I Liked It (Sorry Not Sorry)

[prime_pm]

I'd liked to leave my own review for this game seeing as how I've just completed my first playthrough so I figured I'd give my own thoughts after plowing through. I've been an avid Dragon Age fan since the beginning and moreso before when it was first previewed in PC magazines. Since before I learned that Simon Templeman would be in it and got me sold wholesale. So I'm a big DA Stan, and as such I would like to give my best defense for this game. But since this was the PS5 version, I have to settle for this ♥♥♥♥♥♥ Discussion forum. Also I'm waiting on Tyson to beat Paul's ass so I figured this would be a good time waster.

Now to be clear: This is NOT a easy like. There is a lot, and I mean LOT, I do NOT like about this game.

I do not like writing. More simplistic than the previous games.

I do not like the pithy dialogue from Rook. It's pretty much like playing Chris Pratt in Guardians of the Galaxy. Subnote: I also do not like how all of his responses are pretty much the same personality regardless of choice of dialogue. Kinda brings you out of the Role Playing aspect of the game.

I do not like the Borderlands style loot collection system they got going on here. I appreciate the many options available to me for choice of wear, but the going about getting them through random loot crates throughout each level irks me. And the leveling up of items is equally as irksome; I'd rather they item evolve in appearance along with its quality, ala Inquisition sorta. And FYI I hate the Borderlands franchise in general.

I do not like the shoehorning of transgender politics into the game. NOT the inclusion itself, mind you. I fully support all manner of LGBTQ+ communities in all aspects. I simply do not like the execution of how they were implemented into the game. Taash I actually have a little understanding of; I imagine them like an emotional withdrawn individual (the codex helped better understand). It was more of the options for Rook's transgender dialogue that vexes me, particular the sparseness. Again, this is another place where Rook's limited personality comes into play.

I do not like the loss of gameplay features from the other games. The Tactical screen was what practically made Dragon Age stand out from others of its ilk. And the limited number of companions in party and the limited control of them did not help in alleviating that frustration.

I do not like gathering random items out of crates I have to go out of my way to break in every nook and crany(?) like some homeless person rooting through garbage. Breakaway items should exist for hurting your enemies in fights, not just to be in general. Exploring every single corner of each level and still getting stumped over where the damn boxes are doesn't help. I almost feel more like I'm playing Dragon Age: The Vagrant.

I do not like...well "not like" is a strong term. Let's just say I was a little put off by some of the art direction in game. Some of the locations looked a little more High Fantasy rather than Dark Fantasy at times. Also the dark scenes were abject darkness, but I'll chalk that one up to my TV not set right.

I do not like how the title of Veilguard itself was shoehorned into the game at seemingly the last minute, despite not a single mention of the word throughout the game dialogue or lore. This actually felt more forced than the trans issue.

I do not like that the only companions that can use Fire are the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Warriors. Seriously?

And I absolutely LOATHE the fact there are no ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Greatswords. Seriously. This is a major hard sell. I imagined creating a hard-nosed Human Mournwatcher wielding a badass Greatsword into battle, only to find I can't have a single Greatsword? I can only use a Heavy Axe or Maul? What the hell? Greatswords were a staple of the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ series! How can you axe that (no pun intended)? You got Warriors throwing around these ridiculous abilities despite supposedly not magical, yet you can't let them hold a large dumb sword? I don't care how stupidly unwieldy Guts' sword may have been in real life. Gimme my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Greatsword!

All right, enough of the silliness. You get my point.

Despite all these misgivings, however, I still found myself genuinely enjoying this game. Possibly more than Inquisition.

For one, the load times are fast. I can't even play Inquisition anymore because of all the damn loading screens. The game runs smoothly without chops. This is the best this game has run in the series for years, having played all the previous games on various different platforms (PC, PS, Xbox). I've only had the game crash on two separate occasions, which is phenomenal compared to the number of times the other games have crashed. The creators went hard on making sure this was a complete game and I give them kudos for that.

Next up, the gameplay is actually fun. I have enjoyed surviving on the battlefield with my skills and abilities, comboing up on the fly and being conservative with my potion usage. The enemies were quite varied and their difficulties were quite challenging. It's nice to have a game where I'm tempted to turn on Easy Mode like in Origins (never did finish a Normal campaign). I've beaten Inquisition on Nightmare multiple times.

The Mission System is a welcome change to the stupid War Table from Inquisition. I'm actually going in getting things done in game without having to wait hours or days for a stupid progress report about a stick. And I don't need to restart the damn game just to get the Live Service working.

