Veilguard has nice character designs, (and the three companions I've found are all conventionally gorgeous women, by the by), but it's also full of very-adeptly rendered environments that make me feel nothing and look like they were focus-tested for min-maxing high-fantasy whimsy at the expense of any identity. That plus the quipmaxxing and ever-present "follow me" diamond have really made me feel like the game wants me to minimally engage with it, since it doesn't matter if I actually pay attention. If I glossed over the last five minutes while it drip fed me flashing lights and sounds, it doesn't matter, one of the companions will already be telling me to pull the lever over there.
Ghost of Sushi's "Wind of fate" mechanic where the wind diegetically blows in the direction of your quest is hands down the greatest innovation in open world gaming since Morrowind invented cliffracers, while also being the solution to the awful "quest marker" diamond. It's such a cool and elegant solution to a decades old problem.
Oh yeah! I was thinking about how I haven't played many aaa recently, but remembered that I had enjoyed that one somewhat despite having a lot of the features that I don't like about these kinds of games. I had forgotten the wind, which definitely did make a difference!
![[CW: enbyphobia ] This is either bait or made by a tourist.](https://hexbear.net/pictrs/image/ab4638a4-095b-479a-ab01-9bc27b03a2fa.webp){kind=link}
Veilguard has nice character designs, (and the three companions I've found are all conventionally gorgeous women, by the by), but it's also full of very-adeptly rendered environments that make me feel nothing and look like they were focus-tested for min-maxing high-fantasy whimsy at the expense of any identity. That plus the quipmaxxing and ever-present "follow me" diamond have really made me feel like the game wants me to minimally engage with it, since it doesn't matter if I actually pay attention. If I glossed over the last five minutes while it drip fed me flashing lights and sounds, it doesn't matter, one of the companions will already be telling me to pull the lever over there.
Ghost of Sushi's "Wind of fate" mechanic where the wind diegetically blows in the direction of your quest is hands down the greatest innovation in open world gaming since Morrowind invented cliffracers, while also being the solution to the awful "quest marker" diamond. It's such a cool and elegant solution to a decades old problem.
Oh yeah! I was thinking about how I haven't played many aaa recently, but remembered that I had enjoyed that one somewhat despite having a lot of the features that I don't like about these kinds of games. I had forgotten the wind, which definitely did make a difference!