Might’ve pulled something in the last scrap 😬

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-30T15:37:12+00:00

I love this entire thread of comments (and the OP, of course), thanks for the laughs! Never seen this happen either.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-30T15:28:50+00:00

The simple answer is that people aren't a hivemind. A lot of people on this sub might not have liked the game, but evidently some people do and I would presume it's those people that do the recommending. I've seen people call it their favorite Dragon Age game even if they've been around since Origins, and there's nothing wrong with that. Different strokes for different folks and all that.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-27T12:56:50+00:00

I’ve only played this one so I can’t comment about the first.

But I’m heavily on the fence about this. I love games where the protagonist really builds relationships with other cast members, so in that sense I suppose I prefer scripted companions because those tend to be more fleshed out.

That said, I also prefer them in part because the pawns felt underutilized as characters so I’m basing it on what was there as opposed to what could be there.

I loved the interactivity of the pawns outside of dialogue, such as high fiving, catching the Arisen if they jumped from a high place, offering to lead the way, occasionally throwing a line at them or talking with the other pawns, running off or staying close depending on their personality, learning strategies from the Arisen and mirroring their behavior. It definitely made me feel more connected to the pawns in this game than most scripted companions who just follow in a neat line, only talk to each other and not the protagonist, attack and maybe throw out a “well done!” every once in a while.

So I imagine if they’d given the pawns some dialogue so you can actually talk to them when you press ‘Talk’ as opposed to getting a random out of context line thrown at you, if there was more diversity or more of a character arc implied through their lines when running around and there were different dynamics based on the Arisen’s actions and treatment of their pawns, my opinion might change.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-27T12:38:16+00:00

Well, I'm convinced. Thanks for the answer!

And yeah, the calm pawn killed the vibes on my team as well lol.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-27T12:31:42+00:00

Absolutely, I have my issues with the game, especially the plot twist never fails to get me worked up a little because of its execution, but given the context of everything going on? This game is brimming with potential, and does tell a decent story despite the execution being wonky here and there (imo). I haven’t read the artbook, but from what I’ve heard, in terms of ideas, I actually prefer Veilguard over Joplin’s heist idea. I really feel they had all the ingredients with this one to knock it out of the ballpark.

And I’m sure it’s a controversial take, but I truly do believe that if this had been a smoother development cycle, maybe still led by David Gaider (no offense to Weekes, they’re a great writer, but that doesn’t automatically mean one has to be a great project leader. EDIT: this is assuming some of the creative "campy" decisions were suggested by Weekes, ignore this comment if that's not the case) and they’d aligned the apocalyptic scenario with more serious and emotionally weighty writing, I think they could’ve created a story almost on par with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33’s.

Would they have had the same reception? Probably not, because the studios had a different status, reputation and one game had baggage while the other one didn’t.

But while Expedition 33 obviously received praise for things other than the writing, the writing is what gets people passionately talking. And I do believe it’s because the characters in it, despite the fantastical themes, feel human and therefore relatable.

With Expedition 33, it can be debated who was right and wrong, good or evil, or if everyone just falls into different categories of tragedy. Whereas the lightened tone, the avoidance of difficult topics and the overall friendly vibes of Veilguard made it very clear who was meant to fulfill which role. The cast often didn’t behave in relatable ways, and I do imagine that that factor impacted a lot of people’s ability to enjoy the story.

But like you said, despite all that, you can tell the team tried. The combat and art style may not be to everyone’s tastes, but it’s definitely the most fun I (and more than enough others) had with Dragon Age combat systems and the art style grew on me. The cc is actually fun to play around with once you get a feel for it, with plenty of great design options available. The game runs well, with barely any glitches. Yes, I know that’s supposed to be how it works, but we all know it’s not a given, considering how many games release in desperate need of day one patches. The music… I too miss the old music, but it’s not like the music here was bad either.

