Spoilers! Big analytical REVIEW | 3 Alarming Veilguard Facts Bioware Wants to HIDE

[@ImpGoose]

Despite 83 hours of entertainment, the game left me questioning its direction. It's caught between pleasing everyone and staying authentic due to its experiments, leaving me both entertained and unsatisfied. Let’s explore why this game feels like a rollercoaster of bad and good emotions and what that means for fans old and new. I'm sorry in advance. 1) This game doesn't want you to become smarter - It's not Dragon Age 2) Writers are predictable - It's not Dragon Age 3) It's a marketing shuttle, not a story to enjoy - It's not Dragon Age

[@EvaLoVerde]

I just read the comment and I agree! My husband told me he felt the same about Andromeda. I'll stick to what is hinted in the art book about early story ideas, and fanfiction my way through the hurt. This story means so much to me and the bad writing has shattered my heart. Corporate has ruined Dragon Age

[@RandomWandrer]

@ImpGoose Something I think you missed. After learning ingame of Verrics death, you can ask Solas why you saw Harding and Neve seeming to interact with Verric and not mourn his death. Solas says he manipulated what Rook saw regarding Neve and Harding. So they could have been mourning Verric, but Rook was an unreliable narrator. Its when you first talk to solas, you have to press down for more dialogue.

[@ImpGoose]

@RandomWandrer I'm not missing anything. "Show, don't tell" in writing is something that creates stable immersion. DAV mostly tells. Thanks for the perfect example. This, among many other over-explanations, is a core problem of this game and its writing.

[@griffonclaw]

@34:06, to answer your question, yes. Very effective. It's very apparent to me that EA doesn't care about the old (2004 and later) customers that BioWare brought with them. It seems Andrew Wilson would rather chase ESG-loans to sustain EA's other franchises that are massively more profitable than BioWare's recent string of releases. I say this from an outsider's perspective, but I see BioWare as nothing more than a source to get these loans. It doesn't have to be good; it just has to check boxes. It's depressing. BioWare has a lot of inclusion, but it has filtered out all the competence and talent that was there. Veilguard is a mobile game on PC. No DLC. No need. Boxes checked!

[@marconeves1979]

@@griffonclaw Yup.

[@rygo666]

This isn't hatred of All things "woke", heck I'm woke but man the game is so badly written its laughable - from the appalling dialogue, no character development, cartoonish villains and worse of all - the marvel superhero "buddy buddy" mentality. God its literally a crime how bad the writers are. I am so looking forward to Avowed now - even with the ridiculous pricing... And if you want to play a game with exquisite writing, world building, complex characters you should try Horizon Zero Dawn remaster. Strange that a game about robot dinosaurs would be so much better than the slop Bioware are serving. And yeah, Horizon is pretty darn woke but it's well written and they don't force feed you.

[@YueAki]

And, they treat delicate stuff as it should be treated, with care and mindfulness, veilguard has the worst treatment to any single social question I have ever seen in my life.

[@ImpGoose]

That's the best description of Zero Dawn 🔥🤟🏻 haha, I played it. Awesome game! Avowed has a lot of responsibilities to not disappoint. I'm also looking forward to Kingdom Come 🥹

[@JohnSmith-px5nf]

Woke is the problem.

[@Axterix13]

Worth noting that Marvel superheroes aren't all buddy buddy. We had Civil War, Warmachine and Ironman aren't always aligned, Hawkeye went rogue and murdered criminals post snap, Captain Marvel's personality tends to antagonize everyone and not just the audience, and so on. The counseling language/support group thing is not from Marvel. Now, cranking the Whedonistic quipping up to 11, the light hearted banter that undercuts the tension, yeah, that's something people associate with Marvel, and the game definitely suffers from that as well.

[@aca347]

@@YueAki When it comes to treatment of social questions, the Riviani vs Qun thing with Taash sticks out like a sore tumb. Honestly that should have caught more people's attention but everyone focuses on the non-binary thing.

[@EvaLoVerde]

Many times I feel like the writers have forgotten the lore. Like why do Archdemons now just die without going to the next host or killing a warden?

[@ImpGoose]

They explained it with the Evanuris out in the world (if I remember correctly). That's the new lore

[@cracmar03]

They did explain that ? You saw Razikale. Her soul went past Davrin and boom onto Ghilan'nain breaking her immortality. Game explained that these dragons had parts of souls of Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, old Evanuris. Whole point of killing Razikale and Lusacan was because Evnuris were unkillable as long as dragons are alive. We already new Old Gods were different dragons. My main question was why was Mythal insisting on capturing Urthamiel's (June's) soul bit to begin with. And whether or not she did similar to other Archdemons, given odd implications for Sera in Inquisition.

[@efendi_enjoyer69]

@@ImpGoose So, you are telling me - somehow Palpatine returned - ?

[@flooferdoofer]

​@@cracmar03 Didn't Flemythal refer to it as an essence of divinity, not the soul? I always saw it as more of a fragment that she saved, like with how Mythal is only a fragment inside Flemeth; mostly just the memories, the powers themselves she had to relearn and gather over the years. Spoilers below! Morrigan also explains that she only gained a portion of Mythal's memories (and the others that carried this fragment before her) and that it takes time to wade through the information. In DAV we also got explained that such a fragment represented only a portion of their emotional state as opposed to only memories. In the case of Flemeth she got the fragment that was betrayed and wanted justice, but saw that for that to happen she had to protect the new world instead of gaining back the old one. The imprisoned fragment we encounter in DAV is more in line with her feelings being worthy of her status as a ruler and it takes specific answers to convince her to lend aid. Mostly letting her see that were she free she would never let her killers, Ghil and El, continue their plans with the Blight and plunge her world in darkness.

[@flooferdoofer]

The Archdemons from the past would jump to the strongest, nearest blighted body upon death. A Warden would interrupt this proces as their body and soul could not forcibly be taken over while the current host was not fully blighted and thus have their will negated. They probably would not have to have delivered the killing blow, but just be the nearest strong candidate for the soul to go to. If a living ogre were nearby I'd assume it would have been pulled into that instead. With Ghil and El they themselves were the closest strong blighted body for the Archdemon's soul to travel to. As they too were still in control of themselves, they killed their own dragons. The only strange thing is that they themselves didn't immediately die when that happened. But perhaps that was to be explained by it being their own spell and that it could not turn on the creator?

[@banjomir519]

The game's writing is fucking AWFUL! It is so disappointing because technically, the game is made so excellently. But then the writing really drags it down and almost completely ruins it.

[@ImpGoose]

I couldn't agree more. The game is incredibly well-polished! But when they open their mouths...

[@Sanquinity]

The dialogue does ruin it for me. I would probably enjoy the combat, but "those" videos of terrible dialogue in the game made me not buy it. I simply can't sit through those scenes. I couldn't even fully watch them on KZbin. Combine that with the "they refused to allow you to be an asshole and you have to get along with everyone" and I'm just completely out.

[@mikeydflyingtoaster]

Doesn't Taash shout stuff like "Eat shit, assholes!" and "These guys go hard!". Straight out of a Marvel action scene

[@ImpGoose]

I'd better hear this than "good job everyone"

[@venomania2344]

@@ImpGoose ive seen young people, who I think are either teenagers or in their early 20s, on tiktok feeling happy about constant praise during fights. Not sure how I feel about this one, aside feeling old. Like why would you need it every 3 seconds? Who hurt you?

[@xsvrrx]

To be fair I’ve been to combat in real life with the Us Army from 2002 to 2011. And that actually more realistic then you think esp eat shit arss hole

[@quintyss1290]

@@venomania2344 Kids don't know any better, which makes this game even more egregious.

[@Choppete]

I’m 23 and this game wasn’t made for my age group either. I think it wasn’t made for any age group at all ahahah

[@ImpGoose]

🤣🤟🏻🔥 I'm out of ideas, then hahah

[@neonlightcabasag4043]

its not made for a particular age group. its made for a particular demographic and the non existent modern audience.

[@revanscript]

I loved KOTOR, Origins, Gothic when I was a kid. I loved the first Mafia for its amazing writing. Do they make games for 10 year olds?

[@aca347]

@@ImpGoose I feel like I'm just too old for Veilguard but I was just a teenager when I played Origins, a game that's supposedly meant for a mature audience, and I liked it. I think young folk can enjoy "mature" games as well and the "age group" thing doesn't really matter unless we are talking about literal children. Also some people seem to think "mature" just means visceral gore, blood and sex on display while we are talking about the complexity of the writing so that distinction should be made as well. A lot of people have made the "mature? look at the carnage on display!" counter-argument when someone brings up how childish Veilguard's writing is.

[@tamar.7933]

I have no idea why Bioware thinks 20 years olds are not smart enough for complex and good storytelling like we played Origins at that age and could understand everything perfectly, it's almost insulting.

[@sam2761]

I feel so entirely melancholic and tired after finishing the game. I would actually have this twinge of sadness come in and out throughout playing whenever immersion was broken, often due to infantalizing dialogue, OR worse, due to jarring inconsistencies and patchwork lore. It is so sad that the writing just was not there this time. The music too! There were actually moments where a composition would have a stray cello hit a specific set of cords that would raise my heart, just for the follow-up to drop me back into some weird sci-fi zone. As someone who has been with it since Origins, has collected and read the novels and had my heart completely lifted and crushed by the ending of DAI and Tresspasser--it is so hard to accept that this game is supposed to be the ending of this line of the story. Many of the characters we have grown alongside have this game to mark the end of their roles. If I were to summarize my experience and current feelings, I would say I hurt and am LONGING for what could have been. Ofc, we will be ok, it is fiction, but it still mattered, and it's hard to overcome this small feeling of loss rn 😢

[@EveIndra]

I noticed a Sci-fi feeling too. I hate it, wasn't only the music but the elvhen "tech" and sounds. The spirit sounding like a mass effect hologram and other things. Really annoying and makes the world feel cold . They already have mass effect, leave dragon age a fantasy RPG.

[@gorramreapers]

Very much the same. I just finished late last night and I have been in a funk since. It feels like a betrayal

[@tamar.7933]

Same, I feel so sad, depressed almost knowing this amazing franchise after many years got this ending not to mention they destroyed Ferelden and Orley, what was the point of destroying those countries I still don't understand

[@9365fall]

series is dead to me, and I think it's dead to most fans.

[@LuizOtavioZen]

Veilguard for me is a game that tried so hard being "mature" but went the most childish way possible. Lecturing your player base, Taash is the worst example of this, its very clear that the writters wanted you to like the character, going as far as making it someone who is always right and can do no wrong, despite doing plenty of wrong. Other characters have to jump through hoops to accomodate them and it ends up being unsuferable, worst of all you can't even be mean to them, while in every other game you could be an absolute dick to various degrees. Felt so immersion breaking not being able to be anything but the okayest person in the room. It feels wrong, not being able to have meaningful interactions with the companions, they are less like companions and more like bots with an ocasional quest. They also absolutely break the lore, especialy the baby griffin, no way the wardens would let one of the last griffins go around with Davin instead of protecting it to breed more and training it to be used in battle, And the morrigan situation, how the hell she went from "i will never trust you flameth" to "oh yeah, i just let flameth's soul inside my body knowing full well she could take it to herself. But she totally told me she wouldn't so we cool." makes no sense, she doesn't even mentions her past which was incredibly relevant given the situation. I'm sorry, it's an alright game, if you ignore all the plot and dialogues. But if you look at it like a Dragon age game, it is one of the worst games i ever played. It fails at everything it sets out to do.

[@VenraeLOL]

On the "Morrigan allowing Flemeth's soul [to reside in her]" situation - it's actually a plot device from Dragon Age Inquisition. During the main story, you go after the Fountain of Mythal, and either your Inquisitor or Morrigan can drink from it. Doing so gives Mythal (aka Flemeth) the ability to hold influence over you - which she outright states she will do so at some point. So had Morrigan drank from the Fountain, she wouldn't really have had a choice on whether or allow Flemeth to reside in her (Morrigan in Veilguard actually calls this out). However, the entire thing ignores a couple other points from Inquisition: 1. You could have had your Inquisitor drink from the Fountain - which would make your Inquisitor be the one who bears Flemeth's soul. 2. Solas absorbed Flemeth at the end of Inquisition - which Veilguard even mentions. So Solas should have influence over whoever drank from the Fountain.

[@LuizOtavioZen]

@@VenraeLOL IF she drinks it. Meaning they just said fuck it, no choices matter. And the way she talks about it isn't like she ddin't had a choice or that she tried to fought back, which is very out of character.

