EA Dragon Age: The Veilguard

[Deck Rickard]

Gameplay reveal was pretty great IMO. A lot more serious in tone than the trailer but still with plenty of quips from Varric and Harding. The combat looks on par with something like God of War, which is a likely step up from Inquisition. It looks like they may have done away with the tactical pause feature in Inquisition, but I’m not sure. I feel like the graphics look better in-game than in cut scenes, though the cut scenes were fine too. The landscapes especially look amazing. The demons are fairly similar to what we faced in DAI, but hopefully we get plenty of new enemies and they don’t just rehash what we’ve seen before. Though consistency is a good thing; if they looked wildly different than they did in the last game, I guess that wouldn’t make sense.

All in all, I’m PUMPED for this game now. I was iffy after the previous trailer but this reveal really sold me. I’m a bit worried about Varric though…

 

[Iceman]

I was enjoying it while I was seeing it live as part of the showcase but didn’t realise it was Dragon Age till the end, guess I was thinking it was some new, smaller scale, indie fantasy title. Need to see more but would have expected more from a DA full game reveal after all this time, it felt like a quick filler/DLC for a franchise like that.

 

[Iceman]

Gameplay reveal was pretty great IMO. A lot more serious in tone than the trailer but still with plenty of quips from Varric and Harding. The combat looks on par with something like God of War, which is a likely step up from Inquisition. It looks like they may have done away with the tactical pause feature in Inquisition, but I’m not sure. I feel like the graphics look better in-game than in cut scenes, though the cut scenes were fine too. The landscapes especially look amazing. The demons are fairly similar to what we faced in DAI, but hopefully we get plenty of new enemies and they don’t just rehash what we’ve seen before. Though consistency is a good thing; if they looked wildly different than they did in the last game, I guess that wouldn’t make sense.

All in all, I’m PUMPED for this game now. I was iffy after the previous trailer but this reveal really sold me. I’m a bit worried about Varric though…

Oh didn’t realise a gameplay reveal was out. Will check that out after work tonight.

 

[Iceman]

Ok yeah, I definitely preferred what they showed during the gameplay reveal.

 

[AndrewGilkison]

This feels a bit like Inquisition 2.0

The main threat of the villain's plan is "demons will come out of the sky to kill people". The main protagonist's role is to clean up the mess left by the previous game's main protagonist. The previous main protagonist (likely) will appear... as an NPC this time.

 

[Gee]

BioWare Lead Writer Explains Why Blood Magic Isn't Available to Players in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

BioWare Lead Writer Patrick Weekes explained why Blood Magic won't be available to player characters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

wccftech.com

So, no evil playthroughs?

 

[AndrewGilkison]

BioWare Lead Writer Explains Why Blood Magic Isn't Available to Players in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

BioWare Lead Writer Patrick Weekes explained why Blood Magic won't be available to player characters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

wccftech.com

So, no evil playthroughs?

Why even bother making it an RPG if I can't create my own character the way I want without a bunch of nonsensical restrictions?

The more I see and hear about this game, the less I want to play it.

 

[Gee]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions because you can't handle it: "This is a much higher actions-per-minute game"

"It wasn't actually adding to the experience"

www.gamesradar.com

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let players have full control over their companions, but BioWare says that's because there's so much to do that it doesn't want you to be overwhelmed.

Speaking to Edge magazine, game director Corinne Busche explained why Dragon Age: The Veilguard is dropping the party-controlling formula of previous games, even as it drops your companion count from three to two. "On the experiential side, we wanted you to feel like you are Rook," Busche explained. "You're in this world, you're really focused on your actions. We wanted the companions to feel like they, as fully-realized characters, are in control of their own actions. They make their own decisions."

That's a major deviation from the rest of the series, but Busche says there's a simple reason for that - Dragon Age: The Veilguard "is a much higher actions-per-minute game. It is more technically demanding on the player. So when we tried allowing you full control of your companions as well, what we've found is it wasn't actually adding to the experience. In fact, in some ways it was detrimental, given the demanding nature of just controlling your own character."

