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Dangerferret's avatar
Dangerferret
Seasoned Rookie
19 days ago

General Feedback: What's with the micro-lecturing?

Here's something that has always been a pet peeve of mine with BioWare games. So Rook is standing, for the 100th time, in front of a golden pyramid with an empty translucent sphere on top. Clearly, a device intended for interaction, and one Rook has seen 100 times in Veilguard already. "I'm going to need a Wisp!" Rook declares, because after 20 years, BioWare doesn't think I know how to master basic game mechanics. Like, I can untangle a (relatively) complex puzzle of crystals that need to be destroyed, but I don't know how to find the "e" key.

Likewise, there is some serious needling and BioWare fathering going on during battles: "Don't stand there!" "We're being targeted from a distance!" "We're under attack!" Yes. Thank you. We're skirmishing. All these things are expected behavior. 

BioWare trimmed so much fat from player expectations to release Veilguard. Absolutely paper-thin romances, and no just random chatting up anybody at all. A pared-down ME2-esque progression system. And all of that (for the most part) is great. I'm really enjoying Veilguard.

So it perplexes me they spent so much time and effort providing almost constant reminders of how to play the game as part of the game itself. They didn't think players would want more flushed-out romances like they've wanted in every other BioWare RPG to date, but they do want to be constantly wheedled around the battlefield? And who are these companions that they have time to fight AND adjudicate Rook the whole time? Take your own inventory, Harding.

I can deal with the cold "Here. This is what you get. See you in another decade" feel that all that trimmed fat leaves me with because "what you get" is a lot and I quite enjoy it. But the constant hand-holding is starting to feel like if I disabled the tutorials in settings Veilguard would just... uninstall.

If BioWare wants to spend money on writing and voice acting for bits beyond the absolute necessities, this is a whole section of stuff they could stop wasting time with and instead focus on perhaps the little personal interactions the lack of which is palpable.

 

  • JohansenDK's avatar
    JohansenDK
    Seasoned Novice

    Sigh, if only you could those constant reminders off. I could understand if it was part of the tutorial, but even after 50+ hours, the companions still feel they need to tell me exactly what to do and when to do it. Except of course, if you feel like actually talk to them inbetween missions, then they are mostly silent as a stone. 

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