SkillUp vs Mortismal Gaming and the Veilguard reviews

[@LouieLouLoo]

Mortisimals Vailguard video originally has the "return to form" in the description but once that phrase blew up, somebody noticed that he edited out that phrase in his video description. Talk about getting caught and denying it.

[@SweetLuups]

Mort has only played one other DA game so I don't know how he knows what that form is

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

@@LouieLouLoo he also removed the video where he spoke about being brought out by Bioware for the hands on preview

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

@@SweetLuups he did play origins after Inquisition.. he didnt like it

[@gpkai]

Is there a way to check that? I would like to see that for myself.

[@thefinalboss2403]

He's a hack. Anyone with any critical thinking skills can see this game is objectively poorly made. He lacks the ability to think critically. So he has no business reviewing games imo.

[@70mavgr]

I asked Mortismal regarding his statement that Veilguard is the best in the series if he believes that it's better than DA:O. He replied by saying that DA:O is overrated and over hyped. How can someone compare the two and claim that Veilguard is the better RPG is beyond me.

[@Naamturd101]

It's because his first game in the series was Inquisition, so it's that style of game that made him decide he's a fan of the series. Through those eyes Veilguard is a better game, because it's basically just Inquisition with slightly better combat.

[@Mersak168]

I mean, he does have the right to be wrong. I don't like The Witcher 3, but i'm not going to say that the game is Overrated or Over hyped. That game IS good, BUT it don't fit my style. Now, claiming that the best game of a series is overhyped or overrated is just being plain wrong, that's not a matter of opinion anymore.

[@RED_Theory038]

He's gameplay focused from what I can tell and comparitively, DAO is kind of weak in that regard. It's certainly dated at this point. That's the only thought from me that could explain his stance even if it seems weird and inconsistent still.

[@karasu5107]

​​​@@Naamturd101 what?! i came too da through da2, was ok, had my fun with it a short while, but not even though about playing the first game. I completely forgot about the series, i was not a big gamer at that time though (still not a super big gamer, but 2ay more) and when dai came out, man loved it, still do and it made me go back and buy dao. inquisition is written quite good, characters have nuances, development etc etc and you can play your story. In dav you play their story, the devs story, and the writing is super super bad. So no, I'm a fan of the ip because of dai and still don't really like dav. I mean without the gender politics I would give it a 5 or even a 6, but for a da 3 max, even without the political agenda they force on us. I prefer good stories over gameplay, but sometimes brainless button smashing is fun and what I need, but yeah not from an da...

[@Ocean5ix]

Well that's because Origins is overrated, considering the fact that people talk about it as if it's a "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate 2" but the reality is a very dumbed down RPG system with a clunky as hell isometric camera and a story that, while very well written and fun, is generic as hell. Dragon Age Origins is a good game, it's a 8.5/10 game in my book but it's nowhere near, nowhere close to being similar to Baldur's Gate 2. To put it simply, Dragon Age Origins fans say Inquisition (and now Veilguard) are dumbed down versions of Origins, well, to me Origins IS the Dragon Inquisition to Baldur's Gate 2. After replaying the entire franchise as an adult my favorite DA game ended up being 2. I think Hawke's upbringing and Kirkwall being a melting pot of different races and political views is a much more interesting setting than the usual "Kill the Orcs and stop Sauron" story we've seen time and time again.

[@Sly_404]

My problem with Mortismal is that he tends not to substantiate his stance. More often he makes absolute statements (like Vanguard being the best Bioware game or that Origins is overrated), but if asked how so, he isn't able or willing to actually give an explanation. I also find it super weird how he thinks because he 100% a game it somehow gives his takes more gravity. Like sure you absolutely should finish a game before reviewing it but just because you did 100% it a surface level "it's good bro trust me" kinda review doesn't become a more valuable review. Even if I don't agree with SKillUp on some of his takes, at least he explains how he came to the conclusions, goes into details and gives examples why he did/didn't enjoy certain games.

[@burningsheep4473]

I agree, with skill up I may perhaps not always agree, but at least I know where he is coming from as he has a tendency towards strong opinions. With Mortismal his reviews can often give an impression of blandness, of a lack of any real opionion. At the very least it has been clear to me for a while that he has very little to say on writing, story, tone and so on. And those are all things that are fairly important to me.

[@Schpeltiger]

"In conclusion, despite some of its flaws, I really enjoyed my time with it"

[@SolidSnake240]

His reviews are more like overviews with a sprinkling of his personal opinion.

[@stanleykwan7759]

He clearly doesn't 100% all the games he reviews, at least not by himself. He never goes in depth with the writing and has included many spoilery parts in his videos, which you would know are spoilers if you've played the game. Not to mention the rate of him 100%ing games is nearly impossible for someone with a kid. He likely either outsources to other people or edit game files to get the achievements.

[@burningsheep4473]

@@stanleykwan7759 I don't know about any of that, but I imagine the focus on having to 100 % it like that may not necessarily be great for the quality of his reviews. And I also have some difficulty seeing what the actual point of doing it is. Does that mean that parts of a game that aren't relevant for getting the achivements are then less relevant for his review?

[@aquapendulum]

Not analyzing the writing at all is a HUGE red flag, especially in a BioWare RPG.

[@HiddenStr3ngth]

Let's just ignore the biggest and most important part of a story and character driven rpg.

[@dksoulstice6040]

The Creative Director for Veilguard said in an interview that he hoped Veilguard would bring back the Golden Age of BioWare. You know what the Golden Age of BioWare had? Good writing. So of course the writing matters. Mort's review is absolutely nuts.

[@DTHPR542]

@@dksoulstice6040 Never trust people who skip dialogue

[@franciscobutte]

I follow Mortismal reviews for a long time and I agree with almost all his reviews but this time it felt so weird and suspicious.

[@omgstopturd6566]

ain't nothing suspicious about it. People can have their opinions damn. Like I defo put Origins far above veilguard, but that doesn't mean I'm any more right than someone who doesn't

[@johnnyflannigan136]

Only thing suspicious is your IQ..... People have different opinions... It's not that deep dude.. No reviewers are getting paid off .. He really likes the game... That's it

[@morioh6623]

And then you woke up ​@@johnnyflannigan136

[@simonphoenix3789]

@@johnnyflannigan136 liking a bad game is one thing, but calling it game of the year.. that is just shilling. or he just sucks at reviewing games and can't form a rational assesment of a game. Wasteland 3 is one of my all time favorite rpgs. Yet I am able to recognize that the game has a lot of flaws and would certainly not deserve anything more than a 7/10. I don't review games for a living and yet I wouldn't go around calling it the best game of that year or anything despite it being my favorite game that year.

[@acev3521]

@@johnnyflannigan136 Dude people are literally getting review codes based on their reactions to the playtest you’re hard coping lmao.

[@DVictor23]

Mortismal is my go to reviewer since we have an extremely similar taste, but this time I couldn't disagree more with him. I literally could not bring myself to play more than 3 hours of this game.

[@franciscobutte]

Same here. Something seemed off...

[@darthmorbous]

Same...I don't buy for a second, that he genuinly liked this crap

[@Naamturd101]

I think Mortismal blew up because he doesn't really focus on his opinion much in his reviews. He says he's not interested in dialogue or story, which I find a little strange because he's a huge cRPG nerd, but it leaves his reviews being more overview than editorial. A lot of people watching early reviews are doing it because they're on the fence about buying something, so having a guy that lays out all of the objective content in a game and knowing he's 100% the game is appealing. I've got similar tastes to him for the most part, in terms of what I've seen him say he enjoys; but this game and Starfield are the exceptions.

