The impact that Dragon Age: Inquisition had on the video games industry is still being felt to this day, particularly for anybody in the queer community. In 2014, BioWare created what many considered at the time a high-point for RPG storytelling; an incredible world to explore, compelling companions to spend time with and a whole heap of diversity and inclusion. It’s a high bar that has only recently started to be met, but to this day, Inquisition remains important to many. Ten years later, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has incredibly high expectations from gamers everywhere before they’ve even played it.

These expectations aren’t just set because of the series’ history, whose quality has bounced between “decent” and “amazing” over the years, but because of BioWare itself, a developer that severely needs to remind people why they are so revered, and why they are the craft-masters behind two of the most loved universes in video games, both Dragon Age and Mass Effect. Andromeda and Anthem were deemed massive misfires by critics and the general public alike, so the pressure to achieve greatness with Dragon Age: The Veilguard is high. Perhaps higher than any anticipated sequel I’ve ever seen.

Well, friends, it’s a damn pleasure to let you know that Dragon Age: The Veilguard is brilliant. Rich storytelling, punchy, satisfying combat, a stunningly gorgeous world to explore and the most lovable cast of companions BioWare has ever created all come together to make what is one of the best modern RPGs available today. Oh yes, Dragon Age, and BioWare itself, is back, baby.

Not only are environments changed, but certain companions will lose trust in you, upset with your actions; it makes bonding with them more difficult, but it gives them more aggression in combat, too. It’s neat that so many decisions made me feel guilty, without punishing me broadly. You can play the adventure the way you want, and you’ll need to live with the consequences of your actions, but the story remains compelling regardless. It all culminates in a truly epic conclusion, one that is truly defined by how much time you spend helping your crew and the various factions along the way.

This is beyond the regular conversational interactions, where you can choose to respond in a variety of ways – flirting, angry, emotional, friendly, stoic, or cheeky. The fact that there are so many lines of dialogue voiced to cover every sort of interaction, and the way that characters respond to you differently based on what you choose, is ridiculously impressive. The dialogue is heartfelt, serious, and at times hilarious. When it comes to writing, this is BioWare at its best.

Fellowship of the Veil

Assembling your troupe of companions takes up the first chunk of the experience, as you encounter foes that, quite simply, need specialists that can help you deal with them. It’s a formulaic way to start, sure, but doesn’t feel incorrect. Part of the fun is meeting these new team members – romantic options, quirky friends and battlefield buddies – and Dragon Age: The Veilguard has got a truly wonderful cast that are all a joy to get to know.

Lace Harding is a dwarven scout with a positive attitude, and while handy with a bow and arrow, she unexpectedly finds out that she has magical powers. Neve Gallus, a member of the Shadow Dragons, is far more pragmatic, and a private detective with connections everywhere. Bellara is one of the most instantly charming of the bunch; she is obsessed with uncovering the secrets of ancient technology, and is totally chipper at all times, although she does carry some burdens of the past along with her. She gave me Kaylee vibes, the mechanic from Firefly.

Rounding out the group is Emmrich, a necromancer who brings with him a reanimated skeleton friend called Manfred, who makes for some of the most strange and funny interactions in the crew. Not to be outdone, Darvin, a Grey Warden, is a monster hunter with a soft spot for his young Griffon pet, Assan, by far the cutest squawker ever. Lucanis is an expert assassin who loves coffee even more than me, a Melbournite, but he has a literal dark side within him, the Demon of Vyrantium. Last, but certainly not least, is Qunari dragon hunter Taash, a risk-taker who is blunt and straightforward, but still seeks acknowledgement from their family.

To go into depth about this diverse bunch would be robbing you of discovering all of their quirks for yourself, but excitingly, the Companion Quests are on par with the main storyline when it comes to feeling absolutely essential. They all have their individual character arcs that help you to understand them, with conversations peppered in at your home base, The Lighthouse, that allow you to delve even deeper. These multi-stage Companion Quests range from going to a market for a touch of shopping to fighting dragons and everything in between. They come with huge narrative pay-offs that essentially solidify who each companion is to become, so they’re worth seeking out, not only for the sensational storytelling but for the rewards you’ll receive afterwards. Beyond that, the party members you choose to quest with will banter with one another while exploring (and, in a neat quality-of-life addition, conversations will stop temporarily when entering combat, before being picked up where they left off). They’ll hang out together in all sorts of configurations at The Lighthouse, too; when you talk with them, you sometimes interrupt conversations they’re having, and some of my favourite moments came from seeing these people from various backgrounds and cultures coming together, forced to get to know each other, and for the most part not hating it at all.

When The Veilguard is all gathered together, discussing things around the table, your connections evolving with them individually and as smaller groups, there’s a real sense of camaraderie and even family; this motley crew is easily one of my all-time favourites in video game history, and the hardest part about progressing the story to its finish was knowing that I wouldn’t be spending any more time with them. They all sound incredible too; audio quality across the sweeping soundtrack and strong voice acting simply adds to the epic vibes, enhancing every interaction tenfold.

Born for Battle

Combat has had a dramatic shift since the last time we played a Dragon Age, with The Veilguard opting for a flashier, action-focused style. From the outset, you’ll decide between a Warrior, Rogue or Mage, and then build your fighting style around one of those classes. Warrior, which I opted for, revolves around close-range combat and defence. It mixes the standard light and heavy attacks, blocking, dodging and parrying, with the addition of a ranged ability, throwing your shield at enemies before it’s recalled to you.

