SkillUp vs Mortismal Gaming and the Veilguard reviews

I got tired of all the drama and bought the damn game to form my own opinion. 10.6 hours in, it's pretty goddamned terrible and I genuinely went in wanting to like it. The dialogue and overall writing have been beaten like a dead horse, but on top of that, the game essentially drops you into scenarios completely breaking immersion.

Example, spoilers if you care: Treviso intro mission, you go through an eluvian, walk a few steps and the quest NPC is magically in front of you. Then you follow them through the city while listening to inane dialogue, only to be brought to another NPC who bombards you with more inane dialogue, the writing of which is worse, by far, than WoW quest text. You're then brought to a boat whereupon the NPC in response to a lore question as to why there is a prison underwater and how you're going to get down there, responds with essentially: "Watch this!" while creating a whirlpool, then instead of a neat cutscene showing you descending into this underwater prison, you're just teleported into the map, at a point that doesn't even really feel like an entrance.

BUT WAIT, there's more! When the mission completes, you teleport out of the dungeon after saying to your new companion, "yeah let's go now", only to be teleported directly into a dialogue wherein more inane prattle is spewed at the player and you find out that OH NO, the lady who hired you, she got taken! From the room you're in, with no sign of struggle, in the middle of an assassin's guild full of feared mage hunters and killers. Like...I can suspend my disbelief only so far bro, at least try to sell your nonsense.

Finally, the facial animations are ass, but it fits the robotic dialogue so maybe it was an intentional design choice. The combat feels clunky, the block/parry doesn't feel good to use for reasons I'd outline but this post is long enough as is. After watching Skillup's review, I was set to wait for a deep sale to pick it up, because well... it's dragon age, I have to at least try it. However, all the vitriol I was seeing all over the internet drove me to want to form my own opinion. I sincerely wish I had stuck to my original plan. Anyway, rant over. I'm going to finish this game eventually, there are a few things I enjoy about it, but by and large, Veilguard is simply not a good game.

I think that a lot of the positive reviews for Veilguard can reasonably be explained by "popcorn gamers" - that is, the same sort of attitude you often see in moviegoers where people brush off criticism of plot continuity and other details by saying "turn your brain off and just enjoy the film." It's a distinctly uncritical approach that prioritizes "fun" - without grasping that some of us have very different definitions of what is fun and enjoyable. Case in point, millions of people loved the Transformers movies, while I found the CGI action so difficult to follow that I didn't even enjoy the fights and explosions (let alone the non-sensical "plot"). It all comes down to what you were playing the game for: A lot of RPG fans, and especially DA:O fans were bitterly disappointed by the story and writing, because the were looking for a dark, serious RPG with depth and nuance. People who were in it for a fun Marvel movie ride with flashy action, on the other hand, seemed to have loved it. I haven't played it, so I don't have much of an opinion other than to say that I don't find the stylization appealing and the writing seems truly abysmal; for these reasons, I'll be avoiding the title.

Reviewers have an inflated sense of their own worth. Don't they take themselves ever so seriously?

Um, forspoken is a pretty decent game if make two settings changes. Change the bracelet chatter to minimal and change spoken language to japanese. combat is very fluid and dynamic and progression system is pretty decent.

Mortisimals Vailguard video originally has the "return to form" in the description but once that phrase blew up, somebody noticed that he edited out that phrase in his video description. Talk about getting caught and denying it.

RPG Great Divide is narrated today by RPG Division. On todays episode we have a- WTF is going on?!

Satisfactory is my game of the year

Interesting topic, thanks.

Like many others, i have limited money and time. So I'd like to make informed decisions

I expected the two channel's opinions to be reversed. Gained some respect for Skill Up. Un-subbed from Mortismal. There's no way that a guy that nerdy about CRPGs puts DA as GOY. No way.

