Dragon Age™: The Veilguard

This game is simply unplayable on my gaming laptop with high end specs. Even with all the graphical settings set to the minimum. Somehow it manages to run smoothly on a XBox Ally X limited to 13 Watt....

Having just completed this game to 100% achievements, I figured now was as good a time as any to make a review. I played this game primarily on my desktop PC, but also played probably a good 20-30% on the Steam Deck LCD. I had absolutely no issues running the game on either platform. In fact, it runs very well on the deck and I didn't notice any latency, graphical issues, etc. there where often games like this can falter. I feel that I should preface what I'm about to say with this: I have never been a HUGE DA fan, so I can't give perspective on this as an entry within that series. This is the only game of the franchise I have played to the end. With that said, I have played a lot of other fantasy/RPG games in my 40+ years, and this one was a lot of fun when stacked up against any of those. I feel this game has gotten a lot of unnecessary hate for trying to be inclusive. Most of the folks who are saying there is an agenda tend to be on the "if there's something I don't like it's an agenda" crowd. I'd say you can ignore them wholly. There are LGBTQ+ themes, especially with one of the companion characters who is struggling with their identity on literally every level (gender, culture, tribe, family, etc.). However, you aren't forced to placate/accept this character or their leanings. You can make decisions that don't excuse or condone their thoughts and align more with typical binary norms. You can romance this character regardless of what gender your player is, etc. - meaning you can put them in a straight binary relationship, or a gay one, or anything in-between. I didn't personally do those things, but my point is that you CAN... There are options here. Nothing is forced. That said, I actually applaud Bioware for approaching this topic the way they did. There were some of those cinematics that just weren't written great, and I can get where some of the criticism about it feeling "forced" comes from based on the way it was written - but it's still worth giving kudos to the company for even daring to engage in this conversation at all. Like all of these games, I understand relationships are a big part of them. I will say that one of the low parts of this game for me was when it started feeling like a dating SIM. Even for characters I wasn't intent on romancing. There's a bunch of different quest types, including conversational ones and outings. You can control the flow of conversations to choose any of them as a romantic partner to yourself, and you can even help a few of them pair up aside from you if that's your thing. Romance in games with these high "end of the world" stakes always feels silly to me, but I digress... I went through these conversations as intentionally as I could, and by the end of my playtime I had a strong team who were woven on various levels of comradery and romantic intent. My issue with it was that it started to feel like every time I would get back to my main base I was just going to have to run around and run errands touching base with every member of the team, making them feel valued, etc. and while that is a mechanic of the game it felt like there were stages of the game where this was the majority of the gameplay. I think most gamers are more into this type of thing than I am, though... so your mileage may vary from mine when it comes to this. I don't want to spoil anything but there are only a few instances during the endgame stage of the game where you can have companions make the "ultimate sacrifice". (You basically plot out who will be part of what party and depending on your rapport with that faction, and if your companion assignee has maxed out to achieve "hero of the veilguard" status or not, it changes the way the following action and cinematics play out.) I bring this up because it didn't seem like I could do anything wrong up to that point that would cause anyone not to be at max rapport by the end game. There's one or two decisions earlier in the game that impact areas and morale but nothing feels truly reversible. The actual gameplay is fun and engaging. It's pretty simple combat, and you can choose your difficulty at the start. You also basically never go into combat alone. As soon as you are able you'll be entering missions with two companions, and you can direct them to certain enemies and command their spells and attacks as well as your own. The way this mechanic works was a little odd at first but it becomes second nature pretty quickly. Player customization is also pretty nice, though some of the outfit skins feel repetitive. IDK what else to say. TLDR: This game is worth the money if it's on sale for $20 or less. Don't believe the haters.

I'm sorry to say this but...people aren't very smart. If you think this was a bad game...you need to find better games. the story was great. The twists and turns...i was on the edge of my seat. Sometimes laughing even tearing up. this game was amazing. the only downside was every response was more positive. outside of that. this game had it all.

Looks beautiful but my god is it janky and dull combat/objective wise. Thank goodness for Steam‘s refund policy.

Honestamente não é um jogo ruim... mas também não é um jogo bom. Ao meu ver os pontos positivos acabam sendo cancelados pelos negativos. Por um lado a gameplay é muito divertida, joguei como um mago e como ladino e com ambos me senti invencível com as builds que fiz, além disso, alguns dos mapas são bem bonitos e existem alguns personagens (Solas, Emmerich, Davrin) e momentos da história que são interessantes. Por outro lado é meio difícil de engolir que esse jogo se passa no universo de dragon age, principalmente para mim que joguei todos os jogos anteriores. Muitas das coisas que acontecem na história não fazem sentido, as escolhas feitas não tem peso (e as escolhas dos jogos anteriores são desconsideradas ou não tem impacto nenhum na narrativa), muitos plots e lore do jogos anteriores são descartados ou não são mencionados, além disso, alguns dos companions são insuportáveis (sendo o Lucanis o pior, porque nada na caracterização ou história dele faz sentido). Na minha opinião, não vale a pena gastar o preço completo para jogar esse jogo, mas se ele tiver com alguma grande promoção ou se você tiver o EA play pode valer a pena para experimentar.

This Game is really hard to rate. To make it short: Is it a good Dragon Age? No, not as a main title. Is it a bad game? No, it ranges from Mediocre to pretty decent, but it isn't nearly as bad as some people say. The Game starts really bombastic. Cool visuals, incredible Soundtrack and freshly modern Gameplay. Gameplay, which doesn't really fit into a Dragon Age mainline title. So here is the first point of "It is not Bad, but it is not good for the series". The gameplay feels like a mix from Mass Effect and... pretty much anything you'd expect from a Third Person ARPG. After a few Hours, the Game steps down from it's pacing and I get that a lot of people can get bored out on the long run, as it feels partly stretched. The Main Missions really stand out, but there is plenty to do for side objectives, which you should do for a better ending. So it can feel tedious. Not as bad as a with Inquisition with it's absolutely bland Open World, or a Final Fantasy 16 which just honestly sucks outside of it's main Missions, but it can feel streched none the less. Now we come to my favourite Part, the last Hours. If the same amount of quality-standard has been put into the rest of the game as in the last few Hours, this could have been the best Dragon Age so far. Here you really see what the people at Bioware are still capable off and I really really don't get why they hide it until the very end, were it starts to really feel like the good old Dragon Age. So, in the end I do recommend it, as the game does indeed deserve a chance, maybe not a 60€ Chance, but with a fair discount you can't really go wrong here, if you're not expecting Dragon Age Origins and are OK with a soft Reboot of the Series Gameplay- and Writingwise. And for anyone complaining about "Woke"... YES I get that one may comeplain about certain Topics from certain Companions as it really feels forced here. But as mentioned before, it is not as bad as some try to make it and from my ~80 Hours maybe 30 Minutes were affected by it.

Long time fan of the series, and I think it delivers. Rook is kind of a doof, but I like the rest of the cast, and the environments are gorgeous. Runs beautifully.