Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the first true fantasy, third-person RPG that I have played up until the end credits* — although it wasn’t quite the ending I was hoping for. I’ve always enjoyed fantasy in film, TV series, and books but when it came to big fantasy RPG video games I didn’t think I had the time or concentration to get through one.

*SideQuest:
Last year, I finished Final Fantasy XVI, which takes place in the fantasy setting, but I’m specifically talking about D&D-inspired fantasy RPGs where you create a custom character and all.

These larger RPGs can take 30+ hours to complete — much more when considering side quests, which is always encouraged. I spent a total of 38 hours playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard and there’s still so much left to complete.

In the beginning I threw myself deep into this world. I was lost in the characters — my Rogue Dwarf, Ohmńà Mercar (aka “Rook”) and his crew of allies. The story really grabbed me as well. This game was the perfect starting point before I venture deeper into this genre with games like Baldur’s Gate 3, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, maybe an Elder Scrolls game.

Time Savers

One reason I stuck with this game was the great user experience. From gameplay to game menus, it is all very inviting and never overwhelming. Quests are laid out and categorized by main and side stories. Once you track a quest, you aren’t just shown an end point, but instead an almost MapQuest-like, step-by-step, area-by-area guide to your next destination.

So many games out there only give you your destination — east or west. They just give you an end point and you have to figure it out. Sometimes you have to head in the opposite direction before getting back on track. You find yourself consulting your map every step of the way. Dragon Age: The Veilguard helps the player save time by getting you out of each small area in the right direction. It seems like a small thing, but this truly is a big deal. If not for this guidance, I could have racked up 50+ hours making the same progress.

Another time saver is how items are acquired. Any time you open a chest or pick up an item, it pops up on-screen — without obstructing your view. Here you can choose to equip the new item or let it go into your inventory, while still handling business. This is so much better than having to open the menu and search for whatever you just picked up, every time.

I’d rate the time saving (or accessibility features) in Dragon Age: The Veilguard at an A++. They deserve any accessibility awards or nominations they received because the base features are already helping out the player from the start. There are also plenty of accessibility settings to be toggled with, but I didn’t get into those.

A Fitting End

I stated before that I didn’t receive the ending I had hoped for, but I will say it was the ending I deserved. After 30+ hours I was ready for this story to end. I have a long backlog of games to play, and I didn’t want to spend much more time with this one — at least not at this point in time.

A week ago or so, the final quest became available with the notice “IF YOU BEGIN THIS QUEST NOW, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RETURN TO ANY SIDE QUESTS.” I decided to complete a few more companion-specific tasks to level up some of my friends. My dwarf (“Rook”) was currently a level 40 and kicking ass, while my companions were averaging a level 10 — I have no idea what the ideal level for companions should be in this game for the FINAL QUEST!

Still, I was ready to get the Last Dance started. I walked over to the starting point and received a message like, “ARE YOU SURE YOU WISH TO BEGIN THE FINAL QUEST? YOU’RE PARTY IS NOT STRONG ENOUGH, MANY WILL PERISH.” I did a few more side quests to get my weakest allies to level 10, and decided to go for it. I received that same message, but thought I’ll be fine. I can lose a few of my friends.

The final quest in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is pretty epic. There’s big battles, beautiful cutscenes, stunning set pieces, but in the end they were right. My allies began dropping like flies. Every time we split up, my lone friends would perish. By the time I reached the final fight, I only had two allies to join me — I guess I’ll pick these two, because they are the most alive. Even my romantic partner had died. I thought I was keeping them safe by letting them lead a separate attack. RIP Harding.

The final boss fight versus Elgar’nan and Solas took place, and we defeated them. It wasn’t even that tough. I couldn’t believe we had done it after losing all of our friends. That’s when things took a turn. I was told that the three of us (including myself, “Rook”) had died in the final battle. We managed to save the world, but we lost our lives doing so — I still got to see the end credits, so I’m taking it as a win. I also got this message.

Post Mortem

After the end credits I returned to my last save just to see what would happen. It brought me back to right before that final quest. They were allowing me to level up my team and try again. Maybe get the nice finale, with less casualties.

I am not ready to go back and do it again, but I’m glad that I’m able to start again from that point. Maybe after a few more RPGs I’ll return to Dragon Age: The Veilguard, level up my friends, get that happy ending, and see how this game compares to other ones like it.

At the moment, I’m ready to move on. I had a great time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard from creating my “Rook” character, to playing through the story, to the combat. Still, this did feel like a good “starter RPG” or gateway to others.