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Dragon Age: The Veilguard finally has a real date..apparently

Aug 17, 2024

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    1. It’s been a long time coming but they’ve finally announced a release date for Dragon Age’s next instalment, the end of October.
      Previously it went by the name Dreadwolf during its lengthy and troubled development but they changed the name to The Veilguard as although Solas is part of the story he isn’t the main character or something like that.

      I’ve been waiting to see what was happening with this as I enjoyed DA: Inquisition but after a 10 year wait and the assorted little snippets of information during that time I’m not so sure it’s going to live up to expectation. Inquisition had so many memorable characters that are still well loved to this day are we ready to move on?

      Thoughts anyone?
       
      #1 Blodeuwedd, Aug 17, 2024
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    2. My thoughts are mainly 'oh fuck, I was expecting to have longer to upgrade my computer so I can play it' and 'it just had to come out right before November, the month when I don't have time to play it, didn't it'.

      I am looking forward to it with excitement tempered by general scepticism of the gaming industry and also anger at Bioware for firing some of the people that helped make Dragon Age and then fighting with them over payment.
       
      #2 Crissaegrim, Aug 18, 2024
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    3. I've seen the trailer and honestly I agree with the comments that it looks like as Pubg and it lost its remarkable dark and unique vibe. The new character designs also gives Disney feeling that I don't like.

      The story will be probably good, but at now I'm not interested to trying it out. DAI was great, but it seems they chose to do something totally different. For me, the new installment doesn't feel Dragon Age at all.
       
      #3 vam31, Aug 18, 2024
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    4. @Crissaegrim I feel your pain and that’s why I stopped using a pc for gaming several years ago. Most of the games I play are very graphics hungry, ‘pc killers’ I used to call them when I worked in Game, and it’s a nightmare trying to keep things up to date. Nowadays I stick to consoles.

      Yup @vam31 something just feels off about it.

      I totally agree with both of your reservations, in fact I can’t but help feeling it has a Dragon Age II sort of vibe where it has a “shit how are we going to top the last one” stink about it.
      Whether it’s a game or movie things with all of these background troubles rarely come out unscathed and normally show the scars of the battle that was fought behind the scenes very clearly however there is the odd one that manages to actually be good because of it (Galaxy Quest anyone?) so part of me is desperately hoping for a miracle of sorts.
       
      #4 Blodeuwedd, Aug 18, 2024
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    5. I would switch to console, except I also like mods. And for games like Dragon Age, sometimes need mods to be able to play them thanks to Bioware's ongoing love affair with enormous spiders.
       
      #5 Crissaegrim, Aug 18, 2024
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    6. I was disappointed by Inquisition, and with all the turnover of the creative team and the false starts they've had with this one I'm honestly kind of surprised they're actually releasing it. But because of all that, I'm going to wait a while after it releases and some of my friends have played it and given their opinions on it before I consider getting it. I can say off the bat that I'm really disappointed they've gone the mass effect route of only 2 companions at a time and if rook goes down, it's game over instead of jumping to controlling the next standing companion. That's a big reason behind why i never really got into playing mass effect lol. But hey, they brought healing magic back!

      It does look kind of fun, and some of the characters seem interesting. I just don't really want to spend my money on a game that's going to be a let down again like i did with inquisition after being so hyped for that back in the day. Hopefully they've actually focused more on the story this time instead of adding a bunch of mechanics no one wanted. That war table and associated reputation thing was such a PAIN and even then, things that should've been important story moments (like the entire thing with the dailish clan) weren't something we could actually play ourselves. Instead we had to spend god knows how long running around the map doing pointless fetch quests to unlock more of the story and specializations :| I'd rather do the fade AND orzammar quests in origins than deal with all that again.
       
      #6 quilleth, Aug 18, 2024
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    7. I look forward to seeing Solas again, and I really wonder how his story will wrap up in Veilguard, especially when romanced... moreso considering what can happen to Hawke or Warden!Alistair in Inquisition. :sorry

      I've accepted that the Dragon Age of... since Dragon Age 2, honestly, is a very different beast than Dragon Age: Origins, though. Tonally, theme, etc... DA2 is an ok game but it was a really bad sequel, and it's too bad EA had pressured them with a 1 year development time (absolutely bonkers!) but at least EA seems to have given BioWare a lot more room to stretch, even with a pitiful flops like Anthem. I grieve the DA2 we could have had if they were given a reasonable developmental cycle, though... I think if Veilguard is unsuccessful, that will probably be the death nail in the coffin for BioWare.. Although, the BioWare of today has a very different team than the BioWare of yesteryear, so I suppose it's pretty much just BioWare in name and intellectual properties. Makes me sad envisioning a universe out there where they didn't go down the financial hardship route with the star wars MMO and sold themselves to EA, since I would have loved to see what else an independent BioWare would have done. :(

