7 Ways Dragon Age: The Veilguard Blends The Best Of The Previous Three Games

Summary

Veilguard ties up longstanding plots, giving answers to invested players, connecting major events in the franchise.
Veilguard showcases beautifully designed locations like Tevinter, Antiva, and Arlathan with intricate details and familiar nods.
The soundtrack subtly references past games, blending old and new sounds, creating a thematic link to the wider Dragon Age story.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the fourth game in a sprawling setting that changes quite a lot with each new game, and no two crossings into Thedas swim in the same waters of this dark fantasy. It was never going to live up to everyone’s expectations, but for those who stuck with it to find out, The Veilguard is all about giving answers to those who were invested in some of the deepest and darkest plots in the franchise since the beginning. The history of the Blight and the Veil, the fall of the elves and the Titans, and the corruption that keeps haunting Thedas in violent and cunning ways all have threads linking them together, and as Rook, it’s up to players to bring the big picture into focus.

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The Veilguard is a cap on some of Dragon Age’s biggest, most long-standing plots, providing the final puzzle pieces that tie together the events of the previous games in one context, beginning with an ancient rebellion and ending with Rook meeting Solas. As for those who loved the feel and atmosphere of the previous games, Veilguard plays a lot with nostalgia and continuity in unexpected ways.

1

Meticulously Gorgeous Visions Of Thedas

Veilguard Inherited Inquisition’s Taste For Visual Grandeur

If there’s one undeniable benefit to a modern game, it’s the lengths to which graphics can be pushed to bring the world’s setting to life, and Veilguard does not disappoint in this department. Veilguard showcases countries fans have been whetting an appetite for since Origins, including places like Tevinter, Antiva, and Arlathan, with all the majesty their storied descriptions conjured and more. The design of each locale is distinctive and full of detail, and at times familiar designs hint at characteristics of the previous games.

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The plausibility of seeing such a variety of places all at once without having any traditional aid, means of travel, resources, or time is all neatly woven into the plot without sacrificing the scope of how much of Thedas Veilguard wants to unveil. Inquisition’s breathtaking vistas and huge explorable maps were appropriate for a protagonist backed by an army that could make its presence known anywhere with effort and planning, but Rook only has a small team. As it happens, Inquisition also introduced the most efficient and stealthy way of being everywhere at once, and Veilguard fully exploited the theme by finding the backdoor to the Crossroads.

2

That Unmistakable Sound

The Soundtrack Subtly Calls Back To All Three Previous Games

Stained glass depictions of the Evanuris in Veilguard reminiscent to Inquisition

Soundtracks are essential for both atmosphere and emotional context, and Dragon Age set the bar high with its heavy reliance on this tool. Veliguard’s soundtrack is one of its triumphs, and not simply for Maryden the Bard’s eminently singable hits from Inquisition being strummed in the streets of Treviso or the Kirkwall-esque melodies heard in the noir gloom of Minrathous dives. The ambient music evokes impressive settings, dramatic emotions, and defining moments from the previous games throughout the story, weaving it together with a distinctive new sound befitting the new settings and plot.

Veilguard’s approach of mixing the old with the new has a thematic value beyond nostalgia for longtime fans because familiar notes and atmosphere seamlessly connect the game’s story to past relevant contexts in the wider Dragon Age story. This ranges from more obvious choices like classic Darkspawn and Blight themes through Kirkwall’s vibe to the subtle callbacks to Inquisition’s most haunting moments and plot twists.

3

Rook Is A Mix Of Previous Heroes

In Dialogue, Background, & Leadership Style

Like Hawke, Rook’s main function is to be the glue that holds an amazing team together, and Veilguard doubles down on the Dragon Age 2 leadership model. It also takes a cue from Hawke’s personality-based dialogue choices offering more range in tone rather than content.

Collage of Varric, a wheel of cheese, and a note on a chest from Dragon Age: Veilguard

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As for the unique flare that Rook’s chosen background brings to the role, Veilguard’s factions most resemble how the Hero of Ferelden’s origin shaped their story, and there’s a lot more that Rook and the Inquisitor have in common beyond knowing Solas.

