The Dragon Age franchise has been long-established as one that doesn't shy away from sensitive topics, whether political or otherwise, and Dragon Age: The Veilguard is no different in its foray into the grotesque. Throughout the game, players confront the elven gods and their Blight, a malignant force of corruption and decay that threatens all of life in Thedas. Despite Veilguard's beautiful vistas and stunning visual effects, there's a darkness and desperation that pervades every beat of the story.

[Warning: The following article contains spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.]From the outset of the game, players are introduced to a world in which morality is not so black and white. Solas is a man desperate to save his people from what players will learn is one of his biggest regrets, but doing so will condemn the rest of the world to suffer. Despite the cost his actions will have, Solas sees his quest as a just one, with his choice being the best available option. Rook's interference in Solas's ritual releases Elgar'nan and Gilhan'nain, who begin to empower the Blight to amass more power.

D'Meta's Crossing Is The First Hint Of What's To Come

It's A Village Among Many Lost To The Inescapable Blight

Players first encounter this empowered Blight and its abilities about an hour into the game when they're confronted with the horrors of D'Meta's Crossing. This is a town stricken at the whim of the capricious Evanuris, and there are more dead citizens inhabiting the town upon Rook's arrival than there are alive. The citizens that do remain "alive" are Blighted, corrupted so heavily by Gilhan'nain's power that they retain no mind of their own.

As Rook and their team make their way through the village, they talk in dismay about the true level of destruction they've found themselves surrounded by. There's not a home to be seen uncorrupted, and the lives of hundreds of townspeople have been snuffed out. This early on in the game, D'Meta's crossing serves one purpose: to introduce the player to the scale of destruction they should be prepared for.

D'Meta's Crossing was an unremarkable village before the Blight, and the true horror of the town is that it is representative of villages like it across Thedas.

The Blight in D'Meta's Crossing has mangled and twisted the bodies and homes of the people living there. Roadways are blocked by walls of Blight that are interspersed with corpses shot through with vines and tentacles, Blighted citizens speak mindlessly, and Darkspawn attack at every corner. D'Meta's Crossing was an unremarkable village before the Blight, and the true horror of the town is that it is representative of villages like it across Thedas. The Blight isn't just in D'Meta's Crossing; it's everywhere.

Not only are players confronted by the truth of what the Blight is doing to Thedas, but they're also forced to make a drastic choice when meeting the mayor of D'Meta's Crossing. Here is a man who has sold his town to the gods for power, and it's up to Rook to decide what to do with him. Is he to be left in the Blight to be eaten alive, or saved with the hope that he'll learn to do better? No one would blame Rook if they left the mayor to his demise, but is doing nothing not the same as aiding the Blight?

Minrathous and Treviso Force Players To Feel Helpless

Rook's Choices Don't Matter When The Evanuris Are Everywhere

After recruiting Davrin, players will be asked to choose to aid Minrathous or Treviso against the attacks of Blighted Dragons, some of the most powerful enemies in the Dragon Age universe. At this point in the game, players will have some attachment to both places, and Neve and Lucanis will plead for their hometowns. Reaching this point in the game, the choice to condemn the people of either city to the same fate as the citizens of D'Meta's Crossing is horrifying.

In the end, there's no way to avoid condemning a city to death, but as the hero of the story, even the companions will blame Rook for the choice they make. Neve or Lucanis will become "Hardened," locking their healing ability and increasing the damage of their offensive abilities. One of the true horrors that Veilguard touches on so closely with Minrathous and Treviso is that in the real world, not everyone will survive, and someone has to take responsibility. Even with all the power that Rook has at their fingertips, they're powerless in the face of the Blight's devastation.

The Siege of Weisshaupt Shows The Stakes

Hundreds Of Gray Wardens Dead, All For Nothing

Weisshaupt is a powerful look into what a full-scale invasion by the Evanuris would look like, and it's a scene of devastation. Rook and their team were barely able to traverse a Weisshaupt under siege without dying, and even the Gray Wardens found themselves overrun by the newly empowered Blight. The Warden's entire purpose is to fight the Blight; if even they can't defend their stronghold city, what chance does the rest of the world have?

This siege is also reflected in south Thedas. The Inquisitor reports that they and their team are doing their best to hold the Blight back, but it's just as bad down there as it is in Weisshaupt.

At this point in the game, Weisshaupt is the only attack by the Evanuris that shows the scale of their power. The attacks on Treviso and Minrathous were devastating, but the cities were able to bounce back and continue to function. Weisshaupt, on the other hand, was completely overrun by the Blight, with citizens needing to be evacuated to nearby towns just to survive.

The experience of trying desperately to defend Weisshaupt against the onslaught of Darkspawn only for the dragon trap at the end to fail is heart-wrenching. Players are faced, at every turn, with the destruction of legions of Gray Wardens, lost to the ravaging decay of the Blight. This continues until finally, in what is supposed to be a moment of triumph, the First Warden's viscera is ripped from his body before he can defeat the Archdemon, used by Ghilan'nain as fuel to create yet another beast of nightmares.

Ghilan'nain Isn't Like A Broodmother, And She Isn't Supposed To Be

Older Dragon Age Games Relied On Themes Of Oppression To Express Horror

In past Dragon Age games, there were pervasive themes of racism, classism, and sexism that provided a "grittier" feel to the world, but Veilguard steps away from these themes in a way that many players are unhappy with. It's true that the overall world of Thedas skims over the themes of oppression that other DA games have featured in the past, so players looking for that will be disappointed. However, Veilguard proves that there are other ways to make your world dark without relying on the oppression of social groups.

Racism and sexism are notably reduced in Veilguard, but not eradicated entirely. Depending on the player's chosen race and gender identity, there are a few references to these traits throughout the game.

Rather than the Blight being a ive, yet destructive, force of the Evanuris, Veilguard's Blight is directed and controlled by a bloodthirsty goddess bent on turning the world into monsters under her control. This Blight warps and twists the bodies of those it touches, and Veilguard devs did not shy away from letting players see exactly what it could do. Ghilan'nain's Blight takes indiscriminately, with man and woman, human and Qunari alike being corrupted beyond recognition.

Veteran DA fans will the Broodmothers, corrupted women who were used to birth new Darkspawn in earlier DA games. In the same way, Ghilan'nain is the mother of the Darkspawn in Veilguard, though her creation of Darkspawn is entirely voluntary. There's an interesting comparison between Broodmothers and Ghilan'nain in that both are responsible for some of the worst monsters that Thedas has ever seen, but Ghilan'nain came by her power voluntarily, while the Broodmothers' "power" of creation came through violence against them.

Whether player unrest about the darkness missing from Veilguard comes from this distinction or a different source, it's clear that that Dragon Age: The Veilguard hasn't moved far past its dark roots, despite the fresh coat of paint its visuals have gotten. that darkness is in the eye of the beholder; as more and more horror games are released, it's easy to become desensitized to the grotesque in games. It's impossible for developers to horrify every member of their playerbase; instead, they'll create the game they want to share with the world, and it's up to the players how they take it.