I just read a twitter reply by John Epler saying there is a reason for the Darkspawn looking different. He didn't say what as it's a spoiler but that it's more than a simple redesign. Interesting to think about!
I was mentioning this earlier and I truly hope it's a good reason! I'd hate to hear that these Darkspawn were former members of the Pearl and the Blooming Rose
It actually may be the reason as in one of the stories in Tevinter Nights (which is written by John Epler himself) 👀 If you don't mind the spoilers, it is the third story
@@ImpGoose my theory is that as the Veil thins, magic becomes more and more ubiquitous, just like Epler said. it seeps and soaks into everything, including demons, creatures...and Harding. hence her new abilities. this glow inside the demons reminds me of chemical contrast for MRI, allowing you to highlight the necessary vessels on the image, for example. and as the magic accumulates, the demons begin to "glow from within". Your explanation sounds actually very good also)
With the devs confirming that the new Darkspawn design are lore related, it's pretty clear to me that the blighted Evanuris, probably Ghilan'nain, are behind these darkspawn. Red Lyrium perhaps, or even a proto Blight.
I liked your theory on the new demon design! Personally? I liked the design. The dark spawn, I’m betting has something to do with Thedas’s own version of Dr. Frankenstein, Ghila’nain. I did enjoy your analysis on sharp points and rounded edges. That makes a lot of sense! In terms of established creatures, I recall reading about blight owls in The World of Thedas, Vol. I. To my recollection, they never had us see them. In Vol. 2, they introduced us to Fade creatures named Gibbering Horrors. Since we’re clearly dealing with the Fade and possibly a double Blight, I’m wondering if both creatures will make there debut here?
I'm glad to hear you managed to keep a straight face during the voice over of this video ;D The darkspawn look more skeletal to be honest, like missing eyelids and such because they have less fleshy bits? Same for the demons, they look less solid as you showed. They have their spirit center but lack part of their demon shell. I also hope we'll learn more about the dwarves. All we know is that they have a direct link to Titans who long to connect with them again, and that the Evanuris were probably the ones to sever those connections if we believe their stories. It would be nice to learn more about how the dwarves really originated and how the elves did too, as I don't believe in the creation story of 'the sun kissed the earth and elven babies sprang forth'. Please yes on the body horrors of Ghil! They hinted at it so nicely in Horrors of Hormak and in the previous games with the Harvesters. Would be a shame to not get to deal with that properly. For the rest I'll let myself be surprised! Thanks for the video, was an interesting watch :D
The intro took me 6 takes tbf hahaha. But after that, everything went smoothly without any goose chases or bites! DAV really should close at least some questions and use the truth instead of myths. The only thing I'm scared of is that too many theories point to ancient elves. It would be a shame if everything is about the Evanuris :(
@@ImpGoose I'm still hoping for a shift to more dwarven lore too. That Red Lyrium comes from the Titans and we see more Titan related stuff. And that the Kal Sharok dwarves can teach us more about the things Orzammar hides and tries to forget.
you are great making all these videos about this game always with intelligent remarks and genuine interest while there is a lot of negative attitude about it even before it comes out. good job.
