Dragon Age: The Veilguard – A Review

Introduction

Dragon Age: The Veilguard marks BioWare’s return to the beloved fantasy RPG series after nearly a decade since Dragon Age: Inquisition. Released in late 2024, this fourth instalment continues the epic saga of Thedas while introducing significant changes to the franchise formula. As a longtime follower of the series tasked with preventing the impending destruction of the world, The Veilguard attempts to balance nostalgia with innovation—succeeding in some areas while stumbling in others.

Story & Setting

The Veilguard picks up several years after the events of the Inquisition, with the mysterious Solas (the Dread Wolf) working to tear down the Veil, separating the material world from the Fade. You play as Rook, a fully-voiced protagonist with a customizable background but a fixed destiny as the leader of the Veilguard—a specialized team assembled to stop Solas’s plans.

The narrative strengths lie in its complex themes of legacy, identity, and the costs of radical change. BioWare excels at creating morally ambiguous scenarios where players must choose between complicated options with far-reaching consequences. The game successfully weaves together loose threads from previous titles while establishing its own identity.

However, the pacing suffers from uneven chapter distribution. The middle acts feel rushed compared to the meticulously crafted opening and finale. Some major plot points resolve too quickly, leaving certain character arcs feeling incomplete despite their promising setups.

Characters & Companions

The companions represent The Veilguard’s greatest triumph. Each of the seven recruitable allies brings unique perspectives, engaging personalities, and compelling personal quests:

• Neve, the pragmatic Tevinter mage with hidden depths
• Lucanis, the charming elven assassin with ties to the Antivan Crows
• Bellara, the haunted dwarven engineer with a troubled past
• Trash, the philosophical Qunari dragon hunter
• Emmrich, the scholarly Grey Warden with questionable methods
• Davrin, the idealistic human knight with a crisis of faith
• Harding, the returning scout from Inquisition who finally joins as a complete companion

The relationship system has been refined, allowing for deeper connections—platonic, romantic, or antagonistic—that evolve naturally through gameplay rather than simple approval meters. The banter between companions during exploration provides some of the game’s most memorable moments, revealing hidden facets of their personalities.

Gameplay & Combat

The Veilguard represents BioWare’s most significant departure from traditional Dragon Age gameplay. Previous entries’ tactical pause-and-play system has been replaced with a more action-oriented approach focused on real-time combat with advanced mobility options. Players can switch between companions on the fly, combining abilities for powerful combo effects.

The four class specializations (Warrior, Rogue, Mage, and the new Veilwalker hybrid) offer distinct playstyles with deep skill trees that encourage experimentation. The crafting system allows for impressive weapon and armour customization, though gathering materials can become repetitive.

Combat encounters shine in carefully designed set pieces but lose their lustre in the open-world areas where enemy variety becomes predictable. Boss fights, however, are consistently challenging and memorable, requiring strategic thinking rather than simple damage races.

World Design & Exploration

The game spans five major regions of Thedas, each with distinct visual identities:

• The lush, haunted forests of the Arlathan Wilds
• The decadent, magical corridors of Minrathous in Tevinter
• The mysterious underwater ruins of the Sunken Keep
• The war-torn landscapes of the Anderfels
• The otherworldly, shifting architecture of the Crossroads

The semi-open world design strikes a better balance than Inquisition’s sprawling maps, offering focused areas with meaningful content rather than endless collectables. Side quests generally connect to the main narrative or provide valuable character development. The vertical exploration enabled by the new climbing mechanics adds a refreshing dimension to world traversal.

Technical Performance & Visuals

On high-end PCs, The Veilguard is stunning, with impressive lighting effects and detailed character models. However, performance issues plagued the console releases at launch, with frequent frame drops and texture loading problems on both PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. Several patches have improved stability, but some technical issues persist.

The art direction deserves special praise for its imaginative interpretation of established Dragon Age aesthetics while pushing boundaries in areas like the Fade sequences, which feature surreal, dreamlike environments that shift according to emotional states.

Sound Design & Music

Inon Zur returns as a composer, delivering a soundtrack that skillfully balances familiar Dragon Age themes with new motifs for emerging characters and factions. The voice acting is generally excellent, with standout performances from the companions and the protagonist’s voice actors.

Final Verdict

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an ambitious game that doesn’t quite reach all its lofty goals but provides an engrossing experience nonetheless. Its strengths lie in character development, narrative choices with meaningful consequences, and a visually captivating world. Its weaknesses include technical inconsistencies, pacing issues in the middle acts, and combat that occasionally prioritizes spectacle over strategy.

For series veterans, The Veilguard represents a significant evolution that might require adjustment. Still, the core elements that made Dragon Age special—complex characters, difficult moral choices, and a richly detailed world—remain intact. For newcomers, it offers an accessible entry point with enough context to understand the stakes without feeling overwhelmed by lore.

Score: 8/10 – Despite its flaws, Dragon Age: The Veilguard successfully revitalizes the franchise with bold new directions while honoring what came before, leaving fans eager to see where BioWare will take the series next.