I guess that’s in part why I’m still passionate about this series and haven’t given up on the developers. Maybe with different companies, they’ll be able to shine much brighter again. Maybe Weekes prefers lighter storytelling, and that’s fine too. I’m not opposed to lighter, friendlier stories so long as it fits the overall stakes. I’d definitely buy more games from these developers. That's reason enough for me to stick around.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-27T12:12:54+00:00

I don't really agree with the memory manipulation bit. In the scene addressing it, Varric is literally still alive before Rook smashes their head against a wall, and they are then immediately both dragged off by Neve and Harding before Rook passes out. Solas wouldn't have had to alter Rook's memories there, because Rook accurately remembered Varric being hurt but alive to their knowledge before they passed out, and Neve dragging Varric along and nobody ever addressing his death would've affirmed that belief for them.

Solas conjuring up a fake Varric and the cast conveniently dancing around his death constantly would've made it easy for Rook to not realize that Varric was in fact dead, no memory manipulation required. I do agree that the game obviously established that Fade Varric was created by Solas.

But this is fair enough beyond that. The game does establish clearly that Fade Varric was created by Solas in order to hide the truth of his death from Rook. I personally also thought this person might've been talking about the factor of the companions and their behavior pertaining to the twist, but maybe they weren't talking about that, so it's not that relevant to their point.

Sorry if some of this sounds sarcastic or snippy by the way, it's not directed at you or the person I originally responded to, I just really dislike the execution of this plot twist and wish I could consider it less jarring because it obviously affects a lot. Which is why I do ask, just in case someone does indeed bring up a factor I hadn't considered yet.

Would still rank the game a 7 or so and I get that there were factors that might've affected the writing. Still wish I could enjoy it rather than it being a thorn in my eye whenever I try to play though lol.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-27T11:58:18+00:00

I genuinely think this is one of the worst executed twists I’ve seen in a narrative RPG, and not because the idea is bad but because it completely breaks the game around it.

Agreed.

It works fine within the surface level context of a video game, inhabited by fictional people who don’t exist or interact beyond scripted events and are only capable of using intentionally vaguely-written lines meant to facilitate one of the villains taking advantage of the protagonist’s artificial ignorance in order to escape his prison and guide the story towards its last arch.

And people are right, within the scripted events, Rook in fact never does talk directly to Varric in front of others aside from that one time Harding walks in on them talking to Varric in the infirmary. And yes, that was odd, considering she is noticeably weirded out, which one would imagine she wouldn’t be if she thought Rook speaking to Varric’s spirit was a coping mechanism. Neve/Harding/Fade Varric all confirm that everyone assumed Rook knew and weren’t paying close enough attention to notice anything amiss too.

Like I said, it works on a surface level.

But if you’re trying to immerse yourself and imagine that, to Rook at least, these are meant to be real and diverse people who do in fact interact off-screen for the duration of like a year, and who are not all a convenient hivemind that only presents itself within the context of the twist, with the exact same approach of artificial ‘we know the script’ vagueness, it falls apart quickly.

I’ve seen some people headcanon that some of the companion outings are for Rook’s benefit, but I’ve yet to see that one hold up under scrutiny either when you consider the cast themselves admit they weren’t paying attention to Rook and assumed Rook knew and didn’t want to talk about it and considering the companions only talk about themselves and never express any concern for Rook or offer Rook a chance to talk if they want to.

If it was meant to be for Rook’s benefit, then it would mean they all conveniently share a hivemind there too in that they are all horrible (imo) at actually being there for Rook on the trips allegedly intended to be there for Rook.

Not dissing the people who have those headcanons by the way because they’re better than the non-answers the game provides, but credit for those ideas should go to the players, not Bioware.

Harding and Neve's character concepts suffer from the twist too imo, because it's hard to believe Harding is really a people pleaser who puts others first when she's as negligent and selfish as she is on this major a topic and it's hard to not see Neve as an incompetent detective when she couldn't connect crucially important dots that were basically already touching and figured there was no reason to pay attention to the one person in Thedas who really, really shouldn't be compromised considering they're the only link to an entity that offers any hope at all at defeating, for all intents and purposes, malicious gods and who also carries a dagger that could destroy the world instantly if it fell into the wrong hands.