[@ytmandrake]

Bloke feeds his son with review money, it was to be expected. Once you fully rely on your content to be your livelihood, you're done

[@Nast33]

Objectively by rpg standards this game is average at best, yet this guy called it the best DA. I used to watch some of his reviews, but this killed all credibility he had, even before I learned he cheated at his so called 100% gimmick on several titles. If I'd been subscribed to him, I'd unsub and never look back. Now I'll just never check out any of his vids ever again.

[@might424]

I unsubscribed from Mortismal after the Veilguard review. He does not review games - he simply overviews them and dodge every point that people could potentially dislike the game. He simply says things like I like it or I don’t really care about these aspects. I can’t tell if itself his honest opinion but I really couldn’t get anything valuable from his video.

[@Anon9729X]

Not a fan of either of the 2 channels, but watching both reviews, you can clearly tell which review felt like an actual review, and which one felt like it was bought off. SkillUp gives us examples and goes into details, matching how he feels about the game, while Mortismal vaguely says a lot and nothing at the same time.

[@ReveredWizardBob]

Or one that was a disappointed fanboy of the earlier games and didn't really play Inquisition and someone who plays games and enjoys them for what they are and was willing to share his honest opinion on a game he enjoyed... It goes both ways, wish people would be able to remain impartial, but it seems like everyone nowadays has to have an opinion set in stone that's completely polarized. Either you hate it or you give it GOTY. What ever happened about enjoying games for what they are and then being critical of things they didn't like, without boarding the hate train. Veilguard certainly isn't GOTY but I enjoyed the hell out of it regardless and doesn't deserve as much hate as it's getting.

[@SeventhheavenDK]

​@@ReveredWizardBob. Actually you are the one not being neutral. In the end the op of this comment is right. Skill Up gives concrete examples that back up his claims. Mortismal review is very generic, and more focused on gameplay (which is not enough for a game like Dragon Age). Now, you can agree with what they say or not. But, the op is correct. Skill Up's review is more complete, and it's an actual review, Mortismal is more like an overview of the game.

[@Schpeltiger]

I don't know if you guys noticed this but Mortismal deletes comments that he has no proper response to. There was a good comment thread about how health sponge enemies are bad game design and he got dunked on with actually good points which he deleted. He eventually got really tired of people reposting the same replies on the same thread that he deleted the thread altogether.

[@KT-83]

He deleted one of my comments to...

[@khal7702]

my comments got deleted too n I was supporting the channel. I unsubscribed because feel he was silencing people of different opinion than him

[@Ocean5ix]

There's no such thing as "bad game design".

[@TheTomoyaNagase]

@@Ocean5ix that's such a obviously bad and dumb take

[@voiceofreason1098]

Can testify as well. He does delete good counter-points and constructive criticisms that aren't even remotely rude or offensive. If no good reply comes to mind, but the comment burns, it's easier to delete and move on, I guess.

[@flamingburitto]

Mortismal plays so many CRPGs and his reviews and recommendations have been very helpful in picking what games I should buy. So it was very surprising to see him love this game that goes against every single design choice that makes an RPG good. Dragon age shouldn't even be called an RPG, it's an action game with some RPG elements.

[@1tsbag134]

He sounds hypocritical because his favourite crpg is Pathfinder wrath of the righteous.

[@MaitreMechant]

it's not really surprising for people who follow him for a while, he already said in the past inquisition was his prefered Dragon Age and that he didn't reallly like DAO

[@FaolanHart]

@@MaitreMechant Yeah, its why I don't believe he was paid off. He's always had shit taste with this series. He's pretty reliable with his reviews most of the time. But oh boy is he off with Dragon Age.

[@j_smith92]

​@@1tsbag134Which also happens to be a shit game. Everything fits now, he just has shit taste

[@1tsbag134]

@@j_smith92 That game is trying to be hardcore crpg with its unjustifiably complex combat system (which they borrowed from dnd tabletop rpg) made for tabletop fans but it is just a bunch of dialogue mess that is also 50 hours long.

[@zretil]

Mortismal usually doesn't provide a proper review, not a very critical evaluation or analysis, he gives you a kind of overview, it's more like a general summary, without in-depth analysis, tldr he talks a lot without saying very much.

[@MortalCoil64]

exactly. The other thing that Skillup does really well is that he SHOWS as well as TELLS. Video examples of mechanics or the issues he has with a game go very far when illustrating a point. Mortismal kind of has B-roll or generic gameplay in the background most of the time.

[@zachb8012]

Dude he sucked this game's D so hard though and wouldn't criticize a damn thing. He said it was the best DA game of the series and a GOTY contender. The guy has either swallowed the same access media pill Kotaku, Eurogamer, and IGN, or he has terrible taste. I don't know what is worse. I lost a lot of respect for his content.

[@khiraas5656]

Yep, guy has no negative or critical opinion on any game

[@ReveredWizardBob]

@@khiraas5656 That's called enjoying video games for what they are and not putting them on a pedestal and getting butthurt when it isn't exactly what you wanted...

[@williewilliamsohp]

​@khiraas5656 that's not a bad thing though it's not a bad game it's not perfect. But it don't deserve the hate it's getting.

[@tahnadana5435]

Mortismal also likes Starfiel, so its his brand to be positively toxic

[@acev3521]

At least he wasn’t lying and glazing the writing and dialogue like with vanguard so even if he was shilling which after Veilguard wouldn’t surprise me at least it was believable.

[@deus5185]

he is ghei ofcourse he like this sheet.

[@BlueLightningSky]

Skill Up thinks Doom Eternal is worse than Doom 2016. He should rename himself Skill Issue. See it's easy to bring up irrelevant facts like this.

[@j_smith92]

​@@BlueLightningSkyIt's not irrelevant in this case, because it compounds with other issues with Mortismal. One more straw, so to speak.

[@LudwigVaanArthans]

​@@acev3521ShillUp almost always lies and shills

[@redpax499]

“I dont care about the viewers feelings”. That right there, is why I appreciate this channel. It reminds me of when the world wasn’t so fragile. You have an honest opinion that isn’t captured by a developer or corporation. Whether or not people agree with you, it’s real.

[@-Emperor-84]

This is a description for this. It is called "having a backbone". Something that modern journalist/editors (gaming or otherwise) sorely lack.

[@Trohl-]

Is that why he deleted that "return to form" crap from the description or w/e? Allegedly

[@ReveredWizardBob]

Just because someone enjoys a game that you don't doesn't make them fragile. Hating on things without experiencing them first isn't a very "alpha/manly/chad" thing to do, it's just moronic. Make up your own mind on games and appreciate the good and the bad and if you really don't enjoy it just stop playing or refund the damned game, things don't need to devolve into attacking other creators for their differing opinions.

[@frogmastiff8198]

Hello my Russian sounding melodramatic, I told you I'd check out more of your videos, I saw in the Atom review you said fallout 2 was your favourite RPG so i watched your top 3 RPG's video, and you did indeed list Fallout 2 as top spot, respect. I said in some videos previewing Veilguard narcissists make bad RPG's, Veilguard was made by narcissists which is why you have to play their story not yours I'll never touch this game, its not an RPG its propaganda

[@boeserKadser]

Mort usually reviewed tactical and classic RPGs and started just recently to branch out into more mainstream games. One more reason i was surprised he liked Veilguard. CRPGs usually have complex game mechanics and are heavily story driven and are THE genre which brought some of the best writing and story telling to live. The complete opposite to Veilguard

[@acev3521]

Yeah that’s what happens when you hard shill it sticks out compared to your track record. :D

[@santanacaviedes2006]

Exactly, that's what i was thinking while viewing his video on Vailguard. Very strange indeed

[@TriFekt]

It's very weird considering that Morts favorite CRPG is Pathfinder Wrath of the Righteous, before I saw his review, I didn't think he'd like Veilguard at all given his taste.

