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Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Review Thread

What scores do you think Dragon Age: The Veilguard will get?

  • 60-64%

    Votes: 14 4.9%

  • 65-69%

    Votes: 14 4.9%

  • 70-74%

    Votes: 23 8.1%

  • 75-79%

    Votes: 59 20.8%

  • 80-84%

    Votes: 107 37.8%

  • 85-89%

    Votes: 53 18.7%

  • 90-94%

    Votes: 8 2.8%

  • 95-100%

    Votes: 5 1.8%
  • Total voters
    283
  • Poll closed .
Halo is Back

Halo is Back

Member
Trilobit said:
At 02:43


That's brutal. 💀
Click to expand...
He summarized the entire game in one sentence and then provided receipts. Bioware will not get a single cent from me.

im-out-im-done.gif
 
FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Member
I know people are going to obsess over the political agenda stuff, but the main takeaway from what I'm seeing is that the level of writing is just in a fucking crater.

Tell, don't show is always a sign of poor writing. And the childish level that the dialogue is operating at defies belief. This is a game strangled by corporate cowardice, borne from a febrile and toxic atmosphere.

Like Concord, it's also another example of toxic positivity destroying any chance the project had to improve itself, and be more challenging.
 
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Itchy Tickles

Itchy Tickles

Member
MujkicHaris said:
It seems like you are determined to stay by your "being objective is possible" naïve stance. I tried.

That manifesto will bring many disappointments in your life.
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OK I tried with you but obviously your tinfoil hat is too tight. The fact you don't or can't understand or accept that being objective is a thing, says a lot about you, probably too much. Go apply for a job at IGN with that brain power.
 
StereoVsn

StereoVsn

Gold Member
Lokaum D+

Lokaum D+

Member
moxing

moxing

Neo Member
I've taken the time to read a handful of reviews on my own now, and something that keeps coming up is that the overarching narrative appears to be pretty good. Nothing crazy- I've seen more than one mention of a "slow burn" first leg of the game, followed by a "formulaic" eleventh hour- but it seems like actually telling a fantasy story that jumps off from DA:I is something they might've pulled off. Whether it's tainted by the moment-to-moment dialogue is gonna be one of those your mileage may vary kinds of things, I guess. It's a tough job to get a cringe out of me now that I'm older than the characters I'm playing. I remember what I said 8-10 years ago when I was their age, and it wasn't great.

Sometimes I want to get my friends to watch professional wrestling. The way I do that, is to show them the night's roster and say "okay, doesn't matter who, just pick a favorite." Then we watch, and the anticipation of seeing their guy come out and get aerial in a ladder match helps them stick through the parts of the broadcast they otherwise wouldn't give a shit about. Sets their expectations for what they'll see when he's finally there, too. In my mind, I'm thinking I'll end up treating Veilguard like this- there'll be some party members I'm obsessed with who I want to see in action, and others that I just sort of think of as clock-punching jobbers holding up the weak end of the party until I can replace them.

I get the impression that if I make this my overall approach, I might be able to skate past the bullshit and enjoy a neat story. --But I'll reiterate, my criteria for what is and isn't bullshit isn't going to be the same as the person next to me.
 
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FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Member
SlimySnake said:
The eurogamer review is glowing. some of the details are very exciting. lots of setpieces, epic story moments and mid mission choices. this is exactly what i want. no more open world bullshit.
Click to expand...

I'd say it's very much a good idea with this game to get a wide range of opinions. It's clearly divisive. I'd also suggest holding off a purchase until a very large amount of reviews and opinions have come in. Then any danger of astroturfing or ragebait affecting the score has been reduced.
 
