 |
| Dragons? |
| Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Reviewed by: | Mark Goninon |
| Developer: | BioWare |
| Publisher: | Electronic Arts |
| Release Date: | 31 October 2024 |
| Time played: | 115 hours (64 hours for 1 playthrough) |
But First, a Little History...
I've played many of BioWare's RPGs throughout the years but unlike its original fanbase, I'm not actually that big a D&D CRPG fan. Yes, I've dabbled a bit with the first two Baldur's Gate games as well as Neverwinter Nights but they never really captivated me. Since they were adaptations of the actual D&D systems, it was hard to get your head around them even if the computer was doing a lot of the math (unlike the actual pen and paper RPG). I'm also more a fan of sci-fi than fantasy which meant the first BioWare RPG that made me a long-term fan was in fact 2003's Knights of the Old Republic. Yes, it was still technically a D&D RPG underneath but the system was starting to become more streamlined, more accessible and who didn't want to have a go as a Jedi Knight in the "Star Wars" universe? In 2007, Jade Empire came to the PC and I quite enjoyed that game too, despite its martial arts action focus. You can probably see where I'm going with this: I actually liked these action RPGs where there was a greater focus on action but the games still contained some light RPG mechanics for good measure. They also offered multiple endings and compelling characters like any good CRPG should. So, when Mass Effect came along in 2008 on PC, it married my love of sci-fi and action RPG. More importantly though, it proved BioWare could do something else: make an original sci-fi RPG without relying on a famous existing IP. Did this mean they could succeed with their own original fantasy RPG too?
As we know, the answer is yes, since when Dragon Age: Origins was released in 2009, it was also a critical and commercial success for BioWare. However, Dragon Age: Origins was more like the original CRPGs by BioWare such as Baldur's Gate in terms of its gameplay. Most people loved this return to the old days. I didn't. I still liked the first Dragon Age though: it had a great soundtrack, top notch voice acting, interesting companions and a well developed world to explore. But the combat was difficult especially if you had no idea how to set up an effective party.
Why am I spending time talking about the original Dragon Age? Well amongst the fandom, it seems there is a lot of love for the original and unlike games in other franchises, while each sequel to Dragon Age was an RPG, they all played very differently from each other. 2011's Dragon Age 2 felt more like a Mass Effect game set in the Dragon Age world which disappointed many fans but I actually quite enjoyed it. 2014's Dragon Age: Inquisition felt more like BioWare's take on Skyrim or Assassin's Creed and while it took a lot of persevering for me to get into this game at first, I ended up enjoying it too.
10 years after the release of Inquisition, Dragon Age fans were finally able to return to Thedas with the release of Veilguard. Similar to Inquisition, Veilguard also went through development hell with the game being pulled in many directions before BioWare settled on what was finally released in 2024. Critical reception for the game was good with a Metascore of 76 but reaction from the gaming public at large was mixed (the game holds a Metacritic User Score of 2.6 on PC and a "Mixed" rating on Steam based on 68% of the 38,689 user reviews rating the game positive). Unfortunately, the game also didn't meet EA's commercial expectations resulting in the Dragon Age team being disbanded meaning this will probably be the last Dragon Age game for a long time, possibly ever.
It's hard to determine whether the game was considered a commercial failure because EA's expectations were too high or because the game indeed didn't sell well, or a mix of both. So, all I can do is assess the game on its own merits, as a fan of the franchise, and let you know what I think.
 |
| There are plenty of customisation options. You can even give your character heterochromia! |
Plenty of Character Customisation Options
Character customisation is usually a big deal in Western CRPGs and Veilguard doesn't disappoint on this front. In fact, it's probably the most complex character creator I've seen. Now, for people like me, this can be a double-edged sword. While I do like some basic customisation when making my characters, the sheer number of options available in Veilguard resulted in me spending sixty minutes on creating my character, but only ending up with a big teddy bear of a man sporting a goofy haircut to show for it: Unfortunately, he looked like one of the Three Stooges instead of a potential hero of Thedas!