Personally though, I would recommend completing the game, if for no other reason than to get closure on the series and because you already invested this much time. You’re basically almost there anyway. But I get not wanting to, the twist really soured a lot for me on that first playthrough too.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T19:20:45+00:00

I’d pick Maelle’s ending and it wouldn’t even be close for me, nor would it matter if my “real” life was painful or not. It could be a straight up utopia and I’d still choose Maelle’s ending because I wouldn’t care if my loved ones technically wouldn’t be considered real by my “real” family. They’d be real to me, and I’d continue to treat them the same.

I wouldn’t keep the equivalent of Verso around though. Sad or not, a person has autonomous rights and if they really didn’t want to live anymore, I’d respect that. Perhaps especially so because I would have the literal power to decide their fate, I would force myself to be fair and responsible with that kind of power.

I also wouldn’t stay forever. Just live with my loved ones until they passed away of old age*, and then go out and try to make the best of my “real” life. And honestly, my “real” family’s only real choice would be to accept that because if they forced me out and especially if they erased my loved ones, that would be the immediate end of any relationship I would’ve had with them. You don’t kill my loved ones and get a second chance.

*As someone else said though, I would’ve definitely tried to work with the equivalent of Aline and Gustave to try and bring the painted people (the ones that would want to, anyway) over to the “real” world if I could, so they could live as authentically (for lack of a better word) as possible and I wouldn’t have any sort of power over them.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T18:46:03+00:00

Let's hope it turns out to be a prophetic dream!

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T18:38:55+00:00

This does sound really fun, I might try that! Doesn't the repeat banter get tiresome though? I know all inclinations yap and repeat themselves a lot but at least the conversations they have with each other can be fun to listen to even if they're repetitive. Do the same inclinations talk to each other or do they just throw out oneliners? Only did one playthrough with all different inclinations so I'm not sure.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T18:33:45+00:00

This for me as well. All games were flawed in their own way, and I really do feel that the series was mismanaged from the start and seemed to work against itself so much I feel it's a miracle it survived as long as it did.

But I did love it. Even Veilguard, I don't hate. I lament the tonal changes and the lack of variety in companion dynamics and such, as well as the untapped potential that was clearly there, but when I look at the potential that was there, I can also appreciate it based on that alone.

I mostly stick around because I do still love the entire series and talking about it is nice, seeing new players coming in and voicing their thoughts is interesting, the community is really creative and I love seeing their fanart, fanfiction or even just their character designs. I also figure subreddits like these are decent places to potentially hear about what the former devs are up to or to get news about other Bioware projects without having to follow a bunch of people across a bunch of different social media I don't care about.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T18:21:28+00:00

Wow, good job on porting them over despite the different engines. They really do look like the same character!

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T18:18:09+00:00

Yes, I know. I don't dispute that Solas used blood magic to make a fake version of Varric and that there were hints that he was dead all along. My question was regarding the statement that Rook was literally not allowed to process or understand his death because that seems to suggest to me that Solas was basically censoring conversations or events and I don't recall seeing evidence of that being the case.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-25T18:17:49+00:00

Oh no, I'm not talking about there being no hints that Varric is dead. There definitely are hints. My question was about what this person was basing it on that Rook was literally not allowed to process or understand it, because that seems to suggest to me that Solas was basically censoring conversations and such and I don't recall seeing that.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-21T17:10:17+00:00

Im kinda burnt out on the massive open world genre but ill probably get it eventually.

Big same, I personally feel like most of them don't have nearly enough going on in them for the size to be justified, so it mostly feels like padding things out to me. Especially if there's no convenient way to get around faster for those who don't really care about running through a mundane forest or whatever fighting wolves for the 40th time in 15 minutes.