[@enightc]

​@@VenraeLOLyou forgot the interaction they had in the crossroads, where flamenth tested morrigan on her love for her child, and how she does view morrigan as a daughter. But again, a lack of explanation in Veilguard that does nothing but making it worst

[@Lopasblin]

I feel like after the ending of Game of Thrones… i just feel nothing anymore. I just don’t relate to this game. My interest in the franchise is shattered. I feel like the game is perfectly described by the Emrich Lich quest. What is supposed to be a serious, grand and mysterious moment, is turned into a joke back in the Lighthouse with everyone just taking the piss at him.

[@MechmanZero]

I recently got the Veilguard concept art book and what we ended up with is so much more disappointing than what was originally worked on. It shows a much darker vision for Tevinter, and far more interesting concepts, before it was all sterilized and made PG for the game we got. If you are into art books, I'd highly recommend it.

[@ImpGoose]

I didn't have time to check the whole thing, but there are posts online with some artworks. Where did you find the whole art book if you don't mind telling this? 🔥

[@MechmanZero]

@ImpGoose I simply ordered it from Amazon yesterday and has it show up today. I had seen some of the pages online and thought it would be worth adding it to my little collection of game art books.

[@ImpGoose]

Thanks! I'll check it out!

[@CaptainLungi]

Probably one of the most based reviews. I felt like I had fun on first run. The 2nd run made me completely break my immersion and became upset. I feel misled and robbed from Dragon Age games came before combined with choices not being transferred and complex plot and character arcs. Farewell Dragon Age

[@TidyGamer21]

As a writer myself I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment. This was a game that was fun during the first playthrough if you don’t think too deeply about it but if you are invested in the previous games, past characters and lore you will be thoroughly disappointed. When I finished the game I felt creatively numb for a few days then I realized I just needed to confront the reality that they butchered a beautiful world. The fact the southern Thedas is no more in sake of soft reboot is just lazy and awful writing. I made up my mind and decided to cast this as decent fan fiction (even though fan fiction would’ve been 100% better) and the real story ended with Trespasser.

[@ranasi1210]

The fist time I was like: Huh???? was when Solas said he hated blood magic despite me clearly remembering he said there's no such thing as "bad magic" in dai. Or did he not?

[@flooferdoofer]

Blood magic requires sacrifice. Usually you need a lot and most donors are unwilling. Solas isn't against blood magic but he is against using others, just like is is anti-slavery; he believes in free will. The right to choose. Solas uses his own blood for spells and is not against that, but he does regret using it to manipulate Rook for example.

[@Just_a-guy]

@@flooferdoofer Not really. He doesnt use blood magic because it weakens your connection to fade. He can say to your inki that "it is a shame because there is power in blood". Also he clearly says there is a bad magic. Blight magic, this is his line.

[@maiafay]

I take that as him deflecting what he was actually doing to Rook. He always saw blood magic as practical.

[@Just_a-guy]

@@maiafay the problem with this is the fact that dai Solas almost never said direct lie. He said exactly what he meant and hid behind half truth and misleading statements. Like in one banter with Cole, the boy said stuff like "you were a spirit too?" And Solas answer was "I never said that." Which was true even if he was a spirit. In veilguard he lies to us and in one ending screams that he is a god which takes a lot IMO from his inquisition portray

[@Kross415]

He said '' magic is magic'' and compared blood magic to a mere tool like a dagger. You remember correctly, don't let other people gaslight you 🤣

[@BoySiddy]

My primary changes are mostly about the writing: - The story is as weak as they come in this impossibly rich world. The solution for me would be to stick to the Joplin story shown in the artbook. Make choices matter, and give the possibility of an outcome where we can let Solas win. - If they must stick to this story, give El'garnan and Ghil some actual personality. Make them more like Meredith (a well-developed character with understandable motivations ) than Corypheus (less interesting doomsday villain). Make us think about why Solas might have been the god of trickery. This would also make the Dalish choose b/w their gods who might not be purely evil or the Dread Wolf who also has the devotion of a tonne of elves. - Make the companions and factions feel...bigger. It's the end of the world, no one cares about coffee. Let them struggle with big questions, and debate Rook forcefully. - Lastly, and this is a bit unpopular, but given the stakes, I would skip romances, or give them an epic quality (think Jyn and Cassian in Rogue One). Either they are doomed as, to quote our favourite Egg, "this world burns in the raw chaos", or they earn their happy ending. One thing outside of the writing can be to bring back something like War Table missions in a more streamlined way. Make it feel like Rook et al. are disruptting the Gods' plans at multiple turns, not just directly.

[@Eualia]

After looking through the artbook and knowing the sheer amount of detail they had going in Joplin project. I wish they had kept that. Like the part aboutthe dwarves/titans and spirits/elves. The fact we could have had dorian and isabela and cole among others back. They had enough detail to animate all the art they had in conception and make a worthy game... it just feels like they trashed it went fuck the fans fuck the people who spent their lives and love ibto world building and providing artfor the game.

[@weareharbinger914]

Corypheus looks downright complex in comparison to the gods. And he even managed to do blight stuff better, as he managed to manipulate the grey wardens when the origin of the blight could not.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

Dragon Age: Traumadump

[@daunted232]

Is it really niche, to be a thinker who enjoy complex writing?

[@ImpGoose]

Yes, and a really small one. The smallest on the market.

[@daunted232]

@@ImpGoose Interesting, I want to do a poll among my friends, responding yes/no, to my original comment, and will post results of what they think. :)

[@ImpGoose]

If one chooses friends by one's values, they are like-minded people. Many factors must be held to account starting from age and ending with education/ place of work/ relationship status to cover tha market. Still, it's interesting what your friends say. I'll be surprised if they don't like complex writing.

[@daunted232]

@@ImpGoose :) We are fans of the same content creator, is how we met and how we keep in touch, creator skips every cutscene in games. (adhd) Of the people who voted in this small community of about 100, everyone who did vote, voted for "liking complex writing is not niche", what ever it meant to them personally. (small sample but what can one do hehe)

[@nithurlut]

​@@daunted232 wait. Skipping all cutscenes might be related to ADHD?

[@vengerbergs]

girl the romance was so underwhelming, its a straight step back from origins which came out ages ago let alone the other ones

[@samends8863]

Veilguard was not a good experience for me. In the German version, there is only one voice per gender, which has 3 different pitches, but with the male voice, 2 pitches are almost indistinguishable. Probably at least 2 people worked on the translation of all the dialog in the game and never spoke to each other, which would explain why the subtitle so often differs from what is said. And then there's the non-binary language, which adds an E everywhere when someone identifies themselves as hen/hem, which is the German version of they/them. in English it would look like this: 'Caretakere' instead of 'Caretaker', 'Wardene' instead of 'Warden' and not to forget 'Governore Ivenci', instead of 'Governor', which in all cases looks like a spelling mistake and just appears everywhere. In a letter from the gray wardens, the name of the person we were supposed to be looking for was not mentioned once, instead hen/hem was used 5 times in 2 sentences. I can immediately think of songs from all previous Dragon Age games, but i have trouble with the music in Veilguard, if there is any. As a rogue, the game reminded me a lot of Assassin's Creed. Sometimes i had a hard time remembering the main story because there were so many side and companion quests that i lost track. I like the German voice actors. They did a great job. The only thing i found really mean was that they gave Viper the voice of Hawke/Zevran. The lore changes and "we destroyed all the places the long-time fan knows and loves" bothered me the most though. If they had done it well, i would have accepted it, but not like this. Also, they could have made the gods much more dangerous given their abilities. What a shame.

[@ashanti5707]

Great review, I think the emphasis on how the target audience shifted to suit the more marvel-type audience was well put and does explain a reason why the tone of the game's writing & interface changed so much. Honestly, I'm glad you touched on those system pop-ups that explain the impact of dialogue choices because that was the most immersion breaking aspect of the game for me personally. I love to roleplay and figure out the impact of my choices on my own, so I didn't like how these system pop-ups prevented me from using my brain throughout the game. I keep trying to tell myself that the game was worth it for the bits of lore expansion regarding Solas, the elves/spirits, titans and how this links to dreams and Dwarves, as this does tie into previous things stated by Corypheus regarding the golden/black city which I find really interesting. But another part of me keeps thinking how this game had the potential for much better roleplaying if the missions and writing as a whole focused more on the racial tensions between humans/elves and the topic of slavery to engage the player in a mature way. Especially in Tervinter where such tensions are supposed to be even more intense than they were in previous games. The "cute" tone you mentioned that a lot of the companions have probably bothered me even more because the extent to which this cute tone is enforced doesn't feel right within the setting of Tervinter during a blight, and limits the depth/layers to the companions in the game because there is not enough mature, dark & controversial themes for the characters to engage with. I wish the writers would have been more brave/confident in their writing abilities to engage in such controversial themes in a similar fashion that Dragon Age Origins and 2 did. I remember the narrative designer for this game made a statement a whilst back regarding the potential for a blood magic specialisation and they stated "Blood magic is unlikely because we've shifted it from a power boost to really being the key to a lot of nasty stuff we aren't interested in having heroes do". For me, it's the "we aren't interested in having heroes do" that bothers me the most out of all the marketing/media they have done for the game; it alludes to why the game seemed to have one specific idea of what a hero should be. Instead of writing things in a way to allow us to have complex, nuanced roleplays to define our own meaning of what it means to be a hero, the writers way of thinking indicates they wanted to limit the player's involvement in the moral compass of Rook, despite the Tervinter setting that is supposed to have very controversial yet interesting moral nuances. Whilst I think still they did enough to keep the core aspects of the lore somewhat intact, the direction they are going in has me extremely worried, especially after the post-credit cut scene. If more choices from previous games could be imported I wouldn't be as worried, but they seem a bit too keen on diminishing the important choices made by long-term Dragon Age fans that shaped the world of Thedas in previous games. Hopefully the mature themes and choices from previous games remain intact going forward despite the change in direction for the franchise.

[@aca347]

Solid review. I'm in my early 30s and honestly this game made me feel old. The handholding, spoonfeeding the lore feels like the writers just don't want me to think about the game. I'm supposed to play it, finish it, and forget about it, and move on to the next product to consume. Everything about the game just seem so... agreeable. I never met a character I felt conflicted about (except Solas). The good guys are good and the bad guys are bad. There aren't characters with the complexity of Loghain, Morrigan, or Anders (my fav characters btw). I could immediately tell which characters I was supposed to like and what characters to hate. Good writing needs subtext. There needs to be things that are left unsaid. After I finish a game, I must spend some time processing it but there is nothing to process or speculate here. This game is just what it appears to be and nothing else. A lot of reviews about this game on KZbin are overly inflammatory, focusing on one aspect or the other. Especially the focus on Taash... Honestly I just thought it wasn't a well-written character like the others (I only liked Emmrich and Darvin really) Nobody else brought up the fact you did, about how Taash is angsting over the whole gender issue but then Rook just makes a binary choice about the Rivaini vs Qun thing. Furthermore, as anyone of mixed heritage would know, this is definitely not how normal people think about their mixed heritage at all. It's not a concious decision like "I decide from this point on that I'm more Irish than American" or anything like that. Honestly even if Taash was written well, I think people would still be up in arms going "BIOWARE WENT WOKE" or whatever. Bioware has been woke and always had progressive elements in their writing for decades but alright. I think I just need to accept that this game isn't for me, and I guess I'll just play Disco Elysium for the third time. I would describe Dragon Age Veilguard in just one word: disneyified.

[@anarorekriptih4515]

Grey Wardens do not die from the taint, they die because they go to fight on the Deep Roads. Avernus lived for like 200 years, magisters have lived even longer (and they are blighted humans). And there is Larius. It was implied that once you push through the Calling and go through the full ghoul transformation, you become this sort of more or less sentient ghoul, who may even retain their identity as Warden.

[@lordofgingers]

I agree with this. Most of what she identified as lore breaks were not imo but I understand the frustration with the delivery of the lore. (No finesse. Just spoonfeeding) However one point I will agree with (that possibly the writers did deliberately I think) was the “escape” of anaris. I put that in quotes because you can hear anaris harping on about getting a physical body the whole time, implying he does not have a physical form in thedas. So it raises the question of what we saw.

[@yowaikemen]

In the character creator you can give Rook wrinkles, but the game keeps forcing the 'young kid' tag on them. It's so bizarre and awkward to romance Emmrich looking the age I wanted them to be and companions accusing Emmrich of being a craddle-robber. Rook is not a slate, not a character you can mold. It's a writer stand-in.

