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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Early Preview Thread

stn

Member
They showed one specific mission early on in the game. Inquisition started off in a similar type of area, and opened up later, but even then certain story spots limited exploration. I’m not saying for sure it’s open world, but this 20 minutes was focused on one specific early section so it would be presumptuous to say it’s not open world just from this.
There was a write-up online which said that the game is mission-based. If I had to guess, you have the Veilguard hub where you access missions. I don't think its open world.
 

Doom85

Member
It's simply impossible to take "romance" elements in a game seriously when you already know that every single NPC is ready and willing to fuck you by default. Games which give romance interests agency and preferences are far more interesting than those that don't. Something which Bioware used to know before online pissbabies started throwing tantrums because Jack wouldn't go muff diving with them.

I found the romances with Lae’zel and Karlach (haven’t gotten to the others yet) in Baldur’s Gate 3 more compelling than the romances with Ashley and to a lesser extent Liara in Mass Effect 1. So clearly it’s not impossible which is a massive overgeneralization. Also, I’m focused on the writing of the romance happening at the moment, not getting hung up on irrelevant details like, “OMG, this character would be interested in me regardless of my gender and such!” Seriously, when Lae’zel is telling me how she used to find nothing of value in this realm but now finds joy in something as simple as watching the sun rise because I’m with her watching it, I’m not thinking about anything besides what she’s saying.

And these romantic interests do have agency and preference. Doing things that make Lae’zel happy will often displease other companions and vice versa. If you want Karlach to like you, you can’t just murder hobo and be a jackass to a bunch of NPCs because she won’t like that. If you resist listening to Lae’zel about seeking out her people, she can straight up leave your party for good. THAT is preferences and agency, rather than getting overfocused on them being romanceable by any gender as there is only one Tav/Dark Urge (your MC) per campaign so it makes zero sense to focus on another Tav/Dark Urge who doesn’t exist in this particular campaign.
 

Doom85

Member
There was a write-up online which said that the game is mission-based. If I had to guess, you have the Veilguard hub where you access missions. I don't think its open world.

Yeah, I just read up on it. Some areas will offer much more exploration than others, so this early location is clearly one focused less on exploration.
 

Horatius

Member
They showed one specific mission early on in the game. Inquisition started off in a similar type of area, and opened up later, but even then certain story spots limited exploration. I’m not saying for sure it’s open world, but this 20 minutes was focused on one specific early section so it would be presumptuous to say it’s not open world just from this.
nah they've said it's mission based and not open world

they're selling it like it's some handcrafted thing with incredible level design but it's going to end up being a pathetic corridor simulator instead, which is somehow even more shallow than inquisition's world lol
 

Humdinger

Gold Member
I was pretty skeptical based on the game's history of multiple misfires and reversals, as well as Bioware's general decline over the past decade. The first trailer was bad. It made it look like a hero shooter with childish characters. I decided to reserve judgment, though, until I saw the gameplay reveal.

Well, I've seen the gameplay now. Not impressed. I think I'll drop this one off my radar. Maybe if the reviews/impressions come in highly positive, I'll reconsider, but at this point, it doesn't seem like it's for me.
 

Inspector Q

Member
Man...this one doesn't look that good. Which I guess is to be expected at this point given Bioware's recent output. I freaking hated Inquisition and this gives me the vibes of some of the linear, story based missions in Inquisition. Ironically, those were my favorite parts of Inquisition, as the open world zones were god-awful, lol.

Anyway, I have two main gripes so far. The first is the seemingly limited dialogue options that seem to be more inline with Inquisition than DAO, unfortunately. Someone already mentioned it, but the part with the girl in the spotlight and your character automatically saying something like "We need to save her!!". Why not let us roleplay that part with a few various options? Is this a RPG or is it just an action game now? If it's just an action game....well, that brings me to my next gripe....

The combat looks lame as hell. I am mainly talking about the animations. Can I get some halfway decent combat animations or what? We see this main character just flipping around all over the place slashing every which way and the enemies barely react. When you kill them they just flop over using some ugly looking ragdolls. No cool sync kill animations anywhere to be found.

Freaking DAO, which came out 97 years ago, had slick finishing moves you would sometimes see. A shield bash to the face, a spinning decap, etc. Even the enemies had cool animations in DAO. Anyone remember when a spider would pounce on a party member or an Ogre would grab them? You would actually have to react and change your tactics to help the party member out. These newer games have none of that. Just a bunch of meatbags with healthbars that you slowly whittle away at.

