Dragon Age games usually tend to be rather divisive, so it ultimately doesn’t come as a huge shocker that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is yet another example of the series’ fanbase being split on something. There’s a lot to like in BioWare’s recently released action RPG, but at the same time, a lot that many have also been let down by. Our experience has been along those lines as well, so here, we’re going to go over some of the things that we liked and dislike the most in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
LIKED
COMPANIONS
Few developers in the world are better at crafting companion characters than BioWare, so expectations from The Veilguard were high in this area- expectations that it lives up to with some confidence. Though the game has its fair share of issues where its writing and tone are concerned (more on that later), The Veilguard’s core cast of characters is hard not to fall in love with. Getting to know and developing your bond with each of the core seven companions always remains one of the game’s highlights, while a solid cast of secondary characters (led by none other than longtime fan favourites in Varric and Solas) helps strengthen the cast further still. Dragon Age games have always boasted incredible characters, and thankfully, The Veilguard doesn’t buck that trend.
LEVEL DESIGN
When BioWare confirmed prior to its launch that The Veilguard would be a linear, mission-based game rather than an open world, many breathed a sigh of relief not least because of the many issues Dragon Age: Inquisition had due to its bloated open world structure. Having now played the game, we can confidently say that that pivot was very much the right decision. The Veilguard’s main missions do leave a little something to be desired in how incredibly linear and railroaded they feel (especially in the game’s earlier hours), but getting to revisit areas and explore them in much more open-ended and non-linear fashion always remains enjoyable. Unlocking shortcuts, finding looping paths, and using different companion abilities to find hidden areas and rewards- none of that stuff reinvents the wheel, of course, but it does remain engaging nonetheless.
LORE AND PAST CONNECTIONS
Dragon Age lore has never failed to impress, and The Veikguard doesn’t disappoint in this area either. For starters, it’s hard not to be enamoured by simply existing in Thedas and learning more about its rich history, cultures, locations, and factions, but on top of that, The Veilguard also resolves many past Dragon Age games’ background narrative threads and lingering plot elements in satisfactory ways. Obviously, being a direct follow-up to Inquisition, that’s the game that it connects to most overtly, but The Veilguard also ties in with Origins and Dragon Age 2 in some neat and rather unpredictable ways.
VISUALS
Mileage will definitely vary in this area, because Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s new visual style has been quite divisive among fans. There are those who don’t like the game’s new stylized look, especially compared to the darker and more grim aesthetic of past Dragon Age games, but though we do see where those arguments are coming from, for our money, this is a great looking game. The Veilguard boasts some of the most visually striking environmental design we’ve ever seen from BioWare, character designs that are full of personality, and a stunning level of attention to detail. On top of that, the game is also incredibly well optimized, running like a dream on all the platforms it’s available on.
COMBAT
Similar to its graphics, The Veilguard’s combat isn’t necessarily an unequivocal victory, because there are many who don’t like its hack-and-slash action approach. Again, we can see where those criticisms come from (and even agree with some, as we’ll discuss in a bit), but by and large, we like The Veilguard’s combat. It feels fun, fast, impactful, and immediate, and flitting between enemies, unleashing abilities, comboing companion attacks, and dodging and parrying incoming blows always remains enjoyable on at least a fundamental level, even if things can feel a little shallow and repetitive from time to time.
DON’T LIKE
WRITING
This is probably one of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s most egregious issues. We’re not going to rewrite history here and say BioWare games have always had flawless writing, because clunky dialog and exposition have been a thing in BioWare games for pretty much as long as they’ve been around. But even so, The Veilguard feels like a definite step back. By and large, the game just feels like it’s been heavily defanged, and though the game does keep insisting that it’s telling a high-stakes story, very rarely does it actually feel that way. On top of that, you also have the overly quippy dialog and banter. Again, that has always been a thing in BioWare games, but with The Velguard’s writing not being up to scratch in other areas, the issues with its overly quippy dialog end up standing out that much more as well.
LIGHTER TONE
One of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s most controversial shifts has been in its tone. Dragon Age as a franchise has always been heavily reliant on dark fantasy elements, and from Origins to 2 to Inquisition, the series’ aesthetic has always been an incredibly gritty and mature one. The same is not true in this case, however. Sure, The Veilguard does still have mature dark fantasy elements, but all of that has definitely taken a backseat, with the overall tone of the experience being much lighter than in previous entries. Combined with how toothless the writing can feel so often, that definitely comes across as a major issue.
DE-EMPHASIZED CHOICE AND CONSEQUENCE MECHANICS
You always, always expect a BioWare game to excel with its choice and consequence mechanics, even if this is an area where the studio has struggled in prominent ways from time to time, but The Veilguard feels like yet another instance of BioWare missing the mark here. Take the dialog choices, for instance- not only does the game present you with dialog options much less often than you would expect from a BioWare title, when it does do that, the options that it presents end up feeling very limited. Meanwhile, in addition to not having too much control over what kind of personality you want your Rook to have, you often don’t even get too much control over how the story will progress. There are, of course, times where you’re making significant, large-scale decisions in the manner that you expect to in a Dragon Age game (especially in the fantastic closing couple of hours), but overall, choice and consequence mechanics are heavily de-emphasized in The Veilguard, much to our disappointment.
SHALLOW PROGRESSION
BioWare has often been criticized for streamlining its games and stripping them of their “RPGness” a little bit too much, and The Veilguard also falls foul of that in some notable ways. Take the game’s progression mechanics, for instance, which have turned out to be surprisingly shallow. Progressing through Rook’s skill tree doesn’t feel nearly as rewarding as it should, thanks to a large number of the upgrade options being rather uninspired, and the lack of actual, meaningful build diversity is only exacerbated by companion progression somehow being even more pared back than it is for Rook.
CAN’T CONTROL PARTY MEMBERS
Overall, we’re fans of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s combat, as we’ve already discussed, but not all of its major changes work out for the better. Chief among them is the game’s decision to make Rook be the only playable character. Controlling party members has always been an important part of Dragon Age combat, so the complete lack of it is keenly felt in The Veilguard. For a game that already suffers from being a bit too shallow in everything from its combat to its progression mechanics, party members being removed from the equation to this degree only ends up adding to those problems.
