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The wolf has been defanged
It has been 10 years since the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition and a lot has changed since then. BioWare, specifically, has undergone massive changes over that time, with much of the leadership of the company moving on. Included in those departures was David Gaider, the lead writer and creator of the setting of the Dragon Age Franchise. While Dragon Age: Inquisition released to critical acclaim, receiving the first Game Awards’ “Game of the Year” award in 2014, BioWare has had only a few games come out since then – both of which would be classified as ‘disappointing’ at best. 10 years is a long time to wait for a new game, especially one as highly anticipated as Dragon Age: The Veilguard. So that begs the question: was the wait worth it?
Well, let’s talk about it.
Publisher: Electronic Arts Developer: BioWare Platform: Played on PC Availability: Released on Oct. 31, 2024 for PS5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series S/X |
Dragon Age, as a series, has always been inconsistent in terms of its gameplay, tone, and even its art direction, in some respects. Its general need to reinvent the wheel could be likened to another famous RPG series: Final Fantasy. While perhaps not as drastic as the Final Fantasy series, Dragon Age is a property that does not iterate on many of the core concepts in previous games, opting to instead completely modify any aspect they felt was not working for the latest game.
Dragon Age: Origins, the first game, was a largely grounded dark fantasy game with a breadth of roleplaying systems and opportunities. Dragon Age 2 kept many of those bones, but made some shifts in tonality and gameplay – opting for a more quippy, or sometimes even silly, tone compared to its predecessor. That isn’t to say Dragon Age 2 did not have serious or dark moments, or that Origins was humorless, rather there was a shift in the prevailing tone and tenor of the story and dialogues. This was supplemented by BioWare changing how dialogue works, offering 3 choices at a given time – Diplomatic, Humorous, and Aggressive. Dragon Age 2 also modified the combat to a more action-oriented style, with a faster pace, button mashing, and waves of enemies versus set encounters you could plan for ahead of time.
Dragon Age: Inquisition then made another leap – eschewing much of what came before. Continuing the trend of tonal shift, Inquisition was a much more sanitized story, with nothing negative ever happening to you or your party, and no lasting consequences for any of your actions. In almost every instance, the “bad stuff” would happen off-screen, with you only coming in to see the aftereffects and do cleanup. Dragon Age: Inquisition made additional sweeping changes to the combat, now being almost entirely action-focused (although, there is an option for a tactical mode), and relying much less on consumables or traps. Inquisition also removed the existence of healing magic, opting instead for limited-use potions. The largest and most controversial change was the shift to an open-world style, with large explorable zones and an unimaginable number of collectibles and banal side quests.
Flashy and fun, the combat is always engaging.
Despite all these changes, Dragon Age kept a throughline on a few things – strong character writing, a grounded, semi-realistic art style, and choices carrying over to the following games in the series. BioWare has always excelled at character writing; these games have been no different. Some of the most complex and interesting characters to ever grace the medium have come from BioWare games and the choices you made regarding those characters always influenced the next game or games, even if in small ways. Codex entries here, dialogue there, or a questline that way – your choices felt meaningful and represented in the world around you.
I say all this because Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn’t really have any of that. Despite being an explicit and direct continuation of the previous entry, it has so thoroughly divorced itself from Inquisition and the continent of Thedas, it barely feels like it belongs in the same world. Some change is to be expected, but I was a little thrown off by just how different it is. How could a direct sequel, in a series known for its choices, only include 3 from the previous entry? I would be selling it short by saying I was incredibly disappointed with this decision from BioWare, and it becomes even more frustrating when characters from those previous games start showing up and just completely gloss over or ignore any consequential happenings from the prior games.
I think BioWare underestimated how much people appreciated seeing their world come to life, even in small ways, as the games went on. I do understand the difficulties this presents from a development standpoint. At some point, there must be a crunch in terms of what carries over – I just don’t comprehend why now. This is meant to be the big finale for many major plot threads in the series, and many major players are deeply involved in the prior game. Condensation is fine, but 3 choices total is bizarre. Veilguard goes to great lengths not to step on any toes for world states but it just seems off to include those cameos in the first place.