He's not evil indeed, he's conflicted! Have you seen those huge round eyes full of sadness? 👀 Anyway, the geometric formula is simply a guide for artists. Sometimes they follow it, sometimes they don't 😅
I appreciate the shape language lesson. It was very informative and one of those fundamentals of art I've forgotten and only do subconsciously rather than purposefully. In regards to the Darkspawn and Demon designs; I've had issues with the Darkspawn since DA: 2, where I thought they were zombies at first and was very disappointed in them and the fact that they stuck with that, and due to that I'm just apathetic about this new design. I'm pretty biased though because I really liked their design in Origins and though they were unique. With the Demons, ALL they had to do was have Varric give a throwaway line that they look different than he remembers them and I would've been fine. I really like your description of them being a spirit skeleton with a half-formed body and I hope that's the case, and I also hope to see some fully formed ones as well. The rage demons seem a bit more fully formed though oddly enough, but all they'd have to say to make me happy is that they're just more powerful rage demons than usual because that's what they look like. When it comes to Demons in general though I do miss when each demon was a whole plot point of its own if not essentially a mini-boss in Origins and 2, and never liked that they were just enemy fodder in Inquisition (with the exception of the Envy and Nightmare demons, which lore-wise should've been the whole game with demons pouring out of the sky). It's disappointing to see they're continuing that trend, with a Pride demon (the most powerful of demons in the lore) being your first boss, but it makes sense given the context (and it's probably significantly weaker in this half-formed state). As for other monsters I'm heavily excited about Ghilan'nain being one of the main antagonists because I'm super interested in what sort of insane things she'll throw at us; I mean the devs have full creative freedom to make us fight any effed up creature they can imagine because of her. Also the Arlathan forest is pretty much known for having strange dangerous creatures not seen anywhere else in Thedas so there's alot of potential there as well. And now that you mention Teventer having constructs I'm interested to see what those would be as well; some of the most interesting creatures to me in DA lore are some of the things that came of spirits possessing things (take Sylvans for example, even werewolves or Witherfang which is the MOST interesting one to me). I'd actually love to see more werewolves; they've only shown up the once and they're a very underutilized creature in fantasy in general in my opinion (Hunger in Tevinter Nights gave me some hope for that).
Hah, if Varric said something humorous like that, it would really save the situation! Glad you enjoyed the video and hopefully we'll learn more about the game pretty soon 🔥
This is so cool to know that you have knowledge and skills of art. I could watch endlesssly this kind of videos where someone is talking and showing something with aid of painting. But yeah, modders will remake the things how players really want. It has been like that and will be like that. Whatever game it is. Your art analysis is badass! THank you and I hope to see this kind of videos more in the future! :) Maybe it even helps me to come back to making art again! Who knows. Time will show us. You know what. Becaouse of watching your videos, I am actually really waiting this game even thogh I have never finished any previous games, just didn't pulled me that much in the past. Maybe I should take time and play all previous games before this new comes out. I like this fantasy vibe these games are giving and it is better to know story and lore before diving in to the new game. I think. Maybe it is not that important, but it would be way different experience.
Sounds lovely! There are many interesting quests and conversations in DA. Origins is a box of wonders where you can get bullied by Morrigan and lectured by Wynne while Alisters might get killed for good and Ogden just wants to have another pint haha. When you'll be ready, you will finish all games, I'm sure
Those “Lyrium-veined” hollow creatures look very similar to the Profane you find in the Primeval Thiag from DA2. I’m kinda surprised that no one else seems to remember the Profane when seeing this trailer. I wonder if the these are “blue Profane”, as opposed to spirits, just uncorrupted by the Blight/red lyrium.
Interesting theory on soft and hard features. Maybe demons have combination of both because they are corrupted spirits and those mostly benevolent creatures? In any case, I agree, import of old models into new game as mods is inevitable. Frosty Mod Tools become pretty advance in past decade, guess there was benefit to such a long wait 😅 I personally never pay to much attention to cannon fodder monsters, they can look whatever as long as they consistent with surroundings. But I am curious how BW handle boss level creatures. Ghil'anain concept art seam pretty scary in that amphibian form with a spear, wonder how it will look in the game. Also, we most likely going to see Fen'Harel wolf-like-dragon form as described in Tevinter Nights, it was pretty cool. Especially if we can lure him to our side and use in final battle as we used Mythal's dragon. Kinda looking forward to screaming "Dohaeras, Vhagar!" at the screen during those encounters 🤣
Hahaha we all need to practice High Valyrian to negotiate with dragons properly. That's a great concept indeed! Regarding Ghil... I'm obsessed 🤣 Just give me something to poke her beautiful scaly body
10:53 I think that goblin looking thing on the left is a Ghast. We saw them in DA2 Mark of the Assassin and they're in one of th World of Thedas books. I'm most looking forward to the environment and architectural designs, I always thought Val Royeaux seems smaller and more cramped that Denerim in DA:O. Towers looked pretty but I expected a grander, more ostentatious feel.
