8/10 - Finished twice on two platforms.

I've first bought The Veilguard on Xbox when it released and finished my first playthrough as an elven rogue in about 90 hours. I enjoyed the game a great deal even though it's not flawless, and bought it again on Steam and finished it again in 60 hours as a human mage.


- Art direction. While everyone seemed overly focused on character stylisation, I haven't seen many discussing environments. They are gorgeous and each map and place has it's own unique style and flavour. There's also a decent amount of darkness. I do recommend going to setting and turn-off the Bloom option but even with it, there is no shortage of grim and brutal imagery if you care to look further than your target mark.

- Combat. Fast, fluid, very enjoyable with tons of ways to experiment with various builds. I liked more tactical approach of Rogue while playing as a Mage was a blast of possibilities. Also very good job at creating a "close-range mage" with orb&dagger build; really cool and fun to play!

- Linear > Open World. I love Inquisition, I've finished it about 4 times but the open world was an empty and tedious slob and war table very poorly disguised way to prolong the game needlessly. Veilguard has much better pacing and at no point during the two walkthroughs I felt like the game is overstaying its welcome.

- Companions. Compared to Inquisition, they are more agreeable and let's say milder. However, I can also say that I cared for each of them, I liked their personal quests and the development they went through. Inquisition had companions that sometimes were bolder or had more distinctive personality, though for some of them I never really cared at all or I downright disliked them.

- Inclusivity. Dragon Age was always inclusive and it's nice to see how they updated this throughout the years. Every time a Dragon Age game releases, someone complains it's woke. Yeah. Always has been. After 4 games, one would think people could finally take the hint and get on with the program.

- Story. While tone-wise it's a bit all over the place sometimes, there's a number of moments that span from great to epic in scale, story-telling and execution. The way Veilguard builds on and expands the overall Dragon Age lore is a treat and some of the big revelations almost jaw dropping. And the story finale? Chef's kiss.

- Romance. Honestly, this was a bit of a letdown. Especially after 2 walkthroughs, seeing how many quests and dialogues are romance-specific (almost none) and how many are simply shared with minor adjustment, it feels like the romances were put together at the last minute. There was a lot of potential but unfortunately, the game didn't really deliver.

- Decisions and specific dialogue options. This is not BG3. Nor does it try to be. The Veilguard is linear and offers limited branching that will, however, lead to the similar end result. Still, the decisions and branching feels impactfull and important where it needs to be. It also offers a decent replayability.

- You cannot be evil. And it's the right choice for this game. Once again, this is not BG3 (which is a fantastic but ultimately a different game with different direction and approach). Rook is not a bystander who was pulled into the story by accident. Varric approached Rook because they're a good person who wanted to help. It makes no sense whatsoever to have blatantly evil choices.

- No microtransactions, live service and other bull. You get a game that's finished, well-polished and is a complete experience. I had to almost look twice if it's still published by EA.

All in all, a really good, enjoyable game that might not be a masterpiece but is well-worth the money. And after 10 years of development hell? That is almost a miracle.

8/10 - Finished twice on two platforms. I've first bought The Veilguard on Xbox when it released and finished my first playthrough as an elven rogue in about 90 hours. I enjoyed the game a great deal even though it's not flawless, and bought it again on Steam and finished it again in 60 hours as a human mage. - Art direction. While everyone seemed overly focused on character stylisation, I haven't seen many discussing environments. They are gorgeous and each map and place has it's own unique style and flavour. There's also a decent amount of darkness. I do recommend going to setting and turn-off the Bloom option but even with it, there is no shortage of grim and brutal imagery if you care to look further than your target mark. - Combat. Fast, fluid, very enjoyable with tons of ways to experiment with various builds. I liked more tactical approach of Rogue while playing as a Mage was a blast of possibilities. Also very good job at creating a "close-range mage" with orb&dagger build; really cool and fun to play! - Linear > Open World. I love Inquisition, I've finished it about 4 times but the open world was an empty and tedious slob and war table very poorly disguised way to prolong the game needlessly. Veilguard has much better pacing and at no point during the two walkthroughs I felt like the game is overstaying its welcome. - Companions. Compared to Inquisition, they are more agreeable and let's say milder. However, I can also say that I cared for each of them, I liked their personal quests and the development they went through. Inquisition had companions that sometimes were bolder or had more distinctive personality, though for some of them I never really cared at all or I downright disliked them. - Inclusivity. Dragon Age was always inclusive and it's nice to see how they updated this throughout the years. Every time a Dragon Age game releases, someone complains it's woke. Yeah. Always has been. After 4 games, one would think people could finally take the hint and get on with the program. - Story. While tone-wise it's a bit all over the place sometimes, there's a number of moments that span from great to epic in scale, story-telling and execution. The way Veilguard builds on and expands the overall Dragon Age lore is a treat and some of the big revelations almost jaw dropping. And the story finale? Chef's kiss. - Romance. Honestly, this was a bit of a letdown. Especially after 2 walkthroughs, seeing how many quests and dialogues are romance-specific (almost none) and how many are simply shared with minor adjustment, it feels like the romances were put together at the last minute. There was a lot of potential but unfortunately, the game didn't really deliver. - Decisions and specific dialogue options. This is not BG3. Nor does it try to be. The Veilguard is linear and offers limited branching that will, however, lead to the similar end result. Still, the decisions and branching feels impactfull and important where it needs to be. It also offers a decent replayability. - You cannot be evil. And it's the right choice for this game. Once again, this is not BG3 (which is a fantastic but ultimately a different game with different direction and approach). Rook is not a bystander who was pulled into the story by accident. Varric approached Rook because they're a good person who wanted to help. It makes no sense whatsoever to have blatantly evil choices. - No microtransactions, live service and other bull. You get a game that's finished, well-polished and is a complete experience. I had to almost look twice if it's still published by EA. All in all, a really good, enjoyable game that might not be a masterpiece but is well-worth the money. And after 10 years of development hell? That is almost a miracle.