The Veilguard’s Combat is the Pinnacle of its Franchise Evolution
The recent release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard sees the Dragon Age series hit a milestone, the franchise’s latest and fourth entry arriving 15 years after its debut with Dragon Age: Origins and a full decade since the launch of 2014’s Game of the Year, Dragon Age: Inquisition. Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s tumultuous development cycle meant the game went through several changes before finally arriving in the form players are experiencing now, and those changes seem to be a net positive given the game’s critical and fan reception. A large part of what seems to be making The Veilguard resonate with players is the game’s combat, which feels like a natural evolution given the series’ past.
After introducing players to the world of Thedas in Dragon Age: Origins with a CRPG-style “real-time with pause” system from the studio’s past games (notably, Baldur’s Gate and Knights of the Old Republic), BioWare would surprise audiences by switching to a full real-time action combat system in Dragon Age 2. The switch was so polarizing that Inquisition opted for a blend between Origins‘ tactical depth and Dragon Age 2‘s action combat, but The Veilguard further refines that approach to deliver what’s arguably the best combat in the franchise.
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Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s ‘CRPG meets ARPG’ Combat is a Series Highlight
Part of what makes Veilguard‘s combat so addictive is how it blends elements from across the series’ past, incorporating the party management and commands of Origins and Inquisition along with the real-time tactile action of Dragon Age 2. Ultimately, it’s a system that strikes a more direct balance between CRPG and ARPG combat, sacrificing some tactical depth in favor of making each encounter fast, frenetic, and fun. It’s still possible to pause the game by pressing one of the shoulder buttons to bring up a radial menu from which players can issue commands to party members, and the new Detonator mechanic adds a nice layer of strategy to what otherwise would’ve been a fairly straightforward action combat system.
After applying certain status effects to enemies through the use of specific skills, the radial menu indicates which party members have applicable Detonator abilities that can trigger a stagger state on enemies. Taking the time to engage with this system on Veilguard‘s easier difficulties gives players a distinct advantage on the battlefield, but it becomes necessary for survival on the higher difficulties. Especially when staggering enemies and triggering takedowns is one of the more dependable ways to deal with tougher foes, Veilguard rewards players who engage with its combat mechanics in ways that make its difficulty curve and power creep feel perfectly balanced.
The New Additions to Classes and Build Variety in Dragon Age: The Veilguard Underscore its Combat
The strength of Veilguard‘s combat mechanics is only highlighted by the title’s new approach to classes and specializations, with players now having more freedom of expression than in any previous series entry. Players still need to choose from one of the franchise’s standard Warrior, Rogue, or Mage classes at the game’s outset, but the different branching paths players can take those classes down each offer something new in combat. Both ranged and melee combat feel improved in Veilguard over previous entries, and carefully choosing party compositions that play to a character’s strengths and weaknesses pays off in surprising ways with how fast and tactile each encounter feels.
There’s a case to be made that many BioWare fans play the studio’s games primarily for their characters and storytelling, and the changes to the combat model in each Dragon Age game showcase that combat has continually had a shifting role in each series entry in terms of its importance to the experience. With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare has landed on a combat system that blends the best elements across each entry in the series. As a result, combat in Veilguard is less of a side activity and more of a main attraction.
- Franchise
- Dragon Age
- Released
- October 31, 2024
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Frostbite
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- OpenCritic Rating
- Strong
- PC Release Date
- October 31, 2024
- PS5 Release Date
- October 31, 2024
- Xbox Series X|S Release Date
- October 31, 2024