Just Finished Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Here’s What I Think! (Act 1 Spoilers)

[@Avaliareborn]

It really does feel like we played different games. Everything you’re saying are the things I value in games, especially DA games, I just… didn’t find any of it to be true from what I’ve played

[@MagdalenaBozyk]

Same here. My annoyance is not that it's not following the concept of either of the other games. All of them had weaknesses and positives. For example DA2 had revolutionary ideas about what makes a hero. The simple fact, that they switched from Dark fantasy to High/Heroic Fantasy is making me frustrated. You are trying to save the world from total destruction, you what you do instead is babysit all your companions. Even if you are trying to be mean (the red choices), you come across ass "you are... um... kind of bad person".... I like the design of the areas being more streamlined, but - they are instead super-gamey and feel like old adventure games. Jump here, put this there, solve this mindless puzzle here. I'd rather have fetch quests. I dislike the 4th-wall-breaking "you can't get in here at this time" markers, especially if it's a quest with a companion that only opens it up for me. And if I don't do that quest, then I'm locked out. I don't know if it stops something else entirely. Speaking of companion quests. You are suddenly a psychologist and a baby-sitter. What was one of the greatest things in ME2, they dumbed it down so much that it's shocking. As a player, you are being treated as a simpleton. Everything is explicitly explained to you by the game, and then repeated over and over, in case you have a memory of a goldfish. The speed of the game is it's weakness, too. I understand they wanted to change from DAI that was dragging incredibly slowly. But instead, the speed is wrong here. Things that require reflection, which in other games the slow-down tempo gives you opportunity to - like go and talk with your companions about what just happens, or, go do some slow sidequest with just exploration to cool down - there's nothing here like that. Instead, it's the boss battles that are slow. Somehow they took the worst ideas from gaming industry about battles (being boss = super long "life bar", so that you have to grind for 30 minutes to kill it. Which in this game turns into "wait for cooldown, dodge, dodge, dodge, do a combo or a power, dodge, dodge dodge") and then claimed... no BOASTED in an interview that now they made the fighting engine FUN. the most fun than any DA has ever been. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the game for what the game is. I love the attention to details in how the Lighthouse changes and your companion rooms change. How beautifully everything is presented and done. How every area has its own feel. But for the enjoyment, I have to forget it's DA I'm playing. I also miss being able to say to someone "This, old, fat cow is your girlfriend?", as you can do in DAO....

[@SantalynValferys]

I fully agree with your review. The flaws are not that bad, and the game has many strenghts. And that is a small miracle when you know the project's history. The main scenario quests are thrilling. What they did best IMHO was that epic vibe, in such beautiful environments. ❤

[@MrNovember41]

I have to disagree so much with everything in this review, luckily Jackdaw made an updated review with some of his gripes and that made a lot more sense. In this one he says things like 'level design is amazing' and there's no 'filler'. There are literal 20 minute 'quests' where you are picking flowers or feeding birds while your companion talks at you. The culmination of which is a dialogue option to support or warn them about their central plot concern. I mean, that could be done in one conversation! The vast majority of companion missions are hollow fetch quests and repetitive dialogue. They're terribly designed. Also, level design is atrocious. It is claustrophobic and repetitive, even going as far as DA:II for recycling assets and environments despite that game being made in 1 year. To me that's inexcusable. The locations themselves are souless. In Denerim and Kirkwall, hell even Val Royeaux we had people to talk to who *lived* there. They didn't necessarily have anything to do with any quests or characters, they were just regular citizens you could chat to. Veilguard has ZERO instances of people who acted like they lived in their cities. The people who look like they live there are literal carboard cutouts, statues that never do or say anything of note. It was the least immersive Dragon Age game yet, 15 years on, and that is... quite an achievement. You have to work really hard to make a game this souless.

[@Lilac-and-Gooseberries]

It’s lovely seeing someone be so positive about Veilguard, I’ve only just finished and really enjoyed it. There’s just so much negativity out there about it and while I totally understand some of the criticisms most are really just hateful and it’s sad.

[@jungtothehuimang]

I just finished this game tonight and I am beyond impressed. Every single thing I wanted out of this game I got. I loved it. No spoilers, but the ending made me sob so hard that I almost choked. I am just ao happy. If this is the last DA game we ever get (i hope not) then I will be happy that it ended this way.

[@Nocturnie]

I loved this game but I feel they avoided talking about the darkness that is tavinter slavery and the Antivan crows training it’s still a great game tho I was invested in the characters and story just wish there was more quests that delved into the darker parts of this new part of Theda’s were exploring

[@WHlSKYtx]

Definitely agree

[@bernova]

I feel the same way. Really enjoy the game but the lack of exploration of the crow training and slavery (Tevinter really just appears like a completely normal place) is a big disappointment.

[@cracmar03]

They tried to play it safe in general. I can excuse lack of talking about Blood Magic and slavery, or how Crows love to buy orphans as slaves. I can excuse it because of times we arrive in both Treviso and Minrathous. However most jarring is absolute lack and trying to dance around anything that should be carried over from Keep. I facepalmed myself when Emmerich had banter with Taash telling her how Morrigan turned to dragon to fight Corypheus. That did NOT happen on my playthrough I was playing for. Inquisitor drank from well. Then we had cameos of Morrigan and Isabela both feeling half-hearted because .. again, lack of Keep. I didn't wait all these years to see members of DA II cast, just to be like Isabela is here. Like she isn't even there. Like she has amnesia or something.

[@Nocturnie]

@@cracmar03 I feel like they played it too safe and in some parts I can tell the writers and ppl didn’t know much lore concider if how Taash says “the Qun isn’t a prison” yet the Qun is known to hunt and kill those who leave the Qun?

[@jungtothehuimang]

Yeah my one critique is that I wish some of the quests felt darker, the last 3rd of the game gets so extremely dark, I kind of wish the whole game had been that way. But honestly even then I find it hard to be disappointed I still just really enjoyed the hell out of this game.

[@Raz_Games_]

I'm so glad to see this perspective from a larger KZbinr. So many bigger video game influencers are completely crapping on this game, I genuinely enjoyed it and felt much the same as you. I definitely have my fair share of criticisms of it, but your perspective is SO refreshing!!

[@ract46]

There can never be a perfect game. Every player's 'perfect' is different. For me personally, and I've not finished my first playthrough, this game has some things that I wish were different, but over all it is a really good fun game that I am thoroughly enjoying. I can imagine that I'll play Veilguard as many times as I did Origins, DA2, and Inquisition.

[@Darkness_cs]

After 150 hours on Nightmare and 52/52 achievements I've completed my first playthrough. I've forced myself to play the game to unlock every lore possible, my expectations were already low cuz I new it was supposed to be a multiplayer game first and then it was rushed to be something else which we can see on the final product that it was actually rushed and wouldn't be the first time Bioware does this. Everything was a complete let down besides the graphics and landscape. Somehow they've managed to make Elgar'Nan more underwhelming than even Corypheus. The exploration is very limited and completely unrewarding item and gear wise. We didn't even get to see Minrathous besides in concept art. The gameplay is a disgrace, it is basically a clicker game with the option to use an ability every 30-40 seconds and the enemy AI is useless as well as it always follows the same pattern. Feels like this game was initially supposed to be a mobile point and click game. The marketing team needs to get fired asap cause they've managed to spoil the whole game through trailers and gameplay reveals. Of course we still didn't get closure for our Warden or even Hawke. At this point every real DA fan will stick to just replaying Origins and hopefully this is the last game Bioware ever makes.

[@19ChrisDanielS93]

There is soooo much they left out! Also why use the dagger for everything!? One of the annoyingly awesome things was to choose the right combination of party members to unlock a specific door, so you had an actual reason to revisit that area and find small details in the lore And why is Lace just another Varric! Why not give her titan magic powers!!!?👀😭😂 Or why not include the Architect, turn the blight against the gods. Fucking daft man! -Sera _ DAI

[@WrathOfTheShaft]

Ive only watched playthroughs of it so far, it looks fun. But i think the dialogue criticism is a real one, i had a hard time listening to it. But the story itself was great and the gameplay looks fun as hell.

[@BBS-dl1lt]

I’d argue that it’s the voice acting that makes it feel weaker. Neve, Mythal, British male Rook, Teia, and Morrigan were all excellent performances and their dialogue felt good. The weaker performances from Bellara, Davrin, Taash, etc all made their dialogue feel stiff, unmoving, and a bit immersion breaking.

