Dragon Age: The Veilguard (October 31, 2024)

[Gizmo_Duck]

I don't believe anyone still at Bioware has the capacity to make a companion as memorable as Karlach or Lae'zel, nevermind Shadowheart and her wildly different ending states. Not for a moment.
I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but I think that, on some level, the design philosophy might interfere in places, nevermind how underwhelmed I expect to be by the writing. The two combined...

I'm gonna give it an honest try. But being the first big RPG to market after BG3 is going to be a fukking uphill battle for anyone, and with the stakes that Bioware has in terms of trying to rehab their rep... I'm definitely bracing for disappointment.

Agreed. BG3 really raised the bar for those standard RPG systems

 

[Shaman]

For any Mass Effect fans, Davrin's actor voiced Javik and Harding's actress voiced Liara.

 

[42 Monks]

I don't believe anyone still at Bioware has the capacity to make a companion as memorable as Karlach or Lae'zel, nevermind Shadowheart and her wildly different ending states. Not for a moment.
I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but I think that, on some level, the design philosophy might interfere in places, nevermind how underwhelmed I expect to be by the writing. The two combined...

I'm gonna give it an honest try. But being the first big RPG to market after BG3 is going to be a fukking uphill battle for anyone, and with the stakes that Bioware has in terms of trying to rehab their rep... I'm definitely bracing for disappointment.

i actually wouldn't even say lae and shawdowheart were in the top 3 in BG3 lol... so to each their own

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

i actually wouldn't even say lae and shawdowheart were in the top 3 in BG3 lol... so to each their own

I’m team Karlach forever

And Astarian won all the awards but i didn’t want to say anything

 

[Novembruh]

i actually wouldn't even say lae and shawdowheart were in the top 3 in BG3 lol... so to each their own

which furthers how big I think the gap between what Larian did and what Bioware is going to achieve actually is. In terms of raw character love, Karlach and Minthara were my favorites. Shadowheart and Lae'zel literally have the exact same story throughout the game seen from different starting points. but the fact that 'being either radicalized further into devotion to an unfair god, or turned violently in opposition to her' was done with enough nuance and variance that 90% of the people playing this game don't realize the reason Jen and Zel hate each other is because they are fundamentally the same is a sign of top-tier writing.

 

[RamsayBolton]

But being the first big RPG to market after BG3 is going to be a fukking uphill battle for anyone, and with the stakes that Bioware has in terms of trying to rehab their rep... I'm definitely bracing for disappointment.

Starfield already got their shyt rocked in a similar position

 

[Novembruh]

Starfield already got their shyt rocked in a similar position

damn you hella right.
I have 150 hours in that game and completely forgot it technically qualified as the first out the door after Larian. I guess because I stopped thinking of BGS games as RPGs at some point and just think of them as a moddable world sims.


Veilguard will be the first 'AAA' non-open world RPG with the classic act structure and differing locales, I guess would be a more defined statement there, as to not leave out loading screen simulator game of a generation Todd's Favorite Child Starfield

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

damn you hella right.
I have 150 hours in that game and completely forgot it technically qualified as the first out the door after Larian. I guess because I stopped thinking of BGS games as RPGs at some point and just think of them as a moddable world sims.


Veilguard will be the first 'AAA' non-open world RPG with the classic act structure and differing locales, I guess would be a more defined statement there, as to not leave out loading screen simulator game of a generation Todd's Favorite Child Starfield

BG3 really highlight just how far a lot of major rpg series deviated from actual role playing and became more action games with some rpg-lite mechanics.

 

[Primetime]

Shadowheart and Minthara >>>> all them burnt bytches and alphabet vamps y’all talkin about

But wrong thread


I agree tho, tempered expectations is best going into this game. As it stands, I’m not down on the characters or gameplay, I’m just not particularly in love with any aspect shown.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Shadowheart and Minthara >>>> all them burnt bytches and alphabet vamps y’all talkin about

 

[42 Monks]

which furthers how big I think the gap between what Larian did and what Bioware is going to achieve actually is. In terms of raw character love, Karlach and Minthara were my favorites. Shadowheart and Lae'zel literally have the exact same story throughout the game seen from different starting points. but the fact that 'being either radicalized further into devotion to an unfair god, or turned violently in opposition to her' was done with enough nuance and variance that 90% of the people playing this game don't realize the reason Jen and Zel hate each other is because they are fundamentally the same is a sign of top-tier writing.

Solas is a better developed character than anyone not named Astarion, The Emperor, or Minthara. And yeah, Laezel and SH have the same map. What carried both characters was the VA performances. "I was lied to, now I have a chance to redefine myself" really isn't that dynamic, but it gives a broad range of motion as individuals get to respond to fixed events in a variety of ways. And they also have to be a bit of canvas as they're origin characters as well.

I’m team Karlach forever

And Astarian won all the awards but i didn’t want to say anything

The reason why Astarion's writing gets the props it does is because that's one of the few characters written to be inherently manipulative to the player *on top* of his baseline. When you frame it like that, its hard to find other instances of that in gaming that isn't placed on something flimsy like an unreliable narrator.


Either way - The real void is between CDPR/Bioware-at-its-best and every other high visibility RPG prior to BG3. shyt, Bioware got DLC characters that still get props over a decade after the fact. When they cook - they do. Its just a matter of if they still can.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

It’s been so long since BioWare even released a proper full blown rpg it’s hard to even know what to expect. They got entirely new leads, writers, etc.

 

[OneDeep]

Shadowheart and Minthara >>>> all them burnt bytches and alphabet vamps y’all talkin about

But wrong thread


I agree tho, tempered expectations is best going into this game. As it stands, I’m not down on the characters or gameplay, I’m just not particularly in love with any aspect shown.

Should’ve made it so Orin & Mizora were companions

 

[OneDeep]

Damn I wanted to make a breh with an Antivan accent & a Killmonger Fade

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Killmonger Fade