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moxing

moxing

Neo Member
I'm not very keyed in to which reviewers are supposed to be overpaid shills giving out handjobs to corporations and which ones are the revered spirits of holy objectivity, but I deliberately went out of my way to find a review on the lower end, just to see what stood out. This one on VG247 gave it a 3/5, so I gave it a read. So far they definitely make a point about the game feeling narratively slow at times, and how it's sure to be divisive in the ways that it definitely is, but I really liked this paragraph:

It’s worth noting that there’s one thing I love about this game that I expect will be a common complaint among those who like it less: it’s a really video gamey video game. Sometimes games like this feel like that almost by mistake - but here it’s worn with a badge of honour, in a sense. When you come across one of those blight puzzles, it’s got a content-padding, ‘this is gameplay’ feel to it that isn’t as common now as it was twenty years ago. This is a puzzle, yeah? It’s meant to stop you from rattling through the content too quickly, y’know? Get on with it! When you combine this with the familiar structure, this feels like the most beautiful, most ambitious, and most rich game out of 2010 or so you can possibly imagine. For some that’s going to be bad; for me, as someone who really likes that era, I enjoyed it.
Click to expand...

I really like a videogame-ass video game, so I definitely took this part of the review as a positive, along with "most rich game out of 2010 you can possibly imagine."

Something about that makes me wish Super Best Friends were still together. I'd love to see Matt & Pat put a couple dozen episodes into goofing through this thing, it seems like a great game for that kind of content.
 
March Climber

March Climber

Member
FunkMiller said:
I know people are going to obsess over the political agenda stuff, but the main takeaway from what I'm seeing is that the level of writing is just in a fucking crater.

Tell, don't show is always a sign of poor writing. And the childish level that the dialogue is operating at defies belief.
Click to expand...
That’s what I’ve been noticing too. This is essentially a T for Teen game that is designed as a ‘my first choice-based RPG’ experience, wrapped in a M for Mature franchise game package.

Even the puzzle and level design make this clear.

It’s a shame because I could see people not freaking out as much if this were simply called something else, as an RPG games designed for kids and teens with a lighthearted tone is not necessarily a bad idea.
 
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FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Member
March Climber said:
That’s what I’ve been noticing too. This is essentially a T for Teen game that is designed as a ‘my first choice-based RPG’ experience, wrapped in a M for Mature franchise game package.

Even the puzzle and level design make this clear.

It’s a shame because I could see people not freaking out as much if this were simply called something else, as an RPG games designed for kids and teens with a lighthearted tone is not necessarily a bad idea.
Click to expand...

Spot on. The problem here - as it is with almost every one of these divisive games - is that it's taking an established IP and altering it to become something else. Those responsible cannot create anything new from scratch, so have to change something that somebody else made popular.

Clearly the Bioware that made all those classic games is not the Bioware making this game.

This formula is being endlessly repeated across all sections of media, and we're reaching the point where a company brand name (or past output) means absolutely nothing to the quality or success of a new project.
 
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March Climber

March Climber

Member
FunkMiller said:
Spot on. The problem here - as it is with almost every one of these divisive games - is that it's taking an established IP and altering it to become something else. Those responsible cannot create anything new from scratch, so have to change something that somebody else made popular.

Clearly the Bioware that made all those classic games is not the Bioware making this game.

This formula is being endlessly repeated across all sections of media, and we're reaching the point where a company brand name (or past output) means absolutely nothing to the quality or success of a new project.
Click to expand...
This is why myself and others keep making constant suggestions on this forum to please, please look into new I.P., whether indie, new AA, or new AAA. They would benefit and grow from you guys simply giving them a shot.

I know it sucks to have to search for good stuff, but that’s literally how it was when we were all younger. We did research, whether through magazines, G4/Tech TV, or word of mouth, to look for games that appealed to us, regardless of the amount of budget that backed them.

It’s still the more positive outcome than simply becoming increasingly angry and jaded as you constantly focus on 20+ year old franchises owned by 30+ year old multi-million companies who suddenly appealing to whoever their survey data states they should.
 
FunkMiller

FunkMiller

Member
March Climber said:
This is why myself and others keep making constant suggestions on this forum to please, please look into new I.P., whether indie, new AA, or new AAA. They would benefit and grow from you guys simply giving them a shot.

I know it sucks to have to search for good stuff, but that’s literally how it was when we were all younger. We did research, whether through magazines, G4/Tech TV, or word of mouth, to look for games that appealed to us, regardless of the amount of budget that backed them.