[@yohanes2034]

​@@BBS-dl1ltI thought Neve was weak, sone of the dialogues felt stiff and wooden. Davrin imo was great. Taash was also not good. However, the real downside is from the writings. The dialogue lacks some depths, the voice actors were only given the material. The voice director could also be the problem

[@BBS-dl1lt]

@@yohanes2034no idea how you consider neve to be a weak performance. One of the few characters that actually sounds like you’re talking to a human being and not a bad anime dub voice actor. Davrin was…very video game voice actor. Maybe I wouldn’t label him as a weak performance, but definitely not one of the good ones. Yeah I’m sure whoever they brought on to direct the voice actors probably wasn’t great either, but hard to make that call when there were some good performances in the mix too. Honestly I really don’t consider the writing to be bad. I’m honestly not sure if it’s just nostalgia blinding people or what, but origins had a lot of really mid dialogue. So much of the Alistair dialogue was so cringe it’s actually painful to go back and listen to it. Small characters often had such bad performances it made me think they just had random BioWare staff doing the lines to save money. I honestly believe Leliana and Morrigan’s performances carried that game. Alistair has a great performance too don’t get me wrong, his writing was just…meh. Lastly, I just watched the full Taash romance and honestly it had some good stuff. A lot is definitely kinda cringe and not the best, but there were some one liners that actually got a chuckle from me. Honestly I think it’s difficult for a lot of people to pinpoint what they dislike about the dialogue…whether it’s the performances, the writing, the direction. I see a lot of people complaining about it sounding too modern and informal, but that just makes me think they haven’t played dragon age games before. Iron bull and varic both have a very modern way of speaking and swearing. Even Alistair had a rather modern way of speaking, people just overlook it because to them British=fantasy voice. Do I think this game has excellent writing? No, but honestly I think most games have bad writing. This game is fine and absolutely playable and enjoyable with better lore than the vast majority of other games out there.

[@yohanes2034]

@@BBS-dl1lt imo never sounded wooden and 1 note to my ear. Maybe that’s what the character needs it to be or the art director could do the job better. I didn’t play DAO when it launched, I played it 3 years ago. I played DAI first and I noticed several DAO dialogues are indeed dated and cringy. But c’mon don’t drag Alistair dialogue cause it’s funny lol. I know it’s not thematically correct but he’s made to be a comic relief. I guess main criticism is about the variety of response and the renegade options lack punch. Even though I always play as good and silly protagonist but I still think it’s a valid criticism.

[@coolassmonkey]

@@BBS-dl1lt I feel like british male Rook is *THE* way to go for Rook. Can't speak on the female options, but the american male one feels quite wrong. It's not so much the performance, but the tone of it I think. But I genuinely don't see any weak performance in this game. I adored Bellara, Davrin and Taash's voices.

[@resistencia1297]

It's so nice to see a positive review and not a bald man yelling

[@theregnar02]

been a fan since origins and it feels we played different games man. i felt like 75 % of all dialogue to be either bland or patronizing. the game offered very limited roleplay options and had mostly boring companions and extremely dull side quests. I grew to enjoy the art style but the overall change in tone ruined a lot of that i loved in previous entries (rp, dialogue, grimdark etc.) the main quest itself and the combat were decent which helped me push through. the ending was great and i appreciated the lore revelations. Overall this is the worst dragon age game: 6.5/10

[@timnil]

I just wish Rook could swim...

[@JackdawYT]

This!

[@EmoBearRights]

Your Inquisitor couldn't either.

[@CarrrionCrow]

At least you're enjoying it.

[@mysticonthehill]

Have to say my impressions and yours are wildly different.

[@bigSwigsofGuinness]

He was never going to dislike it, it’s been his life for too long… he would always just find the positives in the game whatever it was like

[@bigSwigsofGuinness]

Anyone who prefers DAI over DAO has a greater chance of liking DATV I reckon

[@Shinarydk]

Same. I enjoyed the game by NOT thinking of it as a Dragon Age game, but other than that - no it had no impact. I am a Solavellan and I don't even enjoy Solas at all anymore. He is so poorly written in some aspects. The companions are alright, but I don't get to love any of them and I cannot get myself to care if they live or die. Manfred and Assan are the only things that arfe genuinely great about this game.

[@Shige2213]

thats because you dont have any personal relationship with the devs and writers

[@shizuma357]

​@@bigSwigsofGuinness DA:O will forever be unsurpassed but DA:I is also an incredible game mate.

[@Joshuaraymalan]

It's genuinely pleasant to hear someone unabashedly having a great time with the game. It's not perfect, but really love this game and it will probably be the only thing I'm playing for a long while.

[@Bdeslaurs]

Despite the many flaws of the game, I really enjoyed my experience of the game. The Dreadwolf regrets mural really had me going for them back to back, so many years of tin foiling being confirmed in front of my eyes was incredible! Also Lace Harding companion quest was really interesting, can't way to get your view on it.

[@nightingalebard]

Ali Hillis's voice acting in the latter half of Harding's quests made me CRY. It was so well done - a fascinating reflection of both lore and Harding's character.

[@galaksina]

I am about 45 hours in and only about halfway through. The amount of unique dialouge my mournwatcher mage has had, be it with an optional side-quest, with her own faction, ambient dialouge while out in the world during some sidequests -and- unique reactions. The fact she can go on a side-tangent mid animated cutscene with Emmrich about spirits and have another companion react to it is one of the small things that won me over into loving it. "You sound more fancy talking about mourn watch stuff"-..xD Shall watch the video when I finish up, but hope everyone else is having fun when they pick it up!

[@Hidalgoes]

im having a more mixed experience with the game otherwise, but my feelings are mutual playin as a mourn watch mage, im very satisfied with how the game has given me dialogue options to explore an idea of a delinquent student meeting the teacher he never had and who he wouldn't be able to be bonding with now if he hadn't been off being a delinquent back then. very similar to the rp I imagined going in. and its chill I can just pepper in every once and a while that I dig eyeballs and spleens and stuff too.

[@jessicatate3162]

Emmeric is such a surprise 😍 his entire astatic and personality is amazing.

[@FelisImpurrator]

I went for an elven Veiljumper mage first round because I'm angling to get close to Bellara and like their lore, but Mournwatch sounds so cool I'm probably going to need to run a second mage that way, ha.

[@galaksina]

@@FelisImpurrator I can deff recommend it - romancing someone from your faction deff adds a lot to the dynamic as well I think, for me at least.

[@FelisImpurrator]

@galaksina I restarted for Shadow Dragons and Neve, and will probably start another as a rogue for the Veil Jumper synergy and Bellara. If I go for the Mortismal hat trick and do six runs of at least the main story, I'll probably do Mourn Watcher Mage, Antivan Crow Rogue, and Warden/Lords Warrior with at least one of each race. Really though, I'm not seeing this so-called terrible dialogue people keep going on about, at least in the intro scene up to the Lighthouse. And the game is gorgeous. Reviews gaslighting me once again.

[@Xyjmanz]

I loved the game, as a long time dragon age fan it gave me what I wanted. It wasn’t perfect but these comments are way over the top on how “bad” it is. It is very much Dragon Age still

[@1eoso1e]

I've got say we had different experiences of Vielguard (although I did really love the ending), for the most part I was meh to actively disliking it, but I'm glad you enjoyed it! One thing I'm looking forward to is some lore theories/deep dives in the future! 🥰

[@ozsky482]

I’m in Act 3 right now and every mural reveal you were literally on my mind 🤣 I was like “oh my god I can’t wait for the jackdaw video on this”

[@brie1232]

Every time Emmerich says something I'm like Jackdaw would love this man

[@JackdawYT]

hahahah awww you are so kind to think of me and SO RIGHT!

[@EffieStephens33]

I have been WAITING for this video! You did this in the perfect way, too-I am still in the game and you thought of that. I don’t know anyone into it like I am, so it’s so great to connect with those that get it. 🎉

[@ChloesDragons]

With the warrior and slayer comment you said about it being sluggish and the rage. The combat feels heavy to me but does feel realistic. With the rage, you just need the right skill points and items, I build rage in seconds, never been a problem for me!

[@JackdawYT]

Very glad to hear that!

[@samanthahardman7459]

Would also like to add I hope I'm not the only one who can appreciate what an absolute smoke show Solas is in this game!

[@sktzmplg]

I honestly wish Rook could have romanced Solas. They had so much chemistry.

[@vamps_org]

I love the game. I took me a little bit of time to get used to the companions and such, but everything has really grown on me

[@lucas15034]

I would have waited if it meant the writers could have done their job and incorporated past Decisions into the current game.

[@eestiny9734]

This was made for us hardcore fans? I think, it was not made for me a hardcore fan!

[@maniatissa]

Sorry for being such a killjoy, but The Veilguard cannot hold a candle to the rest of the trilogy. Every aspect of it is a dumbed-down,optimistic and light themed version of DA, without the moral complexities , ambiguities and terrible consequences your actions had, in the first 3 games. This is not dark fantasy-not anymore. I do enjoy playing it, but I try to separate it in my mind from the rest of the trilogy. I am not a purist by any means, but I've been playing DA since 2009, and having played all 3 games many-many times, I can't help noticing the huge differences between this game and the previous ones. Probably the best written character in game is Solas..Thank goodness they did not butcher him!

