So... About 'Dragon Age: The Veilguard'...

[@LukeStephensTV]

TLDW: I think the game is just... fine... so far at least. - The game is SUPER well optimized on PC. Great to see. - The multiplayer origins of the level design is pretty evident and often leads to small levels and awkward transitions between scenes. - In terms of Roleplaying it feels much closer to Fallout 4 than Old School Dragon Age... I'm told it's way more impactful later in the game, but we'll see. - Combat-wise, it's definitely spongey at times, but I don' think it's bad if you're spending enough time tweaking your build. Loot makes a difference and ability coordination is cool. - In terms of writing, THIS is the weakpoint. I think Jayvee and SkillUp are right in their estimations, but I also just think the energy is too low in most conversations. All the characters act like they've been awake for days, and it sucks the energy out of most conversations. - The cringe levels are much lower than I was braced for, but I'm sure I'll find more later in the game. Right now it's not a deal breaker at all despite what Twitter/X says. All in all, it's fine. It's not a masterpiece imo and it's not going to beat out 'Metaphor Re Fantazio' for GOTY for me, but I'm still having a good time. I'll keep playing and I hope it picks up! TLDR the TLDW: It's a junk food game. There's a lot of it, it all kinda tastes the same as other stuff you've eaten, it's not going to give you any sustenance, but you can easily munch until you get sick of it.

[@declancampbell1277]

i tend to agree with this TLDR in a vaccum, and in a stand alone game i think i'd be willing to accept it. Its got the Dragon Age name attached to it though, and with that comes a certain expectation of quality. Not only that, but a certain expectation of respect for the name and world and lore of Dragon Age, and from what i've played it just doesn't have that. in a vacuum i'd probably even enjoy the game, but for every retconned or butchered theme/character that appears on screen from the old games, it just fills me with revulsion. its almost like a caricatured parody of what Dragon Age is.

[@captainp367]

Yes sir Metaphor for the W! Kinda sad tho I was expecting more from dragon age veil guard....in part 4 or chapter 4 currently and its just okay

[@alizaidi2893]

Didn't even break 80k players on launch day.......for comparison Black Myth: Wukong had 2,415,714 concurrent players on launch. Cyberpunk had 1,054,388 concurrent players on launch. Elden Ring had 952,523 concurrent on launch. Hogwart's Legacy had 879,308. Baldur's Gate 3 had 875,343 on full release. Starfield had 330,723.

[@robotman011]

The problem is simply that in one of the biggest RPG FRANCHISE in Gaming that the Dialogue/Wiriting (which is literally one of the most important for this genre) is horrible. I would rather have the combat be horrible and the writing be amazing, honestly. It really does just seem like a junk food game and makes you wonder whether Andromeda is any better than this

[@KJP1226]

I would love a full review, I don’t particularly trust anyone else with their opinions of the game

[@henri2058]

I'm in my mid 20's. When I get home I just want to play a game. I don't want to hear the insufferable people I work with in my video games.

[@Trace153]

Add 20 more years, and it’s much worse😂😂

[@cmr2003]

And nowadays you have to put up with that bullshite in games, movies, tv shows, novels... It's maddening.

[@65firered]

You're telling me you don't want to hear a character lecture you on how you should punish yourself and perform a humiliation ritual because apologizing is not enough? Blasphemy!

[@jimmymurphy898]

Play Metaphor. Amazing game.

[@dediualex3554]

@@jimmymurphy898yep

[@Xevonarin]

Imagine making a Dragon Age game where the target demographic is specifically NOT the Dragon Age audience.

[@conorgillespie7832]

Its like Slipknot released a boy band album.

[@archersterling6726]

​@@conorgillespie7832At least that would be hilarious

[@SlothmanTV]

No idea why every entertainment company just has this as their credo. I don’t get it.

[@natedawg8778]

I don't care how good the combat is or how good it looks. If I gotta listen to hours of bad voice acting and worse writing, it's not worth my time.

[@strenifstrecs2551]

This is where I'm at. I play Bioware games for the writing. If that's not here in Vailguard. If I'm not excited to play every side quest. Ya... No.

[@la_engineer]

but we have to read your worse writting, too

[@jesseM138]

I bought Andromeda on sale for like 5 bucks, years after it came out, because I was told "at least the combat is fun". I quit the game about midway through because the writing could not carry it. Was not even worth that 5 bucks.

[@jayteepodcast]

Go watch the Godfather

[@la_engineer]

@@jesseM138 your own mistake ;) I mean they said the story is boring, what did you expect? Btw, do you have any constructive criticism?

[@johndeighan2495]

Am I a bit salty that THIS is what Dragon Age has now become? Yes. Yes I am.

[@terrythegnome2408]

same, game is pretty fun otherwise. the dialogue is a lot better than people say. Some characters suck others don't. Definitely glad I got it.

[@johndeighan2495]

@@terrythegnome2408 i dunno terry, i watched a stream for 2 hrs yesterday and the dialogue was pret-ty bad. Glad you're enjoying it though. I'm not so salty that I don't want other people to have a good time!

[@FlyMysticalDJ]

​@@terrythegnome2408 bioware dev spotted

[@Asheriancommand]

@@terrythegnome2408 Yeah two characters are probably the only real culprits thats the veil leaper and the mage you start with.

[@nickbrooks4993]

Can u be doing something better yes yes you can

[@Amadeus_A]

I really like Luke Stephens's videos. She really gives a lot of insight... ...Aw shit... time to do 20 pushups...

[@65firered]

Don't forget the obligatory sermon, otherwise you aren't truly sorry.

[@Evangeline-f6h]

The cringiest scene in gamer history. Just… no words. Too much.

[@Amadeus_A]

@@65firered You're right. I need the next 20 minutes talking about how I don't want to make this about me.

