I'm glad you liked that; I see a lot online confuse their circle of interest as their circle of influence which ends up with them being angry and disillusioned. Hopefully more people start to compartmentalize where they are spending their time so that they can know if they really can make a change, or if it's out of their hands.
Here's my issue with it. I found when older games handled these things, it was done in a way that made the characters and concepts being explored feel actually important and genuinely about trying to tell an interesting story and give genuine diversity and inclusion. Now, I find these devs are more focused on waving a big flag that says "look how diverse we are" but don't actually care to give these characters or concepts the nuance and care they deserve. A prime example of diversity done well IMO would be Claire from Cyberpunk 2077. She is a trans woman who's partner was killed by some gang members or some such. When she opens up to you and you find out about her identity, it's treated like... Well... It's normal. Like that's who she is and not some grand medal she wears. She felt like a person first and foremost with a complex history and such.
Putting politics and ideologies aside, it’s baffling how critics aren’t cringing at the writing. Judging waiting for writing sake, and they are still saying 10/10?? BioWare games have always been about the writing
@@aaronhumphrey3514 I wouldn't even call it lying. What this game is, is what these people want. They don't recognize it as a shortcoming, but as a strength.
I think the problem is a) most reviewers aren't familiar enough with the rest of the series to compare, and b) low standards in writing in all kinds of media nowadays. We have a whole generation of YA readers, and corporations that specialize in pushing generic entertainment to the masses that has zero artistic or literary integrity.
I see red flags when dev's both restrict which reviewers can review it , Censor what is said and also try and vilify when someone does have honest points to make that are negative. I usually pre-order games but i did not with this one. Infact everything i have seen about this game already has already put me off. I play games to immerse myself into something of a fantasy nature. Either to RP as a adventurer in a fantasy world , drive a race car , Fly a ship etc etc. I do not play games to have modern politics shoved down my throat at every turn. Also seen a lot of complaints about it being repetitive combat wise among a whole load of other issues. No thank you i will spend my money on something i do want to play.
I played the old dragon age games, but I'm not interested in this new game if the storytelling and characters have been butchered. I just write it off as not being for me. I have already accepted the reality that most of these modern day western game developers are not interested in selling their games to me. That's ok, because there are still plenty of other games to enjoy. Another reality is market saturation. Even if this new game ended up being a masterpiece and was made specifically with my own tastes in mind, it would still be a while before I ever got around to actually playing it. I'm an older player who has been playing games since 1990. When i got my first Nintendo. I'm married with kids and work 50 hours a week, so I barely have the time to play the games that I truly want to play. People only have so much time, money, and hard drive space to spare. So for me to spend my precious time playing a new game, it really needs get my interest, and this isn't it. And as I said before, that is fine. These guys sound like they really are not interested in getting my business anyway, so there is really nothing lost
Same here. I'm 48 with 3 kids. I get basically 1 hour a day to game, have 600 game backlog on steam. If they want the modern audience then they can have them. I could just play my back log for 7 years. Games like dark souls or wukong will continue to trickle out faster than I can play them.
The only AAA western games I've played in the past 5+ years were Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3. If most of these developers suddenly vanished overnight it honestly wouldn't change anything in my life. I haven't enjoyed anything from the likes of EA and Ubisoft in a very long time.
@ woke is cultural Marxism. It switch class for identity. To create a big a movement as possible they keep inserting an alphabet of communities into this group of victims
@@MonicaMoraalEXACTLY, I'm from Brazil, there's some weirdos using this word to attack minorities... HERE, and... They don't even know what it really was the Woke movement for the black people in the US. Bunch of puppets... Dramatic 30yo kids that can't see anything different from his life style😂
6:30 The localizers failed horribly at their job. People are reporting that the translations of the game features brand new made up pronouns that are supposed to be gendered neutral using the recent Spanish Latine as a model and changing everything to -e. The problem is that this doesn't quite work outside of Spanish and most people reject this gender neutral model of Spanish anyways. The result is that the game has an awful broken translation in at least Spanish and German so far and I wouldn't be surprised if this is also in the French and Italian iterations of the game as well. So for reference, they messed up the character designs, they messed up the alignment, and they messed up the translation already. Doing this and still getting a 9/10 destroys your own credibility as well as the credibility of the game. It's no wonder that people are already calling this game was/were.
I just wonder what happens in a case where language in question does not have separate pronouns to distinguish genders? My own language does not have that feature. Besides of that this pronouns thing is actually f*** retarded IMO.
@@caldex1557 English, French, and German are the three available audio tracks for the game. Subtitles are available in about 10 more languages in addition to those.
@@caldex1557 German gender neutral language are generally written with asterisks, colons, and underscores, which is really hard to write here since it sets off all kinds of font formatting. So what you end up with stuff like (S)He is a guard(e) and the captain(ess) of the group. (S)He is the writer(e) of the journal
It's not about power shifting to the right, it's about power shifting to players who don't want their games preaching to them, regardless of the content of the sermon.
@@m.j3113 The issue with this stance is that what you view as propaganda, trans and non-binary peole view as acknowledgement of their existence. NORMALLY I'd be right there with you. But there is one key distinction about this game that most games targeted for boycott do not share. The "wokeness" in this game is organic. It's not typical wokeness, but rather a traditionally progressive studio standing by its values in a way that truthfully reflects the progressive values held in 2024. That does not mean you are required to like that. Nor that you need to play the game. But you should be aware that you are on the offensive, and that to people in the middle, this go around you are the villain. This is the right's / antiwoke's Hogwarts Legacy moment. You are welcome to your opinion, but I would advise not stooping to the levels reached by your opponent in their 'not-so-finest' hour. Because that stripped a LOT of support for the LGBTQ+ movement when it went down.
@@aaronhumphrey3514 yeah the important is not the gameplay, technical features, storytelling, combat system. The important is there are not sermons or preachers. Nice way to judge a videogame 🤯
I cud look past the character creation top scar whatever crap, but I don’t want to be lectured throughout my gameplay on pronouns and how you can never apologize enough etc, there’s enough of that In Real life and I play games to get away from that not further have it forced down my throat
@mykeh8697 my thoughts exactly, I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt. I never use any scars on my characters anyways but after seeing the pushup scene it's a hard pass.
Also it's just... not a good way to push social awareness. Being lectured is only going to make people more set against trans people irl. Alternatively the fans who don't care about the culture war are upset about the lazy writing. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish here.
@vanyadolly I've always been of the mind that people should live and let live. I totally agree with what you said there. This kind of stuff has actively made me avoid anything to do with this weird agenda, and has had a negative effect.
Decent, reasonable people apologize for the mistake, use the correct pronouns and move on. Decent, reasonable people who are misgendered accept the apology, try to give the offender grace, and move on This is how things are supposed to work and be portrayed. Nothing more, nothing less
As a huge fan of Origins and even Dragon Age 2, which has its flaws, I have no interest in this game. It's not just the ideological elements in Dragon Age: The Veilguard-though that's part of it-but the changes in combat, style, and tone are completely off-putting for me. With SkillUp clearly demonstrating how basic and uninspired the puzzles are, how repetitive the combat is, and how juvenile and safe the dialogue feels, I have no interest in this game. I think many long-term Dragon Age fans, who know what they’re getting into by watching SkillUp's or Matty's reviews, will likely avoid buying it as well.
@Katie-hb8iq it still will sell well, just look at people defending Mortismal gaming for say its his game of the year. I get liking the game but it isn't an Rpg n definitely with that dialogue it isn't over 8 out of 10
@@khal7702 If someone doesn't have a connection to this series, then these positive reviews might influence someone's buying decision. But how many copies is this game selling? It needs to sell 5-6 million just to break even. It's been in development for 9 years. The game has to sell enough copies to pay for all the failed reboots, not just the development since 2018. So even if it sells 1-2 million, that's actually not 'well'. Like 1-2 million for Metaphor Refantazio is good. But that would be a disaster for this game as the budgets are totally different. I still stand by what I said, if a player has been playing this series since Origins, The Veilguard will likely not appeal to them. It might appeal to the Inquisition-only fan, as that game is also very different from Origins, but there's still reasons why an Inquisition-only player might be turned off too - such as the combat, mission-based design, etc. Also, Mortismal did mention that this title would be divisive despite the favourable review. It's not that uncommon for someone to genuinely like a game that most players don't like. Mortismal is more of a Divinity and Pathfinder fan than a Dragon Age fan - it's worth pointing this out because these changes don't impact him nearly as much, where he might have taken a greater offense if this happened to Divinity instead. I play lots of random niche games people don't like that I think are fun. I'm sure you do too. But there's no denying the actual footage and evidence and points raised in the negative reviews. It's not like they are just giving subjective opinions. SkillUps video examples are damning - they completely demonstrate the game talking down to the player, the repetitive combat, the basic puzzles, the linear levels, the horrible dialogue, the lack of choice, and many other things. If a person cares about this stuff, they won't buy it because it's been proven to be correct. I think most people get that he wasn't cherry picking - I mean, his review is 40+ minutes long.