[@TheSpicyLeg]

There was simply zero moral complexity to this game. It’s just way too tame and safe for a supposedly dark fantasy world. Whatever DA and BioWare is now, it’s not for me. I hope some other people can get enjoyment of what it has become, though. Maybe I’ve reached the age where I recognized I am not the target anymore. I dint get angry, just enjoy what I’ve got. Origins will always exist, and despite how many times I play through it, it never gets boring.

[@tbullock63]

The game made me feel like a slow-witted apprentice, who needed constant instruction/correction from the team. When the dialogue started throwing in modern/RL ideas and phrases, I, as Rook, started to wonder why I was there, so after about 12 or so hrs of gameplay, my Rook left the team/game. I'm glad you enjoyed it though.

[@afrobanditx2972]

Can you leave the comment section and the internet too

[@brie1232]

I just wish Fenris was in it

[@WHlSKYtx]

Nah. New game and y’all just want old stuff

[@Nicgross]

Would definitely have made sense to have him be a Shadow Dragon. I kept expecting him to be The Viper.

[@afalsestar]

Eh, he's a conditional character, right? So it would have been difficult for him to make a major part of the story. Granted, Isabella was too, and having her randomly show up looking 20 years younger than she is supposed to be was... awkward.

[@Tlevids]

@@WHlSKYtx Yes, because the old stuff is superior in almost every way.

[@GardenOfEvey]

@@Nicgross I thought for sure he was the viper as well hahah

[@angelahooper4779]

I'm about 50 hours in and just finished weishuppt, I am having such a joy soaking everything in that I can. I KNEW you were gonna love it lol I could picture you freaking out at certain reveals 😂

[@brie1232]

Yesss, I was playing it through and I was like oh jeez, Jackdaws gonna love this

[@msmellowmood84]

I am enjoying myself, but this just reminds me of Andromeda so much, it’s so hard to immerse myself in Thedas.

[@locobo580]

Ok because there only seems to be one other person here saying it, I will join in. Don’t read if you have not finished as there will be some spoilers. The game was a disappointment in almost every manner. The story has an amazing and tantalizing quality to it since it tackles some interesting lore but is held back by some of the most mediocre writing I’ve ever seen whether it’s giving generic and uncharacteristic reasonings for secondary villains, cyclical discussions, or literally the worst “sacrifice” I’ve ever seen in a video game. Even with all that I could forgive it because it was a fun game. I loved the skill tree and and GoW style even though I still wished they had a better skill system. What really irks me is that they invalidated the entirety of the whole last 3 games in a series of dumb letters written by the inquisitor. Ferelden? Basically destroyed. Orlais? Heavily weakened with venatori poised to take out the ruler. Kirkwall is literally just bulldozed and with everyone moved to Starkhaven. All of this and we didn’t even get to see any of it. Your choices didn’t matter because the writers took the easy way out and wiped the board. Oh and to top it all off, it’s literally All Elves TM. We got one good thing on titans, a hint for Qunari, and zilch for humans. Actually, scratch that. We got worse than zilch for humans. We got, “Your religions are elves lol.”

[@nycon9927]

Yeah this sums up my feelings about the game pretty well. I was looking forward to this so much, now I wished they never made it.

[@afrobanditx2972]

Then don’t play it and let the rest of us enjoy good bye see you later the community doesn’t need you thank you for your service

[@arkeshn729]

​@@afrobanditx2972Inquisition sold 12 million copies alone. I'm pretty sure EA would love for og Dragon Age fans to purchase the game and not just the Veilguard community "modern audience"

[@afrobanditx2972]

@ And im sure you would like to play in traf… you know what nevermind

[@dirayne]

Finished the game this night and oh my do I have strong emotions and thoughts... The impact, that the ending of act 2 and the whole act 3 left on me is simply indescribable. There are no words, that could totally explain the way this game made me feel and I won't try to find them. What is important - I felt every second of that time count and it all had a meaning, resonated with me and was exactly what a fan would expect out of this game. The characters were, as usual, deep enough to have different sides to them and to have engaging storylines and missions. Although, the beginning of their quests often felt too dry with those short dialogues. And the gift system had me frustrated. On one hand, we have Origins and Awakening, where you simply gift something through the character menu and receive mostly a short reply. But some special gifts, like mother's amulet for Alistair, had cutscenes, where you could really see, that the gift was appreciated. Then in DA2 we also had special items for our companions, that had longer dedicated cutscenes. Inquisition didn't really have gifts for all of the companions, but in the Veilguard the gifts felt lacking. One short reply and a notification about approval - that felt really awkward to me. Companion quests themselves were interesting and felt fitting for each character's story, personality and goals. Although I still questioned the logic and plot integrity in Bellara's quest in Act 2 and asked myself if Taash was a character, that was only created for a single purpose. I liked her, but I like queer characters being simply queer, without it being so in my face in every dialogue. All the areas are simply gorgeous, there is no place, where I wasn't impressed by the incredible landscapes or attention to details. It felt great to run around and just admire the view, as well as explore it all. I kinda cringed at ziplines in some of the locations, where I found them out of place though. But it may be just me. What I also found interesting to compare, was the music. So they clearly reused some of the Inquisition themes or made new tracks, inspired by / based on Inquisition music. And it were mostly those tracks that I really enjoyed. Battle music of the Hossberg Wetlands is also mostly to my taste. But the main theme is too generic. I am a huge fan of all the previous main themes, they are recognizable and have a style, a character, a whole story if you will. Trespasser music with that Lost elf theme? How many of us cried ourselves to sleep with that one. Veilguard though - just one of a thousand other forgettable tracks in the gaming industry. 100% agree with your opinion on combat with 3 abilities, potions being simply there to be there etc. The ability tree seems vast and is vast, but there are really only so many abilities and only so many slots to try to make your combat more varied and interesting. The fact, that we couldn't really control our companions only made that all even more repeatative in my opinion. But I wasn't there for the gameplay anyway tbh. What I was there for was the story of this world, that captivated me since I first played Origins in 2019 and stayed on my mind ever since. All this incredible lore with so much depths, that can be explored! The masterpiece stories of the previous games, that left many questions unanswered and here, in this part, we got some lore, that quenched our thirst. I loved the way, that companion stories were intertwined with the lore reveals and how we got to know more about Solas and the Evanuris. The ending scene, that promises more had my crying broken self be reanimated after I was devastated by the fact, that I finished the game. The story of Solas in my playthrough ended the way I always wanted it to end. As a Solavellan, that never romanced any other character in the Inquisition, I got a lot of what I wanted and am overall happy with the direction their story took. Despite him being at his peak in this game, I still think he could have been more present. He was in our head, after all. We could have at least some more commentary from him or some more advice, but no. I loved every scene of him and all his schemes as well. He stayed true to himself and got what he deserved imo. One thing I didn't like was the way they handled his very last decision, but it is full of spoilers, so I'll say no more. I romanced Lucanis and I felt lack of actual romantic development. Every previous game gave us more romantic interactions, cutscenes, small details etc. Here it almost didn't feel like he was really interested in my Rook until Act 2. Maybe it is different with other companions, I will try Davrin next playthrough, but there we are. And I like, that companions will romance each other, if you don't romance them, that's a nice touch. My Rook was trying to be a funny Veil jumper with a bit of a rough side to her. And I really wanted to have more rude options, especially when talking to some scumbags, that I was going to kill. But nope, you need to stay kind. All in all, there are places, where you make big decisions, that have a large impact on everything. Act 1 decision making quest came so out of nowhere, I wasn't expecting that and it really changed the world itself, which is so great. And then we have decisions, that affect our companions or the world, but not all of them feel impactful for me. Mostly because those smaller decisions don't have an impact, that would change the world enough for me to want to try playing it differently. I always try to finish all the side and world quests, so I never had to decide whether to help my companions or allies or not - there lies a path to make your replay different, but I don't think, I will ever do a playthrough, where I leave some unfinished quests, tbh, that is simply not my style. All in all, it was so worth it. Getting through the large first act with it's ups and downs and getting to experience one of the best gameplay and cinematic and storytelling experience, that I could ask for in this game - it is priceless and I cried so hard starting in the act 2 and almost throughout the whole act 3, as all that happened hit me more and more. Even if they don't make any DLCs - I'll take it. Of course, there is always hope for more of this vast and beautifully rich world of Thedas, but money dictate the destiny of Bioware and Dragon Age. If it was the last game - I'm grateful, that I was able to experience it. And it was also a very special playthrough for me, because the person, that introduced the game to me, passed away last year and playing it meant even more.

[@fox7378]

Well done thank you so much for your comment and I'm grateful to hear another person felt the way I did, with all the ups and downs 🙏

[@Whatsernamelina]

I feel exactly the same! And I appreciate the nuance you put into it :)

[@purgatoriprytania5382]

So, it's choice driven, is it? Can you do an evil playthrough?

[@brie1232]

Nope

[@Shinarydk]

You can't even disagree with people.

[@samflood5631]

I’m having a great time playing Veilguard.