[@1tsbag134]

Yeah, I don't understand that logic. He likes hardcore rpg (pathfinder wotr, king maker) although a bit boring due to its length and pacing of the story, how can he spit on Da origins and then state that veilguard is the best da game?

[@TheEcletickGamer7]

Totally different games. It's like you compare Nioh with Dark souls. Lol. DA never was a pure crpg with lots of text.

[@j_smith92]

​@@TheEcletickGamer7Except it was, at least in Origins.

[@TheEcletickGamer7]

@@j_smith92 Origins had options to be played as a crpg,(battle system) but beside that, is a tottally diffent game. I think my comparison was accurate, is like comparing Nioh with Dark Souls. Similar and totally different at the same time.

[@j_smith92]

@TheEcletickGamer7 How is it a different game? Can you elaborate? It has choices, different origins you can play as, customizable main character, party system, leveling, attributes and skills that affect both combat and exploration, RTWP combat system, all staples of the genre

[@TheHolyHomeboy]

My problem with Mortismal is that you know for a fact he gets review codes and wants to keep them. His opinions tend to be toward, consume product wait till next product. I mean, I kind of understand, but he blew up and now his opinion is more held.

[@kmel3588]

I really question his entire review if you can hear the messy dialogue in this game and think some how "yeah this is good top tier stuff"

[@jwash87]

I don't trust anyone who 100% every game they play.

[@Naamturd101]

@@kmel3588 pretty sure he said he doesn't care about the story or dialogue at all in his review. As in ignored the dialogue so heavily he didn't have an opinion on it. I think the rest of the game scratches a certain itch for players who just want a more mindless game loop, rather than something that forces engagement due to difficulty and mechanics.

[@morioh6623]

​@@Naamturd101lol.. doesn't care about story or dialogue when that's a huge chunk of the game..

[@Naamturd101]

@@morioh6623 yah I kind of found it odd since he's so into cRPGs, but whatever. It's a hobby, people gonna enjoy it different ways.

[@Jrockk999]

I think one of the worst things you can say about a game as a positive is that it's "functional" because that is very low hanging fruit. It's like going to buy a meal and being told " you can eat it just fine" when you ask a person how it taste. A common denominator I see with every review positive and negative is that it's the most technically stable game released by Bioware. While its good to know that Bioware can release a game that isn't plagued by bugs, crashes and potential hard/soft locks, that's not exactly a selling point for the studio that once pioneered the rpg genre.

[@VerminaeSupremacy]

One person, can’t recall who and if I am paraphrasing from other language, said that the fact that the game works is a bar set so low demons in Hell are stumbling on it

[@BayonneJoe35]

Mortismal was one of my favorite reviewers. He’s clearly worried about having access to future games. I unsubscribed from his channel and many other channels. Not because they said they liked the game but they said the game is GOTY quality. That’s a lie.

[@WCCXtra]

I unsubscribed awhile ago when the frequency of "Check This Game Out" videos increased.

[@BayonneJoe35]

@ didn’t even think of that. That’s probably when the channel became about selling you as many games as possible.

[@ryanzz1357]

Mort is off the mark completely

[@domm6812]

I really respected mortismal up until now. Conversely I was very sceptical of SkillUps reviews. There's simply no excuse for mortismal giving such a flawed game such a high rating, when he himself lists some of the major flaws in his own review. I don't trust him anymore.

[@kevo300]

Your right about not trusting anyone. Theres a reason hes called shill up he has many hit or misses.

[@Doomseer]

Yeah I was honestly shocked to hear that Mortismal simped so hard for failgaurd because honestly all the times I watch his videos he seemed like a decent enough fella but I guess more fool me.

[@Stylevicious]

Been a week since I watched his review, so I don't remember word for word, but right at the end he criticizes how there are truly no evil actions to change the outcome of a quest, saying that the meaneast thing you can do is to ignore the quest altogheter... and don't you think this is an important point to explore further than a few sentences? This is a saga that has always been about dealing with choices and consequences... how am I supposed to trust your review?

[@williewilliamsohp]

U seem like the type of person wha ask someone for money and they give give give the one time the person say no he is the worst.

[@LudwigVaanArthans]

Wasn't Mortismal part of the LGTVHD++ community? So ofc he would "love" such garbage

[@jmmywyf4lyf]

I lost all respect for Mortismal e over this one. He flew out to the Hands-On and allowed Bioware to wine and dine him, and then did as much Shilling as humanly possible. It's not because I don't agree with his opinion, it's because I believe his opinion was heavily influenced by BioWare He's also rather unfamiliar with the lord, as Inquisition was his first Dragon Age game. He later tried origins, and part 2, but it doesn't really seem to know all that much. And as such, they'll guard has completely gutted The Lore of Dragon Age The reason people are angry with him, is because it seems to be out of character. Something seems off about this review from him. It don't seem right

[@Ocean5ix]

Do you also believe the moon landing never happened? Because you sure like to make a lot of assumptions and make conspiracy theories.

[@captainpissoff]

⁠@@Ocean5ixand you sure love to dick-ride Mort in these comments.

[@endlessstrata6988]

@@Ocean5ix You're really batting for him in the comments aren't you? He's a shill, end of line. If you think this trash of a game is good, you are either retarded or you sold out, there is no middle ground.

[@kevo300]

Thats kinda drastic. Its a job for him and he gets paid to play games. Just dont take him serious.

[@mrfreeman2911]

What made it worse was mort saying dragon age originz is a bad game...

[@sprity8048]

skillup is prolly one of the most wellspoken reviewers in the platform for years, specially his old reviews, i usually dont like the same games as he does, but cant help but respect his opinions and the way he always presents it, mortismal is a bit too positive, might be his personality, ive seen the games he reviews, a lot of stuff with really janky combat, and sometimes stories that are even worse than DA, he does say negative stuff, but just look at his other reviews, plenty of really bad games that he still enjoy, old games with so many flaws, he knows how to ignore and still enjoy it, i dont doubt for a moment he really liked the game, one of his other reviews, forspoken he talked a lot of how bad the game was but how he related with the experience of being homeless and the parts he enjoyed, skill up is more analytical, more articulate, more critical, mort seems to try to enjoy his work and the games he plays my piece of constructive criticism for you, love the way you talk too, but you took a bit too long to get to the point, but great video otherwise

[@GhOsThPk]

Why are you all surprised about Mortismal being a paid shill? He is the same guy that was overall nice to Starfield, Unknown 9, Baldur's Gate III (Act III specifically) Forspoken (he mainly focused his critics at the performance of the game on PC and not how bad the game was) and etc, he has always been a paid shill with the facade of being "fair," I don't even know how this clown got so popular, people really have low standards to what they watch these days.

[@manen2391]

Except if you cherry pick like that any reviewer is a shill, some people just like certain things in the game and others don't, Mortismal liked how the game played combat he likes ARPG and combat loops , a lot of people consider story and dialogue personal opnion , but since you want to say he glazed Starfield let's look at 'f'ing pronouns' man in his streams he actually liked how Starfield played , he just didn't like the 'woke' aspect and it's how he is remembered playing it

[@khal7702]

we got dupped because he likes old school RPGs. He is definitely safe in his reviews n never critical

[@GhOsThPk]

@manen2391 Mortismal is a shill, whatever you say won't change that. He even had the "return to form" in his video description, but he edited it out. Open your eyes, and stop being dumb.

[@GhOsThPk]

@@manen2391 Mortismal is a shill, and whatever you say won't change that. He had the "return to form" in his video description before it was edited out by him because he knew more people would notice. Open your eyes.

[@nemeskeymate]

I rarely watch his reviews because his reviews are not my taste but I subscribed because he is the only big reviewer who reviews niche and obscure indie crpgs. So he is the only exposure for small devs and there is Splattercat but no one else. But yeah otherwise not a fan of his reviews either.

