The 'everyone's a Mage' problem and it lacking any sort of weight was kind of one of my own pet peeves while I was playing as well. Sure we're in Tevinter now where it's basically just magical cyberpunk, but it still feels so weird how little it matters to be a Mage in Veilguard. Hell I didn't even know Bellara was a Mage until I saw her class icon in the pause menu. I just thought she was a Rogue. And could you blame me? There's an entire Specialisation for Rogue called Veil Archer that looks like exactly what Bellara is doing. Her weapon of choice is even a BOW. Doesn't help that for the characters who ARE Mages, it hardly seems to play a role in their personal stories. Neve makes mention of her uncle not exploiting her despite it once, but that's about it. Bellara makes one casual mention of being a Mage in a conversation between other characters at the tail end of the game, which seems like it matters very little. Emmerich's magic DOES actually play into his story a little, mostly with regards to his fear of death and wishing to overcome it. But 1 out of 3 isn't exactly a passing grade last I checked. I was engaged enough to see Veilguard through to the end, but I'm in no rush to go back. Especially with how long the damn thing takes to download. It's a mid game for me. And that's not inherently a bad thing. Lots of mid games can be loads of fun, if they speak to you as a person. But as I said: I'm in no rush to play it again. And for a game that has replayability as one of its selling points with its choices, that's not really good. Honestly in a way I'm glad I played Veilguard because it's helped me with some perspective in regards to writing. So it's helped me with that at least.
Legit never once used a rune in my playthrough because I kept forgetting lmao. Excellent video with an excellent take, especially regarding the magic. I literally turn into a murder of crows when I dodge, when TF did my rogue learn to shapeshift?? Anyway, you've earned a new subscriber from this disgruntled gaming journalist. Keep up the great work!
Most of the early game runes are very underwhelming, so you don't really miss out on much by forgetting them. And they're not at all integral to combat. They're more like a little side bonus, which is actually pretty sad and has to make one wonder if it wasn't just a tacked-on system they didn't know what to do with. But I eventually found the one that applies the Weakened Primer as an AoE, and paired it with my three-second-cooldown warrior ability that denotates weakened, which actually ended up being pretty useful. But even then, it never felt important to my build.
For me, it was just too shiny. I understand that the messaging could have been reworked to NOT BE SO OBVIOUS! 🤣🤣😂😂I can totally see myself picking this up on a sale. It looks like a blast to play, but I will miss the agonizing choices that came with a simple conversation and having the option to totally be an a-hole. Not that I'm a player who prides himself on playing a Renegade mode, but just being able to have the option to for whatever reason, be a total jerk for a scene of two and have it feel that way. For example: In Mass Effect, I was a goody goody but _I punched that reporter when the opportunity presented itself!_ Another example was in Path of the Righteous where I'm playing an Inquisitor, a good but slightly fanatical kinda gal, and I came across a "hero" who burned a family to death because they _might_ be infected with whatever it was. I totally was ready to kill him, but my party member, the burned elf girl, basically forgave him. So, I ended up not killing him... yet. I feel that in the veilguard that wouldn't have even been a choice. Nice review!
Not to mention that when you first meet Taash she basically says she doesn't need/want your help and she doesn't want to join you on your quest. And she snaps at one of your companions within the in game banter.
Well, to be fair, you have to consider those things in context. When you first meet her, she doesn't know who you are. She assumes you're someone sent from the Lords of Fortune to deal with a dragon, not realizing you're there to recruit her. She thinks you're like a rival in the organization, and she perceives your help as an insult to her abilities. That's pretty understandable given what we learn about the inner workings of the Lords; lots of one-upsmanship and competition. She also specifically states at the end of the recruitment quest that joining Rook and the gang IS what she wanted. She's just mad because it's initially decided for her, by her mother, which ties in to her greater personal conflicts, between choosing who she is for herself, or trying to meet her mother's expectations. And slight Taash spoiler below for anyone who reads this and both hasn't played the game cares about being spoiled: Taash snaps at multiple companions, as well as Rook, throughout the story. The point of their character arc is that they start off as a woman, who doesn't feel feminine and is trying to, begrudgingly, meet their mother's aforementioned expectations. Their mom wants them to be a conventional Qunari woman, whereas Taash doesn't feel like much of either. But they love their mother and some part of them wants to meet those expectations. When Taash criticizes Neve, for example, for the way she dresses, that's symbolic of the inner part of Taash that speaks with their mother's voice. Those are the kinds of things Taash would expect their own mother to criticize about them, and they externalize it toward Neve as a proxy for themselves. Taash is filled with contradictory feelings between what their mother wants for them and what they want for themselves. That's why they're so angry, and also why they lash out at others. If I remember right, by the end of the story, if you help Taash resolve their inner conflicts and come to peace with who they are, their demeanor ends up gradually changing. They're generally much less angry overall, as well as being more aware of what anger issues they do still have. Taash's story had a lot of potential, honestly. It just wasn't told very well. And I didn't find the writing or the voice performance for the character to be all that convincing or compelling. Sorry for the long reply. It's a complicated topic with Taash, and requires sufficient consideration. I wouldn't, at all, blame you if you didn't read this far, through. But, I hope you did.
I'm guessing you're referring to the last scene of the movie, with the little boy. I always had a different interpretation of what it symbolized. Is it confirmed that it implies that all living beings throughout the galaxy suddenly have force powers activated? I definitely wouldn't be surprised if that's the direction that Disney has allowed Star Wars to go in. I'm just not sure that's the case based on that one particular scene.