      Truthfully, the sequel to DA:O and Awakening that I've been waiting nearly 15 years for was honestly Baldur's Gate 3 - I love Larian and I loved Divinity: Original Sin 2, so when I heard they were making the next Baldurs Gate title, I bought into its Early Access right away. I think I started on like... patch 2 of early access? Maybe it was patch 1? Within the first month of it going into public early access, anyways... so I've been a lot of that games development, and I am really happy for Larian's success in CRPGs. I think Baldurs Gate 3 really gave BioWare some pause. Inquisition was a good game and certainly a much better sequel than DA2 was, but I am glad to hear that the game is apparently a bit more scaled down, since oftentimes Inquisition felt more like a "lonely MMO" to me when exploring around, rather than "enrapturing open world" like the Elder Scrolls series and Fallout 3-4.

      As for the trailers etc, I think the game reveal trailer really should have debuted first. The character reveal trailer definitely had some... interesting tonal choices and I think it was a really bad marketing move to debut that one first. I am just really sad that BioWare had let go of some of the last veteran talent on the team -- I think there is still some, but seeing a company seemingly "cut the fat" with some of the most senior (and presumably compensated a bit more) staff is a slap in the face for staff and fans alike. I am curious what the cast, though - I can definitely see myself running around with Davrin, Bellara, Lace (finally!), Lucanis and Emmerich, but I am disappointed that they downsized the party max by 1. I don't really feel that have a smaller party gives me a more rewarding experience or a more 'varied' experience on replays.

      I don't usually preorder games but seeing as I see myself buying it on launch anyways, I've been mulling it over. I am glad it's finally coming out though, the development cycle seems... rough. The persistent idea of "Bioware magic" just seems like a great recipe for a toxic work environment that's haunted many of their titles after Dragon Age: Origins and ME2.
       
      #7 Epona, Aug 24, 2024
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    8. Maybe I'm just a hater but gosh I miss how gritty DA:O was. Maybe this game will be fun but I'm setting my expectations low. 10 years of waiting and this is what we get. I can't believe I'm saying this but I have higher hopes for the new Fable lol.
       
      #8 Giragira, Aug 24, 2024
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    9. You’ve made a lot of very good points there @Epona.
      Although it’s what any creator/developer ultimately wants success is unfortunately more often than not these days more of a burden and curse than a blessing as the more you give the more people want (especially those backing it) and the sooner they want it.
      EA are horrible, I worked in a games retail store and also a multimedia store over the years and any major release they had their sticky mitts in was always pushed out unfinished and glitchy as hell. They never give developers the actual time they needed. They just want their money, especially around Christmas. You kind of dreaded the influx of customer complaints over games that were riddled with problems and inevitable bad reviews as they systematically ruined the reputation of any company they bought over or got involved with.

      Honestly as much as I’ve been waiting for this DA game I think I shall give its initial release a miss and wait for a bit, I want to see more before deciding. I rushed into buying II after enjoying Origins and felt rather let down, Inquisition I loved although some of the additional content was a bit meh, the more I see or hear about Veilguard the less impressed I feel. Maybe I’m just getting too cynical as I get older!

      @Giragira you know what, I began to mention Fable in my comment but decided not to then I just saw what you said. I loved Fable and Fable II. Fable III was decent but again it suffered from being a victim of its own success and that’s when its creator, Peter Molyneaux, walked away from it all. After bigger companies got involved with Lionhead he felt there was no challenge and that they stifled creativity so he left. Again I’ve been keeping an eye on any future incarnations of Fable and again things were very stop/start, like Dragon Age, so I just gave up hope.
       
      #9 Blodeuwedd, Aug 24, 2024
      Last edited: Aug 24, 2024
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    10. I've been looking forward to the next Dragon Age game for eons, and DA:I is my favorite DA game ... But with the name change I'm not sure how to feel about it yet. I adore Solas, and he was The Big Thing I'd been looking forward to in a follow up, and now it seems he's not a big a part as they originally were hyping. :pout:

      I'm really, really hoping the bigger companies learned a lesson from what happened with Cyber Punk 2077 - to give their employees the time to work on things and not rush a game out the door before it's actually playable.
       
