Review | Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5)

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a fantasy epic that showcases the best voice acting and overall polish of any game I’ve played this year.

It’s a story about a group of remarkable warriors coming together against all odds, overcoming personal obstacles, and learning about themselves. Developed by BioWare and published by EA, The Veilguard has left me thoroughly impressed as my first foray into the Dragon Age series.

This game is incredibly accessible — not just in its mechanics and narrative, but also in its inclusive settings. You’re able to customise your character and the way you play down to the finest detail, allowing for a truly personal experience.

In a year filled with incredible RPGs — Final Fantasy Rebirth, Metaphor ReFantazio just to name a couple — The Veilguard stands apart, offering phenomenal freedom of choice and stunning visuals.

A Story to Behold

From the opening sequence, the game’s visual finesse and professional voice acting are on full display. I was gripped the whole time, it was like something from a Hollywood blockbuster.

Following this strong introductory sequence, the game doesn’t slow down.

The storyline leads you through both the physical world of Thedas and the Fade — a realm of dreams, magic, and spirits just beyond reality. In the Fade, strange creatures roam, from spirits to demons.

It’s a haunting place, and the Veil is all that separates it from the world we know. But in The Veilguard, that barrier has started to weaken, allowing the chaotic magic of the Fade to leak into reality and distort it in dangerous ways — oh, and there’s also the impending threat of vengeful gods.

You and your companions seek refuge in the Fade, taking residence in mystical ruins known as The Lighthouse.

Choices in The Veilguard are powerful; they don’t just affect your companions or a single storyline. They send ripples across both the world and the Fade, impacting everything from alliances to landscapes. Every decision feels impactful, creating shifts in loyalties, unexpected sacrifices, and hard choices that shape the world around you.

The Lighthouse

In The Lighthouse, each companion has their own room of sorts. Throughout the story, their rooms transform and grow, adding a sense of character growth and time passing. These rooms also become the go-to spots for private chats. There’s something so grounding about coming back to find your companions there, each settled in their own way.

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The Veilguard is a direct sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition, and although I’ve never played that game, I never felt like I was lost in the narrative. Since finishing The Veilgard, I’m excited to go back and experience Inquisition.

Character Design: Creating “Rook”

You choose your character’s name, but they’re only ever referred to in-game as “Rook.” The character creator menu is impressively detailed, allowing you to select your character’s past through an intricate sequence. It’s one of the best character creators I’ve seen in recent years.

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You can customise everything down to each individual eye colour — three different colour layers for each eye. There’s cataract options, body scar detail, 42 different skin complexions, vitiligo intensity sliders and 35 facial tattoo options — just to name a few. Breast and “bulge” sizes are also enhanceable, but sorry, pervs — there’s no genitalia on show.

The hair selection is a standout feature, offering a variety of finely detailed hairstyles and colours. The hair sits perfectly and moves with your character as you play, adding to the immersive experience. There’s little to no clipping with hair too — game devs are bloody clever.

Another surprising aspect is the ability to change your character’s complete appearance at any time, including gender. There’s a mirror located in The Lighthouse where you can do this.

Throughout the game, your character’s gender and pronouns are highlighted, but if that’s not something you’re particularly into — just skip over it and move forward with your own preferences.

You also get to choose your character’s background. I chose the Grey Wardens, which plays a significant part in the main story. There are dialogue options specifically for players who select Grey Warden, as well as other backgrounds.

Erika Ishii of Critical Role, and the upcoming star of Ghosts of Yotei, lends her voice to Rook, alongside a couple of other talented actors. Though the default voice is seemingly pitched up, you can adjust this for a more authentic Ishii experience.

World and Exploration

As you venture through The Veilguard, the world invites exploration, with every path, crumbling ruin, and hidden area adding depth to the journey. It’s all been designed to reward those who dare to look beyond the obvious.

Small details go a long way: when you’re standing near the edge of a cliff, for example, your character will lean forward to look down, or by standing too close will begin to lose balance — though they never actually do.

The world is filled with intricate, semi-destructible environments, mostly in the form of crates and old pots. Smashing these can give you gold, materials, or valuable items to sell.