[@venomania2344]

Varrick and Solas ( for the better part of the game) were written like someone at bioware really liked Johnny SIlverhands character in cyberpunk.

[@Aiminie]

The thing with Isseya being alive after 400 years is a reference to the book The Calling, that implied 15 years ago that the warden's calling doesn't kill Wardens or drive them mad, but it's the beginning of their succumbing to the taint, becoming themselves part of the blight. But since the concept was never further explored after Awakening I was baffled that there wasn't an entire storyline dedicated to study the calling and what Isseya being blighted and alive 400 years later means. I mean if this is not important for the Wardens what is? I loved the references to the books, new and old (Felassan being in the game broke me in a good way), but most of the time felt more like added content that actual story

[@cracmar03]

I assumed Isseya became some sort of shrike like thing. She didn't reminded me of darkspawn emissary either. I thought at some point she might have gotten possessed or something. I don't read comics, I barely read wiki recap of some characters. So Felassan didn't exactly do for me anything, but I was reading and interested in Garahel's story so Isseya did the trick of being hauntings from the past. I still wish they explained her delusions more. She was saying how she will 'collect' blood of Davrin or Rook if they are Warden. I never seen explanation as to why in game sadly. I feel game needed more focus in story. Maybe if they cut out Varric and some of cartoonish villains like Helena from Emmerich's story.

[@weareharbinger914]

It could also be delayed, there was that one mage dude in Origins at that fort, the blood mage, who was alive for like 50 years and hadn't suffered the calling, mostly from the experiments he'd done, he was an old man, but he'd passed most Warden's calling time by like 20-30 years.

[@tj3603]

Agree with pretty much everything. I did two runs of the game and don't feel like doing it again. Very weird for my relationship with DA franchise, because usually it takes 7-20 runs to make hyper fixation fade away. And I don't think it have anything to do with us getting older, level of detail and narrative immersion just not the same. I noticed my head canon replacing events of the game in memory already, while with previous parts it flourished around main story points and character beats. Like I could replay DAI two hundred times giving the same cut scenes and conversations different context from my own imagination, because writing was compelling. With DAV I can not do that, two hours in new game and I stumble over stuff that should've been cut or done differently, and it does not help that game spelling e-e-everything out in most direct way possible. If I already more focused on daydream more, than actual gameplay, what's the point of playing at all? It was cool to run through Weishoupt or observe Dread Wolf and Lusacan tearing each other to pieces over Minrathous though. Glad my favorite brilliant idiot got a chance to redeem himself and meet his match in other version, tricking him back was probably even more satisfying than saving 😏I'm grateful for that burst of emotions after finishing first run, it was fun. I can let DA obsession out to pasture now. Oh well, I guess it's back to BG3 and waiting for release of Exodus 😋

[@maiafay]

For me it’s the Solas bits that would make me replay, but I can get that fix from KZbin.

[@tj3603]

@maiafay yeah, Solas bits are great, but to get to them you have to go through a lot of questionable stuff. YT indeed better solution.

[@ImpGoose]

Finally, I found your comment 😅 it took me a while, sorry, got distracted and then the video kicked. So, I agree that YT videos will solve the problem when it comes to curiosity. The second playthrough looks terrifying as there are a lot of things to collect or talk through. I skipped most cutscenes and it didn't do the trick, unfortunately. Probably you are right that it's time to switch to other games. Still can't believe that DAV didn't trigger my hyper focus. It just passed by because of the writing 😭 Do you think Exodus will be good?

[@tj3603]

@@ImpGoose hey, glad your channel is growing, gurl) Exodus looks very promising, premise is intriguing and bits of lore they keep publishing suggest writing will be good. It also made by group of ex Bioware developers who presumably quit the studio over creative differences, read - tired of EA meddling. Many people expect it will be true spiritual successor for Mass Effect, because after what BW did with DA it's very unlikely we'll receive satisfying continuation of other story. Who knows, if Exodus will take off, maybe they will do their own version of Dragon Age? That would be cool.

[@ImpGoose]

Oh, that's good! I have to have a look at Exodus then. Thanks for sharing! At this point I'm juggling work and channel, so there's no space to explore the new games. It's wonderful that you can tell about it and help us navigate 🫂❤️

[@lucadorottyapihaj7413]

I wrote in my Steam review that the writing feels like it was written during 2019/20 for a self-help group. And I get it, I only wanted cosy, positive stories. I remember I stopped watching a series because I knew my favourite couple would die, and when my brother questioned me, I said I only wanted nice, pink, fluffy stories. But at least I'm past that phase but Veilguard doesn't seem to be. And the characters, oh my. But on the other hand, as a social scientist, I was so uncomfortable that I choose for other people all the time, what they should be, how their life should be for them. If they were advertised to be their own people, then why am I making these huge life-changing choices for them. I felt like that would be more for a Sims-like game, not for an RPG. But again, I'm someone, who liked DAII when you cannot change the fate of a certain query course that seemed fair. You won't change a lifetime conditioning with 3 min dialogue. I'm so conflicted cause I don't want this to be the last DA game I ever play, but I felt so empty after I finished the game, and while I was entertained, but only when I separated the game from my expectations.

[@mayanasia]

I feel so seen with your comment. Dragon Age is my favourite universe and I legit grieved whilst playing the game. There are so many reasons to like it and I do but that annoying feeling of what could've been if the characters and the lore were given a chance. I'm so all over the place cause I'm like yourself unable to let this franchise go, not yet at least. At the same time, am I ready for another DA game in the same vein? For the slow death of this rich and complex universe when it changes into something new, not necessarily bad, but something that is not the dragon age I came to love.

[@ImpGoose]

Yeah, I feel you. As a separate game it was fun to slash mobs and explore beautiful places, yet the moment they opened their mouths... It's hard to accept the transformation of this franchise. It literally made me feel old because I questioned the writing and story too much.

[@Xenolithial]

I grew up with Origins. The Dragon Age Games absolutely should have been made targetting the existing fans as well as the new ones. I did not grow up with Baldur's Gate 3. I was not it's target audience. The last act of the game is full of unfinished content and plotlines that lead nowhere in particular. Despite all of this I found it enjoyable. It got me more interested in DnD lore and, weirdly, largely seemed to have tried to stay accurate to it to the best of its ability. The characters have their own personalities and goals and outside of Gale if you accidentally release him from the portal, they are not forced on you. You're free to like or dislike or kill them when you meet them. And you can still complete the game and get essentially any ending regardless of who you recruit. Veilguard started off by incinerating all the existing lore. They foisted companions on people they were required to deal with if they did not want to miss out on areas or items of the game, or even the good ending iirc. They usurped the Qunari and Tevinter and Dalish cultures for no coherent reason. Made the dark spawn and the demons and the villains goofy and forgettable. They lied to and insulted fans inside and outside of the game. They took away player choice. Veilguard wasn't made for any Dragon Age Audience at all.

[@ouzairhafeez]

Agree with almost everything said, I replayed previous DA games multiple times, heck I even did a replay of all the previous ones right before the launch of this game. But with Veilguard I couldn't bring myself to do another playthrough, finishing the game felt like a chore. The writing, the dialogues, the story and even the choices for most part were a let down to say the least. Apart from Davrin I didn't really felt any connection with the companions, and the romance was non-existent. I think from analytical point of view EA wanted a live service DA but they had to pivot few years back due to all the criticism, but you can clearly see that blueprint in the games combat, loot system, character and world design. The investor in me is projecting it to become a live service game going forward, which will be sad

[@Angledavil21]

As someone who played the game from the release of origin and played all the DLC for all the games including Inquisition I'm highly disappointed that they got rid of the lure and said everything burned I also am disappointed the fact that I can't make a feminine character I can't give her a feminine body they don't walk feminine feminine this makes me so scared for the next Fable game

[@Etherwinter]

Dialogue with some characters reeks of "My face is tired".

[@theazhang997]

I agree with u, my Fan girl heart was in turmoils, sigh.....for me was to use the word " non binary", lazy and immersion breaking....the Tradition in DA games, not use the words, descibe it, was hard on my immersion

[@tamar.7933]

Finally, I found a video that describes everything I feel about this game.

[@ImpGoose]

Welcome aboard!

[@ThaliaQuinn-y7r]

For the fans... continues to destroy all choices and progress that had been archived by HoF, Hawke and the inquisitior. Marketing so much romance!! Top 5-10 min. Cringe flirting. Oh, whats established lore? Lets make up new shit as we go.

[@moonie9000]

Absolutely brilliant video. Deserves WAY more views. One thing I'd disagree on: you mentioned that game developers / writers haven't got dumber. I mean, yes, true, but they have gotten a lot younger. I personally tend not to enjoy many stories written by younger people because of the lack of wisdom and maturity they often display in their writing. I'm sure they'll grow up to become great writers, but for now it feels like they shouldn't be working on mature video games.

[@ImpGoose]

Thanks! Haha, share it with friends, I guess? 🤣 I said "poorly educated" and that's a bit different. The level of education is better than before. How people choose to use this tool is different. But yeah, the industry is much younger than before and less experienced in real life. It's more online and therefore we have online traumas without a nerve or wisdom, as you said. I agree with that.

[@gorramreapers]

This perfectly sums up my feelings as a long time Bioware girlie. A rollercoaster, with scraps of such good writing interwoven with lazy writing. Dragon Age 2 had lackluster gameplay, but the story was phenomenal and the characters were amazing and so overall, it was a good game. But this game felt like a betrayal.

[@gorramreapers]

Also Manfred is the best

[@MCCiabattaGrande]

EA should give the right to Dragon Age to another, capable studio. They should do a hard reboot, since Veilguard destroyed the lore and story. Probably a story about the first Blight, would be cool

[@jenniferhanses]

I've seen the suggestion that Veilguard was but a dream. or a bad novel Varric was writing out, and he's decided to tear it up and start again. And THAT, I think is the only way they could do it. I do think they'd probably have to have a nonbinary companion just to show that it's not being rebooted to reduce the woke stuff. But that would be FINE. They just need someone to actually put some effort into it.

[@sortilien2099]

@MCCiabattaGrande I wouldn't buy DA in the current bashing... If I were any studio, I'd try a new original universe. Expectations around DA are too high and too diverse for it own good. To some, DA is slow paced, DAO... to me, it's DA2. To some, it's Inquisition even though I admit trespasser is my favourite DLC. To some, it's its romances, to others, a dark setting. To me, it's a succession of tragedies. Everyone tells DAO is dark... mah, here, have a "dark ritual" without cost and full happy ending... it's a heroic fantasy coted with dark paint at best.

[@MCCiabattaGrande]

@@jenniferhanses I liked Inquisition as a game but I think the wrote themselves into a corner with that game. It also requires you to play the game to understand the next DA game so a total reboot, even if its with the same characters would be the best solution imo. If they scrap Veilguard as Varrics Novel, we would still have the problem of new ppl having to play a 10 years old game to understand the story.

[@MCCiabattaGrande]

@@sortilien2099 Yes, I don’t mind a new universe or restart. I just expect a tactic battlesystem, great characters and a good story with many plot twist. And CHOICES, FOR GODS SAKE GIVE US CHOICES AGAIN! You can’t be a good character if you don’t have the choices to be a bad guy.

[@jenniferhanses]

@@MCCiabattaGrande I do agree that they wrote themselves into a corner. It wouldn't have been so bad if they'd released a new game within, say, 5 years. But things got so messed up at Bioware that didn't happen. I think to fix things, I'd release the first three games in a remastered trilogy with a sort of combined menu (they did this with Nancy Drew games, which are just high level indie titles, surely, Bioware could manage it) and include in the menu screen the ability to flip between world states. Make it set so that it will also maintain all new games. After the remaster, release the new game, and everything should be up-to-date, and it will be less of a problem.

