And those who slept, the ancient ones, awoke,
For their dreams had been devoured
By a demon that prowled the Fade
As a wolf hunts a herd of deer.
Taking first the weakest and frailest of hopes,
And when there was nothing left,
Destroying the bright and bold
By subtlety and ambush and cruel arts.
My comic for @dragonageannual 2026, written by @bygonesigh!
This piece (though hasty) really is a love letter to this game but also to my Rook, Dawes Mercar, who became more important to me than I ever thought he could.
I picked up Veilguard as a birthday present to myself almost exactly a year ago, made Dawes, played a little, but like many things I knew I would enjoy dropped it for a while. January came and I dove back in, and I haven't been the same.
Veilguard truly is a comfort game for me, and I know I will keep coming back again and again to tell that story. It's a game about regrets, community, love, grief. It's about connection and intention. It gives back what you put in, and I know for many people that's not enough, but to me, it is the most rewarding thing I could imagine. I hold so much love for the entire series and franchise, but now, Dragon Age belongs to us.
Five or so years ago, I had written a novel. I had a mentor, I had beta readers, and I had every intention to go traditional. But I burnt out so bad that I dropped writing and reading entirely. I never thought I'd be back. D&D and written RP stoked the little ember, but writing fic became the roaring fire once again.
I've since written Between a Rook and a Hard Place, and I'm well into Castled Queenside, a fic I am going to hold so very dear to my heart. All thanks to Veilguard, and the community here.
I was lucky enough to miss the first wave of hate. By the time I got here, everyone has been warm and welcoming and encouraging of any creative expression. We all are aware Veilguard has it's flaws. A lot of games do. It's important to acknowledge them to yourself, but it's equally important to enjoy what you love with your whole chest.
I've played all the games, and still, Veilguard is my favourite. I love the world and the lore and I am very aware of how deep it is and still, Veilguard is my favourite.
Looking forward to another year of enjoying this game and creating even more stories with you all. This is also my love letter to all of you in my mentions who say how much you love Dawes. That he exists in your mind means a lot to me.
Okay, I have officially compiled all of my thoughts about my first Origins play through, I'll try to keep it fairly brief but at the same time there's much to discuss and that I want to talk about. I would also love to discuss in the comments! Overall, I will say I really enjoyed the game and I'm glad I gave it a chance - it was worth it even with some of the grief. Obviously I will be discussing positives and negatives of the game and just my general experiences not with intent to slander or anything of the sort. No game is perfect :)
I did go through the game fairly quickly which is something to keep in mind. I didn’t rush through it but I did minimal side quests as I personally play through games the first time pretty fast in order to get through the story. I don't know what it is, but I typically lack the patience to do a lot of extra stuff the first time around. That being said, I will eventually go back and play it again and take my time much more once I've finished DA2 and a refresh of Inquisition. Therefore, I’m discussing mostly my game play experience the first time around, rather than in depth specifics about lore/characters/etc. As I don’t feel I’ve played enough to have a perfect grasp on these things. I’m not opposed to discussing either in detail, but I think it’s important to keep in mind that my experience and exposure is a little limited. All of these games too contain a lot of nuance which is important to consider when discussing them.
I thought that the story in Origins was very well written which is a compliment I often hear in the fandom. Inquisition was my first ever DA game, and then I played VG when it came out and then decided to go and play the franchise from the beginning. I had always been hesitant because of how old the games were and my aversion to combat. But I genuinely think the storytelling and complex/interesting companions really made my play through and experience worthwhile. I think it would be a wonderful first introduction to the series, but it's also definitely worth playing even if it's not your first DA game. The main companions I brought along with me who also happened to be my favorites were Zevran, Wynne, and Sten. I have a bad habit of keeping my party fairly consistent, so I only really switched out companions when it felt necessary for personal or specific quests. I would definitely switch them out more upon replaying. I really enjoyed Morrigan and Leliana even if I rarely brought them with me, I liked Alistair and sort of imagined a more sibling-like relationship with him and my warden. Shale was interesting and she grew on me over time, I enjoyed having her around. The only companion I really disliked was Oghren, and in fact I hated him. Just not a personality I could get along with at all. That being said, I really enjoyed how much I was able to converse with my companions and get to know them, they were all very interesting in their own ways and although I tend to enjoy all of my companions, I just really liked this bunch. I also wish that Sten was romance-able (hehe) but I like having companions that aren't, which is something I missed in VG. It really felt like you got to know all of your companions over the span of the game. I also thought it was so cute how they would interact with and talk to dog in camp!
One of my main issues (which is more of a personal conflict and not special to Origins only) was how difficult the combat was for me, especially starting off. I've never been good at combat in games, I always play on the easiest level and I had never played games before where I actually had to know how to control my other team mates or companions. So I didn't actually start playing until about halfway through the game, as my partner did a lot of the combat and got through the first half of the game for me while I watched. This included the fade quest and deep roads. I think for someone like me who isn't interested or very good at combat, it can definitely be overwhelming and frustrating to get the hang of. I think though once I replay, now more familiar with the mechanics, I would fare better. That being said, it definitely is/was still difficult, and I no shame would download some mods to make it easier, like skipping the fade quest. I think experiencing it one time is enough, and it's not necessary enough to worry about skipping over if you've seen it before. I had a lot of close calls, and there were times where I just had to retry, but it’s just something that I had to get used to, and I made sure to save frequently to spare myself from replaying too much.
On the topic of mods, I would also download mods to help with the glitchiness of the game. Again, it is to be expected with a game as old as it is, but it definitely took away from my experience especially seeing as most of my glitches impacted my romance negatively.
