my perhaps-slightly-hot take about veilguard:
it's a good game. like, objectively, it's a clean, polished game that performs well, that does not rely on dlc to finish telling its story, and that features a highly diverse group as well as the ability to be meaningfully trans. the plot being good is, of course, more subjective (i think it is), but in terms of mechanics and representation, it is objectively good, sorry not sorry
i'm not going to theorize about original vs. final narrative directions, however: wanting the veil to be destroyed does not make anyone a bad person! honestly, until playing, it was 100% the direction i thought it was going to go. and the tendency for some ppl to only believe solas when quoting the worst possible outcome of destroying the veil is... interesting! reminds me a lot of how anders' kill-count keeps growing and growing...
however, the veil remaining is also a powerful, moving, and timely narrative, one that emphasizes living with things rather than taking actions that are so radical as to be deeply, potentially destructive. this isn't "watered down" or "centrist" or whatever else, it's a valid stance to take during a rl political moment marked by increasing fascism
nor is the narrative in any way deriding activism and rebellion. in fact, solas' rebellion against the evanuris is treated as a good thing by the main cast, the thing that they can support him on. multiple people say unprompted that he was right to do what he did then
and rook and the veilguard are themselves something of a rebellion. they are fighting against gods; two, elgar'nan and ghilan'nain, and depending on definition(s), three, including solas. (and depending on choices, four, including mythal)
but along with being gods, elgar'nan and ghilan'nain, the remaining evanuris who still seem to hold to that title, are also tyrants who are trying to recreate some version of arlathan
people who wanted veilfall/are disappointed by the veil remaining intact aren't bad and aren't wrong for wanting that
people, like me, who are happy with the direction veilguard took (if, in my case, surprised by it) are also not bad or wrong for liking it
this game is in part a response to the current cultural moment the west is going through right now, and is created by a lead writer who definitely uses they/them pronouns and who i assume is nonbinary, and, as i understand it, has other queer members on staff. thus, there is a good, real-world reason that it took the direction it did, and given the amount it resonates with rl stuff and the creative crew behind it, i have to assume that's intentional