@@GroundedTakeGaming no im talking about the whole movie breaking major parts of starwars lore. also rian jonson did release a statement saying that is exactly what the intention of the scene was
@@MBoeltje41 Oh, the movie definitely failed to pay due respect to the franchise. Sadly, I don't see that getting any better in the future. And that general dynamic of a mega-corp buying out an artistic franchise and running it into the dirty, perfectly reflects the nature of the modern games industry. But where exactly did you see Rian Johnson's statement about the ending? I'd like to read/watch it.
I agree with most of your takes, but the combat? Definitely not. Unless I'm playing an MMO I only play single player/solo, I still expect a deep, feature packed and tactical skill and combat system. The combat in this game is repetitive, bland and the enemies are boring, repetitive and spongy AF. Players should *NEVER* feel the need to lower the game difficulty out of sheer boredom because a boss fight takes 50 minutes purely due to the sponginess. The skill tree is chock full of passive bloat that's mostly meaningless, and the tactical aspect is non-existent. If players want a deep, tactical, player friendly but still endlessly challenging, POE2 is what I'd recommend. There are boss fights that give REALLY strong 'boss from DA:2 and DA:I" vibes. There are no button combos, it's all "x button = X ability", so they are logical and consistent while still being versatile. Best of all, there are ACTUAL tactics that need to be honoured. Totally agree about the language, and as someone who DOES identify as nonbinary, I hate... HATE... how they use the term in this game. The Qunari HAS a term for gender-queer! Their mother USED that word and was shot down by Taash for it! It's so jarring!! There is not a single aspect of this game that I find in any way enticing, and that's coming from someone who's neck deep in what is allegedly the "target market" for the game - half a dozen marginalised identifiers, purple hair and a rabid DA player since DA:O pre-order. I'm so freaking glad there are companies like Larian, GGG and Owlcat out there, because what was my absolute favourite "guaranteed buy" studio is now on my "deleted my account, instructed EA to remove all my player details, and blacklisted both the studios and the devs involved in the game" list. I've given this studio so, SO many second chances. This was their final shot and they fucked it.
It's funny that you mention it, as I actually watched a good few other reviews after finishing my own and was surprised how critical many others were of the combat system. I genuinely enjoyed my 2h warrior build for about 60-70% percent of the game. The rest of the time (about 30-40%) was just as you say, "repetitive, bland, boring." I wondered why my take might be so different and decided to start a second playthrough as a mage, to get a feel for combat as another class, and I just couldn't play it for more than a few hours. Part of it might have just been residual burnout from my first playthrough, but there was something about the nature of mage gameplay that just didn't resonate with me. And I now believe that's the crux of the issue. DA: Veilguard has some of the best and worst combat in the series. I happened to have struck gold on my very first playthrough. I found a class/build combination that perfectly resonated with me on an individual level, and that left me with an overall favorable opinion of the combat system. I love 2h warrior combat (when it's done well) and I think Veilguard nailed the core of the playstyle/feel. So whether or not someone enjoys the combat system, really depends on whether there's a build that resonates with them, and also whether or not they happen to stumble upon it. Interestingly, I found a similar dynamic in Inquisition. I hated the feel of the 2h warrior builds, I only moderately liked the feel of the mage class, and I initially didn't enjoy the rogue class either. That is until I found the dual-dagger artificer rogue build and absolutely fell in love. That build alone carried me through two playthroughs of a game that I otherwise felt was merely "meh." Comparatively, I could find something to enjoy in every class/spec combination in DA: Origins. So, it makes me wonder if there's something about the way modern DA games are made that leads to such sporadic quality outcomes. Some classes and specs can work well for some players, whereas many others will completely flop.
@@GroundedTakeGaming I'm glad you managed to have fun with it. I can't imagine how tedious it must be for reviewers and content creators having to slog through 60-100 hours of gameplay and combat they have lol. I think I'm a little biased because the DA:O and BG3 styles of combat are my ideal. The closer it gets to action combat, the less I like it - with maybe 2-3 exceptions, like Diablo II and POE2. I also prefer to be given the option to control my companions and manage their abilities, health and positioning. I gravitate toward magic users and healing specifically. This game removed *all* of the parts of combat that I actually like and replaced it with everything I hate lol. There really was no hope for me 😅
@@noctoi Yeah, I think the change in combat design after Origins was completely unnecessary. So many developers started moving towards action combat systems in the 2010's, right around the time that massive publishers started consolidating their control over the industry, and usually arguing that older, slower paced RPG systems were becoming obsolete. Games like BG3 have since proven that said argument was a false premise from the outset. The system in Origins definitely had a lot of room for improvement, but to completely transition over to action-based combat felt like a decision made based on market trends, rather than creative passion. And gamers like us are the ones who lose out over these poor decisions. Your choice to abandon Bioware is completely justified and understandable.
The Qunari word doesn't mean non binary its more binary trans although I think the Qunari priesthood does contain both men and women. The Qun is very binary - but its also pragmatic so trans men who are talented warriors are allowed to fight and trans women who are gifted adminstrators or teachers are allowed to forfil that feminine coded law. If you're not trans and want to be a fem warrior or male tama (teacher) you have to live as if you are binary trans. This is of course the Iron Bull's take on this so it may be unreliable as either a mistake or a bit of spin for his trans second in command.
That's interesting. I didn't pickup up on that distinction when the character in Veilguard explains it in the dinner scene. One characters simply says they're non-binary. The other asks what that means. The first character explains it, and then the second explains that there's a word for that in the Qunari language. Maybe there was some misunderstanding, or failure of communication between the two characters in the scene if said Qunari word doesn't actually mean non-binary.
Thanks, I'm glad you think so! I'm still pretty new at the whole RUclips content creation thing. I don't really know how to promote my channel beyond simply publishing videos. And I don't mind growing an audience more gradually.
idk, everything you mentioned makes me think this is closer to mass effect 3, dragon age 2, and while copying elements from path of exile, while keeping it super safe. I hope the new mass effect learns from this and fixes what's wrong with this game.
