I’m playing, and thoroughly enjoying, Dragon Age: The Veilguard
There’s been a lot of GamerGate 2.0 stuff going around about the game, with idiots claiming it’s the worst release of the year, when really, they’re just upset by its inclusivity.
Ignoring the fact that Bioware’s games have always tried to be at the forefront of inclusivity and so no-one should be surprised when there are sympathetic portrayals of minority groups (which is really what all this faux outrage is about), technically, it’s a remarkable title considering the AAA climate it releases in.
It’s refreshingly stable and bug free, while at the same time, looking great.
While some people may not appreciate the more stylised characters in the game, I for one appreciate them, as I’ve been playing games long enough to realise that stylised graphics tend to fare better over time than the pursuit of verisimilitude.
As well as looking and performing great on the main platforms (I’m playing on PC), it apparently also plays really well on Steam Deck (not tried it there myself yet; I may do for a second playthrough.)
Frankly, I think this is a really strong game in a post-Baldur’s Gate 3 world, and to be honest, probably holds together overall better than that game; I love BG3 to death, but as with all Larian games since they started using the Early Access model of release, the bits that weren’t playable during early access are noticeably poorer in quality than the first act.
Down to the subjective stuff, where the meat really is:
This is effectively Dragon Age becoming more like the Mass Effect games (not Andromeda.)
Instead of the open world of Inquisition, you instead explore tighter, densely packed maps, with down-time and that all-important character development happening at this game’s equivalent of the Normandy, the Lighthouse. You revisit most of these maps over the course of the game as abilities and events open up new paths. A few maps are only visited one, and these are effectively the game’s “Set pieces.”
While there’s not as much reactivity as games like Witcher 3 or Baldur’s Gate 3, what is there tends to have more visible impact than in those games. One major choice early on will colour your entire playthrough, and it’s a hard either/or choice that locks of certain content.
Voice acting, while not quite on the same level as Baldur’s Gate 3, is mostly excellent throughout, although I find the Neve Gallus’ voice actor more obviously amateurish than many of the other characters.
There’s a few lines with incorrect word emphasis here and there, meaning conversations may very occasionally not flow naturally, but for the most part, it’s good stuff.
I’m particularly enjoying my female elf’s slight Geordie twang.
The story follows on from Inquisition, and in particular, that game’s Dreadwolf DLC.
At the start of the game, Solas, chrome-domed Welsh elf companion from Inquisition, now revealed to be the elven god of lies, is hell-bent on performing some sort of ritual that threatens to result in the deaths of thousands of people, and potentially would endanger the entire world.
At this point, we don’t know exactly what this ritual is, but it has to do with the Veil, the barrier between the real world and the dream world, the Fade.
Spirits and demons often cross the veil and manifest in the real world, often with calamitous results.
Indeed, the world of Thedas (where the game takes place), undergoes regular “Blights”, mass demon incursions that threaten to end civilisation and are traditionally fought back by the Grey Wardens, fighters who are made by imbibing the blood of Arch Demons (dragons possessed by demons.)
We don’t know why at the start, but Solas wants to tear down the Veil, which to our understanding as players would quite obviously be a bad thing.
What follows is a deft re-weaving of the lore that serves as the foundation of the series as the consequences of Solas’ failed attempt to tear down the Veil become apparent.
Lots of gamers seem to be upset by this, but I think the outrage is coming from people who haven’t played the game and are looking for anything to tear the game down over.
Personally, I think it’s pretty good and internally consistent as well as revealing a lot of really cool history of the world at the same time.
And because of the nature of Solas and a lot of the mythology surrounding him, you never quite know what is true.
Systems-wise, while yes, it does lean more towards action-RPG than more traditional CRPGs, there’s still a lot to get your teeth into.
There’s a nice trait galaxy to spend skill points in a la Path of Exile, with companions having smaller ones.
Gear is handled in a relatively unique way, in that if you find the original, basic quality versions quite early on. Then, when you find duplicates, these serve to upgrade the gear to the next tier (White>Blue>Purple>Orange / Common>Rare>Epic>Legendary) for no cost. These tiers unlock new functionality as well as increasing numbers.
On top of that, there’s a vendor at the Lighthouse that can upgrade the power level of gear (from +1 to +10) that also allows you to add a singular enchantment to each piece of gear, that adds further functionality.
Overall, a new system and a fairly enjoyable one.
Combat and movement is a mixed bag. It feels good enough on the surface, but it can end up feeling incomplete, especially when compared to its peers (with Cyberpunk 2077 post Phantom Liberty being the current gold standard for ARPG movement and combat for me.)
You can’t position your companions (of which you can only ever have 2 active, a la Mass Effect), and they behave more like extra skills to activate instead of full-blown characters. Indeed, they just immediately teleport where they need to be when you issue an order, which will never not be disconcerting.
An undesirable side effect of this, particularly for a squishy class like Mage (which I am playing as), is that the bad guys are focussed almost 100% on your character, making maintaining rhythm in combat difficult. This could have been alleviated somewhat if they had impemented something similar to Bayonetta’s dodge-offset mechanic, whereby you can continue a combo where you left off after dodging, but they haven’t, so it ends up feeling like you never get a chance to play with the toys you’ve unlocked as you’re constantly under pressure and dodging.
Certain companions do have taunt abilities that very briefly divert attention from your character, but these are pretty stingey, with long cooldowns.
In addition, taking the taunt ability means you’re not taking one of the other, more interesting abilities that has the potential to combo with the abilities of you and other companions.
Regarding movement, again, this can feel half-baked, but not enough to put me off.
The most egregoius example is this:
As a mage, you have a running attack where you pole-vault into the air and forward, detonating an area-of-effect attack at the point where your staff hits the ground.
But this doesn’t actualy serve as a movement skill when it comes to navigation; you can’t use it to jump higher or further, even though it feels like you should be able to.
But I digress; it’s a very competent, enjoyable Bioware romp. I’ve yet to complete it, but I’m approaching the finale; I’m currently making sure all my companions are prepared, which feels very much like the preparations for the final mission of Mass Effect 2, which was an enjoyable mechanic there and still is here.
There’s plentiful inclusivity options, more so than any game I’ve played recently, and some poignant and sympathetic portrayals of characters struggling with who they are.
And this is the stuff that has got the toxic click-seeking elements of YouTube and the wider social media sphere proclaiming it the worst game of the year.
This is incredibly disingenuous, as even if they had a point about inclusivity (which I must emphasise they really don’t; I’m playing devil’s advocate here), that aforementioned technical stability and competence elevates it over truly bad games.
Everything you see or hear about the game being bad is meant in bad faith, and I would strongly recommend ignoring and blocking people posting this kind of rhetoric. I can safely say that anyone saying this game is the worst of the year is dog-whistling.
Overall, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time with the game so far, and am already thinking of characters to make to play the game through with again.
Post Anthem, it’s a welcome return to a more tried and true Bioware formula, and I highly recommend ignoring the trolls and just playing it.