[@mrsisig7443]

The problem with Mort’s review of Veilguard is, before this, his take on games is quite spot on. He makes sense. So hearing him praise this game is suspicious at best. Yes, everyone is entitled to an opinion, but there is a general consensus that Dragon Age Origins is peak BioWare. He can’t reason his way out of this one. People aren’t stupid. Just watch his videos to BG3 and WOTR, he knows what he is saying. So for him to shill is fucking obvious and hilarious.

[@skoudouflis88]

While skill up has always been playing it safe especially with all the DEI crap, at least his reviews are more analytical and in depth than mortismals. Mortismal reviews, while i liked him at first when he was rising, started to become more safer and more like overviews and in the end giving a very vague positive-negative with his final score. And after the Veilguard review i unsubscribed from him. Saying that Veilguard is a game of the year was when the mask fell of completely. Guy only cares for access so he can put average videos out faster than others.

[@khal7702]

in the past year his reviews became overviews

[@ChannelRaznoff]

I was subbed to both. After watching the reviews, I unsubbed from Mort. I don't care that he liked the game, but calling it GotY given everything that came out this year was a bridge too far. Hell, it's not even game of the month. Metaphor Refantazio is better in pretty much every aspect. I can't take his opinion seriously between this and his Starfield take.

[@FlorianD30]

Mortismal deleted every single negative comment in his review. He said "If you honestly believe that I would ever accept any form of compensation for a review..." and so on. Problem is there isn't a single comment saying that because he deleted them all. It's his own comment, so he can't delete it without removing his statement. In that thread people are replying to comments that were clearly negative, those comments are gone and those people are replying to ghosts that no longer exist. Pretty pathetic.

[@brooksington4696]

I got tired of all the drama and bought the damn game to form my own opinion. 10.6 hours in, it's pretty goddamned terrible and I genuinely went in wanting to like it. The dialogue and overall writing have been beaten like a dead horse, but on top of that, the game essentially drops you into scenarios completely breaking immersion. Example, spoilers if you care: Treviso intro mission, you go through an eluvian, walk a few steps and the quest NPC is magically in front of you. Then you follow them through the city while listening to inane dialogue, only to be brought to another NPC who bombards you with more inane dialogue, the writing of which is worse, by far, than WoW quest text. You're then brought to a boat whereupon the NPC in response to a lore question as to why there is a prison underwater and how you're going to get down there, responds with essentially: "Watch this!" while creating a whirlpool, then instead of a neat cutscene showing you descending into this underwater prison, you're just teleported into the map, at a point that doesn't even really feel like an entrance. BUT WAIT, there's more! When the mission completes, you teleport out of the dungeon after saying to your new companion, "yeah let's go now", only to be teleported directly into a dialogue wherein more inane prattle is spewed at the player and you find out that OH NO, the lady who hired you, she got taken! From the room you're in, with no sign of struggle, in the middle of an assassin's guild full of feared mage hunters and killers. Like...I can suspend my disbelief only so far bro, at least try to sell your nonsense. Finally, the facial animations are ass, but it fits the robotic dialogue so maybe it was an intentional design choice. The combat feels clunky, the block/parry doesn't feel good to use for reasons I'd outline but this post is long enough as is. After watching Skillup's review, I was set to wait for a deep sale to pick it up, because well... it's dragon age, I have to at least try it. However, all the vitriol I was seeing all over the internet drove me to want to form my own opinion. I sincerely wish I had stuck to my original plan. Anyway, rant over. I'm going to finish this game eventually, there are a few things I enjoy about it, but by and large, Veilguard is simply not a good game.

[@Sir_AlexxTv]

You can say that you like Veilguard despite its flaws because everyone has different tastes, and it is fair. You can not call this a fuggin GOTY candidate. Bioware even said there will be no DLC, what fuggin software house refuses to milk a game if it is good ? Especially Bioware who has been hanging by a thread since Anthem.

[@levigenesis6350]

Larian - Balder's gate 3

[@Mersak168]

@@levigenesis6350 Different reason. They started out saying that it wouldn't be any aditional content (coz high-level 5e is hard to do right), then they changed their minds (bc it was an astounding success), and then their changed their minds again (after the whole Wizards fiasco). There's nothing stopping EA and Bioware from making DLC's. They own the IP and they know their systems better than anyone else.

[@Ocean5ix]

Well people called Stellar Blade a GOTY candidate just because it had the balls to put a half naked woman as a protagonist. Anyone can say whatever they want. Believe it or not Dragon Age Inquisiton won GOTY and so did Overwatch. All it takes for someone to say "X" game is a GOTY contender is liking it, or wanting to like it. And the no dlc thing is a weak argument. Divinity Original Sin 2 didn't had DLC, Sekiro which isn't an RPG but also belongs to a franchise that milks it's games, doesn't have DLC. Red Dead Redemption 2 never got a DLC. We could stay here for hours finding amazing games that never got DLCs

[@Sir_AlexxTv]

@@Ocean5ix None of the S.H. you mentioned was on the brink of closing due to 2 consequent failures. Enjoy your GOTY.

[@Sir_AlexxTv]

@@levigenesis6350 BG3 didn't need a DLC, it made a fuckton of money at launch, 825k concurrent players VS 77k.

[@Fishster]

Mortismal is a feel good reviewer. His big focus is on just detailing what something is. He’s seldom really critical. I was still genuinely surprised that he liked it so much. He just appears objectively wrong about some things. Having said that Mr Matty surprised me too, another pretty positive reviewer who was clearly really disappointed. Not much to say about Skillup imho one of the most insightful reviewers in the business at the top of their game.

[@weekendnoobbsgaming7170]

My man getting views which makes me happy. This guy deserves more!

[@aaronhumphrey3514]

I actually unsubscribed from Mortismal's channel over his video, because it was obvious to me that he was lying for some reason. I don't know what that reason was, but there's no way you can convince me he actually believed the game was a GotY contender.

[@brandy1999]

He was bribed with early access to content to monetize on YT

[@donkeysunited]

@@brandy1999 That's the most likely reason all right. I hope he got a good deal for using the phrase "Game of the Year". Because it's going to kill his channel.

[@docvaliant721]

Same

[@hideshisface1886]

I used to trust Mortismal, but this review shattered it. It went to pieces like a glass pane hitting the pavement. His words do not match the footage - you can SEE the horrible dialogue and boring combat. You can SEE the lack of choices. He himself brings the point that you literally can't be meant in this game. This is the deathblow to any RPG, and he downplays it.

[@DuggyDarko]

I knew it was gonna be a dud when the best thing anyone could say after the previews was "the hair looks nice"

[@keithfilibeck2390]

Mort isn't a critic, he never has anything particularlly critical to say, he just sort of.. tells you information about the game.

[@red-merlin]

For me, the art style of the game was a harbinger of the overall tone of the game would be lighthearted and cartoony. Art style can reveal your intentions to the story you want to tell. Witcher 3 art style mirrors the general tone of the game. Dark, gritty, unforgiving, harsh. Stark contrast to the blood and wine dlc, very bright and fantastical. That also happens to be my favorite expansion in the game. For one, as you play you find a dark underbelly, like it's a false sense of security. Like trouble in paradise. But even at face value, that expansion shows that you can still sprinkle in different tones in your art style and storytelling if it is done well and you haven't gone overboard. Veilguard is just all fluff. The tone is never serious, the music tends to also make the setting quirky and lighthearted. You can still have humor in a successful story. But this is the default state of veilguard. Not dragon age as a series so it clashes. Contrast with mass effect or DA origins and you see it's all mostly serious, the characters and writing, with a few situations that are humorous. Kinda like Leslie Neilson always delivering funny lines in a very serious tone. We're not trying to tune in to Saturday cartoons, we're wanting a grim dark fantasy or at least a compelling rpg story in this DA universe It's clear that the current bioware massively misunderstood the series if they ever did research beyond the base minimum needed to at least call this a dragon age game. But the feel of the game is anything but

[@ryanzz1357]

Yes I have been saying this; this game looks like a stupid mobile game

[@Axterix13]

Yeah, exactly. The art style reveals this isn't a game in the Dragon Age series, but instead, a spin-off game meant for a different platform. There's a feel a series should have. Art style can evolve, but it shouldn't drastically change to something at odds with what the series and its identity is.