      #10 As.Fletcher, Aug 26, 2024
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    11. @Blodeuwedd So we are both in DA and Fable hell lol. Solidarity! I really love Fable a game with that much comedy and role playing was a dream for me. I just really loved it and DA, they were both what I always wanted out of fantasy rpgs. Seeing them languish really hurts! I was hoping with the rise of Baldur's Gate 3 (which I still haven't got to play because I'm too cheap to buy a ps5 lol) we might see them rise up too.
       
      #11 Giragira, Aug 27, 2024
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    12. Well after a lot of thought I decided to take a leap of faith and give The Veilguard a go (I play on ps5) when the PlayStation store had the delux edition at reduced price a few months ago and I really enjoyed it.

      I shall start by saying I’m not a hardcore gamer although I’ve played video games pretty much since they first emerged (yes I’m that old), I prefer to enjoy what I play and not get irritated by it. I also tend to play on easy or normal settings as I get frustrated easily and hate it when games start to feel like a chore instead of interesting or fun.

      Character creation: I always take ages creating my character (hubby just tends to pick premade options unless he lets me do it for him :XD:) and I’ve yet to find a game that has perfect options.
      While hairstyle choices have improved I found the colour options a bit of a let down as it seems you cannot get pure white and most blond shades are either too greenish, too yellowish or too dark even with the ability to alter saturation and brightness, red hair shades are minimal too as are fancy colours. At least black hair is black unlike the weird way Baldur’s Gate has it. How hair sits on the head can look rather odd at first due to the more over all cartoony design and you may need to alter the scalp to add height.
      Most of the other creation settings are ok but I did find the lack of ability to create unusual looking eyes a bit annoying, I like having fantasy eyes on my characters if I can.

      Starting the game: this I found confusing as hell on my initial play through. They give you options and abilities gradually which is not unusual for many games as they teach you what to do but for those used to playing games certain things such as being unable to initially access your inventory or zoom in and pull back the camera (you cannot change the camera distance at all in this game) made me panic a bit. You do get used to it so it’s worth persevering even if it feel very strange or even uncomfortable at first. I’d also advise going into settings and reducing the sensitivity if the camera movements if like me you’re prone to motion sickness. I found it made me very queasy. The beginning does feel like you’re literally thrown in clueless but seeing a few familiar faces helps as does the question choice wheel DA players know well. Once you feel like you’ve got your bearings the initial uneasiness wears off.

      Thoughts on the game: I do like how they’ve completely gotten a rid of potion carrying and instead you smash certain jars found in the environment to top up, one less fiddly thing to bother with.
      Although certain actions you may or may not choose do have particular button sequences there are enough easy to remember ones for button bashing panickers like me and they can be very powerful! There are also a lot of good build guides around to assist although I winged it for my initial Rogue play through and still found I did ok. Armour and weapon choices are also fairly straightforward although I’d like it if they had an option to break down or sell gear you don’t need for your class. Upgrading said gear can happen either via found chests, merchants or the caretaker although they could have done with clearer explanations of the how to. There’s a lot of having to figure stuff out yourself.
      Although you get ‘skins’ for gear which you apply via the wardrobe you cannot dye what you have which personally I would have preferred over having to collect various faction coloured versions of the same thing some of which are quite ugly. Talking of ugly unless you hide your headgear there is very very little in the way of nice choices that show your face and hair. That did annoy me.

      Having only three members to your party takes a bit of getting used to as most games have four but you do get used to it and they make it quite clear who can apply certain debuffs and who can detonate said debuffs making it easy to form a strong party for battles.
      The game also has autosaves made at important choice points clearly marked as such if you make an error and feel you need to reload the save for a choice you made.
      There are quite a few cameos from characters you’ve previously met, some funny background dialogue between team members. There also doesn’t seem to be any race or gender limitations on romance choices either.
      Be prepared to make a tough choice in the end part of the game though and also for a couple of “Oh no!” events.
      Over all I found all of the team members fairly likeable and did have definite favourites that I became attached to. As a bonus there’s also Manfred and Assan who you do become very fond of.
      You also learn more about Solas’s background.

      There are dragons to fight and thankfully they’re easier to deal with than the ones in previous DA games.

      The scenery is very beautiful, there’s a nice amount of having to figure out how to reach certain items, chests or get places, a few puzzles regarding opening doors, etc. Enough to keep your brain engaged but not so difficult you want to throw your controller or keyboard across the room.
      They’ve very thoughtfully added a photo mode option to the main menu if you want to take scenery screenshots.