Towns are alive with markets, camps, hidden areas, NPCs, and merchants. plus dogs and cats that, yes, you can give scritches!

Similarities to God of War

Exploration in Thedas reminds me a lot of God of War, especially when finding and opening chests. The layout of some areas, health pickups and ultimate potions offer similarities to the Nine Realms — which I loved. This familiar exploration and looting mechanic made discovery more intuitive.

Large chests require a firm kick, sending loot flying before your character catches it — a gratifying moment every time. Reminicest of Kratos smashing through a chest to collect its treasure.

Comparisons aside, Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t a copy of God of War, it has just borrowed some of its best bits — and then added the ability to jump.

Ladders are plentiful, but thankfully you can climb them quickly, and ziplines (many of which are mechanical and allow two-way travel) add variety to traversal.

While you can’t swim, falling into deep water triggers a drowning and flailing animation before respawning, a much more authentic moment compared to the fade-to-black you got in Star Wars: Outlaws.

Puzzles

The game includes a range of puzzles, starting with simple challenges and becoming more intricate as you progress. An early example, I needed to locate an elven crystal, carry it, and place it on an activator to cross a bridge.

There are also various puzzle tasks, including carrying wisps and destroying blighted boils — it all keeps exploration fresh. You’ll also frequently encounter sealed doors, requiring you to destroy chains of red, magical crystals amongst other things to proceed.

One recurring puzzle involves Vanuris Altars. When these altars are activated, they scatter fragments across the area; destroying all fragments grants you +100 health.

How to Make Friends: Companions

Rook is joined by a team of powerful companions. Over time, I felt a genuine connection with almost all of them, each with their own personality and a unique set of abilities.

You start with a small team and slowly meet new companions who’ll join you on your quest:

Harding: A tough, lovable dwarf with unmatched archery skills.

Neve: An open and powerful mage with a no-nonsense attitude.

Bellara: A veil jumper with a talent for magical engineering.

Emmrich: A dashing necromancer with the best skeleton buddy going around.

And that’s only scratching the surface — there are plenty more companions to discover along the way.

It pays to talk to companions between quests, as these conversations let you build or, occasionally, wreck relationships depending on your choices. They can even have dire consquences.

One particularly memorable decision of mine led to a companion getting injured. It was an early game moment but they carried injury for quite a while, with bruises gradually healing as I progressed. It was moments like these that kept me fully aware and engaged, making me carefully consider every dialogue choice and decision I made.

Relationships improve as you take companions on quests, make decisions that align with their values, and complete their personal quests. Most of my companions prefer a tough, serious leader, so when it came down to major choices, it was clear which direction to take.

There’s nothing worse than disappointing your companions — one wrong move, and you’ll feel the sting of their disapproval.

When you’re not out on the main quests, The Lighthouse becomes a perfect space to reconnect with companions. Conversations can help move your relationships forward, so it’s worth taking advantage of every chance you get to chat; you’re able to see who is open to conversation on the map.

Strengthening Relationships: Romance and “The Deed”

Each companion has a unique quest line, usually a personal task that lets you spend more one-on-one time together. For instance, Lucanis, though a contract killer by trade, showed me his soft side with a coffee date — in between killing a bunch of demons, of course.

You can get busy if you play your cards right — though some companions are tougher to win over than others. This isn’t Tinder, you’ll need to work hard on your relationships, grow connections and let your feelings be known. That said, after all that relationship-building, you can only commit to one companion.

Manfred: The Skeleton with Charm

Manfred, though not a main companion, brings his own quirky charm to the team. Created by Emmrich, this “living” skeleton is the perfect comic relief, often responding with a simple hiss. Manfred’s story is worth uncovering — you’ll find plenty of dialogue that invites his strange but endearing sounds.

Between quests, Manfred can be found wandering around The Lighthouse. If you catch him on the external balcony, you can challenge him to a game of rock-paper-scissors. Needless to say, Manfred became my ultimate wingman; I used Manfred to help decide who I should choose for my exclusive romantic relationship (thanks, skele-bro).