[@BoxingDawg]

I played every Dragon Age day one did multiple playtroughs of them throuought the years invested so much time in the lore.. and Veilguard is the only one in which i skipped dialogue, rolled my eyes a lot, ignored companions and abandoned the game mid playtrough with a bitter taste in my mouth. But i genuinely am happy for you if you enjoy it. To each their own. You are an awesome person Jack!

[@CorinneO.O]

I found the writing so weak and the lack of choices for role playing such a turn off.. i started playing BG3 again. But i so so agree Jack is such a gem i am happy if he enjoys the game❤

[@endlezz2k11]

Its a bit of a double-edged sword. There are a couple of scenes with great dialogue and emotions where peak Bioware shows. But there is also a bit of cringey dialogue, especially the first 10 hours. All in all for me the writing is not worse than Inquisition or DA2 but obviously not on Origins level.

[@VerminaeSupremacy]

@@endlezz2k11 yes it is worse than DA2. Just look at the endless tautologies and simplistic language these characters speak, and there's no edge in their banter, too, while in DA2 they were taking jabs at each other constantly.

[@iamcsxii4043]

@@VerminaeSupremacythe characters in DA2 have no character arcs and pretty much stay the same from beginning to end (besides Anders who is by far the most interesting companion in that game).

[@lordfickle8900]

​@@iamcsxii4043Bro you gotta be smoking crack. They have no character arcs?? They have more personality and conflict with each other than Veilguard and even Inquisition.

[@skelitonking117]

lolwut? This...this is not the reaction I was expecting Jackdaw to have... Like, sure it's fun game but, "beyond any expectations"?

[@skelitonking117]

I’m currently about 20 hours in, and yes, the game is STUNNINGLY beautiful, and the lore drops have been amazing…but the writing is, soulless, or maybe the characters lack of proper facial expression matching their dialogue is the issue? Besides that my only, and glaringly large, gripe with the game is the lack of impact; being able to import NOTHING from my prior 15 years of DA is a huge blow.

[@mateogarcia3866]

Same thing but I thing he's a lot happier knowing how hard the dev had it the last 10 years and it's impressive how they manage to at least make a decent game.

[@Bigotedechivo]

@@skelitonking117the facial expressions are not much different from BG3

[@FearlessXful]

@@skelitonking117 finish the game first before judging the story, jeez. The writing from the second half of act 1 onwards is up there with BioWare's best.

[@copper1675]

It certainly surpassed all of my expectations I was so, so happy about the ending and everything before that

[@peppermintzzz6844]

Dock town really reminded me of Kirkwall which made me so reminiscent about DA2! Also, since Kirkwall was a tevinter territory I really appreciated that there was a resemblance in architecture. Fun extra detail to me!

[@lestallia733]

I'm so glad you are enjoying it! I just finished Act 1. I'm so hooked! Looking forward to see what else remains. The LORE has had me screaming (in the best way)

[@SunsetDude664]

Thank you for this review . I am currently partially through the 1st A.C.T as just got my whole party and I also have had a few OMG!!! moments. I want to savior every moment and actually just hang sometimes... Love the cities and learning to love the Beach lol. But with everything being so quick to judge and wright something off because a little thing isn't what one wanted is to me somewhat indicative to the reactionary and viral society today. So Thank you Jackdaw for being once again the voice of a well balance and positive view on this fantastic journey and I am so hoping for ME4 or 5. I have really grown to love that trilogy as well so been trying to support Bioware as much as my wallet will allow. Be safe out there Jackdaw. Please take care of you and don't pay attention to the idiots in charge , they ruin everything lol

[@calimel9092]

i need that video about the last act. i need a comment about the after credits. confusion, sadness, spechlessness - it was all so mixed up when i finished the game but i am so happy about the game

[@Felsenkeks]

I'd have rather waited another 10 years than get this empty shell of the world that means so much to me. The gameplay and visuals are fun, some companions are well written, so I get that casual players would enjoy it nonetheless, but as someone who is deep down in the lore trenches as well I am confused that it's everything you hoped for, when the worldbuilding of the franchise was ignored to such an extent and generally written so poorly that it might as well have been set in any generic fantasy world without nuanced motives or political forces. And what they retroactively do to past games feels downright disrespectful to fans... I am beyond disappointed, I'm heartbroken.

[@deusfortier5635]

I share all the same sentiments. It's heartbreaking.

[@christianmoore8898]

Disagree completely. I’m in the same boat as you when it comes to lore and such and I had a great time with the game. It’s no 10/10 but it’s a solid 8. It’s not aggressively bad and not fantastically good. However more good than bad for sure.

[@blaize2638]

That's why for the past 3 days on reddit people have been calling for non-Canon

[@BBS-dl1lt]

@@blaize2638yeah but that’s Reddit people. They’re not real. Honestly so far most people that have qualms with the lore are generally wrong or have misunderstood previous lore. Honestly the loudest most outspoken complainers seem to be the least informed on the lore.

[@lunabloodstone]

I get it as I am deep in the lore as well. However after 60+ hours of gameplay I can honestly say I am enjoying the game. I think it may be more enjoyable as it reminds me so much of ME2. My biggest complaint is my choices in the other 3 games do not really matter. Lol I didn't work so hard to get Vivienne to be Divine lol. Also on PC it is very much not optimized. Overall I am truly loving this game and the lore dumps have gotten many reactions from me. It is a good experience if you give it a real chance.

[@j.d.7285]

We're gonna have to agree to disagree on this one mate

[@WHlSKYtx]

Nobody cares what you think though

[@nunuonroad9969]

@@WHlSKYtx ^ found the target audience

[@justcast1429]

@@WHlSKYtxwell I do so now what

[@scumk6853]

Homeboy gotta keep his channel alive somehow

[@lordfickle8900]

Right? I know he liked it but god damn, I feel lied to. All the Dragon Age KZbinrs assured me that the game was great and that it wasn't a Marvel-esque nightmare filled with shit and cringe writing but they definitely lied. Or they legitimately thought this was a product that was worth the 10 year wait time. I was honestly so excited for this game, ready to spend $60 day one but I can't even be bothered to buy it on sale. Yikes.

[@jbolzan]

Veilguard is now my second favorite DA after Inquisition 💜

[@evilauthor13]

I'm not 100% sure where I am, decently sure I'm in act 2? I'm liking it so far. That first major choice hit like a gut punch. I've been having some issue with the dragon fights. Not sure if I need to bring Taash along, if I'm underleveled for the fights, or if I need to regear...but over all enjoying myself.

[@JazzyBunny]

Minor Spoilers for act 1 I really don't like how they shafted Varric. I personally would have been happier if he'd died in the first act. It would have been so emotional. But instead, he's just there now. I loooooove all the callbacks to the book and the camios though. The diolog in the first act was super jagged and weird though. But it's warmed up a lot post. I couldn't figure out who I was gunna romance at first and broke a few hearts. Unfortunately I'll be breaking Emmerich's too cause I chose Lucanis cause Lucanis is my precious Coffee Bean~ And I must protect him! ❤ Wish I could romance multiple characters though. Cause I would totally romance Lucanis and Emmerich and be polly. I also love love love Viago and Teia. They're lovely. The Veilgaurd, to me, feels like a mix of DA2 and Inquisition. And they've thrown in some things from the first game. It's cool. It took me a while to figure out the combat and I'm still struggling to remember the different combos. But once I learned how to regenerate my mana I've been killing it. But being on the autism spectrum, it's a lot. I forgot stuff and get overwhelmed easily. And it's so easy to miss things. It literally took me the whole first act to to figure everything out. Like I didn't know I needed to go back to the light house after missions to get new diologs with the companions. So I wasn't getting the continuations cause I wasn't visiting enough. Cause I like to grind and beat all the side missions first but turns out I needed to be visiting my companions. So my relationship with Lucanis was progressing too slow and that's where all the other characters were asking me to romance seriously and I wasn't ready cause I wasn't getting much from Lucanis.

[@BunpeiMiyabiShirato]

😉😉

[@JazzyBunny]

@@BunpeiMiyabiShirato after finishing the game. I regret something I said. I wasn't ready. 😭😭😭😭

[@fox7378]

​@@JazzyBunnyHAHAHAHAHA IM SORRY 😂❤

[@JazzyBunny]

@fox7378 are you laughing about my bein a whoe and putting myself in a tough spot? Cause I'm really glad there was no confronting like in previous games. I feel bad about breaking hearts, but I wanted to test the waters 🥲 or are you laughing cause I talked shit and then poor, sweet, precious Varric.. 😢

[@stormcloak1822]

I just finished and I feel really depressed like I’m mourning my family.