[@deaconfuse3850]

I have not quit a game faster than DA Veilblarg. There are too many well written, crazy good games to play right now.

[@Whiteshade]

Mortismal was my go to KZbinr for crpg's. After Veilguard review I unsubscribed him. I don't have time for paid advertisements.

[@christian_gamer_guy6447]

Yeah, I don't feel like he can be trusted anymore. Absolutely insane for him to say what he said.

[@Ocean5ix]

@@christian_gamer_guy6447 Can anyone be trusted though? It's not all about money, almsot everybody is biased towards a certain political view.

[@skillywilly187]

red flag with mortismar i didnt realize 2 days before he did a sponsored review of Unknown 9. OMG I think Mort is rolling with the money at the expense of his audience. which i dont know why your audience is more important in the long run wouldnt you think?? Also i believe EA sponsored his veilguard video too.

[@franciscor390]

And to think people are actually surprised.

[@TheYassha]

You are spot on, Mortismal says a lot without really saying anything - that is what all his reviews are like. And its not just him, most people's reviews are like that. Ralph from Skillup is one of the few reviewers that actually gives a meaningful analysis.

[@nikolaytrofimov4175]

I dont have much negative to say about Mort, since I stopped watching him regularly after his viewer growth, but I remember how he wasnt making his review very detailed. Overview - yes. He also loves Pathfinder, which is one of my fav CRPGs. When I saw his review on Veilguard I thought "It's gotta be paid, no freaking way". But then, I watched CohhCarnage, a streamer whose opinion I respect. He said Veilguard is not a bad game, it's a mid game behind the veil of bad decisions. This I accept, as a different opinion, not denying flaws of the game, not glazing it. But Mort sound SO positive about Veilguard, and on the wave of news how BioWare prioritised "loyal" CCs, at the same time ignoring Fextralife? Yeah, sus.

[@MariaYuri-qo8jy]

I honestly doubt it a little that Mortismal actually 100% the games he reviews... But who knows.

[@jt2749]

He said himself it’s a gimmick and he just gets all achievements and says 100%. For some games that does mean 100% but for most it does not

[@clavius8182]

he makes a point of saying his steam profile is open so people can check.

[@Ocean5ix]

@@jt2749 It's what the devs say it's the "intended" way of fully experiencing a game. Finding 9999 Items hidden in the 98213489348934982km world map instead of 100 doesn't enhance a review by any metric.

[@kthxpls]

I had to unsub from Mortismal, the guy is weak and pathetic. We need to stop supporting these channels that are so afraid of speaking the truth, all of these games are political agendas being made as "video games" targeting young people. Games like Baldur's Gate 3 is a good example of that, well crafted product, but it's a queer game, and the things they try to normalize and romanticize in that game goes beyond insane and guys like Mortismal will never speak about it. Dragon Age Veilguard is just another one, but it's right there in our faces, the only way to stop this nonsense is exposing who these people are, the agenda they're trying to push and the things they're desperately trying to normalize in the world that being, pdfs.

[@Ocean5ix]

Usually who uses phrases like "we need to speak the truth" also have a strong political agenda lmao. What is particularly beyond insane in what BG3 tries to normalize? Have you ever heard about the 70s and 80s? "Morals" were never a thing in modern society. People like you just live in a fantasy world pretending your parents lived in a world where everyone was disciplined and had a normal family.

[@geryon8814]

The difference is that mortismal has no standards when it comes to storytelling, while ShillUp always brings the receipts whether you agree or not. When I see a title called "review after 100%", it indicates to me that this is the perspective of a completionist and not somebody who wants to be emotionally invested... and Bioware games used to be that. Also, mortismal brings surface level arguments to the point where they're not even arguments. The opinions of these 2 reviewers are not on the same level tbh

[@cadecrawford4321]

Your ideas on critical thinking and working on your craft is very wise. Speaking THE truth not YOUR truth is something a lot of people need to hear.

[@ilgiallo0]

yo boys, mortisimal needed to pay the bills or taxes , while skill up knew that it would look like a dork to make a review about this game positive. i think the truth is in the middle, this game is mediocre at best and have a lot of retcon for dragon age fans .

[@rhodan74]

Mort blew up because he doesn't comment on politics and because he 100%s a game before the review. The latter is insignificant imo, getting all the achievements does absolutely nothing but it is "some" metric by which a viewer can measure if the reviewer is just talking out of his a** about certain aspects of a game. You can play a game for a few hours and have a valid opinion, no need to 100% all the meaningless fetchquests. Skillup has extremely well put together videos and scripts, with clear structure and he also comments on the larger picture (e.g. history of a genre or studio). Many people "hate" some of his takes but you can't argue that he doesn't back up his views with explanations.

[@dante19890]

Mortismal is basically affraid to state any strong opinons. He is whole review formula is basically " here is some positives, here is some negatives , but overall I really did enjoy my time with the game " rince and repeat

[@DanielSchmuhl-ku6nt]

Mortismal uses Steam Achievement manager to unlock achievements and doesnt even complete the games that he says he does. He never goes into any detail about any of the games he covers and you notice he will never cover a game that isn't PC when most hardcore gamers have a PC and also a Switch and or PlayStation.

[@Naamturd101]

Nah his profile is public, you can see his hours played. Dude just has a review style that's more of an overview, not much opinion and more focused on what is objective about the game.

[@khal7702]

​@@Naamturd101then it's not really a review is it

[@donkeysunited]

@@khal7702 Sure it is. It's his opinion of a game he has played and completed 100%. It's as valid as anyone else's opinion, even if it's now viewed as "wrong". As long as he was speaking the truth about his experience, then it's a valid review. A strange review, absolutely, but a valid one. This game has been weird with reviews being heavily for or against and very little in the middle. Game Rant gave it 10/10. Eurogamer gave it 5/5. IGN gave it 9/10. I don't normally look at those sites but those review scores are far too high for any game. It's all very suspicious. I suspect Mortismal is mainly reviewing the technical aspects of the game and his experience in getting to 100%. Perhaps he should clarify what his review points are. I usually watch his videos but I'd never base a purchasing decision only on his review. He is very light on details and it's more of a tickbox to know that a game is in a state that it can be completed and to see some gameplay. I'd also watch SkillUp's review for a lot more detail and then pick 2 or 3 more and see if there is a common agreement on a game.

[@RavusNox-z5i]

It's weird because to me, something like art style and romance options is what makes or breaks these games. Not the combat system or anything else. This game turns me off because I can't immerse in it. I hate the look of the game, I hate the characters and how ugly they are, I hate the cartoonish disney feel. I got hooked on Dragon Age Origins, despite the garbage combat system (I prefer action), because of the gritty medieval art style, the gore, the romance and attractive characters, and also the beautiful music. Dragon Age Origins was not perfect but it created an atmosphere and that is what I value in a game.

[@michiganjack1337]

The last good Dragon Age game was Origin and the last good Mass Effect game was Mass Effect 1. Turns out those were the last BioWare games. The studio has been a zombie since the founders left.

[@levigenesis6350]

Mass Effect 2 was much better than 1

[@brigadeiro111]

True

[@Immolatiel777]

@@levigenesis6350 Nope.

