The Positive

The best thing to come out of DATV is the new cast of characters that make up your companions and supporting associates. While I do think that some of them could have benefitted from more development time to flesh things out further, just judging what we ended up with, is mostly great. I especially found Emmrich and Bellara to be stand-out examples of strong personalities to grasp onto, whose personal stories really touched me in an emotional way.

DATV also has fun with some returning characters. For example, now that Solas is no longer hiding his identity, we get to see a character that both believably honours his part in Inquisition, while also providing a new, refreshing side to him. There are also a number of characters introduced in Dragon Age: Tevinter Nights that appear in the game, like my personal favourites Teia and Viago, who are an absolute delight to interact with!

I think the three act structure is good, albeit with act three being quite short. There are a few sequences that are an absolutely phenomenal mixture of storytelling and engaging gameplay, like all of Weisshaupt! I also really enjoyed stepping out of the main story every once and a while, and into Solas’s backstory through the Crossroads memories – what ended up being extra special about these is how they mirror Rook’s struggle so well, by the end. They are a nice touch.

The locations are beautifully constructed with smooth interactions of climbing, zip-lining, and essentially parkouring your way around, making them fun to explore! They also came with such distinct flavours and character in themselves that influenced a sense of truly experiencing different parts of Thedas, with different cultures.

The mechanic of building up strength with the different factions, and that actually having a huge impact with the ultimate showdown in the end of the game, makes side quests feel far less inconsequential than in Dragon Age: Inquisition by comparison. That, and they number far less.

I like that the story mode actually feels like a story mode; there were only a couple instances where I really had to worry about death, and even then, I was able to just toggle off the death with the customizable gameplay mechanics and continue on.

Finally, it would be remiss not to say that the character creator for DATV is the best BioWare has ever put out. I’d go as far as saying it’s one of the best in any RPG I’ve ever personally experienced. From the flexibility in morphing a character’s head and body between custom shapes, to the little details like sclera colour, vitiligo, and top surgery scars, makes it a shining example of what RPG’s should strive for. (My only critique here is that it would have been nice to have more skin colours.)

The Neutral

I hated the combat for pretty much the entire first act of the game. I found it too hard to keep up with, and too much like Mass Effect bullshit. I can’t say that it’s completely grown on me yet, but I don’t hate it anymore. It’s fine. So, I’m giving this a special little spot before I get into what I didn’t like all the way to the end.

The Negative

As mentioned above, I do think that there is more that could be done with some of the characters to really achieve their full potential. Davrin and Lucanis—while to be clear I still really enjoy as they are—come to mind first, in terms of those who would have benefited from more development time. Most of Davrin’s screen time just revolves around Assan rather than Davrin himself, and Lucanis is so restrained that it takes a while to really crack him open. Both of these characters have intentional personalities that make them harder to get to know, I understand that, but I feel that it would have been all the more rewarding to have more time dedicated to their company after earning their trust and possibly endearment. Instead, it feels like their romance and friendship with Rook are only half-complete, and then rushed to finish.

There are some companion interactions that are just… cringe. There is no other word for it. Now, this is nothing new for BioWare games, but I feel like the “pulling a Bharv” scene for example, was hitting an entirely new low. (If someone misgendered me and then just started doing push-ups instead of just saying “hey sorry about that, I’ll try to do better” I’d be annoyed, not satisfied.) I also felt like most of the temporary rivalries between companions were artificial in nature, rather than organically part of their characters that actually served a purpose. We already knew Emmrich likes books and Harding likes nature; we did not need a whole cutscene with them bickering about camping. (The exception to this is Davrin and Lucanis, who genuinely had room to grow as people out of their multiple confrontations, not just a one-off scene.)

The music in DATV is, for the most part, forgettable and bland. There is one piece that really stands out, and that’s “Where the Dead Must Go”, which is a real banger. I am not a fan of Hans Zimmer’s OST otherwise; I think it is phoned in, just like most of his work. I deeply wish BioWare would have just stuck with Trevor Morris. The best parts musically in this game are just Morris’s work re-used from Dragon Age: Inquisition.

There are certain parts of disjointedness that separates DATV from the past games that are just… bizarre. This is especially the case when it comes to elven lore. For example, Bellara saying she is afraid that elves will be harshly judged for the Evanrus, or Harding saying that elves are “thriving”… as if modern elves are not deeply persecuted across most of Thedas. It made me question more than once if there just was not time in development to do a proper canon-compliancy check with everything, perhaps?

I want finish this part by bringing up again that the biggest flaw in DATV is that it feels very corporate. To repeat what I said in this post: It is as if a computer ran through the game’s script and got rid of anything with “too much” political substance, in an overcorrection to be “safe”. But now that the edges have been so smoothed down to make a block into a ball, it can no longer support anything.

Conclusion

First off, I really enjoy this game. I'm on my fourth or fifth playthrough. I can't remember.

So with that said, let me start of with the part where I gush.

This game is gorgeous. Visually and audibly, this game is just beautiful.

