There’s a line in our Dragon Age: The Veilguard overview that has caught with me all through my very own playthrough: “It’s hilarious that nobody ever says the phrase ‘Veilguard’ out loud throughout the 100 hours I performed of this dialogue-packed marketing campaign, exposing a last-minute advertising and marketing pivot for what it was.”
Whereas I’m nowhere close to the 100-hour mark myself, that line is to this point proving true – not a single character has talked about The Veilguard. My crew of D&D archetype oddballs might collectively be often called such in all of the advertising and marketing, on-line articles, and the bodily field itself, however throughout the world of Thedas they’re none the wiser. Think about Tony Stark and Steve Rogers having no thought the world referred to as them Avengers… that’s how odd it’s.
A reputation that Rook, Varric, Harding, and the remainder of the gang undoubtedly do know, although, is Dread Wolf – the legendary moniker of former Dragon Age companion, Solas, in addition to the unique subtitle for this fourth entry in BioWare’s fantasy collection. Whereas in the end it actually doesn’t matter what this recreation is named, the extra I play The Veilguard, the extra it feels prefer it’s awkwardly in battle with itself, torn into items that mirror two very totally different intentions – one a sequel to a decade-old RPG, the opposite a recent starting with no ties to what got here earlier than.
Many facets of The Veilguard level to it being one thing of a tender reset and even spin-off from the principle Dragon Age collection. Set within the northern Tevinter area, it leaves behind the saga’s unique southern residence of Ferelden, together with all its characters and politics. Dragon Age has at all times began afresh with every new recreation as, not like Mass Impact, there’s no persistent protagonist throughout the collection as every instalment tells a model new story. The shift to Tevinter is completely in line with Dragon Age’s historical past, then, however The Veilguard isn’t a typical Dragon Age recreation. It’s its first direct sequel – a continuation of Dragon Age: Inquisition, which devoted its post-credits and Trespasser DLC to establishing Solas because the villainous Dread Wolf. And that is the place all of it begins to really feel just a little messy.
A lot of The Veilguard is devoted to Solas. Its opening sees him performing a harmful god-unleashing ritual, and the world is affected by quests that discover his historical past and relationship with these darkish deities. There could also be no point out of the phrase “Veilguard” anyplace, however everyone seems to be speaking concerning the Dread Wolf. Why isn’t that the secret once more?
However whereas Solas might take up appreciable area, the Dread Wolf has weirdly been relegated to the place of fantasy Hannibal Lecter, trapped in goals the place he seems solely to supply recommendation. Fairly than take his place because the villain Trespasser promised, he’s usurped by different darkish elven gods who don’t demand any important prior data – a way more newcomer-friendly choice. I’m left with the impression of an antagonist who was robbed of his large unhealthy standing someplace alongside The Veilguard’s infamously rocky growth journey. As our overview says, you possibly can “virtually scent the rewrites.” However regardless of his shift from villain to condescending informant, the story continues to be devoted to him in a fashion that by no means looks like a real match for a recreation that elsewhere is so clearly making an attempt to be a recent begin quite than a direct sequel.
Whereas I’d quite we bought a extra clear-cut successor to Inquisition, I believe the sport we’ve ended up with could be higher for reducing Solas free fully. Certain, the dearth of solutions to one of many biggest twists in RPG historical past could be irritating, however Solas’ destiny feels divorced from the story that established him. That’s as a result of not one of the world-altering decisions you made throughout the Dragon Age collection are mirrored in The Veilguard. In contrast to its predecessors, there’s no option to import or recreate your save video games and world state except for three fundamental and largely interchangeable selections made in Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC.
Chatting with IGN earlier this yr, artistic director John Epler informed us “amongst many explanation why we moved to Northern Thedas is it turns into just a little bit extra of a clear slate for us. There’s not as many selections you have got made up up to now that have an effect on what’s taking place in Northern Thedas. And we do not have to talk on to issues like who’s the Divine? As a result of once more, that is taking place within the South.”
However the South is the place we made our residence and our ties to this world, and so this transfer implies that the Thedas that we helped affect and form throughout dozens of hours isn’t the identical Thedas that’s presently at stake. With The Veilguard’s elven gods representing not simply the best apocalyptic menace Thedas has ever confronted, but in addition the fruits of the Inquisition storyline, then absolutely it is extra essential than ever that the stakes are our personal, private model of this world?