@@D.a.n.i.m.a.l Out of spite for this horror I started yet another DAO plythrough but now as an elf mage and it has the same magic as I experienced the first time. And then onto DA2 with prope4 Qun
I've watched a handful of reviews and read some as well, and what I can say is that every negative aspect that was presented by the reviewers (specially SkillUp) had plenty of proof with it. It'll be pretty easy to find plenty of examples of below-average to outright terrible dialogue. The combat videos speak for themselves, it just seems bland and uninteresting. The one saving grace is the environmental art design.
It’s a no buy for me, I find the writing to be pure slop, with it being insulting and condescending. I also don’t like the chosen art style for a game like this.
They change major aspects of the game from the combat to the tik tok Disney design of the characters to the writing style, basically resetting, aesthetically, the entire franchise, and expect people still think it’s a return to form? These people are delusional.
The return to form is the reviewers thinking it feels like a BioWare game. So a focus on single player gameplay and the companion’s being a large focus. The common use of the phase was probably someone thinking it sounded cool then others copying them. I don’t mind the changes and was going to buy the game regardless since I tend to enjoy BioWare games. The closest i got since inquisition was Greed Fall. Pillars of eternity, divinity, and Baulders Gate 3 are awesome, but top down games don’t feel the same a third person.
A word of warning just what you're supporting here by buying this trash. A former Kotaku journo whom did that slander hit piece against Smash Bros/Persona 5 song lyrics was a consultant on this complete disaster, you know the person that had to go into hiding after being call out not only by games, but developers Nintendo and Atlus themselves over the lies about it :-)
@@afro_physicist_3143 It's a symptom of a larger problem, totally unnecessary, and peaked the all time cringe for video games. It's the kind of scene an HR department might show their employees when one of their obnoxious colleagues starts complaining about their non-binary misgendering. Nobody wants to stomach that in a fantasy video game.
@@afro_physicist_3143 There's no such thing as the social commentary police who would enforce such a thing. If you say something preachy and dumb in your media, your media warrants the label of, "preachy and dumb". Most people don't want to pay to be preached at. Simple as that. If you do, I question your motives, but that's fine. Waste your money on whatever you want, watch Dharrman videos to your heart's content. I'm sure you if you hope with all your heart, maybe you can find some after school specials about bullying on VHS at your local senior citizens thrift store. You do you.
This and "Unknown 9" have made me start to look more closely at how DEI messaging is being forced into the game's I'm interested in playing. So far I've given up on two brand new games that I was interested in, based on the involvement of consulting companies that have been invited in to push possibly "in your face" DEI messaging. I don't need or want that in the games I play at all. DA:Veilguard will likely not meet expectations just as Unknown 9 failed miserably, leaving the very real possibility that it'll end BioWare and we'll never see any ME:5 at all. This year's N7-day may be a wake...
DEI messaging being enforced on us? This is sad with you lot. The same way y’all are harping over DEI is the same way whites harped over Affirmative Action back in the day towards black. And NEW FLASH! If you play any bio game you’ll see that they’ve been doing this with their games from the start. So was it DEI beginning pushed on us in the 90s? And a lot of y’all use woke with everything you disagree with not realizing that when you miss you you actually being racist towards the original meaning of the term when it relates to the black community. Because it be really want to use the actual deaf of the term woke or stay woke. There are only a few games out there they represent that and Mafia 3 andBioShock Infinite is one of the best examples. Y’all have been indoctrinated so bad with social media being the main source of indoctrinating that the stuff y’all are complaining about has actually been going on for years and it ain’t no movement nor push. People using fear monitoring tactics to push their agenda because they have nothing to talk about. Now you do have people just trying to force their agenda into gaming, but it’s few and we know who these people are. But every time I see a attack on woke and DEI I think “this must be had a black community field before 1964 when we were still considered 3/5 human and deny and discriminated against opportunities because the color of our skin”). History repeats itself.
But to be fair 80% of the Contant creators that are saying the game isn’t good or mad because they didn’t get a review copy even though they were privileged enough to get early access unlike the rest of us. Entitlement at its finest.
@ yo I’m like if you don’t like the game developer is really hot on something. Why do you want a review code? And when you got flown down for early access, why didn’t you somewhat voice these concerns? To me this has nothing to do with the game. It has everything to do with entitlement and being first with a review.
@@TheXpertGenius83 you're 100% correct and what happened to gamers with their own sense of exploration? Too many rely on the reviews and opinions of others instead of finding out for themselves. I bought it and I'll make my own determination, not going back and forth with people on this. Gamers have really become whinny lately and I don't love it. These are the same ones who will cry about the new Assassin's Creed game for the same reasons. It's crazy to me.
The large majority of gamers aren't boycotting woke games. We just aren't interested. At 90$ Canadian, im personally not buying any game im not all in on.
Now this I can fully understand. I did buy this game, as I'm a long time Dragon Age fan and Bioware has always been progressive. I knew this tea was coming with a dose of hibiscus (something I generally don't care for) but wanted it anyway. When game studios incorporate this deliberately into games where the core fanbase has no interest in it, it's a grave error. However, as much as it looks like shit to the outside world, this is normal for Bioware. It's just a 2024 update on existing progressive principles. I've got no beef with anyone who's like "Well screw ya, I'm not buying.". Not even with those who say something like "Y'know this has X, Y, and Z, right?". Where my issue comes in is when legit scum bags come into fan videos doing guides and shut and start harassing people. That's NEVER a good look.
@@KatallinaVT the games have gone downhill with each iteration. Origins was AMAZING. 2 was a game. it was fine, except for the male romance options being AWFUL. Inquisition was boring, and it was only "saved" by Iron Bull being funny. This one, with all the degeneracy they've pushed into it, there's no way it can be good. Even my son, who grew up with dragon age, and has played them from a young age, and loved them, has cancelled his preorder. He's 19 and is just as sick of this as the rest of us old people.
Reviews haven't mattered for decades. Ever since paid access became a thing, and everyone on the net is a potential 'pro' reviewer. Stop pre-ordering, stop buying slop, stop believing any reviews from a general audience. At most, find a specific reviewer who has similar taste as you. Otherwise, know what you like better and stick to it.
Biggest problem i have isn't just the forced identity politics. It's that Dragon Age is or was my favourite fantasy world setting, and they seem willing to destroy established lore and what made DA unique just to try capturing a new audience.
Its just weird that the player agency is not there at all and you just have to accept everything it tells you with a smile on your face. Especially in a rpg like this where youve always been able to disapprove and go against the grain with what the game or your companions tell you.
These companies have spent so much time trying not to offend anyone that the product they are releasing is absolute trash. They are too afraid of being cancelled to really take any risks.
Lots of truth in "don't trust a journalist". I was a newspaper magazine reviewer for a long time and I'd get a product with the note (from the editor): don't give this less than a 4 (out of 5). There are agendas all over the place.
Culture war aside, for a large part of the fanbase, the gaslighting and lies from the studio saying it was better than the other games in the series and that Veilguard gets right where the others didn’t is what stirred up a lot of anger. Especially when you have stripped the game down to its bare bones, due to a lack of skill or too much time wasted on other parts of the game which left the old fan base with a game titled Dragon Age but without the soul of previous titles.
Like its hard for me not to pay 80 bucks for these woke sh games.. easiest money I never spent.. and I just bought a card shufler for no reason.. i dont even have playing cards yet
The best way i can explain is like they say "if you dont like it dont buy it". Companies who put out games that do not appeal to the general gaming audience will burn and ones who make great games like stellar blade, wu kong and elden ring will thrive.
It’s poetic. Them trying to cover up and sweep it past as a good game ended up leading to the highlighting of these fake reviews to the public. Amazing.
It was even scripted - there is no way that every reviewer who gave it high scores would all use the same phrase "Bioware is back", and gush about the representation, and then give cursory or generic "happy" words on gameplay, mechanics, story, and graphics. None of them went into detail about these things, but "diversity" got in depth and specific details. It's access media all over again, and they're not even trying to hide it. They are going to force this game down everyones throat, and they are going to give GOTY over Black Myth, Stellar Blade, and Spacemarine 2. I am absolutely sickened by this.
Personally I don't think the "wokeness" is the real issue, in my opinion BioWare and Dragon Age in particularly have always dealt with this themes rather thoughtfully and smoothly, it rarely felt cringe or jarring, I rather like Dorian on DA I for instance where "wokeness" was at the center of his story but it was very well done, there was no preaching, just a character going through their issues like a real person would. The real issue is that since ME Andromeda BioWare writing fell off a cliff, in pacing, tone, directing, acting, everything. DA Veilgard has the same issues, and on top of that, when the "woke" subjects come up, it feels like He-Man giving you a lesson at the end of the episode but its a teenage twitter pink haired non binary person preaching to you instead.
Agreed, I feel like Bioware of the past managed to pull off progressive topics with much more care and respect, making you empathize and feel for the characters in a way that felt natural. From what I've seen of Veilguard so far... It's like they swapped their scalpel for a chainsaw.
Dao, da2 and dai - weren't on steam since their release. Dao weren't even tied to origin when it was on sale. I still have a physical copy somewhere in my closet. DA2 and DAI is tied to origin, and we have no way to know what metrics were there. Three games were released on steam waaaay-waaaay after original release. Veilguard on the other hand is released from the get go on steam. And it's most convenient to buy it from steam.