Ok...I am going to stop ranting and raving like a lunatic, lol. Anyway, hopefully this little demo isn't completely indicitive of the final product. Maybe there will be better role playing opportunities in the final game. At least they are seemingly bringing back character origins in some form or another. We will see, I guess.
 

Madflavor

Member
Nah, real-time combat is better. Idk about this real-time combat until I play it, but usually real-time is better.

Considering Baldur's Gate 3 sold 3x more than any Bioware game, in far less time, I'm not so sure about that. Depending on the type of game you're trying to make, in this case a party based fantasy RPG, a slower more tactical combat system would've suited better. This is far more dumbed down than anything we've seen from Dragon Age. The combat system looks like a copy+paste of Mass Effect, the only real difference being swords instead of guns. We have 2 party members instead of 3, and we use the Power Wheel to command them to use abilities. It's Mass Effect. So now there's less distinction between Bioware's two IPs in terms of gameplay.

After 10 years and multiple reworks, they could've given us something more unique. Instead they played it safe and dumbed the combat down even further.
 

JayK47

Member
Could be decent. I am always down for more Dragon Age. Was hoping they would go back to turn based, but I guess that is asking too much for a game meant for consoles.
 

Mozzarella

Member
Honestly the reveal was ass, i dont like it, its too stupid.
It feels the people who created this reveal are dumb and dont know what the actual fans want to see.
Examples:
-For instance the devs focused their reveal on a lame section of the game, a section where you just walk, watch small cutscene and then defeat repetitive recycled enemies.
#A smart dev would've picked a better section (if there is any) and showcases multiple layout to the level and more interaction, they would've also showed enemy variety and different ways to tackle them.
-Another example is dialogue, they showed little dialogue and when the time comes to pick a choice they showed us that the choice didn't matter, thats dumb way to market your game.
#It would've been better if they showed a choice that actually mattered
-Last example is what they chose to do, instead of showing the intrigue of Dragon Age universe they went for action gameplay as if this franchise was named God of Devil May CrySouls or something
#Instead of focusing on flashy combat that seems weightless they should've followed suit with a well prepared presentation where they tackle a quest from start to finish and show the grey morality and choice of the Dragon Age universe, they could show how dialogue is varied and how you can branch out with choice.

Overall the reveal doesn't strike me as good, nothing but generic action with flashy colors and not a single highlight on rpg mechanics, builds or abilities, not a single highlight on world or level design, not a single highligh on characters personality, not a single highlight on C&C systems.
It feels like they just wanted to show off their pretty colors and generic marvel action, the devs clearly lag out behind or they have no idea what they are doing, either way the reveal sucked imo and i wasn't impressed, i'm not hyped at all and i think the game will do worse than Inquisition.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
Honestly the reveal was ass, i dont like it, its too stupid.
It feels the people who created this reveal are dumb and dont know what the actual fans want to see.
Examples:
-For instance the devs focused their reveal on a lame section of the game, a section where you just walk, watch small cutscene and then defeat repetitive recycled enemies.
#A smart dev would've picked a better section (if there is any) and showcases multiple layout to the level and more interaction, they would've also showed enemy variety and different ways to tackle them.
-Another example is dialogue, they showed little dialogue and when the time comes to pick a choice they showed us that the choice didn't matter, thats dumb way to market your game.
#It would've been better if they showed a choice that actually mattered
-Last example is what they chose to do, instead of showing the intrigue of Dragon Age universe they went for action gameplay as if this franchise was named God of Devil May CrySouls or something
#Instead of focusing on flashy combat that seems weightless they should've followed suit with a well prepared presentation where they tackle a quest from start to finish and show the grey morality and choice of the Dragon Age universe, they could show how dialogue is varied and how you can branch out with choice.

Overall the reveal doesn't strike me as good, nothing but generic action with flashy colors and not a single highlight on rpg mechanics, builds or abilities, not a single highlight on world or level design, not a single highligh on characters personality, not a single highlight on C&C systems.
It feels like they just wanted to show off their pretty colors and generic marvel action, the devs clearly lag out behind or they have no idea what they are doing, either way the reveal sucked imo and i wasn't impressed, i'm not hyped at all and i think the game will do worse than Inquisition.
Your comments are very interesting and remind me of something I watched yesterday, explaining the differences between a junior and a senior designer. Basically:

Junior = hard skills. You ask him to design, he designs.
Senior = hard skills + soft skills. You ask him to design, he starts the conversation: what emotions you want this to create? What theme you want to have? Later during the project this will probably come up - what do you want here, etc.

