Dragon Age: The Veilguard (2024)

I went into Dragon Age: Veilguard already half-poisoned about its preamble: my very first post about this title was way back when we didn't know much about the game and I was already second guessing most of the choices that were mentioned in passing. Turns out it was worse.

Dragon Age: Veilguard is the last foreseeable entry to the Dragon Age series, aimed at closing the circle of narrative started with Dragon Age: Origins and brought forward by Dragon Age II and Dragon Age: Inquisition. It suffered a long development cycle and a long stay in hell before coming out, clawing its way through a retooling that saw the title going from live service to a narrative RPG game.

I came into Veilguard with tempered expectations because I had been witness to Dragon Age: Absolution (animated series) not too long before and felt like the writers had forgotten about the lore they had painstakingly built over three games and several novellas. Imagine my face when I found out you had to have read Tevinter Nights (novel) to have the needed context as to why things are the way they are.

The disconnect between Trespasser and the initial few cutscenes of Veilguard only served to stiffen my attitude towards it which did not go overly well when it came to Solas and his big reveal, as well as Scout Harding and her own big reveal (which throws, more or less, the entirety of Descent into the trash can so we can have a Special Dwarf and not just a regular one for our journey).

Veilguard simply lacks the audacity that the other predecessor had in exposing a world full of racism and overt classism, full of extremely dark deeds that were never mentioned but it has the audacity to demand that all the lore established throughout the years bends to the simplified tale that is being purported in perhaps the weakest pieces of literature associated with Dragon Age. Why are the Qunari in Antiva? Read Tevinter Nights to know. Why does everyone in the game knows everyone but you are given next to no context as to why you even want to associate with Neve (as opposed to Dorian Pavus)? Read Tevinter Nights.

Never once, if your character is an elf, are called anything but your name. Never once are the Tevinter slaves mentioned (so much so Minrathous looks like a generic Orlais if not for the dark and brooding atmosphere and some of the poorer status people) and the Venatori are now an even bigger threat for no particular reason given despite multiple snippets and Dorian himself revealing that the Venatori - ten years prior - were already in disarray and scattering after the death of Corypheus. Everything is sanitized in order to be fit into neat and tidy boxes while adhering uniquely to Tevinter Night's own canon.

The previous games, despite being a core part of why and how we got to Veilguard in the first place, are written away much like Dragon Age: Absolution did and impart little to nothing on those who are voracious fans of the series down to the novellas written post-games.

The gameplay is fine, if that's what you want to hear: it's snappy and particularly responsive, fun in some parts but overshadowed by the fact there isn't really a way to make me care about anything or anyone.

This could have been a decent Tevinter Nights spin-off, much like Tevinter Nights was a fanfiction of its own (no, it's actually not, it's a collection of stories without particular thought or care about the general world at large). Not a main series title.

I felt very excited when I saw the trailer for Veilguard's release. I played all the main games since 2018, so it was thrilling to have a new Dragon Age to play. But that's exactly where my disappointment goes.

The designs were mostly cool and soundtrack was good. Didn't really like most of Rook's armor and weapon designs.

Combat looks good, but gets stale pretty quickly regarding its dynamic. Losing the ability to control the companions was, in my opinion, quite the mistake. Also, making the party a three-person team seems a cheap way of trying to raise the game's difficulty somewhat.

Keeping the maximum level at 50 seems rather pointless to me, since you can get there quite a few missions before the story's end and you keep getting experience. Leaving to the player the ability to chart skills any way you want and refunding points was a good thing, I thought, although I took no advantage of that while playing (didn't even try to specialize Rook).

Now, I think the writing is mediocre in two levels. The story is not as enticing as the earlier games and dialogues are way inferior. The dialogue issue ties in with the reduction in the party. There's almost no meaningful conversations between characters during quests, which is dumbest thing about this game since it's a Dragon Age. I mean, most of the fun comes from the flirting, the bickering, the tidbits of lore that come from the companions. And none of that exists in this game. There's something else about dialogues: there are too many of them when it comes to Rook's interactions for initiating quests. I mean, to go to a companion's quarters just for a two minute scene for a quest that ends up being just a bunch of dialogue while running around? Even if this is present in the other games, which I honestly don't recall (since I've played each one just once), I think it's excessive in Veilguard. To the point which I grew tired of the companions instead of liking them.

Speaking of the cast, I really liked Emmrich, Lucanis and Neve. Harding could have been so much cooler (and I even romanced her). Now, Davrin? Dull. Bellara? Not that cute. Taash? Felt like a teenager trapped in an adult Qunari's body. Between the griffon and Manfred, Fred is way cooler.