The Journal: Questing

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you can access a journal from the character menu that outlines all available quests. The map is intuitive, showing quest locations and providing information on where to find more tasks should you be on the hunt.

Though an imminent threat is looming, the game encourages you to take a pause and address your companions’ issues. These personal quests are often interconnected, yet some may seem far less urgent than the main conflict at hand. This design choice allows players to engage deeply with the characters, providing layers to the story. And although it felt odd, it was a great way to stay involved with your companions’ side stories.

The side quests in The Veilguard are worthwhile. While some may feel typical of the RPG genre, others offer rich narratives that deepen relationships and develop character arcs — like heading to dinner with one of your companion’s families. Other quests may see you taking down an angry spirit or unlocking the secrets of an ancient ruin.

Before concluding the main story, I had a lengthy list of quests left to complete. You’ll need to give yourself plenty of time to roll through them to get the most out of the game’s ending.

The Crossroads

To quest across the world of Thedas, you’ll need to first visit the Crossroads. An early main quest will guide you to the basement of the Lighthouse to find an Eluvian mirror — one of many to uncover. These mirrors are gateways to far away towns or lands.

Once areas are unlocked, you’re able to fast-travel to them directly from the map. It led to fewer trips to other Eluvian mirrors.

Thedas Factions

*Shopping for gear can be done in most towns and areas.*

The Veil Jumpers and the Crows are just a couple of the factions you’ll be able to work alongside, with plenty more to discover. As you complete quests for factions, you’ll strengthen relationships with those groups. You’ll encounter representative merchants throughout each major zone.

Depending on your shop level and faction relationship, you can buy or upgrade items. Selling valuables, which are essentially the junk you’ve collected, also strengthens faction alliances.

Combat: Fighting the Blight

Rook and her companions face a great variety of enemies, from blighted Darkspawn to the Venatori, magic cultists who pack a punch.

There are plenty of tricks up a mage’s sleeve — especially one with the Spellblade specialisation. Beyond the basics of light and heavy attacks, there are special moves that can be triggered in two ways: holding the left trigger mid-fight and using square, triangle, circle, and X, or by fighting with a bit more strategy. Holding L1 pauses the battle, allowing you to plan your team’s next moves. You can also configure how you’d like certain companions to fight during a battle, defensive or offensively.

Holding R2 as a mage unleashes a stream of magic from your staff or orb. This ranged attack offers a satisfying end to weaker enemies and is also great at destroying crates and pottery for loot.

Red marks on the ground indicate an unblockable attack, and you’re able to swiftly move out of the way with the mage’s blink ability. If you’ve played an RPG before, or perhaps an MMO, you’ll know these markers well.

In addition to markers on the ground, there are also attack warnings that appear above your head, a la Marvel’s Spider-Man. You can parry certain attacks if timed correctly, but I didn’t find myself doing much of that — more so dodging. L1 while holding a staff activates a shield, but even that didn’t get much of a workout for me.

Companion Abilities

Combat combos and synergy are peak. You can execute some killer moves with the right combination, these abilities are essential in tougher battles. Throw up a meteor blast alongside an entangling spell and you’ll never miss.

Every companion also has a skill tree with abilities to unlock. As you build your relationships with them, you’ll earn points to unlock new perks and skills.

Companions also comes with unique gear sets and upgrade paths, found throughout the world, to make them stronger. These are separate from Rook’s gear and are only equipable by those specific companions.

Skill Trees

There are a few paths you can take when adding skill points to the tree. In the case of the mage, I gunned it towards the Spellblade specialisation.

The Ultimate Abilities are a showcase of the game’s incredible lighting and particle effects. The Spellblade unlocks the “thunderous end” ultimate move, which deals mega AOE damage.

While my mage’s staff is good for longer distances, I’m all for getting up close and personal with magic attacks. There’s also a finishing move with R3; pushing the right thumb stick in when prompted activates a finishing move in the same vein as God of War.

The great thing is, though time consuming, you can respec your skills at any time — for free. From the skill menu, you’re able to refund all your earned skill points and move them to another branch of your choice.