If a rpg shows me an option from an npc that i have to call it something, then it should give me a dialogue option to disagree with it or berate them make fun of them, my actions should have consequences. maybe she does not want to be in my party anymore, maybe i want her out of the party... none of which we get and that at the core of an rpg is a huge flaw and for this reason even if you set aside the woke propaganda, it's just bad rpg design. Baldurs gate 3 gave us a true masterpiece in RPG design and id rather go replay this game than stick my toes into that abomination , or even better, go play Dragon Age Origins because that one was a true genre defining game.
Most reasonable people never believed this game would flop to the level of something like Dustborn or Concord. This game was always going to sell reasonably well. The thing is Bioware needs a massive win, they need this game's success to rival something like Black Myth Wukong. This unfortunately will not happen...this will end up simply being an "okay" game, but the obvious attempt from EA to cultivate an image of a masterpiece is what people are noticing and taking an issue with.
Yeah, I'm expecting more of a Star Wars Outlaws or Starfield situation, with the former underselling and the latter selling well enough, but then being ripped to shreds by many of the people that bought due to its many failings, leading to its expansion garnering very little interest.
@@robertperrotto870 The budget was likely 100 million though marketing likely pushed it to 250 million. I imagine something around the 5 million mark is enough since they use their own engine and all that.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz As of about an hour ago, the game peaked at 70k and then started declining on steam. When Stellar Blade had 80k+ on a console exclusive ( and you can tell how many bought the game by viewing PS5 Achievements which tells you exactly how many purchased, and then doing a bit of math by the achievement % number) and this doesn't look good. $100 million is almost laughable when Inquisition was $200 million and it too utilized the frostbite engine.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz too further my argument regarding this, it's been 10 years since Inquisition released, and the game entered conceptual phase immediately afterwards, Salaries didn't remain stagnant, the engine is continuously being upgraded and worked on, and inflation hit. Second thing, this game released with no DRM and EA waived the Origin requirement for this game, which means it can be launched directly from Steam. Steam accounts for over 80% of all digital downloads even with a third party launcher so 30% of the proceeds are taken by steam from the get go.
I was a huge fan of the earlier Dragon Age games, cant say I have been paying any attention to the drama around the newest game but now I'm curious to say the least.
@@BasegFarmer hey, im gay and I’ve started to deliberately misgender people so they’ll bugger off and leave me alone. So sick of the word and thought police that have infected my community.
I just want to point out that you telling us steam numbers is a huge omission of truth. Those games released in 2020 on steam. Whoever wanted to play them when they originally released already did so. DA2 4 June 2020 og: Mar 8, 2011 dao is even older. So I think bringing steam numbers into the conversation is pointless or intentionally misleading. So you literally did what Grummz was saying is happening. Overall I think this is a very good video just wanted to point out that it's very important to give context on such matters since not everybody is in the know and casuals might easily take it as misinformation.
I hope it does gang busters. I hope it makes so much money that developers pile hundreds of millions into other lesser known titles working hand-in-hand with Sweet Babies. The Modern Audience will love it!
Of course you must realize that those Steam numbers for the original series aren't indicative of those games success. None of those games launched on Steam and only fairly recently came to Steam not so long ago which was also true for the ME series. I played "Origins" in 2009 on the 360. Later, I played "Dragon Age 2" also on the 360. By the time of "Inquisition, " I had already made the switch to PC and retroactively bought the others on PC. There was no Steam option for any of these games, you had to use EA's Origins launcher, which is now defunct. "Veilguard" will be the very first actual DA game launched on Steam on the same day as it debuts. EA only added Bioware games to Steam in 2019, many years after they debuted.
Idk, as someone who's actually playing the game.. it's good? I don't really understand all the hate, its not the best game ive ever played, but the dialogue is no better or worse than any other triple AAA game. Sometimes it's incredibly clever or funny or emotional and other times it falls flat, but the same is true for god of war of spiderman or bg3 or any big game. The environments look awesome, the combat is snappy, the characters are interesting, and the world is absolutely still dragon age. I don't get everyone saying they took the gritty darkness out of the world when the last mission I played literally had a dude getting choked to death during a ritual sacrifice in which he was crucified ala Jesus. Like... how is that "Disney-ified?"
As soon as you said the dialogue is no better or worse then other aaa games I knew you were a w0k3 narcissist with a 14 syllable pronoun and 30 face piercings....the dialogue is the biggest reason everyone who isn't a gender obsessed npc can't stand it. Characters obsessed with gender identity are narcissistic, pretentious, 1 dimensional, and extremely boring and unrelatable.
I bought anthem. I loved that game, yes in spite of it's many flaws I LOVED Anthem. Seeing what Bioware did to that game is so incredibly brutally mind blowingly frustrating that no I will never preorder another EA game ever again. And I am quite glad I didn't preorder this. Now I'm seeing it played on twitch this game simply doesn't have the gameplay, class design or character designs I'm looking for. Why can the necromancer mage class the player plays unable to summon? I feel totally shafted. I feel like I can't even play anything I want to likke in DA:O, DA2, and inquisition I DID enjoy party control and where is that here? I am absolutely blown away at how gutted the game is. I will not forget anthem, and ends up that promise I made myself to not preorder an EA game after Anthem... yeah. Good thing I didn't preorder and held true.
Your closing remarks actually hit home. As an Ugandan leaving in Germany, the cultural shock I received sent me spiralling into a deep dark depression. I pulled myself out of as many circles as I could that challenged my “normal” world view and got better. It’s about 3 months now since I regained some control. Once in a while I spiral back (that’s how I’ve landed here) but I’m glad I spiralled onto this particular video. I’ll abandon this circle of interest around veilguard and head back to my general love for video games 😊
Dude, they left the DA: Inquisition dlc off at a perfect cliffhanger for this game. They had really cool lore and characters to build off of and had almost a decade to get it right...and they fucked it up for virtue signaling points 🤣🤣 Let's not even get started on the lead dev being a complete piece of shit...I'm glad the game is getting ratio'd just to spite him.
Like... More than 10 years ago? Im not even joking. Its been that long since RUclips creators have more weight than any gaming news sites Last time i was actively looking for a IGN review was when everyone was waiting to play BlackOps2, we are at BO6 now💀💀💀
Notice how the game exclusively uses sans serif lettering. If you don't know the history of these kind of fonts in terms of their relation to 20th century Soviet/USSR propaganda, I implore you to research it. This wasn't by mistake.
Pandering aside, the game looks just..bad. It may end up being an okay Fantasy Game, but this isn't Dragon Age. The art direction, the redesigns to the Qunari and Darkspawn, the Pixar look. The dialogue and writing I've seen has been down right childish. The puzzles are insulting. The lack of two handed swords in a medieval fantasy game. The lack of choice in the dialogue, the lack of previous choices not mattering, getting rid of The Keep. The list goes on and on before I get to paying $70 for a questline that's going to lecture me on misgendering.
Im not buying it because I was expecting a game similar to Origins. This game is for new players not fans. We are fans due to previous games, lore, novels etc. Veilguard is like a new IP
I have stopped watching reviews from any "well-known" source. I just know how this all works. Views = profit. To get views = to get access to the game before launch and to be the first to roll out review. To get access = to be "nice" to big companies. Dumpsters like IGN have such "reviews", where you feel someone is reading a description from publisher's announcement.
This is about consumers becoming aware of what they are buying. Don't trust marketing spin, don't trust shills.. just be highly skeptical of all of your purchases.
I used to have this game on my wishlist but given the heavy handed politics on full display I have moved it to my ignored list. I really wish these company's would get it into their brains that we play games to get AWAY from real life and politics, not to swim in it like some diseased eel.
I honestly couldn't care less about so called DEI stuff people pitch a fit and piss and moan about, make a good game and I'll check it out. The instant i see a review start wailing about DEI I move on. is the gameplay good? is the narrative good? are the controls good? do the visuals fit the purpose and have good art direction?
Exactly! You could have 99 legitimate criticisms of the game, but the moment you start to complain that the game is “too woke”, you lose all credibility. It comes off as troll behavior.
@@Mike_2501 The opposite should also be valid then. They could have 99% legitimate praise and the moment they start praising the inclusivity etc, they lose all credibility?
@@robcampion9917 No, because praising inclusivity means you accept that people different from you exist. Criticizing inclusivity means you reject the reality that people different from you exist. It means that you are upset by the mere idea of people who are not the same race, gender, or orientation as you. There’s a word for people like that… I can’t seem to remember what it’s called when you hate people for their race or gender. Hmmmm… well, let’s just say that your opinion is immediately irrelevant if you hate people for being different from you, because it means your hatred taints all your other points and nothing else you say can be taken in good faith.
@@Mike_2501 Oh, so it's one rule for you and another for me. And your last sentence works both ways, because it sound like you hate people that think differently to you making you not inclusive and therefor in your own words making your opinion "immediately irrelevant".
When our culture eventually shifts to normalcy and strange things are seen for what they are. I wonder how the new generation of gamers will look at these types of games.