[@Matt-bg5wg]

Pull a barf… sorry barv

[@ANGRYWOLVERINE2060-ft2nc]

hahahahahaha

[@TBContent24]

Look how they massacred my boy... Quinari have been destroyed

[@Trace153]

I am interested to see what this new type of thinking will do with ME. At this point I just look forward to my franchise’s burning. The money has to drop-down to a new Phoenix to get born at this rate.

[@zachrohler1047]

Isabel had some massive budget cuts too

[@Mkrause762]

The qunari have sucked since dragon age 2

[@Killgore-ip2yq]

​@@Mkrause762 Right. People need to get real.

[@Beyondqqq]

"Quinari" Yeah, you and the guy commenting that they've sucked since DA2 have never played the franchise before.

[@cjwarrington177]

I think I just need to accept that I'm not the target audience for this new dragon age. Seems more like it's aimed at the same audience as a young adult novel.

[@65firered]

Not even. The only audience for this is game journalists, Reddit, Resetera and Twitter. The same audience as Dustborn, if that's not clear.

[@maddawgzzzz]

I accidentally made my character trans and then saved. I can’t undo it. I didn’t mean to convert my identity. But now my character that I designed to be masculine is now a trans woman. Am I able to undo this? Hopefully a mod? Ug

[@roundearthshill248]

@@maddawgzzzz Just make a new character...

[@cjwarrington177]

I need to clarify that I don't agree with any of the transphobic rhetoric that these games tend to attract online. I only meant that the writing is meant to be on grade level for people in 6th-8th grade.

[@arthurmiranda8896]

@@maddawgzzzz You deserve this.

[@Morbacounet]

- you can't be mean - your choices aren't impactful - the dialogue is dry and annoying as fuck How exactly are you supposed to role play at all ?

[@Dead4911]

Sounds like most other RPGs, Bioware never much more choice than a telltale game, but like telltale, they used to write really good stories.

[@CherryJuli]

You can be mean though

[@HS-ze4yw]

@@CherryJuli Being 'mean' would imply you could insult your companions (until they leave/attack you); I don't want Taash/Bellara in my group as they're both incredibly obnoxious characters. In a 'real' RPG we would, for example, have the option to tell Taash we don't care about pronouns & that she can deal with it or leave...or tell Bellara she's incredibly irritating, and ask if she can stop her endless prattling. For Taash, seems the 'best' you get is ignoring their side quest = they 'heroically-unalive' in act 3...for a bad ending ofc - if you want the good ending you have to affirm the 'they/them' in their side quest.

[@JohnDoe-dr9ff]

@@HS-ze4ywWait, they unalive themselves because you won’t affirm their pronouns? 🤣🤣🤣 sorry, that’s f-ing hilarious

[@ledkit]

You don't, It'a not an RPG.

[@Dekadez]

I don't really get why people think 75-77k peak players for a AAA major franchise RPG from a major studio that's been in development for 7-10 years is impressive. It's likely going to peak at 100k over the weekend, which is almost half of what Dragon's Dogma achieved on Steam, and that's a more obscure mainly Playstation title. It's one third of Starfield, which was on game pass, and one eighth of BG3. They can invent all kinds of PR lingo such as "Most successful Bioware Steam release!" but if it caps out at 100k over the weekend that's just a major disappointment and I can't imagine the studio or publisher will be happy with that. Calling the long-awaited fourth installment of freaking Dragon Age a "junk food game" isn't the glowing recommendation you think it is. We need to expect more or studios will keep on churning out mediocre slop. I want this to be a good game and succeed if only because the future of Mass Effect 5 hinges on it. What I've seen doesn't give me much hope at all.

[@D4C_LoveTrain1]

The game is also on EA Play tbf so we won't have an accurate number for a while. The only comparison is likely Starfield which still had 300k players, I dunno if 1/3 of Starfields number will be seen as a success.

[@Dekadez]

@@D4C_LoveTrain1 Correct, but I doubt EA Play is remotely as popular as Game Pass.

[@grogu411]

And didn’t black myth wukong peak over 1 million players?

[@TJAGok]

Yup..... Look at BG3's yesterday's 24 hour peak....its 61000. This game is cooked if it gets similar concurrent players to a one year old game...

[@azeria1]

Wouldn't be bad numbers if it didn't take 7-10 years to make how many times has this game had to restart development from scratch or scrape ideas it's budget is probably way more than then starfield and bg3 combined

[@jcflores1774]

I tried it, but the story, dialogue, and retconning of the world at large just made me request my first ever refund. The voice acting was god awful and the tone a bit too chipper.

[@CherryJuli]

Fake review

[@nathanfortun5768]

I don’t know that I’d say the tone is chipper. Idk how far you got but the game still has a lot of that darkness to it. That hopelessness and that despair that innocent people are dying. But still has a little bit of that snarky sarcastic attitude that is very common in marvel movies. I like it so far. I think a lot of people are expecting origins again and that’s just never going to happen. If people look at it as a hope of old school BioWare revival then you’re going to be disappointed.

[@saintjames1995]

​@@nathanfortun5768dawg, it literally is guardians of the galaxy tone and dialog it isn't dark at all

[@nathanfortun5768]

@@saintjames1995 I’m going to assume you haven’t played the game cause there is an entire town covered in blight and you can hear sounds of people getting suffocated and people being stabbed through their chests and hung. So yes there is a dark theme too it. The game doesn’t have to be constantly dark and depression to have a darker tone.

[@saintjames1995]

@nathanfortun5768 literally one dark area doesn't make the tone dark. And my wife got to that area and they were still making quips the whole fucking time

[@DTM117]

I think the "HR" talk is the big problem in many games today. It immediately makes you roll your eyes and keeps things boring. I hope the industry can go away from this to make games more interesting in the future. The rest of the game looks decent (outside some cringy scenes I've seen). I get a Hogwarts Legacy vibe with combat every video I see which isn't a bad thing.

[@jonny-b4954]

Meanwhile, I'm playing BG3 and Red Dead Redemption 1 on PC now, and that dialogue and writing is just... hardcore. It holds no punches, dilutes nothing down for soft people. Doesn't push agendas down your throat and lecture you. Actually has a decent ark, with decent antagonists etc.

