Lifting the veil on a familiar tale…
It’s impossible to not know who BioWare is as a modern day gamer. The creators of the Mass Effect series have firmly planted themselves into the household name category and have defined the RPG genre through their lines of works. The Dragon Age series hasn’t seen a new game in over 10 years and while each entry has been a bit different, Dragon Age: The Veilguard introduces a new art style as well as a plethora of new gameplay mechanics.So let’s fly in and see what I’ve been missing. Dracarus! (Whoops wrong Dragon media…)
Solas Story
The story starts off in epic proportions. It’s very clear this won’t be an easy task ahead. There’s several eleven Gods imprisoned in a veil. The one who put them there, Solas, AKA the Dreadwolf is trying to let them out again. The reason? There’s no elven magic anymore. The Gods took it all with them when they were trapped in the Veil.
This is a lot. And step by step, my created character would uncover more details throughout the gameplay. Important note: this is a story spoiler free review. But I will say, it does an excellent job of immersing players into the world of Thedas.
The character customization is outstanding. Literally everything can be customized. So have fun making your character look exactly like you if you want to! Or not at all. After creating your character the story begins and the game places players immediately into Thedas. The voice acting is good overall and occasionally feels a bit on the nose, but the choices made seem to make a difference. It’s exciting to play this and think about all of the different decisions I could make a second time. I found myself writing down all my decisions in case I wanted to come back to the game a second or third time.
Coming back for a second or third time is a big thing to consider. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a massive and immersive game.
Gargantuan Gameplay
Never playing a Dragon Age game before, I came in with somewhat high expectations. Many peers constantly told me I was in for a treat. They were right! This might have been the perfect time for a newcomer to step into the Veil. Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t an open world title, it’s open zones. Each level is carefully created with rich detail, stacked with treasure and items to find. Oddly. There are moments of brief climbing up ledges and ancient elven treasure hunting that made me think fondly of the “Uncharted” video game series. Exploration is rewarded at every turn and it’s clear here that BioWare would like players to enjoy the surroundings; living and breathing the world they created. This is a slow burn title (especially in the first few hours) and that could be a great thing for certain players.
Players have access to a map, an objective marker, and are tasked with molding the character’s personality throughout the game with clever choices sprinkled throughout the game. The answers players give to deeper conundrums quickly affect relationships with companions and even gameplay. Taking different companions on quests with you changes the feel of the game tangibly. There are a few awkward feeling components to the game (like having the “collect item” and “jump” action mapped to the same button), and the controls took a bit of getting used to, but it all eventually came together in an enjoyable way.
At first glance, combat seems simple. Hack and slash coupled with abilities and even companion abilities. But hacking and slashing will get players nowhere. The game makes players aware of this early on (even in easy mode). The trick is to dodge, parry, and alternate strategies through fights to optimize your attack. The ability my warrior character had, for instance, was reminiscent of a hero shooter where gold beams of light would rain down on my opponent like a missile barrage. It was exciting to build up enough rage to use this ability, but it also didn’t feel too overpowered either. Most of the time, a boss had resistance to my abilities, so I had to find new strategies.
You must also utilize a “Prime” and “Detonate” mechanic, where you can put a status on an enemy (Overwhelmed for example) and a secondary ability can trigger or “Detonate” the status into a huge explosion, dealing some serious damage. Pretty neat stuff. The enemy encounters ended up turning into a prime/detonate festival as I became more familiar with the mechanic, but it was unique enough to hold my interest.
The more I played the game, the more appreciation I had for the sprawling ability tree. There’s a ton of options to get lost in, and more than a few builds you can make for each character class. The rogue, for example, has 3 main specializations – Duelist (for melee), Sabatuer (for traps/fun shenanigans) and Veil Ranger (for ranged). In between those 3 specializations are swaths of abilities and buffs to keep you itching to get your hands on another ability point.
Without giving too much away though, one thing is for sure, there’s a combat style here for everyone. The rogue, with his bow and arrow, feels vastly different than the hack and slash warrior, or spell-casting mage. Nothing feels tacked on by any stretch of the imagination. It’s a well-oiled machine and made me constantly want to get to the next conversation, fight the next batch of foes, and save everyone from the gods!
Pragmatic Presentation
While the game looks stunning and plays beautifully, there are a few glaring gripes.
The dialogue is super cheesy.
I was able to power through it, and eventually got used to it, but it’s cheesy nevertheless. To add to this, there were times when I had to solve a puzzle or open a locked door, when one of my companions would pipe up to say “There must be a key here SOMEWHERE” …but that said key was literally right in front of us. Surely there are more graceful ways to prod the player along.
While I digress a tad, it’s important to note that if you’re incredibly picky on dialogue, this may not be your cup of tea. When it works though, it works just fine. This a fantasy first title.
On to the next gripe.
Facial animations are horrible.
The emotion on display is nearly non-existent. When you have a game that’s teetering on more than 50% dialogue/story driven cut scenes (give or take), it can take you out of the moment when you’re struggling to relate to the mannequin-esque delivery of all the lines. How do you know a character is concerned, scared, or even happy? Other than the above-average voice acting pulling most of the weight, they have to explicitly tell you their emotion when they’re talking. Their facial animations are as expressive as a damp cardboard box.
The graphically creative design is also a strange choice for me. On one hand, the game is beautiful and has a really unique style. The settings are always interesting to look at, and you can tell everything was made for current-gen systems. On the other hand, the choice to make everyone look like a hyper-realistic cartoon is odd. It clashes with the seriousness in tone. “The souls of every person in the universe will be devoured by the evil gods! We must fight on!” said my near-emotionless-looking main character with the cutest itty bitty button nose.
Wrapping Rook
Overall, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an impressive and exciting game to play. The combat constantly refreshes itself with every encounter, and the choices made directly influxes the game. The pacing of Dragon Age is surprisingly fast for a game based on decision making through the narrative, and it boasts a beefy playthrough time. BioWare clearly took their time making this title, and while not ‘perfect’ by our definition, it’s definitely a game of the year contender. Don’t miss this game, cheesy dialogue and all! It’s well worth jumping through the Veil.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Summary
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a more than solid entry into one of BioWare’s most famous IP’s. It’s an approachable mystical dragon of an adventure with careful care put into its customizable mechanics. This is an RPG for the ages.
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