Dragon Age The Veilguard Impressions From SGF - Luke Reacts 

At least the black guy doesn't have the Killmonger haircut.

I mean my first impression was dragon age Mass Effect Style.

I would like to see a video with you and your wife talking about the new dragon age and what you both think since shes a big fan.

The demons have been eating neon lights for 10 years.

The biggest takeaway from this is I noticed the lack of dark fantasy vibes and no health bars for companions and no control over them. That indicates that it will probably be like Mass Effect where you can tell them to use abilities but cant actively assume control.

I dont blame people for getting mad at the gameplay trailer for being set early on in the game because at the end of the day bioware decided to show it.

This is Final Dragon Effect Fantasy II: Inquisition

So has anyone actually played Dragon Age? the more I hear about other's thought on the game makes me wonder if yall even played them, Luke awesome love his content but he sounds like a confused toddler talking about dragon age

Dragon Age: Managed Expectations

There will be ONLY 2 companions (like in Mass Effect).

The purple + green coloring/filters are… a lot.

I gotta disagree. I think this game is absolutely trying to be everything to everybody and that's its biggest flaw. The art style and gameplay all look super generic as if they're trying to relate to those Fortnite and Overwatch fans but then the name and the lore are still Dragon Age and in my opinion everything just gets lost in that tug of war. Yes it looks polished and smooth and yes, it probably could be great as a stand alone title but Dragon Age? The game known for witches seducing you to impregnate them and mages being lobotimized for fear of their destructive power? I'm sorry, this just isn't it. They should've chose whether to be Dragon Age or something new entirely but being both like this is just a hard miss Just my opinion at least

"In it for the lore, the story and characters..." That's a true Dragon Age fan.

I think CohhCarnage had a very good take on this from a long time fans perspective as to why some people aren't very happy with the game. Personally, I don't like the new style, but i'll try and enjoy the game for the story and setting that i've loved for years, and try not to be disappointed that it's now an ARPG. Is it what I wanted? No. Does it feel dumbed down? Yes. Does that make it bad? Not necessarily, it's just appealing to a different player base than previous entries. It feels like a went to steakhouse and ordered a T-bone, and they served me a ham sandwich. It's edible, and I'm sure some people would love a ham sandwich, but it's not why I came to a steakhouse, any supermarket could have sold me a generic ham sandwich. And that's what this feels like now, generic. But at least it's not an online multiplayer. Pros: The visuals look pretty good, apart from a lot of the enemy designs (why are the demons neon, and why do darkspawn now look like cartoon monsters? Gives suicide squad vibes). I don't mind the linear level design, as long as you get to a central hub where you can choose your missions, similar to the campsite in DA:O, the semi open world of DA:I was cool to start, but after a while became very repetitive and grindy. I actually really like a lot of the more action-y combat changes, like dodging, some sort of quick class ability (or whatever that ranged attack was for the rogue). Cons: I feel like these combat changes could have been added, whilst keeping the existing tactical features, like a tactical camera, the ability to control companions directly, and a lot more ability hotkeys (we don't yet know how many you can have, but most of the other games had at least 10 on PC with m&k). All of these IMO were key to the Dragon Age combat experience, and helped differentiate it from something like mass effect, which is basically what we have now. I'm sure there will be people who just button mashed their way through Inquisition, but to me that's boring. I absolutely HATE that enemies only aggro on the player, and companions don't seem to have health or be able to get hurt. They've gone from companions to ability buttons. No more will I put a barrier on my tank warrior, or dispel a dot on an ally, or even combat res. This leads into what you said about difficulty, it was never about min/maxing gear and items, it was about party composition and tactics. Mages and ranged characters in particular look like they're going to have to have some major changes, as with the confined combat area, and no aggro mechanic for companions, they're going to have to backflip/teleport all over the place. I think BioWare have done an awful marketing job with this, from the cartoony, upbeat trailer (which I suspect is leftover from when the game was going to be an online multiplayer, and they didn't bother to replace), to only showing a level 1 character with 1 ability and no companion abilities. Sure, show the starting area, but instead of skipping ahead and spoiling the Solas scene, show a fight against some generic enemies, with a higher level character and the full combat stack, so we don't have to guess how everything is going to work, when it's such a big departure from how it's worked previously. Even something like the different shield types on the demons you mentioned, I don't think that was ever said explicitly in the gameplay reveal.

