Dragon Age: The Veilguard foolishly inserts modern politics into a game that could have addressed these issues within the framework of the game's lore.
I know this might start war in the comments so please chill people, I don’t want to get 20 reports from this single post.
Having not played it, I’ll stick to using a review I read in the past few days.
To sum it up, the game felt too positive to the reviewer. To them it felt more like a Disney adventure than a grim fantasy world that’s invaded by malevolent, torture-happy evil gods. They felt no bite from their choices, from the story or from their companions. Everything felt like it needed to be happy in some way, like the idea of conflict was a far more terrible outcome than being skullfucked by an angry tentacle god lady.
To sum it up even further, the game felt too safe. And so became a bland meal that’s easily forgettable.
DAO sets the tone during the harrowing when one Grey Warden candidate dies drinking Darkspawn Blood, then Duncan straight murders the other candidate when he freaks out.
Additionally, everyone speaks in this insufferable Marvel-tone full of cheeriness and quippiness. The characters speak and act as if they’re aware they’re in a video game and never drop the infuriating singsong HR tone.
Ever work with someone whose parent(s) were in HR? You’ll know what I mean.
Maybe this is a gen z thing and I’m just falling behind the times. I don’t know. But the ME3-tier ending really seals the deal. I’ll pay $10 max for this and probably refund in 2 hours, or just get a crack later down the line.
I’m playing the “demo” and just met an elf companion who said something like “whoopsie! My gods are real and they’re going to destroy the world! 🤷” And it just undercuts the whole story.
Marvelization is the perfect way to describe it. There are zero stakes.
Origins had humor and snark, but it was mostly used in service of the story and themes.
You need to choose between saving 2 cities with each their respective companion, that will result in one of those cities being overrun by the blight and that companion becoming distant. Turning it into a hellscape with even more consequences than I type here.
Having not played it, I’ll stick to using a review I read in the past few days.
To sum it up, the game felt too positive to the reviewer. To them it felt more like a Disney adventure than a grim fantasy world that’s invaded by malevolent, torture-happy evil gods. They felt no bite from their choices, from the story or from their companions. Everything felt like it needed to be happy in some way, like the idea of conflict was a far more terrible outcome than being skullfucked by an angry tentacle god lady.
To sum it up even further, the game felt too safe. And so became a bland meal that’s easily forgettable.
So, the exact opposite of Baldur’s Gate 3
I read this comment in Astarian’s voice, lol
The very first cutscene has a worm crawling into your eye aboard a ship with brain-eating mindflayers, talk about setting the tone.
DAO sets the tone during the harrowing when one Grey Warden candidate dies drinking Darkspawn Blood, then Duncan straight murders the other candidate when he freaks out.
Veilguard just seems saccharine and safe.
Additionally, everyone speaks in this insufferable Marvel-tone full of cheeriness and quippiness. The characters speak and act as if they’re aware they’re in a video game and never drop the infuriating singsong HR tone.
Ever work with someone whose parent(s) were in HR? You’ll know what I mean.
Maybe this is a gen z thing and I’m just falling behind the times. I don’t know. But the ME3-tier ending really seals the deal. I’ll pay $10 max for this and probably refund in 2 hours, or just get a crack later down the line.
I’m playing the “demo” and just met an elf companion who said something like “whoopsie! My gods are real and they’re going to destroy the world! 🤷” And it just undercuts the whole story.
Marvelization is the perfect way to describe it. There are zero stakes.
Origins had humor and snark, but it was mostly used in service of the story and themes.
Quite early on you have a difficult choice
spoiler
You need to choose between saving 2 cities with each their respective companion, that will result in one of those cities being overrun by the blight and that companion becoming distant. Turning it into a hellscape with even more consequences than I type here.
So I don’t share your opinion.