Overhated
I've been seeing some reactions and reading some reviews about the game and the hate is so exaggerated. Is this a masterclass in videogame design and writing? Far from it. But is it a flaming turd hurling towards you at mach speeds? No.
The game was alright, and I actually enjoyed quite a few moments from it. Morrigan's design was really nice and I love Neve down. The scenery is pretty, the combat is better than its predecessor, in my opinion, and the lore ks actually really interesting.
I think the hate comes from a blend of nostalgia and selective memory. Firstly, Nostalgia. Because the first games were so beloved and the Veilguard took so long to come out, people had plenty of time to delude themselves into believing they knew exactly which game they were getting. Because they don't have a crystal ball, they were wrong, and that infuriated them.
My second point is selective memory. The writing for Dragon Age was NEVER great. It was good, but never this amazing piece of media the haters seem to remember it was. Dragon Age always had weird pacing and plot holes, but the writing of the game wasn't its charm, it was the scenery (more recently) the writing of the characters, and the lore.
The characters for Veilguard hit the mark! They were either charming, interesting, endearing, or a combination. All except Taash. I'm sorry, but there is simply no angle where Taash is defensible. Their writing was poor and far too on the nose. They were also just genuinely annoying and mean for no damn reason. I appreciate an LGBTQ+ story, especially one where the focus is on a non-binary person. I feel they don't get enough recognition. But even for me, a gay man, their story was like getting beat over the head with a hammer. Repeatedly.
All in all, I think the Veilguard was alright. Not a masterpiece, but I liked it. And Dragon Age fans might need to go revisit the games before this one. They were good. They were fun. But they were not the Picassos you seem to think they were.