Might be! Architecture and home decor are rather intriguing. When I bought an art book about DAI, most of my next pictures were inspired by Val Royeaux. There are so many unique features and lines 😅 Well, yeah. Loved every page
I thought the new demons/spirits down looked more organic, like dryads, and figured these were spirits they wanted Solas to sunder the Veil for their own dark reasons. I didn’t see skeletons, necessarily, but vines.
That part about the darkspawn and design in general was very enlightening! And I really hope mods will like the game and feel inspired. Goofy darkspawn won't help my immersion. Would be really interesting to see the Scaled Ones (and the Forgotten Ones).
Glad you found something interesting for you! Mods will be needed, if not for many players, then for those like me - old and grumpy who have seen stuff and now we need ugly monsters to feel alive hahaha. I'll add them to my list. We have a lot of time before the game release!
@@ImpGoose Replaying Inquisition rn, and I just stumbled across this little note in the Raw Fade I'd totally forgotten about, called "Whispers Written in Red Lyrium": We are here We have waited We have slept We are sundered We are crippled We are polluted We endure We wait We have found the dreams again We will awaken I wonder if this could be Geldauran & Gang.
I thought there was a sylvan (tree thing) mentioned it in concept at somewhere? Vampires would be cool, it's only a tiny step from blood mage to vampire so, makes sense.
As usual you have interesting insights, but I think that when it comes to art direction the main issue that bothers me is a different one: It isn't about "can we find some sort of a lore justification for why the Darkspawn / Demons look different", rather it's that if the art direction emphasizes goofy, "funny", or designs which looks generic rather than unsettling as is the case with some demons - it probably implies something about the tone of the game in general - and I'm not fond of that implication.
So I have thoughts on the redesigns they initially turned me off but they’ve grown on me I like how the dark spawn look more inhuman and as for the demons they look like fragments of spirits and not entirely complete like only pieces of them made it through the veil and they aren’t complete
I disagree with the statement that the darkspawn does not look threatening. I disagree; as we see them in the reveal trailer, it looks very much threatening. Epler said there's a reason why they're all red and goopy, so that's fine. My only complaint is with that still image of the Ogre: It's awful, goofy, and just a crime to look at. I really hope that's just a previous build. They also gave us a reason why spirits and demons look like that. they are being ripped away from the fade and are trying to come up with a shape with wathever they can find. Fine, fair enough. But also, it's bullshit, that isn't the case in Inquisition.
I see. What's your point, though? As I mentioned at the beginning of the video, try to propose a solution to something you criticise. If you say it's bullshit, then what is your way to approach the story? What would you write instead? :)
@ImpGoose They need to give us a better explanation for why the demons look like that. Are the rifts here different then in Inquisition? are they stronger? how does it work? Why can't the demons come up with an full form but in Inquisition they could? Does this mean we'll get to see both the old and new design of spirits and demons?
I'm hoping it's an old build as well. That thing is not just goofy, it's also lacking textures. It looks like it's made of plastic. So, maybe it really isn't the finished version.
In the case of the trailer, that has at least somewhat different art design than the actual game, so hopefully ogres don't actually look like that in the game.
I think the dragons look the most similar to those in Inquisition which is not a bad thing they looked good. I am curious if one of the dragons we will fight will be an elven divine form. Like will Mythal come and take her form as a dragon to help defeat the other Evanuris or will she be another Evanuris we will put down. Will Solas take on the form of the monstrous Dreadwolf infused with red lyrium with 6 eyes like he paints in his murals at the end? I think in some art they revealed Ghil is a massive sea monster with a spear. Fighting those monstrous forms would be an interesting boss fight.
