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Dragon Age: The Veilguard Forgot to be a Great RPG

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I’ll give BioWare some credit for one thing: the game looks visually impressive and delivers a some moments of fun. But beyond that, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is just another reminder of how far BioWare has fallen. Instead of focusing on delivering a great RPG experience, they’ve doubled down on turning their games into social commentary and pandering to the loudest voices online. This is the culmination of years of DEI hires dominating what was once the best RPG developer around. It honestly makes me angry and kind of sad…

Woke Nonsense in Veilguard

Let’s start with the most glaring issue: the “woke” content is so blatant it practically shoves you out of the fantasy setting. At one point, in the middle of a serious situation, a character stops everything to explain that they’ll be using “they” instead of “she” from now on. Nothing says “epic medieval fantasy” like modern-day gender pronouns, right? I’m sorry, but I play Dragon Age to be immersed in a world of magic, ancient lore, and complex characters—not to get a lecture on gender identity by some random Qunari. It’s like BioWare forgot they were making a game, not a Twitter debate.

This kind of nonsense just rips you out of the immersion, which is a shame because The Veilguard had the potential to be something great. To be the game that puts BioWare back on top. But instead of focusing on storytelling, they’re more concerned with making sure they tick all the boxes for inclusivity. BioWare didn’t even need to bring in Sweet Baby Inc. this time—they’ve become so wrapped up in this ideology that it’s ingrained in their writing.

Bioware’s Mediocre Writing

Speaking of the writing, it’s incredibly lazy. Characters constantly tell you exactly who they are and what they want, as if the game doesn’t trust you to figure it out for yourself. It’s like BioWare forgot how to weave nuance into their storytelling. Every bit of dialogue feels expository, as if the characters are reading off bullet points of their personality traits rather than letting their actions and words reveal who they are over time. Gone are the days where you had to piece together motivations through context and subtle clues. Now, they just flat-out tell you everything in a way that feels like they’re checking off boxes.

There’s combat in Dragon Age: The Veilguard I guess

Now, the combat? It’s… fine, I guess. Fast-paced and action-heavy. It’s the kind of combat that looks flashy but doesn’t require much skill. You’ll be button-mashing your way through most fights while enemies mindlessly stand around waiting for you to kill them. It’s repetitive, and after a while, I found myself zoning out. I miss the tactical combat of Dragon Age: Origins, where your decisions actually mattered, and fights felt like a challenge. But hey, I guess expecting something skill-based in 2024 is asking for too much outside of Elden Ring.

Beautiful but Lifeless

The world design is another missed opportunity. Sure, the environments are beautiful—there’s no denying that. BioWare’s art team did an amazing job with places like Kal-Sharok and Arlathan Forest. But the world feels disconnected, like you’re hopping from one isolated hub to another without any sense of a larger, cohesive world. The Crossroads, this dimension-hopping walkway you use to travel between locations, just kills any sense of exploration. It feels like BioWare cut corners to save time, and it shows.

The NPCs are lifeless. You can walk into a street full of enemies, kill them, and the nearby townspeople won’t even bat an eye. They just stand there, frozen, like they’re part of the scenery. It’s almost creepy how artificial it all feels. In games like Dragon’s Dogma 2, the towns feel alive—here, they’re just populated by human-shaped props.

Bioware does know how to write good companions

One thing BioWare still manages to do well is write interesting companions. I’ll admit, the cast in The Veilguard is solid. They’ve got a range of motivations, personalities, and backstories that add some depth to the experience. The side missions tied to them are well-written, and it’s nice to see the interactions evolve based on your choices. But even this bright spot is bogged down by the fact that these companions feel like they’re stuck in a game that doesn’t know how to use them properly.

Still it feels good to see BioWare back to their strengths in this sense. The companions in Andromeda and Anthem left a lot to be desired while Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect had some of the best companions of all time.

Just make games great again

At the end of the day, Dragon Age: The Veilguard tries so hard to be “progressive” that it forgets the most important thing—being fun. The focus on social issues over compelling storytelling, a lifeless world design, and lackluster combat turns what could have been a great game into a mediocre experience. That said, I’ll give credit where it’s due: the companions are genuinely well-written, and some parts of the game’s story were better than I expected. There are flashes of the old BioWare magic in the character arcs and interactions that remind you why people loved this series to begin with.

But in the end, developers need to stop worrying so much about ticking every box for inclusivity and focus on making a damn good game. That’s what players actually want. If you’re looking for a real RPG experience, you’re better off revisiting Dragon Age: Origins—a game that knew how to put gameplay and story first without all the unnecessary noise.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Final Verdict: Well-written companions and visually stunning environments are ultimately dragged down by heavy-handed "woke" content and lazy, expository writing that breaks immersion. While there are flashes of the old BioWare magic, the lifeless world design, repetitive combat, and focus on social issues over delivering a fun RPG experience leave much to be desired. Cutthroat Critic

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2024-10-29T03:17:38+0000
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