The wait for Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been long, and after a decade of anticipation, with the fantasy action RPG’s release right around the corner, its first batch of reviews has gone live, with impressions from critics so far being quite positive.
At the time of writing, Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s PS5 version has an aggregate score of 84 on Metacritic based on 33 reviews, while the PC version stands at 78 after 10 reviews. In one of the most positive reviews of the game, Eurogamer awards it a 5/5, saying, “From head to toe, wing to wing, The Veilguard is exquisitely realised and full of sophistication across systems and storytelling. It’s warm and welcoming, funny and hopeful, gentle when it needs to be, and of course it’s epic – epic in a way I think will set a high bar not only for BioWare in years to come but for role-playing games in general. This is among the very best of them.”
IGN’s review, meanwhile, is similarly positive, awarding the game a score of 9/10, and concluding, “Dragon Age: The Veilguard refreshes and reinvigorates a storied series that stumbled through its middle years, and leaves no doubt that it deserves its place in the RPG pantheon. Enjoyable action combat, a fantastic cast of allies with sweeping story arcs all their own, top-notch cinematics, and moving, nuanced character writing are the wings on which this triumphant dragon soars, pulling out all the stops in a whirlwind tour of Northern Thedas and capping it with a terrific finale that’s built on memorably tough choices and consequences.”
Forbes’ review is also full of praise for the action RPG, by and large, with a score of 8.5/10. It reads, “Is this the game Dragon Age fans have waited a decade for? I have no idea. Maybe not. But for me, someone who couldn’t get through any of the other games, I often couldn’t wait to play more of The Veilguard. It could have used some editing, more gameplay complexity and maybe some sharper writing in parts, but it did many things well and I enjoyed my time with it quite a bit.”
Other reviews, however, are somewhat more mixed. Awarding the game a score of 3/5, VGC writes, “Within the modern action RPG space, Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels fine. It’s a game that is never overtly bad, but it’s also only ever very fleetingly amazing. We particularly enjoyed its cast, but the majority of things you’re asked to do with them are disappointingly repetitive. There are moments of spectacle, and longer main missions that show potential, but overall we were left feeling like BioWare hasn’t evolved with the times.”
Giving it the same score of 3/5, The Guardian’s similarly mixed review says, “There is plenty to like about Veilguard, but I sometimes had to dig deep to look past its flaws, from repetitive gameplay to a story that doesn’t know how to bring everything together. It’s a perfectly enjoyable RPG, then, but an underwhelming Dragon Age game.”
Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches on October 31 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