When it comes to the Darkspawn & Demons in Veilguard the designers forgot a core principle. "There is no such thing as safe-scary." The 1st word cancels the 2nd word every time. If the Darkspawn go from looking like creatures that want to eviscerate you with their teeth to something that shows up on Halloween looking for a Snickers bar it's going to detract from the tragic nature of Thedas itself. Having the Demons look like sculptures from the Guggenheim doesn't help. Will mods fix it? That depends. Pc ports of Dragon Age games can be so scary they may not need to, but console players will be stuck either way. The bottom line is there are far more "ifs" with Veilguard than I'd like. Still, cautious isn't hopeless.
It really saddens me how divided the gaming community is because of the difference between consoles and PCs. You are right about the safe-scary for 100%. It's simply illogical for a game that has age restrictions.
First off...great vid.! and YEAH, forgot about Mods!..... make things little better. one thing I'm waiting for is Meredith's come back after watching Absolution, how big is the game going to be? we have 2 BIG big Bads, Solas, and Meredith on the rise! i'm just super excited to get back into the series. Love Dragon Age!
I feel like face wise the hurlock looks pretty similar to the ones in inquisition. Assuming the one with the big ax is a hurlock anyway. I do like how fwisted the red lyrium spawn look overall. I do wonder if we will see the standard darkspawn as well or just these mutated ones
Yeah, they are alike. If I remember correctly, they had sharp and pointy teeth, though. It adds more angles and changes the mood a bit more. I think that we will have both variants tbh. It would be more realistic that a sudden worldwide corruption 😅
I have a feeling that what Solas might do in the end of this game might be the end of the DRAGON Age and would start a new Age/Era, and if in the future if there would be a sequel, i hope its not called Dragon Age but something new to signify a new Age
It is not without a reason you think so. This idea also occurred in my mind a couple of times. Honestly, I suppose it would be a good thing to rebrand and relaunch the world of Thedas 👀
thanks for the video, I really feel better, although I'm already positive about the game)😊 I'm most interested in the dragon from the teaser, and his tentacle-like limbs... is he a Ghilan'nain's monster or is the reason for such a strange transformation again Solas and his ritual? Or is it Elgar'nan himself...?😂
Not that he will end up being a monster, but I really do think Sandal Will be the embodiment of a Titan with his memory wiped out. And this will be why he only spoke a few words unless He is speaking of prophecy.
Yeah, there's definitely something wrong with that man haha. Either he is carrying an Evanuris inside him (June) or he possesses a strong connection to titans at some form 🫂
Oh no, not bears! I'm replaying DA:I right now and was ambushed by two constantly respawning bears-four in total!-near an unsettled camp in the west Hinterlands and that was a traumatizing experience 😳
They tried this with Andromeda. It worked. created an entire narrative surrounding a few frames about how mass effect andromeda doesn't have good facial animations and therefore it was the worst game ever. My question was, did these people ever play mass effect before? The entire trilogy had poor face animations. I played that game for like 1000 hours. Super fun game play. Maybe not peak bioware but it was a good story. That's what this reminded me of immediately.
Andromeda had huge animation issues, though. And characters had dead eyes that made me uncomfortable 👀 I doubt we will have the same problems with DAV. We see that the transformed mobs move smoothly and people don't look like androids. The redesign just creates a different story that we will learn only after playing the game. Hopefully there will be another 1k hours for us on this new game
@@ImpGoose You actually played Andromeda tho? Its a different engine so I don't think facial animations will be a huge deal but that's not the point. I bought the game without hearing any critiques. I had the same poor reaction to the lady who said "her face was tired" but I had similar problems with mass effect games before so it wasn't a big deal to me and I really enjoyed the game. The mass effect face animations are absolutely terrible in the og trilogy. Some of it could not be fixed in the remaster. A lot of immersion breaks but it's still a classic series for me (and everyone else) because of the story. The point isn't that the face animations would be bad. The point is that they tried to create a narrative around something relatively trivial to tank the game. It worked with Andromeda. It isn't that the game wasn't actually good or all the face animations were all like that one ladies.But people bought into it. It was very clever narrative design to borrow a phrase. It didn't work so well this time.
