Recent reviews by Enioch92

As a Dragon Age fan since 2009, I find this game conflicting, but the sum of all parts leaves me no choice but to conclude negatively. I'll go into details soon, but I think presenting the positive aspects first is fair.

✅ Combat and Overall Gameplay
I wish we were still stuck with the old Origins formula, but even so, the combat is pleasant and most of the systems are successfully implemented. It does not break any grounds but is the natural heir to Inquisition, even if he adds some twists more akin to God of War than Dragon Age. This also reflects on world exploration, again more similar to other franchises but much more interesting than the endless plains full of the grind of Inquisition.
The loot system is also particularly good even if in some ways resembles something we would find on a looter shooter or mobile game, especially with the flash chests. There’s a variety of builds and a lot of items for you to feel some sort of progression.

✅ Environment
Graphics and overall art direction can be hit or miss but environments take the cake. Very interesting vistas, even if sometimes they seem completely devoid of any DA magic. Very pretty game overall, with different biomes and suberb lighting.

✅ Major Story Arc
The story they are trying to tell is good and would probably be top 3 on the Dragon Age saga, and I think most of the companions’ quests, are very engaging and unique, with each one adding something to the table. Unfortunately, while the story they are trying to tell is good, the…

⛔ Writing
… is awful. I have no idea how we came to this. The basic point for good storytelling is “show not tell”. I’m afraid DA: Veilguard is all about telling, in such a jovial and immature way that is mostly laughable. Characters have to talk about the current objective non-stop as if the player was lost to begin with.
It is also very unhelpful when the bad writing affects the message they are trying to transmit to you. This is not about the Dragon Age franchise going “woke”. Dragon Age was always progressive, but one thing is to blend real-world problems with the storyline in a flawless manner, the other is breaking the fourth wall consistently using terms that probably would not be used in a fantasy world. Taash story arc is the biggest offender in this regard where you almost feel you are being lectured. Good writing should make you feel engaged in social matters, not trying to make you feel guilty about current world situations. And I watched a few trans and non-binary content creators that agreed with me which reinforced my resolve.
Some of the dialogue also feels out of tone to a Dragon Age game, almost like taken from a teenage drama instead of a game on a near-doom scenario.
One thing is certain, the beginning and the end of the game are consistently good. But the in-between is a 50-hour inconsistent mess.

⛔ Character design and overall tone
I think character design is a big problem here. Everyone seems to be something akin to a Disney cartoon. Someone also pointed out and fixed some of it by shrinking the characters’ heads, and I’m sure some modding will solve it but I feel this is more of a “Disney Age” than a “Dragon Age”. That also combines with writing to alter forever the way we see some controversial topics in the franchise. The biggest example I can point directly to is necromancy. Emmric history is very interesting but everything related to necromancy seems suddenly very cartoony and inconsequential. I remember dreading necromancy in DA:O as something filthy and horrendous.

⛔ Character Creation
Adding a bit to the former topic, character creation seems good on paper, but I didn't find it as free-form as many people suggested. I took 3 hours to finish my character and Inquisitor. Combining details like freckles with complexions is a controversial decision. In a body-positive environment, it is also weird that some sliders affect so little on the overall result. About the big “chest surgery scars” my only question is the following: Where are the appendicitis or c-section scars? When you create a few things to appeal to a small percentage of the population you should not forget the bigger percentage of people. I’m not even going to comment on the fact that in this universe that kind of procedure would probably involve magic, invalidating any particular scars. I think you should create your version and your avatar. it’s considerate to add all the options possible. The problem is they didn’t...

⛔ Morality
The problem with morality choices in Veilguard is… there is none. Some choices matter but not in terms of you being a “Paragon of Virtue” or a “Herald of Darkness”. You can’t be mean, only a bit more directive. And the story doesn’t change that much, even if you have a few major choices that affect some places in the world. The ending may take you by surprise with a certain similarity to the Mass Effect 2 approach but otherwise, there are no opportunities to be a ruthless leader, only something between a very limited spectrum of “good”.

⛔ Puzzles
Maps are very interesting but the puzzles are simplistic and usually feel like a deterrence. I don't expect something that would challenge Einstein, but most of the challenges are so simple you might as well have all the doors unlocked and be done with it.

⛔ Codex related to weapon progression
While the faction system is good the Caretaker shop is a big problem for me. You can only unlock its final upgrade by finding all the codices in the world that provide shop reputation, and only then can you upgrade some legendary gear. I feel this is a misstep, let lore be lore or give a bigger margin for misses to reach the final upgrade otherwise, players will not be able to upgrade everything to maximum and will be exploring every crevice using obscure guides on the internet instead of enjoying the experience, especially with 2 achievements connected to this. Ah, and some codices are missable and stuck on closed quest areas! It’s a shame!

