Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DA4)

[Max Peck]

Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions because you can't handle it: "This is a much higher actions-per-minute game"

Clickbait title ("because you can't handle it") aside, cutting a feature when playtesting showed it wasn't fun doesn't seem like a bad thing to me.

[gbasden]

And, yes, I know that a bunch of people are about to tell me how good they thought it was, or how I'm just old. Good for you - but they still took what appealed most about a favorite series and traded it out for trendy, flashy action gameplay.

Same, unfortunately.

[Smoove_B]

"Release date trailer"

Dragon Age™: The Veilguard arrives October 31, 2024.

Odd pricing:

As detailed in the blog, if you buy Dragon Age: The Veilguard on PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, it's the new standard price of $69.99, but if you opt for the PC version, you only have to pay $59.99. There's no explanation for the price difference, but it isn't at all uncommon for PC versions of games to cost a little less than their console counterparts.

...

The aforementioned Dragon Age: The Veilguard collector's edition will cost you $150, and for that price you get the Rook's Coffer edition, which includes the Lyrium dagger model, a Thedas map and quiver tube, a Rook's deck of cards, a potion flask, and an "enchanted" die. However, as we already touched on, you'll have to buy the actual game separately from the collector's edition.

[Blackhawk]

Definitely waiting for reviews on this.

[Skinypupy]

"Release date trailer"

Awesome. Very excited for this.

Also...YOU BASTARDS LEAVE SCOUT HARDING ALONE!!

[Daehawk]

Looked good to me.

I finished all 3 DA games. 1 & 2 I played twice. Inquisition was so big I felt once was enough.

I dont recall micromanaging my party. Usually I set my companions up with gear and such and let them do their thing while I play my character. So thats all fine.

As for Dark Souls like..I hope to hell not...I hate that type game with a passion! I don't want to be continually punished while I play and die over and over and over until I figure out the moves of a monster or when to drink a potion and on and on. I want to simply have fun and enjoy my games.

In fact in my older age I find myself turning the difficulty of some stuff to easy instead of normal just so I can enjoy the story and flow of the games and not die a ton and repeat the same fights 10 times.

EDIT: Also Im not sure how all this plays out with Solas because in Inquisition I supported him and was kind to him .

I just dont trust Bioware much. They aren't the Bioware of old. So I worry.

[Smoove_B]

As someone that owned a 970, I agree:

When Dragon Age: Inquisition came out nearly 10 years ago, PC players could have invested $329 (~$435 in today's dollars) in a brand-new GTX 970 graphics card to make the game look as good as possible on their high-end gaming rig. Surprisingly enough, that very same 2014 graphics card will still be able to run follow-up Dragon Age: The Veilguard (previously known as Dreadwolf) when it launches on October 31. If you're using AMD cards, an even older Radeon R9 that you purchased back in 2013 will be able to run the game.

Veilguard's minimum specs are just the latest to show the workmanlike endurance of the humble GTX 970, which is currently available used on Newegg for as low as $140. Relatively recent big-budget PC releases like Baldur's Gate 3 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 both use the old card (or the less powerful follow-up variant, the GTX 960) as their "minimum requirement" benchmark.

For everyone:

The full requirements for Dragon Age: The Veilguard are as follows.

Minimum Requirements
OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i5-8400 / AMD Ryzen 3 3300X* (see notes)
Memory: 16GB
Graphics: NVIDIA GTX 970/1650 / AMD Radeon R9 290X
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 100GB available space
Additional Notes: SSD preferred, HDD supported; AMD CPUs on Windows 11 require AGESA V2 1.2.0.7

Recommended Requirements
OS: Windows 10/11 64-bit
Processor: Intel Core i9-9900K / AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (see notes)
Memory: 16GB
Graphics: NVIDIA RTX 2070 / AMD Radeon RX 5700XT
DirectX: Version 12
Storage: 100GB SSD available space
Additional Notes: SSD required; AMD CPUs on Windows 11 require AGESA V2 1.2.0.7

[Max Peck]

[Blackhawk]

After watching that, I still hold my previous view: It looks like it might be a fun game, but it doesn't look like Dragon Age. It looks like typical modern action cheese. Break jars to heal?

[gbasden]

After watching that, I still hold my previous view: It looks like it might be a fun game, but it doesn't look like Dragon Age. It looks like typical modern action cheese. Break jars to heal?

Yeah, no. Not my jam.

[El Guapo]

Kind of looks like a Dragon Age Mass Effect game.

[Blackhawk]

I'd have gone with something like Dragon Age Darksiders. Or Kingdoms of Amalur: Dragon Age.

[Scoop20906]

First episode of the audio drama has dropped.