[@FullMetalB]

​@@jonny-b4954 "agendas" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

[@RikkiSan1]

@@FullMetalB What do you mean?

[@joshua41175]

It's either that or dying slang. I almost just walked out of black panther when they dropped the what are those.

[@r.daneel.90]

@@FullMetalB surely the "safe space" writing of the game was something totally planned and spontaneous right?

[@ojet013]

Not big on the fortnite-ification of the art style

[@swingingfordearlife]

If the writing was just mediocre I could handle it, because the rest of the game is fairly serviceable, I’d say 6-7/10 ish. But the writing is aggressive in its lack of quality and preachiness and the lack of any real choice is antithetical to the BioWare I grew up with

[@hisaonakai9489]

I always played DA for the story and the writing. There is no point in playing and fighting trough levels if the "reward" is bad writing and just sucks.

[@johndeighan2495]

Yeah the lack of genuine choice is shocking. I was watching a stream and was amazed at how little agency the player had over events in the game. Even small events.

[@ClanToreador]

I don’t want to be preached to EVER by a game or by weirdos who don’t even like themselves.

[@gopalarora9997]

Yea, the lack of choice is what breaks it for me, the rest I can get used to. Bioware was known for AAA games with real choice and consequences until they watered it down starting from ME2.

[@krulltheskull]

There's a lot of things I have that I can complain about with this game. A lot. But one thing is chief amongst them. Why the hell are art directors so afraid of making dwarves look like goddamn dwarves? What's wrong with massive bedazzled beards? Who gives a shit about some minor clipping, I want to feel like a DWARF. I'm getting tired of only having Vermintide 2 to fulfill my dwarf-beard-to-the-ground experience. Get a grip and make a fucking dwarf!

[@JerodTrd]

Deep Rock Galactic is recruiting Miners. Hopefully, you can mine better than you can dance.

[@socratese5]

😂😂😂

[@azurisuru]

Rock & Stone!

[@angelcrush3320]

Rock and Stone brother !

[@garyhall9729]

how did we go from dragon age origins to this

[@shawnnyp5686]

This is how I feel when my favorite books, comics, musicals get made into movies... It's like they don't want to stick with a winning formula.

[@garyhall9729]

@@shawnnyp5686 i 100% agree. what amazon did to the wheel of time was disgusting

[@leidenschaftfaul]

Because we aged and there's plenty of good games now. We're not 16 year old, easy to impress middle schoolers anymore.

[@garyhall9729]

@leidenschaftfaul tell me you have blue hair without telling me you have blue hair

[@gustavotriqui]

Downhill

[@AzureRoxe]

You mention that "as long as you're not looking for the super intense roleplay, you'll be fine" when this is Dragon Age, from Bioware. That roleplay is supposed to be the damn point.

[@dannysmi7162]

Yeah, Luke you should do a follow up review. I want to see your in depth thoughts on this. I just think it would be interesting.

[@jordynlewis3865]

I agree!

[@malcolmdouglasmichaluk8263]

He wants to get the codes next time so he will never outright say its bad

[@sammy888v]

So this is how one of my favourite gaming franchise dies😢

[@oldmanjesus9855]

It died with inquisition. People supporting the red flags all over that game resulted in a bioware that truly believed they were headed in the right direction, that's how we got Andromeda and now this abandoned corpse called veilguard.

[@pree76]

Bioware died 3 games ago, they lost everyone good at the company years ago

[@sammy888v]

@oldmanjesus9855 truer words were never spoken, friend

[@randomguy6679]

The franchise that had one good game?

[@oldmanjesus9855]

@@randomguy6679 dragon age 2 was a good game. It suffered from a very limited set of scenarios and the combat was not as tactical as origins(which some people actually welcomed) but other than that the plot, pacing, structure, lore, characters designs, companions, quests and side quests were all great. DA2 is definitely not a bad game, it has way more positives than negatives. Oh and the initial lack of a dedicated archer character was idiotic.

[@aaronhumphrey3514]

If their goal was to shrink the Dragon Age playerbase by more than half, then this game is a huge success, lol.

[@angelcrush3320]

they just don't feel like writing mass effect 5, they are trying their hardest so it doesn't happen 😂

[@FakeAdirTV]

Don't buy this game for 60$. An ice cream cone is about 5 dollars, go buy 12 ice cream cones instead. Def a better experience

[@KenLinx]

$5? What ice cream cone is $5?

[@gamingtonight1526]

@@KenLinx A good ice cream. Not like this bad game!

[@bryandedon7459]

I love ice cream cones. This, not so much.

[@MrParis215]

Hmmmmmmmmm Icccccce Creeeeeeeeeaaamm

[@sierrakobold6896]

It's 70$

[@TheAsiandramafreak]

The modern day conversation does bother me, not in a way that other people are bothered by, but it just breaks immersion, I mean nobody talks like that in ancient times! Unless you are Marty McFly

[@65firered]

That was abandoned in Inquisition but this is SIGNIFICANTLY worse.

[@Consolesdied]

yes, i remember the use of the word "stuff" common... really... it's true it breaks immersion constantly earing modern words that don't belong in a medieval fantasy universe

[@jestrella89]

I mean, nobody really talks like that right now.

[@benhagstrom2185]

Yeah but that's why people are mad, even if they don't realize it. Nobody would care if the game was good. I watched "Hackers" the other day and like half the characters in that were some form of LGBTQ but nobody complained because it contributed to the story, it didn't bring the plot to a screeching halt. Make a good game with a good story, then add whatever ESG stuff you want. Some will still complain, sure, but you will make all the money.

[@GFS695]

Modern day conversation?

[@Armandillo2d]

THAT drama is actually super immersion breaking, which is a critical factor in valuing an rpg.

