Recent reviews by NovaBlue

Nightmare Difficulty

As a long-time fan of the Dragon Age series and Bioware, I'm excited to share my experience with Dragon Age: Veilguard. This installment is fresh, bringing us a compelling mix of emotion and adventure with a shift in tone, mechanics, and approach that took me by surprise.

Veilguard won me over with its emotional depth and outstanding combat, a big highlight reminiscent of Mass Effect 2. The structure centers on companions whose stories enrich the experience and even impact the final showdown. While the main story itself is fine—adequate, though not as profound as I hoped—the richness of the companion arcs makes up for it, adding layers that Bioware fans will appreciate. The focus on relationships and choices with your companions feels personal and fulfilling.

The combat system, a standout feature, borrows some of the best elements from Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda. It combines an array of skills and detonation mechanics with tactical possibilities, letting you customize your playstyle across the game’s three classes. I initially worried about the difficulty scaling—some games make the experience punishingly unfair. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case here. I finished on Nightmare difficulty and found it challenging but fair, even against bosses. The trickier parts mainly involved enemies resistant to my elemental choice, which I could handle by returning coming back at a later date. In all, it was balanced, rewarding, and consistently enjoyable.

One of Veilguard’s greatest strengths is its respectful portrayal of inclusivity. The game thoughtfully includes trans and non-binary characters, integrating them into the world in ways that feel authentic. This aspect reflects modern values without compromising the storyline, and it's refreshing to see this level of care.

Veilguard returns to more traditional level design—larger hubs instead of an endless open world. It's like a nod to Mass Effect 2/3, with its tighter, more purposeful areas, which keep the pacing engaging. Small quality-of-life features also stand out: map indicators for new conversations make exploration feel smooth, ensuring you don’t miss critical dialogue.

The art style has stirred some controversy with its more Disney-like aesthetic, which I didn’t mind. It was stylized but beautiful, with well-done animations and impressive character designs. Some of the boss enemies, sets, backdrops and hostile creatures looked stunning, and as a mage, the VFX team made a powerful and immersive impact. Big props to the Art teams <3

The story choices and morality system in Dragon Age: Veilguard don’t quite reach the complexity I was hoping for. I’m not suggesting a return to the classic Renegade/Paragon system from Mass Effect—that approach worked well in the past but doesn’t always fit with more nuanced modern narratives. In Veilguard, many choices felt safe, offering options that seemed “okay” without pushing players into morally challenging territory unlike the darker tones of DA: Origins. There were a few moments where I felt a deeper, personal choice—like deciding between self-interest and sacrificing for someone else—but these instances were rare. I found myself wanting more situations where I’d have to weigh personal beliefs or moral dilemmas that could leave me questioning my choices.

Where Veilguard does excel is in the impact of companion missions and specific side quests on the ending. The different outcomes genuinely reflect which companions you invest in and what missions you complete, which does give a sense of consequence by the game’s finale. I appreciate that completing character arcs can significantly alter how the story resolves, which has made me eager to start a second playthrough as a different race, gender, and class. This time, I’m curious to see how these variations affect the narrative and whether they introduce new perspectives or dilemmas I didn’t experience in my first run. It’s this potential for varied endings and outcomes that keeps me coming back, even if the moral weight of individual choices feels lighter than I’d hoped.

Puzzles are simple but effective, inspired by recent titles like God of War. Accessibility options offer flexible customization, ensuring players can tailor the experience to their needs, and I appreciated this inclusion. You can turn off certain aids, which allows for a more personalized experience.

Throughout my 60-70 hour playthrough, I encountered only a few minor bugs, like crashes and brief audio sync issues. Load times were nearly non-existent on a high-end PC, with smooth, high FPS performance, even with ray tracing enabled. The character creator is impressively detailed, allowing meaningful customization and enhancing immersion.

Veilguard offers plenty of loot variety, especially for mages, with gear and skill synergies that significantly influence playstyle. While the “plus one to plus ten” upgrade system felt arbitrary, legendary sets were satisfying to complete.

The voice acting is fantastic overall, Familiar voices make the world feel recognizable yet fresh, (I heard you Mat Mercer, Claudia Black) and the protagonist’s voice options offer a range of accents and inflections that were done well. Companions and supporting characters also benefit from excellent casting, with voices that suit their personalities and add layers to their story arcs.

I respect the decision to limit direct callbacks to previous games. Instead of relying heavily on Origins and Inquisition, Veilguard stands on its own, balancing nostalgia with accessibility for new players.

The protagonist is just a competent individual, not a "chosen one", which gives the story a fresh feel.

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In many ways, Veilguard feels like Mass Effect 2 in a Dragon Age skin, a positive evolution that focuses on character-driven stories over a vast, empty open world. If you’re expecting a darker tone, this might fall short, as it did slightly for me. It’s not as gritty as previous games, but it’s still rich, engaging, and incredibly well-crafted.

Veilguard is a fantastic addition to the Dragon Age series, delivering an 8.5/10 experience that’s worth every moment. I wholeheartedly recommend it to Dragon Age fans and newcomers alike—jump in, lose yourself in the world, and let me know what builds you try!