Sheila

Nobody likes to be preached at. You can have complex and even political themes and a good story. Look at the original movie for Clive Barkers candyman stunning world building, great characters, and it addressed complex political topics without offending the audience.

Then watch the remake or play veilguard and you'll question why writing is regressing instead of progressing... The original dragon age origins was complex and it did a far better job incorporating great LGBTQ+ characters.

I am sure mass effect team was proud of themselves building that last mission, some have even praised it. The ending was unearned, I was hoping my team would die, I had one likeable relatively human companion everyone else were childish attempts to design characters.

I'm glad somebody enjoyed themselves. I find it confusing that you liked both veilguard and BG3, as BG3 remains an amazing game like origins that I will likely play the test of my life. Veilguard was essentially $100 dollar robbery and lies. That is solidly the worst game i have every played.

Hand holding, a failure to have anything but the most rudimentary RPG traits, and solidly the worst writing I have been forced to endure since twilight, or another b-rater movie. Then there's the world breaking softening of every faction until they bear nothing but a name in common with their original faction, location... Or the cartoon redesign of the darkspawn, the one dimensional snappy combat that remains unchanged after the first thirty minutes of the game. I guess if you can't be good that making your player nauseous is a solid option.

There are too many good games to waste your time with veilguard even if your confines are LGBTQ+ friendly games. [For an area the were clearly invested in this was one of their worst implementations, most romances were aimed at 9 year old with all the cringe]. Your identity is irrelevant outside that small avenue which is a total failure in my book.

Some environments are pretty, sine lines are salvaged by the voice actors. [This felt like oblivion that the actors were given lines with no context or explanation so delivery is ridiculous and disastrous at unexpected times].

In modern gaming unacceptable EA. These are performances that could mar these actors portfolios even though the fault was the game company itself.

To be fair every previous game was better including LGBTQ+ elements. It is profoundly sad that this was the 'best' of the year.

It's flat characters, empty dialog, and zero understanding of how to make a believable character.... Apparently any attempt at inclusion is enough.

Very disappointing, if your goal is great LGBTQ+ characters than look at Dragon age Origins, or inquisition. There are actually compelling characters in that game.

Bear in mind that non binary will be missing because that distinctive trait hadn't emerged into the public eye yet. [Of course the implementation in veilguard was horribly executed so there's that].

Solidly the worst advice possible. Andromeda was the worst Bioware game until anthem, and now veilguard has created a new all time low for the company.

Truly the best option scrap the game from the timeline, grab whatever remains of Joplin and make a real RPG game.

The second option is scrap the IP and start making kid action games veilguard was already 80% of the way there, but nobody over 14 was ever going to enjoy the repetitious gameplay, half baked story, or bad rater movie writing.

EA and Bioware need to decide who their audience is, what kind of game they want to make and then let your employees do that.

Presuming EA actually let's Bioware do their job and make a good game they might be able to save their studio and rebuild some of the broken trust between fans and company. BG3 among other successful RPGs proves the audience still is out here, we have money, just limited patience.

On the other hand, if Bioware and EA want to make kids action games best of luck. The audience is out there, they too have money. RPG players don't really play kids action games and vice versa.

A very tiny part of the population hates a game for such a pointless reason. (Bioware has certainly blamed players for being bigoted rather than admit that they made some mistakes). Interestingly exactly what star wars has been doing.....

Bad writing is usually the heart of most criticisms, (I'm struggling to think of a worst written plot at the moment aside from Daybreakers).

One of the most puzzling issues here is that players invested in Dragon Age already are accustomed to LGBTQ+ characters. They've been there since the beginning and the player could have been a member of that community since the beginning. (Minus the pronouns which has no explanation in the world). As a player I would have been fine with it had it been bracketed within the world instead of inserted into the plot without any change.