[@Yuuki_Asuna]

cry more

[@Ccubed92]

You should value being successful more than a video game

[@jordankenney2804]

Valid criticism 'cry more' behave​@@Yuuki_Asuna

[@archersterling6726]

​@@Yuuki_AsunaWeeb detected. Opinion invalid

[@Oomy75]

I cannot fathom out why some large gaming publications say that dragon age: veilguard is the best game bioware has ever made! What the hell??

[@FlxKomp]

Bceause its not about actual gameplay...its about ideology

[@jesseM138]

@@FlxKomp To an extent yes, but also not wanting to burn bridges with BioWare/EA and lose early access to their games. Gotta play nice or no review codes or event invites for you.

[@coffeefox5703]

Because all of the gaming publications are owned by 3-4 companies behind the scenes... at most.

[@hey_its_me_ur_brother]

@@jesseM138 If that was the case then they could have just said that it is "good 7/10". Saying "best something" is a stance, not appeasement.

[@johndeighan2495]

I am doubtful that anyone who said that actually thinks that. Surely it's impossible to actually think that.

[@tychodragon]

Lol it didn't even crack 100K players for a major release by a AAA studio that numbers awful

[@jordynlewis3865]

It could have with console players as well

[@ThePowerOfOneThePowerOfTwo]

I thought that 70k was only steam users? Would like to know total sales vs just peak players because there may be people who’ve bought it and haven’t started yet

[@tychodragon]

@@jordynlewis3865 thats each if it cant on steam the worlds biggest gaming platform FAIL the cope is real with this game

[@tychodragon]

@@ThePowerOfOneThePowerOfTwo Steam is the biggest gaming platform by far

[@syrienangel4137]

@@jordynlewis3865 My friend, most steam games like Black Myth Wukong which had over a million and even Starfield which had 300,000 players on launch which is what everyone talks about. Those numbers are even higher if we're counting sales outside of steam.

[@CummyPancakes]

I've said it before and i'll say it again. Every Character interaction in this game feels like its straight up from a Scooby Doo episode. Rooks natural response should be "Zoinks" or "Jinkies" for all the good the actual dialogue tree gives you.

[@Ahmed24-tt9ow]

Writing is that bad? We talking like Saints Row, Justice League bad?

[@Pikaru-c4u]

@@Ahmed24-tt9owI’m playing it and it not like that at all

[@Dragon.Slayer.]

The in game comments from the companions sound like someone talking to a 7yr old

[@krishnaprasad1570]

​@@Ahmed24-tt9ow Actually worse 😭😔 atleast the character in SR cusses, here none does, so that it doesn't to offend

[@punisher5598]

Luke is misquoting Matt and Ralf. It wasn’t that they turned down the difficulty later because they got spongy later, they turned it down and wished they turned it down earlier saying all the enemies were spungy.

[@xilix]

i don't think i've ever seen something so purple before. zero hyperbole; it's bizarre. like i sincerely wanna know how the hell they were able to make it look purple even when it.. doesn't seem to look purple? IT'S SO PURPLE!

[@videogamemovies7398]

To put the some 70,000 people playing Veilguard into perspective: that's about the same number that Baldur's Game 3 has at the same time. A game that came out over a year ago, is supposed to have the same target audience and peaked well over 800,000.

[@65firered]

Monster Hunter Wilds has more players... That game isn't out yet.

[@frankhemstra634]

baldurs gate 3 had a looooong early access period. People already knew the game would be absolutely amazing well ahead of time. Comparing this to BG3 is disingenous. Also, The internet has aleady decided to hate this game well before release because its EA and bioware. It never had a shot. And that's too bad. it's actually a really solid game.

[@gahangore111]

Ok Grummz

[@gahangore111]

@@frankhemstra634Reasoning with Grummz fans won't work

[@videogamemovies7398]

@@frankhemstra634 If you believe anyone out there would hate a game simply because it is from BioWare, you have to be extremely new to video gaming (definitely post-2014). In this case, I might get an understanding of why you would consider something like Veilguard a "really solid game".

[@looniac_yt]

You know, it's like going to a family owned Italian Restaurant for years, only to find out one day the place was bought and turned into McDonalds.

[@FMkirtap]

The thing that confuses me is that the developers knew that the internet would be negative towards the pandering, so why put it in the game? It just confuses me, regardless of what I think, why did they put it in if they knew it wouldn’t go over well?

[@ElAlguien]

Out of spite It's about the message

[@WeMissYouSnail]

To force their political ideologies on you. Literally brainwashing people and they’re targeting children and young adults especially with the Fortnight graphics.

[@65firered]

It's not about the money, it's about sending a message. If the studio burns to the ground reputation and all, they'll go down screaming that people don't accept their cult's idealogy.

[@DJMarcO138]

Fun fact: The game franchise had LGBTQ characters long before this one. So...exactly what "pandering" are you referring to?

[@barbedsummer1333]

The major issue with the woke movement is that its flagbearers, I.E. Sweet Baby Inc., Have actively stated that they want to burn the gaming industry down. And more than that, the investors of the game are only willing to invest in the company if there is some ESG bs in there. That might not be the case for this game, but several studios have put woke slop in their games against their will out of necessity.

[@angelmessenger8240]

I've just been watching someone play this and omg, straight line, follow the leader who never stops talking absolute drivel. Did an AI write the dialogue? Quest markers are literally pointed out like you're a five year old and have to be hand held all the way.

[@spiritwolfe771]

The quest markers is a setting so.. if you are going to talk shit about something please know what you are talking about. Love or hate the game idc but Jesus Christ it’s ridiculous how people can talk shit but be so unaware of what they are talking about.

[@menalgharbwalsharq648]

DA veilguard is not bad only because it's kind of so-so, it's bad because it comes as a final nail in the coffin of what the dragon age franchise could have been, and what everyone was expecting since origins. inquisition was not bad either, it was just disappointing as it was supposed to come as a healing for the franchise after DA2 which weirdly start to get some recognition as more and more other episodes release. No dragon age game is "bad". They just increase or decrease in value as people get disappointed by new opus, which today put Origin as a legendary status

[@Mkrause762]

Have you tried playing Inquisition lately it's really bad

[@frankhemstra634]

Since origins? That game came out in 2009. Imagine waiting for something like that, which you clearly werent going to get, for almost 15 years.