As you said - it doesn’t seem like there was a person on the team to ask these important questions how to structure the presentation.
 
Looks like BG3 with real-time combat. I don't get the hate.
Combat needs to be well balanced and not feel mundane, pointless.

Most rpgs that try to mix real time with strategy/rpg elements end up feeling inconsequential, like going through the motions.

If it can somehow avoid that, it will be miracle, and probably an enjoyable game.
 

DaciaJC

Gold Member
I am thoroughly unimpressed.

The combat looks like rote hack-and-slash crap with not even the trademark DA feature of being able to take control of other party members; the voice acting sounds pretty flat for some characters; the writing is amateurish at best ("People are always dying. It is what they do." 😂); even the graphics seem less impressive than Inquisition's did a decade ago.
 

PeteBull

Member
Again, what is woke about what's shown so far?

I honestly have no idea wtf this means anymore.
All female characters ugly as sin, unfuckable, diversity left and right, pondering to alphabet ppl, terrible dialogue options w/o any spice, whole game looks like fortnite with those purple neon lights-demons, 0 masculine energy fellt anywhere.

Basically game made by women for women, aka not 99% of previous Dragon Age fans/veterans, it will have extremly low sales, followed by usual "game performed below expectations"statement and innevitable studio clousure, we experienced it already many times :p
 

PeteBull

Member
Your comments are very interesting and remind me of something I watched yesterday, explaining the differences between a junior and a senior designer. Basically:

Junior = hard skills. You ask him to design, he designs.
Senior = hard skills + soft skills. You ask him to design, he starts the conversation: what emotions you want this to create? What theme you want to have? Later during the project this will probably come up - what do you want here, etc.

As you said - it doesn’t seem like there was a person on the team to ask these important questions how to structure the presentation.
When there is not even 1 experienced person at the head and all the power is given to woke unexperienced ppl who dont know what fans of the series need/want/love we end up with this kind of purple woke quasimodo of a game, low quality, no fun gameplay but tons of emphasis on DEI :(
 
So in other words, Baldur's Gate 3 if it were bad?
Would BG3 have been that bad if it played more like this?

hq720.jpg
 

foamdino

Member
There's a mismatch between the scenery which is very high fidelity in places and the characters which seem to be missing a lot of details. It certainly doesn't look finished (or indeed close to release).

Gameplay looks terrible (to me). Action based but nothing like as good as it should be - there are lots of different action styles to go with from flashy DMC to GoW to souls-like (which I detest but whatever, it's a real style) to something over the top like Gran Blue: Relink - this seems to fall between every stool - just awful pacing.

I guarantee that there will be the usual bioware shills that proclaim it as excellent though.

We've recently had some real RPGs (BG3, Rogue Trader, Wrath of the Righteous, FFVII, Octopath Traveller 2) - this looks really weak in comparison

I wasn't expecting much but this is just so bad.
 
Not really for me, but it looked better than anything BioWare has produced last decade.
Kind of digging the character/art style.

And everyone saying this doesn’t look like Dragon Age: isn’t that series all over the place?
Like wasn’t DA2 an action game or something?
 
The gameplay reveal doesn´t look as bad as the cinematic trailer at least buuuuuut....it doesn`t get beyond "meh" either and I also don`t see the supposedly AAA budget anywhere. This looks like....I don´t know "dumbed down" , "generic" and kinda "limited?" with how it seems to drag you from one little fighting area to the next....

I think I´ll kick this one out of my sight for now.
Maybe I´ll recheck if the reviews are really glowing, but otherwise I think this is the point where I´ll finally give up on Bioware completely.
 

Loomy

Thinks Microaggressions are Real
All female characters ugly as sin, unfuckable, diversity left and right, pondering to alphabet ppl, terrible dialogue options w/o any spice, whole game looks like fortnite with those purple neon lights-demons, 0 masculine energy fellt anywhere.

Basically game made by women for women, aka not 99% of previous Dragon Age fans/veterans, it will have extremly low sales, followed by usual "game performed below expectations"statement and innevitable studio clousure, we experienced it already many times :p
So when I read someone complaining that something is woke, this is what I should assume they mean?
 

DelireMan7

Member
Very mixed for me.
Combat looks entertaining but when I think we came from Dragon Age Origins combat system to this I am perplex...

It looks like more an action "RPG" (which are most of the time not really RPG) than a RPG.

Art style and graphics strangely worked well for me on this presentation whereas in the announcement trailer I found it awful.