It’s still the more positive outcome than simply becoming increasingly angry and jaded as you constantly focus on 20+ year old franchises owned by 30+ year old multi-million companies who suddenly appealing to whoever their survey data states they should.
Click to expand...

I agree 1000% percent.

That's one thousand percent percent.
 
peish

peish

Member
All clips i seen of this game, it’s a 75 at best.

My chad senses telling me to be careful of western/english reviews scores, it’s as if they are over compensating for concord failure.

Both games have loud virtue signaling so is no coincidence these western sites may be biased. I think we should keep an eye for asian reviews if any

Will be interesting if this game does a reverse Hogwarts Wukong, championed by modern reviewers but cant masked the average gameplay, content and unappealing hypocritical virtue signalings
 
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EDMIX

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
peek said:
Yeah noticed that too. Such an odd thing to include if theyre so confident thats its a good game.
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Well...its a review about their opinion of the game, not their views on if it will sell well or not. You can like something and be very aware it may not move gangbusters. I've played some amazing games in the past where I was fully aware it was not moving monster numbers to get a bunch of sequels or something, but I've never reviewed or recommended a game based on something like this...
 
peek

peek

Member
EDMIX said:
Well...its a review about their opinion of the game, not their views on if it will sell well or not. You can like something and be very aware it may not move gangbusters. I've played some amazing games in the past where I was fully aware it was not moving monster numbers to get a bunch of sequels or something, but I've never reviewed or recommended a game based on something like this...
Click to expand...
Sure, makes me wonder if they think it wont sell well. Hmm. Im so curious myself. Wont be getting it either way, but will it be total failure like Anthem, or a big hit?
 
EDMIX

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
peek said:
Sure, makes me wonder if they think it wont sell well. Hmm. Im so curious myself. Wont be getting it either way, but will it be total failure like Anthem, or a big hit?
Click to expand...
neither.

I don't think it will be a flop like Anthem, but i don't think it will be a big hit compared to the last Dragon Age.
 
ProtoByte

ProtoByte

Weeb Underling
FunkMiller said:
I know people are going to obsess over the political agenda stuff, but the main takeaway from what I'm seeing is that the level of writing is just in a fucking crater.

Tell, don't show is always a sign of poor writing. And the childish level that the dialogue is operating at defies belief. This is a game strangled by corporate cowardice, borne from a febrile and toxic atmosphere.

Like Concord, it's also another example of toxic positivity destroying any chance the project had to improve itself, and be more challenging.
Click to expand...
It sounds like Bioware's gone full low-tier anime/JRPG bloatware with the writing. It's like the narrative team doesn't have irl interactions.
 
Crystal Winters

Crystal Winters

Member
So, if this game fails, is Bioware finished? I don't want them to go belly up before they remaster Dragon Age Origins. A PS5 upgrade for the Mass Effect trilogy would also be nice. I also really miss Jade Empire.
 
Lokaum D+

Lokaum D+

Member
The Saint said:
So, if this game fails, is Bioware finished? I don't want them to go belly up before they remaster Dragon Age Origins. A PS5 upgrade for the Mass Effect trilogy would also be nice. I also really miss Jade Empire.
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u really sure that u want Bioware to handle a DAO remakester after this one ?
 
EDMIX

EDMIX

Writes a lot, says very little
The Saint said:
So, if this game fails, is Bioware finished? I don't want them to go belly up before they remaster Dragon Age Origins. A PS5 upgrade for the Mass Effect trilogy would also be nice. I also really miss Jade Empire.
Click to expand...
I mean.....ok lol

Why would EA need them around for a remaster of Dragon Age Origins?

EA closed down Visceral and got another team to do the Dead Space Remake, not remaster mind you, a full on remake. So all of what you are saying can happen and EA can still close down Bioware before any of that and simply outsource those remakes, remasters etc (as that is generally rarely actually done by the main teams anyway)

Now Jade Empire, that is a game I have not played in eons lol I'd love to see a remake of that one day!
 
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