Dragon Age The Veilguard Criticism Thread (formerly Skepticism Thread) [Spoilers]

There was some logic to it in previous games.   In DAO the whole thing went to hell at Ostagar and you end up one of two Wardens left.  Alistair goes to pieces so really that just leaves your PC.   They have some old treaties as guidance as to whom to approach.   Back then there was no way of contacting Weishauppt easily.  (Asunder introduced communication crystals between Circles and they continued with that idea in DAI, plus ravens.  Strange they had nothing like that available to us but then when DAO came out there had been no Game of Thrones TV show where they use ravens).   Still, leaving that aside, if you cared about your survival you really had to step up as with the majority of backgrounds (other than mage) you probably could argue you at least had some idea how to lead, even if only a small group.   By the end of the game and the Battle of Denerim, we did have a large army of allies to aid us in relieving the city.   We even had a second group where we appointed a leader to support people back at the gate and swapped over to mid-way through our journey.   So you did get the sense it wasn't just us involved in the battle and other groups had their own leaders.   We just directed them when we could.  The same was true on the roof against the Arch-demon.

DA2 doesn't really count because you weren't leader of some major faction, just a group of friends/allies trying to make your way in a hostile city.   Then in DAI you did have the advantage of the anchor and the whole prophesy thing to give you some leverage as a leader.   Also, other people, like Josephine, were working like crazy behind the scenes to improve your image.  If you really messed up big time, you could get a total game over screen but on the whole there was a valid explanation for why you succeeded when you did.   With the mage/Templar decision it was about persuading them to help with the Breach, not rescue an entire city.   When Corypheus came against us with his army and dragon, we did need to cause a landslide to give us time to escape.   When it came to Adamant and the Arbor Wilds we did have an entire army of allied forces behind us.  However, most of what the Inquisitor was engaged against was just smaller groups of enemies that we could deal with on our own.

What seems weird about DAV is the degree to which it is Rook and only Rook that makes the difference in any scenario they are involved in.  Okay, there is still the grand finale involving the various factions you have recruited as allies but even then it is not them that really make the difference but Rook and, from what I've seen, there is no real sense that this leadership role has really been earned in the way it was throughout the other games.   You just did a few faction quests, dealt with some personal issues and found out a few things.    I'm still puzzled how Rook was promoted to Varric's deputy in the first place.   "I've seen you work".   It is a pity the player didn't get similar insight before the prologue.