I’m a Dragon Age fan and The Veilguard has its moments, but is let down by inconsistent quality

DRAGON Age: The Veilguard nails it when it comes to the diversity of its characters and the options it gives you to roleplay, allowing you to build your own hero as whoever you feel like.

From the character creator to the dialogue options you get, to some well-written moments with your companions, it truly lets you be yourself in a high-fantasy world that accepts you for who you are.

BioWare

Dragon Age: The Veilguard brings a diverse cast of likeable characters but fails to deliver their stories with consistent quality[/caption]

BioWare

Combat mixes real-time attacks with an ability wheel that pauses the game that feels good for the most part[/caption]

That said, most of your dialogue choices and decisions don’t have an actual impact on the story but are rather there to add flavour and make your hero feel unique.

Other characters will remember what you have said and done to them, but apart from a few really major decisions you have to make, the story just runs its course.

Even some of the big choices feel inconsequential compared to most of developer BioWare’s previous titles.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers an intriguing story that gets better as it goes on, but you’ll likely notice a lot of inconsistency in the writing, especially when it comes to your companions’ subplots and other side content.

Some of the companion stories, such as that of the Veil Jumper mage Bellara, were polished both in terms of script and voice acting.

Conversely, others, like that of Shadow Dragon spy Neve, felt rather uninspired, both in how they were written and delivered in the game.

At times, the writing style is too modern and casual, and the occasional quips feel like something a superhero from the Marvel movies would say.

It certainly is a choice that many players will like, but some might see it as unfitting for the game’s high-fantasy setting, especially when the tone changes too abruptly during more serious moments.

The game’s mission structure also feels disjointed at times, and many of these inconsistencies could be blamed on the game’s long and troubled development.

Combat is rather easy to grasp, with melee and ranged basic attacks, dodges and parries and an ability wheel that pauses the game to let you execute your special moves and order your two companions to do so.

You have your skill tree with specialisations that unlock powerful ultimate abilities, and there are upgrades to your companions’ skills, too.

Yet, combat sections can feel a bit overwhelming at times as there’s too much happening all at once, to the point it becomes hard to aim your abilities at the enemy you want.

At more intense moments during combat, it can also become hard to read what attacks your enemies are trying to telegraph, complicating your choice between dodging and parrying.

Bosses also feel too samey and anticlimactic, reduced to a much bigger health bar that’s not difficult to deplete, but drags on for too long.

Combat sequences are complemented by environmental puzzles, but these never really evolve throughout the game, and quickly start feeling repetitive and a chore to solve.

Apart from these annoyances and uneven execution in story and gameplay, the game is very polished, and I didn’t encounter any major bugs or performance issues during my playthrough.

The game is also a joy to look at, and you’ll be spending a lot of time in its Photo Mode, capturing its gorgeous and varied locations.

It’s a letdown that the game could have used its fantastic biomes to serve a more coherent overall experience.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard definitely has its moments, but these are marred by inconsistencies, and limited player choice compared to previous games in the series.

Its side content fails to match the quality of its main story, and quickly becomes repetitive, and feels like a distraction that ruins the pacing of the game.

For more on recent and upcoming games, check out our Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered review.