Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DA4)

[Pyperkub]

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...

If you find the quest markers annoying, they have some tips:

But there are a couple of little helpers that you'll want to tweak immediately, unless you want to go on a guided tour of Thedas.

I'm referring to the objective tracking and wayfinding features, which on their default settings refuse to let you forget you've got a job to do for even a second. You'll get the opportunity to change this right at the start, when you're setting up the game, but if you're anything like me you'll probably just quickly click through all this stuff without paying much attention—you want to get to the action quickly.

with how to tweak it.

I don't own this yet, but I figured the early posters who actually have the game may be interested in some tweaks w/o spoilers everywhere else.

[Skinypupy]

Played the first couple hours and I absolutely love it so far. The story is really interesting, everything looks fantastic, and it’s just so damn awesome to be back in this world again. The more action-oriented combat feels very similar to how I played Inquisition, so no issues there so far. Although I expect those who want tactical combat will hate it.

After spending a really long time with the character creator, I landed on a grizzled Gerald-esque Warrior

My only two very minor gripes are that the VO actor for Neve isn’t great and there’s a very noticeable lag when opening or closing the menu. Other than that, it’s two thumbs way up in the early going.

[Pyperkub]

I should probably finish Inquisition one of these years....

[Max Peck]

I wish I had this sort of skill with any game's character creator. And I also wish that DATV had a way to export/import slider settings.

[Hyena]

Ok, so I know this might be heresy around these parts, but I only played the first DA. I loved it, but for some reason I bounced off it. I bought the second one, but never started it. The third one (Inquisition, I believe?) I've had it on my wish list for years but never pulled the trigger. Do I need to be familiar with the world to play this? Is it a continuation of a story, or is it something else?

I've always wanted to go back and restart it, and I just might, although I know it would take months to get caught up

[Skinypupy]

Ok, so I know this might be heresy around these parts, but I only played the first DA. I loved it, but for some reason I bounced off it. I bought the second one, but never started it. The third one (Inquisition, I believe?) I've had it on my wish list for years but never pulled the trigger. Do I need to be familiar with the world to play this? Is it a continuation of a story, or is it something else?

I've always wanted to go back and restart it, and I just might, although I know it would take months to get caught up

Knowledge of the previous games would be helpful, but not necessary. Some of the characters and events may not mean as much, but the game does a good job getting you caught up to speed.

Inquisition is still one of my top 10 games of all time, and is one of the very few RPG's I've played through multiple times (4, so far). I think it's brilliant and you can get it for cheap if you don't feel like dropping full price for Veilguard yet.

[Max Peck]

Ok, so I know this might be heresy around these parts, but I only played the first DA. I loved it, but for some reason I bounced off it. I bought the second one, but never started it. The third one (Inquisition, I believe?) I've had it on my wish list for years but never pulled the trigger. Do I need to be familiar with the world to play this? Is it a continuation of a story, or is it something else?

I've always wanted to go back and restart it, and I just might, although I know it would take months to get caught up

It's been the better part of a decade since I played any of the previous games, and not remembering anything in detail hasn't been a real issue for me. The game doesn't import anything from the previous games in the series, although there is an option to customize some details for how the plot in DA:I resolved -- I just left that at the default and didn't worry about it, since technically the current player character wasn't involved in any of that afaik.

I'm also kind of wanting to replay the whole series back to back at some point, but I doubt I'll ever get around to it. I want to do the same thing with Mass Effect and haven't made time for that, either.

I did watch this video that someone recommended elsewhere to get a quick lore refresher:

[Jaymann]

I forgot how good Dragon Age Origins is, so I made room for it on my Top 50 list. The second one I finally made it to the town then bounced off when I found that's all there is. I tried Inquisition and made some progress, but it just didn't grab me. DA4 looks too pastelatedTM, cartoony, and actiony for my taste.

[Max Peck]

I don't get where the "cartoon" thing is coming from. People say things like "It looks like a Saturday morning cartoon" but I just don't see that myself. There is some in-game art (the illustrations for Varrick's prologue narration, murals on walls, ect) that are somewhat cartoony, but the actual game itself, not so much to my eye. Then again, nobody ever accused me of being an art critic, so what do I know.

[Carpet_pissr]

If you can't customize your genitalia down to wrinkly, hairy balls, or labia size I'm out. I insist that my RPG's cater to the horny 12 year old in me.

[Max Peck]

I forgot how good Dragon Age Origins is

Haven't you heard? DA:O is now simplistic and bad, because Baldur's Gate 3 happened. I am told that by Reliable Internet Personalities that only having 3 base classes and 4 races is just pathetic. And DA:TV is bad because it is simulatenously not enough like DA:O and too much like DA:O.

