Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age: The Veilguard certainly closes a chapter for Dragon Age as a whole. But one can’t help but look more brightly at the future, one where Bioware has seemingly broke a curse it has been shackled with for years. As labyrinthine as a task it would have seemed, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a promise to fans that BioWare is one of the best storytellers in the medium, one capable of bombastic gameplay and enthralling narratives that linger for years.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an approachable, expansive action-oriented RPG and feels like a true end to whatever the franchise was before. The book's not finished, but a significant chapter has closed. While Dragon Age: The Veilguard is undoubtedly different in many ways from its predecessors and takes lessons learned from Mass Effect to heart, there's a lot to love – mechanically and narratively – about the new normal and what is hopefully a foundation for what's to come.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a stellar achievement that ends a decade-long dry spell. It tells one of the best stories in the series fuelled by some of its most memorable characters. It’s not a flawless journey but the minor imperfections don’t detract from one of 2024’s best RPGs.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard was probably never going to win over all Dragon Age fans, and by being more streamlined than ever, it's those who were hoping that it would go back to the series' roots that will be most disappointed. For those who love a good action RPG with stunning visuals, however, there's a lot to like here.

BioWare's new epic is an enormous, layered, sprawling, often overwhelming mix of various elements that desperately tries to offer a wealth of content, aiming to appeal to every RPG lover, yet in doing so, fails to truly excel in any particular area. We want one thing to be clear, though: in the end, the experience is enjoyable, definitely exceeding the expectations we had formed from months of announcements and trailers, but there's really nothing that can captivate the player and elevate the game to the level of the genre's heavyweights. And that's a real shame, because the dedication of the development team shines through in many aspects, like the structural depth, level design, ensemble dialogues, and even a combat system that, ultimately, is fun — but not quite enough. More than ever, this was a case where it would have been better to cut back, trim down, and streamline further, to offer a more focused and well-defined experience.