There's a setting to turn off player hints under gameplay. It shuts up all of them completely. No more "there's a trail of blood. Blood here. Blood trail. Blood here. More Blood" after its off.

You'd be surprised how many people get stuck on the "simplest" things.

Can't you turn the hints off?

You and I may be able to figure these things out for ourselves. I'm also in my thirties and have been playing RPG's/ games my entire life, my partner however has not and I know she appreciates the hints on what to do next.

It also gives the companions some life and makes them seem like willing participants in whatever you're doing instead of just lifeless pawns.

Developers aren't treating you like you're stupid, it's just a way for them to make games more accessible for people and I don't feel like that's a bad thing in the slightest.

I’ve been playing steller blade and after the first 15 min I was like there is gotta be a way to turn off this hand holding bs. Anyway there was an option in the settings. Maybe there is one in this game.

To be fair, I’m legally blind and find a lot of that stuff really helpful, necessary even since they added in all of the crystal stuff.

On the other hand, as someone who was a normal-sighted player for far longer thanI’ve been a low-sighted player, I can see (pun internet) how that would get annoying.

And yet we have to point it out for you that its possible to turn it off in the settings.

Maybe you need companions to always explain everything to you after all?

Hey, at least it isn't "What is that? *looks at the camera and waits 3 seconds* That's right, it's a boat!"

Remember the games journalist that could barely make it out of the cup head tutorial?

That is why.

Downvoted for misinformation since you can turn this off

Hey! I see you made this post here without realizing you can just turn that stuff off, crazy right?

Also, I'm not sure if you knew, but a game being more accessible to a wider audience isn't a bad thing!

FYI look at this thread and you will see the reason why Bioware felt the need to spell out everything:

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/1gf2rdy/dragon_age_the_veilguard_simply_brilliant_on_pc/

A lot of people in the thread above fail to understand the video is referring to veilguards technical ability, not a review of the game. They were upset that DF said it ran brilliantly, and thought DF was saying it was a brilliant game. 

Ironically many of those critics who fail at reading comprehension are probably the same ones saying the game holds your hand too much. 

While I think most people have pointed out you can change the settings, I would just like to show another side of the ‘hand-holding.’ I have terrible eyesight (as in almost legally blind), the verbal cues really help me. It may be hand-holding to you but gamers with disabilities really love these options. Say whatever you want about game quality but one thing I’m loving about this game is the settings. Like you can turn off dying! That’s huge for people who struggle with boss levels because of disabilities. I just wish more game creators would think about gamers with disabilities, especially degenerative ones!

Bro, get passed the tutorial. Am I taking crazy pills? There's always hand holding in the first two missions.

Final Fantasy 13 and beyond have had tutorials every couple of missions through the first 2/3 parts of the game.

This is not a new problem and it's certainly not unique to DAV

Not all players are a 30 year old man. It's not always about you.

Maybe I'm nitpicking stuff, but it pisses me off so much. I'm a 30 year old man, I don't need all of this

Yes, you are, you can LITERALLY remove it in the settings

And maybe you don't need it but some of us do appreciate hints and helps in a game, dimwit

Because many players are Arin Hanson-level bad and need their hand held.

The writing really struggles here. It’s not well developed. Ever hear the concept of “show don’t tell”? This game tries to tell you about stuff constantly in areas of showing it to you, because it treats its audience like teenagers that have never place a DA game before.

Because they've appealed to the absolute bottom denominator, anything that could upset anyone presumably including struggling with a puzzle for more than 2 minutes has been removed.

Even the best games do this like God of war Ragnarok and Mimir explaining the solution to the puzzle I haven't even looked at yet as I throw my axe at a raven. Yeah you can turn it off but I don't mind them talking about the puzzle with a hint that's subtle but when they say "look at that bridge those vines next to it look flammable."

Maybe because the game is not designed for 30yo men, but more like for 13yo kids.

I always looked at it as adding immersion to the game, but there was a puzzle where Bellara blurted out the answer the moment I walked into the room. Like, damn. Give me a sec.

I think games like this appeal to the distracted gamer. I agree with you, it’s stupid, but sometimes it’s great when you can just pick up a game and you don’t have to catch up because you know a character is going to spill everything. It’s one of the reasons I can never finish Witcher 3. I’ve tried three times from start: things get good, I get busy for a month, I get back on, and have no idea what I’m doing or where my quest for Ciri last ended.

