Dragon Age: The Veilguard actress defends game, says people wanted BioWare to fail

[midian182]

A hot potato: One of the stars of the recent Dragon Age title and several other big video games has spoken out about the negative reaction to Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The actress said the hate came from those people who only wanted to see the game, or developer BioWare, fail.

Alix Wilton Regan played the female Inquisitor in both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: The Veilguard. She also starred in Mass Effect 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty.

Speaking to IGN about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Wilton Regan said she was "absolutely devastated" that the game didn't sell as well as expected and received so much backlash, despite most critics' reviews ranging from quite good to excellent.

The contrast is illustrated on Metacritic, where Veilguard has a critic review score of 82 and a user score of 3.9. Users express similar feelings on Steam, where Veilguard's recent and overall ratings are both mixed.

"I feel absolutely devastated for BioWare as a studio that they got such mixed reactions to the game," Wilton Regan said. "I personally thought it was a really strong game. I thought it was just BioWare being more BioWare."

"I also think a lot of people kind of wanted to see it fail, or wanted to see [BioWare] fail, either because they're just really bad people on the internet – of which there are unfortunately many, as we have discovered."

In January, EA revealed that Veilguard had 1.5 million players, not unit sales, in its first two months – half what the company was expecting. Its launch week sales failed to reach the same levels as two other major RPGs: Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth and Dragon's Dogma II.

Some people were put-off Veilguard by what many called a political message that tries too hard – the infamous misgendering apology scene involving the push-ups certainly received a lot of attention. The use of the term "non-binary" in a fantasy setting didn't go down too well, either.

There is a better, more subtle way to include a trans character in your fantasy game that does not involve a performative apology and a lecture using parlance that has no place in a game like this. This is basically self-parody. It's a shame because the game is, imo, still quite… pic.twitter.com/9XXJ2oCdGd

– Erik 'daibo' Kain (@erikkain) October 31, 2024

"People were attacking the game before it was released," Wilton Regan added. "It's ridiculous. How can you judge a game, a book, a film, a TV show before it's actually released? You can't. It's an idiotic stance to take."

BioWare released the final update for Veilguard in January. It has confirmed there won't be any DLC for the game as it is now concentrating fully on the next Mass Effect. Sadly for Dragon Age fans, the poor reception likely means we won't be seeing another entry in the franchise for a very long time – if ever.

One game that has also faced backlash ahead of its release is Naughty Dog's Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet. The trailer features lead character Jordan A. Mun, who sports what has proven to be a very controversial shaved head. She's played by Tati Gabrielle, who appeared in the Netflix series You, Uncharted, The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, and more.

The trailer has gained over 200,000 dislikes on YouTube and Naughty Dog has now turned off the comments. Comments are still active on the PlayStation channel, where the trailer has almost 300,000 dislikes.

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard actress defends game, says people wanted BioWare to fail

 

[GodisanAtheist]

She's right, Veilguard definitely had a hate train and culture warrior gooner squads definitely had it out for the game from the get go. It was obvious from a lot of their anti-woke comments that they were just tourists and really weren't familiar with the series at all. "Paul Ryan's favorite band is Rage Against the Machine" levels of ignorance.

But they weren't entirely wrong outside of their sad "never seen a woman that isn't a waifu" gooning.

Dragon Age slipped a bit with each of its entries, but ultimately the first 3 games were solidly in RPG territory and took itself relatively seriously and really went for immersion.

Veilguard dropped all that and went with an ultra gamified hack n slash formula with little roll play and broke a lot of the continuity of the series by not bringing the keep forward and just vaguely writing around world states. They expected Dragon Age fans to just show up for the name and I am glad that they couldn't take the fanbase for granted.

So was the game a "victim" of the culture war? Yes. Would it have failed outside of any culture war BS? Likely also yes.

 

[guillejp]

And that's how you secure another job.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

She's right, Veilguard definitely had a hate train and culture warrior gooner squads definitely had it out for the game from the get go. It was obvious from a lot of their anti-woke comments that they were just tourists and really weren't familiar with the series at all. "Paul Ryan's favorite band is Rage Against the Machine" levels of ignorance.

But they weren't entirely wrong outside of their sad "never seen a woman that isn't a waifu" gooning.