This isn't really the fault of the character creator though, as I've seen some screenshots of very beautiful and heroic characters online. It just means you can end up with some very bad results in the wrong hands! I mean, it feels as if BioWare recruited the help of the Sims Studio when designing the character creator. You can even give your characters heterochromia if you so wish (yes, it goes down to that detail)!
Oh, and it doesn't end there, because not only are you expected to create your own hero for Veilguard (called Rook) you're also given the opportunity of creating the look of your Inquisitor in the game (yes, your character from the previous Dragon Age)! Since I had already spent an hour designing Rook, I decided to only spend a few minutes in giving a similar look and saying it was "close enough". But if you really want to fine tune the look of your Inquisitor, the option is there.
 |
| Your crew often discuss any intel they've found around this cosy table |
Diverse Characters and Companion Quests Galore
Veilguard is set about a decade after the final chapter of Inquisition, Trespasser, and you'll meet a lot of familiar characters right from the start. In your pursuit of Solas, your character Rook, has allied with Varric and Lace Harding on the streets of Minrathous, capital of the Tevinter Imperium, a place often mentioned in previous games but now explorable for the first time. You'll meet other returning characters along the way but your crew itself is mostly made up of new characters from various races and backgrounds: Qunari dragon hunters, possessed coffee-drinking assassins and hard-boiled Minrathous detectives with prosthetic legs.
In order to assemble this motley crew, you'll be spending a good amount of time rushing around at the beginning of the game, which can feel a bit overwhelming at first. You're hardly given a chance to get acquainted with the people you're recruiting to your cause but towards the middle of the game, you'll eventually gain plenty of opportunities to do so. It's just a matter of hanging in there for the first few hours! I do like the fact there is a diverse bunch of characters and there is a reason behind this as each of these characters hail from a different faction, such as the Grey Wardens, Lords of Fortune or Antivan Crows. When you create your player character, you're able to choose one of six factions to belong to and this has an impact on who your colleagues are (which in turn changes conversation options) not to mention differences in traits and skill specialisations. I was particularly impressed when your character is given the opportunity to question their calling as a Dwarven Grey Warden when more information is gleaned on what the Blight actually is.
As mentioned, towards the middle of the game you'll be provided with plenty of opportunities to socialise with your teammates. If anything, there actually might be too many opportunities, similar to the many conversations I had with my superhero team in Marvel's Midnight Suns. Socialising with your teammates could range from simple chats, to excursions or full blown side quests. These companion quests reminds me of the loyalty quests in Mass Effect 2 which can really help you learn more about your companion's family, friends, cultural background as well as any loose ends you could potentially assist with. Companion quests really share the stage with the main storyline in this game even to the point that Varric narrates cutscenes that follow each companion's back story.
Mass Effect 2 the Fantasy RPG
The quickest way to describe the gameplay in Veilguard is that it's Mass Effect 2 set in the Dragon Age universe. Or, a Marvel's Midnight Suns set in the Dragon Age universe but without deck building combat. With the exception of the first Dragon Age, combat in the rest of the series feels more action RPG than traditional CRPG. In Veilguard, combat is similar to Inquisition and modern games where it's all about timing your dodging and blocks, and potentially being rewarded with counters. Most of the time, it's easy enough to do as you are given cues on when to dodge or block enemy attacks, however I found that sometimes I was inadvertently warned to block an attack despite the enemy being nowhere near me. Also, I found getting headshots with the bow quite satisfying since it does considerable damage so sometimes it's worth spending an extra second or two lining up the perfect shot (especially if you have a slow firing yet powerful bow).
Combat is frenetic and gets the adrenaline pumping and I love the callouts and banter between your party as you fight: it reminds me of firefights in games like Battlefield 2042, which makes me wonder if they recycled that particular mechanic (it is a Frostbite engine game after all. The addition of ziplines all over the place is another telling sign). To make things a bit more interesting stacking particular effects on an enemy will cause "detonations" which cause massive damage. For example, one ability might apply the "Sundered" state to the enemy and as soon as another party member attacks with an ability that detonates the "Sundered" state, that enemy's going to take a serious beating. This means switching around party members might also require a shuffling of which skills they bring into a battle if you want to maximise the opportunities to trigger detonations.
