Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

Developed by Bioware and published by Electronic Arts, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is long long-awaited sequel to Dragon Age Inquisition. Minor spoiler for that game, but 10 years ago we were left on a cliffhanger that the magical elf of the party Solas was more than he let on. He is the Dreadwolf and some call him the God of Lies and it is revealed he was responsible for the atrocities caused through the Inquisition. Is Solas evil? Is this a massive betrayal? How will we bring him down? Questions we have been waiting 10 years to get answers to will hopefully be answered in Veilguard.

                In those 10 years, a new console has been released and a lot has changed and developed in technology. The teases throughout the years left our mouths watering some days and scratching our heads on others. Has it lost the grit that the first couple of games in the series brought? Do the graphics look too cartoonish? Have they tried to make the game too inclusive to appease everyone and sacrifice quality? Well, I will try to answer these questions.

                You play as a unique character called Rook. You have great freedom of choice in race, backstory and your looks where you can select the most beautiful hair. For some reason, the graphical progression that has happened with hair movement is very noticeable. Whereas previously the hair looked either too static or it bled through the armour and moved very generically. Now it flows wonderfully and it is a nice touch; I know it’s not a key selling point but it is impressive (you can read more on this tech on EA’s website). But after you have decided what you want to be, how you want to look and what the backstory is you have to decide which of the main 3 fighting types you want to be, a warrior a mage or a rogue. The last part of the customisation which is a nice touch is that you can configure the Inquisitor from the previous game and some of the choices there were to make. As they left it 10 years it would be difficult to import it from the previous game. But those with a good memory can make the Inquisitor close to how your one looked 10 years ago and the choices they would have made which is a nice touch.

                You get a brief intro before you create the character with Varric the rogue narrating how Solus is trying to commit an act that will doom the world and although he may believe he is doing the right thing he still needs to be stopped for the sake of the world of Thedas. After you create your character, you are treated to a nice cutscene breaking you into how you want your character to act in your search for Neve a detective you believe can help you find Solus. In this cutscene alone the graphical look and voice acting are a joy to watch.

                Then your control begins and I have to say I was impressed. Just outside the bar, the view of the scenery was lively and well-designed. The voice acting is still great as you move along to your destination. Varric keeps talking as do other companions as you explore different areas. They quiz each other about their lives and it immerses you into the game. I feel the different areas are quite attractive in their own ways. From run-down streets, to a beach area with ruins, a necropolis and a magical lighthouse in the fade.

                The combat I have a mixed feeling about and this is due to some interesting decisions. The action and animation are great they look very impressive and responsive. There is a parry system that has been adopted by many games where if the indicator shows yellow then that is the point you hit the parry button. But if it is red you need to get out of the way as it is unblockable. As with previous Dragon Age games you are usually accompanied by up to 2 other companions. Using the bumper buttons, you can set your companions to perform skills for extra damaging attacks, strength boosts or healing. You are also introduced to combo detonations which are a fun addition and encourage you to mix up your party so your companion’s moves complement each other. By this, I mean one of your companion’s skills can weaken an enemy which makes their attack weaker. But in their weakened state, one of the other companions could have a skill that detonates the enemy in that state which means it triggers a super attack which can do big damage to enemies caught in the attack area.

Each character has an evasive roll and dodge move and you better get used to it as this is where I had some frustration. In short, your companions don’t seem to ever get downed and weirdly it seems the enemies – in particular bosses – know this as they fixate on your character. As I played through as a rogue, I tried to be a ranged fighter but that was hard work. Trying to fire arrows when every enemy is trying to hit you makes that challenging. I had to constantly evade and dodge whilst my companions had an easy ride of things. Don’t get me wrong there are some skills your companions can do to taunt and draw attention but this only lasts briefly. I quite like a challenge and I don’t mind it as it does make the fights trickier and more satisfying when you win but that’s a stark difference from previous games in the series where you always had a tank to absorb the damage and draw attention. But that was only on my rogue playthrough, playing briefly as a mage you can cast a magic barrier instead of the deflect mechanism which is handy and switch between different magical attacks which is pretty cool.  The warrior can switch between a sword and shield and a giant hammer. Where the shield can be constantly held up to prevent damage the large hammer only has a parry move.

It’s been 10 long years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition. Fans of the franchise have been patiently waiting for the next installment…and it’s finally here! Dragon Age: The Veilguard has landed in our laps and having completed my first playthrough last night, I can honestly say that despite a few bugbears that it was worth the wait.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels like Mass Effect and Dragon Age 2 had a child, in a good way. The way the maps and story are laid out are in a more linear fashion than the vast open spaces of Inquisition but are not overly repetitive like DA2. Combat feels very much in the hack and slash category, but much improved on the DA2 formula and you can still be strategic in battles, whether you’re selecting one of your own attacks and trying to get a combo attack from your companions.

