Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age has always been my absolute favorite game franchise due to the character development and the story. I always felt like you really got to know your companions, which were rich and diverse characters. However, Veilguard was a huge disappointment for me. The characters were shallow, unrealistic, and 1 dimensional. I feel like each character had one defining personality trait and that's all they get. Rook's conversations were also so disappointing and sometimes just embarrassingly bad. IMO dragon age spent so much time on looks and mechanics that they forgot what was most important which was the story and the relationships.

This game would have been well received if it was a new IP but alas, it's Dragon Age and this 2024.

People who are surprised by the gameplay and mechanics somehow missed how DA has changed over its iterations. DAO was 15 years ago and this not a retreating to DAO.

First off, the game is GORGEOUS. Whoever hates the environment is salty that it's not brown and grey "gritty". The environment design is on top, it tells stories just like it should while looking great. I don't mind the character's looks as the customization is crazy, sadly BG3 spoiled us on mo cap and it does fall flat in VG at several points and for some of the characters (Bellara's model can't capture the VAs work she's putting in). While we're at the VAs, outstanding work, they're all killing it. The writing? Yeah. Could be better. A lot better. But people who whine about "MCU dialogue" apparently missed quipping has always been a huge part of Bioware humor.

The combat is ... fine. It's defenitely improved on Inquisition and a far cry from DAOs iteration. If one can accept this RPG has a capital A in front, the combat doesn't disappoint.

Story. World ending threat, gather a party, venture worth to chase red herrings, defeat villain. It's the regular DA fare and does it good. The foundations are solid and the villains creepy.

If you see this game as more of a stand-alone continuation in the series, it's actually pretty good.

The positives

• the story at first feels boring, but the further you come into the game, the more compelling it is
• some of the lore will blow your mind with revelations of what's actually been going on
• Combat mechanics are a lot better than previous games.

• Maps feels open-world despite being "restrictive" like in Dragon Age 2, because there is so much to explore
• The Dragon Age 2 dialogue wheel is back, so you can make a "purple" Rook (iykyk)
• your choices shapes the world and the characters around you
• The Character Creator is AMAZING
• Every level is breathtaking in its own way and you absolutely should take a moment to look around and take in the details. The level designs are amazing.

• Photomode so you can take pictures of the scenery, with adjustable sliders to get the pictures how you want (you can also abuse it to look around for solutions to puzzles)
• at first I wasn't interested in the companions, found all of them annoying despite Lucanis. Get to know them and they're actually pretty compelling.

• They walk around and have a life without you and conversations you can overhear at base. They develop their own relationships between one another
• NPCs feel alive, and as if they actually have a head on their shoulder
• Great character designs
• Cameos of previous characters you would not think would appear
• you can pet every cat and dog you come across
• Companions' rooms evolve as you progress the game
• You can costumize what your outfit should look like when you explore, and are not bound by what armor you are wearing
• puzzles are easy to figure out if you look around

Negatives

• No import of previous choices in previous games, and they feel abandoned. Only the Inquisitor and their love interest, and whether they believe solas is able to be saved or not, has meaning
• No mention of ex. What happened to Blackwall
• you have to get used to the female rook voices (for me at least)
• Inquisition and Trespasser made Solas seem like he was going to be the Big Bad, but he is no such thing in this (as far as i have played with my 27 hours as of writing this)
• some cutscenes seem a bit useless, especially since the same thing will be explained by a certain someone literally minutes later
• you cannot walk up and start random conversations with your companions like in previous games, and pester them with questions about their lives
• they dont seem all that happy about gifts, and is only a "oh thanks :)" and nothing more. At least they display them.

• some chests are LITERALLY impossible to get to, no matter how much parkour you perform, or abuse photomode to find the solution
• There are still bugs here and there, like in cutscenes where characters dont show up

This is all what I could think of at the top of my head, both good and bad, but you should give it a try.

On its own, this isn't a bad game, not a great game but certainly not a bad game. Theres lots in there, it looks pretty, the fighting can be fun at times. Theres a very enjoyable story with some brilliant lore, that has obviously been planned since Origins, 15 years ago. Some of the voice performances are excellent (mainly the returning cast members) But this game isn't on its own, or rather it shouldn't be. Its Dragon Age 4 - it stands on the shoulders of the previous 3 games. DA: O and DA: I are two of the best games Ive ever played. Massive, gritty, detailed, epic and intricate stories where the effect of every choice you made rippled through the story and into the following games, with characters, relationships and storylines that players became highly invested in. Combat was epic and strategic; the crafting was a subgame in itself - even the bard in the tavern racked up hundreds of hours of players stopping what they were doing just to listen to her. That depth is missing from veilguard, its like a lightweight episode or a DLC. Inquisition won game of the year and was considered by players and critics alike as a masterpiece, Veilguard is its sequel and follows on from the MASSIVE cliffhanger/plot twist from the end of Inquisition. So what does Veilguard improve on from Inquisition? Nothing Im afraid, (well, actually I think I prefer the talent system in veilguard, but that's a very small difference) I know veilguard went through development hell, following on from Mass Effect Andromeda and Anthem, EA's influence at bioware has undoubtably been disastrous. Unfortunately, many of the main staff behind ME and DA have left and their absence is noticeable in veilguard.

Again, this is a decent game in its own right, but as the sequel to Inquisition, the game I've been waiting for, for a decade - its ultimately disappointing.

I'll say I'm about 5 hours in right now and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. For being a soft reboot of the DA series it feels gritty and dark, yet fun and light. The characters feel individual and their voice actors are spectacular. I will definitely say I do miss some of the open world at times. But I definitely appreciate it creating a tight quest and level based world and not trying to do too much, and fall short. There's rpg elements, the build craft system is excellent, the combat is fast paced and furious...the hits feel solid where they need to be and weak where they need to be. I'm still not a pro at dodge vs shield but that's a skill issue haha. All in all DA:V does storytelling and gameplay like DA:2 did, but better.

I do wish there was more world building from the first 2 games, but again, I understand this is a soft reboot and this is what they intended to do. I'm on board fully with this one.