That said, some branches are level blocked. Specialisations unlock at level 20, with subsequent branches at levels 30 and 40.

Other specialisation branches for the Mage include Evoker, a shadow dragon/ice pathway. There’s an epic Ultimate ability that summons a vortex and pulls enemies into it.

In addition to unlockable skills, you can also assign runes to a specific piece of gear that grants new abilities. My favourite is called “Vivify” which refreshes cooldowns on my ability, allowing me to hit faster and harder. Paired with my other instant refresh perks, I found myself becoming an unstoppable force by the end of the game.

Speaking of Gear…

Dragon Age: The Veilguard offers a unique gear mechanic, focusing more on upgrading than seeking out new weapons and armour all the time. Rook’s gear can be upgraded by finding or purchasing duplicate items throughout your journey.

*Damn, that’s some ugly gear. Thankfully you can transmog it!*

Rather than swapping for entirely new gear, picking up a second of the same item will improve its stats, gradually enhancing Rook’s equipment without losing your existing set. It was a satisfying way forward, and this is the way to go as someone who always wants the best stats.

If you like the look of a particular weapon or armour set more than another, you can transmog it from the get-go.

Graphics and Performance

The battles and visuals in The Veilguard are nothing short of epic. The cinematography and effects are a feast for the eyes, and although there are plenty of cutscenes, they keep the player at the heart of the action.

I had countless “wow” moments as I progressed, with each new area offering something fresh — whether it was a flaming crypt or a towering monument. The lighting in these spaces is impeccable. Every lake, flickering torch, and reflective pool is beautifully crafted, making exploration through photo mode hard to resist.

One standout moment had me smashing my way out of a dead dragon’s ribcage, ready to take on a horde of blighted monsters. The only hiccup? A small wait for the enemies to spawn from the blight after the cutscene — despite already featuring in the cutscene. Thankfully, this wasn’t a recurring issue. Most cutscenes flowed seamlessly into gameplay.

Art Direction

It’s clear that BioWare wasn’t going for true-to-life realism in their art direction, though the actual art style is difficult to describe. Dragon Age: The Veilguard appears to blend realism with fantasy aesthetics. While the soaring vistas and landscapes are a sight to behold, there’s a strong focus on character.

Characters are richly detailed, with detailed textures on armour, clothing and weapons. Each character also has distinctive facial expressions, conveying personality.

*Lighting and reflections are on point.*

The game’s attention to detail remains impressive, though some details stand out more than others. I had a laugh when I realised that while you can read the spines of books on shelves, every third one repeated. Still, unless you’re zooming in like I am, the level of detail is commendable.

Performance-wise, the game excels. I didn’t notice a single frame drop in Fidelity mode, and Performance mode holds a smooth 60fps. Across my 60-hour playthrough, bugs and glitches were virtually nonexistent. This is pretty much unheard of these days and BioWare needs a round of applause.

*Want to take a trip to Rivain in the summer?*

The Veilguard includes a photo mode, which lets you capture some impressive scenes. However, I found the depth-of-field options limited. It’s easy to bring the main subject into focus, but removing the background focus proved tricky. That said, plenty of the images in this review have been taken in photo mode.

Should you buy Dragon Age: The Veilguard?

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is an adventure that knows how to keep you engaged. From the intricate storytelling and morally complex choices to the vibrant companions and rich world-building, it’s clear that BioWare poured a lot of love and detail into this game.

It’s not just the sweeping battles or breathtaking landscapes that make it special; it’s the thoughtful touches in every interaction, from companion romances to unique skills and evolving relationships.

After many days spent exploring the world of Thedas, making tough decisions, and forming bonds that mattered, I can honestly say Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a game I won’t soon forget.

Whether you’re a longtime fan of the series or stepping into the world of Dragon Age for the first time, this journey is one well worth taking.

Quest Daily scores Dragon Age: The Veilguard:

9.5/10

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC via Steam, EA App and Epic Game Store on November 1st.

A review copy of Dragon Age The Veilguard was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.

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