Dragon Age: The Veilguard has gained some great fanfare, and players worldwide are enjoying the adventures of Rook. And while the game has some moments of inconsistent writing (which I wish BioWare had taken care of), it does remind me of when I played Mass Effect 2 for the first time in many ways.
Be it the colorful cast of companions you recruit, the almost impossible task you are given to fulfill, or the conversations between party members, everything in the brand-new RPG vividly reminds me of the second entry of BioWare’s popular sci-fi series.
And before you ask, why not Mass Effect 3? The third game focuses less on the individual characters and more on the galaxy’s struggle against the Reapers. So, in that regard, Mass Effect 2 fits the bill.
NOTE: This piece contains some spoilers about Dragon Age: The Veilguard story. So, I suggest playing the game above the 13-15 hour mark before reading my thoughts.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a story about saving the world, just like Mass Effect 2
The main stage of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is set early on. You create your character and get dumped into the world alongside the series staple Varric. And now, you, Varric, Harding, and the series debutant Neve must stop Solas, The Dreadwolf, from unveiling the Veil and unleashing trouble in the world.
Fortunately, while you stop Solas from doing that, you also release two trapped Elven gods – Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain, who plan to destroy the world. And you accidentally trap Solas in the Veil, the only one with the knowledge to stop the Elven gods, which is terrible.
Ultimately, Veilguard becomes a game about stopping the escaped Elven gods alongside your teammates, whom you must recruit. Each is stuck on specific problems, and you solve them to get their loyalty to help you. And this is where it reminds me of the main plot of Mass Effect 2.
The threat of Reapers is ever-looming, and Commander Shepard must band together a team of ragtags to stop the ongoing threat of missing colonies and The Collectors. Each of these team members has their motivations and problems, and you help them out to gain their loyalty for the “suicide mission.”
Both plots have a lot of similarities in those avenues, and it is great that BioWare once again tried a David vs Goliath storyline. And while the story sometimes does dip in quality, I appreciate the parallels between both these games.
The companions of Dragon Age: The Veilguard are lovable and likable to a certain degree
But the plot of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is not the only thing that reminds me vividly of Mass Effect 2. Rook gets tasked to create a party of warriors to stop the plans of Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain. And you meet seven of them throughout the game, each with a distinct personality.
Bellara is a bubbly, cheerful Elf Veil Jumper who joins your party as the first member. And somehow, she becomes one of my favorite characters thanks to her personality. Similarly, Lucanis is another companion who joins your party, showing unwavering loyalty and an affinity for good coffee and food.
These two characters are just two of the seven examples from the game. However, each character has a distinct personality, which compelled me to rotate the party members for each mission. It reminded me of when I constantly rotated between Tali, Garrus, Miranda, Mordin, and Jack in Mass Effect 2.
It doesn’t end there, though. Every teammate has unique banters that give life to the story, and you later help them with their problems, contributing to character growth and much-needed backstory. Again, this is something that I vividly remember from Mass Effect 2.
Contrary to all the noises surrounding the RPG, the companions want me to enjoy this journey a lot. I have a habit of nitpicking when the characters/companions aren’t well-written. In this case, the characters are fun, have a lot of personality, and elevate the storyline.
One of my favorite character stories is visiting a coffee shop with Lucanis to plan an assassination attempt and performing grocery shopping in the midst of it. It is a simple side quest, but it humanizes the character.
And that is what I love at the end of the day – making characters lovable and giving them some personality outside the usual fights. To that end, just like Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age: The Veilguard does this well.
Closing thoughts
A good RPG relies a lot on the supporting characters and the world-building. If a game doesn’t have either or misses the mark on one of the two, chances are the overall experience isn’t desirable.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard isn’t a perfect game. It has problems. Yet the characters of Dragon Age: The Veilguard feel they follow the footprints and blueprints laid by Mass Effect 2, wearing it close to their hearts at times.
As I paused my fifth playthrough of the sci-fi trilogy, I started drawing a lot of similarities to the old game, which are nothing but positive. Even the main storyline, though dropping in quality sometimes, vividly makes me smile every so often.
Sure, the old BioWare of Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect Trilogy might not exist. But the existing BioWare sure knows what they are doing. Is it perfect? Possibly not. Is it earnest? Feels like it. Do I enjoy it? Absolutely.
