I played the first game in the Dragon Age series (‘Origins’) many, many years ago. It was an absolutely enthralling game. The choices you made in the game effected the entire game-world. Please see here for my initial reactions to that game.
The second instalment was Dragon Age 2, this was very disappointing. The consensus among many players was that Bioware had cut corners and rushed the game into production to cash in on the success of Origins.
Then came the third instalment, Dragon Age Inquisition. This was a definite improvement on the second part, but still not as good as the original. However, I did enjoy completing it and was hoping that Bioware would continue to improve the franchise.
There was a VERY LONG wait for the next instalment, Dragon Age – The Veilguard. When that came out the reviews were ecstatic, and I was looking forward to playing that. I was unable to play it at the time because I was busy with other things, and I felt that I should only play it when I could do it justice.
I have recently played it to completion, and it was very, very disappointing. Although it has not sunk to the dire depths of the second part, it is still not as good as the original, or even the third part.
I did not understand how it received so many glowing reviews on release, and then I saw that many sites had changed their rating for the game, downgrading it from their original assessment. I think they were caught up in the hype of the release and did not evaluate it as completely as they should have done.
The Veilguard is still a game worth playing, but do not expect the story telling of the original. I have read that we probably won’t see another release in this franchise, which is a relief. I just wish that they had not bothered with The Veilguard.
I was reminded of the Eye of the Beholder series. Part 1 was very good, part 2 was even better. I had played both of these on an Amiga, and was disappointed when I discovered part 3 would not be available on that platform. I actually abandoned my Amiga and bought a PC so I could play part 3 on it. It was utter TRASH! EOTB 3 remains one of the few games that I have started and never finished.