Overall I have a "Final Fantasy XVI" feeling. Looks like they turning a RPG franchise into action games with pseudo RPG element.
I need to know more on character progression, skills etc...

EDIT : Also after playing Baldur's Gate 3, I guess my expectation are quite high so...
 
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PeteBull

Member
There's a mismatch between the scenery which is very high fidelity in places and the characters which seem to be missing a lot of details. It certainly doesn't look finished (or indeed close to release).

Gameplay looks terrible (to me). Action based but nothing like as good as it should be - there are lots of different action styles to go with from flashy DMC to GoW to souls-like (which I detest but whatever, it's a real style) to something over the top like Gran Blue: Relink - this seems to fall between every stool - just awful pacing.

I guarantee that there will be the usual bioware shills that proclaim it as excellent though.

We've recently had some real RPGs (BG3, Rogue Trader, Wrath of the Righteous, FFVII, Octopath Traveller 2) - this looks really weak in comparison

I wasn't expecting much but this is just so bad.
Even DD2 with its nasty mtx and all kinds of performance issues(big city mostly, cpu related) looks like much better rpg, at least that thing can be ironed out/goty edition will likely have all dlcs, but bad game at its core like this shit is unfixable .

For comparision lil bit of gameplay(not trailers, actual gameplay) on rtx 4060(300$ gpu) and r5 5600(120$ cpu), in the city performance is much worse coz of cpu bottleneck but outside even on such a basic machine game looks and runs solid



Look how big contrast is character design, world design(actually open world, not fricken corridors), and no purple demons anywhere.

Thing is, if u got high end rig u can bruteforce its performance into smoothness, so it looks and runs like that, even in big city:
 
I've seen people talking about it not being open world, none of the other games were either. Inquisition wasn't really open world either, it was just a lot of hub areas with narrow paths to get to them.
 

PeteBull

Member
So when I read someone complaining that something is woke, this is what I should assume they mean?
Yup, basically quality of the game is put on the backburner, woke agenda is put as priority, tons of western studios do that shit nowadays, and most experience terrible sales after :p
 

Hudo

Member
I did said it months ago they should. They've been trying to make an action game since DA 2 and have failed. I guarantee everyone complaining about the lack of said tactical Gameplay won't buy Baldurs Gate 3
Yeah, I feel that BG3 is carrying the flag of the "old" BioWare/Interplay RPGs forward perfectly. It scratches the itch for me. So I am not that pissed at BioWare making Dragon Age an action RPG series. My main issue (beginning with DA2) has always been that they never fully committed, thereby making combat systems that were never fun in DA2 and DAI.
 
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Neolombax

Member
I was hoping the gameplay reveal would be better, but I'm just not seeing it. It looks too cartoony, almost like a budget title and certainly unlike a Bioware game. The image stills look good, but the game in motion doesn't, its odd. Ice spells that have snowflake effects? Yikes. I don't see how this is an upgrade from Inquisition. The gameplay reveal didn't show much on the RPG systems, but my initial impression is that they're shallow, similar to FF16, except FF16 looks better.
 
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Cyberpunkd

Member
All female characters ugly as sin, unfuckable, diversity left and right, pondering to alphabet ppl, terrible dialogue options w/o any spice, whole game looks like fortnite with those purple neon lights-demons, 0 masculine energy fellt anywhere.

Basically game made by women for women, aka not 99% of previous Dragon Age fans/veterans, it will have extremly low sales, followed by usual "game performed below expectations"statement and innevitable studio clousure, we experienced it already many times :p
So your first paragraph is spot on, but your conclusion needs work imo.

All studies shown that despite media narrative women find masculine men more attractive, it's pure anthropology. Men are expected to be protectors, confident, able to withstand pressure, etc. You can see that from the moment a baby is born and how it is treated based on gender - a boy getting hurt will be told to toughen up, whereas a girl will be comforted.

You can even look at the main character - of course they had to pick a black character (no problem with that), but is it just me or the guy has no muscles? Is it because he is a rogue? But again - this is playing against a racial stereotype (black men = muscular + BBC), but it is a stereotype that is widely shared in the society.

So I would say it's a game made by effeminate men for effeminate men.
 

PeteBull

Member
So your first paragraph is spot on, but your conclusion needs work imo.

All studies shown that despite media narrative women find masculine men more attractive, it's pure anthropology. Men are expected to be protectors, confident, able to withstand pressure, etc. You can see that from the moment a baby is born and how it is treated based on gender - a boy getting hurt will be told to toughen up, whereas a girl will be comforted.

