Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was provided by EA for review. Thank you!

To speak of BioWare is to speak of some of the greatest RPGs of all time: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's also to speak of Mass Effect 3, the epic culmination of Commander Shepherd's grandiose adventures, whereby the narrative direction - specifically more so at the end - caused untold amounts of ire across forums and social media alike. And, finally, it's to speak of Mass Effect: Andromeda and new-IP Anthem, two of the Edmonton-based studio's latest releases, back in 2017 and 2019, respectively. Put plainly, the trust has somewhat dissipated in recent years, and lesser expectations mar any announcement. Enter Dragon Age: The Veilguard, née Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, the long-anticipated follow-up to 2014's aforementioned Dragon Age: Inquisition. Dramaticism aside, the stakes could not be higher - both in Thedas, the world where Dragon Age is set, and for the waning fans back home.

It's imperative to know that the story in The Veilguard takes place 10 years after the revelations at the end of the Trespasser DLC for Inquisition. It was undoubtedly an essential moment in time when Solas, a long-standing ally for the 100-plus hours spent facing what the Breach, a break in the boundary, known as the Veil, between the physical world and the Void, was revealed in the closing moments to be not only a deity but an outright enemy of the player.

Without having experienced that first hand, or even knowing that beforehand, much of The Veilguard's heavier moments will go to waste. Rather, they may do so initially until you find your footing in Thedas as Rook, the player character. With the character creator as impressive and extensive as it is, those first steps into this world in turmoil may take longer than expected.

In a world as rich and inviting as Thedas, it's only natural to have the desire to painstakingly craft your character that will carve their path through the many trials and tribulations that await you, and make no mistake, the tools available are more than capable of getting the job done. An almost overwhelming amount of customisation is here, with arguably some of the best hair ever to grace gaming since the 2013 Tomb Raider reboots or, more recently, Horizon: Forbidden West.

The "standard" assortment of tattoos, body sizes, and whatnot is available, but where The Veilguard is proud to stand out is where it truly matters, regarding inclusivity. Body styles are no longer tied to set pronouns and voices. It's incredible to see such representation, especially in such a high-profile game like this, and it is thankfully just a sliver of the support to come. The narrative also makes sure to be equally inclusive of trans and nonbinary characters, and it feels incredibly genuine and authentic in telling their stories.

Rounding out the character customisation is the standard trio of class tropes being available to choose from - Warrior, Rogue, and Mage - as well as four races: Human, Dwarf, Elf, or Qunari. Lastly, six origin factions determine various influences, conversations, related companions, and, naturally, the ever-important cosmetics much later.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard effortlessly impresses from the moment the campaign starts. The set piece in the opening hour, featuring Solas's attempts to open the previously mentioned Veil and our attempts to stop him, gives one of the better crash courses of RPGs in recent years. With that first set piece being as incredible as it is, it acts as a double-edged sword, where that quality forms a basis for the rest of your adventures. It is not necessarily representative of the stellar narrative, but the quality and consistency of the moment-to-moment writing tend to fluctuate wildly.

As was the case for Inquisition, Solas has some of the most exquisite and impressive lines, delivered beautifully by Gareth David-Lloyd, with gravitas and furthering curiosity unrivalled. Mere moments later, jarring lines grace our ears, with some notable examples being "The gates weren't keeping someone out, it's keeping something in," and the ever-popular "It's quiet... too quiet." While a minor blemish in the grander scheme of things, these otherwise inconsequential moments are far too regular for my liking and do nothing to elicit any response bar a dry, pained chuckle at the sheer gall so blatantly on display.

Thankfully, the gameplay doesn't suffer the same juxtaposing disparities in quality as the writing, and the Level design is a particular high point for the series. The Veilguard focuses on "smaller" instanced areas, smartly moving away from the older entries' open-world design. With such a change being made, it's rare to see an environment devoid of beauty and inspired intricacies in the winding paths and many layers of the ever-changing Crossroads or the moody, rainy city of Minrathous.

Likewise, character design is equally meticulous, from the physical appearance to their individualities. Whilst they start as fully-formed characters, they naturally grow further throughout the main scenario and each eventual tailored side quest. The growth displayed throughout the latter quests is substantial and elevates each character beyond expectations. This expertise is BioWare confidently doing what they do, cranked up to 11, and it's so welcome to see in a genre where caricatured and/or surface-level side characters have become all too commonplace.

Combat has equal levels of personality, although it manages to fumble some of what the individual characters worked tirelessly to achieve in its quest for breadth and an overall unified design principle. Simply put, your companions are left feeling secondary to the encounter. In what can be seen as anything other than an oversimplification of the best parts of Mass Effect and previous Dragon Age titles, the primary emphasis on tactics is sidelined in favor of a more standardized action-focused approach. Unique character skills are somewhat dissipated in their utility when you'll often be firing them off for their priming and chainable abilities, which all characters possess.

