It has been a long time since the last Dragon Age game and the release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard raises a lot of eyebrows. It raises questions such as Is it fun? Is Bioware back? One thing is certain it is not a disaster like Biowar’s Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda. It is a solid game and does not lag behind in a lot of aspects but it lacks the energy that one expects from a Dragon Age game. It has a big and cool environment, and there is some decent environmental storytelling with good visuals. At the same time, it feels generic and safe.
It is more of an action RPG than a normal RPG which can be a negative for some RPG fans. These results are based on its comparison with the original Dragon Age games. The game is closer to Dragon Age: Origin than it is to Dragon Age: Inquisition. The good and the bad of the game will decide how players perceive it and personal preference will also play a role. All this makes you wonder, Is Dragon Age: The Veilguard worth it? Let’s find out.
Premise (Spoiler Free)
A big disastrous event is coming which has resulted in the opening of a rift. The evil Elvin Gods have been awakened from their slumber. They have turned Thedas into a nasty place with blights and corruption is popping up all around. Things get out of hand and the situation becomes more complicated. Now it is up to you, your friends, and the allies you make along the way to go out on the adventure and save the world. It is a good old world-saving stuff that we have seen many times in different media.
Players will create a character that is called Rook. The character creator is decent, it gives you enough options to create a character close to your imagination. The voice actor (the male one) does a good job, I don’t know much about the female but I guess it will be good as well. Your character is a new one who is being thrown in with the recurring characters from the previous games.
The tone of the Dragon Age: The Veilguard is light-hearted. Events such as the fate of the world and Dark Spawn overtaking are taking place but characters are still charismatic. The pace of the game isn’t always as fast which can work against the gravity of the events.
Combat
There are three main classes to choose from along with character backgrounds that impact some of the dialogue. The classes presented are Warrior, Mage, and Rouge. Combat is real-time with hack-and-slash type attacks. You will have dodge, roll, light attack, heavy attack, range attack, and parry. You also have special abilities that are based on your class and have cooldowns in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. There is also the ultimate ability and you will eventually unlock Rune Ability.
All of the special attacks are quite different from each other. Some attacks do area-of-effect damage, some are ranged, some will grant you health, and some will let you put a debuff on enemies like poison and stuff. Enemies also have defenses such as shields which need to be taken down with range attack from time to time, along with the shield. Enemies also have a stagger meter which opens up enemies for finishing attacks.
The party members you have are pretty generic and they don’t need much input. You can select who your allies attack but auto mode gets most of the stuff done in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The abilities of your allies are mapped to the button but it’s easier to pull the wheel and select abilities in slow motion. The good thing is that the allies can help a lot in combat.
The Primers and Detonators are one of your allies’ major functionalities. Some abilities of your allies are labeled as The Primers while others are labeled as Detonators. You can use your allies to hit an enemy with a Primer attack to set them up and then use the correct Detonator attack to cause major damage and stagger. Timing these attacks and using the abilities accordingly for damage is the key to success.
The Depth of Combat
Combat is exciting even if it gets repetitive after some time when you start using your preferred abilities and make builds accordingly. Feedback on your attacks is quite good, and the responsiveness of your attack is also good. The effects of attacks and magic can get really wild. The combat and movement animation also does not lag behind and manages to be smooth. When all of it comes together with motions and attacks, it can be quite good.
You level up as you progress and dump points into a skill tree. The skill tree is long and detailed. Skill Tree has a lot of different options to choose from. The options are good even if some of them are generic like gain resistance or gain attack power and things like that. Among them are skills and abilities along with specialization for each of the classes. If you are engaging with a dual blade, then you can go all the way on that specialization or range attack specialization and stuff like that.
It is the stuff that we have seen before and the developer does it in a normal way. It might not be the most interesting but it is fun. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is at its best when you are fighting bigger enemies and difficulty spikes up. Do keep an eye on the difficulty while starting the theme because it can get quite challenging.
General Gameplay
While going through a linear area, the game turns into generic stuff like turn left, find a chest, open a door, and go there. It is standard stuff that you would expect from a game. The big locations like cities and stuff look really unique. Some of these locations can woo you and show that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is fantasy at its core. It tempts you to explore, look around, and see more of it. You can get side stuff and loot while exploring around.
The loot that you get is not so great because there are not enough compelling ones. It’s better to just keep upgrading your current load out. Armors looks good so there is that.
All of this stuff is managed in a Light House which is a mystical place and base of operation. You talk to allies in more detail and check your gear. You also have a room that you can customize and buy stuff for it. There is also the option to fast travel to real-world to quest areas.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard looks pretty good even if its art style is cartoonish which is acceptable unless you absolutely detest that art style. The environment is pretty good and you can make a good-looking character with different armor. There is a haze to the game which I didn’t like that much because it makes it feel dreamy which can be good for some players.
Action RPG
It is an action RPG game but it lags behind in some of the RPG stuff. The decisions you take and the conversations you make do not feel like they have enough impact. Your character is created by the player and he is stuck in being a good guy. It is fine but Dragon Age: The Veilguard gives you the option to respond in different ways. Jokenly, normal, and grumpy. You can respond jokingly or gruffly but it won’t have any impact on how the character responds. They will just ignore the tone of your response. These responses are there for the dressing.
There are few events where Dragon Age: The Veilguard gives you a big choice to choose from and most of them aren’t that good. It is this general RPG stuff that some might not appreciate. It does not feel like you are shaping your story in an RPG. The returning characters are good but the new characters are varied with some good and others not so much. The jokes and some emotional beats feel hollow.
Verdict (Is Dragon Age: The Veilguard Worth It?)
Unlike Bioware’s past few games, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not a glitchy mess of a game. It is a fun game because it excels in a lot of aspects even if it struggles in some of them. I can’t say anything from the point of view of Dragon Age fans. It does take away some of the hardcore RPG stuff so I can’t put it in the best game category. If you can ignore these issues then underneath is a solid game.
It might not be a game for everyone. At least Biowre managed to make a game that was not a disaster. The combat of the game is solid and does not lag behind in a lot of aspects. The way it handles different aspects of combat makes it an interesting experience. Its dreamlike feeling might deter some players and others might like it so it is up to personal preference. If you are looking to play more Dragon Age and ignore its negative aspects then it can be a good one for you.
Trailer:
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