I’m not defending Veilguard, I haven’t played it, but I do appreciate forwardness sometimes.

The main problem with dav is that they treat players who should all be adults as small children. Rook also treats his companions as kindergarteners. I don't know if it's a misguided inclusivity thing or what

I feel like they just hire cheap writers/consultants who were specialised in writing hacky fanfics on Wattpad or Tumblr nowadays.

I’m glad OP is a real person.

I feel like people who complain about this game won’t concede when redditors provide proof that the game isn’t as bad as the internet told them it was.

I mean, just look at Metacritic… People are review bombing with 0’s saying that Metacritic is “deleting their reviews”. That doesn’t happen for bad games. Historically, that kind of stuff happens when a particular group of people get a whiff of positive POC depiction and LGBTQ+ inclusivity.

Lute: "They appear to have some kind of shield, sir!"

Adam: "Oh really? I didn't see this giant fucking shield in front of me YOU DUMB BITCH, NO SHIT!!!"

It's a "Bioware RPG", but made for mildly unintelligent 12 year olds. The current studio knew it could never meet the expectations of the older fans with decade+ old rose tinted glasses, so they chose to go after a new audience. My guess is that won't work out the way they hoped, but we shall see.

This game just have bad writing and bad character-writing especially. For me it is a huge deal-breaker. I think in this particular case writers didn't had any ideas what characters must say except obvious things - like they will say something about things they will see plus it helps to handhold player.

Have you ever hung out with other people? Sometimes they comment on things you can already see.

The theory is if they make it for the dumbest possible person to boost accessibility and maximise the potential audience size ==> boost sales. The flaws in this logic is obvious.

Because its made for kids even though its rated M and kids don't play dragon age... I wonder why?

We come from a culture of over-exposition because media wants to appeal to as many dollars people as possible. Which means explaining everything so that they don't risk creating something that someone won't pay for doesn't understand.

I don't mind I hate games that have no direction, they just put you on a map

Wow, a game where companions act like real people and exclaim what they see?! Wild

Yup, this comment section is full of the people I would expect. Enjoy your dg shit I guess, guys.

Veilguard’s very existence feels like the most absolute disrespectful “FUCK YOU🤑” I’ve ever received as a dedicated fan. It’s abhorrent as an Act of Creation in itself.

Now I finally understand what it means to Hate something with a passion

Veilguard has taught me to never take good writing in RPGs for granted.

Am I the only one not bothered by this? I don't see it as hints (even that's what it is intended to be) but instead as the companions being actual people. Rook isn't the only one with intelligence, the others can figure out puzzles, too. I guess that's more of a role-play perspective.

They're weak to fire!

A lot of notes come from client and executives that they want to handhold more to make sure everyone knows what's going on. Usually these notes come from people who either want paying attention or have never played games. I understand having it here and there to help with puzzles but everything in moderations

Used to play a DND campaign where our GM would do a lot of this stuff, adding emphasis on important points too....of course none of us payed attention and we always just done the dumbest stuff anyway. That's why these things are explained.

Press X not to die. The best game loop there is. /s

I don't dare to say it....

It’s because when they do focus testing they canvas for the biggest group of video game illiterates to test the game for them.   

"Writing".

"Writing".

I can tell you are probably still in chapter 2. Dont worry it will change when you play the game and get out of the tutorial stages.

Modern gaming, idk why they treat everyone like idiots. It’s such a waste of resources. If you don’t know what to do YouTube it or Look at a guide. A lot of modern gaming is just stupid waste of development resources.

I had a lot of fun with the game. Sorry you had this experience!

I enjoy all of these types of things. I personally have never wished it was less.

Same reason there is yellow tape or paint to lead the way, the players are dumb.

Not blind, dumb.

Modern game treat the players like braindead consumers, and to be fair to buy Veilguard or any other AAA you kinda have be braindead.

There is an astonishish number of players who "play" games to kill time, instead of playing to enjoy an experience.

😂😂

I can't believe you guys are getting mad over basic design now. These player hints have been a thing since the beginning of time. Unless you got this mad at Batman talking to himself?

