by Unite the Veilguard and defy the Gods in the Dragon Age!
Dragon Age: Veilguard is an action role-playing game (ARPG) created by BioWare studio, and published by the publishing house Electronic Arts . The game was released on all gaming platforms on October 31st of this year and boasts a 76% positive review score so far. In order to be able to make a more precise review, we have to start from the beginning.
Dragon Age: Origins
Dragon Age is a role-playing game that takes place in the dark world of Thedas and follows the actions of its inhabitants. The first game in the series – Dragon Age: Origins follows the story of an ordinary recruit of a large squad of Gray Wardens whose mission is to stop a horde of monsters and prevent the total destruction of Ferelden. Ferelden is just one of several kingdoms in the world of Thedas. It is located in the south-east of the continent and borders Orlais in the west, Rivain in the north and Antibes in the east. A horde of monsters appears every few centuries and only when it comes to the so-called Blight. The Blight begins when underground monsters called Darkspovn find and awaken the Ark Demon - a powerful dragon that takes control of the horde. In the first part of the game, the gloomy situation in the world is clearly presented. There is no army that can stand alone against this evil. The proof is the first Blight that almost completely exterminated all life in Thedas. The secret formula for success in the fight against this evil is precisely the squad of Gray Wardens. They are the only ones who have the ability to kill the Ark Demon and thus end the Blight. This atmosphere was transferred to the second part of the game: Dragonage 2.
Dragon Age 2
Dragon Age 2 is a slightly shorter game that, keeping the atmosphere of the previous part, follows the adventures of the eldest child of the Hawke family. Ono is a refugee from Blythe from the first part of the game and takes his family east to his mother's birthplace - Kirkwall. There, over the course of 7 years, the main character Hawke develops from an ordinary criminal to the Champion of Kirkwall. Unfortunately, even during the break between blights, there are big problems in the world of Thedas. Mages see the Templars as their slave owners, believing that they are taking away their freedom and controlling their potential. On the other hand, the Templars consider mages dangerous, believing that they could harm themselves and others if their power is not limited. This dynamic creates tension, as each side acts out of their own fears and prejudices, thus exacerbating intolerance and misunderstandings between them. As the Champion of Kirkwall, Hawke must choose a side and thus forever influence the world of Thedas for better or for worse.
Dragon Age: Inquisition
The third game of this franchise – Dragon Age: Inquisition it is centered on the Inquisition - an organization whose role is to establish order and peace on a continent that is still recovering from the Blight from the first act and is faced with a big explosion in the conflict between the Magi and the Templars in the second act. In this work, we find out that the "Veil" is real and that it started to shoot in certain places. "Veil" is the veil that separates waking from sleep. The world of dreams is inhabited by demons and ghosts, but also by dreamers. So the connection between the worlds has always existed in dreams, and now by creating cracks in the invisible curtain that separates them, someone who knows both reality and dreams well is needed to patch up the situation. The messenger of Andraste (Andraste is a Goddess according to one of the main religions in the world of Thedas) is the main character of this game and has a special power to close the cracks between worlds. During the game, this character becomes the supreme Inquisitor despite constantly questioning his beliefs. As an Inquisitor his job is clear, to close all the cracks and bring stability to the continent, but his friend Solas reveals incredible details about the factory of the universe itself that leave a huge amount of lore over which the fourth part of the franchise continues.
Dragon Age: Veilguard
We come to 4 parts of the game – Dragon Age: Veilguard. This game is a continuation of the gloomy world of Thedas, where the veil between worlds is completely torn. It is up to you as the main character of the name Ruk to find a solution and protect the inhabitants of reality from the demons of sleep. What we didn't know was that Solas, our friend from the previous installment of the franchise, created the Veil to trap all the Old Gods forever. But...where did Solas get so much power? It is this adventure that awaits you in the fourth part of the game. It is up to you to lead your team of 7 companions to victory against the Gods and become the guardian of Vea yourself. Unfortunately, the atmosphere inside the game itself is not so gloomy. It's more like some winter adventure on an unknown mountain.
