Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Review
The World of Thedas Passing By
by Camrin Santchi
reviewed on PC
The Legacy of Dragon Age
The late 2000s and early 2010s marked a high point for Western RPGs, with Bioware's Mass Effect trilogy and Dragon Age series holding a special place in my game library. While Dragon Age: Inquisition (2014) didn't resonate with me like Origins (2009) or Dragon Age II (2011), I was eager for the next entry, which was tentatively titled Dreadwolf.
Dragon Age is a Dark Fantasy setting that takes a lot of inspiration from Tolkien's Lord of the Rings as well as George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, and something that sets the series apart from its science fiction counterpart Mass Effect is the protagonists. In the Mass Effect trilogy you play as Commander Shepard for all three games, but in Dragon Age you play as The Warden in Origins, Hawke in Dragon Age II, and The Inquisitor in Inquisition. This makes the world feel a bit more fleshed out since your character is not beholden to all the choices made by the previous game and allows for a fresh perspective on new situations within Thedas. This also means you are essentially starting out at square one between games rather than having built a reputation for yourself based on your actions in the previous games.
A New Frontier
Veilguard starts out in an almost cyberpunk looking area - Minrathous, capital city of the Tevinter Imperium - the drastic shift in appearance of the setting meant to emphasize just how advanced with magic this area is compared to the other countries we have seen throughout the franchise with its bright almost neon arcane lights and floating structures. This is where two members of the Inquisition, Varric Tethras and Lace Harding, have come to recruit new teammates to stop the Dread Wolf and his plans that could essentially end the world - Neve, a local detective that works for the mysterious Shadow Dragons, and 'Rook', the character that players will be taking control of for their time in Veilguard. Rook feels far more customizable than the Inquisitor right out the gate, which might be in part because Inquisition originally had a protagonist that was going to solely be a Human, and as such the decision for the other race choices (Elf, Dwarf, and Qunari) were additions late in development.
In contrast, Veilguard's Rook appears to have been planned from the start to have multiple different backstories, the most prevalent choice being what faction your Rook is a part of, and what your Rook's thoughts were on the decisions made during their backstory to further flesh them out, whether they regret a choice they made that left them jaded to the cause, if they regret not 'just following orders' in a fragile situation, small things that really make your character feel more real.
Choices and Consequences
That being said, Veilguard feels like it has a lot more limitations to its choices than earlier Dragon Age titles. In particular, in Origins players could be outright evil in a lot of circumstances, but even the most 'mean' options in Veilguard feel like they boil down to a slightly sterner tone of voice at most. While an evil playthrough isn't this reviewer's usual by any means, it feels noticeable that the option isn't really there anymore, especially since it could cause such drastic shifts in earlier Dragon Age titles.
Perhaps most egregious with Veilguard has to be the sheer watering down of choices made within the series up until this point. Inquisition when it released had something called Dragon Age Keep, which was a tracker for a majority of important choices made throughout the series - but for Veilguard players only get to choose three choices that affected the previous games, all of which focus on Inquisition. The first is who your Inquisitor romanced, the second is whether the Inquisition was disbanded, and the last is whether your Inquisitor wants to stop the Dread Wolf or try and get them to work together with them. These were arguably not even the most important choices made in Inquisition itself, much less over the course of the other games. For example in Origins a dwarven and human king are chosen, in Inquisition a new Pope is chosen - these are massive choices that had a large impact on the world of Thedas, but were left behind with Veilguard.
Now, I understand how much of a pain it could be to try and plan out paths for all sorts of changes - three main games over the course of about 15 years in the real world and that have spanned about twenty years in the Dragon Age setting, but it still feels like it is incredibly limiting for a series that has had massive sprawling choices in the past.
The End of An Age?
All told, Veilguard is an enjoyable RPG with rich character customization and striking visuals, especially within the cyberpunk-inspired Minrathous. The freedom to shape Rook's backstory and outlook is a welcome touch, yet it is offset by the reduction in meaningful choices and the series signature moral complexity. While Veilguard might not capture the epic scope of Origins or the tightly woven, character driven narrative of Dragon Age II, it is a solid entry that hints at a new direction. If future Dragon Age titles can re-embrace the far-reaching choices and branching narratives that once made the series iconic, they may yet recapture the magic of Thedas. For now, Veilguard is a promising — if somewhat pared down — addition to the Dragon Age legacy, and fans of the series may find it worth exploring
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7.4
fun score
Pros
Great visually, Fun combat abilities, Player character feels fleshed out
Cons
Limited choices from previous games, Clunky writing during dialogues