They did solas so dirty, who they portrayed. Isnt it kinda ironic that in some metaphorical way solas stands stands for the audience . They took what we love made it horrible for us to withness and then to gaslight us that we are "tourists"
I have followed Dragon Age since Origins and I cannot allow Myself to just let this go. I WILL purchase the game, it's a lock, nuff said. I enjoyed your interest and influence circles you talked about, and I have many varied interests that I have to make time for, but My influence circle is tiny, so it doesn't matter what My thoughts are cause they are not often considered. I wish I was in a position to influence others, because SO many of us have forgotten things like Loyalty, Honor, and integrity so there for need to be reminded how to be REAL. I subscribed and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
Last of us 2 is a great example of having w0k3 elements without being a hr training video....there was just 1 passive conversation (not a cut scene) where lilly asked abby if she wanted to know why her former scar allies referred to her with a different gender name...abby said "not if you don't want to" and they left it at that..... THAT WAS GREAT AND ACTUALLY FELT REAL.....SHE WASN'T OBSESSED ABOUT IT. the conversations in this game like the push up pronoun or the "feel like a man" discussions are so pretentious and phony.....takes you right out of the game and especially out of midevil vibe, lore, character, etc
Imagine hopping into a time machine, landing in a 2011 Dragon Age forum, and delivering this: "Guess what, in 2024, BioWare will release the next Dragon Age. But brace yourselves! It's packed with writing that preaches irrelevant social justice issues, while suffering through humor that feels plucked from the reject pile of Marvel scripts. Remember those choices you loved? Poof! Gone. Instead, you're trapped in an endless loop with zero meaningful outcomes. And say goodbye to the drama of losing companions, they've all discovered immortality. But wait, there's more! The gameplay? It's a thrilling ride of brain-numbing button-mashing, requiring the dexterity of flipping a light switch. The art style? You’ll be greeted by visuals resembling a toddler’s animated daydream, stripped of any serious thematic depth. Yup, It’s just another soulless action-adventure doing its best RPG impersonation." Can you see their faces? They’d laugh you out of the forum, thinking you’re out of your mind. Yet, here we are, witnessing just how far BioWare/Western Triple A industry have tumbled down the rabbit hole.
How a sane and logical person could look at, play, and listen to the dialogue of this game rate it anything other than a 4 is baffling and defies all sensibility. We all make jokes about IGN and other review sites, but this has gone way too far., and is the most sincere form of gaslighting I have seen in gaming publications to date. Please keep your money in your wallets and do not even "to see how bad it is" make purchases of this game. No one in their right mind would have thought that the follow up to inquisition, while it was not a perfect game, would be a wax figure claymation mobile game with dialogue written by 3 year olds. I can honestly say that if you somehow enjoy this game, props to you, but please do not ask me to understand. You are objectively enjoying something that is akin to scam and a dumpster fire.
It’s so true that this trick only works once - at least it did with me. As a new gamer I fell for the corpo-crap from Capcom with Dragons Dogma 2. Now Capcom is on my Do Not Employ list, and I’ll never buy any game on day one ever again.
I’m not likely to buy Veilguard until it’s on deep discount or ever. I had bought the Origins bundle and the other DA games through Steam, signed into my EA account and wandered off for a couple of months. When I came back, I couldn’t access any dlc or even my EA account. I have yet to fix it as I don’t feel like jumping through several hoops to get it back. So, not likely to play any Dragon Age games any time soon
I made my mind up after the release of Starfield. The amount of hate that game got for simply being a Bethesda game was insane. People want to say it was woke because there is a pronoun option while ignoring Baldurs gate 3, which was released before and having ten times more woke options in that game. People just need to play video games and have fun. If you don't like the game, play something else.
Having an interest in philosophy and theology myself as well, I quite often entertain thoughts about the current 'culture war' and how political narratives are seemingly pushed into the games we all love and enjoy; I can't offer any 'solutions,' nor do I have any leverage as an individual man to see these through. But I think we collectively lack good faith mediators or some possible mechanisms of mediation between the "woke" and "anti-woke" crowds in general (I am aware there are nuances in this regard with people). I am also not sold on the belief that there is pure, unbiased objectivity; neither are political narratives altogether absent from any work of art, including video games. The anti-woke, 'traditional' crowd also have their bugbears in media and entertainment, amongst other public spaces -- it's just that it has been normalized and integrated into western social expectations and mores much longer than the "woke" ethos of the trans, gays, etc. So, I have no problem with the latter getting more representation. The hyper-commodification of this "anti-western" ethos is indeed excessive but is to be expected with a highly saturated corporate technocracy. There are, unfortunately, false beliefs on both "sides" -- left and right -- which will integrate in the flow of time.
Here’s the thing. It’s fine to have messaging like this if that’s your audience. The main issue is that if you’re appealing to the average gamer demographic this shit doesn’t resonate, it never will. It’s niche
They believe because everyone has to sit through a DEI lecture by an anti white racist at work, that we love their degenerate racist ideology in our spare time. No thanks!
Inquisition was a triumphant return to form. VEILGUARD is literally a back peddle 15 plus years right back to D.A:2. Lack of character and party customization Lack of ability accessibility via lack of hotkeys PARTY SIZE REDUCED from 3 companions & player character to 2 COMPANIONS AND PLAYER CHARACTER!!!!! INABILITY TO CONTROL PARTY MEMBERS (WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN A THING) and that mechanic alone is a marquee feature that helped differentiate the D.A series from the Mass Effect Series. CONCLUSION- WORSE THAN D.A.2 WHO TF THOUGBT IT WAS POSSIBLE and after Inquisition bow tf do you go backwards and REMOVE key features and mechanics that literally made D.A. , D.A!!!!!!!!
Your circle advice was great. I'm a teacher and I like talking about this stuff with students
I'm glad you liked that; I see a lot online confuse their circle of interest as their circle of influence which ends up with them being angry and disillusioned. Hopefully more people start to compartmentalize where they are spending their time so that they can know if they really can make a change, or if it's out of their hands.
Here's my issue with it. I found when older games handled these things, it was done in a way that made the characters and concepts being explored feel actually important and genuinely about trying to tell an interesting story and give genuine diversity and inclusion. Now, I find these devs are more focused on waving a big flag that says "look how diverse we are" but don't actually care to give these characters or concepts the nuance and care they deserve. A prime example of diversity done well IMO would be Claire from Cyberpunk 2077. She is a trans woman who's partner was killed by some gang members or some such. When she opens up to you and you find out about her identity, it's treated like... Well... It's normal. Like that's who she is and not some grand medal she wears. She felt like a person first and foremost with a complex history and such.
I would have loved to play this game, but unfortunately I am too busy doing pushups for using the wrong pronouns.
😂 same. I cannot believe they actually keep this in after the sh**storm in the last weeks
Me too. I'm totally jacked now.
@@billbombshiggy9254 Bruh😂😂😂😂
Sounds like an easy mistake to correct
Im going to look like the hulk when im done
Putting politics and ideologies aside, it’s baffling how critics aren’t cringing at the writing. Judging waiting for writing sake, and they are still saying 10/10?? BioWare games have always been about the writing
Most critics want this social engineering.
It's not baffling. They are lying.
@@aaronhumphrey3514
I wouldn't even call it lying. What this game is, is what these people want. They don't recognize it as a shortcoming, but as a strength.
I think the problem is a) most reviewers aren't familiar enough with the rest of the series to compare, and b) low standards in writing in all kinds of media nowadays. We have a whole generation of YA readers, and corporations that specialize in pushing generic entertainment to the masses that has zero artistic or literary integrity.
@@JJ-to7hj you played it?
I see red flags when dev's both restrict which reviewers can review it , Censor what is said and also try and vilify when someone does have honest points to make that are negative. I usually pre-order games but i did not with this one. Infact everything i have seen about this game already has already put me off. I play games to immerse myself into something of a fantasy nature. Either to RP as a adventurer in a fantasy world , drive a race car , Fly a ship etc etc. I do not play games to have modern politics shoved down my throat at every turn. Also seen a lot of complaints about it being repetitive combat wise among a whole load of other issues. No thank you i will spend my money on something i do want to play.
I played the old dragon age games, but I'm not interested in this new game if the storytelling and characters have been butchered. I just write it off as not being for me. I have already accepted the reality that most of these modern day western game developers are not interested in selling their games to me. That's ok, because there are still plenty of other games to enjoy. Another reality is market saturation. Even if this new game ended up being a masterpiece and was made specifically with my own tastes in mind, it would still be a while before I ever got around to actually playing it. I'm an older player who has been playing games since 1990. When i got my first Nintendo. I'm married with kids and work 50 hours a week, so I barely have the time to play the games that I truly want to play. People only have so much time, money, and hard drive space to spare. So for me to spend my precious time playing a new game, it really needs get my interest, and this isn't it. And as I said before, that is fine. These guys sound like they really are not interested in getting my business anyway, so there is really nothing lost
Same here. I'm 48 with 3 kids. I get basically 1 hour a day to game, have 600 game backlog on steam. If they want the modern audience then they can have them. I could just play my back log for 7 years. Games like dark souls or wukong will continue to trickle out faster than I can play them.
The only AAA western games I've played in the past 5+ years were Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3. If most of these developers suddenly vanished overnight it honestly wouldn't change anything in my life. I haven't enjoyed anything from the likes of EA and Ubisoft in a very long time.
