Review in Progress: Dragon Age: The Veilguard

The nearly decade-long Dragon Age drought has officially come to an end with the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard. In the time since Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s release, developer BioWare has released Mass Effect: Andromeda and most recently, Anthem. Depending on who you ask, both of these titles are typically seen as alright at best, but I think you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who feels as though either lived up to the typical high-quality standards that BioWare had been known for in the past.

For a quick comparison, The Veilguard gives me serious Dragon Age II vibes, mostly in terms of its combat and gameplay. I’m just over 30 hours into The Veilguard and while I feel confident that I’ve got a firm grasp on what the RPG is all about, we have to keep in mind that like most BioWare games, The Veilguard is very story-driven. As such, I feel it’s important to point out that my impressions in this review in progress are based on having not reached the finale of this story-driven RPG.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PC, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: BioWare
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Released: October 31, 2024
MSRP: $59.99 on PC, $69.99 on Consoles

The Veilguard drops you into the action quickly. The story takes place ten years after the events in Dragon Age: Inquisition. One of the optional companions in Inquisition, the elven mage Solas, has seemingly gone rogue and is carrying out a ritual to tear down The Veil, a barrier that exists between the physical world of Thedas and The Fade, also known as the Beyond. After some interference at the behest of the player and his group of companions put together by none other than charismatic series regular Varric, the ritual is stopped but at a cost. Two ancient Elven Gods, Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain have pierced the The Veil and are now free in the physical world.

Tasked with creating a team to hunt down the Elven Gods and prevent the full destruction of The Veil—hence the name Veilguard—the player is thrust into the role of Rook, the protagonist. Despite being in the final act of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I’m still not entirely sure how I feel about Rook as a whole. The character has grown on me over the course of the Veilguard‘s journey, especially more recently. But I’ve had a really tough time feeling Rook actually belongs.

It’s a tough task to navigate for BioWare, for sure. Rook is a brand-new character in Dragon Age who is essentially tasked with saving the world. For all intents and purposes, it makes complete sense, this is the best way to in the end create a meaningful connection to the main character for both new and returning players to the series. But it resulted in much of the game trying to tell me that Rook is important and the right person for the job, even though it never feels like they really are.

Important characters from the series’ entire timeline – all the way from 2009’s Dragon Age: Origins through the most recent Dragon Age: Inquisition – make an appearance in Veilguard, including franchise favorites like Morrigan and Varric. Even Inquisition’s protagonist that you play as, The Inquisitor, makes an appearance in Veilguard. But the whole time the characters are constantly trying to sell you on the importance of Rook. “Oh you’re Rook, I’ve heard of your mighty important deeds, you’re perfect for this!”

By extension, I have found most of the new companions in Veilguard to be very solid additions to the evergrowing list of important characters in Dragon Age lore. I’ve grown fond of Neve, an early companion who is a part-time private detective, a member of the rebellious Shadow Dragons faction, and a badass ice mage. As you progress through Veilguard you’ll learn more about all of the new companions as you continue to grow and expand the Veilguard.

In terms of actual combat companions though, I wish there was a little more substance to them. They essentially serve to give you access to additional skills that you can call upon in combat as opposed to opting to use your own character’s (Rook’s) skills. While you can choose where to put points in their respective skill trees and even equip them with gear, it feels quite meaningless as they don’t actually do much in combat outside of you choosing to use their skills. They have no health bars, and the damage they do on their own is minuscule. In a single standard attack, you do multitudes more damage to enemies than the basic attacks of your companions that only shave off a sliver from the health bar with each hit.

It’s a real shame because the actual core gameplay of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a rather satisfying feeling. It’s reminiscent of Dragon Age II opting for fast-paced Action RPG-style combat as opposed to the more tactical and strategic combat of Dragon Age: Origins and even Inquisition. You choose from three starting classes: warrior, rogue, and mage. Each class eventually branches into one of three specializations, allowing you to further cater the playstyle around exactly what you enjoy. I opted to go Warrior eventually specializing in Slayer, which focuses on wielding massive two-handed weapons.

I enjoy the combat of the Slayer, charging directly into combat and dealing insane amounts of damage while dodge-rolling around to avoid attacks. The combat also reminds me of one of my favorite action RPGs, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. The fast-paced combat makes boss fights particularly fun, although a bit difficult at times. Despite my gripes on how limited the companions actually are in combat, the core combat for you as the protagonist feels extremely polished and could very well be the best in the series.

Ultimately, I think the final act of Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be a major factor for me in ranking how Veilguard holds up to the rest of the series. There are constant choices to be made throughout Veilguard, with the game constantly telling me that the choices matter. But outside of one major choice in the early game, most of the choices haven’t actually changed much. However, it wouldn’t be out of character for a BioWare game to be keeping track of all my choices throughout my journey to dictate which ending I receive, or which endings I have access to.

If you’re looking for a solid RPG in a beautifully built world, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is certainly that. The combat is fluid and satisfying, and the world of Thedas is well-designed and fun to explore. The story has its drawbacks, but overall it’s still better than most. Whether it will live up to the prestigious storytelling of the previous Dragon Age games will very much depend on the RPG’s curtain call.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}