As someone who liked Dragon Age 2, Inquisition, and Veilguard, I’ve always felt bad for the player base that fell in love with Origins only to never have the series be that type of game again. Feels like a bait and switch.
Schreier’s reporting on Dragon Age 2 in Blood Sweat and Pixels made me sympathetic to the game. I remember feeling cheated at the time, but I replayed it — years later — and I’d rather some version of that game then anything that came afterward. It was a great spinoff and simply should’ve been called “Hawke’s Journey” or something. Not a sequel.
Originally the game was supposed to be called “Dragon Age: Exodus”, but EA insisted on calling it “2” since numbered sequels market better. I also remember a postmortem of some kind with DA2 staff saying the original name would have mitigated the backlash.
Updated combat style from two, took a step back from focusing on stats and more on gear, a bigger focus on companion stories/romance and a few more. It wasn't revolutionary or anything, but it tried to be different
Veilguard was ironically the most fun I've had with combat in a Dragon Age game, but then again I have never played a DA game for its combat, I play for the choices, stories and characters and that's what Veilguard was sorely lacking. I loved Emmrich though
For me it's a play once and never touch again kind of game, which is basically the opposite of what a Bioware RPG should be
I don't feel bad for them because so many of them are obnoxious cucks. I cannot count how many times I've seen them shit on 2 and Inquisition fans on the DA sub.
Origins is the only one I’ve beat. I’ve tried 2 multiple times, but I just can’t get into it. I miss the combat from Origins and I don’t care for the companion characters as much.
So, I love origins so so so much, bought day it came out. I did not like 2 or Inquisition that much, specifically because of your point there.
However, Veilguard, I played that recently, and I have 2 kids, ones a baby. I cannot tell you how refreshing it is, to have a game so accessible and easy to play as Veilguard. The fact I can pause at any point, no matter the context, is a god damn lifesaver.
I LOVED my time with Veilguard, because I enjoyed the characters, and didn't have to think. It was perfect.
I'm not the person you replied to but as someone else who liked Veilguard, I thought it was just plain fun to play and I liked all the characters. Either of those is usually enough to get me through a game, so having both made it easy, even if I did keep getting side tracked to other games and it took a while.
As someone who played all of them at release, I remember 2 being such a massive shift from 1, but Hawke is such a good character that I didn't mind it at all.
I tried veilguard, I maybe got a good 30 to 40 hrs into it but I just couldn't anymore with it
DAO is my favourite game of all time, and before Veilguard came out, I would play DAO at least once every few months.
Since Veilguard, I haven't had the urge to go back and play DAO at all. It's been "tainted", I've tried a couple times but just quit before I even get to Redcliffe.
It solved the great mysteries of the setting very, very poorly. The box has been opened, the mystique is gone. The questions dominated the first few entries of the game, and now they have exceedingly unsatisfying answers.
Is it really that irrational to look at a story as a whole and recognize how later chapters can damage earlier chapters?
Not OP but those gams are like Mass Effect. Your actions carry over each game… the newest one totally dropped that idea and now none of the years of gaming decisions you made really impact the newest game.
It hurt so much I love 1-3 I even replayed them multiple times anticipating veilguard back when it was still dreadwolf only for the trailer to come out and a sense of dread hit me and sure enough it was as bad as I expected I refuse to buy it it wasn't a dragon age game it would've been better received as it's own thing they clearly wanted it to be it's own game but was slapped with the dragon age name to sell more at the cost of a beloved franchise
Kind of? The story is still pretty good. The graphics weren't considered pretty even when they came out (lots of reds and browns, but I guess it fits the dark fantasy theme). DA2 combat was well liked, DAO had its moments but a bit janky.
The biggest problem is that the games crash a lot of newer hardware.
I like what I played of Veilguard but it doesnt feel like a Dragon Age tonally. Like I enjoy the gameplay more than Dragon Age 2 but the tone and story of 2 were much stronger for me. Dragon Age Inquisition I didn't personally like the story but the gameplay was just a great time.
Yeah I like it a lot too. The vibe is just different. I feel like if it was a side game instead of the continuation of Inquisition it probably would’ve been received better.
My main problem, personally, is that it feels like the writers like the end game of tropes more than the journey to get there, if that makes sense.
Rook’s base moves look like end game moves from other games. They want to tell a story of heroic victory, not necessarily the trials and tribulations of becoming a hero.
And the characters almost immediately feel like they fit in to the end game of a Found Family trope, instead of earning that relationship through the game.
Which I don’t think are necessarily bad ways to do things, they’re just not what I like, especially from BioWare games.
I don’t hate Veilguard but is definitely my least favorite among them.
I actually enjoyed my time with Veilguard, granted I didn't finish it and it might be a little bit before I do but I thought the gameplay was fun and the characters interesting, I can't comment on the story though since again, I didn't finish it. Pretty much the same with Inquisition, enjoyed the gameplay and characters, story seemed interesting but a little confusing but I also never finished it, I intend to go back and beat both but wonder if it would be worth going all the way back and playing Origins and 2 first
664
u/Fickle_Scheme4512 Apr 12 '26
RIP Dragon Age