Dragon Age: The Veilguard Missed The Mark With These Two Factions

screenrant.com:

Being the fourth entry in a massively popular RPG series, had some pretty big shoes to fill both in terms of story and remaining true to the lore of the series. While has been mostly successful, with an ambiguous story and clever lore twists, there are also some areas that felt too safe and clean for the established setting. Two factions that Rook must ally with embody this odd safe choice perfectly, making them feel at odds with the world they inhabit.

[Warning: This article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.]

There are six factions in which Rook can belong to and also join forces with as they attempt to stop the Evanuris. Which faction Rook is a member of plays much more of a role than race, gender, or class, with faction-specific dialogue available during some conversations, as well as faction perks and traits. There is a mixture of old and new groups from throughout Thedas, but two of the six feel like wasted opportunities for more morally gray allies.

All the factions Rooks teams up with seem to have the best interests of Thedas at heart as they work together to stop the Evanuris, Antaam, and Venatori. However, there was a clearly missed chance to have morally ambiguous, or even completely darker factions, with the Antivan Crows and the Lords of Fortune. Having everyone working together is all well and good, but given the darker nature of Thedas, it is somewhat unrealistic.

did a great job of showing that while different groups might work together to stop a threat, that doesn’t mean they all get along or have suddenly become the good guys. has also done a fantastic job demonstrating this with the Guild, a shadowy group of criminals the party can ally with in Act 3, who are clearly shown to be bad people, but still worthwhile allies. However, both the Crows and the Lords in are shown in clean, practically glowing, terms at odds with the nature of each group.

The Antivan Crows have been a part of the series since and are by no stretch of the