Ten years later, we’re just over a month away from playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard. I played a solid seven hours of BioWare’s first original game since 2019’s Anthem and the fourth mainline entry in the Dragon Age series, starting with the prologue and then loading up a few different saves. As a long-time fan, I’ll say that ten years is a long time, but so far The Veilguard has not disappointed.
Getting into character
Now I could tell you about the combat (and I will) or the gorgeous locations (that’s coming too) or how it felt to see Varric and Solas again. Or I could go straight to the character creator and start with: There. Yes. A lot. of hair. Look, I loved Dragon Age: Inquisition, but fans have long acknowledged that the character creator has its limitations. Veilguard blew me away in that regard. After the lackluster options in the last game, it’s a wonder what we can expect. Thirty hairstyle options for Qunari and 88 for non-Qunari, complete with stunning physics as Rook hurtles through Northern Thedas. There are so many different hair textures, whether you prefer completely straight hair, 2B waves, or 4C curls. When creating my character, I was immediately drawn to the long braid that spun as rapid as I could.
The Qunari horns have also been significantly improved. With 49 unique styles, the options range from vast and imposing to decorative and even asymmetrical. That said, yes, their foreheads can look pretty jarring. I played as a Qunari mage for most of my preview, and I will say that I got used to the look pretty quickly. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is actually only the second game in the series where you can play as a Qunari, so the odd imbalance of forehead to face seems like a stylistic growing pain. I’m still curious to see if more time with the character creator will aid. The Arishok from Dragon Age 2 is such a beautifully crafted model, in my opinion, and I’d love to be able to create a Qunari tower that’s just as memorable.
Of course, customization doesn’t stop with hair (or horns). Every aspect of Rook is editable, even if you want facial asymmetry. Sliders let you change everything from head shape to skin melanin and the presence of albinism. Perhaps my favorite addition, though, is the introduction of body variety. Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3 had some of that, but nowhere near what you’re capable of in The Veilguard, which is much more like the breadth of the character creator in Dragon’s Dogma 2. There are a variety of presets to choose from for each of the four races, all with different heights and muscle/fat distributions. Once you’ve chosen your preset, though, you can continue to build on these elements as much as you want.
First, it’s coordinate triangulation that allows for a variety of unique combinations of body types that are leaner, larger, or more muscular. The height sliders are fun—especially when it means watching my exceptionally low elf destroy years of planning for Solas’s ritual by knocking over a statue. The options seem almost limitless. There’s even a butt slider, and yes, I gave my Rook a hell of a butt. All of this is just scratching the surface. I didn’t even get into facial hair, makeup, scars, or tattoos. As an elf, my Rook wore a bit of vallaslin, but there are so many different designs for both the face and body that you can experiment with.
While I haven’t spent much time exploring the Inquisitor customization options, I know we’ll all have the chance to create them the way we’ve always imagined. Also, it may come as a relief to some of you to know that Veilguard is ditching the awful green lighting in the Inquisition character creator and instead letting you toggle between several lighting options to create Rooks that look just as good in-game as they did when you first created them.
A chance to fight
Combat, meanwhile, was a refreshing change from DA:I. My favorite class has always been the mage, and even as a Knight-Enchanter I often felt like I was standing still holding the left trigger. It felt like a return to the pace of DA2, with innovations that improve the overall combat experience. Veilguard introduces a modern combat style for mages, equipped with a ball and dagger geared towards close combat. It’s made for players like me who love magic but also really like to stab.
During my preview, I played the prologue and then skipped to various points in Act 1, so I really quickly got to experience the progression that Rook and his companions can go through as warriors. We may not be able to take control of our companions this time around, but Veilguard really encourages you to strategize with them. They’ll call you when they’ve regained their mana or stamina, and the skill wheel even suggests combos. The focus of the event was on the mission, so I didn’t have as many opportunities to interact with the characters as I would have liked, but even the brief moments of banter got me attached to them pretty quickly.
Each class has its own ultimate ability (think Focus) along with a ranged attack – for warriors, that means throwing your shield like a giant metal boomerang. I’ve always played Dragon Age for the story, not the combat, but this modern system really helped me have a great time. I felt present in every encounter and truly fulfilled after every boss fight. That said, there’s definitely a bit of a learning curve. I still found myself getting the controls mixed up after a few hours. It’s a departure from all three previous games, but thankfully The Veilguard offers five different difficulty levels, which you can change at will if you’re willing to get used to them.
Dragon Age-Free’s decade is coming to an end soon
As a long-time fan, The Veilguard was a homecoming of sorts for me. As well as the familiar faces of Solas and Varric, I was overjoyed to be back in the world of Thedas itself. Taking us north allows for the sense of exploration I had in Inquisition, and if there’s one thing I could encourage, it’s to really look at the environment. Not only are there diminutive environmental puzzles to solve, as well as diminutive and effective moments of visual storytelling, but the horizon is full of breathtaking landscapes that underscore the scale of these locations that I’ve always wondered about personally. One of the modern locations, for example, is a magnificent underwater prison called the Ossuary. I won’t spoil what you do there, but the design alone makes it one of the most memorable moments I’ve had in any Dragon Age game.
Even after hours of gameplay, I still felt like I could have played for hours more. I’m bullish about The Veilguard and excited in a way I haven’t been excited about any other game in a long time. If you want to see even more of the game, check out our exclusive IGN First coverage, which includes even more gameplay and in-depth analysis of Rook’s companions.
