There was a time when every form of art - from books to movies - was meant to scandalize the public opinion, to stimulate and encourage criticism in order to improve the society we are living in; but times have changed: art has been subdued to profit and, because of it, it has become a mere form of entertainment, where people are obliged to see what the mainstream has to offer. What we have have seen in the past few years in movies, books or every other form of art, had its own repercussions on videogames: the so-called Disneyfication of media has struck hard the videogame industry, with all of its blatant rethoric and mystification of reality. This is why "Dragon Age: Veilguard" represents not only the death of a beloved franchise but also the decay of Western culture.

This downfall can be seen in every aspect of the game: from the nonexistent roleplay (it is literally impossible to play as an evil character) to stereotyped characters (Quanaris have been turned from fearsome and indomitable warriors into horned humans troubled about their sexuality). Also the art design is misleading: we have moved from a dark fantasy atmosphere to a more colourful world, where in the Capital of slavery you can't see a single slave, where different races - once reluctant - are now happily cooperating to defeat their common enemy. But the worst is yet to come...

In order to make the "Dragon Age" franchise more pleasing, developers decided to remove the classic RPG mechanics to tranform "Veilguard" into a pure action game: while many features are just a copy/paste from other games (Jedi Fallen Order and so on), they also decide to copy some major mechanics from their previous games, especially from "Mass Effect 2" (forming a team to complete a suicide mission, achieve their trust to fully succeed). Unfortunately they failed miserably: the screenwriting is aberrant, there is no logical explanation between an event to another, ripetitive dialogues seem to be written by a 12yo child trying to invent his first fanction where we can't find an in-depth analysis but only a mere explanation of the events. Nothing is really memorable about this malformed product: as a fan of Hans Zimmer, I'm sorry to say that the soundtrack sounds anonymous and feels so distant from the harmonious notes of Inon Zur; the villains are as just hideous as every Disney's movie villain; the gameplay feels utterly repetitive, deprived of every strategy that a RPG should involve.

God saves us from what BioWare will do the Mass Effect franchise.

In "The Talos Principle 2" the self-consciousness journey continues through the eyes of "1k", a "robot" destined to change the course of his fellow citizens of New Jerusalem. You've been tasked to complete dozens of puzzels and explore different ecosystems, trying to discover the remnants of mankind and the reason why Athena (the founder of New Jerusalem and protagonist of the 1st title) has abandoned her hometown.

The Talos Principle 2 is not one of those stand-alone titles that can be played without having tried his predecessor so it is mandatory to play the prequel to fully understand and enjoy the story and all the philosophy that surround this game. Building a sequel for this game was surely not an easy task especially from a sociological or philosophycal point of view: with this game, we are moving from a self-centered prequel - based on the understanding of the ego and what makes a "real human being" - to the next step, which involves the process that lead every single human to the creation of the society or the community.

"The Talos Principle 2" brings new puzzles along with a set of new odd instruments but, unlike his predecessor, I've found these puzzles easier and not all of the instruments are meshed correctly as they should be; also, forget ancient Roman ruins or pyramids and embrace a new world filled with uncontaminated nature and outstanding Brutalist architectures; even the soundtrack has abandoned his harmonious and choral melody for a new tremendous electronic sound.

In a market where the players are simply treated as consumers, "The Talos Principle 2" represents a beacon of hope for all those who want to stimulate not only their logic but also their critical thinking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zUt1auH52U