[@DanielLopez-he2fq]

@@Mkrause762I loved inquisition so can't wait to buy the best package for veilguard

[@grogu411]

Dragon age was always trash.

[@jesseM138]

@@Mkrause762 I liked it at the time. In hindsight (I'm talking since ME Andromeda), it had some telltale signs of where BioWare was going in the near future. Kind of taints my perception of the game.

[@timothypatch5080]

What happened to writers? Where are you? Why are they so captured with just bad dialogue and stupid world views and shoving them into storylines? Who is hired and who are they writing for? I just don’t get it

[@65firered]

Look up a game called Dustborn real quick. There you'll find your answers.

[@roundearthshill248]

it's all these gen z purple haired septum piercings they're hiring.

[@Barni2212]

If you see the lead writer, you will understand everything.

[@jesseM138]

An issue in a lot of entertainment nowadays is writers writing for themselves, things they wanna see/play, not as a product to be sold. Then they'll say "it's not for you" whilst simultaneously blaming you for not buying it.

[@wayneadkins6883]

DEI

[@just_a_character]

If it wasn’t called “Dragon Age” it would flop. Because it’s called “Dragon Age” BioWare has filled the grave they dug with past games.

[@65firered]

It's a prop, that's not working.

[@Yuuki_Asuna]

nobody I know knows what Dragon Age is, it's not a massive IP at all, so no

[@namelessone9941]

​@@Yuuki_Asunawdym its not massive IP at all lmao, are you hanging out with minors that haven't even exists yet when the first three released?

[@just_a_character]

@@Yuuki_Asuna not sure about that lol but this game is going to make it “not a massive IP”. They keep burning bridges game after game. Ubisoft and BioWare need an overhaul of personnel or they will go by the wayside.

[@universe1225]

​@@Yuuki_AsunaThat's like saying TES isn't a massive IP

[@amethystwyvern]

For a game like Dragon Age we shoud not be re-treading the same areas over and over again in new missions

[@randomguy6679]

Which was a big issue in Dragon Age 2 ffs.

[@politkos5348]

@@randomguy6679 its been 13 years since that game came out, and its still a divisive entry

[@randomguy6679]

@@politkos5348 No, I meant that despite the fact that it was a common complaint in 2, they didn’t bother to fix that in Veilguard.

[@lanadoodles464]

refunded, spent the money on yarn

[@masonmurphy2679]

Hey, that's useful if you ever get trapped in a labyrinth!

[@pubz9456]

way more productive

[@Evravon]

"Man I've just had a really rough day..." "That fucking sucks. Wanna go get drunk and talk about it?" THAT seems like it would fit very well here. People being real and also giving you a shoulder to lean on. Platitudes are platitudes for a reason, don't overuse them or they become cliche'd. We wanna connect with NPCs and enjoy talking with them.

[@chilbiyito]

The writers definitely went to therapy and based their writing around it lol

[@jacobtucker5719]

Totally got to disagree with you on the art style. Show me one person that has played a previous Dragon Age game and likes the look of the new Qunari. Every single one looks awful and like megamind with horns

[@MegaMikeN1]

Yet another brave fence sitting "my wife liked this game'' take from Luke

[@SixerMason]

Gotta keep the wife happy. Gotta try and keep that corporate access. Wouldn't be surprised if the mild ass critique he gave when he went to the preview event blacklisted him from getting the review copy.

[@tehbeernerd]

This cringey, YA and fanfic-influenced sludge writing has been forced into the ears of players (and viewers, when including TV and movies) for YEARS. WE DO NOT WANT IT ANYMORE. I know writers like to exclusively endear themselves to people that are like them, but do companies realize that general audiences are sick of this current trend?!

[@CurtOntheRadio]

Speak for yourself? Why do you have to assume to speak for everyone? Dangerous trait, you should watch that.

[@sol9059]

​@@CurtOntheRadioi agree with him

[@CurtOntheRadio]

​@@sol9059 fine. but do you imagine everyone agrees?

[@Erfanhr100]

Nope, I don't waste my time with this game.👎

[@Saulgoodman94]

But wasted time watching videos about it I’m sure this isn’t the first video you’ve watched on it 😂

[@Erfanhr100]

@Saulgoodman94 no bro only watched skillup video and Lukes video i wanted to make sure if its a game worth my 70 dollars hard earned money and now I know it is not worth it but good for you if you liked it have fun ✌️

[@prototype204]

True better waste your time watching videos on the game you hate, and commenting on them. Talk about having a game living rent free in your head

[@Dooger414]

Better to waste time here than waste money and accidentally encouraging more video game sermons being published.

[@prototype204]

@@Dooger414 as if your single purchase has any affect on the games performance or even your comment can dissuade people who were gonna originally buy the game. If you don’t like something just stfu and move on. Simple as that. Do you go to every single movie theater and whine at the entrance about how you didn’t like a certain movie?

[@browland1]

For what it's worth, I bought the game and I'm having a great time with it. The game is not perfect and there is justifiable criticism, but it's a solid and very enjoyable action RPG, which is exactly what I was looking for. Amazing what happens when you ignore the internet riff-raff and think for yourself.

[@Inuheishi]

Yeah, I’m enjoying myself lol

[@pj5037]

So far, I am also enjoying the game

[@bernova]

Same here. Do i wish the dialogues were edgier, more aligned with the setting? Yes. But so far I am having s great time playing. Honestly ! Much better time that with many of the games that can't do any wrong, according to the internet tribunal of gamers, lol.

[@Soctom]

The dialogue must of been AI generated.

[@Mateusz-in1cv]

People who use must of should really not comment dialogue

[@bauer9101]

I'm torn as reviews are decent but all the clips I have seen are dull mcu style humour or strange social commentary. Please tell me most of the game is 'serious' in tone?

