When I startedDragon Age : The Veilguard , I was trusted I ’d only play it for a few hours before move on . I endeavor to playact as many major sacking as I can during a year , but the enormity of that project often means that I need to foot my engagement . The early moments ofDragon Agepainted a picture of a boilerplate modern action RPG with hokey committal to writing , generic action , and a lore - driven narration that would be lose on a freshman like me . I just was n’t in the mood for another recollective fantasy account that had nothing real to say to me .
Two calendar week later on , I did n’t want it to end .
Though it may go down as one of 2024 ’s most factious game , Dragon Age : The Veilguardwon my warmness in way I never could have portend . What began as a 2-dimensional tale about taking down Elven gods quickly warped into a intimate , human story about troubled companions who so desperately need to get their life in fiat before incite on to much grander battles . Though it may not be the “ biz of the year ” in a traditional common sense , no game better encapsulated the struggles of seek to stay alive and keep fight down on in 2024 .
Doing a 180
In retrospect , my initial problems withThe Veilguardstemmed from some wretched arithmetic mean - setting . I had never played a Dragon Age game before and barely see any game in action . All I had pick up about it was through Son of sassing , which can be unreliable . From what I could gather , Dragon Age was a saturnine and serious high - fantasy serial fill with deep RPG organization . I did n’t expect something as mechanically dense asBaldur ’s Gate 3 , but I ’d gather that it was no cursory walk in the park either .
So I meet throughThe Veilguard ’s prefatorial hours with a at a loss look on my face . Rather than being dropped into a serious domain , there was a lightness to it all . Characters were quippy , the visuals were smoother than I ’d await , and the combat felt fairly canonical . I felt like I ’d been dropped into a video plot equivalent of a PG-13 superhero movie . Any rough edge had been sandpaper down and every plot detail I needed to sleep together was spoon - fed to me several time . Was this the musical genre - delimit series everyone had been praise all these years ?
I decided that I ’d encounter a little longer , drop it all told once I catch world-weary . I forecast that would happen tight . The Veilguardputs its worst metrical foot onwards thanks to its flat mission blueprint . Each seeking I harness felt the same , and none of my early plot dialogue choices really sense like they were induce much of a dispute . Even when I attempt to encounter my fibre , Rook , as a mean drill serjeant-at-law , all my companions seemed to love me no matter what .
And yet , I kept toy . The moretips and tricksI picked up , the more I came to enjoy its combat and how fellow traveler abilities played into it . I started paying more aim to Rook ’s enormous skill tree and creating a hyper - focused build around arrows and the poison - like Necrosis status effect . The lack of friction in its design go to become part of its appeal . It was smooth and easy to plunk up for an hour or two each night . Six hour became 25 . Before I knew it , I ’d done a full 180 .
perchance , just maybe , I was in reality loving this game .
Tabletop troubles
I did n’t to the full get whatThe Veilguardwas going for until I began one of myfavorite companion ’s questline . Taash is a Qunari dragon hunter who have a decently bloody introduction . From that scene , you ’d think you were about to meet your average fantasy meathead who is only there to slay monster . That ’s not the example ; in fact Taash gets the RPG ’s most human , nuanced story . Rook soon check that they ’re clamber to come to terms with their identity as a non - binary person , a fact that they ’re not indisputable how to broach with their disapproving female parent . It ’s a heavy - handed questline that arguably findsThe Veilguard ’s written material at its most obvious , but it ’s also where everything clicked .
Up to that point , I assumed I was part of a grand fantasy adventure . That was n’t exactly right . More accurately , I was part of a group of tabletop friends playact that escapade .
When the globe need you or the people you deal about dead , the most basal thing you’re able to do is survive .
If you ’ve ever played something likeDungeons & Dragonswith friends , you know that there ’s a boastful dispute between those two things . With the right radical of crony , the latter is a playful experience that ’s more about using an invented world as a resort area . The table is a sacred place where thespian are free to bring in any real - sprightliness baggage and form through it in fable . I ’ve played campaigns with friends who used weekly campaign to vent their frustrations with the real reality , be the convinced person they wished they were , and even work through their sex individuality . Taash ’s fib front familiar to me not as a phantasy trope but as the kind of story spark I ’ve seen encounter out over weeks of toy adventurer with friends .
The more I viewedThe Veilguardthrough that electron lens , the more lovely it became . My nightly sit - downs with it started to feel like D&D session with friend . I was eager to check in with mycompanionseach time and learn a little more about their life , as if I were peeling back the fiction to see what was really bothering them . It was my job to aid them on their own quest for ego breakthrough the in effect I could . When Harding tries to come to terminal figure with her surprising fresh rock - moving powers , we ’re not really talking about legerdemain , are we ?
ThoughThe Veilguardmay tell an larger-than-life story about gods run amok , these grounded floor are its real direction . There ’s a primal import where developer BioWare makes its thesis clear . After a central fight goes improper , the party agree that they need to get their life story sorted out so they can focus on stopping the gods . The mainline story grinds to a stop at that distributor point as Rook ’s pursuit log fill up with fellow quests . Each one find its characters fight through self - doubt , struggling to find out their purpose , or fare to terms with their identity . The more of these quests that instrumentalist see to their end , the smooth the existent end battle will go .
There ’s something honest in that . I posture here now only one month after an election in the United States , one that did n’t result in the upshot I had skip for . When I saw the results , I lie with I ’d need to drop a portion of energy over the next four years to fight back regressive policy and rhetoric that would make life story hard for the people I loved . But in the moment , it felt like an unsurmountable project . I was put on out , fighting off economic crisis . It may have been triggered by the election , but that was n’t the root cause . There are just times where I too easily give in to hopelessness , turning into an aimless hole that wants nothing more than to lie down and die . I lack self - confidence , and that morph into a feeling that I just will never have the power to shift anything in my life .
It ’s in those moments , where the wager sense the high , when I need to take a step back . I ’m no use in a fight if I ca n’t put my full energy into it . Personal growth is not a selfish act ; it ’s a key part of those big battles . When the reality want you or the people you care about bushed , the most basal matter you’re able to do is survive .
can doubtlessly be heavy - handed in its piece of writing , but there ’s seriousness in its clumsiness . I can see my existent friends using fancy as an outlet in it , finding catharsis in a fictional world where they have controller . Sometimes those sessions can be a fiddling awkward , filled with improvised monologues loaded with offended subtext . In those moments , it ’s my chore to listen and drift a helpful skill curb when needed .
Strip backThe Veilguard ’s fantasy wallpaper and you ’ll find one of the year ’s most human news report : a tale about friends supporting one another in their time of need so they can all stand up together when it matters most .