I can't really comment on Path of Exile, but it definitely borrows heavily from ME3 and DA2 in some areas. But it also borrows from a whole slew of other games in lesser ways. Honestly, the general atmosphere, plus the gameplay, of Veilguard gave me Kingdom Hearts vibes more than anything. I certainly hope they learn from the mistakes of this game, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Nor am I confident that present-day Bioware is a studio that deserves to continue the legacy of the Mass Effect franchise.
This is a hot take: i don't think its a political problem by itself. Its a writing problem. Some ideias feel shoehorned because they are written as If they were meant for kids or even worse. It may be for a minority because they are wrong. But in most opinions around, id say its Just poor writing. Very poor writing across the board. Some aspects caught more flak because humans are Very prejudicable.
I agree completely. Poor writing is the primary issue driving the decline of so many major games developers in the industry. And it affects the movie industry as well. It seems like it's much easier for the industry to find talented artists to make their AAA games look pretty, than it is to find talented writers to make their game's world come to life. That's why we have so much superficial eye-candy being produced that feels utterly devoid of passion and inspiration.
This, this is it. Forced representation isn't good representation. Badly written representation doesn't do anyone any favors and if it has nothing to do with the story, it feels forced. Dorian was gay, and it was a problem not because Thedas hates gay people (it doesn't, there are tons of cultures in Thedas) but because he was from a noble Tevinter family and refused to "do his duty" as heir and marry a woman/have a baby under false pretenses. It was a very compelling story, and Dorian was already likable. If he just rocked up like "I'm gay, being gay sucks and also fck you for asking! BTW I'm gay and also [insert quippy Marvel dialogue]," no one would have liked him as a character, because he'd have been a shit character. Sadly, Taash got the shit character treatment.
I get where you’re coming from but in this case the two are very much correlated. The people who made this game have demonstrated that the political message they want to convey is a higher priority than the enjoyment of the player.
@@mikeydflyingtoaster Writing is the core issue, but is hidden, and poorly at that, behind a veil of insincere virtue signaling. Not to say that all the people who developed the game are insincere, but rather that the staff and upper corporate management, who determine the direction and messaging of the game, will often use virtue signaling as means of compensating for an otherwise bad or mediocre product. This is becoming a common trend in the industry with massive corporate publishers buying out major game developers and effectively running them into the ground. Appealing directly, and often clumsily, to this or that social virtue is a tactic that is shamelessly used as a means of garnering support and sales from at least some demographics in the gaming community, while covering up the inadequacies of the games they produce.
I agree. I mean, they could've just _shown_ a lot of Taash's stuff instead of her using a term that sounds odd in a fantasy setting. I know, because I've read Greek/roman history stuff, plus more recent articles from the 1970s and they talked about stuff like this but with a deft hand. The writers wrote this like it was their last time on Earth to highlight what they were getting across. I feel that settings such as these are the perfect vehicle where you can certainly frontload a lot of *ideas* and get away with it just by using terminology that's over 500 years old. That seemed to work, I remember tons of games that I look at now and I'm like, _"OH! That person was trans?! Shit! 13-year-old me had no idea! I mean, I kind of knew but it hits different now!"_ I think that approach worked the best. I remember movies from the 90s and early 2000s that knew how to do this without setting the whole plot aflame. Albeit it was a different social time, seemingly as a history guy, it's sometimes very difficult to tell folks bigotry takes *time* to erode. You can't just wave a magic wand and... _poof_ it disappears! Lastly, it's often hard to look at an idea and shave off some of the more aberrant parts of it.
I respect your review. I personally enjoyed the game and glad i bought and paid for it. Some of your criticism i can agree with like pacing and gear appearances. Overall though i enjoyed the game. Its not my favorite dragon age but i think its still a good game
Idk, I felt I used it appropriately. ambivalent meaning mixed or contradictory feelings. That's exactly how I felt about a few of Inquisition's companions. At times, they were well written and designed, but then at others they very much weren't. So in the end, I was so unsure how to feel about them, sometimes good and somtimes bad, that their relationship to the Inquisitor simply felt lukewarm. And then there was at least one or two that were so consistently poorly written/designed, that I just outright disliked them. Assuming, of course, you're talking about 24:20. If not, then I'm not sure what you're referring to. But thanks for watching. I'm glad you liked it.
There definitely have been a lot of rage bait videos, but I don’t think I would consider skillup’s review rage bait. He explained what he didn’t like, why he didn’t like it; and even says that it’s his personal opinion and other people might like it. I consider the videos that only rant about taash (despite never playing the game) and just talk about woke stuff as rage bait. Reviews from people who don’t like the game aren’t rage bait to me, even if I disagree with their reasons for not liking the game. I’ve been enjoying a lot of the more nuanced reviews coming out now that some time has passed! I think skillup and mrmatty had pretty nuanced tales for big RUclipsrs but I’ve found that smaller RUclipsrs have often had even more nuanced and well explained takes
@@sarawawa8984 Definitely. Something that these studios don't understand either - Well argued negative reviews and sentiments *don't equal rage bait or "bigotry"* . I wish more people would stop and listen to what's *actually* being said, instead of crying 'bigotry' and 'rage bait', because a *lot* of those complaints about these games are coming *from the marginalised communities they pretend to represent* . It's not necessarily the inclusion that's the problem, it's the *way it's presented* . Also, it's not "rage bait" to call a spade a spade... it the combat/writing/art/UI are unpleasant to the majority of people, that's *honest reporting* not rage bait!