Dragon Age slipped a bit with each of its entries, but ultimately the first 3 games were solidly in RPG territory and took itself relatively seriously and really went for immersion.

Veilguard dropped all that and went with an ultra gamified hack n slash formula with little roll play and broke a lot of the continuity of the series by not bringing the keep forward and just vaguely writing around world states. They expected Dragon Age fans to just show up for the name and I am glad that they couldn't take the fanbase for granted.

So was the game a "victim" of the culture war? Yes. Would it have failed outside of any culture war BS? Likely also yes.

Funny how opposing the "message" being inserted into our media means we've never played the series or been a fan. It's that attitude that drives fanbases to hate the creators of the media they enjoy.

 

[m4a4]

Not really surprised this voice actress is so detached from reality. The loud voices in that industry also hate gamers these days.

And that's how you secure another job.

Yup, that is how you signal to the others that you have the "correct" opinion.


To put it simply, Veilguard was essentially a poorly written fan fiction.
The dark-fantasy setting was kid-ified, the cartoony visuals were laughable, spiders being removed was implied as a smart change (yet another show of how out-of-touch they were), and the god-awful writing was a special kind of cringe (with how it also treated the player with kid gloves, over-explaining what was happening on screen).

When you can't take legit criticism and pretend all the negativity is "hate" (retreating to an echo-chamber of toxic positivity), you're the problem in the industry.
Of course gamers don't want such companies to succeed and ruin more beloved franchises. But the best part? You can't guilt us into buying your slop.

 

[NumberNine]

The only reason I played the first Dragon Age was because it took over 20 years to get Baldur's Gate 3. Dragon Age 2 was mindlessly dumbed down and used copy/pasted environments for nearly every indoor area. Dragon Age Inquisition was... okay I guess. They tried a little harder.

Why aren't the games better? Because BioWare is owned by EA, who isn't really known for making groundbreaking art. It's not mean people on the internet. It's that the game is completely unremarkable, overpriced, bloated corporate slop. Fix that and you'll sell more video games.

 

[hahahanoobs]

I don't play story games, so I'll enjoy watching these people destroy their own interests.

We went from, "Can it run Crysis?", to "this $300 GPU better run Crysis @ 4K with full RT!"

We went from some diverse characters to if you even try to diversify, gamers will end your career.

The gaming community literally has some of the most immature and uneducated group of people I have ever had to associate with. It's become a group of hate and unhappiness.

 

[Hassanabi]

She's right, Veilguard definitely had a hate train and culture warrior gooner squads definitely had it out for the game from the get go. It was obvious from a lot of their anti-woke comments that they were just tourists and really weren't familiar with the series at all. "Paul Ryan's favorite band is Rage Against the Machine" levels of ignorance.

But they weren't entirely wrong outside of their sad "never seen a woman that isn't a waifu" gooning.

Dragon Age slipped a bit with each of its entries, but ultimately the first 3 games were solidly in RPG territory and took itself relatively seriously and really went for immersion.

Veilguard dropped all that and went with an ultra gamified hack n slash formula with little roll play and broke a lot of the continuity of the series by not bringing the keep forward and just vaguely writing around world states. They expected Dragon Age fans to just show up for the name and I am glad that they couldn't take the fanbase for granted.

So was the game a "victim" of the culture war? Yes. Would it have failed outside of any culture war BS? Likely also yes.

Regardless of "woke", the writing and dialogue was absurdly bad and cringe. I can't believe this voice actress did her job reading the trash writing and not thinking "This sounds so bad".

Like nothing in these interactions seemed natural, it's like you're watching a couple of emotionally detached people trying to converse.

If "woke-haters" was the reason for a failed game, why did BG3, a game with many "woke-elements" succeed massively? Because unlike Veilguard the gameplay, the story, the characters and the writing were great.

 

[Nobina]

Sometimes the hate is warranted.

 

[maroon1]

Why not make the game the way people want it ??! People tired of these woke agenda in games. Make games normal again, the same way games are made 10 or 15 years ago

 

[corrosive23]

I don't play story games, so I'll enjoy watching these people destroy their own interests.

We went from, "Can it run Crysis?", to "this $300 GPU better run Crysis @ 4K with full RT!"