[@shrine17]

i’m about halfway through act 2 right now and i am OBSESSED with this game !!! i can’t stop playing, and i really wish my real life could just pause for a little bit so i can finish it

[@Lady_Nila]

I finished my first playthrough last night (after staying up over 24+ hours because I just couldn't stop). I was so eagerly waiting for your thoughts. Didn't realize I didn't have to wait long! 🥰 I absolutely loved this game. I have my complaints, but ultimately, I adored every minute. I played a Crow Spellblade who romanced Lucanis. I felt seen with my coffee obsession. And being able to play a Crow (FINALLY) had me sooo happy. I've been a fan of this franchise since 2009. Origins is one of my all time favorite games, but damn, this one comes close to it for me, despite my complaints. Many of which you mentioned here in your video. (Though the upbeat tone from Rook actually worked perfectly for my Crow this time, though my future Rooks it might not). As for combat, I actually played on the Adventurer difficulty. I tend to love harder combat in most games, so thought I'd start out on something above the easiest difficulty. For me, I thoroughly enjoyed the combat. However, that might be because I played a Spellblade build that was VERY bursty. I was tearing through enemies with relative ease. Even tougher bosses, so long as I had the right companions with me. It was just all about that stagger meter lol. And yeah, the final act, the final mission...I'm still shook. I still find myself tearing up. From start to finish, I was screaming...crying...cheering...AND GOD I KEPT CRYING! My roommate was very concerned for me. 😂 And the CAMEOS! From every book and comic character that showed up, and the little notes seen around the world that reference so much..I wasn't expecting it. For me, this was worth the wait. My Solavellan hell is over. And I wish I could thank each developer personally for the work they put into it.

[@danielwise5998]

I'm still baffled at all the negative reviews. I started act 2 last night, and am absolutely blown away by what they did with this game. They really did listen to criticisms and praises for the last games and tried to mold the game with that in mind. The winding, expanding maps from DAO, the followers having their own lives from DA2, and the phenomenal cinematics and beautiful world that DAI is known for. It's really nice to hear someone else praising those aspects.

[@Joshuaraymalan]

People struggle with change. Ten years is a long time to stew on something and develop a head cannon for something that is far different than the actual game being made. This game is also the victim of a culture war, which is disappointing. I think this game will be much better remembered than what some of the current discourse indicates.

[@FelisImpurrator]

A lot of people form their opinions preemptively based on a subconscious bias to align with what they perceive as commonly held opinion. That's a lot of it. They hear "it's cringe the dialogue sucks" enough times that it leaves a subconscious negative bias. Cringe culture is basically all about disliking whatever people already decided they dislike. I've also noticed that a lot of it is people being, frankly, kind of pretentious.

[@Joshuaraymalan]

@@FelisImpurrator Yeah, the discourse on that was really weird to me. I really liked the banter in this game, and thought it was especially cool how the characters interact with each other outside of the player. I don't think I've seen that outside of ME3. Not all of it landed for me, but that's pretty typical. People have rose-colored glasses with previous games, and BG3 has shifted people's expectations. To me, this writing is mostly really good.

[@FelisImpurrator]

@Joshuaraymalan It's genuinely on par with ME2 and 3 so far (only just met Bellara but that's half the companions). Better plot than 3 for damn sure, but the character interactions are great too. I'm literally not seeing the complaint that they completely lack subtlety or just say everything directly without nuance, which is what a lot of people say. Nor are the quips as constant as people said they were. Then again, I only played half of Origins before now, and I recently replayed ME1+most of 2 via LE, so ME2 is fresher in my memory than usual. This feels like the ME2 of DA in almost every way (except with less generic combat and real enemy variety).

[@yhanos3169]

​@@Joshuaraymalan OMG yes. Thank you for saying that. So many people complain about the writing in Veilguard. I replayed all of the games right before release and i just have to say, that BioWare writing just is a bit cheesy. It's always been. And that's what i love about it. And i can confidently say all of this because I 100%-ed the game just yesterday. This is classic BioWare and Dragon Age, just a switch in Combat and Art Style. There are valid criticisms of the game, but i dont think tone, or writing is one of them.

[@raerae1518]

I'm so happy that you enjoyed the game, and I agree that there were some great highlights. Sadly, overall i was disappointed by the game as a whole, which didn’t feel like DA at all to me. Whilst we have alot of dialogue with companions we dont actually get to know them. Take Lucanis, my LI, i know he likes coffee but not what happened to him in the ossuary, or what it was like for him growing up, or even what it feels like having reached an agreement with Spite. Just coffee.

[@cracmar03]

Yeah that was my issue too. I was very curious to talk with Davrin about how long ago he joined, or what his clan was normally like. Or hell tell me about monsters you've killed, or whether or not his world was shaken when it turned out Evanuris were mere tyrants. BLIGHTED tyrants. Like both him and Bellara should have some really hard time accepting who are we fighting for, as should Dalish Rook like mine was ... but it never happens, because I guess game had usesless timeskip of 10 years since Inquisition and Evanuris being tyrants is old news .. I genuielly believe timeskip was a mistake. I also think BioWare made a whoopsie with Uncle Eldrin being your average dalish. I thought they should have explained why Davrin and Bellara both look nothing like your average clan of Dalish from DA Origins, II and Inquisition. Like I wanted a bit more ethnicity there for world building. Like I get to know Davrin's personality, but not exactly the past. He does speak of his reasons to be Warden and how he was not happy from clan's life perspective. But that's it. Nothing about parents, or actual relatives .. I know uncle is not uncle at all. However that's also issue with Rook themselves. BioWare should have taken note from ME 1 where you had two part backstory. One was origin and second was career path. I did not felt anything towards Lords of Fortune given how backstory went. And hearing Isabela talk only boasting about Taash .. was just annoying. Like I want to learn about companions AND protagonist. This is like 4th game ...and protagonist, minus Hawke, has next to no personality whatsoverer and cannot be defined in dialogue either. I was yearning for more heart to heart conversations between Rook and companion. I hoped Emmerich when he initially expresses some excitment over meeting Rook would land us on some dive deep onto our past and defining who we are, but sadly not. It never happened.

[@nycon9927]

Yeah, like Lucanis is actually a bloody abomination! I was expecting major drama, conflict and actual danger from this! It's a complete redcon to everything we ever learned about abominations in previous games. So.... Coffee? Wtf?

[@ChloesDragons]

So glad you liked it! Havent even finished act 1 yet but im loving it too ❤

[@Felandaria]

I am currently struggling with continuing the Game to be honest. Yes the Lore os Dragon Age. But the whole environment, the writing, the characters...they seem a bit off to me. As if the heart is missing. Especially the characters in the past had life, i could identify myself with them. The consequences in this game are...blunt. I treat this game as an own game and yes, it is quite enjoyable somehow now. But its obvious to see that the old bioware members arent there anymore and this franchise is shifting to a very different path. Epler said it will be dark again. Back to the roots of DAO ... i feel lied to. However thats just my opinion. If anyone is loving the game , love it. Enjoy it to the fullest and embrace it ❤

[@zaklex3165]

It's dark in the sense of the Evanuris and the blight/darkspawn potential for taking over the world. I could easily see what would happen if you failed and that would be very, very dark indeed.

[@stefemp]

I'm about 15 hours in, does the story and in particular characters interactions with your team become less shallow over time?

[@deusfortier5635]

The main story picks up in the final 2 hours. Character interactions remain shallow and cringy all the way through.

[@pixelmafiaxbl]

Without spoiling anything, one of the little touches I loved were the missives you regularly receive from the Inquisitor. Just being told about what’s happening in Southern Thedas while we’re dealing with events in the North and the mention of places we haven’t visited since Origins was pretty cool.

[@tartatovsky]

Being told that Ferelden was basically scorched earth was pretty cool? Rendering out actions in Dragon Age Origins useless?

[@pixelmafiaxbl]

@ In what way do you feel like it rendered our actions in Origins useless? Because we saved Ferelden from the 5th blight but there had been 4 others prior to that so there was always going to be another one at some point… our actions were never going to bring everlasting peace & The Veilguard is set like, an estimated 15 years after the events of Origins?

[@pigdog8228]

Okay but did they scrap vaeya and turrn her into bellara and where did sten or the warden civil war go

[@C0ldFlame2682]

Not watching the video because I'm a slow player and still in act one but want to comment! I'm happy you're liking it Jackdaw! I think there's a lot they did well but also a lot that really drags the game down. At least so far for myself, it's not the masterpiece i would have expected after such a long development, but I'm still having fun.

[@alexrababah9500]

People sometimes have a really hard time just letting themselves enjoy something. Keeping your gaze to the past is not the way to move forward. We embrace change, we don't fear it.

[@lisdraconis2212]

I have to disagree. Mempries is what makes us who we are. It felt like the devs just wanted to get rid of it. Look at the letters of Inky what they did to the south. Ferelden is just swallowed by blight and the only ford still standing is Skyhold. Very disrespectful.

[@fox7378]

​@@lisdraconis2212It's what happens when the world is overrun by blight mayhaps

[@tartatovsky]

@@fox7378 The problem is they basically said everything that we did as Hero Of Ferelden was meaningless. So what's the point of playing any of the games before this? Nothing we did meant anything in this game. These new hack developers basically said "Hey, those are old stuff. They're over. Get over it. Play with this new shiny shallow thing instead. Oh and we'll start some ideological sermon as well while you're playing, so you're not allowed to say no to us, okay?" Disapointing.