@@noctoi I think some fans of veilguard are extremely defensive of the game, so it’s easier for them to just dismiss any criticism as ragebait or grifting. I don’t know why people take criticism about a game they didn’t even make so personally, but they do. Rather than actually engage with the arguments and opinions presented, it’s easier to attack the person. I have had people tell me (online) that I don’t like veilguard because I’m a tourist/not a true dragon age fan (I’ve played all the games too many times to count and have the lore books that I read cover to cover), that I didn’t actually play veilguard (played the whole thing and did majority of side quests too), that my opinion isn’t really my opinion and I’m just jumping on the hate bandwagon and my criticisms are just me regurgitating youtuber’s views (I actually avoided reviews before and while I played veilguard to avoid spoilers), that I’m just a hater/grifter (I don’t make any money from posting a comment criticizing veilguard so that just makes zero sense), and that I am media illiterate (this is a new one that’s being thrown around any time anyone says they don’t like a part of the game - aka “it’s not bad writing, you just are too dumb to understand it”). People will come up with any argument to invalidate your opinion, especially if they never have to engage with that opinion and it’s so frustrating! I would love to have someone explain to me how the writing is actually good and the level design is genius and the worldbuilding is nuanced and the lore revelations are well-executed, but no. I just get told I’m a fake fan/grifter/media illiterate. But I know what I think and why I think what I think. And I know I don’t need to engage with veilguard anymore (I had to delete Reddit so that I’m not tempted to get in pointless internet arguments though because I have no self control apparently lol)
Well, like I said in the video, "you're never wrong for you feel about a video game." 41:34 But that ultimately is only how YOU feel. And bear in mind that I had massive issues with the game and would have personally been happier having not played it. But there is definitely some good in this game as well. And I can see how, for some people, it would be a worthwhile investment of their time and money. To not allow ourselves to see from the perspective of others, only serves to narrow our own.
To everyone who complains your character is too nice and has no ability to be a jerk answer me one question. Would Varric recruit a jerk? Varric who is a good people reader, good guy and team player? Your other heroes stumble into the position of leader, Rook is recruited - big difference.
Team synergy definitely matters, but I kinda doubt Varric's first consideration in choosing his recruits was, "is this person a jerk." Someone can be a jerk and even potentially compromising to a team, but still be so practically effective and integral to an objective as to become irreplaceable. In fact, that's long been kind of a trope in the RPG genre. You know, the prickly, grumpy, possibly treacherous companion who's really good at what they do and can potentially be convinced to change their ways/mindset over the couse of the story. It's actually a great trope since it introduces conflict and complexity to a story. So, I think this whole notion that "Varric would never choose a jerk" is far too simplistic of a rationalization. And even if that rationale was sufficient enough to explain why Rook can only be nice, it was still, ultimately, a design CHOICE by the developer. They CHOSE to write the story the way they did; to write in Varric's team; to write in Rook's recruitment; to write in the nature of their relationship to one another. They actively CHOSE to rationalize making an effectively one-dimensional protagonist. Focusing the discussion merely on whether or not it's RATIONAL for Rook to only be nice, based on his recruitment by Varric, completely ignores the far more important and relevant question of whether or not it was a good narrative choice for a supposed RPG game.
@@GroundedTakeGamingthank you so much for this response! I have seen people make this argument for why rook is so bland/lack of roleplaying and your response perfectly captures the issue that people miss when trying to “justify” the decision to mark rook so nice and one-dimensional. As you said, ultimately it was a choice to make Rook’s reason for leading the team because Varric recruited them. So it was a choice to make room bland due to that. And honestly the Rook leading the team because varric recruited them isn’t even a great explanation for why Rook is in charge. For the other games there was either personal stakes and a slow build up of power (da2-hawke originally trying to just survive and slowly amassing power and authority due to actions over the course of the game) or the protagonist was the only one who could do what needed to be done (dao-last remaining wardens who are the only ones who can end blights, dai-only one with the power to close rifts). Veilguard does a bad job of establishing personal stakes (they totally wasted the potential for rook to feel guilty for unleashing evil gods and just have everyone pin the problem on solas) and doesn’t really have any special skill that makes them the only one suited to fighting this threat.
Varric did not approve of Hawke if he was a bastard and just because Varric was a spy master with a lot of underworld contacts didn't mean he didn't care about people or think their feelings and concerns were unimportant. There are times when being an Edgelord won't get the job done and I think Varric believes that it's not the best way to get the job done. He will chew out your Inquisitor for that too.
@@EmoBearRights Your point still falls flat because in the previous 3 games, Including 2 and Inquisition with Varric you can be a jerk to anyone and everyone and people can leave party or you refuse to recruit them. Vailguard making Rook 100% the nice guy and forcing you the player to be nice to everyone is against the essence of RPG because you're no longer role playing, you're doing a linear story with pre set characters. I should be allowed to disagree with someone if me as the player truly does disagree. Making every choice just be a variation of Nice guy takes away player choice and overall enjoyment. You saying Varric recruited Rook because he is a nice guy, He recruited Hawk but Hawk can be a jerk. He joined up and followed the Inquisitor who can be a bloodthirsty asshole. Varric can make the assumption we are good and we can be so if we choose. But when it's forced then it just sours the experience.
I never thought that i will be watching a video essay about a game I never played
Haha, browsing RUclips can be funny like that.
Im glad you mentioned the mage issue. No one mentions it but it almost feels like rook is a mage no matter the class they pick.
The 'everyone's a Mage' problem and it lacking any sort of weight was kind of one of my own pet peeves while I was playing as well. Sure we're in Tevinter now where it's basically just magical cyberpunk, but it still feels so weird how little it matters to be a Mage in Veilguard. Hell I didn't even know Bellara was a Mage until I saw her class icon in the pause menu. I just thought she was a Rogue. And could you blame me? There's an entire Specialisation for Rogue called Veil Archer that looks like exactly what Bellara is doing. Her weapon of choice is even a BOW.
