Where does DA go from here?
DA: The Veilguard. Man, where do I begin? The highs can be pretty high, and the lows are definitely quite low.
Whether or not the art style jives with you, this is some of the best - imo - production value I've seen from an RPG in a long time from facial animations, settings, etc. Props to BioWare for that. The zones feel independent, unique (also gorgeous) and really give you an insight to the cultures and people there. I enjoyed exploring for awhile until it felt almost Inquisition-grindy. I couldn't push forth too far into OG Inquisition for its engagement mechanics, which were pathetically Ubisoft-esc.
The classes - though few - feel very distinct from one another. Unfortunately, I don't see that driving me for another playthrough as combat becomes fairly grindy and repetitive especially on higher difficulties where enemy health is jacked up to no end. Playing as a rogue has been a good time, and I'll give praise to BioWare for allowing the player to freely respec their character at will. I've tried Duelist, Saboteur, and Ranger builds and have enjoyed all three for their variance on gameplay.
There are some great voice actors, but we know the writing isn't good. Said writing is PG-13 or pushing PG at times. I found myself enjoying the moment more than the actual dialogue except with Solas, I'd say. He was always enlightening to chat with. Enjoying the moment in dialogue in this game is more so enjoying the visuals and production values stated above. The companion stories DAV range from fantastic to needing to be completely reworked or removed from the game (obviously not happening). I'm a progressive and inclusive guy, but Taash's story feels so incredibly forced that I actually had to cringe. BioWare shit the bed on this. I don't care what race, orientation, etc. a character is, but to drag a player down some HR-infused storyline is bad writing - very bad.
IDK, man. DA has never had an entry even remotely close to another. DAO is one of the best games of all time. DA2 was massively rushed by EA and suffered for it. DAI tried to mix 1 and 2 alongside some heavily grindy mechanics. DAV succeeded (somewhat) with its combat model but lacked BioWare's legendary writing. It's a series that has a serious identity crisis. I hope we see another one, but I doubt it.
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Nowhere, because it tanked them for hundreds of millions. The next one, if they or whoever might buy the company if they go bankrupt ever decide to make another, will be in 15 years or so from now when the generation that played this one has forgotten and the next doesn't have it in their memory to begin with. And then they'll make one that radically moves away from everything this one did, perhaps a soft reboot type game like God of War 2018 was to the rest of the series, likely with a similar time skip too. That's usually how companies behave when one of their flagships flops really badly. They'll recognize that it still has name value and thus potential, more so at least than marketing an entirely new IP, but they'll want to do the opposite of what caused a financial crater for them last time, and they'll want to do it only once the wound has healed or been forgotten in their fandom.
If you thought Inquisition to Veilguard was a long wait; expect twice that for the next, because Inquisition didn't even tank. In fact, it was their most successful DA game. To go from most successful to brutal flop is absolutely going to make Bioware take a real long look at the drawing board, hence why so many people working on this game were immediately let go as soon as the numbers came in.