Embargo has lifted and early verdicts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard are starting to roll in from all over the internet. One of those early verdicts comes from Baldur's Gate 3 publishing director Michael 'Cromwelp' Douse, who reckons that BioWare's latest is well worth the time of RPG fans.
"I’ve been playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard in complete secrecy (behind my backpack at the office in front of a giant window, in the kitchen)," Douse says on Twitter. "From me, you may be wondering 'is this a game compatible with my experience during BG3' so I’ll tackle it from that perspective. The answer is yes. It is to a heavy, 9 season long show what a well-made, character driven, binge-worthy Netflix series is."
Douse describes The Veilguard as a "giga-brain genius" combination of Xenoblade Chronicles and Hogwarts Legacy, and notes that it "feels like the first Dragon Age game that truly knows what it wants to be." For people who "want some character driven romping with a strong combat system in a universe you know, love, or have heard of, it is much better than the average action game, and much less heavy than the gargantuan RPGs that may intimidate at times. In a word, it’s fun!"
The original Dragon Age launched as BioWare's own successor to Baldur's Gate, and hearing The Veilguard so thoroughly praised by one of the people who helped bring BG3 to life feels like a full circle moment. "To me, I’m extremely happy BioWare gets to stick around - presumably - in these uncertain (because of moronic corporate greed) times," Douse concludes. "An existential game, and a fun one at that."
You can check out our full Dragon Age: The Veilguard review if you want a more extensive verdict on the game, and why it's "catnip for lore nerds." The overall Dragon Age: The Veilguard Metacritic rating is looking mighty positive, though it's stacking up slightly short of Origins and Inquisition right now. Still, it's looking like quite a return to form for BioWare after the tepid response to its last few releases.