@@tonybrown512
Research Exodus, a dark SciFi made by ex-Bioware devs.
BioWare died around ME3
It’s a wake up call to not trust gaming journalists
@@outforbeer hopefully it reaches more normies
Nor should you trust youtubers, especially not those who use the word "WoKe" without defining what it means
@@MonicaMoraal we dont need a definition of a word that everybody know the definition of. woke is evil. that is all we need to know
@ woke is cultural Marxism. It switch class for identity. To create a big a movement as possible they keep inserting an alphabet of communities into this group of victims
@@MonicaMoraalEXACTLY, I'm from Brazil, there's some weirdos using this word to attack minorities... HERE, and... They don't even know what it really was the Woke movement for the black people in the US.
Bunch of puppets... Dramatic 30yo kids that can't see anything different from his life style😂
6:30 The localizers failed horribly at their job. People are reporting that the translations of the game features brand new made up pronouns that are supposed to be gendered neutral using the recent Spanish Latine as a model and changing everything to -e. The problem is that this doesn't quite work outside of Spanish and most people reject this gender neutral model of Spanish anyways. The result is that the game has an awful broken translation in at least Spanish and German so far and I wouldn't be surprised if this is also in the French and Italian iterations of the game as well.
So for reference, they messed up the character designs, they messed up the alignment, and they messed up the translation already. Doing this and still getting a 9/10 destroys your own credibility as well as the credibility of the game. It's no wonder that people are already calling this game was/were.
how is it in german?
I just wonder what happens in a case where language in question does not have separate pronouns to distinguish genders? My own language does not have that feature. Besides of that this pronouns thing is actually f*** retarded IMO.
@@caldex1557 English, French, and German are the three available audio tracks for the game. Subtitles are available in about 10 more languages in addition to those.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz sry i just wanted to know the made up pronouns.
@@caldex1557 German gender neutral language are generally written with asterisks, colons, and underscores, which is really hard to write here since it sets off all kinds of font formatting.
So what you end up with stuff like (S)He is a guard(e) and the captain(ess) of the group. (S)He is the writer(e) of the journal
It's not about power shifting to the right, it's about power shifting to players who don't want their games preaching to them, regardless of the content of the sermon.
@@aaronhumphrey3514 exactly
@aaronhumphrey3514 yes, we don't want propaganda in the face from anyone. Just interesting and epic adventures
@@m.j3113 The issue with this stance is that what you view as propaganda, trans and non-binary peole view as acknowledgement of their existence.
NORMALLY I'd be right there with you. But there is one key distinction about this game that most games targeted for boycott do not share.
The "wokeness" in this game is organic. It's not typical wokeness, but rather a traditionally progressive studio standing by its values in a way that truthfully reflects the progressive values held in 2024.
That does not mean you are required to like that. Nor that you need to play the game.
But you should be aware that you are on the offensive, and that to people in the middle, this go around you are the villain. This is the right's / antiwoke's Hogwarts Legacy moment. You are welcome to your opinion, but I would advise not stooping to the levels reached by your opponent in their 'not-so-finest' hour. Because that stripped a LOT of support for the LGBTQ+ movement when it went down.
@@aaronhumphrey3514 yeah the important is not the gameplay, technical features, storytelling, combat system. The important is there are not sermons or preachers. Nice way to judge a videogame 🤯
Ff7 is about as hard left as you can go... It's just good, that's why people like it, even if they disagree with the writers view on oil politics.
I cud look past the character creation top scar whatever crap, but I don’t want to be lectured throughout my gameplay on pronouns and how you can never apologize enough etc, there’s enough of that In Real life and I play games to get away from that not further have it forced down my throat
@mykeh8697 my thoughts exactly, I was going to give it the benefit of the doubt. I never use any scars on my characters anyways but after seeing the pushup scene it's a hard pass.
Also it's just... not a good way to push social awareness. Being lectured is only going to make people more set against trans people irl. Alternatively the fans who don't care about the culture war are upset about the lazy writing. I don't know what they're trying to accomplish here.
@vanyadolly I've always been of the mind that people should live and let live.
I totally agree with what you said there.
This kind of stuff has actively made me avoid anything to do with this weird agenda, and has had a negative effect.
Why on earth would you look past that lol.
Decent, reasonable people apologize for the mistake, use the correct pronouns and move on.
Decent, reasonable people who are misgendered accept the apology, try to give the offender grace, and move on
This is how things are supposed to work and be portrayed. Nothing more, nothing less
As a huge fan of Origins and even Dragon Age 2, which has its flaws, I have no interest in this game. It's not just the ideological elements in Dragon Age: The Veilguard-though that's part of it-but the changes in combat, style, and tone are completely off-putting for me. With SkillUp clearly demonstrating how basic and uninspired the puzzles are, how repetitive the combat is, and how juvenile and safe the dialogue feels, I have no interest in this game. I think many long-term Dragon Age fans, who know what they’re getting into by watching SkillUp's or Matty's reviews, will likely avoid buying it as well.
@Katie-hb8iq it still will sell well, just look at people defending Mortismal gaming for say its his game of the year. I get liking the game but it isn't an Rpg n definitely with that dialogue it isn't over 8 out of 10
@@khal7702 If someone doesn't have a connection to this series, then these positive reviews might influence someone's buying decision. But how many copies is this game selling? It needs to sell 5-6 million just to break even. It's been in development for 9 years. The game has to sell enough copies to pay for all the failed reboots, not just the development since 2018. So even if it sells 1-2 million, that's actually not 'well'. Like 1-2 million for Metaphor Refantazio is good. But that would be a disaster for this game as the budgets are totally different.
I still stand by what I said, if a player has been playing this series since Origins, The Veilguard will likely not appeal to them. It might appeal to the Inquisition-only fan, as that game is also very different from Origins, but there's still reasons why an Inquisition-only player might be turned off too - such as the combat, mission-based design, etc.
Also, Mortismal did mention that this title would be divisive despite the favourable review. It's not that uncommon for someone to genuinely like a game that most players don't like. Mortismal is more of a Divinity and Pathfinder fan than a Dragon Age fan - it's worth pointing this out because these changes don't impact him nearly as much, where he might have taken a greater offense if this happened to Divinity instead. I play lots of random niche games people don't like that I think are fun. I'm sure you do too.
But there's no denying the actual footage and evidence and points raised in the negative reviews. It's not like they are just giving subjective opinions. SkillUps video examples are damning - they completely demonstrate the game talking down to the player, the repetitive combat, the basic puzzles, the linear levels, the horrible dialogue, the lack of choice, and many other things. If a person cares about this stuff, they won't buy it because it's been proven to be correct. I think most people get that he wasn't cherry picking - I mean, his review is 40+ minutes long.
Theme and Tone matter and this aint it.
My warden didn't die for this. If he knew this was the future of the world he was saving he would have let the darkspawn have it.
@@D.a.n.i.m.a.l Out of spite for this horror I started yet another DAO plythrough but now as an elf mage and it has the same magic as I experienced the first time. And then onto DA2 with prope4 Qun
I've watched a handful of reviews and read some as well, and what I can say is that every negative aspect that was presented by the reviewers (specially SkillUp) had plenty of proof with it. It'll be pretty easy to find plenty of examples of below-average to outright terrible dialogue. The combat videos speak for themselves, it just seems bland and uninteresting. The one saving grace is the environmental art design.
It’s not a wake up call, it’s the alarm that we’ve kept hitting snooze on forgetting that we have the day off!
very well put!!
been saying this for years and people thought I was crazy...looks like I was right all along...
It’s a no buy for me, I find the writing to be pure slop, with it being insulting and condescending.
I also don’t like the chosen art style for a game like this.
It’s just bad
@@CreedM8yep, 100%.
They change major aspects of the game from the combat to the tik tok Disney design of the characters to the writing style, basically resetting, aesthetically, the entire franchise, and expect people still think it’s a return to form? These people are delusional.
IT DOES LOOK LIKE DISNEY!!
The return to form is the reviewers thinking it feels like a BioWare game. So a focus on single player gameplay and the companion’s being a large focus.
The common use of the phase was probably someone thinking it sounded cool then others copying them.
I don’t mind the changes and was going to buy the game regardless since I tend to enjoy BioWare games. The closest i got since inquisition was Greed Fall.
Pillars of eternity, divinity, and Baulders Gate 3 are awesome, but top down games don’t feel the same a third person.
@@AMgangwolf according to them the dark spawn change was to suggest they are gaining sentience
@@MAJIMAXKIRYU69 Which honestly makes sense as a choice in Awakenings can make that canon
A word of warning just what you're supporting here by buying this trash. A former Kotaku journo whom did that slander hit piece against Smash Bros/Persona 5 song lyrics was a consultant on this complete disaster, you know the person that had to go into hiding after being call out not only by games, but developers Nintendo and Atlus themselves over the lies about it :-)
Ahh yes. Ole bluey de Retardo.
That mentally ill basket case female omg.
She thought retort it was 'retarded'. What a phucking hooker
And also used to do a podcast with the former Mr Sterling.
The actual lyric was "retort it"....and she flipped her mentality thinking it was another word. Oh wait....its a dude.
