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luosaugury · 5 months ago

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Because I have my issues with Veilguard’s writing, but I also note that there are moments that I like quite a lot – figured it’s only fair to talk about both sides of that coin. While I think the strongest parts of Veilguard are things which are more general to talk about as opposed to specifics, there are moments in the writing I do really enjoy in isolation, and would like more moments that resonated as well as I found those moments did with me.

Oh, and naturally as before – personal opinions. No judgement on people who view things otherwise. From what I understand from talking to my small circle of interactions in regards to DA, that’s a thing which is being lost in some discussions on what people like/dislike in the game – which I think is a shame, be nice people.

Non-specific observations.

The cinematics are something which have been on a path of improvement in each instalment in the franchise. I think this is the biggest strength in Veilguard. Characters feel alive in cutscenes, they interact with each other and it doesn’t come across as robotic or stiff. Even in Inquisition, if it wasn’t a scene involving you and your love interest, it’s primarily Character A standing to one side and doing their thing, and Character B on the other side doing their thing – they remain separate. Most of the focus is on the face. Sometimes that’s just a thing that happens, but in Veilguard we get more instances where they break away from that as a standard, and it’s refreshing. Overall, we’ve come a long way from Origins and the interpretive dance romance scenes around the campfire.

As for the combat… I will be honest and say I was very concerned when the original teasers showed the combat changes. I was one of the people who did use the tactical camera and enjoyed playing on the harder difficulties that would require frequent pausing, character switching, picking up fallen companions and getting by moment-to-moment. And I also played the Mass Effect trilogy and could not mesh well with the combat at all – I struggled a lot due to both the closer camera and a crosshair which confused my brain (it wasn’t my natural understanding that I can hold a gun off-centre and have it hit at the crosshair at the centre of the screen regardless of depth and angles).

But in spite of those concerns, I actively do enjoy the combat in Veilguard, and I’m immensely happy about that. It’s different, but it’s good. Maybe a case of trying to compare apples to oranges since it’s vastly different types of combat gameplay, but you can always say whether you like a fruit or you don’t– and this one is good for me.

The one drawback that I find with this combat is that my companions are invincible and I kind of like the roleplaying of having to pick them up when they’re in trouble. But that’s a nit-pick, I don’t know how they could balance that in properly nor would they be required to.

It’s also a nice upgrade that characters are designed with variations in build/stature. It really is such a simple sounding thing but it adds an element of realism that is wonderful – having the height variation alone is great, but then also different balances of muscle to body fat (or lack thereof)? It creates much more individual differences that are more real. It feels like a huge advancement, and I’m hoping this means that stuff like this gets further improved upon going forward – whether in this franchise or others.

Like, can you imagine further improvements based on how specific characters carry their weight? Body proportions that are different from what is considered standardised? And a tiny part of me just wants to see the buff character who clearly skips leg day on their muscle building routine.

Specific Moments in the writing…

When we first talk to Solas in the fade, and he realises Rook is unaware of what ultimately happened to Varric.

He starts with a seemingly troubled expression on saying Varric’s name – whether this is because he is feeling distress over his actions or is anticipating some form of verbal lashing from Rook, we don’t really know (and I like not knowing). Then he starts a statement, a correction because Rook is wrong in saying Varric is (only) hurt, then a pause, and we can see the flash of thought crossing Solas’ mind. We see the moment when he formulates a plan.

It’s such a good visual moment which means nothing on playthrough one but hints at so much on replay.

And after that moment he doesn’t correct Rook, he doesn’t change the start of his statement, but he tells us a half-truth that lets us make all the assumptions and run away with them. We’re led to believe Rook isn’t wrong for thinking Varric is hurt, nope, Solas is just upset that Varric told us his interpretation when it’s assuming Solas’ own motives which Solas disagrees with. He gives us a truth nugget, because yes, if we’re familiar with the series Varric is good at shading the truth when he needs to spin something favourably.

I love this moment, it’s clever, it lines up with how others reflect on his behaviour and mannerisms. It’s not an in-your-face lie, it’s a lie by omission where he never gives us the false information, but lets us walk right into it. And the game is blatant enough to tell us right before he says this “he will tell half-truths”, and he immediately shows that, it’s his style – but we don’t have all the information yet to realise. This is great, I love this moment and how it means something completely different on replay.

Harding in the midst of mourning… and Rook not knowing that.

I love this scene. And I think I primarily love it because it feels very emotionally charged, but we’re not given all the information here on the source of this emotion on a first run of the game. Because we can assume lots of things – it could be about Varric being injured, it could be about how the ritual may have been stopped but had repercussions, or it could just in general be about how we didn’t solve the actual issue we were hoping for and we just kinda uncovered more problems.