As a fan of the series who sunk hours and hours in every part and even loves and defended Inquisition over and over again, i don't feel Dragon Age in this. This new "Dragon Age" seems to want to appeal to as many people as possible, but is too different for lovers of the franchise. It feels like every other franchise right now. They take an IP with a huge fanbase, do their thing and go completely against said fanbase. Then they blame/mock the fanbase for not wanting the product. Instead of doing somethign for the fanbase. I will try out the game of course, i wanna see how bad/good it will be. Maybe the story is good, but my hopes are not high. BG3 was what Dragon Age 4 should have been.

Man, I don't know if I like that take... "it doesn't want to be BG3, it can't get there anyway" - Dragon Age Origins once was THE Baldur's Gate 3 of 2010, deep, complex, tactical, a storymonster with decisions and consequences, tactical depth and everything we now associate with BG3, and it was for a long time THE mother of modern cRPGs, pretty much until BG3 dethroned it. Hearing now that it can't be as good as BG3 anyway so it shouldn't even try and cater to it's own little niche is really sad, not even taking into account that this studio once made BG1 and 2. I think every fan of Origins was secretly dreaming to see them go exactly there again one day, make an instant classic once more like DA:O was. Instead we got button-awesome, and that was exactly because they wanted to appeal to a wider audience outside their original fanbase, to the point where this is now what many people associate with the series. Honestly, they shouldn't share the same name, Origins and the other 2 are completely different genres. Maybe that name change would help old fans to get over it. Yeah, fans have to accept that Bioware went that route with DA2, but you shouldn't blame them for being sad they'll never get Origins again. Imagine Larian would make a Baldur's Gate 4 and 5 now and both would be linear action games with a dialogue wheel and flashy JRPG combat - yeah, you have to accept it I guess, but be happy? I doubt, new players would come and play but we'd miss BG3 forever too and had to "get over it".

I'm hoping you're not limited to just 3 ability slots because that would suck

The art style, I can't. It's not bad, it looks nice sure. I get their hair, lighting, and water tech is fantastic. I don't play Dragon Age for a cartoony aesthetic. I was hoping the trailer wasn't what it was going to look like. The fact that it seems to play more like Mass Effect and less like the hybrid style they had been using for DA2 and Inquisition. I truly hope the game does well because I want Bioware to succeed, but I'm going to have to sit this one out until its sale. I'm going to keep my eye on the info coming out and hope something changes my mind, but the art style is killing me.

Thats really good to hear that there was no bugs or hiccups also thanks for a reasonable take

it really looks like the embodiment of generic unimaginative action rpg. technically it works. i didn't see a single thing that made me think it was cool or that I wanted to tell my friends about.

Noone talks about picking up health pots from destroyed green vases? That confirms that there is no ctafting nor Healer Spells/Class. Its Mass Effect skined as Dragon Age.

"new fans" Bro, this game is a sequel for a DLC from a game that release 10 years ago. This doesnt appeal to new audiences

It just bothers me that the rogue in the demo is using a lightning spell like a mage...why? Magic was always a rare thing in dragon age that was both respected and feared. Why is an regular old rogue popping off spells? Was that ever explained because i must've missed it during the showcase.

I would never judge others for their enjoyment of clam chowder. I would, however, complain to and about the chef who seems to only be able and/or interested in making subpar generic clam chowder when they spent their early career making a name for themselves with world class steaks.

It's weird they want to deviate from the strategic aspect of the game when fans have been asking for the franchise to return to its roots. I'm trying to be hopeful, but when they changed up the combat on DAI, it was definitely not for the better.

I loved this review. It expressed concern without putting every aspect down as an issue. You where fair and yes there will always be those that hate it but as a longtime fan i am so excited for what i saw on the gameplay trailer. I can't wait to get back into the world of dragon age.

It is confirmed you will only have 3 people in your party - that includes YOU. So the ability wheel - the left is for your first companion, the bottom is you, and the right is your second companion. The top one has to do with selecting between the two of them, or using them both together. This isn't speculative - they've dropped the total party configuration to 3 down from 4. So where people talk about having 3, they're including the PC/Rook in that, they're not saying you have three additional companions.

