Dragon Age Dreadwolf: The Veilguard?

Jump to latest Follow Reply
M

mogbert

Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
9,294
  • #41
    I'll be honest, I can't remember which of the games I've played or what order they came out in. I think I've played all of them. Maybe. They sort of blend together after a while.

    I'll probably have to watch some let's plays to refresh my memory. I remember one had a character names Merrill. I remember that because there is a pokemon named Marill. So I know I've played that game... googling... okay, that apparently doesn't narrow it down much...
     
    N

    NavyGothic

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    9,995
    Subscriptor
  • #42
    LuNatic_ said:
    So they've completely abandoned any pretense of being a tactical RPG. I guess I'll just replay Origins again.
    Click to expand...
    Honestly, I'm fine with that. It's not like the tactical combat in DA2 or Inquisition was any good; it was half-assed action and half-assed tactical. I generally prefer party-based tactical RPGs too, but committing to action-combat is better than waffling.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Ardax
    E

    Entegy

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    17,702
  • #43
    News also says that the story structure is mission based while still having some areas open for exploration.

    Message recieved: we shouldn't have another Hinterlands situation, nor every area being its own Far Cry map. Looking back at my Steam playtime, I'm shocked to find I fit 3 playthroughs of Origins in like 130 hours of playtime. Inquisition I just skipped some of the final maps entirely as I was just getting bored of open-world nothingness. Very pretty, but nothingness. And that still took about 100 hours for a single playthrough.

    I am very okay for these changes. Also very happy to have Harding as a companion. I let my Inquisitor flirt with her a bit, but never upgraded it to full(ish) romance.

    It also seems like the Dragon Age Keep (the service that is supposed to keep a timeline of your decisions in DAO and DA2 to import into DAI) is optional or abandoned entirely. I have mixed feelings about this, but I'll repeat what I posted on Reddit: Major decisions like Morrigan's Dark Ritual may have some story impact, but ultimately it makes sense that helping some random NPCs in Ferelden and Orlais decades prior isn't going to have much impact on Tevinter.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: VirtualWolf and cblais19
    Ardax

    Ardax

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    19,076
    Subscriptor
  • #44
    mogbert said:
    I remember one had a character names Merrill. I remember that because there is a pokemon named Marill. So I know I've played that game... googling... okay, that apparently doesn't narrow it down much...
    Click to expand...
    She's one of the DA2 companions. Her name shows up in DA:I, but she doesn't. (If you were taking the piss, you got me.)

    Entegy said:
    It also seems like the Dragon Age Keep (the service that is supposed to keep a timeline of your decisions in DAO and DA2 to import into DAI) is optional or abandoned entirely.
    Click to expand...
    My understanding is that it's not used at all for Veilguard, and the game is entirely offline. No Keep, no EA account linking. Relevant prior game decisions will be captured in the character creator.

    I rather like how Pillars of Eternity 2 handled it: You could import your save or there was a UI in the game's main menu to configure your legacies (I think that was their term) to set all the relevant decisions. The game came with a bunch pre-selected.
     
    M

    mogbert

    Ars Tribunus Angusticlavius
    9,294
  • #46
    Ardax said:
    She's one of the DA2 companions. Her name shows up in DA:I, but she doesn't. (If you were taking the piss, you got me.)


    My understanding is that it's not used at all for Veilguard, and the game is entirely offline. No Keep, no EA account linking. Relevant prior game decisions will be captured in the character creator.

    I rather like how Pillars of Eternity 2 handled it: You could import your save or there was a UI in the game's main menu to configure your legacies (I think that was their term) to set all the relevant decisions. The game came with a bunch pre-selected.
    Click to expand...
    Not taking the piss. I googled her, went to the wiki, and they listed a bunch of games. So I gave up. But it was probably DA2, cause she was definitely a major character that I recall.

    She came across as mousy and timid and then it turns out she is a bloodmage.

    But I'm at home now so I can check my games, and I see boxes for DA:O and DA:I, so I have definitely played those as well, back when physical copies were a thing. And I don't have any on my Steam account, so... I guess that must have been a bit of time.

    I made a mod for one of them that was well received. I mean I was pretty into them back then. I really should look forward to this, but I think I had so many disappointments from EA that I have soured on anything from them.
     