[@nithurlut]

It's not. Many reviewers mentioned that DAVG doesn't really have deep, serious or dark moments with few shallow exceptions, but these exceptions are just cliches, like "It's really quiet here... Too quiet".

[@nico3064]

Don't trust the reviews from the gaming journalists. Watch YT videos of gameplay instead and decide by yourself. I saw enough clips to be sure that I will never touch this game

[@Quankhi1]

If u still rely on reviews from "game journalists", u are the target audience for this game. Never ever trust an official game review from the likes of IGN or Eurogamer or whatever and always look for content creators reviews on youtube.

[@Cedrys-m3w]

Played about 3h yesterday (mostly of that in the character creator, so about an hour and a half of actual gameplay) and let's just say that the dialogue is very... em... got me eye rolling multiple times. It mostly feels like people who wrote the game didn't play previous games but skimmed wiki page about them and rolled with it (elven role got retconned so badly I wanted to cry). Also yeah. They are trying to be funny. But. Em. It's not really working. So like what's happening might be serious but the characters have like... Zero braincells. I feel like a teenage me that had been there for every MCU premiere might have been more forgiving but 25yo me, who writes as a hobby is like... They seriously got paid for this? So far, the closest this game falls for me, is literally Hogwarts Legacy (which was fine, I had fun, didn't have much expectations, and really liked like one plotline) where I didn't pay much attention to dialogue, but was there to enjoy the views. That and like fanfiction, but the ones I open and close 5 pages in, because it just... so meh.

[@Manic.miner2077]

I just can't be doing with the poor writing, it's insulting and condescending, I expect better from a studio with a pedigree like Bioware.

[@TheWildernessurvivor]

The Bioware you remember no longer exists

[@123-r9n1v]

It has the lowest peak playercount out of every AAA RPG on Steam

[@Nick-zm2vm]

Watching the player character lightly kick a barrel to clumsily knock over an enemy in one of the opening scenes was one of the most ridiculous things I've seen in a video game in a long time.

[@Cyprusg21]

Baldur's Gate 3 feels like it was written by people who love their craft and have spent years working on it. Dragon Age feels like it was written by people who don't love their craft as much as they have things to say. They should stick to the forums and leave writing to actual writers.

[@chrism1966]

I bet baldurs gate 3 has more players by the end of the month lol.

[@65firered]

Baldur's Gate 3 as of right now has 73,000.

[@marconeves1979]

Luke..... if you're "having a good time", and it's "fine", why are you even considering not finishing the game? C'mon man, it sounds like you're trying reeeeeeally hard to be diplomatic.... when what you really think is : all in all mediocre.

[@Jpcraque]

He is a hater that monetizes popular hate for money and views....this is just another normal video for luke siht*ng on a game like he always does....even if it is in a "diplomatic " way!

[@DOMadorable]

kinda hyprocritical LOL

[@headshot531]

ya the problem with turning a KZbin hobby into a full career, you feed your family with that money you sometimes cant afford to lose sponsors or connections. which in turn gives us inaccurate info (not that he is here). same with gaming journalism kind of, its a rough cycle. thats why id never rely on it 100%.

[@SBradison]

Not about this game, but the point itself is not that hypocritical. Sometimes the game is objectively good, but not to your taste, that's why you can have some time in-game, but not finish it.

[@Kris.G]

@@Jpcraque you need your head checked by a professional

[@FeliPeltier]

Every time I see Varic or Solas I’m like, “Oh yeah, this is Dragon Age.” I keep thinking I’m playing the new Fable or Kingdoms of Amalur

[@conorgillespie7832]

In fairness Fable (1+2) and kingdoms of Amalur are good games... but yeah what is this Fortnite madame tussauds nonsense?

[@JustinCoats-o6q]

Interestingly enough, abusive people who know "therapy language" and use it well are some of the most dangerous...

[@truthorpropaganda9001]

You know dang well why some people didn't get a review key. Only those who champion political ideas in the game get one.

[@tubby_1278]

If you vote for Trump you certainly will not get one LOL

[@randomfeg4141]

Some people say that we shouldn't hate on mid/slop games because they are not terrible and people can find fun in them, but if you work on a game for like 5-6 years and spend 200+mil on it then don't be satisfied with just slop "junk food" quality. This game could have been Baldur's Gate 3 level, and captured a new audience who never played Dragon Age or any RPG before, but its just meh like Andromeda was (at least its not broken and riddled with bugs like that game was), yeah there probably are new people trying it but there are also old fans of the franchise who will never even try it, based on the perceived quality of it and the way they handled this sequel.

[@leni3937]

The first thing that came to my mind with this game was : " Oh yeah, I remember Sacred 3, someone did it again..." , now I'm going to cry and reinstall DA:O

[@drake0074]

I’ve watched enough of the dialogue to know it is painfully cringeworthy. I can’t get through a RPG when I’m rolling my eyes every time they talk. This looks and sounds like a game made for teenage girls.

[@polodhtip6061]

mass effect 5 director is kinda freaking out feeling veilguard drama's bills might fall on his project and players becoming very cautious with the next bioware potential disaster; he gotta proove that mass effect is not gonna turn into another weird political project

[@kokomal]

Real dialogue from the game(not kidding): Rook: Lace, listen. You’re not alone. Whatever’s out there, we’ll face it together. I promise. Together. Harding: I… I could kiss you right now. I’m going to kiss you right now. Rook: Lace, there’s, um… something we might need to… it’s your, um… magic… Harding: Rook?? Rook: You make the world spin, Lace Harding. Harding: Rook! Lyrium!!! It’s like, I’m infused WITH Lyrium!! Rook: I… noticed it when we touched. That night, when we… talked about your dreams. Harding: You KNEW? You KNEW and you still kissed me?! Rook: (laughs). Wow… I feel drunk… Harding: Yeah… it’s because I turned your head into mush!! Rook: Or it’s love… Harding: you boob! This is not funny! Okay, I’ll fix it! I, I promise. I will find a way and I will fix it. Okay? Okay?? Urghhh, damn it, no! Don’t touch me!

