Dragon Age Veilguard... Full Disclosure.

 Okay. Here we go. 

There is a lot to go over with this game and I know I'm going to have to break it into a few posts or it'd be a freaking novel. But, I figured, I'd start off with this.

I have been playing Dragon Age for much... much longer than Inquisition. I'm not going to gate keep on being a fan or anything like that but I do know more than just what was in DA3. 

It all started when a friend of mine got me Origins back on the 360. And I love that game (though, fuck the fade, seriously takes forever omg). And Awakening and Witch Hunt, all the DLC content, is absolutely awesome. The fodder it gives for creation is just jaw dropping. So much fan art and fan fiction has been born out of that single game alone that it is staggering. And then Dragon Age 2? I personally love it. And I don't mean omg I love it, no... I love that game. Yes, the areas are repeats and yes, I know they pumped the game out to capitalize on Origins success but the characters? Um, hello - they are... I mean there just aren't any words, really. I have countless Hawkes, countless stories, and so much just... I mean, I can't even. And Varric. He's the kind of character you just want to stuff in your pocket and carry around with you forever. He's the bestfriend. Always will be. And I have very strong opinions about Anders but I will not go into them here. Moving on!

I got Inquisition when I got my xBox One - part of that whole package deal. I was up and going on day freaking one and I do so love that game and the DLCs. Yeah, people heed and hawed about it but whatever, I loved it. Still do. I still love all of the Dragon Age games. I've read the comics/graphic novels, I own about four of David Gaider's books and have read them. I own Dawn of the Seeker, have seen all of Felicia Day's stuff for the franchise. I mean, big fan here, that's what I'm getting at. 

So... that being said... imagine my excitement about the Dread Wolf Rises... eer... I mean Veilguard. Which, let me take a moment right here and say that is the stupidest fucking name ever. I'm sorry but it's clunky. It doesn't roll off the tongue in any way. It's awkward. Anyway! But I was super excited, like a lot of people and then we see the teases and the meager scraps of information which I was completely understanding about because fuck a lot of the "fans" and the super shitty way they acted about Andromeda (which I happened to like so :P on y'all). But then the game comes out and yes I preordered it because I was going to buy it anyway because I don't trust reviewers, not after Andromeda or Cyberpunk because internet people are assholes. But, I mean, I get it and I'm right there, waiting. Now, I wasn't able to play it day one, I had to work (responsibilities) but I did get to play it the following weekend. 

Now... I'm going to say straight off the bat... I'm not a huge Solas fan in that I wasn't one of those Solavellan people. I was one of those people going "yes crack the egg!" thinking that he was going to be the antagonist that we get to fight, knowing full well that we were playing a new antagonist because that's Bioware's prerogative with Dragon Age games. But then, we find out that he's not and it's like meh, okay, I mean he is kinda a woos so... gotta give us a bigger baddie to fight. Okay, okay. But... like... here's the thing...

I mean, I do like the game. In that... it's fun. But... eer... and I mean Frostbite is lookin' pretty good... they've done an amazing job. But... um... okay, so... 

It's like someone wrote fan fiction about Dragon Age and turned that into a game. They took out all the parts they didn't like and parts that didn't fit their story... and then added in a bunch of fluff... but they wanted to be able to slap a G rating on it... and then put that out there as the game itself. Oh, and they absolutely were a Solavellan fan. 

Because the game ignores so much lore. I'm not talking about the lack of offensive/problematic stuff though there is that too... I'm talking about stuff that is just... canon in the Dragon Age universe. It just simply ignores it, blatantly... with bullshit little excuses that are all tee-hee it's just not like that and the people who have paid any attention at all, even if they only played Inquisition are going "uh, but it very much is like that". 

So yeah... it's a fan faction about Dragon Age. It is not a Dragon Age game. It's like a spin off. An alternate universe. 

And I get that it was like three different false start projects all mashed together or whatever but that doesn't help nor explain away that whole 'we're going to just ignore canon' thing. 

I have played through the game like five times (I've got a problem, I know) and there are still parts that make my left eye twitch. But it can be a fun game, as long as you don't consider it to be the next game in the franchise. Don't take this shit seriously because it's not - not when it comes to Dragon Age. I'll make another post about why because again, this could easily turn into a novel. 