A game for everyone is a game for no one

"There's gonna be some people that hate on it or hate it. That's fine. Like, cool. Good for you. You don't have to buy it. Like, just don't buy it." Alright, deal

People talking about the combat not being like Origins . Have you played any other Da game? DA has not been tactical in combat since Origins, which is going on nearly 2 decades old. Yea DAI had tactical elements to it, but it was definitely more action focused. So don’t get why people are upset about the combat not being like origins when it hasn’t been like for 2 going in 3 games now. Also, I’m sure most DA fans play the DA game for the story, characters, lore etc not for the combat.

The blue and yellow bars are more reminiscent of mass effect where certain guns worked more effectively against certain barriers

I dunno why anybody expected something different. DA has been trending in this direction for years and they finally ripped the bandaid off.

Can't control your party members = not dragon age. But i guess it was to be expected, today's bioware isn't the bioware that gave us quality games back in the day.

How far Bioware has fallen that they are considered the underdog compared to some other company's RPG IP and have to be afraid of going toe to toe on gameplay and story.

Veilguard just made inquisition into a CLASSIC

Luke, just want to say thanks for giving it a fair shake. As a longtime Dragon Age fan, I hated the original trailer the same as everyone else. That said, I thought the gameplay was much better. Some people just want to keep hating on it and I just don't see it. No final judgement on quality until I see more but so far so good in my opinion.

Visually incredible, combat looks pretty good, big issue is the removal of the tactics. Now is it literally just commanding your ally’s to do their special moves? Or can you still set conditions for when your ally’s use their moves automatically. Also why don’t we see ally health bars? Do they not get attacked at all? It doesn’t make sense though because if you’re a mage you have to have a tank take damage. Idk we will see. I have hope it was just a weird opening scene demo and once the game opens up it’s a bit more recognizable.

Luke is becoming the Chris Stuckmann of video game reviewers

I hope they do some flashbacks that we can play through as varric to see what happened after the trespasser DLC with the inquisitor and the party.

Top bar in abilities is for directing which companion attacks the current target, it can by either or both. Gamble posted a screenshot from later in the game that shows how combos/debuffs work and it shows the targeting thing I mentioned.

If someone was going to be a fan they would be a fan. Telling your established fanbase to piss off to chase a new audience has never worked.

This gameplay is like the recent Star Wars trilogy, in the first, the writer put in Luke's light saber, implied it was important, then in the second, a different writer didn't know what to do with, so Luke literally threw it away! That's what's happening here, they're just throwing Solas away ASAP so they can do something else. On top of that, this gameplay is having the player starts out fighting and beating Emperor Palpatine (Solas), and then go on to a new story for the rest of the game. So the player is going to start out strong, beating a god (Solas) and then as they play along and level up, they grow weaker, the fights get harder... Well, hopefully the new story they're throwing Solas away for is good enough.

I don't like the take of "BG3 does it better, so Bioware shouldn't try to do the same thing as Larian did", like would you have accepted that statement from Larian if they said they couldn't do better than dragon age origins, that it would've made it a bad idea to develop BG3 into what it is now. Didn't every RPG enthusiast want more games like BG3? I get that DAtV won't get close to Larian's massive undertaking, but I can deal with a more cinematic experience that complements the less complex RPG systems.

Did anyone ask about framerate or mod support????

how do you heal your companions? all enemies engage on me only? do companions take dmg at all ? hmmm ?...

Here's 20 minutes of Luke acting like he has a clue what he is talking about with regards to Dragon Age. You clearly don't know much.

The combat in DA has always been a mix of the basic attack chain between using abilities. This seems to give you control over your basic attacks with what seems to be potential combos and heavy attacks, as well as obvious movement options

This game looks very watered down. The dialog sounds very simple like if they want even a child to understand what's going on, the combat looks simple and spammy, the enemies are way too cartoonish. I don't think this is what people wanted out of Dragon age. Definitely not what I wanted.

It looks to me like they took a lot from mass effect especially with the combat. Which is great, but I’m in it for the story so hopefully they deliver.

