Bioware did not see the contents of this review before its release.
The story of a game is one of the most important parts, wheels turning, moments going from just another interaction to something weighted in significance. Dragon Age: The Veilguard brings to life a miraculous story, coating its world in shades of pink and greens, and delicate hues of existing in the consequences of your choices. The characters build this world up into something charming, miraculous, and at points emotionally devastating. As this was my first time experiencing the world of Dragon Age, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Seeing how immersive the mechanics and character interactions were at points took me by surprise and reminded me of my time with Baldurs Gate 3. The sharp witty remarks made by Solas, and the kindness displayed by Varric all came down to a very pointed special experience of a game that has now become one of my favorite core memories.
An ebb and flow:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard takes place ten years after Dragon Age: Inquisition and sets up the story so that Solas and the gods are the ones to be stopped this time. Now as a disclaimer, I did not play Inquisition but looked into the story and romance between Solas and the Inquisitor so I would have some background. I went down a Dragon Age black hole that I was all too happy to catapult myself into. Seeing how you meet Varric for the first time, and how the bond of Solas and the Inquisitor carries over into Veilguard, was truly wonderful. It’s nice how the story was carried out and held a great significance and weight not just with how the narrative design was accomplished, but the choices within the narrative design, seeing each moment as either a victorious leap and hurrah or a monumental fail.
Veilguard created the ebb and flow within the story at certain points that brought me to tears, and at other points, it felt strained and forced. In a dialogue option, you can choose to say “oof”. Now while this isn’t the worst thing in the world, remarking on something by merely stating “oof”, is underplaying a moment in a game a bit too much for my liking. The writing of the game caught me off guard in so many ways with how both good and strange it was at points. Even the way the characters interacted with one another would always be a tossup. A major critique I have of the writing is how there are certain points in the game where everyone was being so nice to one another. No debates, quarrels, or real tangible disagreements. I know, a strange critique but hear me out.
In a lot of games that rely on a substantial amount of character interactions for the story's advancement or certain questlines the way characters interact with the playable character is crucial in how the story is told. At certain times in Veilguard our team would meet up in the kitchen or the main common room to discuss a plan of an attack or how we are all doing thus far. A lot of those discussions, while substantive, lacked arguments or discord of any kind, leaving certain conversations always positive and happy-go-lucky. While yes, this depends at times on what dialogue you choose, these always happy moments felt bland and unrealistic leaving some of the story points in the game lackluster and boring.
Swift, fun, and exciting:
The mechanics in Veilguard are so much fun and add a layer of dynamism to the characters, the bosses, and even the cutscenes. While no, you can’t use any mechanics or controls in the cut scenes other than choosing dialogue options, it’s the way you attack a character or use a spell in the game and how it shows up the same way in a cutscene in its vibrancy/sameness of how it's applied when utilizing it while playing. It’s a small detail but cool to watch nonetheless. The spells that can be used, and how each party member has specific things to use during their attacks make the experience of playing through the game exciting.
I mainly used Bellara and Neve, once Emmrich and Davrin came into the picture I also used them a lot in my party as well. During the story, you could also romance any of your party members and I chose to romance Davrin. This game has a lot of carefree fun, and that’s reflected in the narrative design at points and the mechanics. This is the kind of game you sit down with after a long day, with a hot cup of tea and a warm blanket, it’s a game that’s good for the soul and has incredible replayability.
I played this title on the PS5 and had no major issues be it graphical, or mechanical. The bosses in a lot of games (because of their speed) are usually the acid test for how fast and well a game will run if it slows down etc. This game kept up the pace and wasn’t lagging in any way. So for those of you playing on PS5, you will have a great time with this title. From poisoning to chilling your enemies there is a lot to do when it comes to battling your opponent.
Solas:
When I was writing the notes for this review, and looking more into what Sola’s character was about in the previous game, I knew I needed to dedicate an entire section to the elf that everyone loves. Solas is one of the best-written characters in the game besides Varric. When I saw the progression of his story it reminded me of Astarion, the way of his demeanor, to believe he can’t be loved. As if leaving like Edward Cullen during the middle of a conversation, cold, unbothered, and calculated was the right thing to do in Inquisition, but I digress. While he’s to a degree a background character in this title, not the main antagonist, but also not the main villain I feel as if his character was sorely underutilized for a good percentage of this game. He was a critical part of Inquisition, and each time I got the chance to have my Rook interact with him in Veilguard I felt the same way I did when I would get to interact with Astarion. He’s that good of character that’s multifaceted to the degree of being manipulative, cunning, and empathetic even. At the end of the game there’s a separate ending the player can get where if you romanced Solas in Inquisition, the inquisitor can be with him FINALLY. That ending is and does mean a lot to those who loved the previous game, it's nice to see that it was incorporated giving Solas and the Inquisitor the ending they deserved.
No new game plus, but you bet I will be playing all over again:
With completing the main story/game in 27 hours, and it taking a little to get into, when things started revving up, the tears flowed, and the giggles were plenty. I cared about the characters in this game, so many of them held such importance. I’m looking forward to going back into the game and doing each character's questlines to see how they were done. I also appreciate the inclusion of a non-binary character, Taash, they were a fun character to get to know, truly appreciate the developers adding in something that brings more inclusion into the game. Allowing players to see themselves as a character is something so important. Even in the character creator you also have the option to create a non-binary or trans character. I love that more and more companies are including these options to show people that they are seen.
Much like stained glass the story and existence of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is layered, and coated in this multifaceted spectrum of lights, sorrows, and laughter. When the game came to the final fight, and I had to choose which characters were going into different points of battle, a thought crossed my mind of “I don’t want to lose any of them”, because much like a great book you never want to see the characters you’ve gotten to know to perish right before your eyes. While it's sad, I’m glad this game got to a point where it made me feel sad, and hurt. A great story whether it be for good or bad always hurts, that’s why it’s so memorable.
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