When Dragon Age: Inquisition launched in 2014, it was a runaway critical and commercial hit right off the bat, so no one could really have predicted that its follow up wouldn’t arrive for another decade. And of course, a lot has happened in that last decade, especially where BioWare is concerned. The studio has changed radically in the time between new Dragon Age releases, and the significant turnover and attrition of talent it has gone through has been accompanied by a streak of high-profile failures in Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem.
All of that, combined with the Dragon Age franchise’s aforementioned hiatus, meant there was a lot riding on Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Now that the action RPG is out, it looks like BioWare has very much brought itself back on track. The game has, of course, not been immune to criticism following its release, but when all is said and done, it’s clear that BioWare has, at long last, once again delivered what so many of us have been hoping to see from the studio for years- a legitimately good single-player RPG. That this is the developer’s best game in a long time is abundantly clear- but how does it rank against the Dragon Age franchise’s own highest highs? Specifically, is The Veilguard good enough to surpass the legendary Dragon Age: Origins?
That’s obviously a tall order, because yes, legendary really is the right word for the 2009 classic. BioWare has delivered some insanely incredible games over the course of its illustrious history, from Mass Effect 2 to Baldur’s Gate 2 to Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and without a shadow of doubt, Dragon Age: Origins belongs in that group as well. With Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition (mostly with the latter), the series has reached some pretty high highs, but as many of its fans will tell you, Origins is probably still its peak. So is The Veilguard good enough to match or even surpass those heights?
In some key areas, you can almost instantly answer that question with a resounding “no”, which is likely what some Dragon Age purists will be doing. From its stylized art style and its action-driven combat to its relatively lighter tone and more, The Veilguard differs from Origins (and other previous Dragon Age games) in ways that a sizeable portion of the series’ fanbase will tell you are a little hard to defend. The dark fantasy aesthetic and tactical CRPG-esque combat of Dragon Age: Origins had a big role to play in why that game was as beloved as it was, so to see The Veilguard deviating from that so significantly hasn’t necessarily sat well with everyone.
Then again, a lot of that is highly subjective, because there are many who would argue that Dragon Age: Origins feels a little dated. As mentioned, its combat was widely beloved back in the day, but owing to its very nature, it’s also not the most accessible. At the same time, each new Dragon Age instalment has featured a new and overhauled combat system, which means not having Origins-style tactical combat that emphasis pausing, planning, and playing with multiple different characters isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker for a significant chunk of the fanbase.
In fact, it’s for that very reason that many will likely prefer The Veilguard’s combat. Its not the deepest or most complex system, and in removing playable party members and adopting action-driven mechanics, it turns itself into more of a hack-and-slash game in its moment-to-moment gameplay than a tactical RPG. But it’s fun. It’s fun in a way that many felt Origins wasn’t, and yes, it does only get better as you get deeper into the game, unlock a wider pool of abilities, gather more companions, and get increasingly comfortable with the systems at play.
Another area where Dragon Age: Origins feels dated – in much more obvious and inarguable fashion, in fact – is its visuals, as you’d expect from a game a decade and a half old. Of course, admittedly, The Veilguard has its critics in this area, as well. In particular, the game’s stylized and more vibrant aesthetic has proven controversial with a fair few players, not least because of how much it contributes to its tonal shift compared to past titles. At the same time, however, there are also many who have definitely jived with its look, while beyond the art style, The Veilguard is easily the most technically impressive Dragon Age game to date, featuring some of the most stunning sights and sounds this series has ever delivered, and doing it all in wonderfully optimized fashion across all platforms.
Another one of The Veilguard’s strengths that bears mentioning is its cast of companion characters. That, of course, has been one of BioWare’s biggest strengths for as long as anyone can remember, but even by the studio’s high standards, Veilguard’s core cast of characters is one of the best we’ve seen in BioWare history. Dragon Age: Origins was obviously no slouch in this area either, thanks to the likes of Morrigan and Alistair and Loghain and what have you, but this may very well be that one area where The Veilguard comes out ahead without any caveats.
There are, of course, some key areas where The Veilguard does stumble in ways that hold it back. Its choice and consequence mechanics don’t feel as impactful as you want, for instance. Without going into spoilers, we can confidently say that the game has an incredible final couple of hours where player choice is heavily emphasized, a la Mass Effect 2’s beloved Suicide Mission, but that same focus isn’t to be found consistently across the length of the entire experience.
The quality of the writing, too, is decidedly a step down. From interactions between characters not always landing with the right impact to Solas not being as prominent as many would have hoped, to the main villains not being the game’s strongest points, The Veilguard’s story doesn’t always knock the ball out of the park. For many hardcore series fans, meanwhile, it’s also disappointing to see how little The Veilguard takes player decisions throughout past instalments into account. During character creation, other than a handful of Inquisition-related decisions, there’s nothing else that The Veilguard carries forward or takes into account, as a result of which it ends up feeling more disconnected to its predecessors than you would hope, often to its detriment. All of that, combined with the game’s aforementioned divisiveness with its tone, aesthetic, and what have you, does add up, especially because of how important these things are to a Dragon Age game.
So is The Veilguard good enough to be better than Origins? Though there are some areas where it is decidedly better, thanks to its undeniable shakiness in others, you cannot confidently call it a better game than Origins, which is flat out one of the greatest RPGs ever made. But is it a legitimately good Dragon Age game? It absolutely is- it’s a very different take on the franchise, yes, but it’s not an unsuccessful one. It’s certainly one of BioWare’s best games in a long time, potentially the best Dragon Age game since Origins, and definitely at least good enough to be mentioned in the same breath.
Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.