The romance mechanics take way too much time to kick in, by the way. At least, that was my expericence. I committed to an exclusive relationship with Harding and I thought it's crazy that there's no sex scene right away and I couldn't get one before the end of the story. And that goes for any other romantic scenes, actually. There are no opportunities to build the relationship.

Not having a New Game+ in a game that you have multiple endings is just dumb, in my opinion. Too much grind and not everyone wants or can afford to put in 90+ hours (I did, regrettably) more than once.

I was really hoping that I could enjoy Veilguard as much as I enjoyed the other games, especially the first and Inquisition.

And, finally: killing Varric? I mean, are these people crazy? That, for me, was just the worst decision that anyone could make for the Dragon Age franchise.

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Ho finito Veilguard e ho dei sentimenti molto forti a riguardo, alcuni bellissimi e altri che mi fanno chiedere come è possibile che certe scene stupide e senza senso siano all'interno di un gioco come questo che ha dei momenti dove urli per la regia e per quello che sta succedendo, soprattutto per i fan di lunga data della serie. La scrittura alterna momenti tanto fighi, dinamici e anche emozionanti a discorsi che cozzano con il setting di gioco, per fortuna questi ultimi sono pochi, ma comunque non puoi fare a meno di pensare "Perché?????"

I problemi al pacing citati da chiunque si sentono, soprattutto nelle fasi iniziali dove diverse sottotrame si chiudono con un nulla di fatto almeno fino a metà gioco per poi riaprirsi tramite quest dei personaggi giocabili e quest del mondo di gioco, entrambe fondamentali per raggiungere il finale migliore (sì ce ne sono altri). Per come l'ho vista io bastava modificare un po' i dialoghi per avere più coerenza tra nuda e cruda trama e le sottotrame che vanno ad arricchire e uniformare quello che nelle prime ore ti lascia con un pugno di mosche in mano; se lo giocate il mio consiglio è di anteporre le quest secondarie alla trama così da avere una narrativa più fluida. Mi sono chiesta più volte se la maggior parte dei recensori hanno fatto tutto oppure no perché se così non fosse posso capire perché hanno trovato il pacing insopportabile.

A livello di esplorazione e battle system mi sono divertita un casino, daga + orb per il mago miglior invenzione mai creata per questa classe. Ogni giorno non vedevo l'ora che fosse sera e il weekend per continuare ad esplorare 😂 Le aree di gioco sono grandi, ma niente di eccessivo. Poi sono bellissime da vedere!

Altra nota per me dolente è stata la romance. Ho romanzato Davrin e sì ok carino, però il sistema in generale non mi ha lasciato quello che avrei voluto vedere in un gioco BioWare. Sinceramente mi ha deluso questo aspetto più di tutto il resto. Peccato perché tutti i personaggi hanno storie interessanti :/

Mi trovo in disaccordo con chi dice che le scelte non sono così impattanti perché non è assolutamente vero. Ci sono diversi momenti in cui quello che fai va ad incidere su personaggi e quest, ma anche sul finale stesso.

Capisco sia fastidioso non poter avere un protagonista che fa quel cazzo che vuole/semina zizzania e tutto quello che volete, ma è un discorso che c'entra solo in parte con le scelte di gioco; è dispiaciuto anche a me non avere la possibilità di seminare più caos per un eventuale seconda run, ma è già nei piani di farne un'altra per vedere cosa succede se decido di fare X piuttosto che Y quindi da quel punto di vista la rigiocabilità c'è.

Stendiamo infine un velo pietoso sulle tre scelte importate da Inquisition. Quelle sì che mi hanno delusa profondamente. C'è giusto quella della romance che vorrei chiarire in una seconda run.

So if I have this right:

1. Mythal wants to take physical form. She asks Solas to join her.

2. Taking physical form causes fuckery with the Titans.

3. War between the elves and Titans ensues. Solas creates a weapon that basically mass lobotomizes the entire Titan race and creates the Blight.

4. War ends with the defeat of the Titans but the Evanuris refuse to give up their power.

5. The Evanuris use the Blight at will and Solas asks Mythal to make them stop.

6. Mythal is killed by the Evanuris.

7. Solas starts the rebellion.

8. The rebellion ends with Solas creating the Veil.

9. The creation of the Veil goes awry somehow.

10. Solas wants to undo the Veil. He talks to Mythal and kills her to get her powers.

Holy shit.

If you comment, don't spoil any further than right after the siege of Weisshaupt please!