[@fox7378]

@tartatovsky I disagree, but I can certainly see why you feel that way. To me, it doesn't undermine the past games because they were stories of sacrifice, stakes, and real threats of their time. If anything, I think this game acknowledges that (there are even lots of nods to the HOF in DA:V, DA2, and DA:I) and shows how much the world is developing overtime due to the stakes the world faces. It's all different stories that work together to form a bigger narrative

[@tartatovsky]

​@@fox7378nothing we did in the past meant anything by the end of this game. The whole Southern Thedas is gone to cinders.

[@Kixsanity]

1:19 i could only watch up until this point since i don’t want the game spoiled for me 😅😂 However I’m glad to hear you enjoyed it and will be back to watch this & the rest of your videos after i complete my own personal play through. Cheers !

[@milosgagic5689]

Varric dies, solas dies, taash is non binary 😅

[@Kixsanity]

@ you know I’m fine with you spoiling the 1st two but i draw the line at you spoiling Tash gender identity for me 😂

[@teriyaki_chick]

despite some of the flaws like the lack of cameos, rushed romances, and such, i really enjoyed it. i cried so much. i think overall it was a great addition to Dragon Age, even if i wished there was more.

[@Britbarian_Rage]

Which romances feel rushed? 👀

[@teriyaki_chick]

@ personally, i romanced Lucanis. i adore Mary Kirby’s writing but she’s stated multiple times that she’s bad at writing romance. and to give her a companion that is directly characterized as “a romantic” with very little actual romance felt off. you don’t even get a kiss scene till basically the end of act 3. a lot of his romance scenes could have subtle dialogue changes and basically be platonic. i don’t know why they gave Lucanis, a romantic character, to Mary Kirby when she’s been very vocal about how she doesn’t enjoy writing romance. i still love Lucanis and he is my favorite companion but his romance just fell very flat, especially in comparison to other companions like Emmirich.

[@Britbarian_Rage]

@@teriyaki_chick Noo, I was gonna romance Lucanis! I'm glad you gave me this insight on the writer before I wasted my time. :/

[@teriyaki_chick]

@ it is still a fun romance and he’s still a great companion. i still encourage you to discover it for yourself if you want to romance him. i don’t regret having romanced him, just that i wish it was meatier

[@SeventhheavenDK]

The game was bad....yes but it wasn't entirely bad, it's actually a somewhat fun (at least at first) mediocre ARPG, but it's a TERRIBLE Dragon Age game. 80% of the time I forgot I was playing Dragon Age. As an ARPG 5/10 As a Dragon Age game 2/10, imo. Gameplay: It is actually fun at first, the problem is that the game is quite long, and the battles and enemies aren't varied, that's what makes some people feel it is repetitive. I played a mage, and it was fun. But by the end I was very tired of it. Puzzles: Monotonous and repetitive, a terrible lack of creativity. Characters: They are very mid, that's not bad, but the devs marketed them as the best thing ever in the franchise, and they aren't. Davrin and Bellara are great. Harding and Emmerich are okay. Neve is really boring. Taash, the worst character ever created in DA, I forgive you Sera. Lucanis, he is okay too, but feels very underwhelming, he had a lot of potential, but it was badly executed. Main Story: It has really good moments, especially the Weisshaupt, Fire and Ice, and the Ending missions. Sidequests: I didn't like them much, especially the companions' quests, they felt very disconnected from the main quest and were the ones that specifically made me feel this game wasn't Dragon Age at all (only exception being Harding). Music: Wasn't that good, and again, one of the reasons that made me feel it wasn't Dragon Age. Writing: Bad, just bad. As Skill Up said, HR is in the room in every conversation, this line 100% describes the writing of the game. Tone: Everything is so positive and safe, so soft, it doesn't feel like a Dragon Age game in any way, and because of this; nations like Tevinter and Antiva were a total disappointment, they were totally sanitized. They didn't deliver what was promised since Origins and DA2. Emmerich's missions had the potential to be something dark, and it ended as a parody of a kiddy Halloween 😂. The dancing hand, and Hezenkos' personality made me laugh so much, and not in a good way. There is no real player agency in the game, Rook is easily the most boring protagonist so far. I forgive you Inquisitor...or not, as the Inquisitor was very disappointing and boring in Veilguard again. The game suffers a lot from not being able to import our past decisions. Wasted opportunities of cameos, references, and I have found instances where they stomped on my decisions. Mentioning characters from Inquisition that 1) Their recruitment is not mandatory (Like Cole and Sera). 2) or characters that can have bad endings in Inquisition. Also, I felt they disrespected my decisions in the past games by what they did in the South, technically everything destroyed, and no mention of my Warden and Hawke. It was already bad enough that they ignored the Warden's quest to cure the calling, and to make it worse they went out of their way to undo everything they accomplished in the past games. And the twist with a certain returning character in the end was really, REALLY bad. And the post credit scene is just BS, and ruins a lot of the complexity of characters like Loghain and Flemmeth. The only time the game reminded me it was a Dragon Age game was during Solas' scenes and when Morrigan tells you her "secret", no more. This game feels like a new IP wearing the Dragon Age skin in order to feel safe. And just as I thought, the 10 year gap affected the game, the devs didn't know if they wanted to target the old fanbase or a new audience, and IMO they failed at both. Not a bad ARPG gameplay wise. Worst Dragon Age in the franchise (if we can even call this game Dragon Age). Very disappointed, especially after 10 Years, the result wasn't worth it.

[@alinajustme11]

I couldn't agree with you more. These companions were my least favorite in all the Dragon Age games; none of them clicked for me. Davris's death scene was the only moment I felt anything for a companion in this game and even that feeling was minor. The general Disney-like atmosphere, the in your face horrible dialogue, and the modern, out of context terms and language all felt out of place in a medieval fantasy RPG. This is the first Dragon Age game where I can't recall any of the music, not a single track stuck with me. It’s strange because I still remember and listen to tracks from all the past games. Weisshaupt was the very first time the game actually felt like Dragon Age. That, along with the final missions, were the only parts I genuinely enjoyed. It was only at the end that I finally felt like I was playing Dragon Age. Oh, and I didn’t really feel connected to Rook. I guess the game just wasn’t immersive, with the few exceptions I mentioned above.

[@1eoso1e]

I think this is basically my feelings... but I think I would have forgiven it all if the tone was different, in the same way I do DA2 its flaws... I was just begging for the characters to take their situation seriously...

[@ihearttoread]

waiting until i finish my playthrough to watch your review, but wanted to thank you for all the great videos you've made for us fans over the years! 😄

[@cidolfas86]

After finishing this game I felt good. I think that is my biggest takeaway from playing Veilguard. It's a feel good kind of thing, and I think that is awesome.

[@samanthahardman7459]

I'm really looking forward to hearing what you have to say about the Solavellan ending. I'll be honest these games are EVERYTHING to me and the romance with Solas has consumed me for years so going into this game getting a spectacular payoff for that was my main focus and I was also left in tears but I'm interested to see if we were moved for the same reasons.

[@Stormypinkness]

I love this breakdown. I also played as a Reaper Mournwatcher who romanced Emmrich, and i would recommend that playthrough to anyone. Every aspect of the game with that playthrough felt very satisfying.

[@TomGeorgeOriginal]

4:06 Lol There is barely any political intrigue in Dock Town, without mentioning spoilers, it's all very surface-level. You never get a feel of the city that they described in previous games.

[@NickCorvello]

Not to mention Dock Town is so limited it doesn't feel like a vast city. What we were promised was not Dock Town, and Jackdaw is coping hard when he says otherwise

[@jakewanstall-riley3878]

Just finished myself- it was INSANE. I had a few issues with the game (how past choices were handled, the lack of investigate options in the dialogue wheel etc) but easily my favourite BioWare game since ME3

[@LilithPectus-ob5ci]

I totally agree with you It was awesome, i finished it last night and i am planning my next characters and decisions already :))

[@bigSwigsofGuinness]

I’m a 1/3 way through video, are there going to be any real negatives? Or is it just going to be glowing all the way through?

[@Wulfrygg]

Mate, there‘s only shilling on this channel. This is not the channel for a nuanced view on the game.

[@tartatovsky]

Full on shill.

[@Raz_Games_]

I genuinely enjoyed the game. Sure its not perfect and I have criticisms but I currently have over 80 hours in it, I'm on my second rook and I'm gonna keep enjoying it. Some people did enjoy this game and we're not all part of the hivemind.