Game mechanics and combat
From the perspective of the story or the lore, this part is not too different from the others. It is true that many characters are lost in the game and that the story has more holes than Swiss cheese, but the core is still there. What distinguishes the last part of the franchise from the others is the game mechanics and the interaction between the characters. In the previous parts, you had the possibility to control 4 characters at any moment of the game, and it was very important to choose the right magics and stat points for each of them. Equip them with the ideal equipment for the challenge ahead and create a composition that can lead you to victory. In veilguard, that option does not exist. It's up to you to control just one character in the style of soul games like Elden Ring. Combat is much more expressive and has become the main aspect of the game. Unfortunately, after about 10 hours of the game, I feel that it becomes repetitive. It is good to introduce a new system in the fourth part of the game that will surprise the players and bring them new challenges to overcome, but how good it is to completely eliminate the control of several characters and change the genre of the game itself remains to be seen in the days ahead. As a big fan of the Dragon Age franchise, I am not happy with this change.
Dialogue options and their impact on the world
The dialogue is another change compared to the previous parts. They brought back a system similar to the one from another work that no one had prepared. The second part of this game has always been ranked the lowest among fans precisely because of the lack of dialogue options. Unfortunately, BioWare repeats the mistake in the fourth part of the game. Dialogues are completely simplified and generalized. The character chooses between three options at any given time. One is the "stupidly good" oppi, the second is the "joker" option, while the third is the "mean for no reason" option. This completely eliminates any reality and it is very difficult to put yourself in the position of a character who constantly goes from extreme to extreme; one moment he throws one of the best shots ever and the next he wants to kill everyone in front of him. Quite simply, the role-playing part of this role-playing game is lost. Sounds bad, I know. At least part of the consequences of your choices remained. If you are constantly mean, it will reflect differently on the world than if you are constantly joking. It is also important to know that "Dragon Age Keep", a system that remembered every decision from previous parts and transferred it to the next part, has been disabled. Thus, the Veilguard was presented completely separately from the rest of the franchise, and the only thing that directly connected him to the entire universe was abolished. This greatly reduces the replay value.
Graphics
When it comes to graphics, this game is really interesting. The characters are a bit frivolous compared to the previous parts, but at the same time they are also very detailed. The world looks detailed and the landscapes are amazing. Frostbite is the engine the game was built on, and while there's too much purple in unnecessary places for my taste, there are clear features where it's needed. The only complaint is the redesign of the most powerful demon of pride, which in this work lost its legs and became just a kind of purple cloud. Along with such good graphics comes the necessary performance of your device.
performance
If you play the game on a computer, you need at least the following performance:
- Operating system: Windows 10 or newer - 64 bit
- Processor: Intel Core i5-8400/AMD Ryzen 3 3300X
- RAM memory: 16GB
- Graphics card: NVIDIA GTX 970/1650/AMD Radeon R9 290X
- Free space: 100GB
- DirectX: Version 12
If you play on a console, you need either an Xbox X/S or a PlayStation 5 console.
Keep in mind that the game costs €59,99 on the Steam gaming platform.
Conclusion
After spending 10 hours in the game, I have to admit that the game itself is not bad. The dark and serious atmosphere of the universe is missing. The dialogues are mediocre at best and sometimes downright bad. In general, the dialogues are inauthentic and generalized. If you look at it as an independent project made by a completely new developer and not a BioWare studio, the game deserves a rating of 7. Of course, if we take into account that this is the 4th part of the much-loved franchise of the Dragon Age universe, then it is very difficult to swallow the constant push of liberal propaganda that tries to to please everyone. And it is even more difficult to see in which direction such a well-created world that was full of potential went. The final rating of this game is 4. I cannot recommend it to others because this game is not worth 60 euros. If it is on a big discount, then it would be fine to take it and play it when all other options have been exhausted.