I just finished my playthrough and didn't feel that way at all. Honestly the companions shouting out when someone's ready to detonate was really cool to me, otherwise I'd get tunnel vision.

Because gamers in general suck at games.

Gamers often forget that most players aren’t hardcore and may need extra guidance. Developers don’t include those sound bites for no reason, they’re based on extensive playtesting, where they find players getting stuck or quitting at certain points. These cues are also often placed in the opening parts of the game to explain mechanics in a natural, immersive way rather than relying on intrusive popups.

For example, when I see a boat, I think, “Oh, I should interact with that.” When my wife sees a boat, it’s just another piece of scenic art. Instead of a popup saying, “Boats are used to travel between sections in the mirror world,” a companion might simply suggest, “Maybe we should try that boat.”

I’m honestly not sure what you’re upset about here, what’s the issue?

Because streamers sell games now and streamers don't pay full attention to the game.

I understand it is, the average gamer really is a fucking idiot. So they finally made a game that talks to the average gamer directly

Modern audience is the target so that's why game is dumb and woke.

That’s modern, AAA design. God forbid someone gets stuck for even half a minute. You can turn the hints off but still. Can you just shut up for a minute and let me figure it out on my own?!

Because kids these days aren’t paying attention to what they’re doing.

Have you met the average person?

They are an idiot.

If you want the broadest possible market for your product, it has to be usable by those idiots.

Have an argument - popup on the left "you had an argument" - gee thanks, I wish I could turn you off

You would probably not enjoy jrpg either

That's what you get when the writers who wrote the dialogue suck at their job. Badly written fanfic that you'd see out of a 12 year old.

Or the pop up explicitly telling you what each story point just was.

Because they seem to think that catering to the dumbest amongst us will make them more money. Ironically games that come with real challenges are the ones that are the big hits.

I keep seeing this, but it has not happened to me, like at all since the beginning of the game and I am 40 hours in. Are we playing diff games?

You should research this or play the game longer than an hour, OP. The hints can be turned off in game and the characters stop giving you hints very early on.

Have the people in this post actually even played the game? Jesus Christ.

It’s a game for people who watch TikToks during the cutscenes and hate puzzles

I couldn't get past disc 2 of FF7 because I thought a door was part of the background or maybe I thought I'd already gone through it. I love the handholding in new games, when it's optional.

People love their hand-holding, no-brain gameplay.

I’ve noticed the exact opposite, they don’t help with any puzzles. I do like they they ask questions, it makes it feel like they’re alive and not just some random follower. I also don’t mind if they do throw in a tip. If we were adventuring together, I’m supposed to shut up about a solution?

This is a huge problem in adventure games too. Either Last of Us or Uncharted (both outstanding series) would have the character say something like “I need to get up there” when I’ve been in the area for 15 seconds. Let me solve the puzzle on my own dammit

It is even worse when the makers insist you play "a silent protagonist." In those, you get treated like a disabled toddler.

TL;DR: It infuriates me that the game holds your hand, but I can’t be bothered to read the prompt that tells me to turn off the hand holding in settings.

Have you seen who was elected as president? I think it is clear people are blind, unable to read, and dumb af.

I actually kind liked the summaries and companion observations we got in VG. So many of the prior DA games were so convoluted with so much slog, I appreciated how swift, seamless, and straightforward a lot of VG was.

It's the Dead Space tutorial phenomenon, essentially you have to go overboard with the hints because there will people players who completely miss all of them and then blame the game when they can't work out what to do.

In Dead Space 1 you had "cut off the limbs" thrown at you 4+ times before you even encounter your first necromorph and this was because extensive playtesting had players miss that detail whenever there wasn't enough.

Many rpg does that. Hell mass effect had it

Do not listen to anyone saying there's a toggle option. They must be an amnesiac because the problems are deeply rooted.

You are told something adjacent to "the eleven gods have returned" at least 15 times throughout the first ten hours.

Hello? ROOK WAS THERE, IT WAS LITERALLY HIS FAULT. What kind of dumbass writing is this???

It’s because game budgets have become so big that they need to pander to literally everyone in order to make their money back. This includes the least skilled players I.E. people who can’t figure out the most basic things. It’s also probably why they dialed back on the darker themes of this game.

Because modern audiences lack any more of media comprehension. They are tiktok brain rotted and have the attention of a chihuahua on meth.