[@bigSwigsofGuinness]

@@Raz_Games_ I’m enjoying it tbh, more than expected… it’s changed way too much to be compared to the DAO which is far superior imo

[@sapkowska]

I'm happy that you like it. But I have different take 😅 I'm rpg gamer first, DA fan second (but only played games)... For me the important parts in any game are companions, dialogs, roleplay, main story, gameplay, lore, visuals, music (in this order 😅😅😅)... And for me everything felt flat or worse than in previous games (only Solas story and visuals are better - plot twist and secret ending were huge let downs). This is the first time for me where I prefer "bad" ending 😅🤣 So I'm disappointed. But I see a lot of people are satisfied and happy, I just hope it's enough for BW to do next ME and DA games. 🤔

[@JsGotThis]

Definitely loving the graphics, the character models definitely need improvement. I mean Isabella....wtf...and her lines...it wasn't even her personality let alone her body, very disappointed. Same with morrigan, shes all lets be friends.... seriously..morrigan being nice...wow. i actually love her personality in the other games, its just weird how almost every single person in the story is like they moved from mr rodgers neighborhood...taash is just like a angsty teenager...im very disappointed in the character models. But the story was pretty cool so far im in act 2 atm

[@IainDoc15]

So I played through the entire game on normal (as a mage), and it was only really towards the very endgame and dragons that combat felt that it dragged. Though not necessarily in a bad way, but more "this is a bit of an attrition fight" combat compared to other parts of the game where I got really focused on getting my highest damage/widest AoE combos out first thing before using all the arcane bombs that built up Edit: For context I played as a spellblade who went really all in on that specialisation

[@thanemarston4037]

Im sorry.I just dont see how you can be this positive about this game. Sure, there are some positives, but let's be real this was not worth waiting 10 years for. They have completely destroyed the dragon age ip with this release. Dragon Age is dead. I'm going to have to unsubstribe as this is just brain-dead take.

[@JohnathonHC]

I have to be honest. My biggest issue is Taash. If she was removed from the game it would be so much better. I have never seen a worse companion.

[@Zhoyzu]

shes quite literally one of the best characters

[@JohnathonHC]

Nice troll buddy

[@MolotovZav]

Im enjoying the game. There's minor complaints I have about the structure of the game, but I am digging it. I played a rogue the first time and now i'm going to do a mage/spellblade type. I always play elven when I can (looking at you da2) and I was not disappointed by the ending and how they used my inky and her solas romance tbh. Which I heard a lot of people complaining on reddit like "ugh i want the whole game to be made not canon" and blah blah, I think its just a bunch of people who were more personally invested in their own chars than the lore. I was invested in the lore and I'm not disappointed in how they used my previous char either. No spoilers, I just feel bad for davrin :/ I don't foresee me ever picking Harding instead of him.

[@Dumpins1023]

The writing was pretty bad a lot of the times sadly that pulled down the game for me too much.

[@MidnightTea7]

The writingis hardly that different from other DA games.

[@Eualia]

I am not a native English speaker by far it is my third language. I found the writing SO bad at times it took away from the better parts. Especially when you get to the murals. SPOILER the characters force their limited thoughts and shallow opinions on you after each and every mural / solas memory. I wish they had just taken that out kept Morrigan speaking after. There were times it felt forced bad writing mixed with bad delivery of lines meshed with good writing mixed with good delivery of lines... Da2 was made in 15 months and aside the copy/paste assets it was such a good game. But Dave just didn't reach the somber and heavy hearted tone of some scenes. They had more then 15 months to make this game and DA2 is honestly better written....but the art/music/fact no bugs crashes glitches make the game decent along with some lore not the lazy rewrites. 😅

[@deusfortier5635]

@@MidnightTea7 Are you serious? The writing is the absolute worst I've ever seen in a game. It's horrible, cringe-inducing garbage 90% of the time.

[@SeventhheavenDK]

​@@MidnightTea7. No, the writing in this game is really bad.

[@lisdraconis2212]

​@@EualiaDave did not write DAV. He left Bioware 8 years ago. Trick Weeks was the lead writer here.

[@scottcraddock1068]

I also loved it. It was like Mass Effect 2 set in the Dragon Age universe

[@lcicada]

That’s the first time we don’t agree on something. I found the game incredibly dull and the writing terrible. And don’t even get me started on the romances.

[@VillianousKitty]

Jack you flew through that! Im 92 hours in and havent even gotten half way through Act 2 💀😂😂

[@nh_illustrates]

100+ hours and I just finished my first run 😭

[@chaitea3421]

That’s insane I did every side quest, beat the game and spent hours in the character creator changing my hair like 100 times and I only made it to 55 hours 💀 do you leave it on in the background while you do your laundry?

[@chuckwells62]

I'm not rushing through at all. Really trying to take my time, find and do everything. I just finished the siege of weishaupt yesterday. I've learned to ignore the volume of content creators trashing this game. I don't get their scorn at all and wish that they'd just move on.

[@reffa2858]

13:27 Im not entirely sure what item I had (I accidentally deleted my 170 hr rook 😭) but when I was surronded by enemies, my rage was nearly infinite to the point to where I could spam rage abilities back to back. 14:16 in regards to jar of bees, I think there is an item that applies bees to enemies. I think this is the best combat in the series.

[@ZGuy115]

That's great that you're enjoying it! I'm excited to pick it up in the coming months.

[@crazySeafood]

I'm sorry, but anyone who has played DAO, DAI, and were a fan since the beginning days... I find it hard you can genuinely think that this Dragon Age is anything close to the previous games in the franchise.. I've loved your videos and have followed you for many years, but with all due respect, it's hard to believe that all this "positive" feedback and negligence of the obvious failures of this game is not without an alternative motivation. Of course, this is just my opinion. I'm still glad you shared your thoughts, thank you.

[@Nistel88]

I agree! Same! I had to unsub from Jack because his all-in positivity, even when there are legitimate issues with this game, makes it clear he is shilling for bioware to notice him! Years ago he once made a video (a vlog resume) on why bioware should hire him... I think he still wishes that in some way, shape, or form! That's how his review & vids about veilgaurd have come across. Like he is just shilling to be noticed & liked by bioware. Makes me wonder if watching him for all those years was ever worth it.

[@crazySeafood]

​@@Nistel88 I completely understand your view. I think we can acknowledge that Jack also needs to worry about his channel, whether it's viewership/profitability/sponsorship, maybe he has to say/react a certain way. I'm sure we do value whatever time we spent on his channel and got something / resonated with him. It's just a sad development for Dragon Age. What's worse is many content creators will only respond to the same type of positivity comments instead of having a real conversation about the game with people who care about the series. Gameplay aside, sure it's different (which can be good) and we can appreciate the great environment design as well, but the writing is not worthy of a Dragon Age game, and for an RPG, that is key! The time Jack spent on the lore and potential directions of how they could take the next games, there's no way he would be satisfied with how they eventually wrote Solas, Morrigan, etc. Solas could have been the Darth Vader, the General Hummel (from the Rock) of the Dragon Age Series. Heck, they had Loghain as reference of a well written character! The depth of Solas' character and amount of time invested to understand him as a friend and as villain, there was so much potential with him being the perfect antagonist!

[@deusfortier5635]

I've been following you since DAI, appreciating the depth of your coverage and analysis of the incredible DA games & lore because I've been all in - every DA book, comic, game - eating up everything in the land of Thedas. But I strongly disagree with your take here, and suspect there's more than a bit of a rose-colored glasses effect going on. As a HUGE Dragon Age fan and a life-long gamer, I fully stand by the widespread criticisms towards Veilguard, and would categorically define it as a bad game. It has the worst writing I've ever seen. It's cringe-inducing, juvenile drivel which often resorts to either straight up disposition or literalization. There is zero nuance, depth, or complexity. It's such a dramatic departure from the rich, textured story and dialogue from previous games that it's shocking to the system. A lazy storyline with generic mustache-twisting villains. Sidelined legacy characters and story arcs. One-dimensional, caricature party members. A noticeable lack of meaningful player choice or consequence. Watered-down, repetitive combat. Atrocious, comical character designs. Complete shift of tone in music, atmosphere, and game design. Ham-fisted socio-political commentary. And it just goes on.... It's the most disappointing game I've ever played. I've gone through a whole process around it, since I love the DA world so much and have been so deeply invested. It's heartbreaking to see such a wasted opportunity for one of my most beloved franchises. The only positives are the beautiful environmental graphics, fluid animations, and lack of bugs. But what does that matter if the game itself is shallow and dissatisfying in all the ways that truly matter? It's hard for me to understand how someone who loves this series could give such a glowing take on Veilguard when there is such an overwhelming abundance of critical flaws.

[@Nistel88]

Agreed! 💯💯💯

[@cristinakelley1760]

I just finished my first play through last night. I was so excited that this game was finally here. I was anticipating another great DA game. The further I got into it, it didn't seem like a DA game. I was waiting for the veilguard to be making connections to the DAI. For me it was lacking in story telling, in not being able to interact with your companions as in the previous game, and the mission. It was quite clear at the end of DAI Solas was our target. The story didn't take me where I thought it would. The saf thing was Varric. It seemed that Varric was completing the mission of Solas, and it ended there. So sad. The game wasn't too bad. I just didn't think of it as a DA game. I expected more. This game was rushed. All this waiting, and still left me waiting for the next chapter in DA.