[Max Peck]

If you can't customize your genitalia down to wrinkly, hairy balls, or labia size I'm out. I insist that my RPG's cater to the horny 12 year old in me.

Sadly you can only customize your bulge -- the underpants don't come off so the wonders therein remain a mystery. You can show off your boobs, though. I'm guessing sexy cut scenes is yet another area where Dragon Age just can't compete with BG3.

[hepcat]

Sadly you can only customize your bulge --

Sadly for YOU, maybe. PROUDLY for moi!

[Max Peck]

Sadly you can only customize your bulge --

Sadly for YOU, maybe. PROUDLY for moi!

Sadly only in the context of the game not supporting full-on schlong and vag customization, a la Cyberpunk 2077 or Baldur's Gate 3, as per Carpet_pissr's criteria.

[Blackhawk]

I don't get where the "cartoon" thing is coming from. People say things like "It looks like a Saturday morning cartoon" but I just don't see that myself. There is some in-game art (the illustrations for Varrick's prologue narration, murals on walls, ect) that are somewhat cartoony, but the actual game itself, not so much to my eye. Then again, nobody ever accused me of being an art critic, so what do I know.

I don't see that either (and I'm very critical of the game's style.) I'd have said it looks like an attempt at serious fantasy by Pixar artists. Dragon Age has always skewed toward the realistic. This time it seems to push more toward the trendy smooth skin/big eyes/big mouth/a-little-too-pretty look. Again, it's subtle, but noticeable enough that it really dampens the appeal to me.

[FishPants]

I have really fond memories of playing DA Inquisition on my Xbox 360 with my girls.. They would have been 5 and 9 years old, and they LOVED watching me play the game - the younger one didn't like it as much in the big battle scenes (she would get scared in a lot of the cut scenes). Funny how that memory has stuck with me since - and my family is back together this weekend for a funeral of one of my daughters friends' father who passed suddenly - I picked her up at the airport this morning and had 30-45 minutes with all of us together before they went to the services etc today; and I saw that the new DA game had been released and both my daughters recalled the time we spent playing that years ago.

Yeah ok, so what I am getting at is this was the reason I bought it this morning on Amazon which ironically also just got delivered to my porch tonight. Not sure I am going to install it tonight, but I see this getting some play time tomorrow - I haven't watched any reviews of the game or really any footage even. I hope I still enjoy this, but I loved the hell out of the previous ones *AND* I also loved the hell out of the Mass Effect series; so based on everyone's criticism I am reading in this thread I should be fine no matter what!

[Blackhawk]

FWIW, my (and others') objections to the change of direction aside, all indications are that it is a great action RPG when looked at in on it's own. So yeah, my complaints are no reason to avoid the game unless you happen to have the same perspective as I.

[Max Peck]

For anyone who is interested in what amounts to a cheap demo, it looks like you can pick up a discounted one-month sub to EA Play (not Play Pro) for a buck or two, and that let's you play the game for 10 hours (plus whatever other games are included).

[Max Peck]

I wish I had this sort of skill with any game's character creator. And I also wish that DATV had a way to export/import slider settings.

I found the Youtube channel for the person who did these character designs. There is a tutorial video for each of them.

https://www.youtube.com/@bonusboomstick

[El Guapo]

What class are people playing as / what would people recommend? I started with a mage and played a short amount last night. Mage is what I am generally drawn to, but since this is more of an action RPG than a traditional RPG I think I might restart as a rogue - if I'm going to play a more hack and slashy game feels more fitting to be, well, hacking and slashing.

[Max Peck]

I started as an elf mage, but I'm also rolling up a human rogue and a dwarf fighter. I want to play each of them through the initial part of the game, then decide which one I like the most to carry on with.

[Scoop20906]

This had my wife and I rolling …

https://packaged-media.redd.it/5y92lxo9 ... fb4c0f50dd

Sorry not sure how to embed this.

[Punisher]

My first thought was that family from coming to America

[Skinypupy]

What class are people playing as / what would people recommend? I started with a mage and played a short amount last night. Mage is what I am generally drawn to, but since this is more of an action RPG than a traditional RPG I think I might restart as a rogue - if I'm going to play a more hack and slashy game feels more fitting to be, well, hacking and slashing.

I went with a human fighter. Was initially thinking about going primarily two-handed, but that felt too clunky so I’m sticking with sword & shield . Its been fantastic so far…will post more thoughts later today.

[Max Peck]

After playing all 3 classes through to the Lighthouse, I think I'll go with the rogue. I've also come to the conclusion that my video card (RTX 2080S) isn't quite up to snuff for the high preset as I was seeing the FPS drop down well below 30. I reset it to the medium preset, so the game isn't quite as pretty as before but I'm consistently getting 50-60 FPS. I need to go back to the Digital Foundry PC video and see if they have any tips that would let me optimize the settings to strike a better balance between quality and performance.