[@Dip-z8q]

A common misunderstanding it that DAV have been in development for 10 years, when in reality it has been shelved and rebooted several times, first from a singleplayer to an mmo and then back again. The real development time for this version is 3-4 years, -the game director worked on a different project until some time into 2020. I think DAV is the result of people without the right skillset and experience hired to somehow take the leftovers of shelved DA projects and make it into a worthy sequel to a beloved franchise with high expectations. While having EA pushing for cheaper and quicker results/profits. EA was probably never interested in a niche dark fantasy rpg, but origins was already in the works when EA bought Bioware. Instead they probably wanted to take it in a direction that they hoped would lead to a quicker and less resource costly payout. The result being DA2, -an smaller scoped, action oriented game made in as little time as possible. A little over a year in this case, quite the contrast to origins, were they spent 2 years alone on developing the characters, before even starting on the world, lore, languages, story etc. DA2 was not a great succes, which is probably why we got inquisition, a sort of mix of the two. The devs then started work on a sequel, but then EA wanted to make DA into an mmo. At this time a number of the original devs started to leave, and as other mmos failed to live up to expectations EA shelved the project. Then in 2020 the Development was resumed, now with a singleplayer in mind. What we got is the recycled leftovers of what was and what was supposed to be, put into a mainstream action game. I don't blame the devs, I honestly believe they did the best they could, but they had everything against them. From lacking the right skills and experience, to not having enough time to both learn/gain what was needed and to do the game and franchise justice.

[@mayanasia]

I have a nagging feeling that the game polish came at the cost of more meaningful content. And that the story is a patchwork of different threads that the team juggled over the years.

[@AndDrewastaken]

18:46-18:56 this I don't want series I love to be like that

[@watchraventhehostage5938]

By far, this is the best Veilguard review I've seen. I think this stems from the fact that you are a writer first (& foremost,) and a reviewer second. The decision to provide both analytical & fangirl scores was truly inspired as it prevented one point of view from corrupting the other. I give it a 9.5/10, with my only deduction coming from the conspiracy theory, which I am loathe to believe despite it's veracity.

[@ImpGoose]

Wow, thank you! That's a high praise and I appreciate your comment :)

[@Kross415]

''People of Thedas didn't die due to Solas' ritual'' the whole south of the continent died to the blight anyways 🤣 after 65h and finishing the game I still think all I thought before playing, this DA is the worst in the series and it's barely a DA at all. Instead of making a high budget CRPG more akin to DA:O or BG3 they tried to turn DA into a mix of action game and relationship sim while destroying anything relevant from previous games and with one of the worst writing I've seen in 27 years of gaming. Between the departure of industry veterans from BioWare, a game director whose sole experience is working on The Sims, writers hired based on their sexuality instead of their skills, the high cost of development forcing the game to appeal to everyone on the planet and a culture of toxic possitivity and virtue signaling amongst many other things, including spitting on your fans/audience and disregarding any criticism as ''istophobes'', this is just a perfect example why modern AAA games fail. Regarding Varric, I always thought it was completly absurd that a GOD KILLING DAGGER wasn't enough to kill Varric but I waved it off as more bad writing. Later on, after the reveal, that bad writing turned into more bad writing because of what you said, Harding was very close to Varric and she would have TOTALLY dwelled and mourned Varric's death, she didn't because they didn't know how to do it without giving away Varric's death, plain and simple. The solution is simple, make game for fun, not for modern political activism. Hire the right people for the job, not based on DEI guidelines. If you're working on an existing IP, make a game true to that IP instead of doing a 180º turn and just using the name just for marketing. Don't make 300m $ games thinking ''more investment = more return'' games with smaller budget but more clear focus are far more financially successful than expensive generic games with no clear target audience.

[@lordofgingers]

The game is basically Dragon Age Andromeda. The black sheep of the series

[@monikagie1282]

I agree with what you said. I love Inquisioton and i finished it multiple times. I've waited for Veilguard and I'm deeply disappointed. For my first playthrough I've chosen Lucanis and was very unsatisfied. I don't throw flirts at just anyone, so i can't compare to other companions yet, but whenever I chose a flirty option I did not feel like the response I got was an appropriate response to what I said. There was one scene where i confirmed the romance with him, and the next one was already the last night before going for the gods. It was just lacking in content. And it's not like it was written as a slow burn with Lucanis being maybe unsure whether he should really start any romance being what he is or anything like this. It was just very very poor. I remember romances from Inquisition that mot o ly left me completely satisfied with them. I couldn't wait to continue the game after I had to stop playing due to stupid RL. And not only that, I actually went and searched for fanfics and stuff because i just couldn't get enough of Solas and Cullen. I'm also not happy that it doesn't really matter what race or what background you chose, except maybe few meaningless lines of dialogue. As you said, your character as a warden was explained everything about being a warden. I played an elf veil jumper, and I feel like Bellara and veil jumpers just kept explaining dalish stuff to me. I started my second playthrough as a qunari and so far the only difference is that the vitaars drop instead of helms. My race and gender won't affect my romance options either, so I don't really feel the need to replay the game really. I can't stop myself from comparing it to Baldur's Gate 3, which came out only a year ago and is light tears ahead of Veilguard in terms of actual role playing. Even putting aside endless ending options in BG3, I loved how while playing a drow everyone would treat me differently, be it a deep gnime being terrified of me, or others simply distrusting me. I know that even in previous DA games it wasn't as rich as BG3, but still, something was there.

[@Yodalemos]

You give this game waaay too much leeway.

[@johnyoungerman1857]

Thank you for your rather well thoughtout thoughts. I only made it 14 hours before I could not play it anymore. In your 30's huh? I am closer to 60 than 55.....So yeah, not much connection for me. Would you be so kind as to say the Names of your books and are they available on Amazon? Thanks ahead of time. Peace....Quick shout-out to your Husband. I loved Neverwinter Nights and the 2nd Expansion(Underdark)....Sorry wrote this while you were still talking...I had trouble with my Mouse also, thought it was only me:))

[@flooferdoofer]

Also lived NWN and its expansion! It was the first RPG game I played and set the standard for me. Like that is the bar I rate other RPGs by 😅

[@ImpGoose]

Thanks! Surprisingly, the mouse thingy was a problem for many gamers haha. I understand why you couldn't finish it. They changed the niche and the transition wasn't smooth. Many people talk about Avowed now and they have high hopes. I'm looking forward Kingdom Come, though I know it's not really popular. Considering books, it's a high fantasy with a female protagonist. I wrote it in my native language when I was 20, and then decided to improve my English via rewriting it into English ahaha. Idk if you'll find these books interesting but many do due to its philosophy and magic system, though DA fan might find some similarities. Anyway, I call these books my "ugly babies" because they are my first books. You can find them on amazon. The series is called Rize Keer. Check out the reviews and if the books are for you, then enjoy the read :)

[@jakobrenner2230]

The way the video opens up you can tell by the voice alone that this game has broken her. As someone who is very used to see my favourite franchises mistreated again and again, I get it. People saying it's bad because "its woke" or some other nonsense are not paying attention to what's actually happening to this franchise and it's sad people are buying into that misdirection.

[@lordofgingers]

Well it’s very clear what’s happening. Employers are not hiring based on merit.

[@jakobrenner2230]

@@lordofgingers In the words of David Gaider himself: "Even BioWare, which built its success on a reputation for good stories and characters, slowly turned from a company that vocally valued its writers to one where we were… quietly resented [...] Suddenly all anyone in charge was asking was 'how do we have LESS writing?' A good story would simply happen, via magic wand, rather than be something that needed support and priority."

[@quintyss1290]

@@jakobrenner2230 Less writing, dumbed-down RPG elements, overt agenda-selling, and sub-par combat 'action'. Not Dragon Age about covers it, David.

[@Assertiveopinion9]

Kinda hate how everyone praise the final act in the game. The final act feels flat and anti-climatic. The only good endings are the ones where you trick Solas or the whole team dies tragically, those endings felt real. The pacing was very off in this game.

[@rileyroosreviews7052]

I hate this game so much the disrespect to lore than modern writing it's just a bad game....

[@brie1232]

I'm a teenager and the Veilguard wasn't made for my age group either 🤷‍♀️

[@missblack1909]

Thank you Goose for putting my exact thoughts into words 🙏🏻 my feelings at playthrough were so dichotomous... it was super confusing to enjoy being in Thedas once more, with all the vistas and graphics prepped with so much care you could feel it in every corner of every location, and hating the 'conversations', the constant pep talk, the fake of characters' relationships and my own character behaving like corporate team leader/mentor. It broke my heart what mockery this writing is 😢

[@ImpGoose]

Yeah, putting so much attention and love into the visual aspect seems unreasonable when you compare it to writing. What will you play now? I'm thinking about Kingdom Come as it's the closest fantasy medieval settings we have these days haha

[@missblack1909]

Oh I love medieval settings too! Don't know, maybe it's the thing for us 80's kids 😅 I also played all the classics, and somewhat agree with your husband about Neverwinter, but my favorite story is Icewind Dale ❤ So I'll try Kingdom Come for sure, and wait for Avowed, hoping this will not fail me so dramatically 😅 you know, when I played Inquisition for the first time, I ended reading the whole plot on the wiki and cried over Solas and Inquisitor love story. And now for the conclusion, I received Dragon Age: The Office kind of story 💔

[@ImpGoose]

@missblack1909 I feel you 😭

[@jenniferhanses]

RE: Nonbinary/"woke" stuff. The game is not bad because it has representation of third genders. It is bad because the writing and representation are bad. 1) It presumes gender is a binary. That's fine for criticizing the modern day western world. But third genders have had places in the world in the past and been accepted into society in the past. The Tevinter Imperium is an empire. It's made up of diverse peoples gathered from across the world of Thedas, many of whom are or were enslaved, and would have actively refused to adapt to Tevinter, assuming a place with mages where if you have enough magic, your body can be your own playdough would have any kind of set gender assumptions in the first place. There's probably somewhere around 10 different 3rd gender possibilities just in the Imperium. Why would ANYONE use a scientific computer term from the 20th century to state that there were only two genders in TEVINTER? That would be utterly ridiculous. Tevinter should have been "go nuts, put in all kinds of different cultures" territory (side note, nothing against other countries, but I really wish, with Tevinter being this huge thing like the US or Russia that they game had just focused on them. Teeny tiny Kirkwall got its own game. Just focus on one huge place and build out that place). 2) Out of all people whom I'd say have a binary view of the world, it's the Qunari. You literally cannot practice the Qun and be nonbinary. Because there's no job for you within the Qun. You'd have to be Tal'vashoth. (Side note, pretty much Veilguard F-ed up all the qunari stuff. Taash's mom would not be her biological mother, but whomever raised her. Because that's how the Qun works. It's a different morality and societal system. Showing Taash and her mom behaving like people with modern human social interactions was weird. Taash is no one to her bio mom. She should have no guilt about not being a mother. It's not her job. There's no attachment because there was never intended to be any. It's an odd way for a modern human society to organize itself, but the Qunari were different. Let them be different. It makes the interesting. There should be little bits where they're like us. But not all over the place.) 3) Companions as representation. When a companion (or any character, but especially a companion) represents a concept for players, it is there to be interrogated by players. This means not only being able to agree or disagree with the companion (I heavily disagreed with Vivienne's view of mages and shut her down at every turn), but also that the companion is there to talk about the stuff they're representing. People from minority groups don't always feel like being grilled by everyone else (and why should they?) so having an artistic stand in provides people with no knowledge or understanding to acquire that knowledge and possibly understanding by being available to be poked and prodded and asked uncomfortable things. Have I played the game? No. I refuse to buy it over an entirely different matter (destruction of world state/choices). But I've watched various scenes. Eventually I plan I working my way through the whole game for lore purposes (though maybe not since the lore seems to be crap that contradicts everything previously put out, and quite a lot of us are busy rejecting it just in general.) But nothing I've seen so far has actually provided enough depth to "what is Nonbinary?" to make it sound any different than someone telling me that they're a Zing Zang Zoodler. When some of Dr. Seuss's made up words have better understanding and context than a real world term that you're using, you have a problem in terms of actually getting your concept across. I think Nonbinary as defined in the modern world is one of the harder concepts to get across (explanations I've gotten of "I don't feel like a man or a woman" just lead me to ask What is a man? What is a woman? Are you sure? Because that doesn't sound like my experience. That just sounds like an excuse. Why do you need a new word just for you? Why do you need to force other people to change their entire language to accommodate you? Etc. -- Personally I have a huge issue with the destruction of language thing, or I wouldn't care about people calling themselves nonbinary or zing zang zoodlers or whatever suited their fancy). So I'm not enthusiastic on this topic. I'm slightly negative. But I was willing to listen. There has been, however, nothing of substance to listen to from what I've seen of DA:V. The writing here was just abysmal and lacked the depth to tackle the subject because it doesn't even allow you to question the subject.