The vibes were off since the reveal trailer for me. The art direction is just so jarring. The character designs all have that by committee contemporary look to them. Figured I would at least give them the benefit of the doubt and watch their gameplay presentation. That didn't really win me over either. It just felt super dumbed down. Don't know why they went with not being able to control the rest of your party. Then again it just seems like they wanted to go with an even more simplified version of what an action RPG is. Really curious how this ends up doing. Bioware needs a win. I just don't think this is going to end up being for me.

Seems it has everything Dragons Dogma doesn't have but without the stuff Dragons Dogma has... And it is not a souls like. That is almost enough for me to want to play it. There are enough games for hardcore RPGers and Souls masochists and it is time to give us normal players something to have fun with in the fantasy realms.... Every Dragon Age game was different and so is this. Good when developers have the courage to try something.

There are way to many games with this kind of combat and its getting old. The combat in DA1 was perfect for the type of game it was.

Idk what your on about... Them changing the series to action based combat is literally an attempt at trying to make it for a wider audience... Your saying that they are moving away from the original fans of the series and that isn't trying to make the game for "everybody"? I don't buy that. This has "modern audiences" written all over it. Visually and gameplay wise.

I love the defense of "different isn't always worse" The problem is when you go to a mc donalds and they only serve pizza (even if the pizza is good) you came for a burger. Do not call it a mcdonalds if you serve pizza. Its weird and baity.

I've never been a fan of Dragon Age, but I thought this trailer was awesome. Most the complaints I've seen seem to be from fans of the IP saying "It's not Dragon Age"

Altus = Makes mechanic deep games with deep characters that are flawed and grow over the game Other RPG’s = we need to go action and light light mechanics, with surface level characters while removing the party system. Altus, reviewed great by players and critics. AND sales stupid well. Action RPGs, critics say it’s good and “diverse” while players are “mix”. Sales “under perform”. Hmm do the “others” A. say hey maybe Atlus is onto something. Or B. naw let’s make it more simple and one note characters that are “diverse”. Yea……

DA:I had a starting area, it was small compared to the rest of the game but it was still pretty open, you could jump around, take a different path.... here there is the road and then either a wall or a ditch on either side even a small city area like Val Royeaux was much more open than this

Luke, to truly understand what a Dragon Age game is about, I recommend playing Dragon Age: Origins. This will give you a more credible perspective. Until then, your takes can't be taken seriously.

the gameplay footage makes DA: I look good in terms of gameplay. this looks like a generic mobile game.

all the action system does is rip out the complexity, and creativity, and replace it with button mashing

Looks like the DnD game that flopped a while back. Dark Alliance

"Challenging". Dude never went below 50% hp. Combat seems waaaaaaaaay too easy. I know it's tutorial, but still.

Thank you for not hating on it like other people! I've been a Dragon Age fan for years and I've been mostly seeing negative comments from people outside the fandom. While some people in the fandom aren't very happy with it, most of us can't wait to play it for the new lore and getting to know these new companions. It's true that Bioware could've done better with the marketing, which is making me hope they'll put out more gameplay trailers in the near future showing off how other classes play and how it is to play during mid to late game. There's going to be a Q&A on the 14th, so hopefully the devs will be able to answer some of the more pressing questions the fandom has.

"They desperately need to differentiate themselves from Baldur's Gate [...] Don't try to take on the king at his own game." Sigh. Here I thought BG3's massive success would inspire more action RPG's to veer more back toward RPG, but he's right... It's a 'mission-based' action game, so they don't have to be compared to a great RPG.

Also who ever is marketing this game needs to be fired, they just should of shown the game-play, much enjoyable.

It’s sad saying BioWare should not challenge the king and go play in the action kid pool. When they were the king, by a mile for over 10 years easy. Makes me sad to agree that they are the special little kid who was the best, but had an accident and ZombiWare needs to be put in a special little kid sandbox to say aww look at them still trying.

The first hour is always heavily scripted and polished, it's to be expected, Yeah, it's for people like yourself at the behind closed doors events, all in a bid to build hype. Who remembers the closed event for Cyberpunk 2077? How everyone was gushing about the first 45 minutes of that game. I know I do, so I'm not excited, and I'll wait for the reviews, from those that don't get free review copies.

