Dragon Age: The Veilguard ~Discussion,Speculation & Wishlist

I also had the means to end it peacefully, but my Rook just concluded that Solas doesn't deserve it. He had so many chances to stop being a backstabbing, lying sack of dung, and he took none of them. Only a saint would try to redeem him at that point. 

I think it's well known that I'm a Varric hater here and wished him dead....seems like I got my wish.

...But....I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS GAME ACTUALLY HAD ME CRYING OVER VARRIC.
He really grew on me over time in this one. I definitely prefer Varric as the "father" figure to my Rook rather than the forced best friend. His role as advisor worked really well for my Rook that it definitely hurt to learn the truth that he was dead the entire time.

Yeah that was very disappointing. It felt like it took forever to get ANYTHING with Lucanis. It always seemed like whenever other companions had something to say/flirts to choose, Lucanis had nothing.
It was almost as if the romance was non-existent for most of the game. The flirts never really felt "romantic" or "flirty", and knowing that one specific scene was just copy/paste of his Neve romance....really? They're going to be that lazy with an already weak romance? And the fact that apparently his writer doesn't even like writing romances?
It's such a shame because there was so much potential there. I love the very first coffee date and it seemed like it was going to be a great romance....but then nothing until the very end.
I actually did love the final scene though. It was really sweet having him lay there while my Rook held him.

Overall it was a very weak "romance" that never really felt like it was going anywhere until the very end. I think someone here mentioned that in banter he mentions Rook is his first real relationship? I wish they had actually shown more of that build-up/development...where we can actually see it progress from flirts to dates to the final sex scene. I saw some concept art Davrin's boobs posted on Twitter and it seemed like Lucanis could have had much better scenes and romantic content that didn't make the cut.
He could've easily become my favorite romance between the "canon" options (Zevran, Anders, Dorian, etc.) but unfortunately that wasn't the case.

Despite this being my least favorite set of companions between the four games, there is not a single one I dislike which is a major positive for me. They all grew on me by the end and I enjoyed seeing their development and growth to becoming like a little "family" at the lighthouse after their initial mistrust/conflicts with each other.

Here's my ranking for the companions:
1.) Harding - As I mentioned before I am was happy she made the jump from her small role in Inquisition to companion. I enjoyed having that previous connection of knowing her from Inquisition and hearing of her experiences with the Inquisition/Inquisitor. It was also great to see her be more than just that and dive into Dwarven lore and her connections with the Titans.

2.) Is there really any surprise that griffin daddy is my favorite new companion? Seriously, every interaction with him and Assan was just the most adorable thing! I loved seeing him go from hardened warrior to accepting his new role in having to train, raise, and care for the Griffins. I did not choose to romance Davrin myself but from what I've seen, he easily seems to be one of the best M/M romances BioWare has ever done and I am so happy for all of you Davrin fans.

3.) Taash - It's funny that I initially did not like them when we first met but ended up being my third favorite companion. As I took them with me on more side quests and got to go through their story, I enjoyed their character more and more. It was great to see their journey of accepting who they are. I especially loved their interactions with Isabela and taking them to the tavern with Bellara.

4.) Bellara - I actually don't know if I like her or Merrill more. She got along well with my Rook as they were both Veil Jumpers and elees, so they got to bond over all the new discoveries about their true origins and history. I could also see a lot of my husband's personalty traits in her, so that helped with enjoying her character more.

Less interesting characters follow. I like them enough, but they don't stand out.
5.) Lucanis - He really seemed like they just put Anders and Zevran into one character, but less interesting than the two. I like that he enjoys coffee and cooking, but that's about it. Spite was a lot less interesting than he could have been. I also already posted my annoyances with the romance above.

6.) Neve - She was difficult to get along with initially because of choosing to save Treviso. I liked the moments where she showed her growing bond with the others (like Bellara and how they considered each other sisters) as well as the outing she had with Rook early in the game and how she brought that up again at the end that Rook owed her a lunch date. When she wasn't angry about not saving Dock Town, she had some good moments.

6.) Emmrich - I liked when Emmrich was showing his academic side (like taking books to go camping with Harding and how funny/adorable that interaction was). I was much less interested in the death/lich stuff. Probably the most "boring" one of the bunch.