[@Vhaal97]

The issue lies in American studios taking franchises rooted in European and Old World ideas, concepts, and beliefs that clash with modern American values. They adopt our culture for its aesthetic, strip it of depth, and fill it with modern American social commentary to appeal to their domestic audience. However, this approach often fails on a global stage. As a Celtic person, it’s frustrating to repeatedly see my people’s beliefs, ancient traditions, and cherished stories distorted into distinctly American products-then be expected to accept them and feel grateful. These stories deserve respect, not hollow reimaginings. Europe is not America, and our views on sexuality, race, and class are far more nuanced, shaped by over 6,000 years of history. These concepts have had time to evolve, diminish, and reform, resulting in complexities that American perspectives often fail to grasp. In comparison, their approach to these subjects feels childish, immature, and self-centered. When they impose these simplistic interpretations on us, it dilutes and erodes our culture. Take the American view on race as an example: their black-and-white dichotomy doesn’t fit in a continent where race was historically defined by ethnicity-Celtic, Germanic, Hellenic, Northman, Slav, and so on. Each of these ethnic groups has its own tribes, clans, and branch families, creating a richly layered identity. By contrast, the American perspective oversimplifies and moralizes these issues, and this self-righteousness is glaringly evident in their art, which often flattens our history and traditions into something unrecognizable. Dragon Age: Origins resonated with the European perspective because it was deeply rooted in our history and culture, set in a “middle fantasy” world where each nation and people had a clear 1-to-1 real-life counterpart. The elves, for instance, were unmistakably inspired by the Celts, right down to their mythology, providing rare representation for a culture often overlooked outside of Dungeons & Dragons. Similarly, Ferelden drew heavily from Anglo-Saxon influences, creating a world that felt authentic and meaningful to European audiences. However, many of the issues Americans and Europeans now debate-such as diversity and representation-are undeniably important. Yet, when approached through an American lens, the execution often becomes shallow and, at times, unintentionally offensive. The nuance and depth of European cultures and histories are replaced with oversimplified tropes, undermining the richness of the original inspiration.

[@ImpGoose]

It was beautifully written and so true. Thank you for that! I guess the only thing we can do is to pay more attention to European dev studios to avoid getting burned again. Creating games is becoming harder these days as it's time consuming and really expensive. I wish we had more small studios in the UK who focus on middle age fantasy with symbolism and folklore.

[@Vhaal97]

​@@ImpGooseI can tolerate a flawed product, but not a disrespectful one. Dragon Age 2, despite its flaws and rushed development, still felt like a true Dragon Age game. It drew heavily on British religious dynamics, with Kirkwall an actual city serving as a grounded backdrop. The addition of Stark-haven, with its distinctly Presbyterian and I thought rather brave but also very poorly down at the time, further enriched the setting. However, over time, American developers have shifted from respecting Europe’s heritage to fetishising it, treating our cultural legacy with the same irreverence they apply to their own. Take a game like Black Myth: Wukong-the love and dedication the team invested in authentically honouring Chinese art is unmistakable. Contrast that with new-world developers, publishers, and audiences who often demand projects conform to their vision of fantasy as a reflection of California or New York rather than the cultures they claim to draw from. Fantasy serves as a way to understand and reflect reality kind of like the fade-our mythologies, folklore, and socio-economic dynamics are integral to who we are. Yet, many new-world creators use fantasy to distort reality, reshaping it into their idealized version of the world. The difference isn't new, you see it when comparing American and British dramas: one tends to be overly optimistic and moralistic, while the other leans toward cynicism and wit. The tone shift in Veilguard feels distinctly American, with interactions between companions resembling an episode of The Big Bang Theory or Friends more than a Dragon Age game. The dynamic is alienating to audiences outside the U.S., who want their cultures to be treated with the maturity and respect they deserve. Unfortunately, as American entertainment becomes increasingly insular, it risks further disconnecting itself from Europe and the wider world. Yet, as long as America holds a central grip on global entertainment, meaningful change seems unlikely and I can see Europe and the east rejecting America entirely as the attitude has somewhat soured to them these past 30 yrs.

[@TheHeroOfFerelden]

The writing is a NIGHTMARE a fifteen year old could do a better job EASILY. I spend 80 hours in this Trainwreck and damn Veilguard is not a Dragon Age game at all. Its made for kids and they destroyed the OG lore, Bioware doesnt care about us old fans who played DA Origins back in 2009.

[@johnbono2384]

The irony of the loudest critique was that there was "too much politics" in Veilguard When in reality, Veilguard drained all of the uncomfortable political and philosophical questions of their queasiness and controversy. If anything, Veilguard didn't have nearly ENOUGH consideration of the politics of the fictional universe it was purporting to be a sequel set in.

[@lordofgingers]

I think they specifically meant real world identity politics in favor of in universe politics but I get your point

[@charlesdexterward7781]

Watch any interviews with the game's writers and you'll see they absolutely were not being censored. They were writing exactly the kind of dialogue they wanted.

[@ImpGoose]

That's sad

[@MegatronDconZ]

This game was made so the lead writer could trauma dump his mommy issues

[@sethbearden3369]

Great video, Goose! Here's an update on my playthrough. I haven’t fully finished the game yet, but it has to be one of the most inconsistent games I've played. There are moments I truly love, especially with certain characters, but then a few quests later, they say or do something that leaves me scratching my head. Overall, I'm enjoying my time with the game, but it doesn't quite feel like a true Dragon Age title. It's disappointing because I really want to adore this game, but I just can't. All I can say is that it's alright. I don’t hate it; in fact, I think it’s pretty fun. However, for fans who love the writing in Dragon Age, this game is probably not the one. This sounds more negative than I actually feel, but for lack of a better term, I just feel conflicted. I’m done ranting now lol.

[@jojojaja129]

People don't hate LGBT in bioware games, They hate how modern woke portraits it. Classic WRPG if you don't like any companions you can just say F off or outright kill them like baldur's gate series, They don't rant personality feeling all time, Some you will not know is gay if you do not try to romance them.

[@MsIorveth]

yea coffe and hands on hips is atrocious about hints for puzzles we can turn it off so atleast that sandwitches when blight ravages ferelden orlais sure why not and asking about your romance hey denerim is destroyed but hows you and neve i was always curious how they will deal with 2 remaining blights and well didnt expect this and i cant not mention the teaser of kal-sharok that was slapped in your faces just like that i swear to maker that they cut dwarfes out of veilguard and leave scraps we got i believe in that cos we got tons of dwarves assets like cups tables architecture and fully fuctional golem model with all animations and stuff+deepstalkers are somehow everywhere now too and all this for what?30 min of deep roads and kal-sharok outpost i cant believe such effort was made for such a tiny part of the game and the game is indeed so sweet and good that on my next playthrough i wouldnt be surprised if i punch first warden with a pillow for me gray warden content make it for me always wanted to play gray warden once more and if its last bioware game im atleast happy i can do it once more even though i would love to play it with writing like origins but well

[@thefinalboss2403]

Consider me thoroughly "filtered".

[@AbslomDaak]

The outlasting the blight due to blood magic was in Soldier's Keep a DLC for Origins, so that at least is consistent.

[@ImpGoose]

I forgot! Good to know that this piece is okay 🔥

[@nediojon749]

There’s bones of a good game in this the siege of Weisshaupt, the final suicide mission both good moments but other than that it feels like they stripped everything away from it to follow trends and ending up making a game that was… fine at best but honestly not something I would come back to

[@annabelleashdown6762]

I just finished watching the video and essentially agree with everything you said. Did I play this game for Solas. Perhaps (yes). Was I satisfied with his ending. Yes, I'm still crying to this day. HOWEVER, I'm heartbroken because of the way this game was executed, especially considering everything we know from the artbook. Everyday I go to sleep and ask the universe to let me wake up in the reality where Joplin came out. I'm joking here of course but I really feel like we all have been robbed. While I can appreciate my Solas ending, I wanted to see a satisfying ending to the culmination of ALL OF THE GAMES and I just didn't. Just like you said, before the premiere I was certain of one thing, whatever happens, I can always count on the plot, on the writing so I told myself "ok, maybe I'm not the biggest fan of the new artstyle and I'm deeply disappointed how most of my previous choices don't matter but hey BioWare will deliver with the story, right?". I'm asking myself if I was really too blind and naive to notice that the writing will be in fact disappointing but I want to believe this was something that couldn't be predicted. To be completely honest, I have to head canon that most of this game didn't happen to be able to sleep at night. With that said, I think I'll leave another comment listing many questions I'd like to ask different characters. Imagining I could interrogate them just like in the old times actually brings me a lot of comfort hah. Thank you for this and your previous videos. Even if the game didn't meet up with our expectations, it has brought me lots of joy to see the fandom so engaged for the past few months.

[@ImpGoose]

Thanks! I liked it as a separate game. It has many cool visual features 🔥

[@annabelleashdown6762]

@@ImpGoose Absolutely, the art team did an amazing job with the locations. I loved how all of those new places were brought to life ^^

[@annabelleashdown6762]

It may be silly but I wanted so much to ask Dorian about his time in Inquisition and listen to him go about his undying friendship with my Lavellan and Solas' interesting fashion choices throughout the years

[@ImpGoose]

It would be an awesome chat option 😍

[@modracihla5532]

What I really miss from this game is focus on social conflict. Which was very prelevant in both Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Like half of Dragon Age 2 focuses on problems of immigration and integration. The second half is about freedom vs. security. This is totally absent from DAV. You can't even question whether Antiva should be ruled by assasins guild. I actually don't think the deep mysteries of Thedas needed an answer. Subtle hints would be enough. Like I don't need to know if Jesus was real to enjoy a book about conflict in Middle East. It all felt very scifi to me in the way we were fed the information. Like if you took conversation with Vigil and from Prothean DLC and made it a side quest in Dragon Age.

[@ImpGoose]

Social conflicts are the best! I heard in one of the videos I watched that the game used to test our moral compass, not judge or dictate it. Sadly, there were no social conflicts that would bother all niches. That was the unifying thread that I was talking about in the video.

[@modracihla5532]

​@@ImpGoose I would really like to know why they removed any depiction of real conflict. Even good feel, unintelectual TV shows like Step by step or Emily in Paris have actual conflicts in it. It drives the plot! I guess they wanted to make it a cozy game? What a weird choice for Dragon Age. I understand they wanted to move to new locations with different rules. Like maybe not do another game about mage x templar conflict but they didnt establish anything new worth thinking about. I would love if Crows were depicted like Mafia with all the negative sides and on the other side would be the Butcher (his 3 minutes in the game is the best dialogue in the game!) who would rule brutally but fairly and we could choose who to ally with. Or if there was chance to push for reform in Tevinter vs supporting a revolution. Will we support a revolution that can be bloody and we end up worse of, or we change the system from the inside but some bad parts of the system will remain. You are also right about the excess of rituals in this game. Like we go like 7 times to stop some evil ritual. It gets tiring. And when I think Neve s personal quest could have been some Whodunnit instead it's really sad

[@angelicaeagles9627]

I have no problem with woke culture, heck, I'm a trans woman, I have been living this way for 10 years, heck, I applaud Bioware for taking a stand and standing with minority groups. My problem is poor writing, sentences lacking a subject was my biggest pet peave, especially when Neve would say things like "you're looking for people... need to look around" who needs to look around? Where's the subject of the sentence? Now I live in the UK, but I was raised in Italy, a language that doesn't require a subject in the sentence bcs it is implied by the conjugation of the verb (ex. Adoro Solas which translates as "Adore Solas" but bcs the verb ends in "o" you can understand that it's actually "I adore Solas") English on the other hand it is obligatory to have a subject in the sentence, that's simple grammar. Also I don't feel like I connected at all with the companions, I romanced Lucanis, yet it didn't feel like a romance at all, heck the flirting with Davrin was much spicier than the entire Lucanis romance entirely, and I did feel manipulated and lied to when people said that Lucanis is a bisexual mess, bcs he seemed way more put together than the OG bisexual mess that was Anders, who yes, I do romance almost every single time. Also I tried to replay it after I completed the game once and I find myself incapable of doing so, bcs I'm getting bored, which shouldn't be happening, and now I completely understand why people were comparing it to Guardians of the Galaxy, I would even say Midnight Suns as well, it's not until the end that it feels like Mass Effect 2. If we're talking about story, it's probably the worst out of all the Dragon Age games, gameplay-wise at least it's better than Origins. Also the whole Taash storyline, I love Taash, but wasn't specified in Inquisition, that being trans was allowed under the Qun bcs the role defines your gender, yet here we are with this game essentially saying the opposite.

[@izrojas]

I hate the good ending where rook just pushes solas into the rift and gives him the dagger. Its on his chest as he say "im a fool". I was pissed. I thought he was gonna come back after a few mins as a 2nd boss.