[@juggernaut6666]

having only the companions you bring with you gain EXP is a terrible idea. what fucking year is it, that's PS2 game design. What if you start with a character realise you hate them so you want to change but now the level difference makes you feel like you cant. In BG3 I used lae'zel for awhile because I felt like I needed a fighter. The second I found karlach I decapitated Lae'zel.

[@johnmosley9376]

I agree with the sentiment but how dare you treat Bae'zel that way.

[@Gaidoz]

KOTOR 1&2 had EXP given to companions you didn't take with you. "BioWare" as we knew it, is dead.

[@N0xIz655]

i think a long form metaphor refantazio review would def be a bettter use of time

[@preslim84]

ironically this first impressions of yours is as bland and safe as the dialogue

[@KarlWinner-lc2wc]

Yep, lost any respect of "their" opinion, it's sugar coated at best. Last vid I ever watch.

[@FordThunderCougarFalconBird]

I realize he’s got to pay his bills, but Video starts at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="180">3:00</a> 🙄

[@Carsonbobarson98]

🙏

[@cornholes]

The NPCs and dialogue are so cringe. The people that wrote this are literally trying to SHOVE their own internal problems and beliefs down your throat; and that is not the reason I play games. I want to escape this god awful world for just a few hours, not be surrounded by the same narrative and loud minority that are constantly screaming and calling folks bigots. There are tasteful ways to discuss and present your personal views in entertainment. (Cyberpunk, The Witcher, etc). This is not it.

[@marconeves1979]

It's a mix of therapy careful speak and corpo HR speak. It's excruciatingly AWFUL dialogue.

[@universe1225]

I almost feel bad for the writers because they're going to be getting shit on for years to come because of it. But yeah, they do not understand how to write human beings.

[@marconeves1979]

@@universe1225 Then, they need to learn how to write (and in the meantime suffer us), bc they should not have a writer's job if they cannot do the job. This is really incompetent work, sadly.

[@ClowdyHowdy]

69k peak players for a game with that budget with heavily mixed reviews is not going to be great for the tail of this games sales. It could take a very long time to even approach breaking even on the balance sheet.

[@mjacecombat]

I had it pre-ordered, but was waiting for reviews to make a final decision. After everything I saw from the day reviews went up to release, I ended up canceling it. If I ever do pick it up, it would be when it's heavily on sale. At the very least I was able to move the money I spent on pre-ordering to getting Metaphor ReFantazio , which I've heard good things about.

[@ShikaRoddy]

Man I wonder what kind of people those 69k are that play on a normal Thursday workday

[@JCHuynh3011]

Seems like the way they talk to each other very similar to the way corporate people talk in real life, lol

[@entroponetics]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="788">13:08</a> Well, there you have it. BioWare went from making games for adults to making games for Disney adults.

[@Morbacounet]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1205">20:05</a> we know why they did it. Pretend you can't put 2 and 2 together if you want, be we all know why they did it. Play ball with them if you want to keep your access, but you're not fooling anyone.

[@cmr2003]

It 70k is pretty good for you, what about Wukong o W40K? For an IP like DA, 70k is at least weak.

[@alizaidi2893]

for comparison Black Myth: Wukong had 2,415,714 concurrent players on launch. Cyberpunk had 1,054,388 concurrent players on launch. Elden Ring had 952,523 concurrent on launch. Hogwart's Legacy had 879,308. Baldur's Gate 3 had 875,343 on full release. Starfield had 330,723.

[@cmr2003]

@@alizaidi2893 Thanks for giving us them numbers, chum.

[@Hamburglar009]

Yeah 70k is super super weak for a AAA game with a massive budget, by a major well known developer, and an established well known franchise with a fairly sizable fanbase. 70k is atrocious. I’ll be surprised if it breaks 125k on steam at any point in the whole launch weekend

[@4LiveRastaJoy]

Monster Hunter Wilds Beta has more players...

[@gojtron]

It's free, so of course

[@arthurmiranda8896]

@@gojtron GTA V has more players, a decade old game.

[@OhHesCracked]

@@gojtronit’s beta… lmfao it doesn’t just have more players it has like more than tripple the amount of players. Lol point is that’s not good

[@joshuacollins9346]

74,000 peak concurrent players is not great. If you extrapolate based on comparable recent releases, that's likely well under 1 million sales. I don't know what the console cut is, but it's 30% for Steam. Even assuming just a $100 million budget (seems very low for the length of development) and Bioware needs something like 2.4 million sales just to break even. I doubt word of mouth on this one is going to triple sales in the near future.

[@GeekBoy-v.4]

Dragon age was always woke. And that was okay because the writing around those aspects weren’t insufferable. In fact they were done quite well. They handled gay and trans characters in a great way. I’m a far left liberal but good god man I HATE this. Everything is shoved down your throat and I can hear the writers just thinking “me me me” with every word that comes out of the characters mouths This is what people who scream “woke” are talking about. It’s cringy. It’s out of place. It’s hypocritical and, it’s so fucking annoying.

[@vodo1983]

Mmmm...shill me harder Luke. 70K players isn't gonna cut it for what BioWare put into this game.

[@GrimAbstract]

70k on steam, it's on EA, Xbox, and PS. Most players are on PS5.

[@Lexyboogie]

I think what makes me cynically chuckle about the trans questline is the fact that even black identity issues can't get a questline this authentic in a AAA game. Even Rockstar refused to do it with RDR2. It really illuminates where the priorities lie in the industry.

[@MLPIceberg]

12 minutes in and you're still being too lenient on the game. A whole lot of word salad with pretty much no meaning here. If we go by that, then either you like the game and don't want criticism for it, your friends/family like the game and don't wanna piss them off or you'd rather pander to corporations for early access to games. No, I don't expect you to just rip the game a new asshole, I just expected you to get to the damn point instead of beating around the bush. It seems everyone who's talking about the game is either like you or just flat out shitting on it because "PrOnOuNs" and surgery scars are an option in it... don't know why I bother watching independent discussions or reviews on games anymore when you all are getting to the low levels of journalists that are affiliated with the likes of IGN and whatnot.