[@1tsbag134]

​@@levigenesis6350as a game, it may be. But as an rpg it is not. Mass effect 2 became arpg like witcher 3, but instead of swords you get weapons. And weapons in me 2 aren't random drops, they are acquired and used for the whole length of the game unlike the weapon system of mass effect 1 where you have different levels and they are random drops.

[@Ocean5ix]

These comments are hilarious because everybody thinks they're an OG "g4m3r" and then someone else comes and "one ups" their comment. So I'll raise the bar too. The last good Bioware game was Baldur's Gate 2, everything else is mid. Now I hope someone else @ me and says "Actually, the last good RPG was Ultima VII, everything else is woke trash".

[@redcriminal7032]

Forspoken is the worst AAA RPG game ever made. I can tolerate Veilguard more than that game.

[@jackplisken4738]

corporate wants you to look at these 2 pictures...............

[@morioh6623]

Uh.... Lol I watched internet historians story mode of that game and at least that games writing is at a highschool level. Da vg is literal elementary school k-4 levels of story telling. That game is better than this one. You prob wanna change your gender lmao

[@albertzinger7132]

I didn't play Forspoken, but from what I've seen of it, Veilguard gave me a very similar feeling when it came to the cringeworthy dialogs.

[@Hi12239]

Sorry veilguard is much worse

[@kevo300]

Its like choosing if cynanide is better than arsenic. Both are poison lol.

[@MariaYuri-qo8jy]

Give Veilguard to someone who has a videogame addiction and it's cured! That game is medicine! 10/10!

[@jamieanderson8308]

I’ve followed Skillup and Mortismal reviews for years. The fact they had such polarising viewpoints made their review of Dragon Age was very weird. It cousin be that it just really resonated with Mortismal. But given his love of really tactical rpgs, I can’t see that being the case. It’s ahead scratcher

[@cal5365]

nearly everyone who seems to have gotten the game early or got day 1 codes, also seemed to put out EA sponsor videos. Mortismal was also flown out by bioware, seems like maybe he's fallen into the scummy journo pit of high rated review for free game codes and holidays from the publisher

[@Crazozourus]

Skill Up knew his review will hurt access side of his business, and he did it anyway.

[@Zayphar]

I really like Mortym's game reviews, but I really think he missed this time. He is always polite and trys to see the good in games, so I always take that onboard when analysing his reviews. Well, nobody is perfect, so I am still subscribed to his channel.

[@preechr]

My impression after watching Mortismal's review was that I'd probably buy it when it went on sale for $5 and play it when I was in the mood for some action combat. When I watched your review and heard your comments about the weak and repetitive melee combat being covered up by the flashy action, I could see it. I revised my opinion on purchasing it, even on sale. I also revisited my opinion on Skillup's reviews. Maybe I will give him another shot. That being said, I think its funny to read so many comments here from the social media warriors that apparently didn't hear a word you said and only comment to say the same thing they heard other people say. I really looking forward to the day this fad dies and fades. Hopefully the gaming community will move back toward playing and enjoying the games themselves when they get tired of this meta-crusading and activism. Your objectivism is very much appreciated in the meantime.

[@scalpingsnake]

I love skill ups reviews and I like watching mort because that man is a machine, pumps out video after video, he shows off a lot of obscure games too. The thing is I am aware of what they like. Skill up likes mmos, I don't. They both like diablo and similar games, I don't. So I remember these things when I watch them. It really is that simple. I do have to say mort still surprised me with his take on the writing. I don't get how he liked it at all and as someone who wacthes a lot of his stuff it caught me off guard. But thats how opinions work. I love a lot of the marvel movies which many would also call out for being written poorly. Im glad you actually are a voice of reason. The speed at which people called mort out as a shill is insane. Funny enough it wasnt long ago skill up was being called a shill... I think he clarifies this is just his opinion when he knows/thinks his review is not going to be in the majority. As we have seen here where people who like the game are getting hate, the opposite can be true too where dislikeling a game others like also gets you hate.

[@SolidSnake240]

Tbh Mort lost any credibility he had with me after that Veilguard review.

[@aroundthefur1210]

I like your channel and I enjoy your voice and content. Especially enjoyed your Grim Dawn review.

[@rpgdivision]

Appreciate it, mate, but I don't have Grim Dawn review on the channel. Think I had some kind of alpha version impression on HDPlay Gaming, my first channel.

[@crankpatate3303]

Mortismals whole schtick is, that he reviews games when he 100%-ed them. He really REALLY needs early review-codes or his review video will be released long after the hype and nobody will watch his video anymore. That's maybe something to consider, when rating his review.

[@BigdaddyDalaodie]

Sum up: Skillup was right, Mortismal was wrong; don't waste your time watching.

[@darksavior1187]

I have only a couple of reviewers I consider to be preaching gospel. Skill Up and ACG. I watch others to get some other opinions, but those 2 are who I will listen to most because they are thorough as fuck and don't seem bought. Mortismal fawning over a game that seems only to be meme-level panned, seemed like pandering to me, and I unsubbed. It killed his credibility with me.

[@dealwolfstriked272]

RPG Great Divide is narrated today by RPG Division. On todays episode we have a- WTF is going on?!

[@voiceofreason1098]

Mortismal runs a conveyor of cozy gaming videos, appears to be a genuine gamer with soft voice and polite wordplay. The problem is, the little substance that there is is watered down by large amount of saying nothing useful. His trademark reviewing after 100% is largely misleading, as getting all achievements and "the general feel of the game" is nowhere near the 100%. Yet he stamps this left and right because it's a good click-magnet. His Remnant II review after 100% didn't even have all classes unlocked. The point is - it's best not to use your brain to enjoy what he does. His channel is more like a gamer's relaxation room where you shut off your brain and critical thinking and sink in a voice casually telling something. In the end of each video he will wholeheartedly thank the viewer (for being farmed). This kind of service has undeniably a lot of demand as the channel grows (and it's cool), but, as RPG Division pointed out, the bigger of an influencer you are, the bigger effect your voice has. And giving GOTY to a parody of an RPG contributes towards the idiocratization of gaming. But I can understand his position - he did build his conveyor and he works to run it consistently and it works. In this regard he deserves the success.

[@GothaBillsAndDeath]

"His trademark reviewing after 100% is largely misleading, as getting all achievements and "the general feel of the game" is nowhere near the 100%" False, his WotR & BG3 reviews were highly praised by RPG Codex and other crpg outlets for actually delving into companion quests, personal tastes, expectations, mechanics, and systems in how it was woven into how the companion quests played out. Especially with Owlcat games like Rogue Trader or WotR or Kingmaker, where there were large segments of the game spent on non-crpg tactics mechanics. Where you were playing with the "wartable" card system or the more nuanced system in WotR with crusade management or resource management / politicking in Rogue Trader. Go to these reviews. He discusses each of them from a product standpoint rather than a highly biased critique that leans heavily one way or another. "Remnant II review after 100% didn't even have all classes unlocked" Now while I haven't seen this review, I don't think this or Veilguard diminishes his authenticity, which is the most important part of a reviewer in an ecosystem where people lean heavily based on personal biases or politics. "And giving GOTY to a parody of an RPG contributes towards the idiocratization of gaming." How? Does he have personal power over the game awards? Does he personally tell the DICE awards what to do or say? I distinctly recall his Pathfinder:WotR review back in 2021 calling it one of the best rpgs of all time yet lo and behold, it didn't even get nominated in the mainstream Jeff Keely Awards. Where is his power then when multiple generic JRPGs won over WotR?