[@maiafay]

That was the good ending?

[@cracmar03]

@@maiafay I thought good ending was him just just binding himself to keep Veil and going to atone ...

[@amyslowikgrossman835]

Dang, Goose! I'm really impressed about your writing accomplishments! Good for you! 😁I took a break from Veilguard videos and channels for a bit because I was just so mad as a longtime fan and feeling betrayed by Bioware after the initial information about this game. I mean, I read the books and I am pissed at how they did Isseya's story DIRTY. And them only carrying through 3 choices from just the last game?!? No cameos from Alistair, Leliana, Zevran, Sandal, Cullen, Cassandra, Sara, Iron Bull, or Blackwall? There were some nice scenes with Isabella, Dorian, and the Inqusitor.

[@ImpGoose]

Thanks, my dear! It took a huge chunk of my life haha. It's very sweet of you to compliment it ❤️ I agree. There were many characters who should have been in the game along with important social questions. The fact that Fenris wasn't in the game still hurts me

[@sortilien2099]

I've ended it in 80h . The game is average it does the trick. I'll try to be objective, for i had a good time playing it, really. If to you Dragon Age a style of Game/gameplay... There are a lot of chances you'll find your fun elsewhere. It's more like "Hogwart legacy in Thedas" but with more clearer combat. 13/20 good ideas but unrafined at every level. I] MORE ACTION DRIVEN Fight are all action, dynamic, and quite fun, ennemy's will be repetitive, though. It feels more like what i'd expected for a kingdom of amalur 2 or a new jade empire. I did like it it feels great but could be far better. If you play in higher difficulties, making combo with your allies will be necessary, but with cornering your ennemies or toss them over bord to finish the fight faster is the only tactical point you'll have and adaptating damage to target very basic. If you want turn by turn tactical RPG, stay on divinity original sin, bg3, whatever What's the most annoying with the full action is action is here...even in exploration destroying barrels is ok in Fable but Dragon Age, really ? There is also the lack of skills you can have, it make disapear utilitary/side skill no stealth, no ability for you to be the support/healer, consummable such as elixirs and grenades are out. __________________________________ II] EXPLORATION We are little too much on rail but as much as jedi fallen order or ME 3. Maps are small, thanks goodness. I hate to ride through empty lands for 3 hours on a mount. Exploration is based on basic puzzles and a really simple platform. it doesn't slow you, but having a good puzzle/riddle to solve could have been great once in a while _________________________________ III] Characters and Companions Rook : Is locked in "loyal-good", no matter your faction. Your past is just you put good before profit. Companions : Really hard to piss them off. If you do so; you have ignored them and their quest all game and only took decision they reprouve. But there again, some have the spark of greatness, and could be some of the best in the all series, but we just carefully brush the surface without going too deep. So yeah, they feel wasted, and for a lot of them bland. The "woke issue" If 10 lines of dialogue is a bother to you, life must be hard... The most annoying is Taash for its baldly written, not integrated in the world, lacks Dorian's quest subtility in DAI or even Crem's (Iron bull's second is command) So yeah, taash feels like someone is lecturing you... everyone loves that. __________________________________ IV] THE STORY I needed an hour to get into it ( for a lot of people, it would already be too much), and the companions' missions before the last quest were too condensed itcan feel like a chore. The lore is there, in the big threads of the game, sometimes a little clumsy for the most Lore nerds (which i'm not) Rook's Faction is used in dialogues, and all game long that is fine. but not a single quest to dig about your past, not an ennemy for what your biography said you did... felt lazy. _________________________________ V] THE UNIVERSE There we lack details... and some"dragon age", there is missing things. Religion... Yes, Chantery, may it be Tevinter or the south one, are not bothered by venatori coming back to the old gods, nor by the fact that Evanuris walk the earth. Every realm except Antiva is seen through a key hole, it lack details, the fact that i'm in different cultures. Nevarra is just a manor & the depth of the great necropolis, Rivein is just one beach... Racism, where is it ? After inquisition, no one hates elves ? Qunaris are welcome in tevinter after so many invasions ? Being a non mage in tevinter didn't feel like i was second class My Warrior felt not physcal damage enough and has fucking magic powers, give me a reason please, why can i make fire spears come down from the sky. Magic warrior is not new but psycho had dragonblood, Templar had lyrium, Ok for the reaper he use spirit & necromancy... still i want a reason its not like we could just have made a vigil & being touch by a spirit of Destiny, bravery, boldness or whatever. And it make feels more like a High fantasy tone. _______________________________ VI] Conclusion. For a game that had so much issue in devellopment, it is a good action RPG, for a dragon age, we are use to better. The last chapter of the game is good and well paced, it give us an average and enjoyable end to the story. it looks like a soft reboot. Not the game i was waiting for but i spent a good time despite all the flaws. But for me this is the end, dragon age ends here, most of the big question are answered. And we killed gods. The post credit scene is not engaging for the next opus the "illuminati" route is either done masterfully or just bad and really bad.

[@RandomWandrer]

Agree on all of the above.

[@sortilien2099]

@@RandomWandrer It's good to see, i'm not alone. I corrected some mistakes i hope it hurt less to read

[@adriannak9169]

Is it okay to ask what's the title of your book? I tried to find it on your profile, but couldn't see anything. Also, I fully agree with your thoughts, especially the bit about Taash binary cultural choice. As a fellow EE immigrant in the UK, I immiedietly felt annoyed with this conversation. It felt like the writers haven't done any research into the topic and had a limited exposure to the life out there themselves. Many people carry multiple cultures and doesn't feel like they need to pick one to define them.

[@ImpGoose]

Sure, it's just I didn't connect these things because this channel grows faster than it was expected haha. Good, I guess? Though, I want you understand that I'm so demanding to other writers because I made all these mistakes myself at least once when I was younger. My books is a high fantasy series with a female protagonist. I wrote it in my native language when I was 20, and then decided to improve my English via rewriting it into English. For some people it's too different, but many do enjoy the series due to its humour, philosophy, and magic. They are my "ugly babies" because they are my first books. You can find them on amazon. The series is called Rize Keer. Check out the reviews and if the books are for you, then enjoy the read

[@adriannak9169]

@@ImpGoose Thank you!!

[@weareharbinger914]

Even without the politics, the game is bad. I don't think this game was made for dragon age fans even slightly. Its why despite Morrigan being introduced rather early, she sits on her arse for 90% of the game. I personally understand why people might like certain things, like the final mission. But objectively, it is terrible. Its clearly trying to rip off Mass Effect 2's Suicide Mission, the difference is stark though. You feel like Shepard is going up against overwhelming odds but you see the progress, that the upgrades to the Normandy, that doing loyalty missions matters. In Veilguard, no idea, because everyone just kind of wins, even when outnumbered 5 to 1 and completely surrounded. You're in a battle and despite watching it, I have no idea where the sides are, how its progressing or how its working. We just see fighting, and then win. The combat, while flashy, ends up essentially just being completely the same. Inquisition, while imperfect felt better. If they just added an active block, dodge and sprint to that, it would be miles better than what Veilguard came up with, while giving you the ability to feel more of an active participant. The skill system is artificially deep since 85% of the things you unlock are just passives. Its not path of Exile either, where you stack up a crapload of passives on things and have open ended ability choices. I give no praise for looking pretty. Graphics mean almost nothing in an RPG as long as it communicates what is happening. The environments look nice, but again, no depth, much like the combat. This was a problem in Dragon Age 2, Veilguard is just prettier about it. I also cannot praise the armor or weapons. Weapons are easy, theres like 2000 4k weapons mods for skyrim, these were not that. Armor though, overall looked awful. Especially after Inquisition where you could craft your armour and decide its colour scheme, even having different arms/helmet to the main body if you wished. Only one looked good, that was the First Warden's gear. Puzzles are 90% not puzzles. Point thing at thing or drag thing over to thing taking PERHAPS 20 seconds is not a puzzle. Theres like 3 decent puzzles in the game, the rest treat you as if you are 6 years old. The writing is the worst part and never, EVER give bonuses for 'oh this was brave!', that means nothing. A complex idea executed poorly is not better than a simple idea executed well. The storylines of these characters lack investment. As someone who was intrigued by the Descent dlc in Inquisition, i'd hoped for more regarding the Titans. I didn't really get it from Harding's story. We even get to a whole new Dwarven Thaig and...basically learn nothing, talk to nobody. Titans had their dreams severed essentially being made Tranquil, okay, how did Solas do that? No clue! why'd it become the Blight, also no clue! Why doesn't that happen when you make a mage Tranquil? 300% no clue! And a follow up, Tranquil people don't just cease functioning, why did that happen for the Titans? Never answered. I think your description of the characters as 'professionals' is wrong. These people are, for the most part, just randoms. To be fair, so is Rook. These are not the best in the business, Darvin is a random Grey Warden, Emmerich is apparently a high rank in a brand new faction, Taash is like 20, Harding was just a regular scout/tracker before the dagger, Bellara is also the 'best' in a brand new faction(although she acts like a ditzy valley girl) and Neve is a terrible detective. Lucanis is at least a professional assassin, although the Crows seem just lame now. The writers DID become poorly educated, poorly educated in life. A degree doesn't mean you know shit about a topic, just that you know what you were taught. A lot of the writers now, you can tell what they do, they spend most of their time on social media, not living life. The Inquisitor and Solas thing, thats probably some of the better writing, it is, but it is like 1 minute. There is no reason why the Inquisitor would care about Rook's love life. The Elven gods being behind everything was probably the biggest sign that the writing sucks. Its a one answer solution to everything. The gods being good at spellcasting should be expected, Solas just petrifying people with a thought in Trespasser let us know these weren't being normal mortals can mess with. Not that you'd know that from Veilguard. The problem with Lucanis is simple, he's an abomination. We've seen this before with Anders, but Lucanis suffers very few ill effects from possession(effectively just a few blackouts/sleepwalking), where Anders eventually ends up becoming a terrorist as he and Justice/Vengeance are now one and the same. As for Romances, Origins does it better, flat out. Defrosting Morrigan or getting closer with Leliana felt good, and everyone likes Alistair. but for example when Leliana comes to tell you her feelings, shes cute and awkward, and you can just troll her for an extended period of time about it until she blurts it out. The emmerich romance you showcased showed another weakness, that dialogue wheel is a LIAR. you selected 'Don't worry Emmerich', Rook says 'you're breaking my heart'. WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?! Its a very dumb fight that the game forces you to have. You cannot sit down and talk it out understandingly, as engaging in a romance with an older man, this conversation WILL happen at some point. Rook acts like a bitch, and Emmerich just has to take it. Emmerich isn't the most masculine guy, but the game seems to actively want to squeeze whats left out of him. The only explanation we get for Harding's personality change is that time passed. She was always kind of nervous about all the crap the Inquisitor had to deal with. Now shes just fine with demon invasions, gods descending and blight ravaging the lands. But so is everyone, except like, two freakouts from Bellara, hours apart. I disagree with the husband. The Grey Wardens and blight are possibly the worst aspects. How taint/blight is fails most in regards to one thing: darkspawn. Darkspawn used to be intelligent, they crafted armour, weapons, even fortifications to some extent. You had different types based on what they were spawned from and you absolutely could not let them get their hands on women alive. They were dangerous, their blood itself carried risk, with only Grey Wardens being able to guarantee no risk from infection. You wade through oceans of blood, hundreds of darkspawn in Veilguard and you never have to deal with these things. The change in design is lazily explained as them being 'older' versions, well the old versions suck. Hell, if Neve or Bellara is stolen at the end, they aren't morphed into Broodmothers to pump out an army of darkspawn. Nah, you can just rescue them. Because they wanted to remove the dark from the dark fantasy. Also not a fan of the blight cysts, either just having them all other the place or as minor obstacles that you hit once and they go away. The former is very notably ridiculous when Ghilinane rapidly expanded them after her face is injured. If she could do that, it should just spread across the land, unopposed The most glaring thing for me though is that despite being the origins of the blight, being able to command darkspawn at will, summon them, etc. Ghilinane doesn't just...control the wardens. Corypheus had influence over the wardens because they were blighted and he was just some powerful spellcaster who was blighted into one of the first darkspawn, yet he was able to induce the calling in all the wardens. The gods...don't. Hell, the one gloom howler warden manages to somehow EXTRA blight wardens, because...she can. And also get blood from a corpse that would be dry as dust, even though its a literal skeleton. I kept asking myself, over and over again 'why don't they do x?' especially when one god can move the damn moon. At that point you cannot fight him. But you do, relatively easily, in fact. Same with Ghilinane, beside being able to just maul grey wardens and teleport, she just restrains lucanis, and sits around while Rook runs around hitting blight cysts which drops her 'blight shield', then she dies in a cutscene. Was the lamest boss fight i think i've ever seen. If you do not care about dragon age, this game is probably a 5. If you love dragon age, this game should be a 1. As Veilguard is the Anti-Origins in almost every way. Is it a filter for a show or something? No, i think it was completely rewritten, starting about 4 years ago, since that is where someone who is very political apparently joined their team. This game was meant to wipe out the dragon age franchise's current iteration so they can abuse the name on other stuff, thats what the 'secret' ending cements. Fortunately this game killed the franchise. You might wonder why 'fortunately'. I'm tired of seeing stuff I like turned into everything it isn't. I had some issues with Inquisition, but it was a good time overall. Veilguard ignored every other game, barring a few choices in Inquisition, but it even ignored the Inquisitor losing their arm. Similarly, I think this game should be ignored in Dragon Age canon. I could write better in my sleep.