I love that there's a photo mode option. You can take pictures of the environment or your party. You can take screenshots during cutscenes without interrupting anything. They did a great job including that.

I like that you can set a default armour and weapon appearance and it persists even through equipment changes. And that you can do the same with your companions.

Speaking of the companions, I love almost every single one of them. For the most part, they're interesting characters who feel mostly fleshed out and their reactions to most things feels very authentic or like something an actual person in the setting would do/say.

The boss battles and world bosses all feel challenging and like actual bosses. I didn't feel like I did at the end of Mass Effect 2, where the suicide mission was the greatest challenge and the human/reaper hybrid was a cake walk. The battles in this game, to include the final one, felt like proper boss battles and it felt like I was genuinely fighting an uphill battle to save the world.

I love the return of past characters, even if some of them are more fleeting than others. Just seeing those characters really made my day.

The easter eggs they leave you throughout the game, referring back to the previous games and their various DLCs was also a nice touch and definitely hit me in the feels a few times.

The combat is fun and engaging. I feel powerful without feeling overly OP. It struck a decent balance.

And I absolutely LOVE that I don't really have to worry about keeping my companions gear updated unless I'm looking for a specific passive talent or going for a specific group makeup.

AND NO INVENTORY MANAGEMENT. You just sell everything and whatever armor or weapons or accessories you've picked up, just slot into a bag of infinite holding that you can access at any time.

They did a great job in the Quality of life department.

This game DID feel like the old Bioware again to a degree. Maybe a little TOO far back in some cases, but overall, it had that spark that I was hoping for.

I honestly give this game a good 7.8 out of 10.

And I'm getting into why now.

Some of the companions. Some of them are so.... UGH. Idk how to explain it other than a real failing on the writing.

To be clear: I understand that the writers did what they wanted and felt was best and that is their choice. We're not always going to like something that's put out. It happens and that is okay. That's how art (which writing and video game development absolutely is) goes.

But I feel like the writing team dropped the ball on well.... a LOT.

I dislike this game's iteration of Lace Harding. She just feels like a very infantilized version of the character we got to start knowing in Inquisition and a lot of the actions/choices/dialogue the writers gave her don't really fall in line with what I feel an expert scout would do. And that's just me personally. I know the character is more than just a scout, but that's a huge part of her and the naiveté and woobifying kind of... ruins that.

Another case of this is Taash. I want to love this character. I see a lot of myself in them. From the way they talk, the way they process things, their hyper fixation on dragons, the list goes on. I even have a toxic mother!

I love the way that Taash processes and discovers who they truly are. And the message in general. But... and here's where the biggest issue comes in, it feels PREACHY.

In fact, a lot of topics in this game that relate to matters like gender, sexuality, religion, and human rights(or rather people's rights in this game), feel INCREDIBLY preachy. Which of course, the anti-"woke" crowd latched onto and gobbled up like the bridge trolls they are.

But to sum it up as best I can, it feels a lot like white saviorism and lectures by people who have had a life of privilege and think they're the best equipped to explain and teach you about these issues.

(Disclaimer: I know the team was not solely white, straight, conservative, etc. I am just explaining the vibe that it gave off.)

It's a huge turn off and it makes it difficult for me to want to engage in the story lines in which that's the focus.

I also very much dislike the handling of Taash's relationship with their mother. It's a very... controlling and to be blunt, toxic relationship. But the writers in their efforts to preach to us about non-conformity, don't address it at all. In fact, what it FEELS like they ended up doing was saying that no matter how awful you are in life, the slate is wiped clean if you die.

Then, in addition to the character storylines that I struggle with, there are some times in the game where I get frustrated with the dialogue because they treat Rook like an idiot who knows nothing. The other mages treat Rook like they're barely knowledgeable if you choose to make your Rook a mage, and you don't have any real choices to participate in the more academic conversations. The options you do have just reinforce the concept that your Rook is lacking in knowledge altogether.

(With the exception of Mourn Watch Mage Rook, but that's pretty limited still.)

There's not much change in core dialogue (if there's any at all in some cases) based on your class or your background. Yes, when you meet your faction's representatives, they know you and you know them... but your Rook doesn't even acknowledge that until they're face to face a lot of the time. Even when they're brought up in conversations before meeting. It's frustrating.

Honestly, I think that's the crux of my issue with the game. Is that in some areas, the writing team just... seems to have taken a swing and missed.

The plot is still great. The villains, the story "twists", the characters (for the most part) and everything is fantastic. It's just that there are glaring issues that offset it at points.

And again, this is by no means an attempt to bash the writers. I understand they had to work within a time limit, that it's a miracle this game was even made, let alone released, and that they are allowed to take creative liberties. They can't go back and make changes now, so bitching at them isn't going to do anything.

I just hope that by voicing my opinion in as neutral a manner as I can, it gives them or someone else, feedback for the next game they work on. After all, despite writing and videogames being a form of art, they're also still products. To make a product better, it's good to at least hear what people feel didn't work as great as they might have hoped.

Anyways, that's my ted talk. Thanks for skimming.