👁‍🗨 Conclusion
Veilguard could have been a step forward but I feel it is the end of the franchise, or the beginning of something I will avoid like the Blight. Unfortunately, I fear the game is a mix of the horrible tragedy of long development, bad writing allied to a necessity to promote a specific message, and a twist on the formula in order to avoid comparison to bigger and better games.
Somewhere in time, someone will talk about the progressive RPGs that took the test of time, and and good example will be Baldur’s Gate 3. The bad one will be Veilguard, the tone-deaf cousin that was once a spiritual successor to greater RPGs.
In the meantime, you are better served by playing Dragon Age: Origins even if it is your 30th playthrough. As regarding Veilguard, I don't think I'll play it ever again.

My 10-man army of Harkonnen House Guards was killed by a worm in the middle of the desert destroying my military prowess and plummeting my empire into ruin! Would play again!

Amazing game missing Frank Klepacki and David Arkenstone ost from Emperor : Battle for DUNE. Please someone make a mod for it!

Geralt of Rivia is back with an adventure you never seen before in terms of scale and variety. Forget the hours you spent in other games searching for 10 pieces to complete a collecting quest, every quest has an story, sometimes more interesting than the main quest! The combat is responsive, quick and unforgivable in higher difficulty, but you don't struggle with the mechanics like you did in The Witcher 2. The map is soo huge, that when you think you saw everything, a new map appears full of islands and quests. Free DLCs are avalable every week and the game is patched with a lot of care. 2 "real expansions" will be available and we should look foward to it, adding 30 hours of gameplay at least.
This is the best RPG in years , a must buy you can add directly in the same virtual shelf where you put Baldur's Gate, Morrowind, Skyrim or Fallout 3!
UPDATE: After all this time... Always!

Everything with Shadow of Mordor looks interesting and embrace Tolkien's lore with an innovative gameplay mechanic called Nemesis System that lacking would reduce this title into a mix of Assassin's Creed with Batman Arkham series combat. Even with their influences very much branded into the gameplay they're well implemented and for that Monolith deserves a praise. Combat is fluid, animations are completely over the top and graphics are optimized from day 1 with little or none fps drop.
Even being a almost flawless game in terms of gameplay, the story is lacking a Tolkien's epicness and scale. It ends to soon for your own taste and doesn't stay long enough for you to fall in love with any of the secondary characters. It took 13 hours to finish the main storyline, still there's much to do: the never ending Nemesis system will keep you busy and the amount of challenges and collectibles is fair enough for another 20 hours.
Story short (literally) Shadow of Mordor is worth your money and everything it takes from other games is well done and in some cases even perfected. A great title that can pretty much be one of the best games of the year!

8.5/10

If you like sniper mechanics and watching the graphic deaths of your enemies, this is your game. Understanding how your enemy died is also very interesting because almost every great kill is accompanied with a expectacular x-ray picture in real-time for you to enjoy the amount of damage your made to bones and vital organs. This is the ultimate sniper game where you can train your aim and understand how gravity can affect your bullet. Forget the old PFS cliché of straight bullets, here it's much more realistic.
The Multiplayer is funny but hard. This is a game of patience and strategic choices.

I am not a great fan of PFS Online. CS: GO is my total exception especially because it's my money grabber that feeds my steam wallet with some euros, enough in time to buy games in special deals. Still, you will find the community in this game to be erratic. You'll find nice people in one side and complete douche bags in the other, that think they're the best players in the game just for you to find out they're trolling you and cheating hard. If you don't have the stomach consider yourself warned! Play this for fun and be nice to people, if you do that the matches tend to be a wonderful experience and better according to the team's mood, believe me!

I would recommend Torchlight 2 before the recent patch and subsequent expansion of Diablo 3. Now I'll do the same not because it's a better game but because of the price and reliability of Steam Workshop. If you want an experience much more bright and somehow less serious this is the game for you! If you like hack-and-slash games you should not miss this one by any means. Hours of fun in Vanilla and possibly another hundred exploring the vast Workshop library wanting new ways to play the game. Some mods offer total immersion, new classes, new weapons and new skills. The only thing that can ruin the experience is the fact that vanilla characters and mod characters can't interact, but of course for obvious reasons.

Go ahead and play it! And if possible buy it with some special discount (seriously steam does that very often).

Skyrim is the absolute best openworld RPG you can find, side by side with Morrowind.