[Jaymann]

After playing all 3 classes through to the Lighthouse, I think I'll go with the rogue. I've also come to the conclusion that my video card (RTX 2080S) isn't quite up to snuff for the high preset as I was seeing the FPS drop down well below 30. I reset it to the medium preset, so the game isn't quite as pretty as before but I'm consistently getting 50-60 FPS. I need to go back to the Digital Foundry PC video and see if they have any tips that would let me optimize the settings to strike a better balance between quality and performance.

You might want to try it on the NVIDIA Gforce NOW servers. You can play an hour per day for free. If you like it, it's $20/month for unlimited play.

[coopasonic]

I'm playing Rogue going toward the Veil Archer specialty so mostly bows. I'm level 16 after about 10 hours played and I'm kind of meh on the game at this point. The combat isn't bad and the story seems interesting but it isn't actually pulling me in. I think part of it was just finishing the new Life is Strange game that pulled me way in and was messing with my emotions in a big way. By comparison, Veilguard is like reading a short story by a middle schooler. I'll keep playing but I can't say I am excited to sit down for a session with the game. it may be hurting me that I don't remember a damn thing about the previous games.

[Max Peck]

After playing all 3 classes through to the Lighthouse, I think I'll go with the rogue. I've also come to the conclusion that my video card (RTX 2080S) isn't quite up to snuff for the high preset as I was seeing the FPS drop down well below 30. I reset it to the medium preset, so the game isn't quite as pretty as before but I'm consistently getting 50-60 FPS. I need to go back to the Digital Foundry PC video and see if they have any tips that would let me optimize the settings to strike a better balance between quality and performance.

You might want to try it on the NVIDIA Gforce NOW servers. You can play an hour per day for free. If you like it, it's $20/month for unlimited play.

I think I've got the issue sorted out after a little fiddling with the rendering scale. It looks like I can get a good fps by dropping the rendering scale to 67% (i.e. the card renders at 720p, then upscales to the 1080p display resolution) without significant (to my eye) degradation of visual quality while still using high quality graphics settings.

[Skinypupy]

I'm playing Rogue going toward the Veil Archer specialty so mostly bows. I'm level 16 after about 10 hours played and I'm kind of meh on the game at this point. The combat isn't bad and the story seems interesting but it isn't actually pulling me in. I think part of it was just finishing the new Life is Strange game that pulled me way in and was messing with my emotions in a big way. By comparison, Veilguard is like reading a short story by a middle schooler. I'll keep playing but I can't say I am excited to sit down for a session with the game. it may be hurting me that I don't remember a damn thing about the previous games.

I'm the exact opposite. A little ahead of you (12 hours, level 19) and am thoroughly enjoying this, especially the story. The best compliment I can think to give it is that this just feels like a Dragon Age game in every respect. The world, the characters, the look and feel, and most importantly the stories and dialog. To me, it hearkens back to the stellar writing that we saw in previous Bioware games and I'm intrigued and fully invested in every main quest, companion quest, and side quest that I come across. The voice work has gotten significantly better as well, with every character doing an excellent job with their parts.

I do think that the first 2-3 hours are a little rough as you wrap your head around the mission and navigation systems. While not an open world, but does a good job of providing areas that are really fun to explore and find treasures hidden in every nook and cranny. My only gripe is that it can sometimes get a little confusing to navigate, especially when quest objectives are up high. The movement takes some getting used to as well, as Rook isn't exactly graceful, and steers a bit like a lumbering tank. Easy to adjust for that pretty quickly though, and it hasn't been a major problem.

The combat continues to be fine, but I'm not going to be a very good judge of how that will resonate with most people. I have it turned down to Story mode, so most things go down in a few hits and I don't really ever have to worry about dying. Still, it's very fun and I do feel like quite the badass chucking my shield, dodging, and unleashing mine and companion abilities all over the place. It's fun, but I have no idea if/how it holds up at higher difficulty levels. Every piece of gear looks really cool, but I haven't had to give much thought to load build-outs. I'm sure that becomes much more of an issue at higher difficulty as well.

I've only run into one bug, where the death animation loops over and over when I fall into water. I can just fast-travel to a beacon to get out of it, but it can be annoying to run back to where I was. Not a deal breaker, just obnoxious. Other than that, I haven't had any issues at all.

So far, it has it's hooks fully in and I'm really loving this one. I'd probably put it as my front-runner for Game of the Year so far.

