Veilguard has a set a Canonical story. You asked where was Hawke when Kirkwall fell....but it's possible that Hawke died in Inquisition. So, I believe that's what happened.....the Hero of Feralden/Warden has been taken by the Calling/Died in Dragon Age: Origins and Hawke dies in Inquisition.

[@Trainer-uh1zf]

Why does the Inquisitor in Dragon Age: The Veilguard have their arm?

[@captainclown2718]

Ah yes… corruption worse than any blight in history. And not only do we not get to be in the front lines but the implications of that sentence can ruin the franchise literally forever. We can get tiny morsels of info on past blights throughout the games and the first blight nearly ended the whole world with Dumat leading the darkspawn. If this is worse, that means everything in the south is basically completely gone and 90% of previous choices are wiped out…

[@artorius4809]

Hey morrigan,remember that friend of yours who was a warden and potentially the father of your child ? Why not get gim to help ? Not like he has experience fighting darkspawn

[@shogun8159]

Anyone else notice Harding doesn’t ask about her Father?

[@neonate6211]

What really sucks is that the game does not recognize whether or not Hawke even died in Inquisition.

[@kurczeno1710]

well, according to former bioware employees they never did pay them enough. I suppose they were just kind enough to try anyway.

[@rramos117]

Harding: Corypheus managed to corrupt the Templars, Mages, and Grey Wardens and destabilize Ferelden and Orlais using his wit and some magic. It took the entire might of the Inquisition and several allies to defeat him. Inquisitor: But you Rook, I trust you can defeat two of the most powerful elven gods in history even though you're just some competent person with no special powers. Lead your team of bisexual, Disney-fied, transgender heroes to victory. Diversity is strength.

[@Avyrsoul]

No mention of Hawke because Hawke can be dead as of Inquisition depending on who you chose to leave behind in the fade. TBH they should have let you choose more of a backstory.

[@trexenigma1043]

They really wanted to insult us, huh? Denerim and Kirkwall lost. What was the point of it all? We saved those lands, leaving them with what we thought was best for them post credits, now all of that's gone, just like that. Duncan died for nothing. The past games may as well never have happened. Hell, why even tell us about how the south is being destroyed if we're not even meant to see any of it?!

[@VintasticGaming]

Its not about payment its about when you hire dei activists vs when you act someone who love the franchise

[@jonaszpawlacz756]

It's not a matter of paying the writers in Veilguard's case. You could have given the writers all the money in the world and it wouldn't have changed the fact that most of them are political activists that should have never been allowed anywhere near a Dragon Age script.

[@grzegorzflorek5623]

Yeah. When someone is a literal talent vacuum, you can give them all the money you want, but ultimately it won't change anything at all, only your losess. So how to change it? Stop hiring DEI activists/companies and political propagandists, and save that money for people who can actually write a coherent story, people like Andrew Young, Drew Karpeshyn, Casey Hudson, etc... It will end up being cheaper in the end, too.

[@siennahartle9069]

Clearly rent was not due for the Veilgaurd writers

[@morninglaughter2469]

A sequel should build upon the previous instalments. The previous choices should have been incorporated into the story. Yes it would’ve been a lot of additional characters and alternative scenarios. Rise to the challenge, it’s supposed to be a new generation of gaming. If the writers didn’t want to do that; then they should’ve done a spin-off game, not a direct sequel. Then at least years of speculation and hype wouldn’t be crushed. Maybe a prequel game during a past blight, or the war with Orlais.

[@wardasz]

W8... did Inquisitor in Veilguard have BOTH hands? Didn't she lost one on the end of Tresspasser?

[@ChanceDrive]

Even the exposition was better in inquisition, the exposition was all about the past game not just 'hey, this is what you have done in the game so far... Oh and I had friends... Who is the divine doesn't matter'

[@specialk8888]

The game just completely gets Isabella and Morrigan wrong. They’re completely unidentifiable from their previous entries

[@riches3581]

Those "paid well" writers assassinated Hawke's character by sending him away.