Doesn't help that for the characters who ARE Mages, it hardly seems to play a role in their personal stories. Neve makes mention of her uncle not exploiting her despite it once, but that's about it. Bellara makes one casual mention of being a Mage in a conversation between other characters at the tail end of the game, which seems like it matters very little. Emmerich's magic DOES actually play into his story a little, mostly with regards to his fear of death and wishing to overcome it. But 1 out of 3 isn't exactly a passing grade last I checked.
I was engaged enough to see Veilguard through to the end, but I'm in no rush to go back. Especially with how long the damn thing takes to download.
It's a mid game for me. And that's not inherently a bad thing. Lots of mid games can be loads of fun, if they speak to you as a person. But as I said: I'm in no rush to play it again. And for a game that has replayability as one of its selling points with its choices, that's not really good.
Honestly in a way I'm glad I played Veilguard because it's helped me with some perspective in regards to writing. So it's helped me with that at least.
Legit never once used a rune in my playthrough because I kept forgetting lmao. Excellent video with an excellent take, especially regarding the magic. I literally turn into a murder of crows when I dodge, when TF did my rogue learn to shapeshift?? Anyway, you've earned a new subscriber from this disgruntled gaming journalist. Keep up the great work!
Most of the early game runes are very underwhelming, so you don't really miss out on much by forgetting them. And they're not at all integral to combat. They're more like a little side bonus, which is actually pretty sad and has to make one wonder if it wasn't just a tacked-on system they didn't know what to do with.
But I eventually found the one that applies the Weakened Primer as an AoE, and paired it with my three-second-cooldown warrior ability that denotates weakened, which actually ended up being pretty useful. But even then, it never felt important to my build.
For me, it was just too shiny. I understand that the messaging could have been reworked to NOT BE SO OBVIOUS! 🤣🤣😂😂I can totally see myself picking this up on a sale. It looks like a blast to play, but I will miss the agonizing choices that came with a simple conversation and having the option to totally be an a-hole. Not that I'm a player who prides himself on playing a Renegade mode, but just being able to have the option to for whatever reason, be a total jerk for a scene of two and have it feel that way. For example: In Mass Effect, I was a goody goody but _I punched that reporter when the opportunity presented itself!_
Another example was in Path of the Righteous where I'm playing an Inquisitor, a good but slightly fanatical kinda gal, and I came across a "hero" who burned a family to death because they _might_ be infected with whatever it was. I totally was ready to kill him, but my party member, the burned elf girl, basically forgave him. So, I ended up not killing him... yet. I feel that in the veilguard that wouldn't have even been a choice.
Nice review!
Not to mention that when you first meet Taash she basically says she doesn't need/want your help and she doesn't want to join you on your quest. And she snaps at one of your companions within the in game banter.
Well, to be fair, you have to consider those things in context.
When you first meet her, she doesn't know who you are. She assumes you're someone sent from the Lords of Fortune to deal with a dragon, not realizing you're there to recruit her. She thinks you're like a rival in the organization, and she perceives your help as an insult to her abilities. That's pretty understandable given what we learn about the inner workings of the Lords; lots of one-upsmanship and competition.
She also specifically states at the end of the recruitment quest that joining Rook and the gang IS what she wanted. She's just mad because it's initially decided for her, by her mother, which ties in to her greater personal conflicts, between choosing who she is for herself, or trying to meet her mother's expectations.
And slight Taash spoiler below for anyone who reads this and both hasn't played the game cares about being spoiled:
Taash snaps at multiple companions, as well as Rook, throughout the story. The point of their character arc is that they start off as a woman, who doesn't feel feminine and is trying to, begrudgingly, meet their mother's aforementioned expectations. Their mom wants them to be a conventional Qunari woman, whereas Taash doesn't feel like much of either. But they love their mother and some part of them wants to meet those expectations.
When Taash criticizes Neve, for example, for the way she dresses, that's symbolic of the inner part of Taash that speaks with their mother's voice. Those are the kinds of things Taash would expect their own mother to criticize about them, and they externalize it toward Neve as a proxy for themselves.
Taash is filled with contradictory feelings between what their mother wants for them and what they want for themselves. That's why they're so angry, and also why they lash out at others. If I remember right, by the end of the story, if you help Taash resolve their inner conflicts and come to peace with who they are, their demeanor ends up gradually changing. They're generally much less angry overall, as well as being more aware of what anger issues they do still have.
Taash's story had a lot of potential, honestly. It just wasn't told very well. And I didn't find the writing or the voice performance for the character to be all that convincing or compelling.
Sorry for the long reply. It's a complicated topic with Taash, and requires sufficient consideration. I wouldn't, at all, blame you if you didn't read this far, through. But, I hope you did.
about your part on starwars.. as a starwars fan i have to say this. ' rian johnson did exactly that with the last jedi...'
I'm guessing you're referring to the last scene of the movie, with the little boy. I always had a different interpretation of what it symbolized. Is it confirmed that it implies that all living beings throughout the galaxy suddenly have force powers activated?
I definitely wouldn't be surprised if that's the direction that Disney has allowed Star Wars to go in. I'm just not sure that's the case based on that one particular scene.
@@GroundedTakeGaming no im talking about the whole movie breaking major parts of starwars lore. also rian jonson did release a statement saying that is exactly what the intention of the scene was
@@MBoeltje41 Oh, the movie definitely failed to pay due respect to the franchise. Sadly, I don't see that getting any better in the future. And that general dynamic of a mega-corp buying out an artistic franchise and running it into the dirty, perfectly reflects the nature of the modern games industry.
But where exactly did you see Rian Johnson's statement about the ending? I'd like to read/watch it.