[@voiceofreason1098]

@@GothaBillsAndDeath Regarding 100%ing being "false" - you are mistaking being thorough with a *few* games (WotR, BG3, Rogue Trader and Kingmaker) with 100%ing *all* the games he claimed he did. Not trying to diminish his contributions to the named games, but that is not equal to 100%ing. Especially in CRPGs. Did he beat the game with every class, every specialization, on every difficulty, done every outcome of all the quests, read every piece of lore and dialogue, etc..? No he did not. That means it's less than 100%ing. And no, that is not nitpicking. Beating the game with different classes means significantly different experiences. More so, having different alignment playthroughs with the same class means different experiences. And that's just one class example. The variation possibilities are astranomical. And he did not have all those experiences. Not even remotely close. It's a convenient bold buzzword, but factually misleading. Remnant II was just one example. He rushed the 100% review to be among the first, but the Archon class was not yet discovered. Archon playstyle is very different from other classes and he did not have that experience. And again he didn't even beat the game with all classes to begin with, nor he saw all the the content. It's each viewer's choice to be okay with him claiming that he did more than he did. A lot people don't even notice this. Like yourself, defending his authenticity and 100%ing. A lot of people "get it" and are okay with that. And it's all fine, everyone is free to pick their poison, not judging in the slightest here. But he factually is far from 100% the games. Even speedrunners who know every skiping glitch don't 100% games and they dig a lot deeper into the games than Mort. Regarding the idiocratization of gaming - it's straightforward. He has big following. He gives high praise to a rather weak sequel and a weak game. Mind you, it's a Dragon Age sequel and not some nameless game. Part of his following will buy the game because of his praise. Sales grow. The captains of industry take notes that the formula works and can be repeated. Expect more of the same quality of writing, RPG depth, impactful choices, riddled priorities etc in the next Dragon Age. The CEOs write off the mass criticisms on toxic fanbase and keep the main priority to create a modern inclusive game that does not offend anyone, yet getting further away from what made Dragon Age a classic. Mort is obviously not that big of an influencer to make or break the sales numbers, but he does contribute nonetheless. And he stands at his praise despite the backlash, telling others that the game is his GOTY.

[@doctorlolchicken7478]

People always comment on Mortismal videos that they are amazed he can 100% so many games. That's his gimmick - he does all the achievements and often multiple difficulties. Recently I began to suspect that something is off because it doesn't seem like he would have time to play all these games and script and film the reviews. But I couldn't figure out how. Veilguard makes me wonder even more. I don't have any answers. Did he skip all the dialog? Did someone review it for him? Ok, maybe he just liked the game, but it feels like a game he wouldn't like as much as he did.

[@Sang-Drax]

Steam Achievement Unlocker. He's gotten called out multiple times for getting achievements that are bugged and not obtainable, he just deletes the comments. Guy is full of shit.

[@Ocean5ix]

Let me introduce you to a whole new world called "Trophy hunters". Tens of thousands of people that work real jobs find ways to platinum games like Red Dead Redemption 2 in a month. Do you really think a guy that gets paid to do it wouldn't be able to do it in a week and a half? "feels like a game he wouldn't like as much as he did". His favorite Dragon Age game is Inquisition, that says it all. But even beyond that, there's people out there (I'm one of them) that just don't "hate" stuff. It's simple as that, Mortismal is very rarely too high or too low on games, he absolutely loves 2 games and probably absolutely despises 2 or 3 games that I can remember. You can make the argument that "someone that isn't very critical about something can't be a reviewer" and it would be a valid argument if you were paying for the reviews. He offers a "free service" that is optional to everyone. There is an underlying truth about this Veilguard situation and to me it's clear as day. The game is decent, it's a 7.5 maybe even 8.0 out of 10 game, certainly a disappointing Dragon Age title, but because of the "woke" stuff, people WANT to hate it and they will do everything they can to convince everybody else that it's a terrible game.

[@lycanwarrior2137]

Mortismal has mentioned that he will skip dialogue if he feels like the story is familiar enough.

[@faruqakmal1146]

Like many others, i have limited money and time. So I'd like to make informed decisions

[@heraldofvati2123]

SkillUp made a checklist of pros and cons and decided the cons outweighed the pros. Mort evaluated the game as a whole and decided he enjoyed the game. Mort has a long history of overlooking flaws and finding enjoyment in games I personally didn't like (e.g. Starfield). Still, I'm happy both reviews exist.

[@justinle8787]

Unsub Mort after finding him becoming more and more of what I call a produce seller than reviewer. He took the same path as Unbox Therapy. Dude now just read the content of the game like an infomercial. His best days were in DO2 or PWoR. I can understand you liking a game, but saying you're a fan of a series like DA and put DAV over DAO is moronic. It's like saying you're a Halo fan but put 4 over 2 lol

[@CENmassTER86]

Really good watch here..I have been watching every video of yours from start to finish since I watched your algorithm vids and I realized I wasn't getting notified. Keep up the good work. Your analysis is spot on

[@Suture33]

Mort lost my respect with this one. I've disagreed with his takes before but this one seemed like it needed a sponsored by EA disclaimer.

[@CarlWheatley-wi2cl]

Mortismal cut his cloth on isometric crpg's. That's ALL he used to focus on and he was good at it. As his popularity grew from 100% completion he started to branch out into all sorts of genres. That's where I started to have issues because his takes on those genres were simply sub par. His Starfield review was pants, he's had bad takes on other games like New Vegas. He doesn't seem to get why those games are good or bad. Doesn't seem to get the importance of writing and maturity in dark fantasy either.

[@Memnion]

We all know this crap is gonna be on sale, or on gamepass in a year or less. That being said, I might not be able to suffer through this game even for free

[@diegosolis9681]

I think Mortismal was biased but he didn't even realize it. It has happened before with many reviewers, something external to the game has them in a blindfold without them realizing it and then go and praise something immensely and only until the blindfold is off and they go through the thing again is that they realized how biased they were. Now, I'll admit there are very, VERY, suspicious things in his review. Like the "return to form" phrase he deleted from the description, or he very CURIOUSLY leaving any review of the writing out. But I've been following him for a long time and we have not agreed many, many times. That's what I like about independent reviewers, you know what they like, how they think, so regardless if they like or not like the game you know if you will. In this case I must say that it was unexpected of him to like the game. I expected him to like the gameplay a bit, and the setting. But I expected him to call out the writing, the voice acting and the lack of variety. But he went and called the game GotY contender and that raised many red flags for me.

[@dinoureta]

Mortismal is never critical enough on his reviews to keep his early review codes. He recommended release Diablo 4, Star Wars Outlaws and Starfield. Knowing his audience is CRPG fans, he couldve steered them right since he is big on quality games like Pathfinder WoTR and DOS 2.

[@kaiserschnitzel89]

Literally two people have different opinions based on subjective qualities of a game, where objectively the game is functional. It's how the world works.

[@franciscobutte]

The problem is that Mortismal opinion doesn't fit with his other opinions about similar or different games related to Veilguard. According to that he must be buried it.

[@morioh6623]

Cope

[@ianbuenav]

​@@franciscobutte like what games?

[@dr_diddy]

well, you see my friend, mortismal had the crime of having the wrong opinion, you don't go against the mob.

[@DuggyDarko]

​@@franciscobutte It's still just his opinion.

[@deus5185]

totally agree with u 3/10, it should be a 20$ game, and for the combat feels like a mobile game

[@justaquietpeacefuldance]

Mort who chooses to be "above the thing" belongs to the most annoying group. At least with Devs and jurnos I know exactly what they think because they all wear it on their sleeve. Tip toers are to be judged. + He deletes comments so possibly a commie 😂

[@Devilfairy1]

Though you don't watch reviews, but you absolutely need to watch Skill Up's Nier:Automata review. It is a masterpiece of a review.