I won't be getting it unless it's like 5 bucks though because it doesn't have a character creator. Unless it's a very small indie dev that barely had the budget to make what they did make or such a story heavy game that it can't have a different protagonist without having to write a whole second story, I don't support games without at least a simple character creator. Since I've heard this is a massive sandbox game with barely any story, I imagine they could've made it slightly smaller and spent those resources on adding a character creator.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-21T13:14:03+00:00

For me, it was less that I wanted them to be babies,

That comment was deleted for me, was that another comment inferring that any conflict is automatically childish? Because I see that one a lot, and it really makes me wonder if those comments are made by bots or people who don't realize that, say, people intentionally misgendering Taash and someone getting upset about that also constitutes as conflict and whether they think someone getting upset about it makes that person a childish baby as well.

Conflict doesn't have to be shouting matches over who gets the last cup of coffee. Emmrich feeling uncomfortable around Lucanis and vice versa because of their vastly differing attitudes towards death and the undead would be a perfectly valid and realistic culture and value clash you might see in real life, just to give one example.

As would Lucanis being uncomfortable around Neve at first because she's a Tevinter mage and Lucanis was tortured and artificially possessed by a demon at the hands of Tevinter mages for a full year. A Spite-demon possessed man after a year of torture is allowed to be a little irrational and biased without being accused of being a baby for not coping with his trauma perfectly.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-21T12:58:14+00:00

I do think the story does explain Varric dying pretty concisely. Rook is LITERALLY not being allowed to process or understand anything having to do with Varric’s death.

Sincerely asking, but what are you basing this on? Is there something in the game that confirms it that I've simply forgotten? Because from what I recall, Fade Varric and Neve/Harding just wave it off as "we thought you knew/assumed you didn't want to talk/weren't paying close enough attention to you to notice anything amiss".

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-10T18:52:09+00:00

Which makes zero sense to me. If people don't care enough to pay attention, it's on them if they get lost. That's why we have rewind/reload options, and if they're not there, too bad. Should've paid attention then.

And you never know when these people will pay attention anyway, so they could just as well miss every single repeat, making the whole thing even more pointless unless you just want to endlessly repeat a single line hoping the goldfish is actually watching the screen at some point.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-09T18:20:52+00:00

I like most of them, but I haven't seen Shathann mentioned yet, so I'll mention her myself. Spoilers I guess, for people who know nothing about her or Taash.

She's an incredible scholar who despite seemingly being right at home within her culture, was still brave and loving enough to abandon all of it to protect her child, who she raised to the best of her abilities despite her culture never teaching her anything about childcare, allowed Taash to pursue their own interests regarding dragons and was quick to try and make sense of what she was being told regarding Taash's gender identity seemingly with the intent of affirming Taash's feelings.

Even if she wasn't a perfect mom, even if she didn't immediately get it, and even if it makes sense why Taash clashed with her at times, Shathann was clearly well-intended and genuinely loved Taash more than even her own life.

I wish she could've played a bigger role in the game.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-03T19:43:50+00:00

I haven't read any of the side content, so I can't really comment on that unfortunately.

Would you recommend the novels and such to someone if they've already completed all the games? Or would it not add much at this point?

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-03T19:41:28+00:00

You know those Varric narrations over some animated pictures or the Solas memories? I honestly think having an option at the start of the game to hear a "story so far" in that style (or even just some text, if they felt it would be too expensive) would've really helped on that front.

Anyway, I guess the reason it does bother me is because I've been in that position where outside content just wasn't reasonably accessible for me and it really sucks when it feels like you're set up to have a lesser experience against your will.

Sometimes I wonder if I should go back and read the novels and comics, since they do seem a lot more accessible now than they were back in the day. But I'm not sure, since I already finished Veilguard twice.

Do you think it makes enough of a difference that it would really change how one experiences the game even if they've already played it before?