The companions all have interesting personalities and I enjoyed getting to know them better through their personal quests, Taash's notwithstanding. I really started to empathize with them and their situations throughout the game. Going through their journeys of self discoveries did not feel like time wasted. And their banter with one another is still on the level of Bioware games. Just wish Rook had more range of personality.

The story is slow at first and felt like a High Fantasy at times. But once I got into the meat and potatoes, it picked up HARD, getting into some real dark moments. And I found the decisions you made in the game actually carried serious weight. I never felt that weight throughout Inquisition. I was a powerful Inquisitor with all the mettle to back me up (so long as I waited a full week of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ War Table decisions), so I felt like I was steamrolling through everything in that game. It became a drag after awhile. As Rook my adventure felt fresh, like I needed to be choosy with what little options I had, and I had to play out the choices I made and deal with the consequences. Been awhile since I played a game that had that carry-over (outside BG3 obviously).

And the Lore drops really surprised me as I explored the truth of Thedas' world. I loved learning new things of what I thought I'd already known about Dragon Age. It made me look back and rethink about certain parts of the earlier games. Good on that.

But most of all, I just had fun. I ignored all the YouTube vids and just went with the flow. It was a good game overall, and I do not feel bad for playing it. It didn't make me feel cynical like so many AAA games I've played in recent years (eg. Hogwarts Legacy, worst case of buyer's remorse). I could tell the developers put ten years of work into the game, and I do not feel it was wasted on me.

So, to recap. Is this GOTY worthy? Nope. Is it the best Dragon Age game of all time? Maker no. Is it a decent enough game to play? I'd say Yes. Is it worth the mountain of hate and degradation? ...eh, maybe more of a mole hill, maybe a slope (I'm remaining neutral to the whole review controversies). But it is a good game. Just not a great Dragon Age game.

Overall, for new players it's an 8 out of 10, maybe 8.5. For diehard Dragon Age fans, a solid 6. Be your own best judge.

Seriously though, where my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Greatswords!?

[Elvi]

You know, forcing yourself to like something could mean it's just not that good. Just a suggestion. It's easy to fall into the trap of liking a thing because you feel bad for the maker.

Also you can't just go 8/10 unless by a new player you mean "Never seen a game before".

See, now I feel bad for shortening so long review you wrote into a couple negative sentences. But it is what it is.

[prime_pm]

Meh, fair reasoning. Can often be hard to separate Slow Burn from Stockholm Syndrome.

Still, I'll own it. YMMV

PS: Jesus, the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Tyson/Paul fight still hasn't started.

[kleinegames]

I loved the game. I thought the story and lore they brought was amazing, and that's what I play Dragon Age for. We have so many lore questions that are finally answered (although some lead to a bunch of new questions, but those could be answered if we ever get another game).

I didn't have any issues with the dialog, and despite the romance not being as "steamy" as they promised (not even close to steamy... like are all the folks left at BioWare just a bunch of prudes who think that was steamy?), but I still really loved the romance with Lucanis. (I'm trying out Davrin next, and then doing another playthrough for Emmerich).

Also, since I play for story and lore, I turned on the "prevent death" feature so I could power through all the fights, especially the boss fights (I get annoyed when I have to keep redoing them because I don't care enough about combat mechanics to learn how to fine tune by strategy). Some people love the new system, some hate it, I don't care either way.

[DaisyRay]

Great review! I feel similar to you in the things we liked and disliked, only a few. For example, I am dismayed at the loss of the actual rpg experience. However, I like a lot of the new additions, like the looting. I gave the same rating also. Overall 7/10 that got bumped to 8 purely for act three and the way the game wrapped up.

The lore in this game and the Solas parts are really would made me love it as much as I do. The companions are okay, but they aren't as strong as the more established characters. I think they did such a great job on the parts they were already well versed in. Overall, I had fun playing this game.

[Rabidnid]

So far story, lore and characters are holding up really well in comparison to DAI. Everyone is much more likable and the neurodivergants are endearing.

I am liking it a lot. Probably my fave DA game since DAO

[Swans]

A fair summary, pretty much how I felt about it when I finished. Highly flawed but the game play is solid and I mostly enjoyed it.

Was 7/10 for me. Wouldn't play it again, did not seem to be enough choice and variety in the game, but my first and only play through was satisfying enough.

