Dragon Age: The Veilguard

This game would have been well received if it was a new IP but alas, it's Dragon Age and this 2024.

People who are surprised by the gameplay and mechanics somehow missed how DA has changed over its iterations. DAO was 15 years ago and this not a retreating to DAO.

First off, the game is GORGEOUS. Whoever hates the environment is salty that it's not brown and grey "gritty". The environment design is on top, it tells stories just like it should while looking great. I don't mind the character's looks as the customization is crazy, sadly BG3 spoiled us on mo cap and it does fall flat in VG at several points and for some of the characters (Bellara's model can't capture the VAs work she's putting in). While we're at the VAs, outstanding work, they're all killing it. The writing? Yeah. Could be better. A lot better. But people who whine about "MCU dialogue" apparently missed quipping has always been a huge part of Bioware humor.

The combat is ... fine. It's defenitely improved on Inquisition and a far cry from DAOs iteration. If one can accept this RPG has a capital A in front, the combat doesn't disappoint.

Story. World ending threat, gather a party, venture worth to chase red herrings, defeat villain. It's the regular DA fare and does it good. The foundations are solid and the villains creepy.

If you see this game as more of a stand-alone continuation in the series, it's actually pretty good.

The positives

• the story at first feels boring, but the further you come into the game, the more compelling it is
• some of the lore will blow your mind with revelations of what's actually been going on
• Combat mechanics are a lot better than previous games.

• Maps feels open-world despite being "restrictive" like in Dragon Age 2, because there is so much to explore
• The Dragon Age 2 dialogue wheel is back, so you can make a "purple" Rook (iykyk)
• your choices shapes the world and the characters around you
• The Character Creator is AMAZING
• Every level is breathtaking in its own way and you absolutely should take a moment to look around and take in the details. The level designs are amazing.

• Photomode so you can take pictures of the scenery, with adjustable sliders to get the pictures how you want (you can also abuse it to look around for solutions to puzzles)
• at first I wasn't interested in the companions, found all of them annoying despite Lucanis. Get to know them and they're actually pretty compelling.

• They walk around and have a life without you and conversations you can overhear at base. They develop their own relationships between one another
• NPCs feel alive, and as if they actually have a head on their shoulder
• Great character designs
• Cameos of previous characters you would not think would appear
• you can pet every cat and dog you come across
• Companions' rooms evolve as you progress the game
• You can costumize what your outfit should look like when you explore, and are not bound by what armor you are wearing
• puzzles are easy to figure out if you look around

Negatives

• No import of previous choices in previous games, and they feel abandoned. Only the Inquisitor and their love interest, and whether they believe solas is able to be saved or not, has meaning
• No mention of ex. What happened to Blackwall
• you have to get used to the female rook voices (for me at least)
• Inquisition and Trespasser made Solas seem like he was going to be the Big Bad, but he is no such thing in this (as far as i have played with my 27 hours as of writing this)
• some cutscenes seem a bit useless, especially since the same thing will be explained by a certain someone literally minutes later
• you cannot walk up and start random conversations with your companions like in previous games, and pester them with questions about their lives
• they dont seem all that happy about gifts, and is only a "oh thanks :)" and nothing more. At least they display them.

• some chests are LITERALLY impossible to get to, no matter how much parkour you perform, or abuse photomode to find the solution
• There are still bugs here and there, like in cutscenes where characters dont show up

This is all what I could think of at the top of my head, both good and bad, but you should give it a try.

I've been playing these games since the beginning and have loved every single installment. They're right up there with some of the best in the genre, thanks to their uniqueness. Dragon Age has always been dark, gritty, realistic, and believable, with characters that feel relatable. For those who didn't know, one of the many inspirations for this series was A Song of Ice and Fire, and you can feel that influence in the earlier games.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, though, has none of what made its predecessors great. It's goofy, light-hearted, bright, and at times too cartoony. Does that mean the game is as bad as people say it is? Absolutely not. Believe it or not, this is a good game. It has major issues (which I'll get into), but overall, it's a solid experience.

The combat is decent, for the most part. Yes, it can get repetitive, especially since you're limited in the number of abilities you can use. I don't have major complaints here-it's not as fluid as Inquisition or Dragon Age 2, but it's fine.

The Good:

Polish The Veilguard is well-made in terms of technical achievements. It runs beautifully, with only minor frame drops. I played this on a 7900 XT, and it was smooth sailing with barely a hiccup. Which is rare in today's gaming landscape.

Voice Acting The voice acting is impressive, and most actors do a great job. The standouts, of course, are Solas, Varric, and Lucanis, but the whole cast does solid work overall.

Length This isn't a short game, thankfully. The main story runs around 40 hours, and with the side stories and character arcs, it easily stretches to 100+ hours. For a game of this size, it's worth the price tag.

