Roundup: The Reviews Are In For Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Here’s what the critics had to say

BioWare’s next big entry in the Dragon Age series is out this week and the critic reviews are now rolling in…

In case you missed it, we’ve already reviewed Dragon Age: The Veilguard here on Pure Xbox – awarding it an “excellent” nine out of ten stars. Here’s a bit about what our reviewer PJ O’Reilly thought about it:

“This is a top-class action-RPG that lives up to the Dragon-Age name whilst laying to rest the ghosts of Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem. With a roster of amazing companions to recruit, a mind-bending world full of exquisite regions to explore, and combat that raises the bar in every possible way for the franchise, this is the good stuff, thank you very much.”

So, what did other critics have to say? The aggregate score for Veilguard is currently in the 80s on Metacritic and Open Critic. Here’s a roundup so far:

CGM Magazine (10/10):

“Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the Game of the Year contender to beat. With a gorgeous, detailed art style, a combat system that works wonders, a story that can really pull your morals in all directions and companions that kick ass”

Games Radar (4.5/5)

“Despite some small caveats, playing through a new Dragon Age game after 10 long years has been both personally cathartic and surreal, and likely would have been even if I’d not genuinely largely enjoyed myself throughout. To absolutely butcher the Grey Warden motto in service to my point, if this was all a war for our collective time and money, Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels like a victory.”

PC Gamer (79/100)

“The Veilguard nails action combat and exploration and visual grandeur but in a series about defining a hero with morally ambiguous choices, the choices here are too easy to make. In time, The Veilguard will have its own hotly debated legacy within the series, but thank goodness it will at least have one.”

Game Reactor UK (8/10)

“Bioware is back, and while they’re not reinventing the wheel here, they’ve made exactly the game we wanted them to make. An exclusively single-player RPG that is narratively anchored, far more linear, with all the content tailored and organised by skilled designers and without all the “bloat”… What you have here is lean and mean, and it puts Bioware on an exciting trajectory where it’s finally possible to see light at the end of the very dark tunnel they’ve been in for a long, long while. It’s not a perfect RPG, but it’s… pretty damn good, to say the least.”

RPG Site (7/10)

“The seams and rough edges feel like the result of the development team at least in part rearranging and adapting existing work and ideas to suit the game’s vision, but lacking the resources or ability to make them shine as they should. But though it’s ultimately held back its shortcomings, the other highs of Dragon Age: The Veilguard – its characters, its storytelling, and its sense of personality – make the game easy to like despite the flaws. The issues may be harder to look past for some, but others will find joy in the things it does do well.”

Push Square (8/10)

“Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t quite BioWare back to its absolute best, but it is the most cohesive and emotionally engaging RPG that the studio has delivered since Mass Effect 3. Its shift to crunchy action combat is an improvement over Inquisition’s middle-of-the-road approach, and although the game feels a little light on meaningful player choice, the storytelling pulls no punches when it actually matters.”

Will you be giving this game a go on Xbox? Let us know in the comments.

Liam is a news writer and reviewer for Nintendo Life and Pure Xbox. He’s been writing about games for more than 15 years and is a lifelong fan of Mario and Master Chief.

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