[Sentient_Toaster]

Loot drops are about as far from Borderlands as you can get, because the contents of equipment chests and quest rewards are deterministic based on your class... so farming the same location hoping to get a specific level-appropriate lucky drop while being buried in items that your active character can't even use due to being for a different class, isn't a thing.

Crafting resources, gold and valuables are randomized, though.

[Shadow♥]

I have to say the act 3 was absolutely amazing in my opinion. I wish the entire game gave me the feelings i had during the last part. I am literally going to replay the end again because i loved finally getting resolution to my Solas and Lavellan relationship romance. I think that part was what I was most hoping for and I got the good ending which made the game worth while for me. I do agree with OP that the games not perfect and there are many things that i did not like as well and I think the OP articulated very well many of the issues. I did also enjoy the game overall and had fun throughout even with certain things I disliked about the game. I will be writing my own comprehensive review soon as well.

[76561199802160085]

Originally posted by prime_pm:

I'd liked to leave my own review for this game seeing as how I've just completed my first playthrough so I figured I'd give my own thoughts after plowing through.

Finished also and recently my first play, thanks god I wasn't spoiled, it was a blast. But the replay will be even stronger.

I won't even bother review it, for players not playing only open world RPG, DAV is a must play, much more than DA2 and DAI (open world like anyway) and not that far from BG3,

I would only quote why not play it:
- You don't play single character RPG, in DAV there's companions but in combats they are more assets. More over main character building is rather complex and deep but for each companions it's simpler, again they are only complement of main character building.
- You don't play non open world RPG, despite some complex and rather large areas, it's at opposite of open world, this not meaning it's linear.
- You don't play RPG with real time combats. When you open menu action instead of using shortcuts, it pauses but it's not making it RTwP combats.
- You need play evil main character, then the game isn't for you.
- You can't endure 3/4mn of bad dialog about nonbi, but one, last, is relatively fun, its weird so many took it seriously and failed see the humor aspect.
- You hate Bioware or EA, sigh.

And that's it, and don't listen junk as:
- Main character is considered as an idiot, FALSE. It's from players unable to quote it's only during tutorial phases where some companions dialog ensure you don't miss a new trick or a basic interaction.
- All puzzling is basic, FALSE, there's many good puzzling, and some (optional) even difficult, and exploration is great and a lot non linear even if it's no open world.
- It's designed for idiots with ultra hand guiding, FALSE, player options can remove most of hand guiding . And just choose exploration global option "no help" isn't enough, you need remove some key options of hand guiding manually.
- Combats are ultra easy, FALSE, or no more than previous DA. But you need play with combats player options to tune it to yourself (and you can set Nightmare values). And if not enough for you, then remove the visual hint hand guiding for enemies melee attacks, and last option is remove the visual hint hand guiding for enemies long range attacks (but that last would be a little extreme, but still available before whine it's too easy).

[DaisyRay]

Originally posted by Shiemend:

Originally posted by prime_pm:

I'd liked to leave my own review for this game seeing as how I've just completed my first playthrough so I figured I'd give my own thoughts after plowing through.

Finished also and recently my first play, thanks god I wasn't spoiled, it was a blast. But the replay will be even stronger.

I won't even bother review it, for players not playing only open world RPG, DAV is a must play, much more than DA2 and DAI (open world like anyway) and not that far from BG3,

I would only quote why not play it:
- You don't play single character RPG, in DAV there's companions but in combats they are more assets. More over main character building is rather complex and deep but for each companions it's simpler, again they are only complement of main character building.
- You don't play non open world RPG, despite some complex and rather large areas, it's at opposite of open world, this not meaning it's linear.
- You don't play RPG with real time combats. When you open menu action instead of using shortcuts, it pauses but it's not making it RTwP combats.
- You need play evil main character, then the game isn't for you.
- You hate Bioware or EA, sigh.

And that's it, and don't listen junk as:
- Main character is considered as an idiot, FALSE. It's from players unable to quote it's only during tutorial phases where some companions dialog ensure you don't miss a new trick or a basic interaction.
- All puzzling is basic, FALSE, there's many good puzzling, and some (optional) even difficult, and exploration is great and a lot non linear even if it's no open world.
- It's designed for idiots with ultra hand guiding, FALSE, player options can remove most of hand guiding . And just choose exploration global option "no help" isn't enough, you need remove some key options of hand guiding manually.
- Combats are ultra easy, FALSE, or no more than previous DA. But you need play with combats player options to tune it to yourself (and you can set Nightmare values). And if not enough for you, then remove the visual hint hand guiding for enemies melee attacks, and last option is remove the visual hint hand guiding for enemies long range attacks (but that last would be a little extreme, but still available before whine it's too easy).