But I wanted to put like a disclosure. I'm not an expert but I'm so far from a novice. I can (sadly) spout lore from off the top of my head about Dragon Age, a lot of it. Kind of that, I know what I'm talking about thing. I am by no means gate keeping or anything but if there's a new fan going "oh, you know, you can totally just walk away from the Wardens" there is going to be me and a whole lot of other people going "Actually, you really can't." That kind of thing. So yeah... yeah... and it's such a shame too. It really is.

HC vs Canon

So, with the D4 announcement that we got – I have been seeing a lot of Solas unrest. It’s with that in mind that I figured that I would make a post about the egg and what I generally think about him and the discord surrounding him. obviously these are my opinions and while there are some things supported by canon material – a lot of it is conjecture. Now, with that out of the way…

First, Solas is a villain. Yes, I know all the bruhaha about people wanting him to have a redemption arc and all of that and while he might in DA4, it’s highly unlikely. See – there are a couple of problems that go on simultaneously when it comes to ol’ egghead. One, he was the first romance option in Bioware that straight up betrays the player and leaves. His betrayal is different, it’s not an immediate result betrayal – it’s got long range consequences. His betrayal is his lie and his infiltration of the Inquisition and of the player’s inner circle. Isabella betrays Hawke but, if played correctly, she has a redemption arc. Solas, doesn’t. And they made an entire DLC to prove that Solas isn’t going to have one. That he is the villain and while he may try to spin it like he doesn’t want to do this – the player isn’t going to stop him. Even a romanced player. And in my opinion, that’s even worse. They’ve already come out and said it, the final discussion with Solas is the final boss battle. Because it says to the player, in no uncertain terms, that Solas is the bad guy here and that he will go through with his plan, no matter what the player says or does, he won’t change his mind. He looks forward to you trying… but he won’t change his mind. Solas is an ends justify the means character and while befriending or romancing him does show him that the elves of Thedas are real people, he still considers everyone else acceptable casualties.

And those are the things that people seem to skip right over when they start defending Solas. Let’s make one thing clear here – you can like Solas as a character, you can appreciate that he’s well written and you can like the romance that he has with Lavellan, but still understand that he is the villain in this part of the story. When he’s with the player in the beginning of the game, in the part that we don’t see, he’s not a nurse maid. He’s trying to figure out how to get the anchor off the Inquisitor’s hand without destroying the anchor. He doesn’t give two shits if the Inquisitor dies, as long as the anchor survives. Then, the only reason he’s with the Inquisition after that is because he wasn’t able to get it off. So, he tries to influence the Inquisition, basically babysit his anchor. Let’s not forget that the whole temple explosion and rift is his fault in the first place – if he’d had the power to do it when he woke up, he would have and yeah, it would have been just as bad. Even if you want to chalk it up by saying well, he didn’t know anyone yet – he just woke up in a strange world etc. Okay… but – he doesn’t change the way he thinks about it. It’s not like he “sees the error of his ways” or anything, no matter what the Inquisitor says or does. Once the foci is broken, he bounces – he has no use for the Inquisition anymore and subsequently the Inquisitor anymore. He has other stuff he’s got to do – including sucking the life out of other old gods to get powered up. He can feel like he’s in between a rock and a hard place all he wants but he’s the one who put himself there. Especially since, if the Inquisitor doesn’t “change everything”, then “the people” aren’t even on his list of people to take care of. Plus, let’s not forget his big plan. Which, we aren’t entirely sure of only that he’s got a huge spy network that he’s been building up for however long he’s been with the Inquisition, using his place in the Inquisition to do so since apparently he just woke up before the temple explosion – and then his plan to tear down the veil which will throw Thedas into chaos, which he’ll have to deal with as will everyone else and maybe the world will… eventually chill out… one day… in the distant future?

To put it extremely simply, Solas is responsible for everyone who died at the Temple of Sacred Ashes, who died due to any rift demons all across Thedas, and he’s okay with that. He barely sees humans, dwarves, and qunari as people, and if not befriended/romanced, he barely sees elves as people. He’s got no problem sacrificing however many are going to die once the veil goes. And all because… he wants to bring back a way of life that he’s responsible for ending in the first place. That’s Solas in a nutshell. And while we can say all day long that he made mistakes and he’s just trying to fix it, that he’s redeemable, that he can be saved… I think there’s an important thing that’s being missed.

