BerenErchamion Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review

SPOILERS AHEAD Dragon Age: The Veilguard was a major disappointment for me. It feels disconnected from everything I’ve loved about the franchise over the years. From the pacing issues to the lack of meaningful character interactions, and, most importantly, the absence of player agency, this game misses the mark in too many ways. First off, the story just doesn’t have any real pacing. It feels overloaded with meaningless quests, and at times I wasn’t heavily invested in anything, other than doing some quests for companions. Key elements, like the ancient elven lore, aren’t touched on as I was hoping to. I don’t understand how we jump from Dalish not knowing anything about their past to the "Veiljumpers" already knowing everything about ancient gods, rather than discovering it throughout gamplay, which makes the whole thing feel not immersive. Morrigan, one of my favorite characters from the earlier games, feels completely out of character here. Gone is her trademark wit and sarcasm, replaced by a flat, one-dimensional version of herself. The main character, Rook, doesn’t help matters. Unlike the protagonists from the previous games, who had rich backstories that tied into the main plot, Rook just seems to appear out of nowhere. In Origins, every character had a compelling origin story that made sense within the larger world. Even if you chose one origin over another, you’d still encounter characters from the other origins, which added depth to the narrative. Dragon Age 2 gave us Hawke, a character trying to survive the Blight while losing family and friends along the way. Inquisition gave us a protagonist who, despite being blamed for the Veil rupture, had an important role in saving the world from invading demons. But Rook? He’s recruited by Varric simply because he’s "unpredictable" and good at improvising. There’s no explanation as to why Rook is the right person for this mission. He’s basically the team’s cheerleader, offering vague “group therapy” style advice, but I never really felt like he was the leader the team needed. Companion interactions were another letdown. In the past, I could dive into deep, meaningful conversations with companions about their pasts, their goals, and our shared struggles. But in The Veilguard, the dialogue feels forced and shallow. The game often lectures me on moral issues (with a clear leaning), which breaks the immersion, instead of letting me explore those ideas through my choices. This lack of character depth and moral complexity really stood out to me. The antagonists in The Veilguard are a total letdown. Unlike past Dragon Age villains, who usually had some depth or backstory that made them interesting, these guys are just flat. There’s no real reason given for why they’re doing what they’re doing. They seem to want to rule a world ruined by the Blight, but the Blight corrupts and destroys everything—so what’s even left to control? It doesn’t make sense. It feels like they’re just “evil for the sake of being evil,” without any real motive or nuance. Honestly, it comes off as a lazy, black-and-white view of villainy, like they’re cartoonish caricatures of power-hungry bad guys. I found it way too simplistic, with none of the grey areas or tough moral questions that made past villains so memorable. For me, one of the only characters who really grabbed my attention (Since Inquisiton) in The Veilguard was Solas. We get to dig into his backstory (and elven backstory through him) and see what happened to the elven empire, a little bit about the gods, the rebellion, the weight of his regrets, the guilt he carries. You learn that Mythal used him as a weapon, and you start to understand why he’s doing what he’s doing. He feels completely responsible for tearing the Veil and destroying the ancient elven world as it once was. He tried to save his people from slavery, but in the end, they just ended up getting enslaved by someone else, ages later. Solas is also the one character who stays true to who he is: the g0d of treachery, betrayal and tricks. He doesn’t back down from this role, and he’s consistent to the bitter end. There’s something satisfying about the fact that, depending on your choices, you can even manage to reach his heart at the end game. There’s even a moment where he and Mythal resolve things, with her making amends for using him. This is exactly the kind of character depth I was hoping for—the grey area where Solas isn’t just a villain or a hero. He’s somewhere in between, so you can either understand where he’s coming from or disagree with him, and that choice gives his character real complexity. But then comes the real letdown: The Veilguard completely sidelines Solas for almost the entire game. You only get five interactions with him plus the ending, which feels like such a waste of potential. It’s the same story with Varric. By now, Varric is practically the face of Dragon Age, one of the most developed characters across all the games. Yet here, he’s shoved to the side with barely any impact, only for a half-baked plot twist at the end. Even with all the potential for choices with Solas, the game keeps up this illusion of choice. You can’t actually agree with Solas or support his mission, even if you understand where he’s coming from. Every dialogue option feels set up to contradict him, pushing you to see him as the “bad guy” even though his whole character is morally grey. And the game constantly telling you, “he is going to betray you”… It would’ve been incredible to have some real choices here: imagine an ending where you could actually help Solas tear down the Veil. But we only trick/fight him into keeping it up, or convince him to protect it with the Inquisitor’s/Morrigan’s/Mythal’s help. Choices like that would have brought back the sense of real agency, allowing players to shape the game’s outcome in a way that feels personal. Continuing with the “illusion of choice”, One of the biggest problems for me was the lack of meaningful choices. In previous Dragon Age games, I could decide which factions to support, make choices that affected the world, and feel the weight of those decisions. In The Veilguard, you only get points for doing quests for factions, the more points, the more the faction helps... For example, I was asked to choose between saving Minrathous or Treviso, but besides the city getting “destroyed” and controlled by one of the two enemy factions, that decision had barely any impact on the game world rather than being where the final mission is and some npc’s I don’t care about dying, because there was no pacing into getting to know them and like them, like Duncan, Varric, Cassandra, King Cailan or Logahin. (I name those because in a very few time, the game succeeds in you actually caring for two of them and mostly hating the other) The game presents some opportunities for reactive world-building—like