 

[AndrewGilkison]

Umm... only two party members, and you can't directly control them you can only control your main character... sounds like they took the combat into a Mass Effect style direction.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

October 31st:

 

[blueharvest]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a $150 'edition' that doesn't actually include the game, though you do get 22 inches of Rook's shiny blade

At this point, I figure you just open up a merch store.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Deck Rickard]

Really looking forward to this. I hope it doesn’t disappoint. It looks like the game I was hoping BG3 would be after all the hype surrounding that game but (for me at least) the combat in BG3 is so slow and monotonous (even for a turn-based game) that I didn’t enjoy playing it. This looks like it will have all the fun characters and sexy romances while also having fun, fast action.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

 

[blueharvest]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard game director says Inquisition's epilogue DLC 'should have been part of the base game'

If you're wondering when Solas turned into the bad guy, the answer is in a nine year old DLC.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Elayis]

Journal #9 - Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe Co-Composers

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Composers Announcement

www.ea.com

 

[Lily Adler]

 

[blueharvest]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard director reckons he could write the base for 5 more games "in a couple of weeks because I'm always thinking about Dragon Age"

Dragon Age: The Veilguard creative director John Epler is ready for more

www.gamesradar.com

 

[DKDetective]

Journal #9 - Hans Zimmer & Lorne Balfe Co-Composers

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Composers Announcement

www.ea.com

Hans is a god among composers, but this is such garbage generic paycheck work.

I just finished replaying Origins and BioWare should have brought Inon Zur back to help rebuild good will. His themes for DAO and DAII are so beautiful and memorable:

They really gave the series a unique sound, just like Sam Hulick and Jack Wall did for Mass Effect.

 

[Elayis]

Hans is a god among composers, but this is such garbage generic paycheck work.

I just finished replaying Origins and BioWare should have brought Inon Zur back to help rebuild good will. His themes for DAO and DAII are so beautiful and memorable:

They really gave the series a unique sound, just like Sam Hulick and Jack Wall did for Mass Effect.

I honestly doubt Zimmer had much involvement in this, it's probably 90% Balfe. It's the same approach for their other video game and TV collaborations; Zimmer co-writes the theme and maybe a few other cues, but it's mostly Balfe's work (just like Call of Duty, Crysis 2, and The Bible miniseries). Zimmer was hired for the prestige, that's it.

The theme's fine enough, but it sounds like their Batman B-roll and doesn't have its own unique identity. I actually liked Trevor Morris' score for Inquisition, though it also fell into that Zimmer-esque sound at times.

As for Zur's, I've found his work rather anonymous at times (Starfield was much better, though it wasn't implemented well in the game), but I did like this track from Origins:

 

[blueharvest]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Recommended Specs Revealed

The official recommended PC specs to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard has officially been revealed. Will your PC handle it?

insider-gaming.com

 

[blueharvest]

 

[Gee]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Unite the Veilguard and defy the gods in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an immersive single-player RPG where you become the leader others believe in. When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries of darkness, the vibrant land of Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook...

www.metacritic.com

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is rated 'Strong' after being reviewed by 151 critics, with an overall average score of 80. It's ranked in the top 21% of games and recommended by 71% of critics.

opencritic.com

Dragon Age: The Veilguard review - the best BioWare game I've ever played

A fantasy role-playing game of astonishing spectacle. This is the best Dragon Age, and perhaps BioWare, has ever been. Eurogamer's review.

www.eurogamer.net

@DKDetective Maybe us BioWare fans from their old days could give this a try.

 

[DKDetective]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Unite the Veilguard and defy the gods in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an immersive single-player RPG where you become the leader others believe in. When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries of darkness, the vibrant land of Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook...

www.metacritic.com

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is rated 'Strong' after being reviewed by 151 critics, with an overall average score of 80. It's ranked in the top 21% of games and recommended by 71% of critics.

opencritic.com

Dragon Age: The Veilguard review - the best BioWare game I've ever played

A fantasy role-playing game of astonishing spectacle. This is the best Dragon Age, and perhaps BioWare, has ever been. Eurogamer's review.

www.eurogamer.net

@DKDetective Maybe us BioWare fans from their old days could give this a try.

Yeah, I just replayed Origins actually. PC Gamer seems to suggest that while the gameplay is good the writing and choices suffer from the lose of the BioWare old guard:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard review
I give it a try once I finish a replay of II and Inquisition.

 

[Elayis]

I'll probably pick this up once my PS5 Pro arrives, however, the reviews saying the combat is good but the writing is tonally inconsistent is not what I want from a BioWare game. Gives me flashbacks of Andromeda.

 

[Joe Von Zombie]

I'll probably pick this up once my PS5 Pro arrives, however, the reviews saying the combat is good but the writing is tonally inconsistent is not what I want from a BioWare game. Gives me flashbacks of Andromeda.

This is honestly BioWare in name only. The people that made that studio the RPG juggernaut they used to be are long gone. Holding this game to those same expectations is destined to disappoint.