4/5 ★ – DeluxeSamuel's review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard in many ways makes it one of my least favourite game in the series... but I still really enjoyed it. I have a lot of issues with this game. Most are issues which this game specifically has introduced to the series. I wanna start by saying that it's still a Dragon Age game. So, primarily it's a choice-driven RPG set in a fantasy world with its own history, lore, factions and everything else you would find in those kinds of games. Dragon Age has never really been tied down to any specific gameplay mechanic or formula throughout the series. Every game has been different to every other game in a myriad of ways and that's also the same here, but it feels more so here than ever. Each game would have you start as a new character in the world of Thedas, you would meet various companions and work together to fight the next big evil. That's generally the biggest throughline of every game. This game, continuing the trend, has you play as another new character, "Rook", this time as you work to defend the world from The Dread Wolf, Solas, as he attempts to bring down the Veil. Rook is a solid enough protagonist, if you're like me and you play as the "good guy". Many people have found however that it's quite difficult to roleplay on the "evil" side of the spectrum however. Rook can never quite be evil enough, as they're not given enough moments to really do anything selfish or downright cruel. The "evil" dialogue choices just leans more into being aggressive or confrontational. As it stands I usually just do "good" playthroughs, but seeing how it's harder to play the opposite way, it's a little underwhelming. The story itself has it's ups and downs. I found the first couple of hours the hardest to play through. Not out of difficulty, but unfamiliarity in design. The story has a strong prologue, but then lacks momentum early on as you first begin to acquire companions. Once I started to get a feel for it however, I started to really enjoy it. There's a lot of controversy regarding the Gender Identity stuff in the game and my two pence is that the entire thing has been blown out of proportion. I do think that some of the writing regarding Taash's story (a non-binary companion) can be a little heavy handed sometimes. I also believe that the term "non-binary" feels a bit anachronistic in the fantasy setting to me here, wishing they replaced it with some other more fitting term. But that being said, I don't see any issue with them deciding to bring that subject matter into the world and story here. Games should be able to show and discuss any themes they desire, regardless of modern implications, especially when a series such as this has had some experience with it in the past. You could argue on how well it's done but to argue that it's ruined the game, just by it's nature is, in my opinion narrow-minded and hateful. Going back to the story however. The ending of the game is one of the best, choice-driven endings in a bioware game in a while. Reminiscent of Mass Effect 2's "Suicide Mission", you feel like your choices and actions from the slower parts of the game really start to add up and have weight and it's a large part of the reason I enjoyed the game so much and am excited for another playthrough. Solas himself is, in my opinion, also the greatest "antagonist" in the entire franchise (even if painting him that way is a bit reductive). Having him be a companion to Dragon Age Inquisition's "Inquisitor" means that not only do we have plenty of experience and love for the character, but it also adds layers of complexity to him. He is a character not without flaws, but is a largely sympathetic one. Not to mention a fantastic performance by Gareth David Lloyd that really sells it all the way through. We can't talk about a Bioware game without talking about the companion and romance aspects and it's sort of a mixed bag. Whilst I found each of the character's interesting in their own way, with stories that slowly, but endearingly unfold, I unfortunately found the romance aspect generally underwhelming. I'm particularly talking here about the romance "culmination" scene, as they feel quite shallow and underdeveloped. Not to sound like a "gooner" or anything but considering they had a nudity toggle, I didn't see what it changed exactly as not only were the characters still half-dressed during their scenes, but from what I saw, they were mostly fade-to-blacks anyway. Not only does it feel kind of unrewarding to watch, as it neuters the romance a bit, but it also feels like a bit of step back from previous Bioware games, including Dragon Age: Inquisition. There was a sort of mutual understanding between developer and player that there was mature content within these games and so it just left me feeling underwhelmed here. I hope they understand that we can handle a little more spice and can push the maturity back in the next game just a tad. The game also lacks in how many choices are imported from previous games. Previous games allowed a fair amount of choices, big and small, to import and help make their game world feel unique. This game only allows 3; the Inquisitor's relationship with Solas, the Inquisitor's romance option and the Inquisitor's choice on the role of the Inquisition after it ended. Whilst the first and last assist somewhat in a line of dialogue or two, I found that the second had (at least from what I saw) no impact on the game. Maybe if my Inquisitor romanced one of the few returning characters here in Veilguard, I would have seen more from it, but as it stands I don't think I ever saw my romance option mentioned anywhere. I also think that they could have just added more importable content; such as the Inquisitor's relationship with other returning companions, Hawke's status (if they live), Hawke's relationship with returning companions etc. It just feels like Veilguard is too much of a fresh start, rather than a dedicated sequel. My biggest issue I had with the game is the lack of interaction with NPC's. Previous Dragon Age's allowed for interaction and dialogue with many NPC's; relevant to quests or just scattered throughout the world for more world-building or character. There is effectively none of that here. The only real NPC's you get to interact with are the quest givers or story related NPC's, and most of them are the same ones in each location, i.e. if you go to Treviso you will 9 times out of 10 being interacting with the leaders of the Antivan Crows and that's usually the case in most areas. It just makes the game world feel very empty compared to previous games. Definitely my least favourite aspect of the game and my hardest adjustment to get around. The art design is another controversial aspect of the game, but one that largely unbothered me. I would have preferred a couple tweaks in some areas. I find the Character Models a tad too stylized here. A lot of people are saying it looks like it has "Fortnite aesthetics" and whilst I don't quite agree, as it's not that cartoony, I do see where they're coming from. I think that sticking to the artstyle from Inquisition would have been the best move but honestly, after a couple hours I largely forgot about it. I would have also liked to see the Qunari edge closer to the harsher looks of the previous games. They just look like "the race with horns" now instead of their more unique, intimidating designs from before. A slight niggle I have but it doesn't make it unplayable. The combat is a lot of fun here and arguably my favourite combat out of all the games. I didn't necessarily hate the combat of the previous games but as someone who prefers action games I enjoyed Veilguard's far more than the more strategic nature of the previous games. I understand that a lot of people probably won't like the changes to combat but I did. Constantly switching between ranged and melee fighting, using the abilities and ultimates and combining squad powers felt enjoyable and I felt more satisfied after combat in comparison to the older games. I do miss having the 3 companions in a squad as opposed to Veilguard's 2, but as I only really feel that in regards to missing unique dialogue. It's less of a handicap and more of an encouragement to do another playthrough (which I will). If I haven't made it clear, I also believe that this game, more than any of the other games in the series, shines brightest when you play the previous game first. Whilst you could play 2 without playing Origins and you could play Inquisition without playing 2 (though I'd still recommend playing each), I fully believe that The Veilguard will give you the best experience if you play Inquisition first. They are the first 2 games that feel directly connected. A lot of Veilguard's supporting story cast are from, and reference Inquisition and whilst I mentioned the story could have benefitted from more imported choices, there are enough here that you may be a little lost without the context. I may have come across very mixed on the game and in a lot of ways, that's true. It definitely has some issues and I am still unsure if it's better or worse than my previous least favourite entry, Dragon Age 2, but I still can't deny that I enjoyed my time with the game. It's characters, story and combat mostly won me over and I am still debating how to mix up by choices in my next playthrough. I'd still say it's worth a shot and if you read through all this text then I hope you understand my perspective.