There is a literal 2 minutes of cutscene about misgendering someone, bruh...
Watch The Three Little Pigs and learn from it. Better late than never...
@@verysadcatc7897 that’s two minutes too long. Also the games dialogue is childish. You talk to your companions like they are children. It’s garbage
@@afro_physicist_3143 It's a symptom of a larger problem, totally unnecessary, and peaked the all time cringe for video games. It's the kind of scene an HR department might show their employees when one of their obnoxious colleagues starts complaining about their non-binary misgendering. Nobody wants to stomach that in a fantasy video game.
@@afro_physicist_3143 There's no such thing as the social commentary police who would enforce such a thing. If you say something preachy and dumb in your media, your media warrants the label of, "preachy and dumb". Most people don't want to pay to be preached at. Simple as that. If you do, I question your motives, but that's fine. Waste your money on whatever you want, watch Dharrman videos to your heart's content. I'm sure you if you hope with all your heart, maybe you can find some after school specials about bullying on VHS at your local senior citizens thrift store. You do you.
You only think its 2 minutes.....?? Lmao im so glad im not even a fan of this game series.
This and "Unknown 9" have made me start to look more closely at how DEI messaging is being forced into the game's I'm interested in playing. So far I've given up on two brand new games that I was interested in, based on the involvement of consulting companies that have been invited in to push possibly "in your face" DEI messaging. I don't need or want that in the games I play at all. DA:Veilguard will likely not meet expectations just as Unknown 9 failed miserably, leaving the very real possibility that it'll end BioWare and we'll never see any ME:5 at all. This year's N7-day may be a wake...
DEI messaging being enforced on us? This is sad with you lot. The same way y’all are harping over DEI is the same way whites harped over Affirmative Action back in the day towards black. And NEW FLASH! If you play any bio game you’ll see that they’ve been doing this with their games from the start. So was it DEI beginning pushed on us in the 90s? And a lot of y’all use woke with everything you disagree with not realizing that when you miss you you actually being racist towards the original meaning of the term when it relates to the black community. Because it be really want to use the actual deaf of the term woke or stay woke. There are only a few games out there they represent that and Mafia 3 andBioShock Infinite is one of the best examples. Y’all have been indoctrinated so bad with social media being the main source of indoctrinating that the stuff y’all are complaining about has actually been going on for years and it ain’t no movement nor push. People using fear monitoring tactics to push their agenda because they have nothing to talk about. Now you do have people just trying to force their agenda into gaming, but it’s few and we know who these people are. But every time I see a attack on woke and DEI I think “this must be had a black community field before 1964 when we were still considered 3/5 human and deny and discriminated against opportunities because the color of our skin”). History repeats itself.
But to be fair 80% of the Contant creators that are saying the game isn’t good or mad because they didn’t get a review copy even though they were privileged enough to get early access unlike the rest of us. Entitlement at its finest.
@@TheXpertGenius83 agreed
@ yo I’m like if you don’t like the game developer is really hot on something. Why do you want a review code? And when you got flown down for early access, why didn’t you somewhat voice these concerns? To me this has nothing to do with the game. It has everything to do with entitlement and being first with a review.
@@TheXpertGenius83 you're 100% correct and what happened to gamers with their own sense of exploration? Too many rely on the reviews and opinions of others instead of finding out for themselves. I bought it and I'll make my own determination, not going back and forth with people on this. Gamers have really become whinny lately and I don't love it. These are the same ones who will cry about the new Assassin's Creed game for the same reasons. It's crazy to me.
Their marketing costs are gigantic. No way it will be profitable.
The large majority of gamers aren't boycotting woke games. We just aren't interested. At 90$ Canadian, im personally not buying any game im not all in on.
Unfortunately you are right. Gamers aren't known for principles nor spine. Weak men make this industry ripe for manipulation.
Now this I can fully understand. I did buy this game, as I'm a long time Dragon Age fan and Bioware has always been progressive. I knew this tea was coming with a dose of hibiscus (something I generally don't care for) but wanted it anyway.
When game studios incorporate this deliberately into games where the core fanbase has no interest in it, it's a grave error. However, as much as it looks like shit to the outside world, this is normal for Bioware. It's just a 2024 update on existing progressive principles.
I've got no beef with anyone who's like "Well screw ya, I'm not buying.". Not even with those who say something like "Y'know this has X, Y, and Z, right?". Where my issue comes in is when legit scum bags come into fan videos doing guides and shut and start harassing people. That's NEVER a good look.
@@KatallinaVT From 1 to Karl Marx, how far to the furthest extreme left are you?
@@KatallinaVT the games have gone downhill with each iteration. Origins was AMAZING. 2 was a game. it was fine, except for the male romance options being AWFUL. Inquisition was boring, and it was only "saved" by Iron Bull being funny.
This one, with all the degeneracy they've pushed into it, there's no way it can be good. Even my son, who grew up with dragon age, and has played them from a young age, and loved them, has cancelled his preorder. He's 19 and is just as sick of this as the rest of us old people.
@@KatallinaVTif you buy this you are part of the problem
Reviews haven't mattered for decades. Ever since paid access became a thing, and everyone on the net is a potential 'pro' reviewer.
Stop pre-ordering, stop buying slop, stop believing any reviews from a general audience. At most, find a specific reviewer who has similar taste as you. Otherwise, know what you like better and stick to it.
Biggest problem i have isn't just the forced identity politics. It's that Dragon Age is or was my favourite fantasy world setting, and they seem willing to destroy established lore and what made DA unique just to try capturing a new audience.
I can actually over look alot in games but that dialog... i cant stand hearing these characters talk..
I’m not buying this or downloading it for free just to be clear
Its just weird that the player agency is not there at all and you just have to accept everything it tells you with a smile on your face. Especially in a rpg like this where youve always been able to disapprove and go against the grain with what the game or your companions tell you.
These companies have spent so much time trying not to offend anyone that the product they are releasing is absolute trash. They are too afraid of being cancelled to really take any risks.
Lots of truth in "don't trust a journalist". I was a newspaper magazine reviewer for a long time and I'd get a product with the note (from the editor): don't give this less than a 4 (out of 5). There are agendas all over the place.
Never trust a journalist. Immediately trust "some dude" saying reviews are being withheld from people who would give negative reviews with no source.
Culture war aside, for a large part of the fanbase, the gaslighting and lies from the studio saying it was better than the other games in the series and that Veilguard gets right where the others didn’t is what stirred up a lot of anger. Especially when you have stripped the game down to its bare bones, due to a lack of skill or too much time wasted on other parts of the game which left the old fan base with a game titled Dragon Age but without the soul of previous titles.
I like fantasy worlds purely because it’s an escape from the real world. The last thing I want is real life politics.
like war, treason, death, violence aren't things of the real world? or all that is good and fun, but you draw the line at lgbt people?
@RichKelsall waaah I don't want art to make me think or challenge my preconceived biases waah
@@colinharkrider1076you are the perfect audience for these bad games
You’re naive if you think older games you enjoy don’t have politics.
Like its hard for me not to pay 80 bucks for these woke sh games.. easiest money I never spent.. and I just bought a card shufler for no reason.. i dont even have playing cards yet
Dude, i clicked on this for your opinion on Veilguard, and that ending monologue was so wholesome, wasn't even expecting that. I think ill subscribe.
That's a no-buynary for me, dawg.
"NEVER TRUST A GAME'S JOURNALISTt!" Gimli would smash it all with his axe, and I with him, korgan too.
The best way i can explain is like they say "if you dont like it dont buy it". Companies who put out games that do not appeal to the general gaming audience will burn and ones who make great games like stellar blade, wu kong and elden ring will thrive.
So basically all western studios are fucked and Japan is just gonna take over the gaming industry like it did in 1985? I’ll take 10 of those please
If y’all can truly shut up and vote with your wallet the world would be a much better place.
It’s poetic. Them trying to cover up and sweep it past as a good game ended up leading to the highlighting of these fake reviews to the public. Amazing.
It was even scripted - there is no way that every reviewer who gave it high scores would all use the same phrase "Bioware is back", and gush about the representation, and then give cursory or generic "happy" words on gameplay, mechanics, story, and graphics. None of them went into detail about these things, but "diversity" got in depth and specific details. It's access media all over again, and they're not even trying to hide it. They are going to force this game down everyones throat, and they are going to give GOTY over Black Myth, Stellar Blade, and Spacemarine 2. I am absolutely sickened by this.
older dragon age titles are not released on steam day 1. thats why the peaks are low. and not really something to compare...
Exactly, this will be the first, and it might cause people to claim the game is going great when it might be just doing ok.
Personally I don't think the "wokeness" is the real issue, in my opinion BioWare and Dragon Age in particularly have always dealt with this themes rather thoughtfully and smoothly, it rarely felt cringe or jarring, I rather like Dorian on DA I for instance where "wokeness" was at the center of his story but it was very well done, there was no preaching, just a character going through their issues like a real person would. The real issue is that since ME Andromeda BioWare writing fell off a cliff, in pacing, tone, directing, acting, everything. DA Veilgard has the same issues, and on top of that, when the "woke" subjects come up, it feels like He-Man giving you a lesson at the end of the episode but its a teenage twitter pink haired non binary person preaching to you instead.
