What's up everybody, this is The Act Man here. And do you smell that? Oh, oh, that's rancid. What is that foul, putrid stench? Did the loathsome Dung Eater just break into my house?

No, that smell is coming from my computer because I just got done playing three hours of Dragon Age: The Veil guard.

No, get on with it. Now, I have been waiting many years for BioWare to make a return to form. Sadly, the only thing Dragon Age is going to return to is the dirt.

Thanks, Tash. That's why we recruited her. Um, so I'm nonbinary, actually. Tash uses they/them for themselves. Now, it's been a decade since Inquisition won Game of the Year in 2014, but after a 10-year hiatus, you'd expect some pretty substantial improvements, some fun entertainment, dialogue that sounds like it was written by a real human being.

Broken chains. Solas is freeing slaves. Solas hates slavery. God, I just hate slavery so, so much. If I could go back in time and undo slavery, I would.

I hate it. Veilguard is the burnt steak of RPGs, as if all the tasty, juicy BioWare goodness has been cooked out of the company.

It's like they forgot their own recipe. Whatever semblance of Dragon Age that remained in Inquisition, it's all sucked out here. It has lost all darkness, grit, realism, and intensity it once had.

I'm not exaggerating when I say that between 2003 and 2011, BioWare was top of their class.

They were best-in-slot for the RPG genre. Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Dragon Age—the Big Three. It's funny that with the first Dragon Age, BioWare had actually taken inspiration from the Baldur's Gate series, and how ironic it is that BioWare would turn their back on this successful and proven style of RPG, and now it's Larian who have picked up the torch and are running with it.

That's the third RPG in this style that's won Game of the Year. It's almost like there might be something to this style of game.

Baldur's Gate 3 should have been a wake-up call, but ever since Dragon Age 2, BioWare has slowly but surely turned their back on everything people loved about their games, and they have embraced mediocrity with open arms.

Now again, that's just my opinion; if you're having fun with the game, don't let me or anyone else stop you.

Me, on the other hand, I cannot stand playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

To be honest, I knew I wasn't going to like Veilguard when I saw the gameplay showcase, but man, sometimes that music kicks in and I think, 'Well, maybe they'll come back.

' Dragon Age: Origins was so damn good, man, no cap.

Origins is BioWare's best game, there I said it. Yeah, fight me in the comments. The reason I tried out Veilguard is because I'm still chasing the dragon.

Hang on, I almost caught the dragon. You don't ever catch the dragon, dad. Literally the one on the front cover. So today I'm going to give you all a crash course on how to turn me off of your RPG and never play it again.

This instructional training video will teach you how to destroy a franchise.

Step one: promote your fantasy RPG like it's a hero shooter.

'You know, there will be dragons.' Cringe, right? Oh, the cringe. Oh wow, that's Lucanis, but he's the Mage.

Kellan, Varric, the Veil Jumper, how cool. I love these characters already, dude. Real talk: why was this reveal trailer shoving characters down my throat?

Heroes? What the hell? Who thought to brand a Dragon Age game like this? You want to see branding? Boom. Veilguard gave the wrong impression right when it was shown.

People didn't react too positively to it, and I don't blame them. Showing the names and titles of every companion on screen is a cheap, ineffective tactic to try and create a connection between the audience and the characters.

If you can't make them interesting through, you know, good writing, just throw their names on screen, kill any and all intrigue about what lies in store for the player and who they might be able to recruit on their team.

Complaining about the marketing might be a minor point, sure, but this is the first impression; it matters a lot. And instead of trying to sell me on this immense, incredible fantasy world that I can explore, I'm being sold characters I haven't even met yet.

For more information on how to maintain my interest, consult this trailer for Origins.

You see how they portray the cast through their actions, facial expressions, combat style, and dialogue, and also how they work together as a team.

Crazy, right? It's like my mind was able to gather information about their personalities. Hey, this goth looking woman with a staff, I think she might be a witch.

I can't tell, because my eyeballs don't work and neither does my brain.

This trailer is cool. It has a unique style, it's entertaining, and it's badass. The righteous stand before the darkness and the Maker shall guide their hand.

Clearly, Veilguard missed the mark in its marketing; it came across like Disney had just bought out BioWare. These trailers were heavily disliked, probably because they showed a version of Dragon Age that bears no resemblance to its bloody, violent past.

