Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

Much has been said about Dragon Age: The Veilguard leading up to its launch. While it became a prime target for negative commentary on social media, some criticisms based on the trailers and previews were justified, leaving the title gasping for momentum despite its redeeming qualities.

BioWare needed a win, especially after rough outings like Anthem and Mass Effect Andromeda. The studio faced a significant challenge in reclaiming its former glory post-Mass Effect 2, with high hopes pinned on this latest installment in the cherished series.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard does not fully mark a return to form for the once-prestigious studio, but it represents a step in the right direction. Despite its numerous strengths, the game occasionally undermines itself, preventing it from achieving greatness. Enjoyment will vary significantly among players; while I found it enjoyable, I recognize that it had the potential to be much better.

One Step Forward, One Step Back

You’ll notice a recurring theme in this review, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a bad habit of shooting itself in the foot for every forward step it does.

First off, the game shines visually, and no matter which way you slice it, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is filled with stunning locales and views. From the forests of Arlathan to the blight-stricken Hossberg Wetlands, the various locations in the game all look diverse and fantastic, and you’ll often find yourself using its full-featured photo mode to capture the perfect look.

However, the character models are hit and miss, and will be something that not everyone may like. It’s quite funny to think that the game has an awesome and detailed character creator, but the character models do not do it justice. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has abandoned the darker and more realistic style of the past titles and brings in something that’s almost the opposite, something more colorful and stylized. While I prefer the more realistic models of the past, I can see the appeal of this style and how some will be drawn to it.

Going back to the character creator, while I did mention that it has various options, some are quite baffling. For how much freedom it gives the players to tweak, some parts like the body proportion sliders are hardly noticeable. What stands out, though, are the extremely diverse hair options, and the tech used to make hair look and act so good is something that should be emulated by other developers.

Outside of the visuals, one of the biggest changes Dragon Age: The Veilguard employs is its shift to a more action-based combat system akin to Mass Effect. You do not get to take control of your party members, but instead, you’ll be issuing commands to them as they move independently on the battlefield.

Immediately, you’ll see that this is quite the departure from the Dragon Age games of old, but it isn’t really surprising because the series has shown signs of going this route since Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition. Dragon Age purists will certainly rue this choice by the developers, but like Final Fantasy XVI before it, the developers felt the need to shake up the formula to attract a new audience while bringing back fans. It works, for the most part, but as mentioned, it’s another matter of one step forward, one step back.

Combat is fast, as you pepper the enemy with attacks and skills while dodging incoming fire. It is a familiar feeling and is definitely something you’ve already played before, so jumping in won’t take getting used to. In between everything, you’re telling your comrades to pop off flashy and explosive skills, making combos and skill sequencing a big thing in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

For as fast as the combat is in Dragon Age: The Veilguard compared to its predecessors, it takes a while to really open up and hook you in. There’s potential to see early on, but it’ll take upwards of 4-6 hours to make it feel satisfying, especially when you gain more abilities. While others may not be enthused about this, I quite enjoyed myself as the game progressed, pulling off visually impressive explosions and combos with its responsive controls.

Sadly, the momentum stops again as combat is marred by its limited enemy variety and reliance on the same skills over and over again. For as much as the combat opens up to several possibilities, I found myself using just the commands repeatedly, especially as the game employs a “Detonator” system a la Mass Effect. I didn’t mind, to be honest, because I’m the type of player who goes for efficiency over style, but variety is definitely a missed opportunity that Dragon Age: The Veilguard could have capitalized on. Others may not be as forgiving as I was.

This back and forth also extends to the levels in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, where the levels are well-designed overall, but some niggling issues are still present. Locations are vast and varied, and while they’re mostly linear, some paths and twists are often rewarding, and you’ll be glad you took that turn a while back.

The game also employs a lot of traversal options similar to what you can find in titles like Star Wars Jedi, an abundance of ziplines and inclined surfaces to slide on, and some semblance of platforming in between. It’s not quite open-world, but there are some vast areas to explore filled with things to do.

After the intro, players will be thrust into the lighthouse, which is basically your headquarters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard. As you progress through the game, you’ll recruit your rag-tag crew who will take refuge at the base, occupying a corner where you can interact with them. You can think of it as the Skyhold in Inquisition, and you can even customize it to some extent.

Another point of contention in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is its writing, and while I didn’t mind it too much, there are a lot of things here that may irk fans of the earlier games, especially since the character roster isn’t as strong as before.

My main complaint about its writing can be attributed to the lack of “sharp” and witty writing, something that engages and pulls you in with compelling dialogue. Just a small example of calling someone by their full name and then saying the full name again in the next line can really take immersion away. There are a lot of these small instances that can add up throughout the adventure. It gets so bad at times, that one character in particular is quite insufferable, and I’m left to roll my eyes at what I just read.

While it can be brushed to the side, one can argue about the previous titles being as good as they are because of their writing and story. Dragon Age: The Veilguard doesn’t quite stack up in this department, but if you’re willing to look past these low points in writing, the overall story is something that can be enjoyable, despite the lack of choices that can greatly affect how certain events play out.

It bears mentioning that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a direct sequel, coming 10 years after the events of Inquisition. That said, new players diving into the game run the risk of being overwhelmed by certain story beats, especially with the opening sequence where you encounter Solas off the bat.

Positive Performance

For everything Dragon Age: The Veilguard does “wrong,” the one thing it absolutely gets right is optimization, and the game runs like a dream when we tested it on both PC/Steam Deck and PS5.

With a focus on fast-paced combat, performance is certainly the way to go, and the PS5 mostly locks frames to 60 fps as far as we can see, with very negligible dips, which are few and far between. Our playthrough yielded no bugs, which is rare for a game of this size to be released in this state.

Playing on a 4070, the game supports DLSS should your hardware support it, improving both performance and visuals depending on your preference. With our setup, it ran upwards of 60fps easily, and we’d guess that a 30-series won’t experience too many problems running the game as well.

Going one step further, Dragon Age: The Veilguard also works quite well on a Steam Deck, which is surprising, considering the game is a looker and is Steam Deck verified to boot.

First off, it runs without the fuss of another launcher, so that’s a great start. Second, and while this is understandable, you’ll probably need to resign yourself to the fact that you’ll be playing at low settings, but it keeps a 30fps clip even during combat. Taking the game on the go is a huge win already, so the fuzzy graphics are the least of your worries.

Lastly, props to EA and BioWare for shipping a complete game. There’s photo mode, performance options, a full suite of accessibility and graphics options, and hardly any noticeable bugs based on our playthrough… It’s a release you’d expect from other developers, but this was certainly a pleasant surprise.

Verdict: Buy it!

Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t quite a full return to form, but it is definitely a step in the right direction for BioWare, and is a win that the studio definitely needed after a series of demoralizing releases over the years.

The game, with all its positive points, always seems to trip over its own feet – fantastic environments but divisive character design, engaging story but overly cheesy dialog at times, and more. There’s always a give-and-take that holds it back from being a great game.

Barring all of the controversial stories by bad actors, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an enjoyable time, and while it does not hit the highs as a peak BioWare title, it does the job and offers an experience that shows promise for the next game from the developers.

*Dragon Age: The Veilguard was reviewed on a PS5 with a review code provided by the publisher.