Dragon Age: The Veilguard ended up arriving a full decade after Inquisition. With BioWare on its last legs before this seemingly successful launch and the industry also starting to anticipate the new Mass Effect, was leaning on its sci-fi franchise’s strengths in order to save this fantasy RPG really the right call?
For the longest time, countless RPG fanatics and veteran followers of the franchise have gaslighted themselves into thinking Dragon Age had a cohesive identity (it didn’t). The creative swings haven’t always come out of a drive to rework the formula, though. In spite of the reasonable success the series has found over the years, we can safely state that many of its big changes happened out of necessity.
The Veilguard arrives right after Baldur’s Gate 3 rekindled mainstream love for CRPGs and spicy romances set in lush fantasy worlds. Modern Dragon Age could deliver on only the second front, and I think it’s a good thing BioWare read the room correctly, deciding to use its own set of well-tested “weapons” versus trying to return to its too-distant past.
If you ask around nowadays, you’ll find more genuine love for Mass Effect than the previous three Dragon Age entries because they’re absolutely enjoyable to play. I continue to believe no installment has aged badly, with each one giving the systems different spins and trying to update party-based RPG mechanics in its own way. There’s a uniqueness to this series, as I said, and I don’t think they’re rougher to control than the (admittedly excellent) Larian RPG that everyone keeps praising.
There’s also the weird misconception that past Dragon Age games were expansive open worlds. They weren’t. Only Inquisition absorbed the early 2010s sandbox trends, both good and bad. Perhaps this lie has been brought up time and again recently (much like countless more stupid ones) to try and shoot down Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Like it or not, it’s a very BioWare game, one that actually returns to the studio’s golden era and pays little attention to posterior fumbles like Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem.
“Mass Effect 2 but make it fantasy” is a perfectly apt way to quickly describe Dragon Age: The Veilguard. It might sound lazy, but that’s what the game is. And it’s perfectly fine. Throughout the year, I play a ton of games, both big and small, and I can confidently say BioWare’s newest is the most polished AAA release I’ve encountered in a good bit. Sure, that’s what embracing several delays gets you, but I think it also feels “clean” due to its commitment to a more streamlined, oddly tight structure that seems to run in the opposite direction of current Western trends.
Related: All Major Voice Actors & Cast List for Dragon Age: The Veilguard
If Inquisition (a game I love for the most part) marked the beginning of BioWare’s struggles with overextended game worlds, then Andromeda and Anthem made it abundantly clear the company wasn’t a good fit for that line of game design. It’s interesting to discuss whether Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels too safe in places (it does), but structure isn’t one of its problems. Quite the opposite.
This doesn’t mean it’s a “short” RPG, either, as most people’s first playthroughs are clocking around the 60-hour mark. It just doesn’t do filler. Sure, you can walk around and unlock new areas to explore as you progress through its branching main story, but cleaning loot and finding little pieces of side content only requires a bit of curiosity, not the unhealthy dedication the average modern open-world asks of players. The very same applies to its remarkable side quests.
It all feels familiar yet refreshing. We just don’t get many big-budget RPGs that feel perfect for relaxed end-of-the-day consumption anymore. The densest thing about Dragon Age: The Veilguard is its narrative and how much it fleshes out its colorful cast of characters. I’d have liked a bit more friction for sure, but it overall feels like a good ol’ fantasy book that happens to be playable and looks super expensive. It’s long, but the key here is that it’s never a chore to play through.
There’s a reason why late 2000s and early 2010s BioWare managed to capture the attention of so many casual gamers, and I think this might be it. Without sacrificing engrossing storytelling or rock-solid role-playing (it’s always been about embodying someone else, not piling up numbers), the teams came up with big-budget spectacles that weren’t nearly as demanding as the original Baldur’s Gate entries. This might not be everyone’s cup of tea (or coffee, if you’re a Lucanis stan), but it’s what worked wonders for BioWare back in the day, and I’m happy to see them getting back on that saddle, warts and all.
Beyond the overall game and story structure, a transition into fully real-time combat with proper dodges, parries, and cancellable actions also feels like a natural evolution. Again, I’d have enjoyed maybe a bit of control over my squad mates instead of going full Mass Effect here, but it’s hard to deny it works as well as Dragon’s Dogma’s direct and crunchy approach to combat. It’s also the one fantasy RPG that made me pounce on the mage class from the get-go since it enjoys as many mobility options and sick tricks as the more physical ones. Rad.
Looking at the future, it’s clear that BioWare is back on track even if Dragon Age: The Veilguard falters in some areas. Rejecting the idea of developing DLCs feels like another smart move, instead keeping the momentum going into the new Mass Effect. About that one, let me just say that I hope it has slightly meaner companions and that it dares to recover some flawed but compelling ideas from Andromeda and Anthem’s ruins. Not every last-gen innovation was a bad one for the company. For now, I’ll focus on making my nice, very charming companions act even nicer to Rook and clutter up the screen with more particle FX. That’ll do.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available now on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.