I am interested in this D4agon Age got me into gaming keeping track of my decisions and the outcomes I loved that the decisions I made impacted the game in big ways.... I hope we get to see previous decisions impact this game 😊

Luke I find you surprisingly dismissive about the fanbase largely shared concerns/disappointment over what was showed so far. Especially as you almost admit little personal familiarity with the franchise. With the recent reveals, the devs accumulated a large number of red flags for fans. The art direction is wrong. The gameplay changes are terrible. And even the writting sounds mediocre a la Andromeda. It clearly shows this game went into development hell as the publishers attempt to brute force a Game as Live Service product into its single player story driven RPG before begrudgingly walking back. As a big fan of DA since Origins and someone who loved Inquisition, I went from instant buy level of excitation to completely disappointed. Whats more, with what you said about your exchanges with some of the devs, I am even less optimistic as the devs seems dismissive of their decade long fans on top of being obviously unfamiliar with DA and why people liked it in the first place. Clearly they dont want or cater to their fanbase but it remains to be seens if they manage to build a new one instead. Marvel like dialogues. Uninspired art direction. discontinued story (Solas was set to be the antigonist of this game and instead appears to be out of the picture following the prologue), study & mediocre gameplay changes set to chase after a new fanbase, dismissive devs unfamiliar with their IP. This Dragon Age Dreadwolf renamed DA The Veilguard is heading straight into disaster period.

Usually agree with you, but kind of disagree on this one. It feels like they are making a game for a wider audience instead of their typical focus. It's adding in more arpg elements and leaving in less rpg elements. And just because BG3 exists doesnt mean no one else can make a crpg. They're just competing with a different genre now and there are way better arpgs out there too. I am the person that will still play for the story and lore, but they do seem to be going halfway into different genres and potentially not excelling in one.

Im looking forward to this game solely based on how it will effect my hope and outlook on the next mass effect.

9:04 WHAT! This is what happens when you play on normal folks.

As much as I like BG3 the combat just wasn't for me, I played inquisition thought it was a solid game. This game does have a high ceiling to try an reach because BG3 was released kind of recently I don't think it will reach that. But I could see myself enjoying this game, I will say the little gameplay they showed was miles better than the trailer.

That's just the thing. Origins took the torch from older CRPGs like Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, and really did something special with the formula. Then along came Baldurs Gate 3 and took back their torch and did something so special that it's nigh impossible for any developer to ever do it better, including Larian. For Bioware to try and go back to those roots now would be /wrists for them. Dragon Age is now a different beast after Inquisition, and the only way we'll ever get another CRPG dragon age game is with an Origins remaster.

They shud of used origins combat and built on it heavily. The one good thing from this trailer I started another origins playthrough 😊

That dwarf guy in the thumbnail looks like Luke's daddy.

The problem is... this isnt dragon age. Different in almost every way from where the series started. Super sad. RIP Dragon age.

I liked the particle effects. There, some positivity from me.

They brought back Griffin back to life from their extinction, just like that, darkspawn somehow looks so god damn friendly and perhaps they'll all vanish with rainbows comming out when they die. So I can't feel miserable in Dragon age anymore, I'm in Disney land Ya know how badly I wanted to ride a griffin back then? I SEARCH THE WHOLE DAMN GAME FOR A CLUE IF I COULD FIND IN IT AT ALL

I am disappointed that they turned it into a button masher because at my current age I no longer have the twitch reflexes of my teens/twenties.

I don't know what it is, but something about this game just looks... Off. Like maybe it's the art style or something, but it's just not what I expected Dragon Age to be, visually speaking.

So it’s not made for the existing fan base?… the forth game in a long running series… it’s made for casual gamers and a new player base… great, that always works well… we haven’t seen that over and over and over again… sarcasm

Nostolgia does a lot of heavy lifting for games like Dragon Age origins and half the Fallout series,

This is the first video I've seen that's really given me a little hope that this game won't be quite as disappointing as it looks in both the reveal and gameplay trailers. I think Bioware would have been wise to have someone narrating the gameplay bits of the video they released to explain the stuff you're talking about here. No wonder the people who got to see it at SGF seemed to have an overall good impression of the game, while so many who only saw the videos online were left disappointed. The visual style of the game and the enemies, specifically, is still not to my preference, nor is the combat, but it's nice to hear that there will be a few more options as far as gameplay than the trailer makes it seem.