We need a run faster mod I think. Also only buy it when it goes on sale or if possible share it with a friend.
I agree with most of your takes, but the combat? Definitely not. Unless I'm playing an MMO I only play single player/solo, I still expect a deep, feature packed and tactical skill and combat system. The combat in this game is repetitive, bland and the enemies are boring, repetitive and spongy AF. Players should *NEVER* feel the need to lower the game difficulty out of sheer boredom because a boss fight takes 50 minutes purely due to the sponginess. The skill tree is chock full of passive bloat that's mostly meaningless, and the tactical aspect is non-existent.
If players want a deep, tactical, player friendly but still endlessly challenging, POE2 is what I'd recommend. There are boss fights that give REALLY strong 'boss from DA:2 and DA:I" vibes. There are no button combos, it's all "x button = X ability", so they are logical and consistent while still being versatile. Best of all, there are ACTUAL tactics that need to be honoured.
Totally agree about the language, and as someone who DOES identify as nonbinary, I hate... HATE... how they use the term in this game. The Qunari HAS a term for gender-queer! Their mother USED that word and was shot down by Taash for it! It's so jarring!!
There is not a single aspect of this game that I find in any way enticing, and that's coming from someone who's neck deep in what is allegedly the "target market" for the game - half a dozen marginalised identifiers, purple hair and a rabid DA player since DA:O pre-order.
I'm so freaking glad there are companies like Larian, GGG and Owlcat out there, because what was my absolute favourite "guaranteed buy" studio is now on my "deleted my account, instructed EA to remove all my player details, and blacklisted both the studios and the devs involved in the game" list. I've given this studio so, SO many second chances. This was their final shot and they fucked it.
It's funny that you mention it, as I actually watched a good few other reviews after finishing my own and was surprised how critical many others were of the combat system. I genuinely enjoyed my 2h warrior build for about 60-70% percent of the game. The rest of the time (about 30-40%) was just as you say, "repetitive, bland, boring." I wondered why my take might be so different and decided to start a second playthrough as a mage, to get a feel for combat as another class, and I just couldn't play it for more than a few hours. Part of it might have just been residual burnout from my first playthrough, but there was something about the nature of mage gameplay that just didn't resonate with me. And I now believe that's the crux of the issue.
DA: Veilguard has some of the best and worst combat in the series. I happened to have struck gold on my very first playthrough. I found a class/build combination that perfectly resonated with me on an individual level, and that left me with an overall favorable opinion of the combat system. I love 2h warrior combat (when it's done well) and I think Veilguard nailed the core of the playstyle/feel. So whether or not someone enjoys the combat system, really depends on whether there's a build that resonates with them, and also whether or not they happen to stumble upon it.
Interestingly, I found a similar dynamic in Inquisition. I hated the feel of the 2h warrior builds, I only moderately liked the feel of the mage class, and I initially didn't enjoy the rogue class either. That is until I found the dual-dagger artificer rogue build and absolutely fell in love. That build alone carried me through two playthroughs of a game that I otherwise felt was merely "meh."
Comparatively, I could find something to enjoy in every class/spec combination in DA: Origins. So, it makes me wonder if there's something about the way modern DA games are made that leads to such sporadic quality outcomes. Some classes and specs can work well for some players, whereas many others will completely flop.
@@GroundedTakeGaming I'm glad you managed to have fun with it. I can't imagine how tedious it must be for reviewers and content creators having to slog through 60-100 hours of gameplay and combat they have lol.
I think I'm a little biased because the DA:O and BG3 styles of combat are my ideal. The closer it gets to action combat, the less I like it - with maybe 2-3 exceptions, like Diablo II and POE2.
I also prefer to be given the option to control my companions and manage their abilities, health and positioning. I gravitate toward magic users and healing specifically. This game removed *all* of the parts of combat that I actually like and replaced it with everything I hate lol. There really was no hope for me 😅
@@noctoi Yeah, I think the change in combat design after Origins was completely unnecessary. So many developers started moving towards action combat systems in the 2010's, right around the time that massive publishers started consolidating their control over the industry, and usually arguing that older, slower paced RPG systems were becoming obsolete. Games like BG3 have since proven that said argument was a false premise from the outset.
The system in Origins definitely had a lot of room for improvement, but to completely transition over to action-based combat felt like a decision made based on market trends, rather than creative passion.
And gamers like us are the ones who lose out over these poor decisions. Your choice to abandon Bioware is completely justified and understandable.
The Qunari word doesn't mean non binary its more binary trans although I think the Qunari priesthood does contain both men and women. The Qun is very binary - but its also pragmatic so trans men who are talented warriors are allowed to fight and trans women who are gifted adminstrators or teachers are allowed to forfil that feminine coded law. If you're not trans and want to be a fem warrior or male tama (teacher) you have to live as if you are binary trans. This is of course the Iron Bull's take on this so it may be unreliable as either a mistake or a bit of spin for his trans second in command.
That's interesting. I didn't pickup up on that distinction when the character in Veilguard explains it in the dinner scene. One characters simply says they're non-binary. The other asks what that means. The first character explains it, and then the second explains that there's a word for that in the Qunari language. Maybe there was some misunderstanding, or failure of communication between the two characters in the scene if said Qunari word doesn't actually mean non-binary.
The video is great, you need to keep promoting your channel. Is not hard.
Thanks, I'm glad you think so!
I'm still pretty new at the whole RUclips content creation thing. I don't really know how to promote my channel beyond simply publishing videos.
And I don't mind growing an audience more gradually.
idk, everything you mentioned makes me think this is closer to mass effect 3, dragon age 2, and while copying elements from path of exile, while keeping it super safe.
I hope the new mass effect learns from this and fixes what's wrong with this game.