Mortismal is an authentic reviewer. He's closer to the old time FAQ creators, detailing the minutiae of lore and getting all the 'achievements'. He's never been strong at judging writing and if as a watcher you've never noticed that, I'd guess you aren't either and this one came to your attention because it's bad on a cultural level. This game was written for the young kids who have bi-relationships at IGN. SkillUp prides himself on doing critical analysis and he's pretty good at it, but you don't want Video Game essays to all be the same either. It's not a "science"

The game is for teenager girls - not for man after 40. I will not play it even for free:)

I’ve followed Skillup and Mortismal reviews for years. The fact they had such polarising viewpoints made their review of Dragon Age was very weird. It cousin be that it just really resonated with Mortismal. But given his love of really tactical rpgs, I can’t see that being the case. It’s ahead scratcher

Mortismal For me. I trust the guy on Elex and other double A games review. It was informative, unbiased and facts

My problem with Mortismal is that he tends not to substantiate his stance. More often he makes absolute statements (like Vanguard being the best Bioware game or that Origins is overrated), but if asked how so, he isn't able or willing to actually give an explanation. I also find it super weird how he thinks because he 100% a game it somehow gives his takes more gravity. Like sure you absolutely should finish a game before reviewing it but just because you did 100% it a surface level "it's good bro trust me" kinda review doesn't become a more valuable review.
Even if I don't agree with SKillUp on some of his takes, at least he explains how he came to the conclusions, goes into details and gives examples why he did/didn't enjoy certain games.

You are spot on, Mortismal says a lot without really saying anything - that is what all his reviews are like. And its not just him, most people's reviews are like that. Ralph from Skillup is one of the few reviewers that actually gives a meaningful analysis.

For sure it is a bad rpg but i like the fight gameplay. Dragon's dogma was way worst to me: performance, itemizarion, build diversity. DD was praised and bought it but it was a pain to finish. All that shit storm is related to the game name.

I'm not saying Skillup is wrong about Veilguard, but I don't watch him anymore, I usually don't agree with his reviews.

I unsubbed from moritismal gaming after 5 years its sad. it felt like a guy was paid

While skill up has always been playing it safe especially with all the DEI crap, at least his reviews are more analytical and in depth than mortismals. Mortismal reviews, while i liked him at first when he was rising, started to become more safer and more like overviews and in the end giving a very vague positive-negative with his final score. And after the Veilguard review i unsubscribed from him. Saying that Veilguard is a game of the year was when the mask fell of completely. Guy only cares for access so he can put average videos out faster than others.

Mortismal has been compromised. I pray for him and his family 😉🙏

Even if you like this game how on earth is it GOTY above metaphor and rebirth?

This time I disagree with you. Mortismal stated out that he got money multiple times specially with baldur's gate 3. And he told that he payed out his house from that. The video was something like plans for the future.
I think he definitely got payed. But lack of knowledge is not a sin in my eyes so I don't have any bad feelings towards you.

ironicaly, if they slowed the combat the gameplay would be automatically better.
i think they made it this fast because it makes it easier.

look at Dragons Dogma, it sort of has the same type of gameplay, but DD is slower and way more fun and also more difficult.

Both the reviewers mentioned have had access to codes prior to others. Skillup's initial apology has to do with the fact that he wishes to retain his privilege even though his review would be negative. As far as Mortismal's goes, I find it suspicious AF. This game is not GoTY material in any of the bullshit multiverses... SkillUp on the past has refused to review Hogwarts and Wukong with the same "excuse" and both games had the suspicious similarity of being attacked by the same mob.

Mortismal gaming always has good reviews, and i was shocked at how bad his veilguard reviews was.
i know he's a sucker for rpg, but there was no excuse to grift this game at all.

I start by saying I enjoy Veilguard. For context, while I do like the lore of the series, I did not particularly enjoy previous Dragon Age games. My overall stance is neutral, I guess. This game bleeds cringe at its worst. What the game does for me, I feel it does well, so it's a bit easy for me overlook other things. That said, I can hear the quality of your work in this video, and I hope to hear more of it in the future. Have my subscription.

My man getting views which makes me happy. This guy deserves more!

I completely disagree with most if not all of Morts reviews on the Dragonage series. I have no idea how his opinions formed to him stating DA2 was a better game than DAO and now believing Trashguard is the best in the series.

I just find it strange because his reviews of Owlcat & Larian crpgs are spot on.

Well put mate. Great breakdown.

