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Dragon Age: Veilguard |OT| 'Oof': A non-buynary return to form

JayK47

Member
lGTsms9.jpeg


And done. Here are my final thoughts. I think the game starts really well and then it drags quite a bit until the last 3 hours which are pretty good. So good start, average mid, and great end-game. I think 60+hours was way too much and a lot of stuff could've been cut or improved. Its without a doubt NOT a game made in 9 years, at least not active 9 year development and its at best something done in 3 years. We've all pretty much established its no longer a dark fantasy rpg, but more of a high-fantasy action game with rpg elements which isnt really a bad thing but they clearly are having issues mixing brutality of the lore with the cheerful Mass Effect'ish part and they don't always mix and it threw me off at times. The main story was decent, companions besides Taash and Neve were quite good, especially Emmerich and his companion which I really liked a lot. Someone complained that a necromancer was cheerful, but thats stupid, because making him an emo evil dude would've been generic af. I think they nailed his char better than most. Taash was trash, Neve was trash and both of their voice actresses were dog shit, but that shouldnt ruin or stop someone from playing the game, because all Bioware games had one or two garbage companions. Combat was fun, but like I said, after 60 hours I was getting tired of it, an action game should be half of its runtime, not almost 70 hours. Soundtrack is pretty great, audio design overall was good as well, same for most of the voice actings. Also huge bonus for the game running flawlessly at over 150fps. Level design for the most part was fine, not bad, not great, and I loved finding chests and upgrading the gear, and I think the sytem it had was prolly the best out of all rpg's. ALSO huge props to the people who designed the armors. Theres A TON of them and they're all fantastically looking.

Anyway that being said, even on a positive note, it doesnt do anything out of the ordinary, it doesnt push itself above other games or other Bioware games, it's indeed very safe in that regard and I wish side-quests were far more evolved and more twisty, which is why Im gonna give it a 7'ish+ out of 10.

EDIT: also they lied about the romance scenes and nudity. Theres no nudity or sex scenes in the game just an fyi to people expecting it. Romance-wise its garbage.
Wow, no nudes? PG-13? Why is this the first I've heard this.
 

Neolombax

Member
The writing in this game feels like its being written by two different teams. Sometimes they sound like a young adult novel, sometimes you get tidbits of really great dialogue, not to mention the letters/written lore, they can be pretty good.

I think I'm nearing the end of Act 1, the revelation that
Solas, Mythal and the rest of the elven gods were originally spirits was something I didn't expect, and the Blight is apparently a Titan's dream?

The game is still keeping my interest at about 40hrs. Feels like a slightly better ME: Andromeda. Managed to defeat a High Dragon which was almost 10 levels above me using my Necrotic Reaper (necrotic shield throws can absolutely demolish bosses if they crit and stack). At some point I feel I might re-spec my warrior into a different specialization, since I have the unique items to push a fire-based slayer or something. Very glad I gave this game a chance.
 

The Cockatrice

I'm retarded?
Wow, no nudes? PG-13? Why is this the first I've heard this.

Prolly because not many reached the end. The only nudity you see is in char creator and some ass from the worst character in the game and that is it. All romance scenes are just cut to black, hugging and some quick dialogue. Its pretty shit. :\
 

Sabejita

Neo Member
Prolly because not many reached the end. The only nudity you see is in char creator and some ass from the worst character in the game and that is it. All romance scenes are just cut to black, hugging and some quick dialogue. Its pretty shit. :\
Imagine the work it would have been to make cutscenes for every genders.
 

yukinali085

Neo Member
Prolly because not many reached the end. The only nudity you see is in char creator and some ass from the worst character in the game and that is it. All romance scenes are just cut to black, hugging and some quick dialogue. Its pretty shit. :\

Actually there is nudity. The secondary villain from Lucanis' quests. She fights you naked with her entire body covered in blood and later there's a scene where you 'talked' to her naked corpse. But TBH it just looks like she's wearing a red leotard so don't get your hopes up people.:messenger_grinning_sweat:
 

Myuni

Neo Member
After getting flayed by the first dragon, I regrouped, loaded an old save game and can't stop playing since.
Grinding all the side quests and scouring the areas helps a lot to build up a resilient party.
For me, that's a major fun point. You have to do all this stuff before you stand a chance in the main quest line, at least on nightmare.

I don't care about the characters, the story and this woke shit.
It's the gameplay I like, exploring the beautifully crafted dreamy locations for secrets, shortcuts and loot to help me prepare for the next big fight.
The resources are sparse, just enough to buy the most important gear from the merchants or to use for improvements, another well-designed aspect, just as the battle-system.
Choosing the right tactics, taking advantage of the enemies weaknesses is both, engaging and challenging.

The graphics remind me of God of War and Destiny. Everything looks so clean and cozy. On top, the textures are great, no low res crap. Ground detail important to me :messenger_grinning:
So, after defeating my first champion in a nerve-racking clash, I can't wait to continue playing. Let's see how long this high lasts.

LTV190T.jpeg


CnRknk0.jpeg


ommPloY.jpeg
 

JohnnyPhats

Member
After getting flayed by the first dragon, I regrouped, loaded an old save game and can't stop playing since.
Grinding all the side quests and scouring the areas helps a lot to build up a resilient party.
For me, that's a major fun point. You have to do all this stuff before you stand a chance in the main quest line, at least on nightmare.