This game is definitely closer to Mass Effect than DA:Origins but if the game has branching questlines where you can really roleplay a character path differently then others and not a straight line story then I don't mind if this type of combat as much.

[Jaymann]

According to Wolfheart it's a mixed bag. Environment looks good but charcters look pixar and enemies look goofy/cartoony. Hard pass.

[Daehawk]

From PC Gamer mag...

LINK

Playing 6 hours of Dragon Age: The Veilguard gave me the faith its trailers couldn't: This is the BioWare comeback fans want.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is going to be called BioWare's comeback. It isn't built on the multiplayer trend-chasing that plagued Anthem, and from the six hours I got to play during a hands-on preview event this month, Veilguard didn't seem to be the buggy mess that Mass Effect Andromeda was, either. It has all sorts of features that prove BioWare was listening to its players. And critically, it's BioWare doing what it's meant to be best at: gorgeous, intense, intimate RPGs.

[Max Peck]

There certainly seem to be a lot of hands-on videos coming out, so if nothing else it seems that Bioware isn't shy about letting people get a look at the game well ahead of release.

This one gives a good overview of the different character classes and specializations:

[Daehawk]

Ive always just used swords. But a mage might be fun this time.

[Max Peck]

Seven Hours With Dragon Age: The Veilguard: Has BioWare Learned The Right Lessons?

I have been waiting for Dragon Age: The Veilguard for 10 years. The last game developer BioWare put out was 2019’s Anthem, an ill-fated loot shooter that chased live-service trends and felt like a misuse of the team’s talents. In the years since, there have been reports and admissions from the studio that the fourth entry in the studio’s fantasy RPG franchise had undergone multiple revamps, including pivoting away from a live-service, multiplayer-driven game in 2021. At a glance, The Veilguard, with its emphasis on narrative and on the multiple well-developed, three-dimensional companions you can befriend or romance, seems like a strategic shift back to core principles for a studio that has been fumbling to find its voice again.

The Veilguard is a single-player, story-driven RPG with a focus on its companions so precise that BioWare renamed the game to represent its team of mages, warriors, and rogues, rather than the elven god Solas they hope to stop from ending the world. (The game’s original title, Dreadwolf, was a reference to him, the game’s antagonist.) All of these elements are the makings of a BioWare game that will draw in fans of the studio known for its character writing, relationships, and worldbuilding. But despite their presence, The Veilguard has already been divisive, as its hard pivot into the action RPG genre feels decidedly at odds with Dragon Age’s CRPG roots. Which begs the question: After 10 years, has BioWare learned the right lessons, not just from its own struggles over the last tumultuous decade, but from the successes that made Dragon Age and the studio beloved in the first place? After playing seven hours of The Veilguard, I’m feeling more confident than ever that it has.

That's not what "begs the question" means, but whatever...

[Max Peck]

Reviews are showing up today. They're looking pretty good out of the gate: Metascore 84 so far.

[JCC]

Eurogamer certainly gushed over it.

[Scoop20906]

Youtube was full of so much negativity (WOKE WOKE WOKE). I'm glad the reviews are looking good.

[Daehawk]

I think it will be good. Ill have to wait on a sale.

[Jaymann]

I can't believe how this guy gets 100% before it's even released. Not my cuppa, but he thinks it's great.

[El Guapo]

I think even if it's not the sort of traditional Dragon Age game that I prefer, as long as it's well executed for what it is, and as long as the story / character interactions are reasonably engaging, I suspect that I will like it.

[Max Peck]

The broad critical overview seems to be that it's a good game for what it is (more of an action/adventure RPG than a CRPG in the DA:O vein) but not necessarily what Dragon Age fans have been waiting for. I suspect that the worst reviews are coming from the this-isn't-what-I-wanted mindset, but I'm not going to read any of them (good or bad) so that's just an assumption on my part.

[Anonymous Bosch]

The Skill Up review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard describes it as a "colossal disappointment, aping the most superficial elements of a Bioware game, making no effort to modernize a fairly dated formula, while delivering absolutely none of writing, characterization, RPG depth and imagination that made previous Bioware games so great":



I think he's spot-on about the weirdly waxy, expressionless facial animations, too.

[Max Peck]

That's one opinion. Another opinion is:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard refreshes and reinvigorates a storied series that stumbled through its middle years, and leaves no doubt that it deserves its place in the RPG pantheon. The next Mass Effect is going to have a very tough act to follow, which is not something I ever imagined I'd be saying before I got swept away on this adventure. Enjoyable action combat, a fantastic cast of allies with sweeping story arcs all their own, top-notch cinematics, and moving, nuanced character writing are the wings on which this triumphant dragon soars, pulling out all the stops in a whirlwind tour of Northern Thedas and capping it with a terrific finale that’s built on memorably tough choices and consequences. If we never get another Dragon Age, at least it got to go out on a high note.