Agreed. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You pretty much summed it up well. What did you play as? I was mage elf my first playthrough. Now I'm a Qunari baddie.

[prime_pm]

Originally posted by DaisyRay:

Originally posted by Shiemend:

Finished also and recently my first play, thanks god I wasn't spoiled, it was a blast. But the replay will be even stronger.

I won't even bother review it, for players not playing only open world RPG, DAV is a must play, much more than DA2 and DAI (open world like anyway) and not that far from BG3,

I would only quote why not play it:
- You don't play single character RPG, in DAV there's companions but in combats they are more assets. More over main character building is rather complex and deep but for each companions it's simpler, again they are only complement of main character building.
- You don't play non open world RPG, despite some complex and rather large areas, it's at opposite of open world, this not meaning it's linear.
- You don't play RPG with real time combats. When you open menu action instead of using shortcuts, it pauses but it's not making it RTwP combats.
- You need play evil main character, then the game isn't for you.
- You hate Bioware or EA, sigh.

And that's it, and don't listen junk as:
- Main character is considered as an idiot, FALSE. It's from players unable to quote it's only during tutorial phases where some companions dialog ensure you don't miss a new trick or a basic interaction.
- All puzzling is basic, FALSE, there's many good puzzling, and some (optional) even difficult, and exploration is great and a lot non linear even if it's no open world.
- It's designed for idiots with ultra hand guiding, FALSE, player options can remove most of hand guiding . And just choose exploration global option "no help" isn't enough, you need remove some key options of hand guiding manually.
- Combats are ultra easy, FALSE, or no more than previous DA. But you need play with combats player options to tune it to yourself (and you can set Nightmare values). And if not enough for you, then remove the visual hint hand guiding for enemies melee attacks, and last option is remove the visual hint hand guiding for enemies long range attacks (but that last would be a little extreme, but still available before whine it's too easy).

Agreed. I'm glad you enjoyed it. You pretty much summed it up well. What did you play as? I was mage elf my first playthrough. Now I'm a Qunari baddie.

My next playthrough I'm deciding whether to be a Mournwatcher Warrior or an Antivan Crow Mage. Buy I'm stuck whether or not to play an Elf or another Human for either one. Sifting through Reddit for Slider ideas.

[Kamen Rider]

Dodge dancing every encounter while waiting for combo timers to come off cooldown or waiting for one of you companions to proc their auto skills so you can detonate a combo to get through these massive hp sponge wall enemies gets soo boring so fast because every encounter plays the same.

All they enemies being lame reskins of each other with repetitive move sets adds nothing as well. If you fought 1 mage enemy youve fought them all, wail on them till they do the inevitable AoE then wail on them again till they teleport.

Go to a location and see the same encounters that you saw in the area just like last time to the point where i just run past them cause i just dont care any more.

Who on earth can reasonably praise this games lame combat as good.

[Rabidnid]

Originally posted by Kamen Rider:

Dodge dancing every encounter while waiting for combo timers to come off cooldown or waiting for one of you companions to proc their auto skills so you can detonate a combo to get through these massive hp sponge wall enemies gets soo boring so fast because every encounter plays the same.

All they enemies being lame reskins of each other with repetitive move sets adds nothing as well. If you fought 1 mage enemy youve fought them all, wail on them till they do the inevitable AoE then wail on them again till they teleport.

Go to a location and see the same encounters that you saw in the area just like last time to the point where i just run past them cause i just dont care any more.

Who on earth can reasonably praise this games lame combat as good.

Well it's the same as every other dragon age game in that. Spongy enemies that take a ridiculous amount of time to kill is a signature of the DA games.

[Vixziค็็็็็n]

lol yeah...it's not good. Sorry not sorry.

[Kamen Rider]

Originally posted by Rabidnid:

[quote=Kamen

Well it's the same as every other dragon age game in that. Spongy enemies that take a ridiculous amount of time to kill is a signature of the DA games.

Yet in every other DA game atleast i had to use an ounce of my brain to position my team and set up skills due to the tactical game play so every encounter dosnt feel the same like it does in DaV where im just dancing around

and even if i didnt like the combat it was at least possible to overlook it and slog through it for the multiple narrative options making multiple replays worth it. DaV is the only DA game im only playing once cause it has 0 replay value. Getting the illumanati ending was insulting levels of character assassination that it isnt even worth touching again.