Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Unfortunately, The Veilguard’s script is poor on almost every level. It doesn’t work well with the legacy left by the previous three parts. At the same time, it is weak on its own and offers nothing that BioWare hasn’t already demonstrated in other games. It fails to make players empathize with Solas, the protagonist’s companions, or the various NPCs scattered throughout the world. The rare flashes of adequacy only make you grit your teeth even harder.
Take Solas, for example. The game casually tells us about the past of the Dread Wolf — about his rebellion against other gods, about how elves came into being. You even get to participate in a couple of battles planned by the sharp-eared partisan, where you personally see that Solas is ready to do anything to achieve his goal. This seems to reveal him well as a character… but it’s still impossible to empathize with his misadventures. If only because by this point you already know that the Dire Wolf is a malicious Pinocchio. He constantly messes up, and then, trying to correct his mistakes, messes up even more. Incidentally, the plan to destroy the Veil is yet another attempt to “do everything right.” Naturally, it doesn’t lead to anything good.
At the same time, he carried out his entire plan alone. He didn’t bring in his supporters (and he had them!), nor the Inquisitor, with whom he was in a relationship, according to the canon of the series. If Solas had at least outlined to his former comrades what he was doing, perhaps they could have avoided the disaster that ultimately occurred.
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But, okay, let’s say Solas has become a secondary character, so let’s forget about him for now. Maybe the villains are good? Alas, no — they are so “villainous” that they seem like caricatures of antagonists. It is impossible to negotiate with them, they can only be defeated with the help of a special MacGuffin, and they twist and turn the rules of the world as they please. They are also horribly pretentious, and therefore ridiculous.
Companions? Here, I must admit, my impressions are mixed. Even in Mass Effect: Andromeda, the companions were the only ray of light that pulled the game out of the mire. In The Veilguard… well, they try. Take Emmric, for example. A gentleman, necromancer, and just a good person — he’s well written, well played, and has a pretty good personal story. And then there’s his charming skeleton sidekick named Manfred, whom the hero tries with all his might to teach to be a real person.
In contrast to Emmric is Taash. A rude person who constantly argues with her mother, demands special treatment, and is generally very peculiar — how many people would like such a character? And here it’s not even about the “story,” no. It’s just that the character herself turned out to be extremely annoying.
Moreover, the developers don’t give you any opportunity to react to her antics in any way. You can’t put her in her place — you can only support all her endeavors (that’s a whole other story, and it doesn’t only concern Taash). Refuse her services? You can’t do that either! In this regard, Guardians of the Veil is a surprisingly undemocratic game — you can’t get rid of companions you don’t like.
Comparing Taash to any of her previous kunari companions is tantamount to signing her death warrant. She can’t compete with Stan or Iron Ox in any way. And, damn it, even the banal conflict between fathers and children that she has could have been exploited much more. The same goes for the story of her “chosen one” status. Even the banal “I want to be who I want to be” could have been played out more dignifiedly.
