2. Dragon Age: The Veilguard - The Context Before We Really Begin

2. Dragon Age, Context

So I've started playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The long anticipated sequel to Inquisition. The follow up From BioWare studios in Edmonton. It's been a long time convincing myself to play this video game.

First and foremost, it got terrible reviews on launch. People have been waiting literally a decade for a follow up to the Dragon Age series. It came out in the wake of Larian Studios' Baldur's Gate 3, which was met with critical acclaim.

Baldur's Gate 3 was a game that seemed to tap into that same low fantasy that Dragon Age had helped pioneer all those years ago. There was a real thirst for the choices you could make, and the consequences those choices would have. People loved that rich fantasy setting, and the significantly dark content. The zeitgeist was ready for the sort of stuff you wouldn't want your 9 year old seeing... and don't forget, you could “flirt” with the bear.

Now, I didn't love Baldur's Gate 3. I tried really hard to get into it, but I just couldn't quite grok the combat. Maybe I've been playing too much Final Fantasy XIV over the last 10 years, but I've never been able to wrap my head around, say, grabbing a chair and throwing it at somebody. Nor do I really get the intricacies of having my toon stand in the doorway. I am used to the Holy Trinity of tank, DPS, & healer, it's how I am wired.

As far as Bioware's fantasy series is concerned, well I've never actually finished a Dragon Age game. Origins I played on PS3. I got about halfway through. Inquisition I had on PS4 a year after launch. I loved that game and played the heck out of it. But while I was on the precipice of finishing it, my PS4 stopped reading discs. So that one I stopped just short. I was vaguely aware that Solas was evil in the end, but most of the details are fuzzy.

I wanted to relive Inquisition so I purchased it on disc on Amazon (Alongside Kingdom Hearts 1.5/2.5 HD Remix) and threw it in the PS5 last week. Upon firing it up, I realized that the game was a lot older than I had remembered. The graphics and the controls scheme felt antiquated, and so I didn’t stick with it. I had a free evening the other night, and Veilguard was on sale… so I thought “Why not jump into the new one”

Well, there's an excellent reasons why not to: the game sucks! Or at least, that’s what the vast majority of the internet has said. Everything I have heard was "stay away". The feedback boiled down to a few fundamental criticisms:

1. It’s like a marvel movie, campy, with terrible writing.

2. The game is too PC/Woke - the game forces an agenda on you.

3. The game was mired in development hell and had no clear direction, leading it to be poorly formed and feeling incongruous.

I am a spoiler free guy - spoilers drive me nuts! (Have I mentioned that this blog will be chalked FULL of spoilers?) So because I thought one day I might try out Veilguard, and I’m only really a part time Dragon Age fan, I have relatively virgin eyes on this title. I reasoned there was nothing to lose, and decided to give Veilguard a shot.

As I mentioned in the opening post, this blog is a bit of an experiment, and is meant to be a review that I write as I go through the game. I want to share my honest opinions of it, and react as I go through the game. I plan to play segments of the game, and then report back - similar to something I did with Final Fantasy XVI a couple years ago.