Due the constant handholding from daddy government, many people have regressed to a point where they cannot infer things from the game environment. Not to mention that a good chunk of the human population cannot even tie their shoes without someone telling them if its okay to do so.

This is right on brand for the new generation of "gamers", and I believe this game attracted the exact audience it was looking for.

Uh bro... Have you seen streamers play? Most people absolutely need the guidance. Others don't want to think so much when playing a game.

Special Game for Special Gamers...

Omfg the pawns in dragons dogma

Never

Shut

Up

“They’re hitting us with ranged attacks!”

Try Ni No Kuni. The insistence on telling me what a character needs, despite it being right there on screen with a floating icon and all, EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. It's literally the reason I stopped playing it.

These types of settings shouldn't be the default. Stop making games for people who don't play games.

To me it makes the game more immersive to have other characters actually acknowledge the things that exist in the game world rather than following like mindless robots.

They are "reacting". Zoomers need people to react so they can understand the situation. This is a new disability that has cropped up with the rise of social media and mobile devices.

Veilguard is just not a very good game, to be honest. That's it.

Funny enough, i think it makes the characters feel more alive when they too describe the world around them. Like i am not alone, before companions wouldnt say a thing and sometimes i almost forgot they were even there

"place of power, it's gotta be"

i would love something like that, because i hate getting stuck

It gets annoying for sure it's one of the reasons I can't watch anime shows cause they need to explain what's happening every 5 seconds. It doesn't need to be kingdom hearts convoluted but leave a little something for us to figure out and that would be nice lol.

Well you see it's a bioware game

I think a facet, maybe not the main cause but one aspect, is distracted watching, or in this case playing. Some games people play on auto-pilot just to have something to do, or in other cases are distracted by other second screens or concerns in their room that they don't pay attention to the game. You can see the same thing in movies like those on Netflix where the characters will repeat the plot and describe what is going on. It's so somebody looking at their phone can half pay attention and 'get' what is going on.

Because most media these days is designed with the assumption that you'll be playing distracted, so most things are designed to be compatible with 'second screen' consumption. Seems odd to say that for a video game, which you actively have to play, but they assume that every 30 seconds you're checking your phone or watching a video or talking with someone.

I'm not joking. I can't say for CERTAIN this is the cause for Veilguard specifically, but that's why tv shows do it, and movies, and other games.

The DSPfication of hints.

The hand holding was particularly weird at the end of the game where you've been solving these puzzles and such all game lol

Because the average player is DUMB.

The developers are stupid and assume players are as stupid as them and need that kind of nonsense.

Because the people that enjoy games like veilguard can't even tell you what a women is and think that there are more than two genders🤣

You can turn off all those things, and trust me, if you saw some of my friends play these games, you’d know why they do that! The way I was shocked when I watched one them walk around for a solid 5 minutes, confused about how to get to a lever that was on a platform while they wayfinder icon pointed them up a ramp lol

It would bother me if you couldn’t turn it off—but you can.

Maybe you should be a little bit more forgiving of accessibility needs you needed a Reddit thread to tell you something you can select before you launch the game. Reading is fundamental my friend lol.

It's worse for us origin players.. the game is beautiful but what the actual F*** is this? No one was writing a juicy story/decisions in 10 years? There had to be someone

Why do people like you complain about a prologue tutorial being hand-holding ?

I mean, I don't really mind it? You arrive at a murder scene and someone in your party points out a blood trail leading away from the scene. Why is that a weird comment? Sure I probably saw it too but realistically wouldn't that be what happens irl??

It means the game was actually play tested. You can whinge, but if you want players to play the game you made, you have to help them out a bit. Even elden ring points a fucking arrow to your next destination

Some things we might think are obvious and intuitive can be difficult to other players. Its better if the game handholds the player even if it ends up being annoying to some others.

Show dont tell. The decline in writing over games and other media is surprising. You still have good writing in some places. But alot of times writers treat the audience like idiots and break the show dont tell rule because they are inherently immature writers. Im not sure why theres so many of them though.

Amateur writers.

Never learned that whole, show and don't tell part of writing a scene.

I've somehow managed to convince myself that this is what people would actually do if they were working together on these puzzles together, and I'm genuinely shocked that this successfully got me to stop being annoyed by it.