Like, they've taken all the edge out of Dragon Age.

It's gone soft. Like, dude, they even cut out this neck snap. Like, why are you trying to hide this in editing?

No neck snapping, guys. It's too controversial, okay? No, no, no, no, take the blood out, that's too too graphic, wouldn't want to offend anybody.

Meanwhile, now marketing isn't everything, but you can learn a lot about a creator's intentions—what impression they want to leave on you, how they want to sell you something and earn your hard-earned money.

For Origins, they were selling you a brutal, violent medieval world.

For Veilguard, they're selling you Dragon Age, but it's rated E for everyone. It certainly doesn't help that they changed the original title from Dreadwolf to The Veilguard, but the marketing did absolutely no favors for this game.

And the gameplay showcase confirmed my suspicions that this wouldn't be a return to form; it would be an even further jump away from it.

By trying to make something that's safe and appeals to everyone, you end up appealing to no one.

By making it inoffensive, you end up with the uninteresting.

When you shave off all the edges, everything is without form. Step number two on how to ruin a franchise: butcher the art style. Hey, uh, quick question: what is this, BioWare?

What the hell is this? This is a Darkspawn? Are you serious? Somehow you made them even more cartoony and stupid-looking than Dragon Age 2.

This is what I'm talking about. See how much of the identity and style of this series.

They've lost the Darkspawn. In Origins, they were a force-of-nature type villain, evil creatures birthed by terrible magic. Their blood is poison as they are poisoning the world, bringing a literal blight to the land.

But now, in Veilguard, what about Darkspawn? Yeah, what about Darkspawn?

This gives off Call of Duty: Vanguard vibes. We're fighting in World War II, I'm having a great time. What about you guys?

What about Nazis? I shoot Nazis, they die. What about Darkspawn? It's like the Darkspawn are an afterthought. They're just treated as a joke, while they look like one too.

Not to mention what they've done with the Qunari. To be fair, they don't look the same in any game, but like, come on, what is this?

There's a lot I hate about Dragon Age 2, but man, they nailed the look of the Qunari.

Now they look weak, soft, fragile. Oh, and they're emotionally susceptible and vulnerable. Where's my boy Sten? I need some tough manliness in here.

It seems like every race has been homogenized to be as palatable and safe for work as possible.

When you establish unique, recognizable races in your fantasy universe, it's probably best to keep their art style consistent so we're not left wondering why everything looks so weird.

Same thing with the demons, man. This is just pitiful. That's a Pride demon right there.

In Origins, these were gnarly creatures that resided in the mystical realm called the Fade. It was a dreamscape where these creatures sat and waited, and they were capable of all sorts of psychological torture and human possession.

There's like three different children in Origins that get possessed by a demon and you can kill all of them.

You can kill children in Origins by making the Darkspawn and the demons look so generic and silly and cartoonish.

It takes away from my ability to take them seriously as a threat, as if BioWare is intentionally trying to defuse any and all tension this game could have had.

And for a world that's on the brink of destruction, it sure seems like everyone's having an okay time.

I guess the one area I can give Veilguard props in is that the game does look phenomenal.

The locations are beautifully detailed and diverse, but we have the same problem as Concord: you can't dump your entire budget into graphical fidelity and assume I'm going to like looking at your game.

Style trumps graphics every single time; just look at Jet Set Radio Future. Origins may have had a bombastic action-packed trailer, but once you arrived at the main menu, it was much more somber and serious.

The point I'm trying to make is when I look at Veil- guard, I can't find any unique way to describe it; it is just purely generic.

Step number three: fail to reconnect with your audience. Now, keep in mind it's been 10 years since Inquisition.

Most people are going to be out of the loop on everything Dragon Age-related, so Veilguard has to carefully and methodically reel players and fans back into the fold, remind them what they love about these games, this series, and this universe, and what the world is all about.

Welcome to the world of Dragon Age! Are you ready to save the world? What? No, the game just started. Nice. Remember that guy Solas? Well, hey, he summoned a bunch of demons, you got to stop him right now.

Are you ready to save the world? It's been 5 minutes since you finished making your character.

Hold on, where am I? Can I explore this area? Do I have an origin story? How did I meet up with my companions?

