Dragon Age: The Veilguard Review (PS5) | Push Square

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It's been close to ten whole years since Dragon Age: Inquisition, if you can believe it — and it's fair to say that developer BioWare has endured a difficult decade. The studio effectively tanked its once industry-leading reputation with Mass Effect: Andromeda and ANTHEM — two titles that fell so far short of past standards that expectations surrounding the team's next project dropped to an all-time low.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is that project — a return to the fantasy setting of Thedas, and a new adventure built on the hefty lore of its three predecessors. It's also no secret that The Veilguard — previously known as Dreadwolf — arrives having been dragged through a particularly tumultuous development cycle.

We don't know for sure how many forms the project has adopted and subsequently shed over its time in the oven, but the game that we've been playing for the sake of this review is probably the best Dragon Age title since Origins. BioWare is back, etc.

We say 'probably' because this is the new Dragon Age, pumped full of action combat, colour-coded loot, and watered-down dialogue wheels. Trying to compare it to something like Origins — charting the course of an entire franchise in the process — is best left to five-hour video essays on YouTube. What you need to know right now is that The Veilguard is the furthest the series has ever strayed from its CRPG roots.

And that's understandable, given how much BioWare itself has changed since 2009. But in a world where Baldur's Gate 3 (there it is, the inevitable name-drop) exists — and it's the gold standard for what a modern, choice-driven RPG can be — The Veilguard feels like it's disappointingly late to the party, and it can't possibly compete on a pure role-playing level.

You're Rook — a completely customisable and rather unlikely hero, who's handed the daunting task of dealing with two ancient elven gods, now free from their ethereal prison. Once you've spent an outrageous amount of time sculpting your perfect