Agreed, I feel like Bioware of the past managed to pull off progressive topics with much more care and respect, making you empathize and feel for the characters in a way that felt natural. From what I've seen of Veilguard so far... It's like they swapped their scalpel for a chainsaw.
@dbryant965 I'll be quoting that chainsaw comment everywhere
Gamers arent liking the game
It just seems lame...LAME AF actually.
Dao, da2 and dai - weren't on steam since their release. Dao weren't even tied to origin when it was on sale. I still have a physical copy somewhere in my closet. DA2 and DAI is tied to origin, and we have no way to know what metrics were there. Three games were released on steam waaaay-waaaay after original release.
Veilguard on the other hand is released from the get go on steam. And it's most convenient to buy it from steam.
Looking at current reviews on Steam, and a LOT more people are enjoying this than I anticipated. I wonder what they'll say when they're 30-40hrs in
You quoted fight club in your message of hope lol
If a rpg shows me an option from an npc that i have to call it something, then it should give me a dialogue option to disagree with it or berate them make fun of them, my actions should have consequences. maybe she does not want to be in my party anymore, maybe i want her out of the party... none of which we get and that at the core of an rpg is a huge flaw and for this reason even if you set aside the woke propaganda, it's just bad rpg design. Baldurs gate 3 gave us a true masterpiece in RPG design and id rather go replay this game than stick my toes into that abomination , or even better, go play Dragon Age Origins because that one was a true genre defining game.
Most reasonable people never believed this game would flop to the level of something like Dustborn or Concord. This game was always going to sell reasonably well. The thing is Bioware needs a massive win, they need this game's success to rival something like Black Myth Wukong. This unfortunately will not happen...this will end up simply being an "okay" game, but the obvious attempt from EA to cultivate an image of a masterpiece is what people are noticing and taking an issue with.
Yeah, I'm expecting more of a Star Wars Outlaws or Starfield situation, with the former underselling and the latter selling well enough, but then being ripped to shreds by many of the people that bought due to its many failings, leading to its expansion garnering very little interest.
They need this game to have Baldurs Gate 3 numbers and I just don't see that happening
@@robertperrotto870 The budget was likely 100 million though marketing likely pushed it to 250 million. I imagine something around the 5 million mark is enough since they use their own engine and all that.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz As of about an hour ago, the game peaked at 70k and then started declining on steam. When Stellar Blade had 80k+ on a console exclusive ( and you can tell how many bought the game by viewing PS5 Achievements which tells you exactly how many purchased, and then doing a bit of math by the achievement % number) and this doesn't look good. $100 million is almost laughable when Inquisition was $200 million and it too utilized the frostbite engine.
@@ohnosmoarlulcatz too further my argument regarding this, it's been 10 years since Inquisition released, and the game entered conceptual phase immediately afterwards, Salaries didn't remain stagnant, the engine is continuously being upgraded and worked on, and inflation hit. Second thing, this game released with no DRM and EA waived the Origin requirement for this game, which means it can be launched directly from Steam. Steam accounts for over 80% of all digital downloads even with a third party launcher so 30% of the proceeds are taken by steam from the get go.
I was a huge fan of the earlier Dragon Age games, cant say I have been paying any attention to the drama around the newest game but now I'm curious to say the least.
I saw the clip of being taught how to apologize for misgendering and decided to pass.
I want to play a game and not be preached to.
@@BasegFarmer hey, im gay and I’ve started to deliberately misgender people so they’ll bugger off and leave me alone. So sick of the word and thought police that have infected my community.
That message of hope is gold. That's pure wisdom right there. Watch it again
I just want to point out that you telling us steam numbers is a huge omission of truth. Those games released in 2020 on steam. Whoever wanted to play them when they originally released already did so. DA2 4 June 2020 og: Mar 8, 2011 dao is even older. So I think bringing steam numbers into the conversation is pointless or intentionally misleading. So you literally did what Grummz was saying is happening.
Overall I think this is a very good video just wanted to point out that it's very important to give context on such matters since not everybody is in the know and casuals might easily take it as misinformation.
Correct.
I must admit, I’m looking forward to playing this game when it’s free on Gamepass
I hope it does gang busters. I hope it makes so much money that developers pile hundreds of millions into other lesser known titles working hand-in-hand with Sweet Babies. The Modern Audience will love it!
Of course you must realize that those Steam numbers for the original series aren't indicative of those games success. None of those games launched on Steam and only fairly recently came to Steam not so long ago which was also true for the ME series. I played "Origins" in 2009 on the 360. Later, I played "Dragon Age 2" also on the 360. By the time of "Inquisition, " I had already made the switch to PC and retroactively bought the others on PC. There was no Steam option for any of these games, you had to use EA's Origins launcher, which is now defunct. "Veilguard" will be the very first actual DA game launched on Steam on the same day as it debuts. EA only added Bioware games to Steam in 2019, many years after they debuted.
Idk, as someone who's actually playing the game.. it's good? I don't really understand all the hate, its not the best game ive ever played, but the dialogue is no better or worse than any other triple AAA game. Sometimes it's incredibly clever or funny or emotional and other times it falls flat, but the same is true for god of war of spiderman or bg3 or any big game. The environments look awesome, the combat is snappy, the characters are interesting, and the world is absolutely still dragon age. I don't get everyone saying they took the gritty darkness out of the world when the last mission I played literally had a dude getting choked to death during a ritual sacrifice in which he was crucified ala Jesus. Like... how is that "Disney-ified?"
As soon as you said the dialogue is no better or worse then other aaa games I knew you were a w0k3 narcissist with a 14 syllable pronoun and 30 face piercings....the dialogue is the biggest reason everyone who isn't a gender obsessed npc can't stand it.
Characters obsessed with gender identity are narcissistic, pretentious, 1 dimensional, and extremely boring and unrelatable.
I bought anthem. I loved that game, yes in spite of it's many flaws I LOVED Anthem. Seeing what Bioware did to that game is so incredibly brutally mind blowingly frustrating that no I will never preorder another EA game ever again. And I am quite glad I didn't preorder this. Now I'm seeing it played on twitch this game simply doesn't have the gameplay, class design or character designs I'm looking for. Why can the necromancer mage class the player plays unable to summon? I feel totally shafted. I feel like I can't even play anything I want to likke in DA:O, DA2, and inquisition I DID enjoy party control and where is that here? I am absolutely blown away at how gutted the game is.
I will not forget anthem, and ends up that promise I made myself to not preorder an EA game after Anthem... yeah. Good thing I didn't preorder and held true.
Your closing remarks actually hit home. As an Ugandan leaving in Germany, the cultural shock I received sent me spiralling into a deep dark depression. I pulled myself out of as many circles as I could that challenged my “normal” world view and got better. It’s about 3 months now since I regained some control. Once in a while I spiral back (that’s how I’ve landed here) but I’m glad I spiralled onto this particular video. I’ll abandon this circle of interest around veilguard and head back to my general love for video games 😊
In the codex, in the game, when you go to view a city or area you're in for lore, half of the codex entry talks about sexual practices.
Dude, they left the DA: Inquisition dlc off at a perfect cliffhanger for this game. They had really cool lore and characters to build off of and had almost a decade to get it right...and they fucked it up for virtue signaling points 🤣🤣
Let's not even get started on the lead dev being a complete piece of shit...I'm glad the game is getting ratio'd just to spite him.
Real question is when did content creators have so much weight?
Like... More than 10 years ago? Im not even joking. Its been that long since RUclips creators have more weight than any gaming news sites
Last time i was actively looking for a IGN review was when everyone was waiting to play BlackOps2, we are at BO6 now💀💀💀
Im just cleaning my desk right now, thanks to your advice, it was bothering me for so many days but I didnt have energy to do it.
Notice how the game exclusively uses sans serif lettering.
If you don't know the history of these kind of fonts in terms of their relation to 20th century Soviet/USSR propaganda, I implore you to research it. This wasn't by mistake.
Pandering aside, the game looks just..bad. It may end up being an okay Fantasy Game, but this isn't Dragon Age. The art direction, the redesigns to the Qunari and Darkspawn, the Pixar look. The dialogue and writing I've seen has been down right childish. The puzzles are insulting. The lack of two handed swords in a medieval fantasy game. The lack of choice in the dialogue, the lack of previous choices not mattering, getting rid of The Keep. The list goes on and on before I get to paying $70 for a questline that's going to lecture me on misgendering.
The biggest issue with game is you don't have the option to be bad especially with your companions really amazing for a role-playing game 🙄
Modern Age: Panguard
I pre-order, but last night after watching so many people on RUclips complaining about how WOKE the game was, I cancelled my order
NEVER PRE-ORDER. Pre-ordering is for blue pill corpo cucks.
dragon age has always been woke. wtf are you talking about
Good, I hope lots of ppl do the same.
@@craybest Having a gay character doesn't make the game woke.
@@talimancern7724 no, a 3 minutes lecture on misgendering in a game that supposed to be dark fantasy does.
Hey, thanks for the ending and some psychological tips/reminders i needed those.