That lack of reactivity is not limited to imported choices – even self-contained choices are cosmetic or misleading. As you progress, it becomes clear you and your team are safe. There are never any real stakes throughout the campaign. There is a single choice in Act 1 that feels consequential and then absolutely nothing until you reach the end of the game. The game plays it so safe that you can’t even be a little mean most of the time. The dialogue wheel will present you with an option that may look scathing, but if you select it, you just get a lukewarm response that doesn’t even say what you’ve chosen. All outcomes through the bulk of the game are also predestined. So much is happening in this world, how can there be no tension?
Something you’ll also notice very early on is that there is almost no intraparty conflict – everyone gets along great. Even at their worst moments, team members are quick to reconcile after a short lecture from Rook, and most often the conflict is entirely juvenile. This is not necessarily a bad thing – it’s prudent to put aside your differences to face the greater threat – I just didn’t love the way all of it was handled. With so many disparate personalities and backgrounds, you would think something would pop up here or there. Companions in Dragon Age have always been very vocal about their dislikes and opinions of other members, often sparking some of the most remembered conversations between the cast.
Despite this, I do love this cast of characters. It may be my favorite companion class in all of Dragon Age history. Each party member is unique, and the game does a great job of fleshing them out as people. Many of the missions in-game are directly tied to the party members, and those quests are some of the best content in the game. There is a gift-giving system, but it’s underwhelming. You just bring the gift, and you’ll get a short dialogue about it and then it’s done. Even beyond that, many of the companion scenes suffer from the same writing issues that permeate the entire game – everything comes off a bit like it has been crafted for a children’s movie, rather than dark fantasy. The game also suffers from the exclusion of the opportunity to speak to your party members outside of their specific missions. There’s no way to ask them about themselves, their people, or anything they care about. Every interaction with your party is on-rails. And while all the scenes are so well animated, I think it may come off to some as over-animated. Everyone is so expressive physically that it creates juxtaposition with the underwhelming facial animations.
We may owe some of this to the shift in art style, which has been met with mixed reception, but I love the way this game looks. I don’t really mind the changes in proportions of the characters versus prior entries, and the high saturation and color palette give the game a clean look. The effects and environments are often flat-out stunning. The environments especially are gorgeous, with beautiful vistas, grimy keeps, and everything in-between. The layout of the areas being more self-contained seemed to help BioWare focus more on the visuals. Where Inquisition had giant, muddy, open areas, Veilguard makes everything worth looking at. However, I do feel like changes to some of the more iconic designs (i.e. Darkspawn) do a disservice to the franchise by further distancing Veilguard from Dragon Age’s overall visual identity.
The character models look incredible, and the hair is gorgeous!
The new visual flare works wonderfully with the combat as well. Splashes of color and nice particle effects keep the battles engaging - not that it really needed the help. I played a custom difficulty with enemy aggression and damage turned all the way up, and the fast pace and high damage kept me on my toes the entire time. It’s going to draw a lot of long-term comparisons to Mass Effect 2 – you map only a few abilities to your loadout at a time and give commands to your companions rather than fully control them. Also, much like Mass Effect 2 and 3, there is a primer and detonate system that makes up the real meat of the battles. There’s not much to it: some abilities set the weakened, sundered, or overwhelmed status, and other abilities detonate it – causing a high-damage burst. The systems have been shaved down to make room for the fast pace – much like the transition from Mass Effect 1 and 2.
The mechanical complexity has taken those same hits – with there being very few auxiliary systems to worry about, outside of finding gear sets and equipping it. There’s no more crafting, traps, supplementary potions, or anything of the like. Repeating the same missteps they did with the Mass Effect franchise, BioWare has distilled Veilguard down to only combat and conversations with more restricted input. For some, this might be a welcome change, as fights in the previous entries could feel a bit bogged down by all the options, and gathering and crafting was just so time-consuming in Inquisition.
There has also been a change in the composer for this title, with Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe taking over for Trevor Morris. It’s a pretty drastic change in style. I am generally a fan of Zimmer when he’s on, but it’s just another miss for me. I can barely remember much of the music from my time playing, but there are a few standouts. It’s not that I feel like the music is bad, per se. It’s just not particularly memorable, and occasionally doesn’t fit the mood of the scene or fight quite right.