    • Like
    Reactions: Ardax
    S

    Starbuck79

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    29,291
  • #47
    I am replaying Inqusition with this hype and the flaws are quickly noticeable. Their "Open World" is mostly a bunch of empty space with 1 main quest per area and a bunch of random filler.

    The significant story quests are well done but there is a bunch of empty filler. It sounds like we are losing some of that for more targeted and intentionally crafted areas.

    I doubt it ill be as on rails as ME 1-3 was, but more focus than Inquisition would be welcome.
     
    • Like
    • Hug
    Reactions: MichaelC and Ardax
    S

    Starbuck79

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    29,291
  • #48
    Came across an article with one of the developers talking about the skill trees.

    They talk a lot about influences from Final Fantasy but it sounds a lot like Diablo 4.

    Each class has a unique skill tree with a spiderweb of nodes. With only 3-4 "active" abilities it seems like a lot of the nodes will be modifiers that could significantly alter those active skills.
    Busche: So, the skills are unique per class. Every level you get a skill point, there are other site activities to get skill point… We are very player-friendly; you can refund your last, refund the whole thing…

    We have a level cap of 50. One of my frustrations with some other games that have similar skill tree systems is that getting up into the specialization might take up absolutely all of your skill points, and then you have nothing else.

    We're the exact opposite. You get into your specialization about mid-game, and then you can really branch out.

    RPG Site: And how about the party members?

    Busche: They all have unique skill trees, too. Now, those ones – we don’t want to overwhelm the players. So their skill trees are organized around their individual abilities. So when you unlock their full suite of abilities, each one has a skill tree full of choices where you can get autonomous usage, or lower the cooldowns, or add additional effects to the ability.

    RPG Site: What is the breadth of the actual active abilities for them? Like, are the characters quite prescribed with a handful of core abilities, or is it a larger number where the player is choosing which ones are on the ability wheel?

    Busche: So each follower, each companion has five core abilities. There are decisions you can make along the way that add mechanical changes to each ability.
    Click to expand...
     
    • Like
    Reactions: VirtualWolf
    Semi On

    Semi On

    Senator
    89,417
    Subscriptor++
  • #49
    The combat is not what I would ideally choose, which is far closer to DAO, but it's more or less what I expected given the direction of basically everything they've done since DAO. It looks fine. I'll button mash my way back to camp so I can flirt with my companions and hear about their stories.
     
    Last edited:
    • Like
    • Love
    • Haha
    Reactions: Ardax, cblais19 and VirtualWolf
    Ardax

    Ardax

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    19,076
    Subscriptor
  • #50
    Warning: Linked article has spoliers for all of Inquisition and Act 1 spoilers for Veilguard. If you really want to go in blind on Veilguard (and remember/don't care about the other 3 games), don't read past page 33 (the first spread of the article after the intro image). You can read page 34 if you have the ability and focus to not look at page 35.

    Game Informer has an article on Veilguard online at https://gameinformer.mydigitalpublication.com/?m=10122&i=824318&p=30&ver=html5

    It's... exciting to read.

    I get that it's the point, and everything being shown is sure to be carefully curated, but still, they're showing off quite a bit of stuff here.
     
    S

    Starbuck79

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    29,291
  • #52
    Ardax said:
    Warning: Linked article has spoliers for all of Inquisition and Act 1 spoilers for Veilguard. If you really want to go in blind on Veilguard (and remember/don't care about the other 3 games), don't read past page 33 (the first spread of the article after the intro image). You can read page 34 if you have the ability and focus to not look at page 35.

    Game Informer has an article on Veilguard online at https://gameinformer.mydigitalpublication.com/?m=10122&i=824318&p=30&ver=html5

    It's... exciting to read.

    I get that it's the point, and everything being shown is sure to be carefully curated, but still, they're showing off quite a bit of stuff here.
    Click to expand...
    Everything I see about the game looks great. I know people are waiting a party turn based game like Orgins but they have been moving away from that for decades. I think it was smart not to compete with BG3. Not everyone will love the new actions type but everything about the game is looking great to me.

    Mostly non story spoiler summary from the linked GI article above.