It feels punchy and deliberate with every hit; as you progress through your skill tree, you’ll pick from many abilities to bring into battle, which can be swapped out anytime. Early on I acquired a dropkick which was a staple in my repertoire, as with a quick run and jump it has a considerable heft, with a “THIS IS SPARTA!” level of impact that sends foes flying, even knocking them off a ledge entirely for an instant kill if you line it up correctly. A ground pound for crowd-control feels considerably weighty, too, and you can eventually unlock Specializations to provide unique Ultimate Abilities, that trigger when fully charged up.

There’s some considerable depth when it’s all tied together. Shielded enemies require certain attacks to break through them, Staggering foes allows you to unleash a devastating finishing blow; for my Warrior, it means stabbing them through the chest and then slamming my shield down onto their throat for good measure. Some more variety in the Finisher animations would have been nice, as they certainly lose their lustre the 100th time you use them, but they add well to the flow-state of battles.

Companions mostly fight for themselves and are useful enough to leave to their own devices, but you can pause the fight at any time with the Ability Wheel, allowing you some more precise control over their abilities. It’s good that this is included for those who prefer a more tactical experience; though you will still need to master some action basics and can’t rely on this entirely. Still, you can assign companions to attack specific enemies, individually or together; certain abilities can be combo’d for massive damage, and each companion has their own individual skill tree with several to choose from.

There’s a lot of tinkering that can be done, for those who want to refine their build, too, with the ability to respec at any time with no penalty. The skill tree is massive, allowing for major passives, traits, stat boosts and weapon proficiencies, and equipment can be found throughout Dragon Age: The Veilguard to support all of this. In another lovely quality-of-life feature, duplicate items automatically empower existing items, increasing their stats and unleashing additional properties. That’s before you factor in the Caretaker’s Workshop back at The Lighthouse, used to upgrade or enchant equipment to make it even stronger (again, not just yours, but your seven companions, too).

Questing for all

Essentially, there’s a buffet of upgrades and special tools to really maximise your gameplay experience; if you just want to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard and not worry about all of that intense RPG modification jargon, you can; there are five preset difficulty options, and even a custom one where you can tweak stuff like aim assist, enemy damage and health, preventing death, combat timing for parrying, and more.

Being who you want to be and playing how you want to play is core to the experience, so accessibility has been greatly factored in, with advanced options for subtitles, full-screen colourblind filters, volume sliders, input remapping, vibration intensity, disabling certain UI button hold inputs, combat assists and more. For the more hardcore adventurer, you can even turn off waypoints and other progression prompts, removing the UI entirely. The amount of customisation should be applauded, up there with some of the best accessibility we’ve seen.

An explorer’s fantasy

Dragon Age: The Veilguard begins relatively linear as you learn the ropes, before opening up into a bold and beautiful world that is ripe for exploration. The Lighthouse, your main hub, is a floating, fractured island with each companion having their individual space that represents their personality well. Once you access other regions (via The Crossroads), you’ll search through stunning environments, like an underwater prison surrounded by sealife, spooky cemeteries with a fiery green glow in Necropolis Halls, or the gorgeous beaches of Rivain with waterfalls jutting out of orangey-red cliffsides bathed in sunlight. 

The visuals are consistently breathtaking, every biome distinct from the last, with the bustling merchant city of Treviso full of markets and citizens buying and selling wares, to the beautifully haunting Arlathan Forest filled with hovering stones and human statues made from rock and plants, hands protruding from the dirt and ancient magical mechanisms among the debris. The Hossberg Wetlands illicit more of a horror vibe, full of puss-like disgusting Blight pods, with pulsing veins strangling the streets. It’s wicked stuff.

You’ll need to deal with some light puzzling and platforming challenges as you explore; they tickle the brain just enough without getting too complex. The aforementioned Blight often blocks pathways, so you’ll need to destroy hidden pods, bursting them and forcing them to unravel. You’ll dispel magical barriers by destroying connected floating gems in a certain order, or gather nearby hidden Wisps to trigger contraptions.

Another layer is that each of your allies has a special power that can be used to access new areas or solve puzzles. For example, Lucanis can reveal hidden anomalies in the world, creating brand new platforms, Davrin can call on Assan to fly in and retrieve something high up, or Bellara can get broken devices working again. Cleverly, if you don’t have that companion with you when you find these environmental cues, you can still use your special dagger to channel them anyway; instead of forcing you to backtrack and change your party, Dragon Age: The Veilguard respects your time, and that meant I was always happy to linger out in the world, seeking out entertaining side quests, finding hidden statues to collect or solving puzzles for that tantalising thrill of a possible equipment upgrade.

Inclusive adventuring

A special shout-out needs to happen here, as Dragon Age has once again done an excellent job when it comes to inclusivity and diversity, sexuality and gender. Again, I won’t go into too many details, as some of this stuff is truly stellar and best left unsaid. But, as a simple example, playing as a male-identifying protagonist, I was able to flirt with whomever I wanted; it didn’t always go to plan, but I had options across the board if I wanted to be gay AF (like IRL). I’m looking forward to experimenting more in future playthroughs, but in a real testament to the storytelling, I came to value my platonic relationships here just as much.

The character creator is next level; it’s the kind of function that people will spend hours and hours deep within, meticulously making their interpretation of the perfect fantastical hero. Then, some early narrative beats went even deeper and more personal, allowing queer gamers to really play as themselves, or who they see themselves as. That’s all I’ll say, but I can’t wait to see the LGBTQIA+ community discover these well-implemented thoughtful additions. Dragon Age: Inquisition has for a long time been repeatedly mentioned as a key moment in gaming history when it comes to representation, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard is set to be another milestone. I am stoked for any young, uncertain folk who will be able to play a mainstream AAA RPG like this and feel seen. Snaps to you, BioWare.