3.5/5 ★ – mattbrookbank's review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Dragon Age: The Vielguard is in my top 3 favorite Dragon Age games! Too bad for it, there are only 4 Dragon Age games. It's a shame Bioware was distracted by Anthem and lost the special sauce of their earlier work. The original Dragon Age was marketed as a dark fantasy. The Vielguard is a purple fantasy at best (like, literally - the color purple is everywhere). Maybe it's because it's been a decade since inquisition and 15 years since Origin... but parts of the world building were very confusing to me. I really could have used a refresher on things like the Tiventer, the Qune... after spending 50 hours in this game I still don't remember what they are... and at least my memories of inquisition and origins are of amazing world building, companions and storytelling making the Vielguard pale in comparison of them. The Vielguard also suffered from a bad design combination way points and quick travel making the world feel very on rails and disconnected. I was also really annoyed by the equipment screen. If I checked out a new item on the quick pop up when I got them item, don't keep it marked as "new" in the menu. It became a chore to constantly be removing the new mark from items that I eventually just stopped checking my gear. Dragon Age is an odd series because ot always seems to be trying to reinvent itself, and try out new genres. Like it's running away from the fans they make in their previous work when I think what the fans mostly want was just an update in graphics and to continue the story of this world. Here's hoping if Dragon Age returns, it's next reinventing will be an improvement.