[@TJAGok]

Luke... Just one request... Do a straight comparison of Baldur's Gate 3 and this game in every aspect. Even wanted to associate their game with something similar to BG3. Please do one and all things will be clear...

[@namelessone9941]

Lmao im still waiting for someone to make that Itll be absolute massacre thats so hit bcs itll be used everytime to dunk on the shill of the game 😂

[@TJAGok]

@namelessone9941 so true!

[@notthattactical]

NEW DRAGON AGE PLAYER HERE: I have no idea what the story is about as it pertains to previous games, but what I can say is... I love it. This game is extremely fun, beautiful, and all the things. I personally don't know how it stands in the series. As I said, this is my first one.

[@JubeiSenpai]

Get a refund and play Metaphor Been playing it and 60hrs in

[@asmodeusml]

Having RPG elements and dialogues like HZD is an offense to a BioWare game. End of story.

[@70mavgr]

So, it was middle of a work day only for DA4. I guess that Monster Hunter Wilds exists in a parallel universe where it is weekend already.

[@justins6134]

Objectively i agree it looks fine ish. Subjectively i hate the character design, the tone shift, and the pivot away from dragon age's rpg roots. definitely not a game i care to play through personally, but would definitely still be interested to see a full review.

[@tomekw]

You're wrong. 12-year-old girls actually do talk like that these days.

[@Comycboy06]

Luke... the writing is just woke as fuck, that is all..lera not reinvent the wheel.

[@samirabdel-aziz478]

Dragon Age has always been woke though. They were among the first to feature elves and dwarves of color, routinely had same sex relationships, featured trans and non binary characters. I'm not really sure how this game deviates from how other games in the series did

[@krishnaprasad1570]

​@@samirabdel-aziz478 the problem progressive characters but the stale and safe writing for me at least

[@lordofentropy]

So much copium I keep seeing in every review. "It's fine. It's not Dragon Age nor an RPG, but it's fine. It doesn't crash and it works. It's fine. The graphics are nice, but the art sucks, but it's fine. The overall story is good, but all the dialog in an RPG game sucks. It's fine."

[@ShadyHarbinger666]

Because all of them bought by EA sooner or later. They are all soulless hipocrytes.

[@Stealth86651]

I will say from the looks of it they certainly populated areas with enough random NPC's and such. Hate when games have a city or town with like... ~50 people in it.

[@Sleepy.Time.]

the $60 price tag and not needing the EA app is great, rest of the game seems pretty meh

[@churchofKirk95]

The only reason I want this game to do well is so that Bioware survives long enough to release the next Mass Effect

[@bobm2251]

Have you forgotten Andromeda?

[@gordonfoo2416]

I honestly was looking forward New Dragon Age game back in the day when I finished Dragon Age Inquisition. They ruined the franchise, they sacrifice the game for their selfish agenda. I really hope CD projeck Witcher 4 will not have the same path of this BS

[@kaylemain2006]

Still nothing I see about this game makes me want to play it.

[@mjohnsen8606]

Luke obviously too chicken to cover some of the blaring lecturing from the game devs.

[@jesseM138]

He addressed it. Just because he didn't fly off the handle about "wokeness" doesn't mean he's ignoring it.

[@k--music]

@@jesseM138 side effect of game coverage becoming drama clickbait farms is that anyone not making clickbait will be seen as overly accepting or scared

[@mjohnsen8606]

@@jesseM138 He adressed it by saying he's not going to address it. You simps man.

[@mikeparradise9333]

Yeah, he probably deals with people with a similar ideology, he is probably used to someone speaking like these characters do so it doesnt come as jarring and annoying. But who knows rlly

[@paulthomas4908]

@@mjohnsen8606 "No! He didn't shit on a particular group of people like I had hoped! He's clearly a coward!"

[@rafaelsiano]

It looks like a third person Immortals of Aveum. Generic as hell.

[@are3287]

"The writing feels low energy" I knew it. Jeb! Wrote the script to this game.

[@hellwashere3821]

"Doing pretty well?" Games of half the budget had 8x times that number on launch..wth

[@DasianSensation]

From everything I've seen on reviews - it's. 6 or 7 / 10 fantasy action game. It's NOT a dragon age game and it's NOT made for the fans of Dragon Age. It seems like what you said in your comment is on the money, it's junk food game. However, I do feel like the virtue signalling, DEIfication of the characters, and the pixarification of the style is a huge turn off. This ain't it for me coach, hard pass. I want to escape the bullshit of daily life, not be reminded and sermoned to about the social insanity that's going on.

[@samirabdel-aziz478]

I've mentioned this elsewhere, while the art style isn't my cup of tea either (i don't like the look for Qunari at all), I'm not sure what you mean this wasn't made for DA fans. Every dragon age game has been progressive aka "woke" DAO featured gay or bi characters DA2 featured trans characters Inquisition featured trans supporting character and an entire storyline where Dorian deals with a metaphor for conversion therapy. Not to mention they had POC all through every game. This feels on brand for them.

[@randomguy6679]

Let me guess, you’re one of those people who think Arcane and Godzilla Minus One aren’t political….

[@randomguy6679]

And didn’t Dragon Age Origins deal with issues like racism, classism, sexual assault, etc.

[@politkos5348]

@@randomguy6679 why are you replying to like every comment bro

[@randomguy6679]

@@politkos5348 I’m allowed to criticize criticism, am I not?

[@Fatfit2]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="780">13:00</a> therapy talk AKa twitter speak

[@raketensven3127]

It's a 5/10. For 70 bucks. Leave it.

[@matthewsmith2260]

I don’t think the game is bad but I don’t think it should have been called dragon age and they just should have made a new ip