In relation to the "difficult" aspect of the game, I felt like it was fairly easy to miss important things unless you were to play with a guide with a literal step by step process for everything in front of you. I'm sure if I had done more side missions and things of that nature, I would be less likely to run into this issue, but it was very frustrating going into the game pretty blind, feeling like I had to rely on looking everything up to properly get through the game and not mess things up. This was my main issue other than the glitches, especially toward the end of the game. I ended up replaying hours of game play because I missed a few small things, and not stuff that was a mission I just didn't do. Luckily, most of your objectives were tasked to you in some form. I also, personally again, like to have my hand held just a little bit, so I just felt completely lost in the dark with little to no direction on what to do sometimes. It was just driving me a little crazy that you could really mess things up just because you happened not to have one conversation.
The main issue that this caused was in my romance with Zevran. I only asked him to my tent once at the beginning of the game in order to flirt and kind of get the romance going. I did not proposition him again until the very end of the game, and I almost didn't even ask simply because I felt I didn't need to. I was able and wanted to get his approval and romance up in other ways, and I didn’t want my warden’s relationship with him to come off as purely sexual (although that was more personal plot reasons). I was unaware that he was supposed to be upset with you (upon realizing he's in love lol) yet continued into the last mission anyway. When the romance dialogue didn't work, I had to look into it and try to fix it. I believe I went back, had all the conversations I was supposed to have with him to have the romance set in properly, yet it still ended up not working anyway. By the very end of the game, the romance was acknowledged post-landsmeet and in the end credits, but it was disheartening that 1) I went through all that fixing to still be frienzoned in the dialogue and 2) I wouldn't have known any better on what to do to properly progress in the romance if I hadn't looked it up.
In a more unserious manner, I did end up messing up the landsmeet and having to fight a bunch of people, but I think it was a lack of doing some side stuff or fucking up in conversations. I didn't neglect the side missions completely, especially when they tied into the main mission but I couldn't quite seem to figure out how to fix the issue, but it didn't end up being a major problem for me personally.
I thought the DLCs were fine, I liked Awakening much more than Witch Hunt, and although Awakening felt like there was some unnecessary (to the main plot) side stuff that sort of drug it out, it also felt very quick. I remember trying to do side stuff and ending up getting throttled into the end of the story. I enjoyed my companions in Awakening but simultaneously felt like I didn't get to know them at all, so I think I'd need to find a way to complete more missions on the side and explore without getting locked into the end so early. I didn't rush through, it just ended more abruptly than I expected and I think the order in which I went about things probably expedited the end. I actually liked Anders a little more than I have in DA2 (not to say I dislike him) but I also liked Nathaniel and Sigrun. Everyone else I felt fairly neutral about, but again I did not feel particularly attached in general in such a short time. I did find the story interesting, even if it didn't particularly lead anywhere in the long run. I do wish we got to see more of these companions post Origins. Witch Hunt was nice, as I enjoyed Morrigan as a companion but it definitely felt a little drawn out for me. I was able to complete it quickly but I found my companions a little irritating and it felt like a lot of just fighting, so I wasn't as intrigued. I think I would definitely play Awakening again, but not worry about Witch Hunt as I already know what happens.
Specifically about Zevran's romance, he's probably one of the most tame romances I've ever pursued (not to say his story isn't serious because it is!) but I really enjoyed it and I just adore him. I do think the abundance of glitches did not help with my experience in his romance, so I would hope upon replaying that it would go smoother. I did feel really attached (I've been missing him in DA2) but I did almost feel like I wanted more romantic or even flirtatious interaction with him outside of sleeping with him. That being said, I did enjoy how many romance based conversations there were as the game went along, and I thoroughly enjoyed his romance, story, and lore. Again, I think overall I would find out more about my companions upon completing more side quests and bringing them while exploring. My first DA romance was also Solas, which is quite a hectic experience to compare to. I did really enjoy that my other companions commented on the relationship, for better or worse lol.
I appreciated how much of my decisions actually carried over and legitimately seemed to have an effect in DA2 - even if it was something small. As much as I enjoyed VG it felt that nothing mattered much, so it was nice to see decisions carry over into the DLCs and the next game from Origins. I recently went to put my canon playthrough in the keep, and even though not everything carries over, there were just so many decisions to log, and it almost felt crazy how many decisions my HOF made that impacted things. The only decision I had a lot of grief with was the ritual. If I had it my way, I would’ve let that other warden die a heroic death slaying the archdemon as he offered, and everyone could’ve been happy (including me rip). As guilty as I felt making Alistair do the ritual, I couldn’t sacrifice my HOF and even more break Zevran’s heart. But I definitely procrastinated and wanted to hide while I played through that interaction and conversations.
Again, overall I really enjoyed the game and I’m very happy I finally sat down to play it, even with its faults. I would love to eventually revisit it, as I now have some new favorite companions and I just really felt intrigued and involved in the world as I played. Feel free to chat about it with me! Onto DA2 I go, and then I’ll have played all the games :)
I was also half asleep upon writing this, so please forgive me for anything wacky 😪
Wish I could draw every character from this game but these kinda take me a while to draw unfortunately :( I will definitely draw at least a few more characters and perhaps in a few years I can draw everyone haha
My partner is so sweet and talented and since I've been fixating on Origins (we're both in the trenches rn honestly) they drew Taimi/Zevran for me 😭 I'm obsessed
I literally cannot stop thinking about them, giggling and kicking my feet.
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