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    Veilguard may have saved Bioware, but it shouldn’t dictate its future

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    By on THENEXUS
    Veilguard may have saved Bioware, but it shouldn’t dictate its future

    The folks at BioWare are probably breathing a collective sigh of relief now that Dragon Age: The Veil Guard became his first critical success since 2014. Reviews are glowing, presenting it as a refreshing adventure, and fans praise it as well. It’s going very well for BioWare and The Veil Guardwhich is always a great sign. We hope this means that the long-awaited Mass Effect 5 will finally come to fruition after fans have waited a long time for it.

    Of course, after Hymn became one of the worst-rated games, BioWare absolutely needed the win. However, while Dragon Age: The Veil Guard offers fans a fun and engaging story, but it comes at a cost. From now on, BioWare needs to be aware that it shouldn’t abandon its original identity too much to create safe betsbecause that’s exactly what happened to The Veil Guard.

    Dragon Age: The Veilguard saved BioWare

    It’s a return to form for the developer

    Dragon Age: The Veil Guard proved to be a critical success for BioWare, something it desperately needed since the disastrous launch of Hymn. Fans and critics hailed it as a return to form for the developer after it suffered low review scores for its last two major releases. To many, it seemed like BioWare had lost its lusterespecially with people like Baldur’s Gate 3 and games from developer Spiders – including The Technomancer and Greed – offering BioWare-style experiences that far surpass their current efforts.

    There is a lot that BioWare has sacrificed in the production of The Veil Guard which should be restored in its next title.

    It was no small feat for Dragon Age: The Veil Guard to restore BioWare’s reputation as significantly as she did. His last game with a score above 70 on Metacritic was Dragon Age: Inquisitionreleased in 2014. This means that, at least since the notorious launch of Mass Effect: Andromeda in 2017, BioWare has struggled to release something that has generally been warmly received by its fanbase. This naturally caused many fans to worry that EA would unceremoniously shut down BioWare, something that was initially shut down by the developers.

    However, not only is EA notorious for firing major developers, but the gaming industry is currently rife with critically acclaimed studios being shut down simply for not generating enough revenue. Arkane Austin, the people behind Red Fall and Prey were terminated by Microsoft, as were the developers of High Fidelity RacingTango Gameworks – although they were happily purchased by Krafton. It wouldn’t have been particularly surprising to see EA shut down BioWareespecially if Dragon Age: The Veil Guard it proved to be a critical and commercial failure.

    Fortunately, it appears that BioWare is safe and can continue developing games. In fact, it is already over Dragon Age: The Veil Guardwhich is great news for fans looking for future BioWare titles. However, while Dragon Age: The Veil Guard served as something of a life raft for the developer, it shouldn’t influence their future games. There is a lot that BioWare has sacrificed in the production of The Veil Guard which should be restored in its next title.

    Dragon Age: The Veilguard shouldn’t be the model for future BioWare games

    Much is missing from previous entries


    A male Rook from Dragon Age The Veilguard alongside Commander Shephard from Mass Effect.
    Custom image by: Tom Wilson

    It’s hard to argue that Dragon Age: The Veil Guard it’s a bad game, especially since reviews consider it a masterpiece. However, while it offers a fun and exciting new adventure, there are many things that are different from previous games in the series. Most importantly, The Veil Guard ditches the darker tone BioWare is known for in favor of a more light-hearted tone. For many, this is best reflected in the game’s visuals, although frankly, The Veilguard the styling is actually a highlight. On the contrary, changing tone often has a negative impact on dialogue choices and overall decisions.

    For example, Rook’s dialogue choices are rarely overly aggressivewhich makes it quite difficult to play a villainous or morally ambiguous character. The many wonderful companions in The Veil Guard They are also often treated like children by Rook, with the protagonist speaking badly of them whenever he resolves their fights. These companions also never have any major disagreements throughout the game, and if the player tries to date everyone, it will have no effect on the other characters when they finally settle down with their special someone.

    Essentially, there’s no bite to Dragon Age: The Veil Guard. This isn’t an inherent problem, even despite the fact that the series has traditionally had a much darker and grittier tone. The more light-hearted approach and attempts to imitate popular media such as Guardians of the Galaxy it makes sense as it’s safer and appeals to a wider audience than a darker experience. After all, it’s easier to join a group of extremely likable characters than a group of morally ambiguous or downright unpleasant characters.

    That doesn’t mean that Dragon Age: The Veil Guard it is poorly written. The writing is spectacular for the tone the game is going for. The characters are memorable and there’s some strong banter between Rook and his companions, something that The Veil Guard do better than others FROM THE games. However, It’s sad to see BioWare sacrifice a lot of the violence, gore, and even sex it’s known for. While this change in tone helped get their foot back in the door, one shouldn’t forget what made their games so great in the first place.

    BioWare should use Veilguard’s success to return to its roots

    It should be seen as a launching pad for better games


    Commander Shepherd and Mass Effect protagonist Andromeda with the N7 logo on the left.
    Custom image by: Katarina Cimbaljevic

    Now this Dragon Age: The Veil Guard proved to be a success for BioWare, it should return to its roots and start making games like it used to. That’s not to say that BioWare should abandon the Dinsey tone forever, as there is absolutely a place for high fantasy adventures that don’t devolve into the overly dark atmospheres that most modern fantasy games typically love. However, is next Mass Effect and even Dragon Age the game should restore many of the features that were cut The Veil Guard.

    Namely, BioWare must offer players more meaningful and challenging choicesplace a greater emphasis on your teammates’ disapproval and approval rating, allow players to be meaner and more aggressive in conversations, give consequences for messing up love interests, and most importantly, make teammates feel less like desire to fight with children during fights and more with the adults they are. Fortunately, BioWare has stated that Mass Effect it will never seem The Veil Guardwhich is a step in the right direction.

    However, it is not yet known whether it will follow this happier tone and diluted dialogue mechanics. BioWare games have always had their fair share of silliness, over-the-top characters, and humorous sequences. All of this should remain in his future titles, as it not only adds brevity to the darkest moments, but makes the experience more memorable. However, Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s the overly sweet tone should be abandoned in future BioWare titles in favor of the grittier one the developer is so well-known for creating.

    Source: OpenSession666/Reddit, NikTek/YouTube

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