Dragon Age The Veilguard is the fourth installment of the Dragon Age series taking place a few years after the events of Dragon Age Inquisition. You play as a character of your creation named ‘Rook’ who with DA fav Varric Tethras and Lace Harding must gather a team of specialists to stop the gods from destroying the world.
This entry is much more character focused then Inquisition, there will be multiple moments in the story where you must take the time to finish your companions side quests otherwise the team is too dysfunctional to do the job. It reminds me a lot of Dragon Age 2 with a bigger map and less vigilant companions. What I mean by this is the choices you make will be less scrutinized like in previous entries in the series. There are not good or bad decisions in this game; they are simply choices you as Rook have to make. Sure, it can take away some gravitas but it also feels more realistic. It allows you to choose based on your gut and less based on what a game writer thinks the moral high ground is.You will be choosing between only two different options more than once, this is really a two playthrough kinda game.
The layout of the quests are short and sweet which is nice if you’re a busy person but don’t be fooled this game is very long. My first playthrough took me about 120 hours to complete. There are many side quests around Thedas you can complete but most of the quests revolve around fixing your companions hang ups. Each Companion has a mini boss of sorts that needs to be defeated before they can fight at 100%. To me, this was a fun and interesting way to force the players to participate in arguably the best part of any RPG.
The gameplay is very similar to Inquisition, I’ll be it even more simplified. As the Dragon Age games age they become more accessible and much simpler for a casual audience to play which can be a turn off for the more hardcore gamer. Veilguard presents you with an option at the start of the game with your classic easy, normal and hard but with an added team based difficulty that focuses on party composition. It’s the first game in the series without a tactical view camera option making its combat strictly real time action based. While I am bummed they took that option away I barely used it in the previous entries so personally it wasn’t a huge loss. You can bring up a menu and tell your companions to do their super moves much like in Mass Effect, and to me that is good enough.
You and your companions have skill trees that will let you pick what you specialize in and what they should prioritize. The crafting system is pretty much gone with simple upgrades to equipment taking its place. You can still add enchantment to your gear that can be picked up in chests around the map. I like that Veilguard gives you the ability to change the appearance of the armor you are wearing without sacrificing the stats. You can also change “Rooks” appearance whenever you are back at your home base.
While not an “open world” it functions a lot like Inquisition. You have your home base where you can chat with companions and do your housekeeping. Then you take magic mirrors (Eluvians) to different areas around the world of Thedas. These areas are where the factions you are wooing are located in fact the Eluvians are in their bases. This game is very faction based. The better reputation you have the faction the more items you can buy at their store and the better prepared they will be for the final battle. It’s a game about making and keeping friends.
The friends you make along the way are the most important part of Veilguard. Your teammates in my opinion are very well written and voice acted. I realize that writing and performance is a very personal matter and every individual will have different tastes but, I feel that the writing is consistent with previous Dragon Age titles. I had a little inside look at a lot of these characters beforehand because I read this game’s prequel novel “ Tevintor Nights “. While I don’t think you have to read that book before playing the game, it does give you a lot of context you may have missed.
The romance is interesting in this game. Some of the companions will hook up around act 3 if you didn’t romance them by then. You can flirt with everyone without consequence until you are locked in, once in a relationship the flirt option will go away. Some romances have more content then others, some companions have more baggage than others. It’s all a matter of the heart and what you are willing to put up with. Your friends are not picky and don’t have any preferences so feel free to shoot your shot. You can also buy your friends gifts that they can put in their rooms at home base. It’s cute to watch as the story goes on, your team really making the base a home.
Overall, Dragon Age The Veilguard is an excellent entry to the series. It fixed the absolute character assassin of the Grey Wardens from Inquisition and made me like the Antivan Crows which I didn’t think any Dragon Age media could do (I’m still bitter about DA origins). It took me to places I haven’t seen in Thedas and made me sob at the end of everything.
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