Dragon Age Dragon Age: The Veilguard Pre-Release Thread [GAME RELEASED, GO TO NEW THREAD]

[Lacrymas]

In terms of writing.

 

[9ted6]

In terms of writing.

I think 2's better than Inquisition but Origins is better than both of them. While like that video shows Origins had some truly terribly written characters and dialogue they stand out as exceptions from the norm, you have to look around for the ones that are written like shit and cringe.

Meanwhile with 2 and Inquisition especially you can cut to nearly any conversation in the game and it's that bad or worse. A large portion of them in 2 and the vast majority in Inquisition. Isabella's worse than Shale or Zevran and has a much larger role and just about every companion in Inquisition is the same or worse.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

On top of that, Shale is a DLC character, I just ignore it

 

[Lacrymas]

Meanwhile with 2 and Inquisition especially you can cut to nearly any conversation in the game and it's that bad or worse. A large portion of them in 2 and the vast majority in Inquisition. Isabella's worse than Shale or Zevran and has a much larger role and just about every companion in Inquisition is the same or worse.

I really don't think Isabella is worse than Shale or Zevran and I actually like her as a person. With the exception of Fenris and Sebastian, all the DA2 companions are actual people with their own lives and inner worlds. They don't feel like character concepts/templates, unlike DA:O's. It helps that DA2 has such a character-driven story and is honestly Bioware's best.

 

[Fedora Master]

The DA franchise has had fairly consistent writing

GIGGLESQUEE

 

[Fedora Master]

Meanwhile with 2 and Inquisition especially you can cut to nearly any conversation in the game and it's that bad or worse. A large portion of them in 2 and the vast majority in Inquisition. Isabella's worse than Shale or Zevran and has a much larger role and just about every companion in Inquisition is the same or worse.

I really don't think Isabella is worse than Shale or Zevran and I actually like her as a person. With the exception of Fenris and Sebastian, all the DA2 companions are actual people with their own lives and inner worlds. They don't feel like character concepts/templates, unlike DA:O's. It helps that DA2 has such a character-driven story and is honestly Bioware's best.

Okay you're actually fucking brain dead, got you.

 

[Lacrymas]

I'm always willing to discuss my opinions, this being a forum and all, so tell me how and why I've triggered you this time.

 

[Fedora Master]

I'm always willing to discuss my opinions, this being a forum and all, so tell me how and why I've triggered you this time.

No. My stance is objectively correct, yours is retarded poop from a butt. It'd be like arguing with a flat earther.

 

[Elttharion]

The DA franchise has had fairly consistent writing

GIGGLESQUEE

Yeah, its pretty consistent... consistently shit

 

[9ted6]

Meanwhile with 2 and Inquisition especially you can cut to nearly any conversation in the game and it's that bad or worse. A large portion of them in 2 and the vast majority in Inquisition. Isabella's worse than Shale or Zevran and has a much larger role and just about every companion in Inquisition is the same or worse.

I really don't think Isabella is worse than Shale or Zevran and I actually like her as a person. With the exception of Fenris and Sebastian, all the DA2 companions are actual people with their own lives and inner worlds. They don't feel like character concepts/templates, unlike DA:O's. It helps that DA2 has such a character-driven story and is honestly Bioware's best.

Did we play the same DA2 that has a character who's nothing but the pirate slut archetype and another who's the shy creepy girl archetype? And neither of them do literally anything outside filling those roles?

 

[processdaemon]

I liked some of the companions in DA2 a lot and think they did a good job on that but I wouldn't say that the writing is the best overall, the pacing of the story is thrown by the time jumps and the twists rely on Hawke being locked out of acting rationally about certain other characters earlier in the game, which feels pretty frustrating unless you're roleplaying in a very specific way.

 

[BosanskiSeljak]

The DA franchise has had fairly consistent writing from start to finish, it's not like ME that gets progressively worse in every writing aspect as it goes along. Sure, Inquisition is the worst and DA2 is the best, but it's not like the difference is huge.

I just...how someone can come to this conclusion is beyond me. Dragon Age series as a whole is the antithesis of consistent, more retcons than Mass Effect and that's saying something. Ignoring that, each game is completely different in scale, PC/Protagonist, Antagonist, dialogue, tone, etc. The list is endless.

I really don't think Isabella is worse than Shale or Zevran and I actually like her as a person. With the exception of Fenris and Sebastian, all the DA2 companions are actual people with their own lives and inner worlds. They don't feel like character concepts/templates, unlike DA:O's. It helps that DA2 has such a character-driven story and is honestly Bioware's best.

Yes, the reconned fag Anders, useless companion in 2 games Varric + your sibling and the add Isabella to the list of characatures alongside Fenris. Only good thing about Isabella is the fact the game allows me to sell her out to the Qunari.

 

[Yosharian]

Saying DA2 has better writing than DA:O is quite the hot take

 

[Fedora Master]

Saying DA2 has better writing than DA:O is quite the hot take

It's the kind of nonsense revisionism you get when you let a SHIT THREAD LIKE THIS fester.

 

[Gargaune]

I wouldn't say that the writing is the best overall

The premise was good - following a single character's rise to power across time, building up to one seminal event - but the execution was terrible. Player agency is purely and transparently token-grade, and when you factor in the shovelware gameplay, with its brazen encounter padding and obscene level recycling, there's absolutely nothing in Dragon Age II that wouldn't have been better served by it being a book, which makes it an atrocious videogame.