It’s been a long time since Inquisition dropped. Six years. Six whole years. That’s six years of head canons running wild and a lot of them have been about Solas. Six years of people writing stories, coming up with hypothesis, and conjectures. And that matters… because a lot of what people are expecting out of DA4 with Solas seems to me, to be leaning heavily on a lot of head canon and not canon-canon. Canon = Solas is a villain with no redemption arc. Head Canon = Solas’ love for Lavellan will make him see the error of his ways because she changed everything. See the difference? The first one is what happened, the second one is what people want to happen and while the second one does seem great – it’s probably not going to happen. Even if you want to weave a lot into his character – which is complex – it probably won’t matter in the game. He’s still going to do what he planned to do and it’s going to be our job to try and stop him. Because, he’s the antagonist. He’s the quintessential villain who doesn’t think he’s a villain, who thinks his cause is worthy, and honestly – he’s got a little martyrdom going on in his head. His “feelings” don’t matter – only the cause. What he “wants” doesn’t matter – only the cause. These are things that are canon and in game. We’ve seen it. But – again – head canon gets in the way, it clouds the issues because six years.

Now, me personally? I don’t mind Solas – I’m not a huge Solas fan but I admit it openly, my first play through, my Lavellan romanced the fuck outta Solas and consequently got her heart broke. It was a jarring moment and it was so well written, it was amazing. I mean, award winning shock because what!? But yeah, it was great. But – I’m more of a Blackwall fan. Cullen’s okay… he’s about equal with Solas for me.

Now – head canon Solas? He’s fucking awesome and yes! Of course he is – everyone’s HC characters are much better than canon, because they’re better for us because we made edited them to our preferences. Which is why you’ll see Solas drawn without a sunken in stomach and a bit beefier – because in game he’s… sickly skinny. Even I do it because yeah – put some weight on that dude, no reason for his stomach to be thinner than his waist. But, I digress.

The point of the matter is – we’ve got six years of head canons to shelf when DA4 drops, and I hope that these preconceived notions that are so heavily influenced by head canons don’t get in the way and cause a lot of negative reactions to the game when it does come out.

What Will They Call You…

So, I (along with damn near everyone else in the DA fandom) have been thinking a lot about that one line - because of course, we only got like three lines out of the teaser.

They call me the dread wolf. What will they call you, when this is over?

I know there are variances with voice actors and they do multiple takes so we may not even get that particular one in the game or even that line at all.

But, it’s said with a certain amount of... familiarity? If that makes sense. The way he stresses the “me” part, almost incredulously - we know it’s a moniker he doesn’t necessarily like, but one he begrudgingly accepts.

We also know that if it does make it into the game, it could be dialogue in response to choices made during conversation - so some may not get it and others might. Or it might be said differently, who knows.

There is one thing though - that the devs and writers have been pretty clear about, at least in the past when Trespasser dropped. Any relationship with Solas is considered concluded, complete. So, there probably won’t be any of that, even if he romanced the Inquisitor though it’s going to be very interesting to see what dialogue is given from a romanced Solas. And, it would be super sweet, I mean talk about a treat from devs and writers if we could don the mantel of Inquisitor once more and play our Inquisitor for just a moment for a romanced Solas - kind of a meet in shadows kind of thing, even if it’s only for a conversation. That’d be sweet. But - highly unlikely. However, who knows.

And yes, romance is a big part of the discussion because of one simple thing...

We know the game’s going to be good. Game play / fighting / tactics / all of that has never been a problem with Dragon Age (or even Mass Effect, I can’t speak for the other Bioware games outside Baldur’s Gate because I didn’t play the others). But the romance options? That’s something that has always set Dragon Age apart - set Mass Effect apart - the relationships that our characters form with those around them. And I cannot wait.

Dragon Age 4 + A Note About the Art on the Blog

So, I was originally going to post about this on Friday, this past week, but the trailer dropped right before we left for our August camping trip and I honestly didn’t have time. Which is what brings us here now. First, let me say that I am a 100% Loyal, Die-Hard Bioware fan. I tend to ignore EA’s involvement as far as micro-transactions go. Simply put – it doesn’t effect the EA games I play, namely Bioware. Now – I will also freely admit that I haven’t played Anthem yet. Not because I think it isn’t a good game. However, I do think it was a money grab and honestly, I already play a game that is like Anthem or rather, that Anthem’s like and it’s called Destiny. But anyway – let’s see if I can sum up my fan-girl-freak-out about Bioware.