destroying the Blight eruption in Hossberg Wetlands—but it doesn’t change anything. It’s as if these choices were just there to give the illusion of player agency, without actually delivering on that promise, just some flowers growing mentioned in the epilogue... Wow, real deep stuff. Take Harding’s quest on the Titan. Instead of exploring the morally complex legacy of the first elves in regard to what they did to the Titans and delving more into ancient Dwarves (or Kal-Sharok) history and lore, I was stuck with a simple choice: make Harding come to terms with herself and choose between "Renegade" or "Paragon" Harding... It felt like a wasted opportunity to dive into something deeper. The dialogue with ex-shaper Valta was very bad too, no new knowledge was acquired from her at all… And this is a trend throughout the game: fumbled lore drops, moral choices that don’t really challenge you, or decisions that don’t affect the world in any meaningful way. The absence of the branching, impactful choices I loved in earlier Dragon Age games really hit hard. In Origins, I could side with the Dalish Elves or Werewolves, the Dwarves or the Golems (You could lose a companion over this and kill it, Shale), and the Templars or the Mages. I Dragon Age 2 there were some very heavy stuff like Merril getting her whole clan killed… In Inquisition was either the mages or templar getting corrupted with red lyrium. Every choice had weight. But in The Veilguard, I don’t feel like my decisions matter. There’s no real room to choose my moral path, imagine if you could somehow convince the companions quest bosses to your cause by fighting with your companion and having to kill them or having some very hich speech check (like Wrex and Shepard) to convince them while hardening them or some sort of catch. For example, supporting Aelia’s Blood Magic rituals to fight the gods, aligning with Anaris and his quest to transform elves into demons and make an uneasy alliance to fight for you, or even siding with Isseya in blighting the griffons and using them as weapons making the wardens not support you. The game lacks these types of negotiations (speech checks), opportunity costs and moral complexity of characters like: • Zevran (Him turning on you when Antivan Crows come for you) • Isabela (When she steals the Book of Koslun and you gotta decide to cover for her) • Iron Bull (If you don’t tell him to help his crew, in trespasser he turns on you). The rigidity of the narrative path in Veilguard was a huge letdown for me. The gameplay didn’t do much to salvage the experience. It’s overly linear, with the more general quests to level up having little to no meaning. The recruitment system is too simplistic—every character just joins without any real effort or decision on my part. And themes that were recurring in Dragon Age, like Blood Magic, Romance (not how it was explored) and Morality, are barely touched on here. When they are mentioned, it’s always in a shallow, oversimplified way that doesn’t give them the weight they deserve. Combat was also frustrating; I finished this game on the highest difficulty. The skill cooldowns felt restrictive, making the battles repetitive and slow. There’s no room for strategic gameplay, and without customizable builds or meaningful skill progression (Assasins Creed Valhalla…), combat felt more like a chore than a rewarding challenge. The environmental interactions (like the elven artifacts you must fetch and place to get a bridge or companion dagger skills…) are also simplified to the point that it felt like the game was aimed at a younger audience, rather than the mature RPG fans who’ve supported Dragon Age for years. Finally, the game barley connected with the lore of previous titles through the missives of the Inquisitor, which I thought was very lazy. Many beloved characters and events from earlier games felt irrelevant here (Like Hawke, Bianca or Alistair). The Veilguard had a chance to tap into the rich history of Thedas, but instead, it focused on new themes that didn’t resonate with me in the same way. While Dragon Age: The Veilguard didn’t fully live up to my expectations, there are definitely some positives that stood out. The environments, for instance, are stunning. The artists truly outdid themselves here; they brought Thedas to life in a way that felt fresh and vibrant. Finally getting to explore locations I’d only read about in codex entries or heard NPCs mention was thrilling. The choice of areas was solid too—though I would have loved to visit places like Par Vollen or Seheron, I was impressed with the places we did get to explore. Exploration also reminded me of Origins, which I appreciated. Personally, I prefer a middle ground between fully open-world zones and the more linear approach, rather than the vast emptiness of areas like the Hissing Wastes. The Crossroads area was particularly memorable for me; it’s the first time the Fade hasn’t felt like a chore. Exploring it was a highlight, and I enjoyed the sense of mystery there. The choice of a cartoonish, almost Pixar-like style for the characters didn’t bother me much, though I did find it odd for the Darkspawn. What didn’t sit well was their overly cheerful personalities of the companions, which felt out of place for the dark tone of the Dragon Age universe. But the UI design was functional, and I didn’t have any major issues with it. Some elements even evoked nostalgia for previous Dragon Age games, which was nice. But it also made the overall experience more frustrating since it felt like the game never reached that emotional or narrative crescendo. The Lighthouse, for instance, was a nice hub, though I wish it had evolved over time like Skyhold did. As for gameplay, I enjoyed playing as a Spellblade mage—it was refreshing to have a new weapon type beyond the traditional staff. The Transmog system was a welcome addition too, and it made customizing my character feel more personal. I also appreciated the codex classification by faction; it was a small detail but added a nice touch of organization to the lore. All in all, while there were some bright spots that reminded me of why I love the Dragon Age series, the lack of depth in character and story made those highlights bittersweet. It’s a beautiful game in many ways, and certain aspects worked really well, but it’s hard not to feel like The Veilguard missed out on becoming something truly memorable. Finally, the worst of the worst was not being able to import your world state, you had 10 years, a fandom invested in the game, and a winning formula… what happened? Overall, The Veilguard was a major letdown. It lacked the depth, choices, and character development that I’ve come to expect from the Dragon Age series. The rigid narrative, shallow characters, and lack of meaningful player agency made it feel like a hollow experience. It seems like BioWare lost touch with what made the franchise so special, and it’s a real shame.