Going into 2024, Dragon Age: The Veilguard was probably one of the most anticipated games of the year. This is a long-standing franchise with a lot of loyal fans who have been hungry for a new game since 2014’s Inquisition. It’s probably safe to say that for those fans, the wait has been a rather anxious one as Bioware has been sailing some tempestuous seas in the meantime.
Call it a Black Friday miracle, or EA feeling the burn of one of its biggest releases of the year receiving no nominations at The Game Awards, but the PS5 version has just taken its first price cut at Amazon. This brings it down to $54 (was $69.99) just under a month after its official release.
I’m not sure I’ve seen reviews for a big AAA game in 2024 be so divisive as the ones for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Most critics, including our own Rollin Bishop, really enjoyed their journey back into Thedas, but other critics, most notably SkillUp, were quick to highlight its shortcomings. A few hesitant review points were bolstered by user reviews on Metacritic which are currently at 63% Negative at the time of writing.
Should you buy Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
As someone who has never played a Dragon Age game, I’m going to crack my knuckles, shake off some of the late-shift rust from covering Black Friday gaming deals, and attempt to call this as cleanly down the middle as possible. Honestly? I think that might be a good thing because, with long-running, beloved gaming franchises like this, it can be very hard for long-term fans to separate themselves from the nostalgia of games gone by, and that’s where a lot of the most heated opinions arise from.
In preparation for this, I’ve read as many reviews as possible, and I’ve got a lay of the land for who might enjoy their time with The Veilguard, and who probably won’t. If you’re a fan of Dragon Age, Mass Effect, or Bioware‘s games more generally, you will probably enjoy this game, which we awarded a 4.5 out of 5 in our Dragon Age: The Veilguard review. There’s so much deep lore in this world that fans of previous games will love to dive back into, so if you’re a long-term fan who couldn’t afford a full-price game last month, you’ve been blessed.
At the same time, if you’ve been wanting an open-world, fantasy RPG to enjoy lately, but the idea of a game with hundreds of hours of quests and a never-ending map fatigues you, Veilguard might be perfect for you thanks to its approachable writing and fairly easy-to-pick-up gameplay. The main story takes the majority of players around 24 hours of gameplay to complete, and a completionist run will last around 60-70 hours.
The same is true of the other side though – even if there’s a lot of depth to player creation and the lore, a lot of complaints about the game have been focused on how the gameplay and writing can feel a bit shallow.
Hopefully, this all gives you a better idea of whether the latest Dragon Age game is for you or not. For more PS5 game deals, check out the window below.
There are plenty of bargains to be had right now, from Black Friday Meta Quest deals, to Black Friday gaming PC deals, to Black Friday gaming chair deals.