For the first time in the Dragon Age series you can only select 2 companions to go on missions with you, meaning once you’ve recruited everyone, you’re leaving 6 behind. Selecting which 2 to take with you on missions can really turn the tide in battles, each enemy has strengths and weaknesses and if you end up taking to companions that the enemies are strong against, it makes the fights that much harder.
There are a lot of companion quests, if you keep up with them you pretty much get a new side quest for them each time you complete a main mission which really does flesh out the characters and get to know them and their backstories.

Unfortunately, the game isn’t perfect though…combat at first can feel like a grind until you start unlocking abilities, it was around the 10–15 hour mark that I started to really feel like what combat was supposed to feel like. The story as well took a while to get going once you’ve completed the opening prologue; I won’t deny that at one point I was worried this wasn’t the game I’ve been waiting for. Dialogue as well is a bit of a letdown, more similar to DA2 as you’re restricted to being positive, sarcastic or assertive apart from the odd occasion your story background will give you some unique dialogue. Race didn’t seem to matter either, that may well of been because I chose to go for a human first time around; it will interesting to see if there is any specific dialogue for my elf playthrough, given how they are treated around Tevinter.
 
Despite a slow start, Dragon Age: The Veilguard didn’t disappoint and the top spot I reserved for it at the top of my GOTY list isn’t likely to be threatened. For what could be the last time we visit the Dragon Age setting, the end mission was an emotional roller coaster that had me tearing up a few times which I don’t think a video game has done for a long time!

Second Opinion – Peter “Kuninch”

                Combat aside the storytelling is as gripping as it always was, you are never too sure if Solus is truly evil or just misguided until you progress. There are the tough game-changing choices you have to make which steer you more towards some companions over others. These are great for replay value and make you feel like your choices are impactful. The different maps have a nice balance of linear and open worlds. By this I mean the areas are never fully open world as they do branch off into smaller paths and some areas are closed off until a certain progression in the story has been made. But once you have progressed the main story a little bit you are free to explore these other areas and complete side quests or the mini puzzles that are strewn about to give you loot as the prize. There is a good degree of freedom in how you want to progress the story but there are some restrictions which do encourage you to progress the story so you obtain all your companions and open up areas of some of the maps.

                In terms of skills and equipment, there is a decent variety of both to enjoy. Each class has their unique skill paths which could lead to 3 other sub-classes so as you get a feel for combat you will start to lean towards what works best for you or which skills you would like to explore. To coincide with this is the large variety of equipment that you can find or buy. I like the nice touch of if you come across the same equipment rather than it being a duplicate it increases the rarity of the equipment which can unlock other perks to the equipment. These perks are to be used in conjunction with the skills you assign. If your weapon does extra frost damage then you want to put your skill points into skills that can lean into the frost damage to make it even more powerful. This goes for you and your companions so you can play around with what works best for you.

                What I also enjoy is the freedom to change pretty much everything. If you dislike how you look then you can find a mirror of transformation. Although you cannot change your class or race you can change your gender and how you look if you feel like a change during your playthrough. Also, more importantly if the subclass you chose isn’t working for you or you fancy a change you can just reset all your skill points and reallocate them differently to try one of the other subclasses which is interesting. There is no penalty to doing this so you can switch them up as often as you like.

                With all that content in the game, a playthrough could take on average around 60 hours which is quite a decent length for this series. The choices you make in the game are so vast it encourages more than one playthrough to see how things play out with different choices. There are many main quests, companion quests, side quests and puzzles to seek out and complete to occupy your time and make your play through much longer. I know there has been much said about the inclusivity and some of the dialogue of the game but I didn’t find any issue with it. It’s a fantasy game so you’re supposed to suspend reality and enjoy the ride and that’s what I have been doing and I cannot wait to see it through to completion.

Conclusion

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is exactly what I wanted from a Dragon Age game. I just wish I didn’t have to wait 10 years for it. It ticks all the boxes for me in that it has a great story to tell, there are tough decisions to make, the voice acting is great and the gameplay is enjoyable. My only gripe was that my rogue playthrough involved a lot of evading but that was my choice and it only makes me want to play it through again as a different class.

This game was tested and reviewed on Xbox Series X/S (via a Game Pass Ultimate subscription). All of the opinions and insights here are subject to that version.