[@SeriousPeaches]

Most over glazed game in history that is actually mediocre across the board. Its the video game equivalent of university intellectualism. Simplistic combat, drab looking world, melodramatic story that isnt actually saying much new, and not delivering it subtly, near non existent RPG elements. People just follow the herd and dont think for themselves, and the cult around Nier Automata is the prime example of this.

[@WCCXtra]

@@SeriousPeaches , I thought I was the only one lol. Honestly, that's the review that made me stop paying attention to SkillUp. I completed the game, but felt underwhelmed in the end especially since people kept mentioning how "philosophical" it was.

[@gillydiniz5725]

I believe you 100%, you are a no nonsense Russioan man... I haven't played it yet and I'm not sure if I will, everything you said in your review is through and truthful...

[@verde5738]

Metaphor absolutely demolishes this game in terms of being an RPG. It's not even close.

[@dketsenburg7986]

15:22 I think access to review codes at least for me personally can actually be a problem. It clearly shows an implicit conflict of interest and will lead to the same issues we see in main stream gaming journalism as it forces these individuals to toe the line or be left behind by publishers.

[@jermainegrays]

I like this style video. Not necessarily the aspect of it covering other reviewers but adding more of your mindset to overall gaming discussions.

[@ZombiAstral]

Whether Mortismal wants to admit it or not; his so-called opinion is heavily skewed toward the little insider access he's gotten. I can't call it a trustworthy review, and I'm not a DA fan, so no dog in this race. ShillUp and Mr MattyShills are KNOWN shills who have towed the industry line numerous times. Them suddenly having opinions that the fans are agreeing with doesn't mean anything to me. MattyShills had *POSTITIVE IMPRESSIONS* when EA was whining and dining him not long ago.

[@Meh-i6b]

I've watched most of his cRPG reviews , and Mort has one of the shallowest writing takes of a reviewer I've ever seen. It's typically the shortest section of any of his reviews in a genre where writing is one of the most important elements especially for a Bioware RPG. He never acknowledges the bad writing and even praises it at times .

[@hjge1012]

Morti has never done critical reviews. He's more an advertiser friendly fan channel that does overly positive reviews on the side. The guy also barely had anything critical to say about Diablo 4 and starfield. So all I can do is shrug. I like his channel for what it is, but I don't take his "reviews" serious.

[@tupacbck6833]

mortismal just recently had incredibly biased a review about unknown9, which btw is absolute garbage game. gameplay graphics functionality animations. I wouldnt trust his opinion when dude reviewes sponsored game and is biased about it. Very similiar game he played some months earlier was suddenly bad but unknown9 wasnt..

[@adamsow8896]

When Mortismal said that this is probably his game of the year I was speachless. You said that this year was good, but not great. I guess you dont play jrpgs. For fans of this games, this was propably the best years since... I dont even know when. Sega, only, has Like a dragon Infinite wealth, SMT5 vengeance, persona 3 reload and Metaphor refantazio. All 4 could be a goty and we talk about sega only. We have also FF 7 rebirth, Granblue Fantasy Relink, trails through daybreak and probably few more that I forgot at this point. When you add Elden ring dlc and Wu kong you have one of the best years ever, the only problem is... none of this games was made in the west.

[@rpgdivision]

Forgot about FF7 Rebirth. Granblue is on the list for me to finally play and have to get into Metaphor. You're right, fantastic JRPGs on the list. Nothing I've played so it's why I forgot about them. Telling you, my memory is terrible. So the year was even better than I thought at first. Thanks for the correction, appreciate it.

[@Mulberry_Mojo]

I don't think Veilguard is one of the worst rpg's ever made. It would have to actually be an rpg for that to be the case.

[@nochance7336]

I absolutely agree with your take here. I watch you and mortismal for my RPG reviews and I was so suspicious of his whole video, especially the game of the year crap. Also, you don't need better editing. The reason many of us come here is you're just raw with no bullshit. We like that.

[@Stirlingsays]

I like your attitude and these opinions, the slav accent is a little tough on English ears but it also tells me that you are far less likely to be woke and more likely to say it as it is. I will look out for your stuff.

[@jamiedavies3810]

I've followed Mort for a long time. I like his reviews, and I feel like he does a good job. I don't agree with his Veilguard Review, but it doesn't mean I hate the guy. It's okay to disagree with someone and not start a war over it. I think that is something people forget nowadays.

[@khal7702]

he is a reviwer it hurts his credibility having that kinda stance GotY GTFO

[@blackcat7k]

The reviewers on YT will be the new standard eventually. Games media is a joke, with their bias which has been shown between their reviews of games like Wukong vs Veilguard or other titles that were critically panned to the point the that they exceptionally poor: like Dustborne that games media ran cover for. Game reviewers on YT, and this early access thing are going to be a massive problem in the future. Every YT is presenting an image whether they want to or not. Skill Up or who I dub Schill Up is probably the smartest of the fencesitter reviews. He knows which ones to immediately can and the ones to scramble for anything positive to say. His Veilguard review isn't surprising because it seems he can't wait for games like that because he point to it as a game he canned in a sea of milquetoast reviews. Mortismal's reviews were called into question for me because the whole "I 100% the games I review" gives a lot of credence to his reviews, but Veilguard I can confirm that he also scrambles for whatever positive thing he can say and stays as far away from controversial takes. I can't really get behind reviewers like that. I long for more reviews like OG Angry Joe or TB, but now there seems to be too much money/views/clout/access at stake for people to be honest and it's resulted in some real shanking to gamers like Cyberpunk 2077 that should have been called out as trash or at least extremely suspect. But it seems the bigger the mob for a game the more waffling will occur. Gaming isn't going to survive unless there's more reviewers with spines and it seems one step in having that spine is not to be tied to the industry in any way,

[@dketsenburg7986]

Now this is the gaming journalism we need! You’re basically doing a systematic review like in science. A primary research article has low evidence generally. A review can take multiple and then pull them together to see if they have relevance and if they share similar data or positive/negative data for the hypothesis/assertions.

[@demonfandango]

Always appreciate your well thought out videos and straight-up information and opinion. Doesn't mean I always agree but I know, at least, that it's honest. Haven't played Veilguard but after watching some people stream it, I don't think it's a game I would enjoy - aspects of it, sure but I'll spend my £60 on something else later down the line. Keep up the good work.

[@pooley3l33t]

One game to have a look at if you are not aware of is Tainted Grail: the fall of Avalon also way less than £60.

[@demonfandango]

@@pooley3l33tYeah, I bought that in its first wave of EA and now just waiting for the 1.0 release. Appreciate the recommendation though because it is a good one.

[@BalbazaktheGreat]

I think that a lot of the positive reviews for Veilguard can reasonably be explained by "popcorn gamers" - that is, the same sort of attitude you often see in moviegoers where people brush off criticism of plot continuity and other details by saying "turn your brain off and just enjoy the film." It's a distinctly uncritical approach that prioritizes "fun" - without grasping that some of us have very different definitions of what is fun and enjoyable. Case in point, millions of people loved the Transformers movies, while I found the CGI action so difficult to follow that I didn't even enjoy the fights and explosions (let alone the non-sensical "plot"). It all comes down to what you were playing the game for: A lot of RPG fans, and especially DA:O fans were bitterly disappointed by the story and writing, because the were looking for a dark, serious RPG with depth and nuance. People who were in it for a fun Marvel movie ride with flashy action, on the other hand, seemed to have loved it. I haven't played it, so I don't have much of an opinion other than to say that I don't find the stylization appealing and the writing seems truly abysmal; for these reasons, I'll be avoiding the title.

[@1tsbag134]

Mark my words guys, same will happen on his Avowed "review" when it releases in february. That gamr will just be a watered down version of pillars of eternity in terms of characters, story and combat mechanics. He will definetely be a Avowed shill

[@franciscor390]

Morty 100% here. May you wonder among slop.