[@quintyss1290]

33:00 I sincerely hope ME5 will NOT have the same writing as Veilguard. Your theory is terrifying to me. Also, I want to give kudos to your husband for his love of Neverwinter Nights :).

[@ImpGoose]

I wish it won't but the trend makes me wonder 😅 My husband is very grateful for your comment!

[@YueAki]

I have to say, the items and the giant chests glowing and the animations ALWAYS break my immersion. And the UI in the game ks waaaay too messy

[@matthewgrist5234]

They lifted that caretaker voice straight from mass effect I can't remember exactly which part of the game but it's definitely from there maybe the Thorian idk

[@leahmichelle1721]

I think you mean the hanar right?

[@GreyWardenArlethaVakarian]

The game deserved the hate I finished the game twice now and it was a struggle to finish it once again and I played the OG previous games since Origins was released back in 2009 MANY MANY times, Origins the most because I got it back in December 2009 thanks to my stepfather. Veilguard messed up and rewrote the lore, they decided to destroy Ferelden and everything else in the south of Thedas, worst writing I ever experienced, Rook talks to them like children, the "riddles" are laughable, Varric twist SUCKS and isn't funny it's shitty at best. I have so much more to say about the Varric part. The usage of (our) modern language, WHY do they have to put pronouns and top surgery scars in MEDIEVAL fantasy game? It doesn't fit in the world, it fits perfectly in Mass Effect because they don't lack the knowledge of plastic surgery and modern language considering the time Mass Effect takes place.

[@scarocci7333]

The south isn't destroyed, in the same way it wasn't in Origins. They'll just rebuild like they did every single time.

[@TheHeroOfFerelden]

@@scarocci7333 everything can be rebuild the people you might have died cant return, they also canonised things, like Morrigan who drank from the well of sorrows...

[@Deren98]

I enjoyed the game but it feels disconected...Like when in university you have to do a project and just meet with your fellow students at the end? Some parts of the game were incredibly bad, others were incredibly good...Its not a cohesive game.

[@hurlerage]

i put 8 (newer audience) and 6 (returning Da players) but my conclusions were the same as yours. Kuddos for wording your thougts better than i'ld ever be able to!

[@ImpGoose]

That's a good rating! Welcome to the channel 🥳

[@hurlerage]

@@ImpGoose Why ty

[@marli6011]

Once the nostalgia wore off i was left feeling pretty similar. Im hoping that it is a filler game, a bridge to the next, but as it is its just not a complete story with complete characters. Its definitely not a mature game. I will play it again, but how many times i couldnt say. It makes me appreciate 1-3 even more!

[@rtgh2010]

Got to disagree with characters they were badly written .

[@marconeves1979]

And here we finally are.... Seems like the dust is settling for us all, finally. Edit: Goose, I think (like many of us) PERHAPS you're conflicted because you (deep down) did NOT like this game.... (even though we all love the franchise that it WAS previously). I for example liked The Last Jedi when I first watched it.... but then (one month later) I realized it's a terrible film that is beautifully shot and looks like 5 stars. But that wonderful coat of paint, is but a hollow shell.

[@ImpGoose]

I understand what you mean. Our likes and dislikes are based on the the values aka niche. DAV is a bad game for one gamers and good for others. In general it's a fun game to play it once. It's a bad Dragon age game. These two things can exist simultaneously.

[@faberofwillandmight8758]

The Evanuris lore was actually the same since Origins. Even Gaider confirmed this. It was written down in the Black Codex before Inquisition, and illustrated in 2014 by art team after Inquisition ended and before Trespasser was out (according to the Art Book). In addition, the Forgotten Ones were never locked in the Abyss. We see Geldauran's Grave in Jaws of Hakkon. The only point where it appears like a rewrite happened is the Evanuris dying when an Archdemon is killed. This is because the explanation is: "The rules changed" unlike anything else. Now, the issue with the game is that everything is presented to you are if you are dumb and unable to retain information.

[@lordofgingers]

Evidence suggests an archdemon slain by a grey warden meant the corresponding evanuris died in the fade. This is why Solas was so against the grey wardens seeking out the old gods at the time. The veil would have fallen, the blight would have been released, and he would have been powerless to stop it at that time.

[@mele-00]

You're Moldovan? Salutări din România! Thank you, thank you for pointing out that it's bad to force us to make Taash more Qunari or Rivaini! I don't think they meant it, but it does stand out a lot more next to the NB arc. It's my main problem with Taash's writer, Trick Weekes, and their characters. In my opinion it was even worse in Inquisition when they forced us to chose to make Cole human or spirit. Why not let him go through his journey and become who he wants, or at the very least let him give some input. We literally change his very nature. We also have to chose to make the Iron Bull Qunari or Tal-Vashoth. Those are choices these characters should make themselves, if we're to believe they're actual people. Let us talk through it or something, but the decision should be made by them. Instead they feel like dolls, because we get to choose what they do and who they are. Another thing with Tricks' writing is a lot of their characters seem to talk in quirky ways. I liked how Taash spoke at first, it was an easy and endearing way to get their personality. But it was so constant. As time went on it started feeling rigid and artificial. People don't always talk the same, they might be more relaxed around friends or emotional in other situations, and their language and vocabulary would change. At least that's how it felt on my first playthrough. I'm in my second one now and some stuff feels different. Harding felt like a let-down first time around, but now I'm can see a lot more of her depth and emotions. Not perfect, but good, I think. (some of her banter is annoying, but her private conversations are good)

[@ImpGoose]

One of my grandfathers was Moldovan and my mom grew up in Chisinau💃🏼✨ Salutari! As you can imagine my heritage has at least 4 different nations haha. That binary choice of culture was bizarre. Sometimes writers put a lot of their personality into characters...they shouldn't. Though, Taash was believable. Some of the banter was fun!

[@sarawawa8984]

I love all your lore videos so I’m really glad to hear specifically your opinion on the lore reveals (more like lore dumps honestly) as I felt they were poorly done and often poorly thought out

[@ImpGoose]

I was very scared to publish this video but it's more scarier to lie to myself that the new lore is fine... I loved other things in DAV like locations and exploring levels :) I need a break to understand what to do next haha. Thank you for your kind words!

[@masterarash7]

I just finished this game yesterday and I would say I quite enjoyed this game although it was far from perfect. My only real complaint was that in the end I was disappointed that we could not help Solas to bring down the veil. I knew that it was a small hope for that to be an option but I was still disappointed to see that it wasn't an option. Another small complaint I have(at least as of a first playthrough) is that the companions didn't feel as good as they did in Inquisition. Sure they were all unique but their stories didn't feel as hard hitting as say Iron Bulls or Cassandras. Even the banter we got between them wasn't anything as entertaining as we got in Inquisition.

[@cracmar03]

It's funny because I was actually relieved that this time around, we actually got team that can bury the hatchet and we can actually oversee that. Made you think that instead of bunch immature kids who will jump at each others throats all the time, we actually did got adult people handling situation. In Inquisition we had several companions constantly bickering if not trying to murder one another. Sadly same case was in DA II, but in DA II it was just group of Hawke's friends, not any organisation against end of the world like in Origins or Inquisition. This is first DA game about organisation where I handle more adult companions it seems. My complaint is more related to outings. We do spent time with companions but we learn precious little. That doesn't mean we learned much about them in Inquisition .. so it's carry over issue in writing. DA companions really rarely talk about details of their pasts. And another carry over issue that does sit in line with this one, is that our protagonist both Inquisitor or Rook or even Warden has next to no development based on who they are. There is not much character growth here. Games were allergic to let you grown your own character. There is no point in which like in first Pillars of Eternity companion asks you genuie question as to what you used to do in old life. In Origins, despite having origin, Cailan aside asking as why you were sentenced, almost nobody cares in your companion group. I was relieved that Davrin was talking about how he felt about his clan and perspective of living as clan member, I just wish there was more of that. For both companions and Rook.

[@ems7448]

I finished it after 82.5 hours, and I agree that the companions just didn't grab me overall. I mean, they're nice, but I simply didn't really care about any of them except for Assan and Manfred. I loved the companions of the first three games, even the ones that people tend to hate, like Sera and Vivienne, but this group just felt kind of flat.

[@masterarash7]

@@ems7448 Yes I would agree with you on that. I found myself liking Lucanis, Davrin, and surprisingly Neve but for me even they didn't compare to companions of past Dragon Age games. There just felt like there was something missing for me. Flat, as you say, is a good way do describe it I think.

[@ranasi1210]

Damn I feel you dude. Also I believe it was such a great place to end the franchase (as if EA could let them lmao), but instead we got that mason scene???? AHAHAHHAHA I can't with them

[@flooferdoofer]

​@@cracmar03I get what you mean! We can interact with the companions, but they hardly ask about us. We go to them every time. And when we say how we feel their response is usually 'Chin up, the world is counting on you. You got this. I got your back!'. Never a 'Shall we go for a walk? You look like you could use some air, or punch something.'

[@feelyourlines]

a perfectly respectable review. well thought out and honest, kudos. i don't agree with everything, but i also don't approach critique in the same way.

[@jenniferhanses]

I disagree at this "being a great jumping on point for new fans." Because despite everything BioWare did to dumb it down, this is STILL the most direct sequel to a previous title that we've ever gotten. Out of all four games, this one has to be the LEAST approachable as a jumping on point. Because the character are already tangled up in defeating Solus. Who is Solus? Play DA: I Why are they fighting Solus: Play DA:I Who gave them this task? Play DA:I Who are the evnuris? Play any previous DA game, especially DA:I. Why does anyone care about Solus? Play DA:I. That is one of the things that makes their attempt to "soft reboot" the series all the more baffling. No one WANTS to jump into the second half of a story. Most people prefer to play out the whole story themselves. I can remember when I was thinking of trying Mass Effect and they had a demo for ME2 that sold me on the fact that I could do it (I am not a shooter fan, but I was a fan of DA and of scifi in general). I bought both 1 and 2 (3 wasn't out yet) at once so that I could play the whole story. And when I got frustrated with being Tank Girl in ME1, I just kept telling myself that the story was good, and I was eventually going to get to ME2, where the story got even better. I didn't want to play 2 without playing 1 first and meeting the characters. And let's be fair, here, 2 wasn't that bad of a place to jump on since Shepard died, so it made sense if his/her life and personality got a reboot. Anyway, DA:V was always going to be a horrible place to jump into the series because of the direct sequel thing. Dumbing it down in order to do that was only going to piss off more people, not less. As for "filtering" the fanbase, what exactly do you mean by that? I was already removing myself from the customer pool for ME5 because they're going to pick a canon universe, and I don't want to have further adventures in a universe that I didn't build and which I consider to be based on bad choices that my Shepard didn't make. I wasn't going to complain to BioWare about it. I get it. They screwed up Andromeda, and they don't know what else to do. I was just planning to quietly not buy it unless someone asked about my opinion on such things. As far as an ME TV show, I will be as vocal about it as I feel like being. I will talk about how bad and unlike ME it is if that should be the case. If they're trying to filter me out of the fanbase, all they've done is cause me to not only not buy DA:V but to actively discourage people from buying it because it's so bad. And I'm going to check out any ME TV show, and I will voice my displeasure loudly as I did when Netflix screwed up The Witcher. If it is bad. I don't know. I haven't seen it yet. But this filtering idea makes me think I should brace for it being bad. (As for the ME TV series, I'm hoping they do post-Contact War and pre-Shepard. That gives them 28 years to work with, I think. Something like that. Do a show centering on Anderson or a military-political thriller based on the first human diplomat. Do both and squish them together. I do NOT want to see them retell Mass Effect games as a TV show. But I'm all for supplementary material. I just don't want them doing the First Contact War because it's too short for a real series. It barely lasts a couple of days. If it were me, I'd open the whole thing by doing a First Contact War movie and then have the TV series follow on that.)

