There’s a line in our Dragon Age: The Veilguard evaluation 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 date proving true – not a single character has talked about The Veilguard. My crew of D&D archetype oddballs could 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 sequence. Whereas in the end it actually doesn’t matter what this sport is known as, 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 contemporary starting with no ties to what got here earlier than.
Many features of The Veilguard level to it being one thing of a gentle reset and even spin-off from the principle Dragon Age sequence. Set within the northern Tevinter area, it leaves behind the saga’s authentic southern dwelling of Ferelden, together with all its characters and politics. Dragon Age has at all times began afresh with every new sport as, not like Mass Impact, there’s no persistent protagonist throughout the sequence as every instalment tells a model new story. The shift to Tevinter is completely consistent with Dragon Age’s historical past, then, however The Veilguard isn’t a typical Dragon Age sport. It’s its first direct sequel – a continuation of Dragon Age: Inquisition, which devoted its post-credits and Trespasser DLC to organising Solas because the villainous Dread Wolf. And that is the place all of it begins to really feel a little bit messy.
A lot of The Veilguard is devoted to Solas. Its opening sees him performing a harmful god-unleashing ritual, and the world is suffering from quests that discover his historical past and relationship with these darkish deities. There could also be no point out of the phrase “Veilguard” wherever, however everyone seems to be speaking in regards to the Dread Wolf. Why isn’t that the secret once more?
However whereas Solas could take up appreciable area, the Dread Wolf has weirdly been relegated to the place of fantasy Hannibal Lecter, trapped in desires the place he seems solely to supply recommendation. Quite than take his place because the villain Trespasser promised, he’s usurped by different darkish elven gods who don’t demand any important prior information – a way more newcomer-friendly possibility. I’m left with the impression of an antagonist who was robbed of his massive unhealthy standing someplace alongside The Veilguard’s infamously rocky improvement journey. As our evaluation says, you may “virtually scent the rewrites.” However regardless of his shift from villain to condescending informant, the story remains to be devoted to him in a way that by no means appears like a real match for a sport that elsewhere is so clearly trying to be a contemporary begin quite than a direct sequel.
Whereas I’d quite we bought a extra clear-cut successor to Inquisition, I feel the sport we’ve ended up with can be higher for slicing Solas unfastened fully. Positive, the shortage of solutions to one of many best twists in RPG historical past can 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 selections you made throughout the Dragon Age sequence are mirrored in The Veilguard. In contrast to its predecessors, there’s no method to import or recreate your save video games and world state apart from three fundamental and largely interchangeable choices made in Inquisition’s Trespasser DLC.
Chatting with IGN earlier this 12 months, artistic director John Epler instructed us “amongst many the reason why we moved to Northern Thedas is it turns into a little bit bit extra of a clear slate for us. There’s not as many choices you’ve 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 dwelling and our ties to this world, and so this transfer implies that the Thedas that we helped affect and form throughout dozens of hours just isn’t the identical Thedas that’s at the moment at stake. With The Veilguard’s elven gods representing not simply the best apocalyptic risk Thedas has ever confronted, but additionally the fruits of the Inquisition storyline, then absolutely it is extra necessary 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 method 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 selections being wiped fully leads to one thing that appears 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 an entire new world untouched by gamers and that clashes with its insistence on persevering with Solas’ story in a roundabout method. If BioWare actually wanted to depart our selections behind, or if it actually wanted to begin afresh for a brand new period, then going the Mass Impact: Andromeda route of a completely new story, characters, and setting would have been the cleaner selection.
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 course clearly impressed by the phenomenon that’s Baldur’s Gate 3’s beloved occasion. 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 an inclination to favour cutscenes or pre-scripted chat over conventional RPG dialogue selections, ensuing within the feeling that characters are speaking at you quite than with you. Only a few occasion members might 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 shortly forge bonds and belief together with your crew. As time goes by there are extra alternatives to direct the movement of dialog your self, however they regularly lack the multi-tier dialogue timber that basically let 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 via 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 folks, nevertheless it 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 yet one more instance of The Veilguard’s uneasy relationship with its predecessor, however sadly the irritating therapy of its new solid means it’s additionally troublesome to totally embrace the story’s contemporary 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 de facto strong, significantly when enhanced by the well-considered talent tree. However at each flip you may really feel the toll of that lengthy, rocky improvement timeline. There’s a strong God of Warfare-style motion sport in right here, however its sharp battles, linear-ish degree design, and explosive cutscenes conflict with the extra conventional RPG that’s additionally preventing for air. These degree layouts throttle the hunt design, motion at all times takes priority over dialog, stealth, or diplomacy, and the companions are extra like NPCs than occasion members – Atreus over Astarion.
The general result’s that Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t the golden period BioWare sport that I had hoped it could be. Torn between persevering with its conventional role-playing legacy and beginning afresh as a contemporary motion RPG, the tip result’s a clumsy sequel trapped in a cage fabricated from reboot concepts. After years and years of faltered steps I perceive why BioWare landed on this specific, very mainstream AAA method, however I want it had been impressed by the timeless mass reputation of The Witcher 3 – a full-on nerdy RPG – quite than veer nearer to Sony’s palatable RPG-ish strategy for contemporary God of Warfare. However that ill-defined form is usually what uneasy improvement 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.