Dragon Age Origins players hate Dragon Age 2, Dragon Age 2 players hate Dragon Age Inquisition, and Dragon Age Inquisition players will hate Dragon Age Veilguard. This is probably the only RPG franchise where every game is different from the last.

My issue with the game play trailer is the character missing one leg. Fine but they keep showing it I think it was a shot of her leg 4 times which worries me about DEI. Also are they ignoring the choices we made in previous games or are they going to find a way to add it into the story.

It doesn't get me excited for a new DA, but it does make me want to play Origins again.

Gameplay looks mostly good to me, I am gonna miss party control though. And the trailer did suck, I don’t know what the MCU fanboy in the marketing team was thinking trying to put that style on a dragon age game.

Dragon Age for a modern audience.

"don't try to take on the king on its own game" - Luke, are you a zoomer or something? BIOWARE CREATED THE FRANCHISE THIS "King" made a sequel in. Also, Inquisition can easily go blow for blow with BG3 as far as RPG depth goes, especially with the crafting system, companions, romances etc. So i dont see why "just dont even try it" is an excuse here. Aside the fact that everyone who had any talent either left or was fired last year.

12:40 - People forget that dialogue options are also there for role-playing purposes, even if the outcome of your choice is still the same, the choice itself is an opportunity to roleplay and flesh out your character. Disco Elysium is mostly linear, yet it's regarded as one of the best RPGs in recent years because it focuses on role-playing more than on branching paths gimmicks.

I loved DAO for its grittiness. Inquisiton had awesome looking Quinari and fun fights. But "Dreadwolf" is a true abomination, and they only had one job..and landed on their face.

Why is Neve wearing her hat like that? Are we in Orlais?

Im feeling much better about this after the gameplay reveal. I cringed at the trailer too. I agree with your wife, Luke. If they knock it out of the park with the story and lore, everything else is serviceable for me. I will pick it up but i absolutely will not be preordering it.

I’ve never played a dragon age but I’m excited for this. It looks good and I don’t mind a good story in a good action game. As long as the gameplay doenst become stale. I need dozens upon dozens of skills and powers

Dunno why you kept comparing it to Hogwarts when it's almost exactly like Mass Effect 3 combat. Squad of 3, like ME3. 3 hotkey abilities, like ME3. No swapping between party members, like ME3. Linear missions with more open hub-like areas, like ME3. I say this as a positive thing though. ME3 combat was amazing. The biotic/tech/cryo/fire combos were really fun to do. The gameplay of ME3 was peak, the story of ME3 needed more time to cook (especially the ending). I'm keen, Bioware needs a win here if we want to get more Mass Effect in the future!

The gameplay looks good. I'm excited. I'm a long time fan of the series and I'm eager to play this. I gotta save up for a new PC lol. EDIT: The way the ceremony is disrupted is beyond silly. However, Bioware's main story writing hasn't been too impressive for as long as they have been Bioware with like the exception of Baldur's Gate 1. Bioware games excel when it comes to music, gameplay, world building, atmosphere, and character interactions.

I loved origins. I still enjoyed 2 but inquisition was a flop for me. And this looks even worse than inquisition was. Judging by that UI, we lost a character slot. Seeing this trailer then seeing the witch reveal for POE 2 made this trailer feel even worse.

I liked what was shown. Really my only gripe is that we can only have three abilities active at a time, where even in Inquisition we had a whole bar of them to use. I never really was a fan of the tactical view so i don't care that it isn't here this time around. I mostly enjoy DA games for the always amazing story. Even DA2, while it was fully action combat like this one, it had a great story i thought and that's what always makes me keep playing these games and i have multiple full playthroughs of each of them to this day and i will probably dive back in in coming weeks/months to another full playthrough of each to have it as fresh in my mind as i can once the game drops, as i always do. Im sure i will have a good time with it. Then again, i was probably one of the few people who really enjoyed Andromeda as well so take that as you will

It's that time of year to play BG3 again :D