4

The Codex Entries Are Part Of The Story

The Veilguard Library Has An Origins Feel

Seasoned lore-sleuths might take a leaf out of Neve’s investigative approach and dive into their Libraries to find the goods on modern Thedas. Far from dry descriptions of compounded lore to catch players up on three previous games, Veilguard’s Codex Entries and Missives are full of notes, letters, and commentary by Rook’s team. Every entry has the distinct tone of the companion who wrote it, making the Library an excellent place to get to know them and their respective cultures a little better.

Having an involved journal with excessive notes was a charmingly bookish feature that Origins had in spades, and this became a signature Dragon Age storytelling tool through which so-inclined players could become acquainted with a whole other side of Thedas. Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition followed this tradition with extensive codex entries built up while exploring. However, Origins, as lore-heavy as it was, had a character-driven way about it that yielded countless intriguing and often quite amusing anecdotes that were unfolding stories unto themselves, and this is the model Veilguard emulates the most.

5

A Haunting & Lore-Laden Atmosphere

The Plot Is Rooted In The Drama Of Inquisition & Origins’ Secrets

A set of chairs and Nevarran decor in Blackthorne Manor

The titular Dragon Age is all about emptying every last archdemon skeleton from ancient Elvhen closets because, from Origins to Inquisition, there have been not a few world-shattering secrets weaving in and out of the story. Players familiar with the Grey Warden lore will recognize names, events, and squawking creatures in Veilguard, as well as long-unsolved foreshadowings of deeper truths in Thedasian history presented as early as Origins. Still, this story is about more than finally returning to the Grey Wardens.

A grid showing the characters Varric, Solas, and Rook in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

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After Origins, Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition at first glance seemed to deviate more and more from these first quintessentially Dragon Age mysteries by focusing on an even more ancient drama surrounding the Evanuris, and to a lesser extent the mysterious extinction of the Titans. Veilguard is the story where all the clues are revealed as pieces of a story that fit together into a much larger picture. The ancient evil Grey Wardens protect against in Origins, the secrets of ancient Tevinter unearthed in Dragon Age 2, and the aftershocks of the Dread Wolf’s ancient rebellion explored in Inquisition all meet in Veilguard.

6

Picturesque Blighted Villages & Venatori Blood Sacrifices

The Dark Fantasy Themes Of Origins Make A Comeback

Some of the best moments in Dragon Age are the franchise at its darkest, presenting the rotten underbelly of Thedasian history. From discovering broodmothers and sentient darkspawn to blood magic and mass sacrifices, this franchise has always made it clear that Thedas was no land of sunshine and lollipops. As such, Veilguard is at its best when it exposes the depravity and darkness that corrupts both the hearts and actions of the game’s villains, who all have a clear lineage in the franchise’s established lore.

Fans who have read the books and played all three previous games will recognize stories and choices in Rook’s enemies, making their arc poignant in some cases, like the Gloom Howler, and intriguing in others, as with the Butcher. Some may lament the lack of villainous options for Rook compared to the behavioral spectrum Origins and Dragon Age 2 were better known for, and yet, the darkness of Thedas and the corruption in Thedasian hearts did not become less potent, they merely gained deeper context.

7

The Blight, Andraste, Magic, & The Game

The Problems Of An Average Thedasian

Crow Rook side-eyes Governor Ivenci in Treviso as he's arguing with the Crows

All the seeds of what made each previous game in the franchise bloom are presented as an entertaining bouquet of classic Dragon Age experiences in Veilguard. Those who began their journey as Grey Wardens in Origins can join the Order again. Players who loved the rags-to-riches city life of Kirkwall will have treasure to plunder. Anyone fascinated since Origins about Tevinter and early humans, Dorian-lovers, and blood magic aficionados alike will finally walk the streets of Minrathous and see where the dark magic happens.

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The politics in Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition might have the least emphasis in Veilguard compared to its predecessors, although Treviso and Minrathous have their moments of intrigue. Meanwhile, more mysterious subjects like magic, undeath, the Fade, and what happened in ancient conflicts, have plenty of continuation. Ancient events reverberate through time and still matter in the present, and unlike its predecessors, the Veilguard leaves no Dragon Age secret unaddressed, even if not every question is answered yet.