[@LilithPectus-ob5ci]

Thank you for your review ! I loved the game as well from the beginning to the end. Thank you for all your hard work in these 10 years ! :D

[@NehnBellanaris]

Hey Jack, question for you. What's the latest you stayed up at night playing? For me, it was 6 O' clock in the morning. Paid for it in the morning. My dog needed to go outside 3 hours later.

[@brie1232]

I'm in uni I was up until 4am with classes the next morning 💀

[@dianamarchetti4387]

It is "surprising" how somebody so well versed with DA lore could even consider this part of the franchise 😅 The writing, character development and choices (non existent) are painfully poor. Heartbreaking to be precise. And for whomever will start to whine about pronouns and whatever they shoved in, get a life. It's not about that. It's the writing, world building and immersion which are appalling.

[@hanli5416]

The lore actually follows up well enough mostly. It is however very it was the Elves stupid too much and a conspiracy theory thing at the end. I think because i always liked the elves lore i was more willing to accept the lore choices. There were tidbits of hints for their choices in the lore of all the older games. I do admit that other races might feel they are done dirty by lore choices. Dwarves are fucked over by elves doubly, elves created golden city and blight, elves are spirits. It was all hinted in older games. General writing veilguard i agree. The dialogues were somehow generally off lengthwise and just not quite on the same level as the older games.

[@neembeans4699]

Waited for this ! Glad you enjoyed it, I’m only 15 hours in and I’m so blown away with it, 10 years paid off. I will say I am disappointed with the dialouge I’ve seen so far I hope it improves, the flow is stilted and sometimes nonsensical conversations that are too much exposition.

[@anrios575]

If you think this is the DA you were hoping for then I seriously doubt your taste for DA. The writing is so bland and has nothing of DA complexity that I can’t digest people liking it.

[@HeirofAether]

So? Loads of people in the comments and many other places share this positivity about the game. I'm sorry you didn't like it, but please, in the future, don't let yourself be rude and act disrespectful just because other fans didn't share your opinions. To be clear, you aren't right now, but some people might misinterpret your words as such.

[@edge-of-nowhere4224]

I'm also really really enjoying it!! I think it's really good, I'm so excited to finish it

[@Julia-301]

I loved a lot of the game but am patiently waiting for you and others to talk about the Solavellan ending.

[@Gryffisnmore]

The first time youve been able to feel the life of a truly bustling city? So Denerim or Kirkwall just weren't a thing in your mind? Hell even Orlais from inquisition...

[@Tribalpotato]

Don't get me wrong I love ever dragon age, but cities did not rly feel like cities in this games. Denerim in origins was "city like arena" in inquisition we only were able to visit very small part of Orlais, and Kirkwall actually was closest to feeling like real city tho. While Veilguard level design is closer to Origins in terms of linearity, environment and cities feel very good because of jump in tech.

[@JoaoPedro-io9yd]

I'm sorry but orlais was horrible, Treviso feels so much better, orlais was 3 alleys and 2 loading screens

[@Gryffisnmore]

@ 2 loading screens and 3 alleys you mean kinda like how Traviso has two zip lines and 4 alleys??

[@Tribalpotato]

@@GryffisnmoreThere is a lot more people in Traviso, shops etc. while city does not really feel alive as cities in some other games, atmosphere is there, and it feels like part of the world. Val Royeaux really underdelivered and it felt like a theme park, instead of a city in the game.

[@Gryffisnmore]

@@Tribalpotato Didnt feel alive in my playthrough, it felt pretty blighted..

[@manandtoy]

At the end of Act 1 here: I agree with the polish and exploration - love the exploration, going through cities especially! It definitely felt like they were directly addressing the criticisms levelled against Inquisition. But I will disagree with some of the combat stuff. I am playing "normal" mode - sword and board - and I'm not finding the enemies to be sponges (except for the really over-levelled stuff which I've stumbled on). I utilise my companions *more* I'd say than I did Inquisition who I generally only switched to if my Inky died or when a specific class was needed for an encounter. I'm finding the combat overall a very fun, satisfying experience so far. Healing and lack of crafting re: impacts on combat I agree with tho. I miss crafting, as that's usually an element I get heavily into in other RPGs.

[@im_azraelle]

don’t know why people are bringing negativity in the comments. fans aren’t allowed to be excited and pleased with the game, apparently. anyways, i finished it two days ago at 57 hours and i loved it. is the writing weak at some parts? sure, but that’s every DA game. a bit of awkward dialogue sometimes doesn’t take away from my immersion, nor does it automatically make the game bad. people had a decade to headcanon and theorize things about the lore or story so on that front, they set themselves up to be disappointed with those certain expectations. people can dislike it, can’t please everybody, but the negativity surrounding this game in particular has been *_suffocating_* , and now that i’ve played the whole game myself, it’s absolutely being blown out of proportion. it’s a good game. the third act alone is GOTY material. love seeing your positivity Jack, can’t wait for more DAV videos!

[@JackdawYT]

Thank you for this, it means a lot

[@Wulfrygg]

It‘s COMMENTS. People say what they think, both positive and negative.

[@tartatovsky]

Actual fans of the series are allowed to state what they feel about the state of this franchise.

[@im_azraelle]

@ implying that Jack isn’t a “real” DA fan is wildddd

[@fox7378]

THANK YOU! ❤❤❤

[@bareloto]

I was really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on the Heligards. I’m currently a bit past Act 1, and I don’t understand how some people have finished the game so quickly-I’m really taking my time and enjoying it. That said, it definitely has its weaknesses. I miss that more adult tone that Michael Gamble emphasized, as well as the renegade options. There are moments where I’m rolling my eyes, which I mention because I hope this feedback reaches the developers in case there’s a future game. Veilguard delivers - it DOES!

[@Saul_T_Crow]

It’s a lot of fun! 60hrs in. I think I’m getting close to the end. There’s been one or two spots the dialogue has been a little cheesy, but yes, the lore reveals have been very satisfying. I have had a lot of theories about thid and that and so far the payoff has been good. I feel like I’ve gottten my moneys worth.

[@jizamkizam9611]

There's def some skills that let you generate rage faster. I was also a reaper and I was building rage super quick and being able to use abilities multiple times

[@eathelyn]

I'm about 70 hours in, approximatively 2/3 of the way through act 2 I think (I just reached the quest that's the point of no return in act 2). Can't wait to ball my eyes out in act 3 😅 I love this game so much and it was worth the wait for me. The game looks gorgeous, I adored every locale we go through and like you say the verticality is really nice. I think this is my favorite cast of companions so far, just finished all the companions questline and they are so good. I love that they all relate to the main story as does the side quest in game. And yeah, some of the dialogue is corny so far but it hasn't impede my enjoyement and some questline already made me cry. I went in as a female human mage lords of fortune, mostly self insert. I was planning to romance Emmrich before going in but fell for our favorite antivan crow XD. I do already have a Rook planned for that romance playthrough tho and one for Davrin too. I love the combat so far, been playing on adventurer difficulty (think that's the name ? the third option) and it's been a good balance so far. I'm an mmo player and that kind of reactive gameplay is way more my cup of tea than the rpg style of DAO so it was a win for me but I can see why people don't like it either. Without any spoilers, I can say that I was eating up every bit of lore in there and I love seeing character from books, comics, etc My main negative points are the difficulty of recreating my inquisitor and the lack of choices we have from previous game mainly inquisition and some choices being invalidated with the dialogue there but nothing that made me want to stop playing. Dialogue could use some improvements/depths but I still enjoy the story a lot. Other thing too, is this game is giving me massive Mass Effect 2 vibes and I don't mind it that much since I love ME2. So TLDR : I'm lacking so much sleep because I've been cramming all the gaming time I can between work and life obligation but I'm loving it. Thank you for your awesome coverage of everything Dragon Age all those years Jack, can't wait to hear all your stuff about Veilguard once I'm done with my PT

[@davidjones797]

I absolutely loved it first play though was 85 hours for me I would say my only negative is that some of the writing and acting was off in about 20% on the game but luckily the main events are absolutely awesome and imo has the best ending in BioWare history

[@renaudtheunissen8935]

I find this game visually beautiful. The fights were cool and the storyline is almost ok. But, the fact that they didn’t use the keep to keep the continuity, the dialogues are far below other DA’s game level…. Even the choices we make doesn’t really fallow the idea it states (like being funny is not fun, being optimistic ends up as being unsure and a bit as a cry baby…) the relationship between characters is a bit week too. As an example: the gift scenes are so short and boring. The romance is also lighter than the other we could have in other DA’s games (yes even with Zevran it was a deeper bond than that). The choices we make are not really important (except from 3-4 of them). This makes the game as a patchwork of untied little stories (probably due to changes in its development). In short, for those who had played it, it’s like FFXV, great potential but the overall feeling is that it’s a bit empty, it misses the core of DA games (interactions, bonds and epic scenes between the characters).