Micromanaging the party members has its benefits but it can get quite annoying at times. You always have to go around assigning the right targets, otherwise the aforementioned detonations are not going to happen. If you don't assign targets, your companions resort to their default behaviour which is to crowd around you and this isn't very handy if you're trying to attack from range with a bow, for example. It seems that using a skill unselects whichever target they were fighting so it's a finicky system that could definitely use some work.
The skill tree in the game is huge and reminds me of the tech tree in Civ: Beyond Earth where you start in the middle and work your way outwards into different specialisations. At first, I found it a bit overwhelming, to be honest, but specialisations for each class tend to align with factions and since I was playing as a Lords of Fortune Rogue, I made my way across the skill tree to that specialisation (which focuses on traps, contraptions and the fantasy equivalent of Rambo's M60 - I'm not even kidding, you have to check out "Fortune Fury" if you ever get around to it). Unfortunately, you have to assign points to your followers as well and there's no auto-assigning of points for those who only care about their own character's progression.
Other ways the game is similar to Mass Effect 2 is that you have a home base of sorts that allows you to travel to different parts of Thedas using portals called eluvians (a similar concept to the Normandy travelling to different planets in the Milky Way) and when you visit these places, there can be a lot of retreading of old ground (i.e. there are a lot of quests condensed into particular areas, similar to when you visit major planets in Mass Effect 2).
Also like Mass Effect 2 inventory management is no longer an issue and there is no crafting. The focus is solely on unlocking new pieces of armour and weapons, and one way of doing so is by earning favour with various factions. The better your relationship with a particular faction, the more equipment is made available for purchase.
As you can see, there is a lot of streamlining of the experience in Veilguard which might agitate some fans but I actually appreciate it as it allows you to focus on the combat, the characters and the story. There's even the classic binary choice in this game, similar to what occurs in the Mass Effect series but I won't spoil it, you'll just have to go into the experience blind!
 |
| Thanks Dom |
Shiny Happy People
While we're on the topic of the story, the game has received criticism from some circles concerning its writing and its tone. I'll just go ahead and say that the game isn't perfect and this includes the writing, but I really had to look hard to notice some of the flaws as I didn't really notice anything amiss in my first playthrough.
Sometimes the conversations seem like they're aiming for a chummy or funny tone but they end up falling flat. I think this mainly boils down to simple mistakes due to the sheer number of dialogue there is in this game. There's probably way too much dialogue in the game but when it's used, it's used in a piecemeal fashion: short, quippy exchanges instead of long, deep conversations, similar to Marvel's Midnight Suns except at least with those characters, they're well established comic book heroes that everybody knows, so you can often fill in the gaps.
The game also gets a reputation for having a "politically correct" way of dealing with interpersonal conflict and while I generally don't mind that (it's nice to see emotionally mature party members, well mostly) it does mean there are rarely any moments of conflict and most of the characters generally get along with each other bar a few exceptions. There isn't much racism or sexism and sometimes I feel the cliched power of friendship aka "teamwork makes the dream work" is a bit overdone. But I'm cool with that. There are plenty of games out there that are similar and Dragon Age's original "dark and gritty" tone isn't really what attracted me to the series in the first place (and that's not to say this isn't a "dark and gritty" game at times, it's just more MCU than DC).
What does bug me though is that by trying to for example show how people with high emotional intelligence give people space and are empathetic towards others, the game comes off as naive or dismissive when it comes to trauma: it doesn't take five seconds of telling someone "you've got this!" for them to be instantly cured. It takes time to heal.
|
8
|
Just like every Dragon Age before it, Veilguard is different. It feels more like a fantasy version of Mass Effect 2 or Marvel's Midnight Suns where a lot of the experience has been condensed and streamlined in order to focus more on arcade combat, companion backstories and customisation (both character and story). Sure, the game has its flaws such as a copious amount of dialogue that sometimes falls flat as well as a finicky targeting system for Companions, but by every other measure it's a well polished RPG with high production values and plenty of meaningful quests to keep you busy. |
If you like this game, you might like…
Comments
Post a Comment