I do sympathise with BioWare – Dragon Age wasn’t developed as a trilogy in the identical manner as Mass Impact, and so the alternatives have been on very totally different scales that should be extremely troublesome to implement into successive video games. However these decisions being wiped fully leads to one thing that looks like a gap making an attempt to be a finale. It’s a scenario solely additional strained by the truth that The Veilguard’s model of Thedas is so tonally totally different from the one established within the earlier Dragon Age video games. Its grand Necropolis and floating Minrathous fortress really feel divorced from the earthier lands of Inquisition and a far cry from the darker areas during which this saga started. Veilguard is a complete new world untouched by gamers and that clashes with its insistence on persevering with Solas’ story in a roundabout manner. If BioWare actually wanted to go away our decisions behind, or if it actually wanted to begin afresh for a brand new period, then going the Mass Impact: Andromeda route of a wholly new story, characters, and setting would have been the cleaner alternative.
And so we come again to that history-avoiding title. When Dragon Age: Dreadwolf grew to become Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare’s common supervisor Gary McKay defined the brand new identify was chosen to mirror the “actually deep and compelling group of companions.” It’s an unsurprising shift, shifting away from Solas’ decade-old story that maybe too few gamers will really care about in favour of a path clearly impressed by the phenomenon that’s Baldur’s Gate 3’s beloved celebration. However, frustratingly, I don’t assume The Veilguard does the intention of its new title justice.
Throughout the primary 15 or so hours, throughout which you set collectively a god-killing crew Mass Impact 2-style, there’s hardly ever the choice to have a correct back-and-forth dialog. There’s a bent to favour cutscenes or pre-scripted chat over conventional RPG dialogue decisions, ensuing within the feeling that characters are speaking at you quite than with you. Only a few celebration members may be spoken to at size following their preliminary recruitment, and this lack of introductory getting-to-know-you feels antithetical to a design that expects you to rapidly forge bonds and belief along with your crew. As time goes by there are extra alternatives to direct the move of dialog your self, however they incessantly lack the multi-tier dialogue bushes that actually help you delve deep. It was solely after unlocking the dragon-hunting Taash that I used to be offered with a dialog during which I used to be capable of cycle by a number of tiers of responses at each stage of the dialogue. It was the primary satisfying dialog I’d had in 17 hours of play, and I’m baffled as to why I hadn’t had the identical expertise with each different character I’d met.
The Veilguard crew all seem like likeable individuals, but it surely feels as if I’m being blocked from forging true bonds with them. That particularly goes for Varric. What’s arguably Dragon Age’s best-ever character has been imprisoned in his bed room, consigned to spouting incidental dialogue which you can’t interact with. His sidelining is one more instance of The Veilguard’s uneasy relationship with its predecessor, however sadly the irritating remedy of its new forged means it’s additionally troublesome to totally embrace the story’s recent faces.
As I enter The Veilguard’s second half I’ve begun to understand its distinctive approaches. The knotty, secrets-filled Crossroads area is enjoyable to discover. The motion fight is actually strong, notably when enhanced by the well-considered talent tree. However at each flip you possibly can really feel the toll of that lengthy, rocky growth timeline. There’s a strong God of War-style motion recreation in right here, however its sharp battles, linear-ish stage design, and explosive cutscenes conflict with the extra conventional RPG that’s additionally preventing for air. These stage layouts throttle the hunt design, motion at all times takes priority over dialog, stealth, or diplomacy, and the companions are extra like NPCs than celebration members – Atreus over Astarion.
The total result’s that Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t the golden period BioWare recreation that I had hoped it will be. Torn between persevering with its conventional role-playing legacy and beginning afresh as a contemporary motion RPG, the top result’s a clumsy sequel trapped in a cage made from reboot concepts. After years and years of faltered steps I perceive why BioWare landed on this specific, very mainstream AAA components, however I want it had been impressed by the timeless mass recognition of The Witcher 3 – a full-on nerdy RPG – quite than veer nearer to Sony’s palatable RPG-ish strategy for contemporary God of War. However that ill-defined form is usually what uneasy growth cycles get you. Fortunately The Veilguard’s launch has seemingly gone nicely for EA and BioWare, which hopefully means Dragon Age will proceed. Let’s simply hope subsequent time it’s not simply the identify that’s bought a little bit of Baldur’s Gate in it.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s Senior Options Editor.