    On Name Change:

    • "We quickly learned and realized that the absolute beating heart of this game is these authentic, diverse companions." - Game Director Corinne Bushe
    • Focus is on the team rather than Solas as the Dreadwolf and so the name was changed to reflect that
    • "Dreadwolf suggests a title focused on a specific individual whereas The Veilguard, much like Inquisition, focuses more on the team" - Creative Director John Epler
    On Character Customization:

    • 4 races - Elves, Qunari, Humans, and Dwarves
    • Can select pronouns separately from gender and adjust physical characteristics like height, shoulder width, chest size, glute and bulge size, hip width, how bloodshot your eyes are, how crooked your nose is and more
    • Hundreds of sliders to customize proportions and features like skin hue, tone, melanin and more
    • Can customize genitalia (may not actually be true but they mention that your character can be nude in the character creator when you are customizing them with stuff like bulge size)
    • 4 distinct voices (American Male/Female, British Male/Female) along with a pitch shifter for each voice to make them unique to your character
    On how Rook becomes the leader:

    • Ascends to leadership due to competency rather than destiny (although technically there is some sort of magical reason too that I will not go into)
    On Minrathous:

    • Huge city painted in magical insignia
    • Looks cyberpunk-inspired with neon city lights and brimming with detail
    • Dozens of NPCs
    • NPCs are all made using the character creation tool in the game outside of specific characters such as your recruitable companions
    • Murals of Solas appear on the walls deep within the city and things get more Elven as if you were symbolically going back in time as Minrathous is a city built by mages on the bones of what was originally the home of Elves
    On Base of Operations:

    • Called "The Lighthouse", this is the Skyhold equivalent of the game
    • Where your team bonds, grows and prepares for its adventures throughout the campaign
    • Responds to your world state and emotion and reflects the chaos and disrepair of Thedas
    • Optional conversations here will have a clock symbol over a dialogue icon in the distance for each character that you can speak to
    • Library is where your party will often regroup and prepare for the next mission
    • Companions will have unique dialogue with you at the base based on current events along with your Rook's background
    On Arlathan Forest:

    • This is where you meet the Veil Jumpers faction
    • BioWare does not shy away from minutes-long cutscenes as it helps you define your Rook's leadership style with your choices and how your team will react to your leadership
      • This is demonstrated within game's dialogue and a special relationship meter on each companion's character screen
    • Elven ruins, dense greenery, and disgusting Blight tentacles and pustules
    • Most impressive aspect of GI employee's time seeing the game
    • Art style is more in line with high fantasy reminiscent of Fable
    • Use of magic is more prevalent in the game in general which will be shown by the locations you visit
    • Whimsy of area will starkly contrast to other areas with promise of some grim locations and even grimmer story moments
      • Contrast is important
    On Bellara:

    • First companion you meet and recruit in-game (Neve automatically joins)
    • Like all companions, they are the face of their faction and your window into understanding their world
    • Sweetheart and nerd for ancient elven artifacts
    • Dressed more like an academic than a combat expert
    • Specializes in electricity and can use magic to heal you
    • Specific magic is more effective on certain enemies, however, you can equip runes that will provide you access to those different magics without necessarily having them as part of your arsenal
    • Has a unique ability that interacts with the world, but Rook can acquire these abilities to complete ability specific tasks for instances where Bellara is not in your party
    On the Menus:

    • Pressing start will show you your map, journal, character sheets, skill tree and a library for lore information
    • Can cross compare equipment and equip new gear for Rook and companions
    • Build weapon loadouts for quick change-ups mid-combat
    • Customize you and your party's abilities and builds via skill tree
    • Passive abilities unlock jump attacks and guarantee critical hit opportunities
    • Abilities add moves like "Wall of Fire"
    • Each specialization has a unique ultimate ability
    On Combat:

    • Every swing is done in real-time with special care taken to animation swing-through and canceling
    • Dash, parry, ability to charge moves and a revamped healing system allows you to use potions at your discretion using the d-pad on controller
    • Can combo attacks and "bookmark" combos with a quick dash (can pause a combo's status with a dash to safety and continue the rest of the combo afterward)
    • Pause-and-play gameplay mechanic
      • Can choose abilities, queue them up, and strategize with synergies and combos, all while targeting specific enemies
      • Letting go off wheel will play out your selections in real time
      • Bushe uses combat wheel primarily for companions while Epler uses it almost exclusively for every ability and combo
    • Each character class has a light and heavy attack, using abilities with the same inputs and interact with the combo wheel in the same way
    • The difference is in secondary attacks and defense
      • Warriors can throw their shield and can block and parry
      • Rogues can use a bow and have a longer parry window
      • Mages have magical ranged attacks and cannot parry but can throw up a shield that blocks incoming attacks automatically which uses up your mana
    • Showcased some high-level gameplay
      • 3 stacks of arcane build-up to create an "Arcane Bomb" on an enemy which does devastating damage after being hit by a heavy attack
      • Charges a heavy attack on magical staff then switches to magical daggers in a second loadout accessed with a quick tap of down on the d-pad to unleash some quick attacks, then back to staff to charge it some more and unleash a heavy attack
    On Performance:

    • Demo ran well on PC
    • Confirmed Fidelity and Performance modes on PS5 (likely same for Series X)
    On Companion Skills:

    • Can advance bonds by helping companions on their own personal quests and including them in your party for main quests
    • Relationship levels you rank up nets you a skill point to spend on them
    • Choices you make, what you say to your companions, how you help them, and more all matter to their development as characters and party members
    • Each companion has access to five abilities, you can only take 3 into combat
      • Strategize different combos and synergies within your party
    • Each companion has issues, problems, and personal quests to complete
    On Not Being An Open World:

    • Not an open world even if some of its explorable areas might feel like one
    • Hub-and-spoke design where the needs of the story are served by the level design
    • A version of Inquisition's Crossroads, network of telporting Eluvians, returns
      • How players will traverse across Northern Thedas
    • Some areas are larger and full of secrets and treasures while others are smaller and more focused on linear storytelling
    • Arlathan Forest is an example of a smaller area but there are still optional paths and offshoots to explore for loot, healing potion refreshes, and more
    • Minimap exists for each location though linear levels will not have a fog of war that disappears as you explore like some of the bigger locations
    • Largest number of diverse biomes in series history
    On Skill Trees:

    • Warrior Specializations
      • Champion
      • Reaper
      • Slayer
    • Mage Specializations
      • Death Caller
      • Evoker
      • Spellblade
    • Rogue Specializations
      • Duelist
      • Saboteur
      • Veil Ranger
    • Have different types of nodes
      • Class
      • Abilities
      • Major Passives and Ability Upgrades
      • Traits
      • Minor Passives and Stat Boosts
     
    Ardax

    Ardax

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    19,076
    Subscriptor
  • #55
    farnoshee said:
    I've recently tried Dragon Age Origins once again. It was still great regarding the gameplay but the graphics are very outdated. I hope the new game gonna be as good as Origins but with better graphics.
    Click to expand...
    That's going to depend on what you liked about Origins, and what you hope for out of Veilguard.

    Starbuck79 said:
    Skill Tree Spoilers

    As I said before, it reminds me of Diablo 4.
    Click to expand...
    I think the announced level cap is 50, so players are only going to be hitting parts of the skill tree. Hopefully the tree is well balanced and respecs are cheap, because it's really easy to imagine that there's going to be a lot of non-optimal builds.

    It's also a lot of nodes when their declared intention is for there not to be a lot of minor incremental "number goes up" kind of gameplay in the skills and equipment.
     
    S

    Starbuck79

    Ars Legatus Legionis
    29,291
  • #57
    Ardax said:
    That's going to depend on what you liked about Origins, and what you hope for out of Veilguard.


    I think the announced level cap is 50, so players are only going to be hitting parts of the skill tree. Hopefully the tree is well balanced and respecs are cheap, because it's really easy to imagine that there's going to be a lot of non-optimal builds.

    It's also a lot of nodes when their declared intention is for there not to be a lot of minor incremental "number goes up" kind of gameplay in the skills and equipment.
    Click to expand...
    They have said that plays should hit their sweet spot around level 30 and Respecs will be easy. The really nice thing is that it appears a Respec will allow you to change Specializations which is the one thing you could not do in Inquisition.

    Companions will have a greatly simplified but custom tree. They will have 5 total abilities overall but you can only choose 3 for them to use.
     
    You must log in or register to reply here.
    Jump to latest Follow Reply
    Jump to latest Follow Reply