I can't really comment on Path of Exile, but it definitely borrows heavily from ME3 and DA2 in some areas. But it also borrows from a whole slew of other games in lesser ways. Honestly, the general atmosphere, plus the gameplay, of Veilguard gave me Kingdom Hearts vibes more than anything.
I certainly hope they learn from the mistakes of this game, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Nor am I confident that present-day Bioware is a studio that deserves to continue the legacy of the Mass Effect franchise.
This is a hot take: i don't think its a political problem by itself. Its a writing problem. Some ideias feel shoehorned because they are written as If they were meant for kids or even worse. It may be for a minority because they are wrong. But in most opinions around, id say its Just poor writing. Very poor writing across the board. Some aspects caught more flak because humans are Very prejudicable.
I agree completely. Poor writing is the primary issue driving the decline of so many major games developers in the industry. And it affects the movie industry as well. It seems like it's much easier for the industry to find talented artists to make their AAA games look pretty, than it is to find talented writers to make their game's world come to life. That's why we have so much superficial eye-candy being produced that feels utterly devoid of passion and inspiration.
This, this is it. Forced representation isn't good representation. Badly written representation doesn't do anyone any favors and if it has nothing to do with the story, it feels forced. Dorian was gay, and it was a problem not because Thedas hates gay people (it doesn't, there are tons of cultures in Thedas) but because he was from a noble Tevinter family and refused to "do his duty" as heir and marry a woman/have a baby under false pretenses. It was a very compelling story, and Dorian was already likable. If he just rocked up like "I'm gay, being gay sucks and also fck you for asking! BTW I'm gay and also [insert quippy Marvel dialogue]," no one would have liked him as a character, because he'd have been a shit character. Sadly, Taash got the shit character treatment.
I get where you’re coming from but in this case the two are very much correlated. The people who made this game have demonstrated that the political message they want to convey is a higher priority than the enjoyment of the player.
@@mikeydflyingtoaster Writing is the core issue, but is hidden, and poorly at that, behind a veil of insincere virtue signaling. Not to say that all the people who developed the game are insincere, but rather that the staff and upper corporate management, who determine the direction and messaging of the game, will often use virtue signaling as means of compensating for an otherwise bad or mediocre product.
This is becoming a common trend in the industry with massive corporate publishers buying out major game developers and effectively running them into the ground. Appealing directly, and often clumsily, to this or that social virtue is a tactic that is shamelessly used as a means of garnering support and sales from at least some demographics in the gaming community, while covering up the inadequacies of the games they produce.
I agree. I mean, they could've just _shown_ a lot of Taash's stuff instead of her using a term that sounds odd in a fantasy setting. I know, because I've read Greek/roman history stuff, plus more recent articles from the 1970s and they talked about stuff like this but with a deft hand. The writers wrote this like it was their last time on Earth to highlight what they were getting across. I feel that settings such as these are the perfect vehicle where you can certainly frontload a lot of *ideas* and get away with it just by using terminology that's over 500 years old. That seemed to work, I remember tons of games that I look at now and I'm like, _"OH! That person was trans?! Shit! 13-year-old me had no idea! I mean, I kind of knew but it hits different now!"_
I think that approach worked the best. I remember movies from the 90s and early 2000s that knew how to do this without setting the whole plot aflame. Albeit it was a different social time, seemingly as a history guy, it's sometimes very difficult to tell folks bigotry takes *time* to erode. You can't just wave a magic wand and... _poof_ it disappears! Lastly, it's often hard to look at an idea and shave off some of the more aberrant parts of it.
fair and balanced review
I respect your review. I personally enjoyed the game and glad i bought and paid for it. Some of your criticism i can agree with like pacing and gear appearances.
Overall though i enjoyed the game. Its not my favorite dragon age but i think its still a good game
Great video but you might want to look up the definition of ambivalent
Idk, I felt I used it appropriately. ambivalent meaning mixed or contradictory feelings. That's exactly how I felt about a few of Inquisition's companions. At times, they were well written and designed, but then at others they very much weren't. So in the end, I was so unsure how to feel about them, sometimes good and somtimes bad, that their relationship to the Inquisitor simply felt lukewarm. And then there was at least one or two that were so consistently poorly written/designed, that I just outright disliked them. Assuming, of course, you're talking about 24:20.
If not, then I'm not sure what you're referring to.
But thanks for watching. I'm glad you liked it.
i wish measured takes like this went viral instead of garbage rage bait videos like the skillup but what can one do *shrug*
😂😂😂
There definitely have been a lot of rage bait videos, but I don’t think I would consider skillup’s review rage bait. He explained what he didn’t like, why he didn’t like it; and even says that it’s his personal opinion and other people might like it.
I consider the videos that only rant about taash (despite never playing the game) and just talk about woke stuff as rage bait. Reviews from people who don’t like the game aren’t rage bait to me, even if I disagree with their reasons for not liking the game.
I’ve been enjoying a lot of the more nuanced reviews coming out now that some time has passed! I think skillup and mrmatty had pretty nuanced tales for big RUclipsrs but I’ve found that smaller RUclipsrs have often had even more nuanced and well explained takes
@@sarawawa8984 Definitely. Something that these studios don't understand either - Well argued negative reviews and sentiments *don't equal rage bait or "bigotry"* . I wish more people would stop and listen to what's *actually* being said, instead of crying 'bigotry' and 'rage bait', because a *lot* of those complaints about these games are coming *from the marginalised communities they pretend to represent* .
It's not necessarily the inclusion that's the problem, it's the *way it's presented* . Also, it's not "rage bait" to call a spade a spade... it the combat/writing/art/UI are unpleasant to the majority of people, that's *honest reporting* not rage bait!