What the hell happened to Varric? The pacing in Veilguard is atrocious. I could tell something was wrong right off the rip.

BioWare makes no attempt at world-building before shoving you straight into it. To me, this is RPG kryptonite, rushing the player into a setting and universe they know almost nothing about or are unfamiliar with, and then expecting that player to care about saving this world.

This is why TV shows have, like, episodic recaps, because people have short-term memory and they need to be reminded of what happened a week ago, let alone 10 damn years.

My immersion wasn't broken; it was never established. The game failed to connect with me because right from the start I had no end of questions. "Guardian, our story begins where all great stories begin, with the seedyest bar in town." It's the seediest bar in town, and yet it doesn't have a name, nor does the person who owns it.

Who are these people I'm fighting? Why, who's Neve Gallus?

What's she doing here? How did she get lost? How did our team even form? Did everybody link up to fight Solas?

If so, why are we all in separate places and not together as a team? What's up with this floating city? Why does it shine a light on some random lady?

Like, what, what am I supposed to feel? Did... what did she do? But I didn't do anything.

"We've got to help her." Help her with what? Where'd that lady go? What was going to happen to her? Nothing, I guess. But Veilguard also commits the cardinal RPG sin of spamming you with jargon-heavy fantasy names in places and not allowing these concepts of world-building to breathe.

If you give players too much info too quickly, it can be overwhelming, and it makes it hard for them to tell what's important or what names they should remember.

Nothing bothers me more than when I'm told to save the world within five minutes of starting a 50-hour game. "I stopped you from destroying the world." "I was not destroying the world." "Really?

Really great dialogue. You were destroying the world." "Nah, the hell you mean 'nah'? You stopped Solas from flooding the world with demons, Rook.

The Elven gods, Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain, have escaped from Fen'Harel's prison, and it seems like they want to destroy the world.

Like I said, end of the world. You can mull it over later." Yep, that's the plot.

That's like the plot. That's what I hate about RPGs right there. I feel like the inciting incident, what starts the journey of an RPG, is the most pivotal moment in the early game because that's when people will either be hooked or they'll turn the game off and never boot it up again.

Fable starts with you as a child doing chores around town so you can buy a birthday gift for your sister.

Then it gets attacked by bandits who murder your parents, your sister gets her eyes cut out and kidnapped, and then you're kidnapped by a man who ends up betraying you, and it's nice, simple, wholesome fun, and I'm hooked.

This is why I prefer when RPGs start small and slow.

In Origins, the Darkspawn are the main threat, sure, but your first goal is to complete your origin story, then become a Grey Warden, then you fight in a huge battle, realize how grave a threat the Darkspawn truly are, and set about rallying allies and support with the ultimate goal of killing the arch- demon and saving Ferelden, stopping the Blight.

By having it be save Ferelden and not save the world, it's much more personal, and it makes the world of Dragon Age feel much bigger.

It's a slow burn, and that's the best way to cook a nice juicy steak by raising the stakes over time.

Why did they ditch the origin stories? No other game really does that. Each one gave you a slice of life; they established relationships between races, the different factions, which ones don't get along—Templars and mages, oh boy.

In Veilguard, they completely skip this crucial step and just jump straight to the inciting incident.

It'd be like if this was the start of Origins if they just skipped right to the Battle of Ostagar; it'd be jarring and confusing.

You'd be like, "Who the fuck am I? Where am I? What am I doing? Who are all these people?" Instead of these origin stories showing how your character becomes who they are, how you just click a button in the main menu: "Yep, this is who I am.

I've seen your work, like that time you ditched your orders for a better strategy during a Darkspawn attack. Like that time you stopped the Darkspawn.

Remember that? Remember that? Remember all that Grey Warden stuff you did?" Sure, my character's history is assumed and told to me; I don't get to play through it or live it myself.

It feels cheap and lazy. Origins also did this crazy thing where you could like have control of your character and explore an area right from the start.

You could engage in dialogue at your own pace, talk to different NPCs, maybe try to solve some riddles a talking demon bear is giving you.

In Veilguard, at the start, you're railroaded down a single path, balancing on beams and watching things happen around you before engaging in incredibly shallow combat.

How To Destroy A Franchise - Dragon Age Veilguard

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