We went from some diverse characters to if you even try to diversify, gamers will end your career.

The gaming community literally has some of the most immature and uneducated group of people I have ever had to associate with. It's become a group of hate and unhappiness.

Or could it be that the game sucked? No it has to be "haters" huh?

 

[godrilla]

The only Dragon Age I haven't played. So many games in the backlog. Lost interest in Bioware games after Andromeda.

 

[Subset6]

Better than vapor-ware I suppose. It does have me concerned about the elephant in the room that is the Mass Effect IP. I consider myself pretty neutral when it comes to things like DEI but even I cringed at some of dialog in Veilguard. It really did just come off as if a box was checked to serve itself.

At this point If you can’t do it within the greater dynamic context of the universe your characters exist in don’t do it at all. No romance is way better than bad romance.

 

[toooooot]

Why were they attacking it before release? Because instead of showing the monsters or interesting game mechanics, they boasted top surgery scars and related ideology.
And it is not like the game surprised pessimists. Dialogues were so horrible
that it sounded like a modern CW drama. The game was generic and had very little
left from the old gritty and dark DA games. The game was bad. And few good things
such as good optimization and decent gameplay could not save it.
They made their main goal for this game ideology, they succeeded 100%.

I have a test question to you all. When was the last time you dreamed of a fantasy game where
a magical character comes out as nonbinary? This game stinks of modernity, and this is the only way this specific group of people can make them. They hate gaming, do not care about fantasy worlds, the only thing they care is themselves.
Me me me me, my feelings, my attention, my life.

 

[toooooot]

The only Dragon Age I haven't played. So many games in the backlog. Lost interest in Bioware games after Andromeda.

I forced myself to play it for 1.5 hours. But while it looked fairly similar to the previous game I played, ME3, the feeling was drastically different. I do not remember another game to describe soulless as much as this one. I do not doubt the next ME will follow in its footsteps.

 

[GeoffreyA]

I was a devoted BioWare fan before the Mass Effect and Dragon Age eras, both of which series I have neither played, nor care to. Somewhere along the line, BioWare began to feel old and repetitive to me, repeating the formula of BG2 over and over again. When I played Oblivion in 2012, I felt I had discovered a whole new world: it was fresh and delightful, and I still remember it fondly. It took another studio to create a BG3 that Minsc and Boo would approve of, and which I look forward to; and right now, I'm relishing every minute of the masterpiece that is Expedition 33. I don't think I've missed much from BioWare.

 

[airbornex]

It’s kind of heartbreaking to see a franchise as beloved as Dragon Age get buried under a mix of pre-release hate, political outrage, and unmet expectations. There’s definitely valid criticism to make, especially around pacing and tone, but a 3.9 user score next to an 82 Metacritic just shows how polarized things have gotten. It's like the internet only does 0 or 10 now.

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Funny how opposing the "message" being inserted into our media means we've never played the series or been a fan. It's that attitude that drives fanbases to hate the creators of the media they enjoy.

- Dragon Age has always been woke and gay as ****. We've literally seen black elves in DA:O, gay characters were always part of the game and lore, etc.

Complaining about those aspects of the game tell me a person is a tourist and doesn't posses the media literacy to get it.

If someone plays the game and hates it cause its absurdly tepid, that's another thing.

 

[Watzupken]

I don’t think anybody wanted BioWare to fail. It’s BioWare that is tripping themselves up. The outcome is expected when you develop a product that their fan base clearly do not like. It’s like saying your customer wants an apple, but you want to sell them a durian. This just shows how out of touch the developer is from their buyers. And it’s not just BioWare alone doing this. And to clarify, I’ve played both Dragon Age 1 and 2, which I think are good games. This one however, I won’t be touching even when it’s heavily discounted.

 

[Liranan]

I hope all the people desperately running damage control for BioFail buy tens of thousands of copies each because Steam Charts are hilarious.

"Soooo, I'm non-binary". So am I Taash, I'm also non-buynary. And BioWoke, with their top scar surgery, will soon be BioWas, when they finally shut down and put us all out of their misery.

 

[Liranan]

- Dragon Age has always been woke and gay as ****. We've literally seen black elves in DA:O, gay characters were always part of the game and lore, etc.