@@noctoi I think some fans of veilguard are extremely defensive of the game, so it’s easier for them to just dismiss any criticism as ragebait or grifting. I don’t know why people take criticism about a game they didn’t even make so personally, but they do. Rather than actually engage with the arguments and opinions presented, it’s easier to attack the person.
I have had people tell me (online) that I don’t like veilguard because I’m a tourist/not a true dragon age fan (I’ve played all the games too many times to count and have the lore books that I read cover to cover), that I didn’t actually play veilguard (played the whole thing and did majority of side quests too), that my opinion isn’t really my opinion and I’m just jumping on the hate bandwagon and my criticisms are just me regurgitating youtuber’s views (I actually avoided reviews before and while I played veilguard to avoid spoilers), that I’m just a hater/grifter (I don’t make any money from posting a comment criticizing veilguard so that just makes zero sense), and that I am media illiterate (this is a new one that’s being thrown around any time anyone says they don’t like a part of the game - aka “it’s not bad writing, you just are too dumb to understand it”).
People will come up with any argument to invalidate your opinion, especially if they never have to engage with that opinion and it’s so frustrating! I would love to have someone explain to me how the writing is actually good and the level design is genius and the worldbuilding is nuanced and the lore revelations are well-executed, but no. I just get told I’m a fake fan/grifter/media illiterate.
But I know what I think and why I think what I think. And I know I don’t need to engage with veilguard anymore (I had to delete Reddit so that I’m not tempted to get in pointless internet arguments though because I have no self control apparently lol)
You are far too measured and rational...more screaming and crying over nothing
Sorry, I'll do better next time :D
Game is woke shit, any other take is wrong
Well, like I said in the video, "you're never wrong for you feel about a video game." 41:34
But that ultimately is only how YOU feel.
And bear in mind that I had massive issues with the game and would have personally been happier having not played it.
But there is definitely some good in this game as well. And I can see how, for some people, it would be a worthwhile investment of their time and money.
To not allow ourselves to see from the perspective of others, only serves to narrow our own.
What an interesting take! Thanks for your contribution. Also, you’re wrong. This game is terrible in so many different and fascinating ways
please define woke
I am 80hours , so far ending?)
@@Gyuribacsik It took me over 130 hours, but I did pretty much everything. The game could be finished in much less time.
Most people have never played any dragon age games. So we wouldn't notice anything is off. And I can't stand any bioware games
To everyone who complains your character is too nice and has no ability to be a jerk answer me one question. Would Varric recruit a jerk? Varric who is a good people reader, good guy and team player? Your other heroes stumble into the position of leader, Rook is recruited - big difference.
Team synergy definitely matters, but I kinda doubt Varric's first consideration in choosing his recruits was, "is this person a jerk." Someone can be a jerk and even potentially compromising to a team, but still be so practically effective and integral to an objective as to become irreplaceable. In fact, that's long been kind of a trope in the RPG genre. You know, the prickly, grumpy, possibly treacherous companion who's really good at what they do and can potentially be convinced to change their ways/mindset over the couse of the story. It's actually a great trope since it introduces conflict and complexity to a story. So, I think this whole notion that "Varric would never choose a jerk" is far too simplistic of a rationalization.
And even if that rationale was sufficient enough to explain why Rook can only be nice, it was still, ultimately, a design CHOICE by the developer. They CHOSE to write the story the way they did; to write in Varric's team; to write in Rook's recruitment; to write in the nature of their relationship to one another. They actively CHOSE to rationalize making an effectively one-dimensional protagonist. Focusing the discussion merely on whether or not it's RATIONAL for Rook to only be nice, based on his recruitment by Varric, completely ignores the far more important and relevant question of whether or not it was a good narrative choice for a supposed RPG game.
😂😂😂😂 thats an amazingly bs excuse
@@GroundedTakeGamingthank you so much for this response! I have seen people make this argument for why rook is so bland/lack of roleplaying and your response perfectly captures the issue that people miss when trying to “justify” the decision to mark rook so nice and one-dimensional.
As you said, ultimately it was a choice to make Rook’s reason for leading the team because Varric recruited them. So it was a choice to make room bland due to that. And honestly the Rook leading the team because varric recruited them isn’t even a great explanation for why Rook is in charge.
For the other games there was either personal stakes and a slow build up of power (da2-hawke originally trying to just survive and slowly amassing power and authority due to actions over the course of the game) or the protagonist was the only one who could do what needed to be done (dao-last remaining wardens who are the only ones who can end blights, dai-only one with the power to close rifts). Veilguard does a bad job of establishing personal stakes (they totally wasted the potential for rook to feel guilty for unleashing evil gods and just have everyone pin the problem on solas) and doesn’t really have any special skill that makes them the only one suited to fighting this threat.
Varric did not approve of Hawke if he was a bastard and just because Varric was a spy master with a lot of underworld contacts didn't mean he didn't care about people or think their feelings and concerns were unimportant. There are times when being an Edgelord won't get the job done and I think Varric believes that it's not the best way to get the job done. He will chew out your Inquisitor for that too.
@@EmoBearRights Your point still falls flat because in the previous 3 games, Including 2 and Inquisition with Varric you can be a jerk to anyone and everyone and people can leave party or you refuse to recruit them. Vailguard making Rook 100% the nice guy and forcing you the player to be nice to everyone is against the essence of RPG because you're no longer role playing, you're doing a linear story with pre set characters.
I should be allowed to disagree with someone if me as the player truly does disagree. Making every choice just be a variation of Nice guy takes away player choice and overall enjoyment.
You saying Varric recruited Rook because he is a nice guy, He recruited Hawk but Hawk can be a jerk. He joined up and followed the Inquisitor who can be a bloodthirsty asshole.
Varric can make the assumption we are good and we can be so if we choose. But when it's forced then it just sours the experience.