[@alexsamurai1230]

I've put this on 'Watch Later' until I've finished my campaign. In the meantime, have a Like and a Comment :)

[@ImpGoose]

You are the best! ❤️🥰 Have fun, my dear! We'll gossip later haha

[@RandomWandrer]

Neve's romance was very well written. She is cold and stand-off-ish, reluctant to let Rook form a connection. It later becomes clear that she is just afraid, after a lifetime of letdowns. She assumes Rook wont stick around, even if they mean to. Getting past all that was really rewarding Despite its issues, I loved Veilguard. My only real complaint is that my city elf shadow dragon encountered zero racism and saw no slaves anywhere.

[@cracmar03]

I am on racism fatigue to games, but yes I do agree racism being wholly absent was weird. I have more issues that is you play City Elf game just treats like you were all along Dalish. Main point of City Elves was that they had to ditch dalish pantheon to live in cities ...

[@nicolem3951]

I saw slaves in the main quest in Arlathan where the Venatori are sitting on them, the quest that Neve and Bellara stops Elgarnan of controlling our mind.

[@jesustyronechrist2330]

It's more like you loved your particular playthrough of Veilguard, mainly due to romancing Neve Now try playing it again and romance Taash lmao

[@otaviodelucca3573]

Why they did it though? Like, was it because of lack of resources? Maybe BioWare was on the brink of bankruptcy and they had to cut choices, writers.... I don't know! I just wanted an answer why did a game ten years ago had soooooo better lore and details then a game in 2024?!!! Beautiful game though, I didn't mind that much about the style of characters (though if I had to choose would be a bit more realistic) and the World is beautiful! I'd say more beautiful than Inquisition. Combat is also better than Inquisition I think. But the lore, which is the most important to me, is like NOTHING compared to Inquisition.

[@omnipenne9101]

It's because EA shafted the project initially for Anthem, then made it switch between live service to single player. Long time devs and writers sick of the work environment left and those that stayed on were laid off. There was a shift in studio from praising writers to seeing them as a nuisance.

[@bunniewood]

Yeah over 50 people were laid off. EA greed caused this

[@Eualia]

Thing is Artbook confirms they HAD a vision but corporate greed and under appreciation to artists and writers etc. Killed it. Whats wild is even if the project was tossed and rebooted they COULD gave used old notes old arts etc.

[@mayanasia]

​@@EualiaI have a suspicion that lots of content was canned so the game could be polished and shipped asap. I'm not putting the blame solely on EA cause we know that Bioware was in big part responsible for the crisis the company went through the last decade+ but I do blame the pressure when the corporate overlord is breathing at your neck, trying to mould a company that found its niche in the single player, lore rich games into something they're not.

[@cpt.mustardbeard6129]

For “second draft” look for Joplin plot from art book. From what I understand - that was original idea (pieces of it) that got scrapped out when EA/Bioware wanted to make it online session based game and got scrapped even more when game changed into what we have right now.

[@kristoffsayswhat]

40 mins?! We eating good tonight.

[@ImpGoose]

Bon appetit ❤️

[@syndicalist-0]

Well it filtered me right tf out

[@schipperkeandcats3469]

This game just idk its not my type of game and im a long time dragon age fan i love the lore of the franchise i get making a game for new generation but i dont see this as a game for the average gamer i dont know who they made this game for

[@KaiSaeren]

Tbh I was surprised at the Varrick twist, I didnt see it coming, I found a ton of stuff weird about it, like how we barely interact with him, nobody else acknowledges him etc., but I honestly just chalked it up to the game being poorly done and while I was surprised when it was revealed I was immidiately sour over it because it obviously doesnt hold up to any scrutiny for all the reasons you said, I do not believe for one second that nobody would ever say that he has died, nor that we would have some kind of service or a send off. And again, to add salt to a wound, Hawke wasnt here for this, or the Inquisitor, or any of his friends except for Harding, we spend the entire game not acknowleding that one of the most famous people in Thedas has died and nobody gives a shit. Or hell that nobody ever comments on us just talking to ourselves numerous times... Speaking of twists, I actually did expect Rook to be dead at one point and taken over with a spirit of compassion or something like that thanks to us being in contact with Solas, to explain why everyone reacts the way they do and why Rook is so blandly nice and all that, there certainly could have been something like that. It could also facilitate an ending that is different where Solas doesnt have to go into the Veil and actually gets a happy ending with the Inquisitor for example, as I dont count that ending as a happy one to be honest, forever locked in a jail of a sort. This could also be the reason why we are "Special" and can do shit others cant, like you would expect for the MC in this type of world ending threat game, maybe we can interact with Spirits, borrow their strength, see them better, to get help with puzzles etc. Also, given the reaction to this game, I do not believe that people who want good writing in their rpgs are a niche, they are the majority :D Needless to say, I do not count this game as the fourth installment of Dragon Age and its story isnt a continuation of what I went through in the previous three games (and books and comics), its just a quirky spinoff that doesnt matter to anything, thats how I will look at it. The more I played this, the less I cared. In their quest to make this the grandest stage with the biggest stakes yet, they completely forgot what made even their smaller stories interesting and meaningful to us.

[@ImpGoose]

Rook being dead and possessed by the spirit of compassion is an amazing plot twist! It would be so much cooler!!!

[@Vespyr_]

Dragon Age always had queer characters but it was presented diagetically. Veilguard ABSOLUTELY forced an agenda, by forcing contemporary wording into the already established lore of the game. Taash's own mother pointed this out when Taash was emphasizing she was "non-binary" despite their culture already allowing for the existence of gender non-conformity within the universe. How can you just brush those complaints aside? It absolutely breaks immersion when such things are forced in such a rich world.

[@ImpGoose]

I don't. It fits into the poor writing category. The characters are undeveloped and the writing is illogical. Though Taash is the only character who has a strong unpleasant side (rude, bully, without any respect, etc). Taash has a nerve and contradictions in the character arc while others barely expose their shadow side.

[@lordofgingers]

The argument taash makes seems to be aqun-athlok (trans) and nonbinary are not the same. Which fair enough I guess, but that scene made me empathize with the mom tbh. She was trying to understand and taash just acted like a kid

[@derekfin2751]

A very balanced, insightful and grounded look at the game. I really appreciate your perspective ☺️

[@ImpGoose]

Yay, thank you!

[@J_Hodders]

33:50 that was a harrowing but brilliantly novel take indeed! I hope you are wrong, however... I'll definitely be paraphrasing your concept in future discussions

[@maiafay]

Well, I will cope with fan fiction. It’s got me writing again regularly and at least there I can rewrite the game and put back the maturity, darkness, and unsettling aspects of what drew me to the series to begin with. I’ll have my fun with Rook/Solas, and perhaps other pairings. I did like many of the new lore reveals, and the new blight. I just wish they hadn’t sanitized all conflict except the scooby doo villains (not Solas) and PG’d the romances.

[@sona_rium]

it has nothing to do with your age. The writing of that game is TERRIBLE, and characters are clearly self-inserts of writers incapable of writing about something else but their own experience. These are writers that probably did not read fantasy classic from the 20th century, but young adult books. The writers are not bad, they just are not fit to write for a Dragon Age game. This is a safe game that got rid of everything that made the franchise gritty and deep, it's basically an attraction park like disney land, even in the ennemy designs and cutscene cinematography. It looks like a Disney Cartoon ...

[@VenraeLOL]

The Veilguard is polished, I will give it that (which sadly is a big thing in 2024, where AAA games are released broken and buggy) - however, outside of that the game has many issues (and I'm going to avoid talking about the socio-political aspects, since I believe that simply de-rails valid criticism of the game). Be warned - I will be talking spoilers! The writing is very 1-dimensional. The characters undergo little to no development, and are essentially the same at the end of the game as they started out as. The villains are evil for the sake of being evil, and have no motivations outside the desire for power (Solas is the one exception, however without the character context from Dragon Age Inquisition, his motivations are just as shallow and lack depth). The companion quests, overall, don't blend well with the main story of the game itself - in most cases they feel as though they're separate timelines (the writers attempt to tie them together by simply stating "Well, because Solas did X, this is now happening" without any clear explanation of WHY Solas doing X caused Y to occur). Overall, the writing lacks nuance - every plot-point lacks morale gray areas, and the twists come out of nowhere just for the sake of expectation subversion (making them lack cleverness and grace). The combat is solid, however it's not an RPG. You active abilities are limited to 3 (technically 4 if you count the ultimate ability) options during combat, and you don't have the ability to control your companions outside of telling them to use one of their 3 abilities (a lot of the time, you end up having your companions use the same ability each combat simply because it'll trigger the explosion, or set-up for the explosion). The combat is simply action-adventure/hack-and-slash mechanics, but lacks the depth of other games in the genre (think FF16, DMC, etc). Due to the limited enemy types, unless you make the intentional effort to switch things up for the sake of switching things up, you'll find yourself playing each fight the exact same way. So while the combat is solid in the way it runs, it's just very shallow in depth of execution. The Veilguard simply isn't an RPG. Your choices through out the game achieve the exact same outcomes - with the ending being the exception. When you go to D'Merita's Crossing, and choose what happens to the Mayor - the only choice that results in a slightly different outcome is if you give him to the wardens, and the result of that is simply he gets a cameo in a side-quest later in the game (that cameo doesn't change ANYTHING else about that quest, mind you). When you chose between protecting Minrathous or Antiva, all that really changes is which city get covered in the Blight and has darkspawn show up - sure you lose either Neve or Lucanis for a short period of time, but then they come back and everything goes back to normal (this all makes the decision effectively pointless). At the Siege at Weisshaupt, whether you knock out the First Warden or not has literally 0 change on the outcome of the quest/story - in either scenario the Wardens are basically wiped out (outside the same group running to the Hossberg Wetlands to find refuge), the First Warden dies, and you slay the Archdemon. The only real choice that has a lasting effect is whether you did the companion quests or not - that's about it. Your dialogue options only really serve to determine how fast you level up your companions, and even then they are all effectively the same response with slightly different wording (there is no option to be rude, and you almost always talk to your companions like children). The game is really just a pre-set story that only give you the illusion of choice - which would be fine if it wasn't marketed as an RPG, let alone a Dragon Age game. Lastly, and this is honestly my biggest issue with the game, the game clearly was made by people who did not work on previous Dragon Age games - and who either didn't want to make a Dragon Age game, or wanted to mold Dragon Age into their own story. Your decisions in past Dragon Age games have no weight on this game - which includes who you chose to drink from the Fountain of Mythal in Inquisition (which is a plot device mentioned in this game - they just make it so Morrigan did and not your Inquisitor). Everything about the lore of Dragon Age is ret-conned to "the elves did it" - even though previously well-establish timelines would make it so that's not possible. During a side-quest, the game outright says the entirety of the Chantry's history (specifically around the Maker, the Golden City, and Andraste) was a lie - again, the specific explanation they use for this would be impossible given the established timeline around this topic. Furthermore, they outright wipe out all of Southern Thedas (i.e. the setting for all prior Dragon Age games) via message from the Inquisitor - they don't show you it happening, or anything, just quite literally write the entire region off. The explanation given for wiping out Southern Thedas is that all the Wardens left to go to Weisshaupt at the call from the First Warden, and with the Darkspawn being supercharged by one of the Elven Gods, Southern Thedas couldn't withstand the Blight. This doesn't make sense even within Veilguard's setting because either Minrathous or Antiva is able to withstand the same Blight (while the Elven Gods are actively in the region of Northern Thedas) while being under siege by Venatori or Antaam - however an entire region with a recent history of repelling world-ending, apocalyptic events falls without the Elven Gods actively in the region. Finally, the secret ending to Veilguard basically sets-up a Thanos-type villain, and essentially ret-cons everything from prior games by saying he was really the person behind it all (further establishing that everything you did in previous games didn't matter). Overall, the people who made Veilguard gave little to no reverence to the history of the franchise, or the long-time fans of the series. My overall opinion is that this isn't a Dragon Age game, and is simply a shallow story-driven action adventure with the name Dragon Age slapped on it.