Im not buying it because I was expecting a game similar to Origins. This game is for new players not fans. We are fans due to previous games, lore, novels etc. Veilguard is like a new IP
I have stopped watching reviews from any "well-known" source. I just know how this all works.
Views = profit.
To get views = to get access to the game before launch and to be the first to roll out review.
To get access = to be "nice" to big companies.
Dumpsters like IGN have such "reviews", where you feel someone is reading a description from publisher's announcement.
u also forgot to say bitching about or trashing things=view=profits for content creaters
This is about consumers becoming aware of what they are buying. Don't trust marketing spin, don't trust shills.. just be highly skeptical of all of your purchases.
I used to have this game on my wishlist but given the heavy handed politics on full display I have moved it to my ignored list. I really wish these company's would get it into their brains that we play games to get AWAY from real life and politics, not to swim in it like some diseased eel.
I honestly couldn't care less about so called DEI stuff people pitch a fit and piss and moan about, make a good game and I'll check it out. The instant i see a review start wailing about DEI I move on.
is the gameplay good?
is the narrative good?
are the controls good?
do the visuals fit the purpose and have good art direction?
Exactly! You could have 99 legitimate criticisms of the game, but the moment you start to complain that the game is “too woke”, you lose all credibility. It comes off as troll behavior.
@@Mike_2501 Its a valid point. You cant invalidate someones opinion
@@Mike_2501 The opposite should also be valid then. They could have 99% legitimate praise and the moment they start praising the inclusivity etc, they lose all credibility?
@@robcampion9917 No, because praising inclusivity means you accept that people different from you exist. Criticizing inclusivity means you reject the reality that people different from you exist. It means that you are upset by the mere idea of people who are not the same race, gender, or orientation as you. There’s a word for people like that… I can’t seem to remember what it’s called when you hate people for their race or gender. Hmmmm… well, let’s just say that your opinion is immediately irrelevant if you hate people for being different from you, because it means your hatred taints all your other points and nothing else you say can be taken in good faith.
@@Mike_2501 Oh, so it's one rule for you and another for me. And your last sentence works both ways, because it sound like you hate people that think differently to you making you not inclusive and therefor in your own words making your opinion "immediately irrelevant".
This ruins my hopes for Mass Effect
When our culture eventually shifts to normalcy and strange things are seen for what they are. I wonder how the new generation of gamers will look at these types of games.
With disgust.
You're just bigots if you don't like the game....and it's gonna be your fault if the game flops.....
:D
Yes it will......and the developers for listening to bl@ckr0ck over the gaming community
They did solas so dirty, who they portrayed. Isnt it kinda ironic that in some metaphorical way solas stands stands for the audience . They took what we love made it horrible for us to withness and then to gaslight us that we are "tourists"
Misgendering must be worse than genocide cause countries have apologized and moved on without doing no push-ups..smh..
I have followed Dragon Age since Origins and I cannot allow Myself to just let this go. I WILL purchase the game, it's a lock, nuff said.
I enjoyed your interest and influence circles you talked about, and I have many varied interests that I have to make time for, but My influence circle is tiny, so it doesn't matter what My thoughts are cause they are not often considered. I wish I was in a position to influence others, because SO many of us have forgotten things like Loyalty, Honor, and integrity so there for need to be reminded how to be REAL. I subscribed and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.
With the value of money/time today, how is anyone surprised? Another game to line the gutter with.
I used to love DA series…
I quite liked dragonage 2, personally. Had the best characters in the series, imo.
Last of us 2 is a great example of having w0k3 elements without being a hr training video....there was just 1 passive conversation (not a cut scene) where lilly asked abby if she wanted to know why her former scar allies referred to her with a different gender name...abby said "not if you don't want to" and they left it at that.....
THAT WAS GREAT AND ACTUALLY FELT REAL.....SHE WASN'T OBSESSED ABOUT IT.
the conversations in this game like the push up pronoun or the "feel like a man" discussions are so pretentious and phony.....takes you right out of the game and especially out of midevil vibe, lore, character, etc
Imagine hopping into a time machine, landing in a 2011 Dragon Age forum, and delivering this: "Guess what, in 2024, BioWare will release the next Dragon Age. But brace yourselves! It's packed with writing that preaches irrelevant social justice issues, while suffering through humor that feels plucked from the reject pile of Marvel scripts. Remember those choices you loved? Poof! Gone. Instead, you're trapped in an endless loop with zero meaningful outcomes. And say goodbye to the drama of losing companions, they've all discovered immortality.
But wait, there's more! The gameplay? It's a thrilling ride of brain-numbing button-mashing, requiring the dexterity of flipping a light switch. The art style? You’ll be greeted by visuals resembling a toddler’s animated daydream, stripped of any serious thematic depth. Yup, It’s just another soulless action-adventure doing its best RPG impersonation."
Can you see their faces? They’d laugh you out of the forum, thinking you’re out of your mind. Yet, here we are, witnessing just how far BioWare/Western Triple A industry have tumbled down the rabbit hole.
Started playing it last night and can't wait for the weekend
How a sane and logical person could look at, play, and listen to the dialogue of this game rate it anything other than a 4 is baffling and defies all sensibility. We all make jokes about IGN and other review sites, but this has gone way too far., and is the most sincere form of gaslighting I have seen in gaming publications to date. Please keep your money in your wallets and do not even "to see how bad it is" make purchases of this game.
No one in their right mind would have thought that the follow up to inquisition, while it was not a perfect game, would be a wax figure claymation mobile game with dialogue written by 3 year olds. I can honestly say that if you somehow enjoy this game, props to you, but please do not ask me to understand. You are objectively enjoying something that is akin to scam and a dumpster fire.
Now a days MY motto is, "If it's "aaa" then...stAAAy awAAAy.
It’s so true that this trick only works once - at least it did with me. As a new gamer I fell for the corpo-crap from Capcom with Dragons Dogma 2. Now Capcom is on my Do Not Employ list, and I’ll never buy any game on day one ever again.
I just played two hours of it and I'm loving it!
I’m not likely to buy Veilguard until it’s on deep discount or ever. I had bought the Origins bundle and the other DA games through Steam, signed into my EA account and wandered off for a couple of months. When I came back, I couldn’t access any dlc or even my EA account. I have yet to fix it as I don’t feel like jumping through several hoops to get it back. So, not likely to play any Dragon Age games any time soon
Very well said. Loved the advice at the end.
When is this Feilguard released?
In two hours, I think.
I made my mind up after the release of Starfield.
The amount of hate that game got for simply being a Bethesda game was insane. People want to say it was woke because there is a pronoun option while ignoring Baldurs gate 3, which was released before and having ten times more woke options in that game.
People just need to play video games and have fun. If you don't like the game, play something else.
Yeah I wouldn’t say StarField is woke. I pushback on people using that label willynilly
I loved the ending message 🙏
Having an interest in philosophy and theology myself as well, I quite often entertain thoughts about the current 'culture war' and how political narratives are seemingly pushed into the games we all love and enjoy; I can't offer any 'solutions,' nor do I have any leverage as an individual man to see these through. But I think we collectively lack good faith mediators or some possible mechanisms of mediation between the "woke" and "anti-woke" crowds in general (I am aware there are nuances in this regard with people). I am also not sold on the belief that there is pure, unbiased objectivity; neither are political narratives altogether absent from any work of art, including video games. The anti-woke, 'traditional' crowd also have their bugbears in media and entertainment, amongst other public spaces -- it's just that it has been normalized and integrated into western social expectations and mores much longer than the "woke" ethos of the trans, gays, etc. So, I have no problem with the latter getting more representation. The hyper-commodification of this "anti-western" ethos is indeed excessive but is to be expected with a highly saturated corporate technocracy. There are, unfortunately, false beliefs on both "sides" -- left and right -- which will integrate in the flow of time.
I waited ten years lmao
Here’s the thing. It’s fine to have messaging like this if that’s your audience. The main issue is that if you’re appealing to the average gamer demographic this shit doesn’t resonate, it never will. It’s niche
They believe because everyone has to sit through a DEI lecture by an anti white racist at work, that we love their degenerate racist ideology in our spare time. No thanks!
I think this will probably sell about a million copies. It has existing franchise advantage and lots of streamers will be buying it to review
dude what was the point of using ai generated stock footage of blacksmithing on loop near the end
Dragon age veilguard is the same, in intent, as the Anita Sarkessian video about the Hitman game
Thanks for the coverage
This game is truely one of a kind, the kind that I and many others will never play
That kind of "communication management" worked with the vaccines a few years back so🤷🏻♂️
Inquisition was a triumphant return to form. VEILGUARD is literally a back peddle 15 plus years right back to D.A:2.
Lack of character and party customization
Lack of ability accessibility via lack of hotkeys
PARTY SIZE REDUCED from 3 companions & player character to 2 COMPANIONS AND PLAYER CHARACTER!!!!!
INABILITY TO CONTROL PARTY MEMBERS (WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN A THING) and that mechanic alone is a marquee feature that helped differentiate the D.A series from the Mass Effect Series.
CONCLUSION- WORSE THAN D.A.2 WHO TF THOUGBT IT WAS POSSIBLE
and after Inquisition bow tf do you go backwards and REMOVE key features and mechanics that literally made D.A. , D.A!!!!!!!!