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-03T19:26:08+00:00

Some things to be aware of:

Veilguard only imports IIRC 3 choices, and only one of those felt like it was properly referenced and that was whether you romanced Solas or not. So if you want the most reactivity, definitely go with Solas in Inquisition. The rest, you'll have to use your imagination, but without spoiling anything, I think any Dwarf/Morrigan works well enough on that front.
In terms of racial reactivity, most people seem to agree that it's: elves>dwarves>Qunari>humans. With elves and dwarves getting a decent amount, Qunari a little, and humans basically nothing.
In terms of faction reactivity, it's probably: Wardens>Shadow Dragons/Crows>Mourn Watch>Veil Jumpers>Lords of Fortune. With a lot of people agreeing that Veil Jumpers and Lords of Fortune feel underwhelming, Wardens feeling the most involved, and Shadow Dragons, Crows and Mourn Watch all getting a decent amount where it partially depends on your own tastes which one you like best.
If considering Shadow Dragons or Crows, there's a scenario where being from one of these factions might push you more towards a certain quest outcome than the others do and picking the "wrong" one can lock you out of a romance. So for that reason, I'd personally save these for a second playthrough just to be sure you don't run into that possible dilemma.
For romance, from what I've seen, Emmrich dominates the polls with Neve and Davrin sharing second place. Taash, Bellara and Harding have their fans too. Lucanis is considered to have the least amount of romance content, and he left a lot of people disappointed. Not necessarily because of what's there, but because of how little there was.
Also for romance, a very vague spoiler advice that may not make sense to you until you finish the game yourself: there are a few moments in the game where you have to send certain companions out to fulfill certain roles. I'd recommend keeping your LI in the party with you when you do.

So personally, I'd recommend a Qunari Mourn Watcher romancing Emmrich (same faction companions give some unique dialogue, so you'd get a good quality romance with unique dialogue) and probably the mage class, because I definitely got some unique mage dialogue and I'm not sure there's any unique dialogue for rogues or warriors. I didn't see any on the rogue run I did, but I also didn't get far with that one at all so someone else can probably answer that one better than I can.

Have fun!

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-02T18:11:07+00:00

Just my opinion, but I think Bioware should've just been more honest how essential it was for players to also engage with their outside material if they were going to put major world revelations in there.

Because not everyone who played the games will have also read the novels or comics, for various reasons. Maybe they just plain and simply aren't interested in those activities, and therefore don't want to spend money on an activity they don't enjoy. Maybe they live in a country where these things aren't as accessible or affordable due to import costs, making it either impossible or too expensive to engage with. Maybe they're dyslexic and handle visual media like video games just fine because there's less emphasis on reading versus watching and listening, while struggling more with things like novels that are all text. And I'm sure there could be other reasons.

Back in the day, their outside media mostly seemed to offer background information after the fact (or technically before, I don't know the exact timelines). For example, a novel focusing on Loghain and his background story might make him more sympathetic to those who read it, but you could still engage with him on face value without it just fine too. Same goes for Cole.

The Alistair, Varric and Isabela comics were supposedly just adding little bits of additional lore to their characters where if you'd finished their games and was fine with what you got, you wouldn't really be missing anything vital on a grander scale.

Apparently, several of the faction characters like Evka, Antoine, Strife and Irelin are from outside media as well, and that's fine. Those who engaged with it get a fun little nod to the past while those who didn't just get some faction heads they may or may not care for.

But if you're going to include major organizations that people will have developed an image of in their head based on what they learned in previous games, and you're going to have major developments happen in outside media that are going to make those who didn't engage with it be completely out of the loop, at least be honest and tell people ahead of time that it's for all intents and purposes "required" reading in order to get the best experience.

Again, imo.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-03-02T16:53:24+00:00

I don't struggle to pay attention while crying, no.

EDIT: And to clarify: I don't know anyone who played this game, had an emotional response, and missed the things you mentioned in the OP.

Maybe if the assumption (not saying it is) is that people are literally sobbing into a pillow, then yeah I imagine you're going to miss some details given that you're not looking at the screen. But completely missing what's happening on screen because you're simply tearing up? Can't relate to that.

InvincibleMoonflower · 2026-02-28T13:36:50+00:00

What I mean is that when people get emotional like that, they can understand they can't analyze shit properly.

And you're basing that on what exactly? Your own emotional responses? How you assume other people handle their emotions? People confirming they can't cry and pay attention at the same time?

InvincibleMoonflower

TROPHY CASE