I've watched most of his cRPG reviews , and Mort has one of the shallowest writing takes of a reviewer I've ever seen. It's typically the shortest section of any of his reviews in a genre where writing is one of the most important elements especially for a Bioware RPG. He never acknowledges the bad writing and even praises it at times .

I endured 16hrs and found and egregious amount of hate towards white men, capitalism and misogyny. The devs have the most rancid west coast privileged Californian values possible

Mortismal plays so many CRPGs and his reviews and recommendations have been very helpful in picking what games I should buy. So it was very surprising to see him love this game that goes against every single design choice that makes an RPG good. Dragon age shouldn't even be called an RPG, it's an action game with some RPG elements.

I unsubscribed from Mortismal after the Veilguard review. He does not review games - he simply overviews them and dodge every point that people could potentially dislike the game. He simply says things like I like it or I don’t really care about these aspects.

I can’t tell if itself his honest opinion but I really couldn’t get anything valuable from his video.

if you say DA Veilguard is the worst, it's because you haven't played Dragon Age 2.

good review man..good luck

it would be great to have a real discussion about the game. the 4th to 10th hour is boring and so is the combat. but the landscape and foliage is amazing, so is the performance. some dialogue is plastered with modern day language, other dialogues are really entertaining and feel like inworld topics. darvin, emmerich and harding have cool quests. the story overall is kinda okay while the villains are meh. except for Solas who is great. so much to discuss, but it is only ign´s insane 9/10 vs. the same clips over and over again from the other side. and looking at the numbers the game is very underperforming but EA has no reason to close bioware

This is a drama channel now huh chudley?

This video doesn’t care about our time. You literally just rambled for 17 minutes and said nothing. This game is very good with some cringe dialogue. Doesn’t feel like dragon age game but it is very good. Reminds me more of guardians of the galaxy which is great. I’m a huge Trump supporter and a Christian conservative and the transformer crap really tics me off. Yet I’m still loving game. This video on other hand was a waste of everyone’s time

I tried the game out for myself and can't really agree with Mortismal. I can't get over bad dialogue, hand holding and extremely contained maps.

Mark my words guys, same will happen on his Avowed "review" when it releases in february. That gamr will just be a watered down version of pillars of eternity in terms of characters, story and combat mechanics. He will definetely be a Avowed shill

It makes no sense for Mort to be lying in "this particular instance" (as he likes to keep saying). His review of Veilguard cost him a lot more views than falling out of Bioware's favor. But he said his opinion anyway. In my book that makes him a lot more honest than those hundreds of bandwagon jumpers chiming in on how this is the worst game since Golum.

The amount of "I don't agree with the review, therefore he's wrong" and "I agree with this review so this one is better" in the comments is staggering. Reviews are subjective, and they (and everyone else) can like/dislike the game. I don't like veilguard, it's not for me and I can't divorce it from DA series, but my friend plays it as a casual action game and has a great time. To each their own. You really don't have to call people with different opinions shills and shitheads. And if you have to, then my brother in christ, touch some grass.

C'mon, now we are all obligated to have the very same opinion. I'm a simple man, I respect everyone who did 100% on Nioh. Even if I disagree ONE TIME. Sometimes people out of gaming are fucking right. We need to grow up.

"Just becuase you clicked n the video doesnt mean i have to suck up to you" и при этом сакает в захлёб)))) три видоса последних по veilguard и будут ещё, будет сакать до тех пор пока на хейт-хайпе можно набрать аудиторию. Лови так нужный тебе коммент

Mortismal is basically affraid to state any strong opinons. He is whole review formula is basically " here is some positives, here is some negatives , but overall I really did enjoy my time with the game " rince and repeat

When Mortismal said that this is probably his game of the year I was speachless. You said that this year was good, but not great. I guess you dont play jrpgs. For fans of this games, this was propably the best years since... I dont even know when. Sega, only, has Like a dragon Infinite wealth, SMT5 vengeance, persona 3 reload and Metaphor refantazio. All 4 could be a goty and we talk about sega only. We have also FF 7 rebirth, Granblue Fantasy Relink, trails through daybreak and probably few more that I forgot at this point. When you add Elden ring dlc and Wu kong you have one of the best years ever, the only problem is... none of this games was made in the west.