Despite obvious flaws, both in form and substance, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an adventure with a capital A. Terribly generous, BioWare’s RPG will keep you busy for hours and hours. Our test.
I remember very well the moment I discovered the saga Dragon Age. It was in 2014, with the episode Inquisition. At the time, already working as a journalist specializing in video games, I had to take the test. The RPG fell out of my hands after a few days. I didn’t pick it up again until many weeks later, and this second chance proved fruitful: a verdict rendered before the turn of the new year, with the impression of having played the game of the year.
Ten years have passed and the BioWare studio is offering – finally – a new episode, entitled Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I obviously promised myself not to stick with my first impression, as was the case with Dragon Age: Inquisition. After a good fifteen hours of completing quests and making crucial choices, I can indeed say that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an almost complete success. His few faults are nothing compared to the wealth he displays.
Points forts
- Controlled and gripping narration
- Well thought out combat system
- Technically solid
Weak points
- Progress too slow
- Gameplay a little blurry when moving
- DA half fig half grape
Dragon Age: The Veilguardor adventure with a capital A
An adventure of your own
While chatting with a friend who also plays Dragon Age: The Veilguardwe realized that we were not experiencing quite the same adventure. Which underlines the impact of decisions, which is real.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard reminds me a lot of the trilogy Mass Effect (developed by the same studio). In his progress, and without saying too much about the scenario (which would not make much sense since everyone shapes the twists and turns according to their decisions), we find the same levers. Namely: the coming together of a group of characters with strong character and extraordinary skills to combat a very powerful threat, all sprinkled with key milestones to multiply the branching points and accentuate the difficult choices to make. An ultimately classic structure in an RPG, what’s more, taking place in a fantasy universe.
Your actions and your words will have an impact everywhere
Therefore, what is said Dragon Age: The Veilguard shines more in the small, but multiple interactions between the members of the team (who each have their own motivations and interests to defend), than in the story itself. This is not necessarily a bad thing, since the dialogues are well written and certain themes – inclusiveness in mind, including for non-binary people – very well handled (to the great dismay of a reactionary and discontented fringewith the review bombing usual to protest). This winning formula is also reflected in the additional content, with modestly sized areas that reveal their richness as you explore them. Obviously, your actions and your words will have an impact everywhere, including in relationships with your allies, with obvious or more subtle repercussions. As such, the personalities of the protagonists are incredibly deep, with moods that we can identify with.
This care given to the narration allows Dragon Age: The Veilguard to involve the player in a very nice way. As a bonus, BioWare has not forgotten to give importance to production. If the artistic direction blows hot and cold in terms of atmosphere, the general impression is rather good. There is a nice variety in the settings, the technical solidity is to be highlighted and the casting really does not lack charisma (small mention of the beauty of the hairstyles and hair, worthy of L’Oréal). So many elements which offer ever more arguments to this epic broken up into around ten chapters, that some will abandon without problem to carry on the tasks of a lower stake (the faction mechanics are there to motivate).
Dragon Age: The Veilguard also performs in the action part, with fights which mix both real time (with a good feeling when you hit) and strategy, with a menu which offers the possibility of pausing to plan the attacks of your team . Indeed, while you play a heroine or a hero that you can customize from A to Z, the RPG allows you to lead a complete trio (by giving orders to the other two). It will then be up to us to find effective synergies to eliminate enemies more quickly, who love to protect their large life bar with armor that must first be broken.
It is, however, a shame to note that this apparent depth quickly ends up drying up, since the possibilities of varying the pleasures are fewer than one might imagine. BioWare could have thickened this notion of synergy a little more, which would have made the fights much more interesting in the long run. This is all the more true since slow progression doesn’t really motivate you to fight: defeating an enemy much more powerful than us to gain a small amount of experience is not very rewarding. A defect which has a direct consequence on the increase in power, which is not very appreciable. It is compensated by a skill tree which allows you to specialize, or even test different builds thanks to the free reimbursement of points spent.
Another point that could disappoint: the gameplay is not always impeccable, in particular the handling of the character and the way in which targeting works (especially against opponents with several points of impact and/or in cramped places). Movements can be imprecise in certain situations, and they are not helped by the rigidity of the animations which distort what we see on the screen. Sometimes jumps are a pain to get right, knowing that the developers had the ingenious idea of using the same key for jumps and certain common interactions. This results in crazy situations where we jump on the spot when we simply wanted to collect resources. Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t always flawless, but its recipe relies on enough flavorful ingredients to indulge and enjoy a feast.
The verdict
We liked
- Controlled and gripping narration
- Well thought out combat system
- Technically solid
We liked less
- Progress too slow
- Gameplay a little blurry when moving
- DA half fig half grape
In gameplay, or whether in substance or form, Dragon Age: The Veilguard must contend with obvious flaws. But they are negligible compared to the overflowing generosity demonstrated by this RPG developed by a studio keen to offer a polished game. The adventure relies on ambitious storytelling, particularly in the relationships between the characters, to captivate. Let us also highlight his efforts on inclusiveness, at the risk of being singled out by a reactionary fringe.
Ten years after Dragon Age: Inquisition and while waiting for the future Mass Effect, BioWare is returning through the front door. Dragon Age: The Veilguard has hours and hours of content in its bag, and invites you to explore controlled areas to discover the repercussions of your many choices. In these conditions, it is difficult not to get involved.
Source: www.numerama.com