Also, I really want to know if "Rook" is short for "Rookie", referring to the chess piece, or just an entirely random nickname.

[Scoop20906]

Also, I really want to know if "Rook" is short for "Rookie", referring to the chess piece, or just an entirely random nickname.

Spoiler:

I seem to remember Varric making reference to the chess piece and its abilities when introducing Rook to someone.

[Jaymann]

The name "rook" derives from the Persian word "rukh", meaning chariot.

[Max Peck]

Also, I really want to know if "Rook" is short for "Rookie", referring to the chess piece, or just an entirely random nickname.

Varric explains it early in the prolog, when you meet Neve.

Spoiler:

[Skinypupy]

Also, I really want to know if "Rook" is short for "Rookie", referring to the chess piece, or just an entirely random nickname.

Varric explains it early in the prolog, when you meet Neve.

Spoiler:

She asks if your name is Rook, as in the chess piece, and Varric replys that it's one of the strongest pieces on the board, and that you tend to think in straight lines.

Thanks, I forgot about that.

[Max Peck]

I'm too distracted to focus on actually playing the game (for some reason), so I was playing around with the character creator and ran a new character through the opening just to confirm that I was remembering it more or less correctly (hence the edit to put a screenshot in the spoiler).

[Max Peck]

Happy N7 Day, for which we get a Dragon Age patch.

Patch Notes

We can't believe it's been a whole week since Dragon Age: The Veilguard launched. Whether you've already been playing or are jumping in for the first time, we have our first patch releasing today with a few quality of life improvements and bug fixes. We'll also be supporting the game with additional patches in the future to help make your playing experience even better.

Rook can find a new N7 day appearance in the Lighthouse. This is a cosmetic only armor.

[Max Peck]

I don't get where the "cartoon" thing is coming from. People say things like "It looks like a Saturday morning cartoon" but I just don't see that myself. There is some in-game art (the illustrations for Varrick's prologue narration, murals on walls, ect) that are somewhat cartoony, but the actual game itself, not so much to my eye. Then again, nobody ever accused me of being an art critic, so what do I know.

OK, maybe I get it a little bit now...



Ogres used to be a little more balrogesque back in the day. Maybe it's just the blight messing with them...

[coopasonic]

I'm playing Rogue going toward the Veil Archer specialty so mostly bows. I'm level 16 after about 10 hours played and I'm kind of meh on the game at this point. The combat isn't bad and the story seems interesting but it isn't actually pulling me in. I think part of it was just finishing the new Life is Strange game that pulled me way in and was messing with my emotions in a big way. By comparison, Veilguard is like reading a short story by a middle schooler. I'll keep playing but I can't say I am excited to sit down for a session with the game. it may be hurting me that I don't remember a damn thing about the previous games.

I'm the exact opposite. A little ahead of you (12 hours, level 19) and am thoroughly enjoying this, especially the story.

OK, I'll dial the criticism back a little after putting another 40 or so hours into it.

Around 55 hours total and I'm done. I'm not 100% sure since I left the game running and went to bed one time because I was in the middle of a boss fight and didn't want to restart. I don't know if I just got used to the story telling or it grew on me, but I was enjoying it. When I made the prior comment there was only one character I gave a damn about and buy the end they were all pretty dear to me. The combat can be repetitive but it was still fun and challenging enough to keep me engaged. I think things stretched out a bit more than I would have preferred but I wasn't thinking about quitting, so maybe not.

[Skinypupy]

there was only one character I gave a damn about and buy the end they were all pretty dear to me.

This is definitely true. Veilguard takes a really long time - far longer than previous titles - to flesh out the characters and their relationships. There's still a couple I don't care much about (Davrin and Lucanis are meh) but the cast is excellent overall...once you really get to know them. I'd encourage anyone to prioritize Companion quests when they pop up. Not only do they often unlock useful skills or abilities, but they also just give you the chance to get to know the crew.

Two other quick thoughts at around the 30 hour mark:
1. Some of the setpieces are amazing. The whole Weisshaupt experience was just fantastic.
2. Don't spend a ton of time trying to get to certain places or unlock certain doors. If you can't find the solution in about 5 minutes, it's likely something that will open up later during a mission. I spent 20 minutes trying to figure out how the hell to get past the Venatori shields in the Mausoleum, only to have them all just disappear when I went back to that same area on a companion mission an hour later.

[coopasonic]

On a side note, the achievements aren't a pain to get if you are into that sort of thing. I got 50/52 without trying and once I checked what the last two were it took me another 20 minutes to grab those.

[El Guapo]

I am enjoying it thus far. Combat is fun (though some of the boss fights drag out in a repetitive way). Story and characters are good. All the same it does make me a bit sad that this isn't really a role playing game.