Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Is It Good?

Dragon Age isn’t for everyone. This was true even for me. Call it a lack of palette if you will. A lot of the big heavy-hitter FPS games were out at the time and stole my attention. I gave it a try and decided the combat wasn’t nearly as fast-paced as I am used to. I ended up leaving it alone for quite a few years.

When the game was finally in my hands, I was impressed. Wow! What have I been missing? An awesome story about political betrayal, justice, and magic. I definitely put this off for way too long. As we know, Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition came out after and while DA2 did not sell me as much, Inquisition had me hooked. So pardon my excitement when I say I FREAKED after 10 years of waiting for the release of the next in the series. Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Was it worth it?

The Veilguard received a lot of criticism on its release for a number of those things. The art style was slammed for looking too cartoonish. Then, the game itself was put through the ringer for being too “woke.” None of these criticisms are warranted in my opinion. The game looks stunning in each area you travel to. There is always a point where you’re going to stop and say “Wow!” Keep in mind, I played through the game on the Playstation 5. Dimly lit caverns, sprawling waterfalls, and bustling cities await your arrival and all looks gorgeous. The art style is nothing short of great and I wanted to clear the air on that.

As far as the wokeness (gosh I feel old even typing that), as far as fitting into the story and previous entries in the Dragon Age games, it’s absolutely fine and, more importantly, who cares? A certain character struggles to come to terms with their identity at times and faces the challenges. There are real people who experience this every single day and I am sure it feels nice to have that emotion noticed and acknowledged. Does it take away from ANY experience, not even a little bit. You feel more for the character and end up knowing their motivations and why they feel the way they do. I dig it. So should you.

But Is It FUN?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard puts you in the story that has carried over from the last three games. With familiar characters making returns, storylines crossing over, and brand new events happening. You may be a tiny bit confused if you jump into this without playing the others but it’s still very doable. I suggest playing at least Inquisition before heading here or even catching up with a good story recap video on YouTube. There is a rich and deep story to be found here and it does tie up some ends nicely and even has you invested in everything the world has to offer. I found myself craving more and asking what would happen next as I progressed through each chapter. DA:TV gave me that big RPG story feel and I couldn’t be happier with it.

But let us get to why you’re here. Is it fun? While this is obviously opinionated, my answer is YES. The combat feels good (there are some nuances and I will get to those) and the exploration is satisfying. Completing puzzles, random encounters and a great story that, even though dismissed some choices from a game TEN years ago, feels like it comes to a solid conclusion.

You’ll gain XP from battles, quests, and finding codex entries scattered around the world. You’ll level up traditionally and get to access a skill tree that fully opens up how you’ll play the game. I typically play as a warrior type build but decided to go against my norms and create a mage. Through that, there were 3 branches I could take my character and even have the choice to be long rage with my staff, up close with my dagger, or mix it up with both. The level of freedom makes you feel like you’re not wasting you’re time or stuck in a cookie cutter playstyle for 60 hours.

The gear you find along the way can also be tweaked to what you’re doing as well. Looking to be a slinger of death with Necrosis? Do it and enchant your helmet to give it an extra damage boost to that element. Want to stay as far away from a battle and use a freezing beam of doom? Your choice as well. All of this compliments each other with your companions you recruit along the way who will use devastating skills to break and demolish your foes.

Enemies will test you and have you rethink your strategies in every new zone. I love this because while there are some certain OP builds, you still have to react to a blocking enemy or a crazy spirit sniper hidden along just pelting you with magic as you roll frantically to recover. In the 60+ hours I put into this so far, I still look forward to fights. Boss fights can be big and meaty and others are kind of pushovers depending on your set up. But, they are equally fun. I’ve retried a few boss fights a few times with different party members, gear, and skills and each time I really enjoyed it even in defeat.

Dragon Age old bugs?

There are some strange things that happen though and I could not figure out if it was just me or not. A lot of times, if I targeted a weak point or an enemy in general, some simple movement would cause the lock-on to just not be there and I would end up shooting magic at a rock or nothing. It would be pretty aggravating at times, especially in boss fights. In one particular one I can remember, the weak points were crucial because the boss’s level was higher than mine. I ended up having to retry a number of times due to being attacked as my character stopped locking on and instead stared off into the distance. While not game-breaking, it can be infuriating at higher difficulty levels.

There were also some visual glitches and bugs and since release, EA has been working diligently to fix them. One of them has not been fixed where my character’s hair turns jet black at random times regardless of the color I picked. Again, nothing TOO damaging but it is and can be annoying. Aside from the occasional visual weirdness, I have yet to run into any sort of crash or bug that would make me want to stop enjoying my time.

The Quest…For Love?

There are plenty of quests and side-quests to complete. Unlike some RPGs, a lot of these feel like you are actually contributing to your cause. Many games task you with ice skating in the middle of saving the world. While those can be fun for sure, they often detract from the purpose and goal of your character. In Dragon Age: The Veilguard if you’re accepting quests, it’s to discover what happened to a medicine supply or eliminate a threat preventing operations from continuing. This makes me feel like I am not wasting my time. Instead, I am getting to know my companions through a world filled with despair and unfortunate circumstances.

Speaking of companions, you get to recruit a good cast of characters. They will aid and assist you with the ever-so-daunting task of fighting some gods. Even through little dialogue when exploring, your friends are chatting each other up about their adventures. It’s a nice touch that makes heading to any zone a good time. Oh, and if you’re going to ask it, yes, there is romance.

VERDICT: Overall, is it good? Yes. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a good, if not great game. Should you buy it at full price? Yep! It is very easy to spend 60 hours or more in the world and get your money’s worth. Whether you are experimenting with a new build or character, or choosing different dialogue choices/paths, there is plenty to do and discover. Some minor bugs and glitches get in the way but they are considerably less noticeable than recent major releases. If you are looking for a really good action RPG to get you through this winter, this is certainly the game for you!

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is now available on PS5, Xbox One, and PC. Watch the trailer HERE