Dragon Age: The Veilguard succeeds in crafting an entertaining adventure for new players and fans of the series. However, while it’s an enjoyable game on its own, it fails to capture the soul of the Dragon Age franchise. The deep moral choices and rich character relationships that defined its predecessors felt diluted. Dragon Age was a dark fantasy, meaning it featured blood and gore, and it never shied away from heavy themes. BioWare’s hesitation to take risks and explore heavier, darker storytelling undermines the game’s potential. In this review, I’ll be discussing what aspects of the game were strong as well as features that held it back.

Character Creation

The character creator in Veilguard is one of the game’s strongest features, offering a vast array of customization options. From hairstyles to facial sliders, players can design characters with impressive detail. The new style of the characters visually fits the fantasy setting, but something was off. Many of the characters looked stubby and once I noticed that, I couldn’t unsee it. Elves are known for being thin and tall, but they look really short compared to the other characters in Veilguard. I even noticed this with companions like Lucanis, whose wide frame made him look short and cartoonish.

Gameplay

Gameplay as a Rogue was a lot of fun. The flow of combat, executions, and ultimate offered an enjoyable experience. As a Rogue, combat never got boring. However, the same can’t be said for other classes like the Warrior. Other players online have complained that combat as a Warrior felt arduous. Its ultimate, which involves the character slamming their fists into the ground to deal damage to surrounding enemies, has become a joke amongst players like YouTuber Angry Joe, and for good reason. It’s hard to take a character seriously when it looks like they’re throwing a tantrum on the battlefield.
There was a lot of puzzle solving and it became very repetitive pretty fast. Puzzles involve you either moving a crystal from one place to another or popping a blight cyst that connects to another cyst and then another. On top of that, companions often made comments about what to do even during the simplest of tasks. There was far too much hand-holding going on, and while they never directly told you what buttons to press, it was just as immersion-breaking.

Dialogue

Speaking of dialogue during gameplay, Dragon Age: Inquisition did this very well and there were moments when Veilguard almost lived up to this. In Inquisition, one of my favorite aspects of the game involved your companions talking to one another while you traveled. Their unique insights into each other’s personalities and the world brought them and their surroundings to life. There were moments when your companions did this in Veilguard and I quite enjoyed it, but it didn’t feel as lively as the previous game.
Oftentimes, dialogue during key story moments was pretty weak. The voice actors did an amazing job, so the fault here lies in the writing.

Companions and Romances

Previous Dragon Age games featured a cast of unique and loveable companions, most of which you could romance. Veilguard does this too but I found myself not caring for most of the companions, besides Neve and Lucanis. Their stories were very cliche and the romances followed the same rigid formula.
Veilguard’s predecessors and other BioWare games like Mass Effect have some of the best romances in video games. Each romance was unique, it felt like it had life behind it. There was chemistry. The romances in Veilguard don’t have this. There are set moments where romance scenes happen after a certain main mission, and then the climax of the romance is nearly the same for each one. It’s hard to enjoy a story when you can see an obvious structure behind it.

The Story

After finishing Dragon Age: Inquisition and learning that Solas was the mastermind behind the events of the game, I could not wait to get my hands on Veilguard. Solas as the antagonist was probably the best aspect of the game. I loved the back-and-forth between him and my protagonist at times. His character is complex and the twists and turns that happen near the end are, without a doubt, the best part of Veilguard.
Despite its many flaws, there were plenty of strong moments within the story. It had a strong beginning, the Siege of Weisshaupt was intense, and then the ending was action-packed and cinematically pleasing. Inquisition has a bit of an anti-climatic battle, so this definitely made up for it. As someone who romanced Solas in the previous game, watching my Inquisitor and Solas finally get their happily ever after had me in tears.
But, the rest of the story wasn’t nearly as entertaining. For an RPG game, the only choice that made a huge difference was the final one. In Inquisition, your choice to side with the mages or the templars came with a whole new quest unique to that choice. If you sided with the mages, then you were thrust into a dark future that you had to escape from. If you sided with the templars, you were trapped in your own mind by a demon that posed as your companions and mocked you.
In Veilguard, the biggest decision you make is which city to save. While it can affect your companions, your romance options, and the faction residing in that city, it honestly doesn’t have much of an impact.

Final Verdict

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was entertaining. I would be lying if I said I didn’t have fun while playing it. However, compared to the rest of the series, it was disappointing. Without the inclusion of returning characters like Solas and Varric, iconic elements such as the Fade, and the ever-mysterious Grey Wardens, Veilguard would have felt like a generic fantasy RPG rather than a continuation of the Dragon Age series. These few nostalgic touches provided the most enjoyment for long-time fans like myself. With the direction the series is headed, I find it hard to hold out hope for a sequel that can recapture the series’ former glory.