One major strength of Veilguard is in its story. Seeing some of these plot threads come to a definitive end after so long was really satisfying. They really nailed it for me, especially in the back third of the game. Act 3 is just so moving as a long-time player. That said, I couldn’t help but wish for more. In my mind, there’s so much missing from the game because of those excluded choices from the previous games. As events were unfolding, I often thought back to some of the people who never made it into Veilguard. What would THEY be doing right now? There’s a lot of room for head-canons and fanfiction, but I prefer if stuff like that is codified. Overall, the game seems to have positioned itself as both an ending for what has come before, and a new beginning for what the Dragon Age franchise could be moving forward – within the narrative and without. There is a notable exception for the post-credits scene. It is, quite possibly, the worst storytelling decision BioWare has ever made, and I really hope they take that one back.
That strong story is elevated even further by wonderful performances from the cast. In particular, Solas (Gareth David-Lloyd), Neve (Jessica Clark), Bellara (Jee Young Han), and Davrin (Ike Amadi) are standouts to me. But from top to bottom, this cast does an exceptional job of making every line count. Each member nails the emotions of the moment in every scene, and I don’t really want to single anyone out for best or worst. I would find myself running back and forth from area to area just to hear them talk a little more, which makes it even more disappointing that you don’t have the option to ever just sit down and chat with the party.
All that running back and forth also let me enjoy the level design. The levels are self-contained areas with a great mix of winding paths, semi-open fields, and shortcuts that help you loop back around. Navigating any level can be engaging, as you’re always looking for those secret rooms for treasure chests, or hidden ladders to take you back to another room you’ve already been to. I was honestly a bit surprised by the verticality of the levels, as well. Generally speaking, BioWare games have a very flat structure – single level rooms or fields, with maybe the occasional stairway to a second floor. But here, it’s built into every structure, and those structures fit into the world around you in interesting ways (sometimes). If I must nitpick, I would have liked to see more variety in the biomes or zones we went to. Obviously, this story is mostly self-contained to a specific geographical location, so I understand why we didn’t get to see more. I just think the game is beautiful, and I would have loved to explore more of the world.
The environments are breathtaking and absolutely worth exploring.
I fear I’m at risk of sounding too negative as this review goes on, but I really liked this game! When all the gears are turning and things click into place, it’s some of the best work BioWare has ever done. There are just a lot of little bumps in the road for me. Ten years is too long to wait for any game and even if the wait was shorter, I am not sure this is where I would have wanted this series to go after Inquisition. Dragon Age’s struggles with identity are longstanding, but I think it’s time for BioWare to lay down roots and start watering. If they are certain the old Dragon Age is dead and gone, it’s time to focus on what works here and grow from it.
I do wonder how those 10 years were spent. We know it used to be a multiplayer game, and now it isn’t. We know that other characters were supposed to appear, but they didn’t. After so many delays, so much turnover, and untold amounts of corporate meddling, it is a wonder that this game arrived at all. I wonder if this is the game the team set out to make, or if there just came a point where you have to get it out the door. There are a lot of head-scratching decisions in the way this game works, but it does work. It runs well, is fun to play, and has so, so much heart. I have gripes, but I did love my time with the game. Every time I felt like I was losing interest in the game, a new main mission would rope me back in. There is a lot to love about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, but if you’re a long-time fan of the series, your enjoyment of the game may be affected by how you weigh the changes that were implemented. For me, I can’t really look at this game in terms of what it could have been, or what we should have gotten – all I can do is play the game in front of me. In that respect alone, I think it’s a damn fine game.
Verdict Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an exciting, beautiful, and engaging game that I really enjoyed. Stunning environments, character models, and effects give the game a unique visual flare, but the lack of variety in enemy types and places to go hampers it. Great combat, fun characters, and an engaging story keep things afloat - even with a laundry list of faults. Veilguard suffers from juvenile writing for most of it’s runtime, with many of the interactions coming off as candy-coated or softer versions of what one would expect from this long-running series. Despite those faults, the game has so much heart it feels impossible not to like it.  |
Image Credits: Taylor Rioux and BioWare
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