[El Guapo]

I'm going to wait for a few OO reviews.

[Anonymous Bosch]

That's one opinion. Another opinion is:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard refreshes and reinvigorates a storied series that stumbled through its middle years, and leaves no doubt that it deserves its place in the RPG pantheon. The next Mass Effect is going to have a very tough act to follow, which is not something I ever imagined I'd be saying before I got swept away on this adventure. Enjoyable action combat, a fantastic cast of allies with sweeping story arcs all their own, top-notch cinematics, and moving, nuanced character writing are the wings on which this triumphant dragon soars, pulling out all the stops in a whirlwind tour of Northern Thedas and capping it with a terrific finale that’s built on memorably tough choices and consequences. If we never get another Dragon Age, at least it got to go out on a high note.

Perhaps, but this reads like shill video game journalism to my eyes, especially after watching the full entirety of the Skill Up video review. Because it’s hard to overlook, even with the most casual of glances, glaring examples showcased in the video that highlight just how on-rails the gameplay is, and how watered-down and inconsequential choices made within this game appear to be—especially when compared to the golden age of previous Bioware games.

[Blackhawk]

It's like taking Game of Thrones and doing the spinoff as an 80s sword & sorcery movie. It might have the same roots, and it might be good, but it isn't what made the series famous, or what many fans were drawn to it for.

Also:

a storied series that stumbled through its middle years

That would have been Dragon Age 2. Inquisition wasn't a stumble.

[Max Peck]

That's one opinion. Another opinion is:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard refreshes and reinvigorates a storied series that stumbled through its middle years, and leaves no doubt that it deserves its place in the RPG pantheon. The next Mass Effect is going to have a very tough act to follow, which is not something I ever imagined I'd be saying before I got swept away on this adventure. Enjoyable action combat, a fantastic cast of allies with sweeping story arcs all their own, top-notch cinematics, and moving, nuanced character writing are the wings on which this triumphant dragon soars, pulling out all the stops in a whirlwind tour of Northern Thedas and capping it with a terrific finale that’s built on memorably tough choices and consequences. If we never get another Dragon Age, at least it got to go out on a high note.

Perhaps, but this reads like shill video game journalism to my eyes, especially after watching the full entirety of the Skill Up video review. Because it’s hard to overlook, even with the most casual of glances, glaring examples showcased in the video that highlight just how on-rails the gameplay is, and how watered-down and inconsequential choices made within this game appear to be—especially when compared to the golden age of previous Bioware games.

Writing off the positive reviews as shills seems a little gamergate to me, but whatever makes you happy.

[Scoop20906]

Some of the hater YouTube videos are unreal. Sure, some critiques hit valid points, and I could nitpick elements of Red Dead 2, but I still loved that game. It feels like reviewers have moved away from real analysis in favor of clickbait. Add in all the “woke” rants across the internet, and I can’t trust much of what YouTube reviewers are saying anymore. Unfortunately, I let the negativity stop me from getting Star Wars Outlaws at first, but now that I’ve finally played it, I’m absolutely loving it.

[Max Peck]

Digital Foundry has stuff to say about optimizing the PC settings.

[Max Peck]

Digital Foundry has also released a console-centric video, for those of that persuasion.

[hepcat]

I"m seeing mostly positive reviews, myself. Even many of the ones that aren't glowing seem to say it's a good game.

Metacritic (the rotten tomatoes of review sites) has it sitting at a solid 84 percent with critics (79 for PC, 84 for PS5 and 93 for Xbox). That doesn't include user reviews. But honestly, for a game like this, I try to avoid those as the good reviewers are often shouted down by those complaining of "woke writing", as Scoop noted.

[Skinypupy]

Gods, the "anti-woke" crowd is so incredibly tiresome. Searched for "Dragon Age Veilguard Review" in Youtube last night, and about half the results were some sort of "DON'T BUY THIS WOKE GAME!!" whargarrble. Give it a fucking rest already.

That aside, I'm encouraged by the positive reviews and can't wait to dig in. I'm actually thinking about taking a 1/2-day off tomorrow to spend with it, because today's schedule is a mess.

[Max Peck]

Some Twitch streamers seem to have early access to the game, so there are livestreams happening ahead of the release.

https://www.twitch.tv/directory/categor ... -dreadwolf

I am amused by the fact that Twitch hasn't updated the category URL to reflect that actual name of the game.

[Blackhawk]

[Scraper]

The Tetris fix had me laughing.

[Max Peck]

I spent a couple hours just fiddling with the character creator this afternoon, but after I managed to overcome the analysis paralysis I ended up with an elven mage with the Mourn Watch background. And so the adventure begins...