Yeah, I played all ME games, though space RPGs and shooters are not my favorite genre. I played only once for the story (and because I can't shoot properly hahaha). I liked what they did with the concept and combat style with swapping panels. I hope that DAV will have them too, otherwise 3 spells for a mage without any possibility to create elemental chaos is not cool 🤣 Anyway, Andromeda had its good sides. It was fun!
You need to differentiate between spirits and demons, you use them interchangeably in multiple videos, they are not. I am sure you know that spirits are the denizens of the fade, demons are Spirits that have been corrupted by humans dicking around in fade. Spirits are very impressionable, open to ideas and some seek knowledge beyond fade and benevolent, while demons are already set in their way and malevolent.
I don't need to do anything. While you would have built your case better if you provided the source or references of your knowledge from the official codex pages. You quote the first sentence from the entry, excluding the rest as if it doesn't exist. There are many complex ways how spirits can turn into demons and it's not exclusively "dicking around" as you say... whatever that means. Codex entry. Demons: Ultimately, a demon is simply a spirit whose purpose has been perverted. Pulling a spirit unwillingly into the mortal world, particularly to achieve a goal out of keeping with its nature, will change a spirit into a demon. A spirit passing willingly through the Veil will not be changed. Furthermore, an individual anticipating seeing a demon will do so, even if the entity is in fact a spirit. A spirit possessing someone may also be twisted by its host, turning them into a demon. Such is the case with Justice becoming Vengeance (Anders in the material world, not in the Fade). I have never said that spirits and demons are the same or can be interchangeable. You decided so for some reason. Sad that you chose to express your passion and curiosity in such a form.
@@ImpGoose Even in this video you sometimes said demon, sometimes spirit within the same context. That is why I said that you use them interchangeably.
Excellent video, Goose! I absolutely adore your analysis on lines and shapes when it comes to character designs and how they influence our thoughts. Based on how our minds interpret shapes and angles. 🟢🔻 To be 100% honest with you, I literally have no problem with the monster designs. I never even had a problem with the initial trailer. With that said, I do understand what people are saying and why they feel what they feel. The design change is very different and that kind of drastic change. Can be very upsetting essentially if the change is a downgrade. Even though I like the redesign of the monsters, I still see as a downgrade. Oh, well. 🤷🏾♂️ I certainly believe we'll run into new and exciting darkspawn and other types of monsters. After reading " Three Trees to Midnight, Down Among the Dead Men, Horror of Hormak, & Luck in the Garden," I can't wait to see them. What kind of new creatures are you looking forward to seeing?
Glad to hear that the change didn't scare you! Because I cried of shock like a baby after watching the trailer for the first time 🤣 I really want to know more about body-horror monsters. It's something absolutely new which means we'll have to figure out how to fight them. Exciting!!!
@ImpGoose I'm sorry to hear that, Goose, but I understand. The full armored enemies do sound like a very fun challenge. I wonder what they weakness will be? Since I will be playing as a mage, I'll be needing Davrin or Taash to protect me. 🤣
Oh I wanted to ask you out of all the beginning factions you have seen which class are you going to pick for me it’s already decided I’m going to be a warden rouge like Duncan 😁what about you?
That's lovely! Duncan lives in my heart rent-free 🥹 I have a tradition to play as a female elven mage in my first playthrough. The chosen faction...is trickier. Starting with the Veil jumpers might be good but my heart goes for the Wardens. Probably I should make a video about factions to force myself to choose haha
@@ImpGoose hey let hope for some old school Duncan armour 🤞🏿😁and hell yeah do a video on what class and faction s you recommend people to pick and yours there no crime in that 😁🙏
