You couldn’t make Dragon Age: Origins today!
Occasionally puppyish in its eagerness?
Adhering to trends, some so bafflingly quaint as actual ballista turret sections?
This was a lie - or else the remnants of an earlier, more ambitious build.
I ended up liking Rook a great deal, but Thedas can feel small at times.
Most choices are about the team, rather than the world.
And even then, few are wider reaching than support friend or support friend (sarcastic).
I ended up caring too, even if it took me longer than Id have liked.
The spaces you initially spend the most time in feel unmoored from the blood and dirt of Thedas.
Sure thing, but its been a decade.
A basement of rats to kill, as a treat.
I dont need an unending parade of ragged, wretched souls.
Just, yknow, maybe a single person who looks like theyve gone a day without mainlining moisturiser.
This is a world with wrinkles and stress lines, yet bizarrely inhabited by skincare influencers.
This is especially frustrating because DAs secondary art styles are so incredible.
Tesselated shapes woven into armour pieces.
Ornate booze bottles lining the shelves of bars.Gothicchandeliers in ornate necropolises.
The characters stiffness and nuclear-glow-ups also undermine some fantastic voice performances.
His dialogue and revelations, especially, are a real highlight.
Elven lore fans, youre in for a treat.
This, and Rooks writing, made for a character I was genuinely on board with.
With Veilguard, it was mostly yes.
That is exactly what I would say here, were I cool and decisive and also a hot elf.
Aspirational roleplaying, another Bioware special.
Limp glory kills, ability cooldowns, and mighty supers complete the bingo card.
It hits its stride about halfway through, then stumbles and eventually plods.
I especially liked how no weapon or armour piece becomes useless, instead upgrading as you collect duplicates.
And a marathon it is, because combats also the main way you interact with the world.
Youve got environmental non-puzzles - locate the thing-zles, basically.
The closest thing here is, uh, a combat arena.
There are endless conversations that depictRookhanging with the team, but nothing to facilitateyouhanging out in Thedas.
It can make the world feel utilitarian, almost laminated in its resistance to being touched and felt.
Companions, factions, and regions all have some, each contributing to the ending in some form.
This is mostly through completion percentages (faction strength) rather than story decisions.
Again, a utilitarian approach.
Still,Mass Effect 2wasnt too dissimilar, and itisa very good ending.
I also really appreciated the map design.
There is so much else that is impressive and charming about Veilguard.
The fantastic prose and worldbuilding in the huge glossary, filled as you find notes and items.
And, sure, some companions take longer to warm to than others.
I fix magical artefacts!
Its kind of my thing!
This review is based of a review code provided by the developer.
I was going to cover romance but that developer is Bioware.
You know how it works by now, Im sure.
(Taash, obviously.)