Complaining about those aspects of the game tell me a person is a tourist and doesn't posses the media literacy to get it.

If someone plays the game and hates it cause its absurdly tepid, that's another thing.

Total nonsense and an intentional obfuscation of the truth. Black elves have existed in D&D for decades, long before fools like the current crop of eternal victims came along to pretend that they, somehow, know better. I, a straight guy, have played a gay sorcerer in D&D because it was fun, but then those the great Martin Luther King warned us about came along and it was all about race, sex, gender and who you love to hump.

Only racists see colour of skin, only bigots see everything as gender ideology.

 

[VaRmeNsI]

Game = Woke.
Critics = Woke.
Gamers = Not Woke.

I wonder why it didn't sell...

 

[lonetac]

The woke argument is a distraction and just a way for folks to hide certain things they cant say publicly. Period. Go tell it to Costco and Target.

Its a nonsensical argument. Gay people have been in DA and games for a long time, save the diatribe.

As soon as you use the word woke to describe a video game, you have already expressed your ignorance to an unbelievable amount and ignored by most rational gamers. Its a lazy argument and only exposes yourself. Try having actual criticism. The lady is correct about the hate the game got before release and it certainly probably hurt the game.

BUT...

I am a huge fan of the DA series and Ive played them all. I forced myself into this game for the sake of it despite all the hate. Initially I was like, its ok. I kept playing it.

About 10-15 hours in, I couldnt take anymore. The game is just bad. It has nothing to do with woke. Cartoony graphics replaced the dark side of the game, the dialogue is atrocious and the game play isnt very fun although I did enjoy the combat for a little bit as a rogue but ultimately I dont like games that play like this. There are so many that do it better and this didnt feel like a dragon age at all. Its the first DA game I wont beat.

As the first poster mentioned, this game would have failed without the woke outrage. Its a bad game and even the most hardcore DA fans didnt enjoy it.

 

[Liranan]

The woke argument is a distraction and just a way for folks to hide certain things they cant say publicly. Period. Go tell it to Costco and Target.

Its a nonsensical argument. Gay people have been in DA and games for a long time, save the diatribe.

As soon as you use the word woke to describe a video game, you have already expressed your ignorance to an unbelievable amount and ignored by most rational gamers. Its a lazy argument and only exposes yourself. Try having actual criticism. The lady is correct about the hate the game got before release and it certainly probably hurt the game.

BUT...

I am a huge fan of the DA series and Ive played them all. I forced myself into this game for the sake of it despite all the hate. Initially I was like, its ok. I kept playing it.

About 10-15 hours in, I couldnt take anymore. The game is just bad. It has nothing to do with woke. Cartoony graphics replaced the dark side of the game, the dialogue is atrocious and the game play isnt very fun although I did enjoy the combat for a little bit as a rogue but ultimately I dont like games that play like this. There are so many that do it better and this didnt feel like a dragon age at all. Its the first DA game I wont beat.

As the first poster mentioned, this game would have failed without the woke outrage. Its a bad game and even the most hardcore DA fans didnt enjoy it.

Sooo.... I'm non-binary and have top surgery scars.

BioTripe deserve to die.

 

[candle86]

- Dragon Age has always been woke and gay as ****. We've literally seen black elves in DA:O, gay characters were always part of the game and lore, etc.

Complaining about those aspects of the game tell me a person is a tourist and doesn't posses the media literacy to get it.

If someone plays the game and hates it cause its absurdly tepid, that's another thing.

Gay yes but optional, this is in your face, and doesn't belong. Maybe studios should make games that the majority want to play, not make games to serve an agenda the average gamer doesn't care about. The average gamer is a CIS male that's just a simple fact, make games that target the audience.

I don't care if gay is an option, I choose to play as a straight person, I prefer not to have ideology shoved down my throat, and I won't, if your media insists on a heavy-handed approach well that's on you. Take Star Trek the first trans episode was the Outcast, it wasn't in your face and it doesn't bother me, the choice is left up to you the audience, while in Discovery it was made very in your face and you where made to know your the villian. Thats the point, there is a right way and a wrong way, and Bioware to quote a great movie, Choose poorly.