Graphics The game looks stunning at times, especially the environmental textures. The shadows and lighting are remarkable, and there were many moments that left me catching my breath.

Cinematics The cinematics are by far the game's biggest strength. They're often spectacular and would have been even more impressive if paired with a better-written game. The large battle scenes are particularly well-shot and create some truly epic moments.

The Bad:

Writing While the story is good and has its moments, the writing... not so much. The dialogue is downright awful at times, verging on cartoony and high-school cringe. If you've seen those scenes making the rounds online, yes, they're just as bad in-game. Now, not all of it is terrible, there are stand-out moments, mainly with Solas, but I'd say around 70% of this game is poorly written. Those cringe scenes? Somehow, they're even worse when you're actually playing through them.

Characters This one hurts. The Dragon Age series has always been renowned for its characters, some of the best in gaming. Bioware used to put other studios to shame with how well they crafted characters like Alistair, Morrigan, Leliana, Cassandra, Varric, and Sten (to name just a few). Here? The Veilguard has a small handful of compelling characters, but overall, it falls flat. Neve, Harding, and Lucanis are intriguing, but everyone else? Bland and boring. Even worse, you can't interact with your companions freely, no getting to know their backstories or personalities outside of scripted moments. This is infuriating, and it should have been a slam dunk. Oh, and they also wasted the Inquisitor in this game. My female elf Inquisitor who romanced Solas had exactly one meaningful moment. That's it. The rest of the time, she's practically a background extra. Thanks, Bioware for wasting one of my favourite video game protagonists.

Level Design The level design is, frankly, terrible. Every area feels slapped together without much thought. Some cities even have areas you can only reach via...ziplines. Yes, you read that right. Ziplines. You have to swing between buildings to get anywhere. It's completely immersion-breaking. Say what you want, but I loved Dragon Age: Inquisition's world; it felt big, grand, and worthy of exploration. Here, the areas feel like cramped puzzle maps.

Puzzles The puzzles...oh, the puzzles. It's not that they're difficult or interesting, they're just lazy and repetitive. You'll be doing the same mindless puzzles repeatedly, and they're so simple that it feels like the developers think we're all dim-witted.

Music When I heard Hans Zimmer was on board, I was excited. But the score? Disappointing. It's not as dark as Origins or Dragon Age 2, and it's nowhere near the epic masterpiece that Inquisition's music was. Replacing Trevor Morris was a huge mistake.

Only Three Choices This is a glaring issue and almost made me skip the game entirely. Dragon Age is built on choices with real consequences, choices that carry over from one game to the next. Here? Only three choices carry over, and they're all from Inquisition. So, everything you did in the other games? Utterly pointless. Sure, some argue that "the story is set far away," but this game deals with world-ending events involving Blights, demons, and Red Lyrium. The Grey Warden, Alistair, Hawke-they should be here. Leaving them out was a slap in the face. If we get another game (fingers crossed, no spoilers here), they better bring back those choices. That's non-negotiable.

Rook This one bothers me more than it should, but Rook, your protagonist, isn't "your" character. Most of Rook's dialogue is scripted, and you can't shape their personality. Unlike past games where you could make your protagonist your own, The Veilguard doesn't give you that honour.

This review is long, but there's so much to say. In the end, The Veilguard doesn't deserve the Dragon Age title. It's more like a weird parody at times and would fit better in the Fable series (and if you haven't played those, they're brilliant). Weak characters, clunky dialogue, poor design, and sloppy writing drag this game down. It's a shame because somewhere underneath all this, there's potential for something amazing.

6/10.

I'll say I'm about 5 hours in right now and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. For being a soft reboot of the DA series it feels gritty and dark, yet fun and light. The characters feel individual and their voice actors are spectacular. I will definitely say I do miss some of the open world at times. But I definitely appreciate it creating a tight quest and level based world and not trying to do too much, and fall short. There's rpg elements, the build craft system is excellent, the combat is fast paced and furious...the hits feel solid where they need to be and weak where they need to be. I'm still not a pro at dodge vs shield but that's a skill issue haha. All in all DA:V does storytelling and gameplay like DA:2 did, but better.

I do wish there was more world building from the first 2 games, but again, I understand this is a soft reboot and this is what they intended to do. I'm on board fully with this one.

This game has been review bombed to no end, by countless people dwelling within their(hehe) parents basements. Pronouns and gender options make their ungabunga brain go owwie.

But I digress!

This game is quite simply one of my favourites of everything that has released this year, and picks up 7-8 years after Inquisition ended.

You play as the character Rook, who is on the trail of Solas with Varric and Harding, and things don't go to plan.

The combat is engaging, the story and dialogue options are fun, and as someone who didn't think they were going to enjoy the more cartoony style of this game, it's grown on me. The location visuals are beautiful, plus you can actually effectively jump for the first time in forever.

It's worth the play through if you enjoyed the other games!