I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY PULLED A VIRMIRE ON US!
I thought that we would be safe because I did everyone's companion quests and they were all heroes of the Veilguard.
I chose Harding to lead the second group because I trusted her skills as a scout and I trusted Bellara to bring down the barrier because of her expertise with old artifacts and magic.
It seemed to all be going fine and I thought we'd all be safe.

BUT THEN THEY KILLED HARDING AND TOOK BELLARA.
I WAS CRYING MY EYES OUT!
Seriously, my favorite companion and one of my favorite Dragon Age characters and she does what has to be done and makes the ultimate sacrifice to save the world. I did not see that coming at all. It broke my heart, especially since she was in a relationship with Taash.
I felt like I failed her by getting her killed.

But it would also have killed me to have seen Davrin and Assan die. I can't stand the thought of poor baby griffin going down to try and save Davrin and then they both get taken by the blight.

Story wise...I'm probably going to sacrifice Davrin in all future games as much as it breaks my heart. It just makes more sense for Harding to survive because of her knowledge and connection to the Titans that she has to share with all Dwarves. Davrin, as a warden, was already willing to sacrifice himself to kill the archdemon and they griffins were in good care in Arlathan so his story wraps up nicely. he saves the griffins and later the world from an ancient evil.

This will never apply to me, but it does bother me that they completely ignored the Harding romance from Inquisition. Vivienne mentions their romance in Trespasser and it's just unfair to all those people that want Harding to be with their Inquisitor. It's a small detail and sure she's a full romance now, but it still should have been included as a choice.

I understand that they wanted to have a self-contained story that could also be a starting point for new players...but it causes so many issues and inconsistencies with past games. Completely ignoring the Hero Of Ferelden and Hawke is a major mistake...especially with how relevant the Hero Of Ferelden is to many of these events. Seriously...he stopped the fifth blight, stopped the Architect and his talking darkspawn army...but he has nothing to do or say during this time when another blight is taking over Thedas and there's a major siege at Weisshaupt? It doesn't make any sense.
Hawke is maybe less relevant, but he still has that connection to Varric, the Inquisition, Isabela, and went to Weisshaupt at some point.

It also annoys me that Morrigan avoids referencing her connection the HOF, the fifth blight and the fact that she helped stop it, and that she had an old god baby.

Isabela mentions how Kirkwall taught her about family...but that may not be true for everyone? She may have run out on her "friends" (Varric included) and never came back if you had that world state. It fits with mine, but not everyone's. Also, again annoying that they tried to be extremely vague about her time there and never reference her relationship/friendship with Hawke.

They also send many letters on what's gong on in the South...like that could have easily been where they mention past choices. They could have easily said "Empress Celene and the Inquisition forces in Orlais" if the Inquisition was not disbanded or "Queen Anora and King Alisatir are holding their defenses at Redcliffe", etc. instead of being so vague about it to try and appeal to all world states.

Overall I'd say this was a major improvement over Inquisition. I love that the maps are much smaller & focused. They feel so much more alive and significant to the story. I love that you return to them all pretty often throughout the story and discover additional pieces as the story progresses. I love that we get to interact with actual NPCs that give you real quests. This was something Inquisition struggled with. They tried too hard to be Skyrim that it hurt the game's story and characters so much. Half of those maps were completely pointless and could have been cut with no impact tot he overall game and story. They were just a big, empty, and boring waste of time and resources that could have gone to making the game better.

It was a lot of fun exploring Treviso and dealing with the Antivan Crows more directly. Dock Town felt (and looks) like what they wanted to do with Kirkwall in DA2 but couldn't at the time.

Evka and Antoine were easily my two favorite NPCs in the game. It was great getting to know them better throughout the game and helping them out whenever they needed it.

Teia, Viago, Strife, and Irelin were less interesting to me, but I also feel like it may have been because they were less developed than Antoine and Evka. I wish we had more proper cutscenes with them, especially since Strife and my Rook had that history...and Strife becomes Emmrich's boyfriend.

The final battle felt so satisfying seeing all these NPCs that we got to know throughout the game come together and fight.
I LOVED that Morrigan and Isabela got to be part of the fight again!

One issue I had was how the Dock Town/Shadow Dragons were lacking in development and quests by choosing Treviso. I loved Ashur and Tarquin but never got to see them much after the choice. I was disappointed Mae never showed up again until the final fight. Dorian felt like such a wasted cameo and I agree he does not deserve Archon. They should have let us choose Mae.