4/5 ★ – sendthemessageN7's review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

I feel that to be as accurate as to how I feel about the game I need to cover everything about it aside from the writing first. As a fan: I realized while playing that I did miss the "Keep"; as in my specific desicions and returning characters carrying over to the game. I think I rather have Morrigan not appear rather than having a version of her that is not my Morrigan. They tried to have these returning characters be as vague as possible about their past but it just ends up feeling a bit empty. In past games when characters come back, they just needed to give one or two lines about past desicions and it went a long way to make you immersed in the world you've helped shape. That's why everything about the inquisitor worked so well with me; that was my inquisitor. Its something that's unique about Dragon Age in a way that a lot of other franchises aren't, and if they make more I wish they brought a version of the Keep back. I dont think it would have been too difficult to carry over some desicions, there is a version of this game where there is an extra dialogue option for these returning characters, and they tell you about past desicions and where they are now, and where the codex isn't so vague about everything. I'm mixed about the score, it REALLY works in the third act, but it is mostly fine. Inquisition has one of the best RPG soundtracks out there and this is a downgrade. The game would've benefitted from a stronger, more memorable score for the companions and different regions you visit. General Pros and Cons: Cons: - Social areas are a bit bland. To be fair, they have never been super iconic in any dragon age game. But there is no Omega or Citadel here. - Some quests could've benefitted from more dilemmas or difficult decisions Pros: - Reactivity: It's no baldurs gate 3, but the game is very reactive to the decisions you make. Playthroughs and outcomes can vary. Characters constantly talk about recent events and your decisions, not just random banter. Characters actually remember things you told them in conversations. Again, it is no BG3 and no game that isn't self published will ever be, but this is arguably more reactive to your choices than any other Bioware game. - Combat: I personally love it, the combat never felt like a chore like in other Dragon Age games. Its a mix of Mass Effect and God of War, with build variety worth playing around with. Even to the last 6 or 8 hours i was still changing and customizing my build, and i want to play it again with other classes! Its good! - Level Design: Ideal level design for a Bioware game imo. You get some explorable areas with side quests and challenges but it is not open world. Most missions are linear in design, just like older Bioware games. The game is very focused. I 100% it and I didn't feel forced to do it. Everything ties to a companion or faction, which is why it never felt bloated to me. Art Direction: IDC i think its good. The environments look beautiful, character designs are awesome all around. Now I have to talk about the writing specifically. It's very difficult to talk about it because my favorite and most frustrating aspects of the game all revolve around the writing. Writing cons: - In general, I feel like a good amount of the dialogue needed more work. There were some interactions throughout the game that were clearly underwritten. The first act felt tonally inconsistent at times. Sometimes characters are too on the nose, sometimes interactions are completely pointless. - Slice of life elements felt forced: There were too many times where characters were literally talking about random shit like coffee or gardening. These cute interactions work when they're kept at a minimum. They cant be talking about this shit 30% to 40% of the time when the world is ending! Which leads to my other point. - Everyone needed to be meaner: This is just a personal prefence, but i like when my companions hate eachother! When I look at my favorite party banter, I think about Laezel and Shadowheart, Miranda and Jack, Aveline and Isabela. Characters that are completely opposed but learn to respect eachother will always be more dramatically interesting than wholesome support groups. - Lucanis: I was specifically disappointed with Lucanis. He had the best introduction, the coolest faction and most dramatic potential and all of it was underused and underwhelming by the end. Were they too ambitious with him? I dont think so. Cole and Anders are characters in previous Dragon Age games grappling with a spirit entity. They had way less time dedicated to them but were handled way better imo. Mass effect made a compelling father and son story in just one mission with Thane! I did dozens of missions with Lucanis and my perception or feelings of him never changed or evolved. - Neve: I do like Neve (I romanced her!) But she and Minrathous felt a bit underused. The concept of a fantasy cyperpunk city, a mage detective, could've led to some cool noir-like mystery storyline but it never really delivered any of that. - Post Credits: Im gonna pretend and ignore it. The game in general needed more edge when it came to the dialogue. Every dragon age game has at least one dilemma or choice that is morally grey. This game tried, but imo never really put you in a position like that, like in past games. Weirdly enough, the more i thought about it the more I was reminded about jrpgs like Final Fantasy . Companions are generally nicer to eachother in final fantasy and tbh, cornier. I guess I enjoy it there more because I dont expect the grit and moral ambiguity i expect in dragon age. That being said, the writing and plot never frustrated or lost me to the level of something like FF15 or 16. It's better than that! I just want BioWare to be better! Writing Pros: This might seem like a negative review overall, but I just want to leave my positives for last because I do believe it outweighs my negatives. - World Building: I love the world building! There are mysteries since the first game that were resolved in this game that were really satisfying and true to what Dragon Age has always been about. All the factions are interesting. In general, this is as strong as BioWare has always been. - Companions: Overall, the companions are really well done. By the end of the game, I cared and was invested in all of them. They have unique and consistent personalities and most of their arcs lead to different outcomes that were equally interesting to me. Some of these arcs genuinely made me emotional! - Third act: Genuinely most of my issues fade away in the third act. Beautiful, emotional stuff, they fucking cooked. Probably my favorite Bioware final mission after Mass Effect 2. - A strong story about regret; how it breaks us, makes us grow and ultimately defines us. Bioware is actually telling a story here! Rook has an arc! The last time they did all this was Mass Effect 3! - Solas All in all, with all its issues and expectations for a sequel 10 years in the making and a studio that made my favorite games ever, you can't deny the passion and soul put into this thing. The moments that stick to me are the right ones. A necromancer like Emmerich being terrified of his mortality. A mechanic like Bellara trying to repair her grief. Villains and heroes being tormented by the choices they made. Dragon Age is ultimateIy about the struggle of trying to find meaning and good in the worst of times. Veilguard understands that and runs with it. I put 100 hours into the game and i want to replay it already. This is not the RPG standard like BG3 or Cyberpunk is but it is a great journey nonetheless. The type of journey i was missing from Bioware games. In short: Woke disaster.