You can even look at the main character - of course they had to pick a black character (no problem with that), but is it just me or the guy has no muscles? Is it because he is a rogue? But again - this is playing against a racial stereotype (black men = muscular + BBC), but it is a stereotype that is widely shared in the society.

So I would say it's a game made by effeminate men for effeminate men.
The ppl at the head/who decided about this stuff are at fault, w/e we call it feminine men/women/pussies, we all know it has no fun in it, no1 wanna roleplay as that :p
 

StueyDuck

Member
I'm not a dragon age fan. But I always assumed it was just mass effect but swords.

I didn't see much bioware RPG in that 20 min gameplay preview. Seemed more like a generic hack n slash.

Maybe a poor showing, but as a fan of what bioware has made with other ip (anthem not included). I can see why the dragon agers could be disappointed.

This looks more like a walky talky then branching dialog situation but again that could just be from a poor showing and is still in the game
 

DavidGzz

Member
You need to check your eyes, dude. And I mean asap.

Now, go and watch DAV gameplay again.


vTo5Pam.jpeg
qDaFgGX.jpeg
CSfW1EN.jpeg
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DA
BG3
DA
BG3

Instead of close up cut scenes, where I'd say the graphics are enhanced, let's share what we'll be seeing for most of the time we are playing. I'd say it's pretty close.


Besides, if a game is fun, that's all that matters. I loved this because of the gameplay, not the graphics.

QTIJxrQ.jpeg
 
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Agent_4Seven

Tears of Nintendo
Instead of close up cut scenes, where I'd say the graphics are enhanced
What? It's no cut scene, it's during character conversation, all in engine in realtime and exactly like during gameplay, except there's no DOF cuz there's nothing to use it for in the isometric view.

let's share what we'll be seeing for most of the time we are playing.
Yeah, lets compare this generic early past gen bloomfest with BG3 during gameplay and exploration:

8lqsa88.jpg

7suWdAt.jpg
UAw5li8.jpg
IbS9jxi.jpg
sSmAQIL.jpg
cIkdZBu.jpg
7wbqV56.jpg
lOJd9a0.jpg
4MNtKPD.jpg
Do I even need to post more? Cuz I've plenty more where these came from.

You still don't get it, do you? Not only does BG3 have exceptionally better character models, facial animation, extreme level of detail and objects on screen, it even looks better during gameplay and combat with much better enemy designs. You can even play the game in 3rd person with a gamepad like the Witcher 3.

I'd say it's pretty close.
I'd say you need to check your eyes, again.
 
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DavidGzz

Member
You still don't get it, do you? Not only does BG3 have exceptionally better character models, facial animation, extreme level of detail and objects on screen, it even looks better during gameplay and combat with much better enemy designs. You can even play the game in 3rd person with a gamepad like the Witcher 3.


I'd say you need to check your eyes, again.


"You still don't get it, do you?" LOL, how much more annoying can you get reference an opinion? I already posted the screens from similar perspectives, and they look the same besides some art style differences. I have a 4070ti and have played BG3 maxed out for 100+ hours between 3 different characters and I watched the game play of DA in the OP walking through the city with voice acting, enemies destroying objects with realistic physics in real-time, and if anything, DA is more technically advanced. The lip sync is just as good in this game. But I get it, there is an anti-woke hate boner for this game while BG3 is the golden child.
 
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PeteBull

Member
What? It's no cut scene, it's during character conversation, all in engine in realtime and exactly like during gameplay, except there's no DOF cuz there's nothing to use it for in the isometric view.


Yeah, lets compare this generic early past gen bloomfest with BG3 during gameplay and exploration:

8lqsa88.jpg

7suWdAt.jpg
UAw5li8.jpg
IbS9jxi.jpg
sSmAQIL.jpg
cIkdZBu.jpg
7wbqV56.jpg
lOJd9a0.jpg
4MNtKPD.jpg
Do I even need to post more? Cuz I've plenty more where these came from.

You still don't get it, do you? Not only does BG3 have exceptionally better character models, facial animation, extreme level of detail and objects on screen, it even looks better during gameplay and combat with much better enemy designs. You can even play the game in 3rd person with a gamepad like the Witcher 3.


I'd say you need to check your eyes, again.
Bro i never wrote what u quoted, u missquoted me instead of some1 else? Im not native english speaker, ez to tell those arent my words, grammar is simply too good;D

Edit:
Pretty sure u meant to quote that other guy, DavidGzz, coz u guys keep arguing about it looking/not looking like BG3 :p
 
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