I thank god for that.

If its journal names, i find it doesn't always work. It's better than nothing but seems to struggle on some posts or comms.

what specifically sounds disappointing? I haven't been following so I'm curious

the other disappointed anon here! using spoiler text for those that want to go in totally blind, but i'm not mentioning any story spoilers below, just general trends.

the biggest dealbreaker for me is that the game is clearly sanding down a lot of the elements that i really enjoyed about the franchise and its lore, as well as bioware's (former? :/) style a lot. what i really liked about every entry of dragon age even if i had issues with the game itself is that the world was extremely believable in its difficulties, biases, and rough edges. characters had compelling reasons for believing what they do, and they'll argue with each other/sometimes you over it.

veilguard... pretty clearly removes all of that.

this is something i was concerned about months ago when it was mentioned that you couldn't play as a blood mage in the game. from the head writer (weekes): "Blood Magic is unlikely because we've shifted it from a power boost to really being the key to a lot of nasty stuff we aren't interested in having the heroes do. I think it can be ethically neutral if you only use your own blood, but after seeing it used as a required part of mind control and demon binding in Dragon Age 2 and Dragon Age Inquisition, it's just not a road we want the hero to walk right now."

and i was willing to give benefit of doubt for that alone, but combined with quite thorough reviews, it's pretty emblematic of the series changes. the player character can only be a hero, no aggressive options or even a chance to do bad things. the companions essentially all get along with each other, and their conflicts are insultingly juvenile. the companions are all generally nice people, and they don't bring the special biases or standpoints that you would expect from their background. "it's just not a road we want the hero to walk" is pushed to a level that i know i wouldn't enjoy because the world and characters have been stripped of the nuance and moral greys that i enjoyed about the series previously. it's pretty clearly no longer a dark fantasy

if anyone is interested in seeing a detailed critical review (with minor spoilers obviously), i recommend the video skillup put out because he lays out these problems with LOTS of examples throughout the game. and long examples too, so they're not out of context, clearly. but even further, if you go down the rabbit hole of "oh no is this game bad..." and read positive reviews? you'll see the same things pop up in those too. the reviewers just gloss over it when mentioned, so presumably it didn't dent their enjoyment, but it absolutely would for me.

it might be a fun game still! and i might enjoy the characters in a vacuum. but they really just don't seem to be part of the world and its complexity that I enjoyed prev

i also think there are other issues with the game that would potentially deeply annoy me, but the change in tone is the major one

and as a general side note, it's already an annoying game to be hesitant or negative about, because it's also """controversial""" for the stupid right wing chud reasons that i do NOT agree with at all, but all criticism gets lumped together

and out of courtesy if anyone wants to reply, here's the code i used for the spoilertext:
<span style="COLOR: rgb(102,102,102); BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(102,102,102)">text here</span>