I’ve been in it since Baldur’s Gate. I have many… many, many, many Wardens, Hawkes, Inquisitors. I have just as many Sheppards and just as many Ryders. I’ve easily got hundreds and hundreds of hours put into the Dragon Age series and probably just as many into Mass Effect. I have every Dragon Age book put out by Gaider and I have read, online, all of the manga/comics. And while I, of course, have many fan-theories that I prefer as opposed to canon and I, of course, don’t agree with every character decision that has been made, I still 100% support Bioware. I have zero problems waiting years for games and I want them to take their time. People can baulk all they want but when it comes to RPG games? Bioware’s writing blows all others out of the water. They create real inspiration in their players and give so many opportunities for creative relationships. And, you don’t have to jump on every single fan band wagon – and while I understand that there’s fan discord, there’s the issues of white washing – which has been data mined and proven, there’s the issue of POC characters being received differently by certain fans. I don’t think the writers, the ones who really make the series what it is, did any of those things. They weren’t the ones in control of those things. They couldn’t control how Vivienne would be received and they damn sure weren’t responsible for the coding of the game. But, I won’t get into that.

First, I must commend the artists that have done the concept art because it is awesome. And yes, it’s just concept art, so it’s not what we’re going to get but come on! That is some seriously awesome stuff. And I must, absolutely must, thank Bioware from the bottom of my heart for giving us the glimpses of in-progress game footage. You can see how rough it is in certain areas and they damn sure didn’t have to give us this sneak peak that is easily at least a year or more ahead of when we can even dream of getting the game (I’m being severely generous to us fans here). So, here are a few of my thoughts…. but be forewarned, I’m not a Solasmancer. I think he’s a villain, I don’t like the way he treats Lavellan, especially a romanced Lavellan and honestly? I don’t see the draw. Yes, I love his cadence and the way he speaks, his voice actor is amazing but him as a character? Even as complex as he is? Nope. Not a huge fan, but I can respect how well written he is. He’s an amazing character but I’m not team-Solas. So, with that in mind….

• Davin. WARDENS. –Deep breath.- I am a huge warden fan and I think they, by far, have the most interesting lore. Yes, elves are amazing and yada yada yada but come on! I already know I’m going to like his character, already. Super excited about him.
• Bellaria – Her lines sound like she’s going to be a shaper or at the very least, a dwarf. Because it sounds like she’s talking about a titan with the whole good kind of rumble thing.
• Also, TITANS. Yeaaaaasssss!!! Finally, we get to see these guys because yes. Yes. Though, the one I saw, or at least what I think it was does seem a bit comical so far but maybe that’s the look they’re going for since this one wasn’t corrupted yet? Or maybe I’m totally off here, who knows.
• Solas – that line. YAAAAASSS. Like I said, I’m not a “zomg let’s love Solas back to the good side!” But, I can appreciate his character and I do see him as a worthy adversary if that makes sense and that line? YAAAAAAS Man! Bring. It. On!
• The worlds! It looks like we’re totally going to Tevinter, which we already knew but also it looks like we’re finally going to be going back to more Dwarven places and that is just so cool.
• WARDENS! Again – I cannot stress this enough. I am hoping we get to learn more about them in game – for those who haven’t read the books.
• “What it’s like to play a character who doesn’t have any power.” HOLY HELL! Did anyone else hear current events being echoed there because I sure as shit did. Aside from that and without getting political, this is going to be so cool. I wonder how many starts we’re going to get? Human, dwarf, elf, qunari, and what else is there? Maybe different kinds of humans? Like Origins! OH YES, that would be great. That was something that was sorely missing and I really hope that they can tie up some loose ends that Trespasser still didn’t address like WHAT HAPPENED TO WHOEVER WAS LEFT IN THE FADE! Because it was never explicitly said that they died. And PLEASE come on, let us see our warden again! It’d be awesome to be like “here’s our warden, here’s our hawke (if still alive) and here’s our inquisitor” for the final battle or something, that would be so cool. Also – it’d be awesome if like your character secretly does have power but doesn’t know it or something along those lines.

The possibilities are obviously endless this early in the information-gathering phase of a game’s trailer dropping but this is so excited. I cannot wait, it’s going to be so much fun.

Note About The Art:

So, I've been going back and adding some of my art to each post, honestly - just to break up the text a bit. Sometimes it's relevant to the post, sometimes it's not. I try to make it so but meh. Anyway, there you go. All the art featured here is mine unless otherwise stated, I'll be adding links to my Redbubble and Deviant Art above here shortly.