      While I don’t think this is a game for the real gritty hardcore players who swear they’re fans of something but only actually like one version of it and consider everything else blasphemy it is a much better game than admittedly I thought it would be, and while the style is less realistic looking at least they’ve cleaned up how characters move and you don’t get that weird “I pooped my pants” walk that was the norm in previous DA games.
      I’d call it a cross between Dragon Age and Fable, it has enough DA elements to be recognisable as such but it also feels very Fable-like in some ways too and I’d say some of the team behind Veilguard should be working on the next Fable especially with the visuals.

      I enjoyed it and immediately jumped into making another character of a different class to play it again as soon as I finished. I’m already just over halfway with this second play through and don’t feel bored at all even though I know what’s ahead to a degree. That isn’t something that often happens.


      @Giragira if you haven’t played DA: The Veilguard yet I think it might be worth a go for the above reasons.
       
      #12 Blodeuwedd, Mar 27, 2025
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    13. I also jumped in and played it over the winter holidays, and i enjoyed it! The different party composition does take getting used to (also one of the reasons I didn't really like Mass Effect) but it worked better than I expected it to. I'm a little sad about how much of the past lore isn't really there, though. Gameplay wise it's not a bad intro to the series for newer player, but I know a lot of people got some level of whiplash going from this to playing the other games in the series because a lot of lore is just not touched on. At all.
      I unfortunately saw major ending spoilers pretty early on that colored my reaction to it, but it's still an intriguing concept for the end of the game. I genuinely liked all of the party members too (which makes the limited party size difficult. What do you mean i can't bring everyone with me all the time? xD) I am also sitting here like "so you finally gave us Felassan in a game, Bioware, but god at what cost!" T_T
      I really liked the character creator! But the sliders are a little tricky to figure out, and tbh i'm not that impressed with some of the body shape options. But they finally gave us cute loose hair styles! And not horrible eyebrows! Unfortunately, i still had some issues with the lighting in CC not being accurate to how my Rook looked in most of the actual gameplay. I gave her darkish magenta hair, and it looks a lot darker in most screenshots of gameplay than it did in the CC, but I can live with that.
      Also, you can pet most of the ambient dogs and cats you come across, and having lost both my cats shortly before getting the game, i found that kind of comforting.
      I play on PC, and I had the same issue with the camera controls that I do with ME, in that something about the tracking gives me motion sickness, and it's the one control you can't change the toggle for. I had to buy an xbox controller to be able to control the camera in a more intuitive way that didn't make me feel sick (most of the time), which sort of defeats the purpose of playing on PC.
      Overall though, I liked it a lot! It reminded me of da2 in a lot of ways, which for me is a positive since that's my favorite of the franchise. Also I am personally attacked by Lucanis lol
       
      #13 quilleth, Mar 27, 2025
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    14. @quilleth yes I go around petting the cats and dogs although sometimes the ability to do that can be annoying if there’s a shiny to collect nearby. I’ve done that, wondered why I wasn’t picking up the shiny in a dark area only to realise I was actually petting a cat instead!

      Motion sickness is the reason I cannot play certain games and to be honest I do wish when game developers test their games that they’d also employ more casual gamers as well as hardcore and professionals in order to find out how it functions, they’d probably catch motion sickness issues that way as well as how intuitive general play is or isn’t.

      Aah Lucanis…..the coffee connoisseur love child of John Wick and Puss in Boots!
       
      #14 Blodeuwedd, Mar 29, 2025
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    15. @Blodeuwedd yeah it would be really nice if they tested things with a bigger pool of players to try to catch things like that. Or if they just let all the controls be changed to different toggles. I didn't have any issues with the camera in any of the 3 previous games, or with games like Baldur's Gate3, so it was kind of frustrating to get hit with it for this one.
       
      #15 quilleth, Mar 29, 2025
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    16. I wasn't sure where to put this info, but just wanted to give a shout out to a new game released on Steam about three weeks ago called "Where Winds Meet". So far it is FREE! I wouldn't think to mention a game, except that this one is so freaking beautiful! I felt that every page was revealing a new idea for a doll! Go way back in time and explore China - villages and cities, temples and gardens, and insanely pretty costuming! The game even encourages you to stop and take photos as you explore with dedicated scenery backdrops to discover in a huge open world and the camera offers an unusual array of editing options, poses, vignettes, for a game! And that is just the visuals! I leave the rest for you to explore, if interested...
      And there's cats! hehe. :kitty1
       
      #16 Valdemagra, Dec 1, 2025
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    17. Sounds interesting @Valdemagra, I do love nice scenery and exploring things. I take it that being on steam means it’s a pc game though.
      Why not start a new thread? Something like ‘Gamers, what are you playing just now.’ kind of thing.
       
      #17 Blodeuwedd, Dec 3, 2025
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