I don't care about the characters, the story and this woke shit.
It's the gameplay I like, exploring the beautifully crafted dreamy locations for secrets, shortcuts and loot to help me prepare for the next big fight.
The resources are sparse, just enough to buy the most important gear from the merchants or to use for improvements, another well-designed aspect, just as the battle-system.
Choosing the right tactics, taking advantage of the enemies weaknesses is both, engaging and challenging.

The graphics remind me of God of War and Destiny. Everything looks so clean and cozy. On top, the textures are great, no low res crap. Ground detail important to me :messenger_grinning:
So, after defeating my first champion in a nerve-racking clash, I can't wait to continue playing. Let's see how long this high lasts.

LTV190T.jpeg


CnRknk0.jpeg


ommPloY.jpeg
This is what I wanted to hear. Dumb question. Is there a super easy “story” difficulty setting?
 
After getting flayed by the first dragon, I regrouped, loaded an old save game and can't stop playing since.
Grinding all the side quests and scouring the areas helps a lot to build up a resilient party.
For me, that's a major fun point. You have to do all this stuff before you stand a chance in the main quest line, at least on nightmare.

I don't care about the characters, the story and this woke shit.
It's the gameplay I like, exploring the beautifully crafted dreamy locations for secrets, shortcuts and loot to help me prepare for the next big fight.
The resources are sparse, just enough to buy the most important gear from the merchants or to use for improvements, another well-designed aspect, just as the battle-system.
Choosing the right tactics, taking advantage of the enemies weaknesses is both, engaging and challenging.

The graphics remind me of God of War and Destiny. Everything looks so clean and cozy. On top, the textures are great, no low res crap. Ground detail important to me :messenger_grinning:
So, after defeating my first champion in a nerve-racking clash, I can't wait to continue playing. Let's see how long this high lasts.

LTV190T.jpeg


CnRknk0.jpeg


ommPloY.jpeg

I’m about half way through my second playthrough as a different build in a different class from my first, and honestly the biggest thing they nailed about the combat is the build-crafting; It feels like a bit more dynamic than even Diablo; It’s just that system where you almost feel you need a circular flow chart on what equipment/skill bonuses synergises with what:

My first character was a spellblade that basically just cast Tempest every time it popped up, while attacking with heavy attacks; ‘Tempest’ would lightning bolt hit everything close to me and knock down smaller enemies, also set up 2 stacks of Arcane Bomb which were guaranteed crits, add crit guarantee to knocked down enemies, electric attacks also adding burn…and mana back for each crit…the end where they where send some huge hoards almost felt like an 3rd person Diablo.

Now I’m trying a dualist rogue roughly halfway through my second playthrough and at level 34, my current setup is that ‘stagger’ by abilities gives me momentum, so using Lightning Flask, then Thousand Cuts gets me non-stop skill usage between the two as long as I hit, while stacking bonus damage against enemies hit by necrosis; The Lighting Flask is fire and forget, but it’s mainly to feed my ‘stagger’ to get ‘momentum’ for non-stop Thousand Cuts. So my rotation on most big fights is; Lighting Flask, Thousand Cuts, Thousand Cuts, Lighting Flask, repeat.

At the same point there are ways you can build-craft something without using any skills at all…and make it work too.
 
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Myuni

Neo Member
I’m about half way through my second playthrough as a different build in a different class from my first, and honestly the biggest thing they nailed about the combat is the build-crafting; It feels like a bit more dynamic than even Diablo; It’s just that system where you almost feel you need a circular flow chart on what equipment/skill bonuses synergises with what:

My first character was a spellblade that basically just cast Tempest every time it popped up, while attacking with heavy attacks; ‘Tempest’ would lightning bolt hit everything close to me and knock down smaller enemies, also set up 2 stacks of Arcane Bomb which were guaranteed crits, add crit guarantee to knocked down enemies, electric attacks also adding burn…and mana back for each crit…the end where they where send some huge hoards almost felt like an 3rd person Diablo.

Now I’m trying a dualist rogue roughly halfway through my second playthrough and at level 34, my current setup is that ‘stagger’ by abilities gives me momentum, so using Lightning Flask, then Thousand Cuts gets me non-stop skill usage between the two as long as I hit, while stacking bonus damage against enemies hit by necrosis; The Lighting Flask is fire and forget, but it’s mainly to feed my ‘stagger’ to get ‘momentum’ for non-stop Thousand Cuts. So my rotation on most big fights is; Lighting Flask, Thousand Cuts, Thousand Cuts, Lighting Flask, repeat.

At the same point there are ways you can build-craft something without using any skills at all…and make it work too.
That's it!

Remapping the skill tree to try new abilities and adjusting them with your companions to devise new fighting styles is fun.

At Level 18 my tactics are not that sophisticated yet. I still need 2 more points to unlock the heavy spells, might just get there before the point of no return of the first dragon fight. I wonder if the devs did that intentionally, would be a great build up. :)
 

ikbalCO

Member
i completed it after putting 62 hours in. I had a lot of high hopes for the third act since everyone, even the haters, was kinda praising it but the endgame didn't work as hard as people were claiming. it was fine but not solid.
such a missed opportunity this game is, prove how crutial natural dialog is for games like this. because there some companion arcs that are really good but ruined by quirky unrealistic reddit talk. I especially enjoyed Lucanis, Harding and Emmerich side stories in narrative perspective, then they talk and ruin the moment pretty much all the time.
andromeda, anthem and now this game. Its obvious that BioWare is not the same studio it once was and every single dollar spent on them will be a waste.
unfortunately this studio has to be closed before they waste another ip and create an enormous opportunity cost for ea.
sad end to a former giant of the industry.
 
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