Furthermore, your comrades can no longer perish on the battlefield, rendering them mere cannon fodder. Only Rook's health matters, and once they are down, it's game over. The same harmonious relationships forged through dialogue aren't reflected in the synergies found when battling a swathe of fantastical fantasy staples, Lovecraftian monstrosities, and conniving cults, and that's a real shame.

Despite all this, combat remains fluid. It feels like a true 3rd person action romp, parries and all, and very dynamic and challenging. Each of the three class archetypes controls beautifully and has its distinct playstyle, all whilst feeling equally viable across the various combat scenarios you face throughout your 40-hour or so adventure. As is par for the course in Bioware titles, expansive skill trees, both the player character as well as your comrades, allow you to create discernably different builds depending on the path you choose to go down, but the option to select one of three specialisations per class truly brings your Rook into a league of their own.

My favourite throughout my time with the Rogue was the Duelist, initially picked purely for aesthetic and power-fantasy reasons. This specialization focused on nimbly dodging incoming attacks, parrying when a dodge would otherwise fail, and striking at the most opportune moments with dual-wielding blades and looking as dapper as possible. The graceful dance employed by my Duelist would have the chance to be visually gorgeous, too, were it not for the technical limitations imposed by the Steam Deck's hardware.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard - Steam Deck Performance

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is, at its best, a passable and enjoyable experience on Steam's little machine. Out of the box, the frame rate can fluctuate anywhere between the high 20s and low 40s throughout gameplay. Chaotic battles and cutscenes manage to punish the Steam Deck further and force it to the low 20s and even high teens, even with FSR being set at Ultra Performance. This also causes the game to have an unpleasant, almost watercolor aesthetic film over it.

Thankfully, changing the Upsampling method from AMD FSR to Intel XESS and setting it to Performance yields brilliant results compared to the former's output. Likewise, setting the render scale to 80% and the field of view to 90% gives us a few more crucial frames to play with and fundamentally makes the experience run considerably smoother, without having muddied visuals. With these changes, average frame rates are generally within the 35fps - 45fps range, with occasional brief drops sub-30fps. Setting the framerate limit to 30 FPS should keep everything as stable as possible.

It's not to say that any of these changes can make it pleasing to look at by any stretch of the imagination, though. The beauty of Veilguard's distinct visual style is almost lost in translation when played on the Steam Deck, and it does an outright disservice to the magic that BioWare has carefully composed and conducted. Still, stability, above all else, is crucial, and we can achieve such a result with relative ease.

There are next to no changes that can make a noticeable and positive impact on battery life, but with a game that still looks as good as this, it's to be expected. An average 22W draw will drain the OLED model's battery in around 2.5 hours. This could be considered adequate if you're at home or reliably near a charger, but it may not be enough if you're purely on the go.

Accessibility

Thankfully, there's plenty of scope here in Dragon Age: The Veilguard to amend accessibility options. The general portion of the settings contains a camera shake, which is fully adjustable via a slider, color vision deficiency, whether a persistent dot is visible, and an ever-appreciated toggle for disabling UI hold inputs. We can also change the Text Size and Accessibility SFX, which enables "audio cues to provide additional feedback for some visual mechanics", including "incoming attack indicators, target lock-on, and conversation wheels". Similarly, enabling Glint Ping SFX allows spatialised SFX to play at object locations when pressed Up on the D-Pad. Lastly, in the love-it-or-hate-it of modern game visual representations, there is a toggle for whether a Low Health Screen Effect is utilised.

Subtitles are fully customizable, as expected for a game released in 2024. You can tweak Subtitle Visibility, Size, Animation (whether they fade in or out, for example), Color, and Opacity to your heart's content. Lastly, your Steam Deck's vibrations are fully modifiable, with different vibration levels being set across the board or individually for Gameplay-based intensities, Environmental prompts, and Cinematic-focused buzzes. Similarly, the option to enable vibration assist is also present, and it acts as a physical alternative or additive version of the Accessibility SFX audible assist previously mentioned.

Conclusion

It's hard to believe this is the same BioWare many consider to be on the down and out. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the most confident and masterful display of talent and expertise in their particular craft shown for nigh-on a decade and, with the odd dialogue choice here and there not-withstanding, is as cohesive and coherent as they come. It is everything it sets out to be and so much more: a continuation of the superb ending shown in Dragon Age: Inquisition, a new beginning for the events to come, and, dare I say it, hope for BioWare's future. 

Our review is based on the PC version of this game.

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