BioWare knew up front what time and budget they had available, and they sure as hell had the experience to tell what would and wouldn't be feasible to pull off with that scope. I often get the impression that David Gaider's kinda miffed with us detractors tearing the game a new one every chance we get, but really, it's the studio he should blame for wasting resources on comprehensive technical and asset overhauls instead of properly allocating them to realise his vision. A Dragon Age II on a mildly-upgraded Origins platform with the full requisite content to support his narrative could've been a pretty good title.

Instead, we got a product so despised that Electronic fucking Arts "coincidentally" ended up giving away complimentary copies of Mass Effect 2 to Dragon Age II customers on Origin.

 

[Lacrymas]

People seem to be overvaluing DA:O's writing methinks.

 

[Camel]

I liked some of the companions in DA2 a lot and think they did a good job on that but I wouldn't say that the writing is the best overall, the pacing of the story is thrown by the time jumps and the twists rely on Hawke being locked out of acting rationally about certain other characters earlier in the game, which feels pretty frustrating unless you're roleplaying in a very specific way.

Aveline is pretty realistic except being a warrior with a sword and shield. Carver is bitter and jealous of his famous brother/sister but supports you when push comes to shove which is realistic too. But I can see such people IRL, I don't need or want them in a fantasy RPG. Fenris is an anime character down to a huge sword and a fag. Bethany is sweet and inoffensive, so BioWare had to either kill or quickly ship her off to the Circle of Magi.

 

[Aarwolf]

Leliana is straight, for all intents and purposes, unless you deliberately court her as a woman PC.

Hate to spoil it her for you, but she was a lesbian and her first love affair was with a woman.

Spoiler

Marjolaine trained Leliana in the subtleties of "the Grand Game," as they referred to it. Leliana will mention in conversation with the Warden, and in greater detail if Leliana is being romanced, that she and Marjolaine were also lovers during this time.

 

[Rhobar121]

Saying DA2 has better writing than DA:O is quite the hot take

It's the kind of nonsense revisionism you get when you let a SHIT THREAD LIKE THIS fester.

Old - good, new - bad
After all, that's the whole essence of this forum.

 

[Fedora Master]

Saying DA2 has better writing than DA:O is quite the hot take

It's the kind of nonsense revisionism you get when you let a SHIT THREAD LIKE THIS fester.

Old - good, new - bad
After all, that's the whole essence of this forum.

Except the series has been bad since DA2

 

[Silverfish]

Old - good, new - bad
After all, that's the whole essence of this forum.

Maybe devs and publishers should make better games.

 

[9ted6]

I wouldn't say that the writing is the best overall

The premise was good - following a single character's rise to power across time, building up to one seminal event - but the execution was terrible. Player agency is purely and transparently token-grade, and when you factor in the shovelware gameplay, with its brazen encounter padding and obscene level recycling, there's absolutely nothing in Dragon Age II that wouldn't have been better served by it being a book, which makes it an atrocious videogame.

It's a premise that could be cool to see if they'd pulled it off with anywhere near the competency of Origins. Somehow somewhere between Origins and 2 the writers that didn't leave became retarded and the engine got downgraded.

Leliana is straight, for all intents and purposes, unless you deliberately court her as a woman PC.

Hate to spoil it her for you, but she was a lesbian and her first love affair was with a woman.

Spoiler

Marjolaine trained Leliana in the subtleties of "the Grand Game," as they referred to it. Leliana will mention in conversation with the Warden, and in greater detail if Leliana is being romanced, that she and Marjolaine were also lovers during this time.

She also has more forward romantic interactions with a male PC. Her being groomed by Marjolaine doesn't necessarily mean women would be her first choice.

People seem to be overvaluing DA:O's writing methinks.

It's not a perfect or even great story but it's decent, much more than can be said about both sequels. It created a narrative and setting that were different enough from its inspirations to stand out and work fairly well but all of its potential then got wasted.

Since you mentioned 2 the writing there almost comes off like they were trying to piss on their fans. Look at the shit they did with Anders for literally no reason. Besides Shale maybe I didn't get the impression with Origins that the writers hated me playing their game.

 

[Lacrymas]

DA:O's writing problems are much more severe than people make them out to be. There are numerous high profile plot points that are either underdeveloped or dropped entirely at some point. Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete. Everything else is half-baked. Some prominent lore is unnecessary and bogs down the worldbuilding, namely demon possession of mages. The main threat of the darkspawn and specifically the Archdemon remained frustratingly unexplained throughout, which led to them being somehow vague and more telling than showing. I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is. The companions are either stereotypes or character templates that don't go anywhere. Most of the time, they are simply recounting their history to you, which is always the worst and most boring kind of character writing.

 

[Tyranicon]

Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete.

These are the only parts of the game that I actually remember (and the Deep Roads for different reasons), so you may be onto something.

 

[9ted6]

DA:O's writing problems are much more severe than people make them out to be. There are numerous high profile plot points that are either underdeveloped or dropped entirely at some point. Now that I think about it, only Redcliffe and the circle tower are somewhat complete. Everything else is half-baked. Some prominent lore is unnecessary and bogs down the worldbuilding, namely demon possession of mages. The main threat of the darkspawn and specifically the Archdemon remained frustratingly unexplained throughout, which led to them being somehow vague and more telling than showing. I still don't know what the darkspawn and the Archdemon's deal is. The companions are either stereotypes or character templates that don't go anywhere. Most of the time, they are simply recounting their history to you, which is always the worst and most boring kind of character writing.

Origins intentionally left alot of things vague and it was for the best in hindsight. You were given a few different possible stories of what the archdemon and darkspawn were and it was up to you which you believed. If you want to see what happens when Dragon Age decides to explain all of its mysteries look at Inquisition.