I can scarcely believe I’ve just played and completed a new Dragon Age game.

I’d given up hope, I can’t lie. Years passed, EA and Bioware’s focus changed, the industry moved on and it seemed all but inevitable the series would be lost to time. Except it hasn’t.

The Veilguard, formerly known as Dreadguard is here, it’s a direct continuation of the story told in Inquistion and it ties up everything in a fairly tight bow, introducing characters new and old. Everyone from Morrigan, Varric, and even the Inquisitor themselves are in here, as well as some interesting new members to the cast, like Taash, Neve and Bellara.

But here’s the part that perhaps surprised me most of all – this is among the best Bioware games I’ve played. I was hooked just like I had been in the old days of Jade Empire and Mass Effect. I wanted to explore every area, complete every side quest, read every piece of lore and it has been a long time since I can say that.

Inquisition, at times, felt overwhelming. When I think of games like Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, I just breathe a deep, heavy sigh of resignation. Even Baldurs Gate 3, at points, felt like it bordered on pushing the envelope for me despite how much I loved it. But Veilguard feels just about right.

By the time I reached the end, while I was beginning to fatigue, I still wanted to get to that conclusion. I was invested enough in the plot, engaged by the characters and their motivations and eager to see how the story would unfold. But also I hadn’t tired of the combat and was given just enough to experiment with the different talent trees.

I just settled into a rhythm with Veilguard and was genuinely impressed by how much it made me feel like the games I’d grown up with, rather than an artificial attempt to recreate them. Each character had an interesting enough story arc that took them to unexpected places, the world and each distinct environment, exploration of the Dreadwolf’s motivations, and the impact of your choices. This really felt like a Dragon Age game, which is about the highest compliment I can pay.

Set following the events of Inquisition, you play as Rook, a protege of Varric, and you’re hot on the trail of the Dreadwolf, trying to put a stop to his grand schemes. But something goes awry during the confrontation and a whole new web of intrigue and trouble spirals out that causes a threat that brings together a whole new force – The Veilguard to fight against it.

Rook’s a fun character, chipper, cheeky, very tongue in cheek. They answer most things with a smirk and a twinge of humor but also have the resolve and temerity to stand up in face of the impending threat and rise to become a leader. There’s something about Rook that really stands next to the Inquisitor and Hawke as memorable characters in this universe and keeps the story tight and together.

And he has an interesting cast to vibe with – a necromancer with a living skeleton as a comrade, a Grey Warden and Griffon fighting alongside each other as one of the few remaining survivors of their kind, a Quanari Dragon Hunter who’s trying to find themselves in the midst of screams of war. Each offers something different and gives you a lot to work with and digest as you unpack their side stories and help them come to terms with their own struggles so they can focus on the bigger problem at hand.

The thing that didn’t quite gel is the Romance system. Previous games have given you a lot more freedom, and even the recent Baldur’s Gate 3 offered a lot of possibilities for the player. Bioware games have really prided themselves on building up a good romance and while the suspense, twists and turns in the tale do give you a bit of a ‘will they, won’t they’ feel and provide a payoff, you really have to work through the entire game to see any sort of connection and when you finally get to the pay off, it feels a bit throwaway outside of a few additional lines of conversation. The build up definitely doesn’t hit in ways it has before.

Sure, that’s not everything and it didn’t kill my enjoyment of the game, far from it, but as this has been such a critical part of Bioware games before, it was a shame to see it not quite hitting the mark in the same way as others have. I even like the way the game handles its open-world nature, providing you environments that gradually and fully open up to you as you progress through the game. Not just because you’re not the correct level to take on some enemies but you also need certain abilities to pass or have reached a certain point in the story. It keeps things interesting and inspires you to keep coming back, even if you’ve been to the same place endless times.

There’s also some fantastic confrontations to be had through the game with epic bosses and intriguing, lengthy side stories that feed into the wider narrative and provide necessary context that fill in some blanks and really ground you in this world.

Veilguard is interesting, though, as it serves as both something of a soft reboot for the series and a concluding arc for the franchise. This is the resolution we’ve waited over a decade for, but if this was also the last Dragon Age game released, you’re not really left hanging even if you are wanting for more. But that also means none of your choices from other games really matter or feed into the game, which might come as a disappointment for the hardcore who love continuity.

There are also only a handful of big moments that really have a direct impact on the wider story and really change the balance of a relationship, though your interactions with the Dreadwolf specifically, do create an interesting back and forth between the two of you which serves the heart of the story.

Also the thing I was least sure about coming into the game was the aesthetic but I really connected to the art from the start. It looks stunning in 4K, with beautifully decrative skies, stunning realised buildings and sharp character models with expressive features that stay close to the dialogue and script.

I guess the thing about Veilguard is that existing in a world post Baldur’s Gate 3 and The Witcher 3, it feels a tad light. Where the Dragon Age games have previously pushed boundaries with Origins being a trailblazer and Inquisition winning Game of the Year awards left and right, Veilguard is just a good, solid RPG.

And that’s absolutely ok, and probably just about what anyone should have expected after waiting over a decade for the game to release. The problem with waiting so long for a thing is people have their own ideas and perceptions of what it should be, but in that time there’s been personnel changes, scope cuts, you change generations and therefore have to update the engine and mechanics to match current trends. It’s a miracle Veilguard exists at all.

Basically, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a great time. It’s not perfect, it’s not even always perfectly Dragon Age, but what it offers is one of the more compact, enjoyable AAA quality RPGs in sometime with good, well-rounded, solid feeling mechanics, a tight story, good characters, and a living breathing world that opens up the more you play. It’s a must-play for fans of old or newcomers who are looking for their next fix post Baldur’s Gate 3.

Verdict

Dragon Age: The Veilguard has been a very long time coming and while it’s arguable whether it fulfils fan expectation in a way that will make everyone happy, what Bioware and EA offer is a solid RPG that is a huge return to form for a studio that have fallen from grace in recent years. From its well-developed mechanics, deep lore, established, varied characters with interesting back and side stories, and a direct continuation of a saga we’ve waited on answers for, The Veilguard feels like a breath of new life for Dragon Age, whether you’ve been here since day one or you’re desperate to see what the hype is all about. 

Pros

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Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out now on PC, PS, and Xbox 

Code Kindly Provided by Bioware for review purposes

Played on Xbox Series X