not having David Gaider on the writing team made the game take a massive blow. I am a diehard Dragon Age fan and this game is entirely disappointing, its lackluster writing and character dialogue are the worst part of it. The politics of Thedas have been watered down, we dont see the grim realities this franchise showed in the last 3 games. At least the combat is fun, especially if playing a mage, the combat system is about the only thing that is very fun about this game. As someone who writes my own fantasy worlds, i choose to ignore this game in the franchise, Dragon Age ended with Inquisition. It isnt a bad thing and Veilguard isnt even a bad game. Its simply not for Dragon Age fans. EA fumbled one of the greatest RPG titles that could have been even bigger than Baldur's Gate 3, if only they went with a similar approcah as Larian did with a Bioware title. This game is what happens when you underpay, exploit and lay off artists and writers and try to pander to a different audience than the franchise drew in. hearing that VG started as a live service MMO, when Inquisitions multiplayer was not played even by the biggest fans of the game, was a huge misunderstanding on the part of the people responsible of such choices. the last minute change from an MMO to a singleplayer RPG is extremely noticable. I do not have a single issue with the game tackling issues of LGBT people and having those themes is entirely realistic for Dragon Age, as queerness is extremely prevalent since the 2009 title of Origins, so it is not right to judge the game on it being forward on its queer characters and themes. However, the way some of said characters and themes are handled, were almost like a setup for reddit 4-chan type gamebros to hate on. it was almost like it was on purpose, to make queer people look cringe. as a queer person myself, the handling of sensitive topics like queerness, was also lackluster and should have been handled with more care. I noticed as well, the favoritism of certain races in the franchise. The way that elves and elven cultures are preferred compared to dwarves and qunari, is disappointing to see. Instead of the Mourn Watch, we could have seen more of the Legion of the Dead and more dwarven traditions. We could have seen Sigrun again, it would have added much depth to the world, as we dont see much of the Legion in Awakening. Instead of some other regions, we could have seen Par Vollen. Flipping through the artbook, was heartbreaking seeing the "what could have been". The favoritism is prevalent in characters as well and character romances, you are telling me, that people who romanced Solas in Inquisition, got multiple endings and scenes with their inquisitors while everyone else at most got a small line of dialogue or a letter? My Inky was male and my game was modded to romance Cullen, i understand why Cullen was not participating in the game (and thank god he wasnt), but everyone else should have been free reign. At least some sort of small scene with their LI. Especially someone like Sera and Cassandra.
I do not hate the game and i do want people to play it because it is enjoyable sometimes. I love Dragon Age and i wish that Gaider would write for another game, preferably more dwarf or qunari centric this time.
