Can you believe it’s been 10 years since the last Dragon Age game? Dragon Age: Inquisition is reasonably decent, but considering developer BioWare’s recent track record, it’s hard to believe we’ll be revisiting this one. I can understand people’s hesitation. Mass Effect: Andromeda was average at best, while Anthem barely had the legs to sustain anyone long term.
That sounds a little harsh, but there’s a good reason for that. Enter Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This latest entry in the long-running series isn’t perfect, but it’s an incredible turnaround for BioWare, and one of the best games of the year.
There’s a lot to love about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, whether it’s the fun and functional combat mechanics, the lush and dense environments to explore, or simply the engaging supporting characters who join you on this epic ride.
The road ahead
In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you play as Rook, and as you might expect, you can customize it to your liking. Set 10 years after the events of Dragon Age: Inquisition, Rook teams up with his friends Varric Tethras and Race Harding, returning characters from Dragon Age: Inquisition, and newcomer Neve Gallus when it comes to Dragon Age games. We are collaborating with They are on their way to stop the villain Solas from returning and attempting to open the Veil, a mystical door to another dimension.
After a somewhat impressive and cinematic introductory sequence, we stop Solas in action, only to discover that he is currently trapped in the Fade, a realm of limbo of sorts. Meanwhile, other Elder Gods are returning and attempting to destroy the land. Your job is essentially to stop these gods while managing an uneasy alliance with Solas along the way.
While the story is interesting in places, I will admit that it also plays a huge role in the surrounding world and lore, and unfortunately lurks in the background at times. Even though it’s a technical continuation of the Dragon Age series, it’s not trying to connect with previous games.
Plot descriptions may sound urgent, but they occasionally fade away to make way for more personal missions and quests that build relationships with characters who make friends with their allies and take on battles together. There is also.
BioWare has always done a great job of providing a sense of depth and variety through companion characters. And while I believe the story, writing, and general voice performance could have more time here, the stakes feel oddly greater than the main quest at hand. . I won’t spoil any more of the story ahead, but I’m sure there will be some great moments after this where things finally come together.
preemptive strike
Players can choose one of three classes when creating their version of Luke. The Rogue class specializes in a combination of both ranged and melee attacks, favoring stealth approaches through traps and quick maneuvers. The Mage class utilizes magic to control the battlefield, combining spells and weapons alike to attack enemies and support allies. Finally, the Warrior class feels like the most direct approach for those who prefer to get up close and personal, but all three classes offer a good mix of ranged and melee strategies and abilities. provide something.
You can also choose one of four races when creating your character: human, elf, dwarf, or Qunari. Qunari resemble a typical minotaur. I was also surprised by the amount of customization options offered here. It’s not an alien feature to a BioWare game, but it’s always a welcome addition.
Once you get into the thick of things, Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels like a much more competent third-person action game than I expected. Light and heavy attacks can be combined with ranged attacks and special abilities, all of which can be upgraded and expanded throughout the game.
Regardless of class, Dragon Age: The Veilguard does a great job of making the experience familiar overall in terms of overall controls and mechanics, allowing for switching between classes and new character builds. We try to make it feel natural and intuitive.
Each class also has an extensive skill tree with unique abilities that you can unlock and upgrade along the way. This also feels like a given for a BioWare game at this point, but I also personally like that you can always refund your skill points if you want to rebuild and prioritize a different ability. It’s also a great way to try everything out and find the playstyle you’re comfortable with.
Overall, regardless of class, the action is fun, fast, and consistently engaging, with plenty of options to upgrade and tweak your character to your needs. Your class choice typically dictates your playstyle, but the strong and consistent mechanics ensure that you don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything great or incredibly satisfying to fight your enemies with.
art of bonding
Beyond direct combat, the first half of Dragon Age: The Veilguard essentially involves gathering a group of seven companions. Not only will you carry out missions to recruit each companion, but you’ll also romance and socialize along the way.
Similar to the Mass Effect games, you can build a cabin with almost all of these companions and strengthen your bonds with each one as the story progresses. However, be careful as your character may die. The game clearly shows these risks and situations, but in the end you have to make some difficult choices.
You can also bring companions into battle, and they are loaded with equipment and abilities that can be upgraded and adjusted as you progress through the story. Compared to previous Dragon Age games, the amount of customizable options here feels a little limited, but the decent voice acting and unique background lore make these characters my companions. I liked it very much.
The only complaint I have with the companions here is the lack of immediate danger in combat situations, as you can’t kill or incapacitate them here. If you go down, they won’t even be able to help Luke and will instead fail the mission completely. This feels like a missed opportunity to increase their effectiveness in situations like this.
look at the part
Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t exactly a completely open-world game, but it does have very large areas and levels to explore, each with their own secrets and collectibles. It’s smaller in scale than Dragon Age: Inquisition, but you never really feel it.
BioWare does a great job of packing variety and gorgeous visuals into each of these environments. From the lush forests of Arrasan to the beaches of Revinand to the dense city of Treviso, there’s plenty to visit in Dragon Age: Veilguard.
The cinematic quality and art style are also great. I thought the art style looked a little goofy from looking at the trailers and concept art, but I ended up loving it. As for the character design, it feels different from previous Dragon Age games, but I feel like its charm shines a little more.
Visually, Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn’t lack anything, but the performance could use a bit more improvement. I reviewed this on the PlayStation 5, which offers performance and fidelity modes. Performance mode aims for a 60 FPS experience, but unfortunately frame rate drops are consistently unavoidable. Fidelity mode is lowered to 30 FPS and raytracing is added for extra detail. I guess this always comes down to personal preference, but I wish the performance modes were a little more robust.
final thoughts
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not only one of the best games in the series, but it could also be one of the biggest surprises of 2024. Sometimes it feels like its big story is missing a bit, but it hardly detracts from the solid gameplay and gorgeous visuals.
I wish this would have worked better on console, but the art style makes up for it being a great game. We think fans of the series deserve a return, and we feel there’s no better time for everyone to join in and enjoy BioWare’s stunning return.
4 stars (out of 5)
Highlight: Great gameplay. The unique companion character missions are great. gorgeous visuals
Highlights: The main story gets a little lost in the mix at times. Performance mode frame rate drop
Developer: Bioware
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Windows PC
Available: Currently
Review was conducted on PlayStation 5 using a pre-release code provided by the publisher.