Posted in: Dragon Age, Electronic Arts, Games, Review, Video Games | Tagged: Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The Short Quest: We Review Dragon Age: The Veilguard

We may be late, but after some setsbacks and life getting in the way, we played Dragon Age: The Veilguard for a quickie review

So when Dragon Age: The Veilguard came out back in October, we found ourselves a bit busy. A lot of things kind of piled up on our proverbial doorstep, including a couple of conventions and an illness or two. But over the holiday break, we were finally able to sit down and play the full game. Previously, we played a demo of the game with a number of other journalists and content creators, getting an idea of what we'd experience while seeing the different systems at play. But that was just a demo of a game that was still six months out, and now here was the final product. We realize we're coming in late with this one, so if you're reading it, chances are you haven't picked the game up yet and just want to know if it's worth it after the hype. So here's our quick review for the few who still haven't picked it up.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard takes place a decade after the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition, as you find Solas in the middle of a ritual that gets interrupted and causes two ancient god-like beings (Elgar'nan and Ghilan'nain) to escape with plans to unleash a terrible blight upon the world. You play a character called Rook (as in Rookie) who joined the familiar team of heroes from the last title to stop whatever Solas is up to, and in the process of failing, you become psychically linked with Solas, who tells you how bad things are and how to repair them. From here, you find refuge in The Lighthouse within the Fade, which becomes your base of operations to travel the realms and fight off the evil these two have wrought, as well as hundreds of mini-missions that all play a part in taking them down.

Right from the start, this game is a LOT. It's not an open world, but it's pretty close as you explore three different plains of existence across the Northern end of Thedas. A lot of these locations have only been spoken of in previous games and guides, so this is the first time you're seeing this part of the lore come to life. When you stop into this world, you'll see that it's very much a BioWare title. From the characters to the settings to the dialog options. They have gone the extra mile to create a world where if you just want to get to the main beats of the story, you can do that with little issue. But if you want to kill all the enemies and find every secret, that option is here as well. There's really no wrong way to play the game, which is a nice way of making the game accessible to everyone. Sure, it's not going to make everyone happy; as we've learned over the years, every time the Dragon Age team does something different, there's always a group of people who hate what's new. But this feels like they went out of their way to give players who know nothing about this universe a chance to make a character and enjoy it at their pace.

Speaking of characters, you can customize your own with a variety of options that nearly rivals Baldur's Gate 3. You'll be able to choose what kind of a character you'd like and how they play, along with the standard RPG array of options from armor and weapons to a skill tree. The game steps away from previous systems and has migrated to a more action-based combat system but still retains a lot of the hallmarks of an RPG title. What's more, you can pause mid-action to heal, choose spells, switch weapons, and give orders to party members (which we'll talk about in a moment). As mentioned, you'll come across a variety of items that can help you along the way, as you can improve them or trade them out for better gear as you go. You won't be able to packrat everything and will need to make tough choices when needed, but with so many options, you won't care about that one armor that you found as there are seven more like it that are better.

The story for the game gives you everything you could hope for out of a Dragon Age title. First off, a lot of the characters you run into who become a part of your party you're either already familiar with from previous games, or you'll come to love in this latest title. You'll more than likely end up loving more than one of them, especially Manfred the Skeleton. Throughout the game, you will acquire teammates who will join you at your home base, which will slowly turn into a hub where everyone lives while trying to figure out how to take down the two major enemies.

As you get them, you are able to choose them as your companions on different missions. You'll build a team in a way that you see fit for each one, unlock their own skill trees, and give them commands. They can't die, but you can! So stay alive and utilize them to the best of their abilities in tough situations. All of them are fully fleshed-out characters with their own adventures and backstories you get to explore as part of the ongoing narrative, and they are worth every moment. Oh, and yes, you can romance them if you decide to, and you can pet the griffon one of them has as a pet.

A lot of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's appeal is that it does not need previous story arcs to carry it and serves mostly as a stand-alone title. By that, I mean that a lot of the work you did in previous games and the choices you made in them don't really matter here and have little weight. Some may find that offputting, but it's refreshing to know that I don't need to recall what I did in Inquisitor to grasp this game. (Although you can remake your character from the last one to show up here with some vital info.) But this is no different than if you played Mass Effect 2 as a villain and then suddenly played Mass Effect 3 as a hero. While it's nice to have some references to the franchise, it's also refreshing not to be beholden to them or have them as "required reading" before jumping in.

Overall, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is one hell of a game. It takes a lot of the best elements from the past and puts a new spin on things to tell a new story that gives the franchise a new life. The story was a fun one to explore, even if it did feel like it was on rails for a good chunk of it. The characters are fantastic; the RPG system is great to work with, and the action sequences (while repetitive at times) don't become slog or uninteresting, especially when it comes to the boss fights. Keeping things spoiler-free, you could play this game in the easiest setting and be entertained just by the cutscenes alone, as they have told a solid story that could bring about a new era for the franchise. Which, fingers crossed, doesn't take them another ten years to do.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard

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Review by Gavin Sheehan

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10/10

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has taken some of the best elements of BioWare's storytelling and melded it with action RPG elements and character-building mechanics. Oh, and dragons!

Credits

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Publisher

Electronic Arts

Developer

BioWare

Release Date

October 31, 2024

Reviewed On

Xbox Series X|S

Also Available On

PC, PS5

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