And asking Harding if she’s ok in this moment puts her on the defensive to a degree… and maybe it’s because I talked to her after Neve who seems to put on a work focus immediately that this defensive reaction caught me off-guard.

This is one of those things where Harding’s reaction is very different to the same statement depending on Rook’s previous interactions with her. For reference, Harding when Rook didn’t bring her to help break the supports for the statues at the ritual site:

[I will note there is an approval bonus for asking her “Are you okay?”, but apparently, I missed the pop up in my screenshots - oops]

And for if Harding is the one you choose at the ritual site for help:

And I love that in this moment, she’s emotionally worked up but in different ways – and on a second run of this game, it becomes much clearer that this is her mourning. She’s in the midst of dealing with an emotional tragedy, and when compounded with a physical injury that threatens to bench her to the infirmary (where Varric’s belongings are just sitting on a cot) – she doesn’t like us implying she’s not ok.

And I think it’s clear she’s not alright in this moment. She’s mourning. None of them should be ok.

But Rook is… Rook is ok enough to be asking Harding if she’s ok and needs time to handle things, while Rook doesn’t acknowledge any turmoil within themself.

Rook is the weirdo here – and I like that.

I like how we have a scene where a character is talking about one thing, and Rook is interpreting another because Rook just doesn’t have the capacity to be on the same page.

The romance starting points.

… look, I just think most of these are really cute.

Personally, my first playthrough I romanced Emmrich with my warrior, Veil Jumper, elven lady. And the cheeky peek when Emmrich asks her to close her eyes – very cute, it got me. It feels playful and like a moment of connection that is mutually shared.

That does also seem to be an ongoing theme with Emmrich's romance for me, there's Emmrich doing his best to give Rook all the romantic centrepieces so they can mutually know each other better... and Rook puts a playful spin on him and it like... highlights the love of similarities and differences? I can't put my finger on the correct way to word this, but I like it.

And on my second playthrough I romanced Harding as my rogue, Shadow Dragon, elven fella. And I personally loved the awkward but nervous talk trying to determine if they’re on the same page or not. I dunno, I’m not immune to the cute.

Plus the ongoing theme of togetherness being the solution to anything that comes their way - I think it's sweet. Whatever complications show up, they're gonna stick it out and find a way through it. And I always have a soft spot for the concept of a pair of archers… it’s a weakness. I can’t help that.

I have also watched the romance scenes for all the other companions at this point and can see some very nice moments of warm fuzzies in the other routes too, but having not played them myself and only watched those on Youtube, I don't feel it's entirely my space to talk about those.

Solas and Elgar’nan snapping at each other.

This moment really stands out to me, and I don’t know exactly why? My closest guess is that it’s one of the instances where it’s an argument between two people who cannot ever meet in the middle – they are both angry and sniping at each other and there is no de-escalation to be had. It stands out to me, and I can’t help but think it’s hilarious that these two ancient elves have chosen to enter a battle of words in the middle of Rook’s head of all places.

It’s such a toothless attempt at biting each other, because they physically can do nothing to the other, but they’re just both so pissed off with the other they can’t give up the want to have the last word. It’s petty, it’s charged, and it’s just like… I dunno, it stands out to me in a positive way. It says something about the both of them in what they choose to say and why they’re bothering to say it.

Add to that how the whole point of this interaction is Solas trying to divide Elgar'nan's attention and inevitably bring it to only Solas instead of Rook - but I think this makes it even more hilarious because imagine forgetting you're meant to be paying attention to someone while they are literally the platform you're standing on to have this argument.

And the fact that it’s apparently loud enough in Rook’s head due to these two elves bickering that they can’t hear their companions talking to them? I chuckled, it’s silly, but I like how it feels.

The companions interacting with each other.

It really does feel like our companions gain strong relationships with each other throughout the story. They have friction that can be worked on, and I really like seeing the friction in particular and how it fosters actual discussions on those points. When there is no friction it can make people feel static and unchanging – but the companions expose those moments and work through them. They work together in spite of them, and they find areas to connect over.

And overall, moments where they just gather together and chat about things casually? Love that, it’s another of those moments where it does help make them feel more relatable since yeah – sometimes it’s nice to just ask someone what their favourite colour is and why. Does it advance things substantially? Not really, but do I feel like I know more about this person for knowing these little bits of inconsequential information? Damn right I do. So I can equally be excited to see Bellara and Lucanis start talking about serials and where they think plots are going after cliff-hangers.

My one gripe about this stuff is I wish Rook could contribute more to these moments when they happen. I want to be part of book club, please – it sounds fun.

#dragon age the veilguard

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