As a player who's enjoyed the last three games, I find it unlikely that a better world building solution couldn't have been found within an existing culture within the world. (There's no getting around the fact that Veilguard handles LGBTQ+ the worst of all dragon age games [realizing that existing fans aren't convinced that Veilguard IS a dragon age game})

I don't disagree that 1 was the best. I also think you have a point with both 2-3.

2 gets a lot more bearable with the mod that increases your walking speed. (The reuse of maps means I have to keep a checklist for each act).

Inquisition is most people's favorite, it isn't mine either. The huge areas the monsters suddenly at a higher level that can one shot you... And the reworking of companions so that interacting with them is very different.... Really...Really didn't enjoy that. Also leaving some companions entirely underdeveloped like Viv.

I can see if you prefer action games that Veilguard might be more enjoyable. The writing was the worst as was character development. (Rook is actually flatter than Hawk) that's an achievement though not one I would be proud of Bioware.... I also think difficulty may make a difference for Veilguard. I WOULD NEVER recommend more than normal if you value your sanity. I play almost all games on hard (HUGE mistake for Veilguard).

Most games difficulty means something like smarter enemies, more enemies, better rewards, etc. LOL or bragging rights. I deserve a medal/mockery for spending 100+ hours doing that. I'm leaning towards mockery. Veilguard only increases health insanely with each increase of difficulty, so don't bother.

FYI Veilguard changes a lot of lore, I get the I understand everything better reading of it. But there's little that consistent between the first three games and veilguard. There was some decent setup for Titans as a race. But the elves causing everything bad in the world... (That's just Veilgaurd whitewashing the series). We know the gods were tyrants certainly (presuming you believe Solas).

My canon so I can keep enjoying series is that Veilguard is a separate world and game, not Thedas. Nothing in it feels like Thedas, only Solas was a little recognizable. Maybe the whole game is him interrogating Rook?

I hope fans eventually update graphics as a mod. This is easily one of the best RPGs I have ever played, I like the next two entries, but they struggled for their own respective reasons. Veilguard isn't within the same world and really should be considered on its own merits (not entirely sure what they are...)

Merely walking around zones and talking to new characters can help you reenter the world and see just how much world building the original team did. I thought I was being hard on Veilguard until I completed it and returned to origins and realized what an amazing game Origins is. Mods for long time players can be lovely to shift the combat, experience, and dialog choices enough to make the experience new and interesting again. (I find it puzzling the fixation on a voiced protagonist. The joy of actually choosing what to say and having something complicated to communicate means you never miss that one voice actor). I could see trying to use someone for the scenes themselves that are more scripted or determined by my own choices.

It also the only game of the series that is more team versus world/environment. The darkspawn are a plague essentially, so the stakes and problem feel very different within that specific game. Having well developed characters from many backgrounds is also wonderful, though one does get a bit trope laden until you get to know them better. It is also one of the few RPG games where companions will pursue the player romantically without being triggered (this goes for all relationships not merely the straight and supposedly normal partners). It can lead to some good laughs and unexpected moments in the game especially with how commonplace the dialog wheel has become (I still hate it). I'd rather have the occasional accidental flirting than have three responses, mean, nice, and funny.... Loath It.

So NO the game was not respectful of the world itself much less my choices as a player. It was entirely focused on gaining a new audience rather than connecting with the world and players it had already gained.

The biggest pity of all was that a few characters could have changed names subtle resigns and they would have had a new game entirely detached from Dragon Age. That would have been better for Veilguard as it really has no connection to any of the previous content, world, or choices from other games.

It's a bit of a pity but players will have to decide what really happened to inquisitor and Solas (which is fine at least I know the waiting is over and that they won't provide any real resolution on Thedas or the characters I love.)

Whatever reality Veilguard comprises of isn't Thedas and certainly isn't the complex world I have enjoyed for nearly twenty years.

They can keep their preteen cast, characters, and bland hero story that beats the Great Evil monster. (Literally half of fantasy and an exceedingly poor telling of a common trope).