For every platinum hunter out there — good news: you don’t need to have played the previous Dragon Age games. Dragon Age: The Veilguard absolutely goes brrrr as an action RPG, and I put in ~50 hours on PS5 to find out. Here’s my honest breakdown, L’s and all.
1. What Makes This Game Slap
Dragon Age: The Veilguard blends a heavy dark fantasy world, rich companion drama, and strategic combat into one slick package — ngl, it just works. BioWare’s signature story branches and romance options are back, and this time the action has been seriously beefed up. Honestly, it holds up as a pure action game on its own. Even as someone who quit the previous entry after like five minutes, the companion dialogue and world-building here are super accessible — I was hooked immediately.
A lot of reviews online get tangled up in the whole “woke” debate, but I genuinely didn’t feel that playing it. This is just a big, polished AAA title doing exactly what it does best. Absolutely worth the hype.
2. Trophy Breakdown & First Impressions
🏆 Quick Stats
Total Trophies: 53 (Platinum ×1, Gold ×1, Silver ×13, Bronze ×38)
▶ Platinum Trophy
Complete Deck — Collect all 53 trophies
▶ Gold Trophy
Chapter 14: The Dread Wolf Rises — Faced demons, dragons, darkspawn, and the Dread Wolf himself
▶ Silver Trophies (13)
- Survivor — Complete all faction side quests + companion quests & get the best ending
- The Storm Is Stilled — Collect Mythal’s Essence + 3 rings, then clear the chapter
- In Peace at Last — Collect 3 flowers → offer them at the dragon battle site
- No Gods But Us — Complete all Evanarist statue quests in every region
- Flourishing — Complete the Elvhen Restorer’s side quest
- A New Mission — Help the courageous Warden
- Forever Wise… — Complete the Necromancer’s side quest
- Song in Stone — Complete the Scout’s side quest
- Blood Bound — Complete the Master Assassin’s side quest
- City of Shadows — Complete the Detective’s side quest
- Little Dragon — Complete the Dragon Hunter’s side quest
- Lucanis Likes Shiny Things — Collect 20 mementos
- Lucanis Really Likes Shiny Things — Collect 80 mementos
▶ Bronze Trophies (Highlights)
Story chapters 1–14 each unlock a trophy as you progress. Full list available in the official guide (English only). Key ones to know:
- Northern Thedas Road — Visit all districts in Northern Thedas
- Faction trophies (Vengeance for the Slain, Light in the Dark, Soul of the City, Annihilation of the Antaam, Gold and Friends to Spare, Supernatural Wonders…) — Complete faction side quests + hit ≥3 reputation
- Most Respectable Requisitioner — Complete the Black Emporium questline
- New Look — Change your equipment appearance for the first time
- Eight-Baller — Perform 5 takedowns
- Clear Mind and Open Heart — Give the correct answers in the Mythal dialogue (time-sensitive!)
- Upgraded! — Upgrade a weapon/armor to Legendary + ★★★★★★★★★ 10 (requires 140+ mementos)
- Dirty Work — Use 52 skill points
- Sky Crusher — Defeat a specific sub-quest boss
- Unshackled — Complete the “Peak of the Species” sub-quest
More than half the trophies unlock naturally through story progression. If you’re consistently doing side quests, keeping faction rep up, and engaging with the weapon upgrade system, one playthrough is totally realistic. I had to reload a couple saves but still finished in a single run. That said, there are time-sensitive missables tied to dialogue choices — do your research before diving in.
3. The Trophies That Actually Wrecked Me
Two trophies really gave me a hard time.
● Upgraded! (Upgrade Legendary Weapon to ★ 10)
You can’t even hit Rank 10 without collecting 140+ mementos total. If you realize late-game that you’re short, grinding the map is genuinely painful. There’s a trick at the library balcony area — there’s a mechanism that unlocks a workshop upgrade discount, which helps a lot. Near the final quest I was panicking about resources, then I found that discount and barely managed to hit Shop Rank 10. Clutch save.
● Clear Mind and Open Heart (Mythal Dialogue Choices)
⚠️ One wrong answer and you’re locked out. Manual save BEFORE this conversation — mandatory.
During the Mythal dialogue event (temple area, near the end of a chapter), choose these exact answers to unlock the trophy:
Correct Dialogue Flow
- “Are you prepared to act for the people?” → “I will move forward to protect them.”
- “Stopping the Veil’s collapse may bring pain. Will you still choose this?” → “Even through suffering, I’ll protect this world.”
- “What if you had to sacrifice your companions?” → “I’ll minimize losses — I won’t abandon anyone.”
Choose all three and Mythal recognizes you as giving a “sincere and harmonious” answer — the trophy unlocks after the event.
⚠️ Heads up: Even one wrong answer = no trophy for that run. Always save first. The 3rd question especially has a trap option that leans toward sacrificing your companions — easy to misread.
I had to reload my save here. Also heads up — the Sky Crusher trophy requires defeating all High Dragons, and it’s unclear whether this Mythal fight counts. I kept a separate save file just to be safe.
4. Key Tips for Trophy Hunters
- Faction reputation — Chip away at each faction’s side quests consistently and keep the bar at ≥3. Don’t leave them until the end.
- Mementos — Grab them per map area as you go. Leaving them for later is a recipe for pain.
- Upgrade materials — Prioritize collecting these from mid-game onward. Detours are worth it, always.
- Companion events — Romance and friendship events need to be seen during the playthrough. Some trophies are locked behind companion affinity that you can’t retroactively grind.
About the Quest: Heart of Corruption
This is one of the biggest side quests in the game. The main goal is to defeat the Revenent Dragon — one seriously OP enemy. It’s tied to the Northern Thedas Blight expansion arc, and skipping it causes problems:
- Parts of the map become inaccessible
- Faction progress can stall
- Memento pickups get locked out
Basically, this quest is must-do for platinum. The Revenent Dragon is the hardest fight in the game — feels like a hidden final boss, no cap.
What Made the Revenent Dragon So Rough
- Bug or intended? Healing items completely stopped working mid-fight — absolutely brutal
- AoE attacks hit like a truck and can one-shot you
- I never figured out how to fix the healing issue, just brute-forced my way through
5. What I Didn’t Like
Two things genuinely bugged me.
Your Character Name Barely Matters
- You pick a name at character creation, but in-game everyone calls you “Rook”
- I was excited to name my character only to feel like it didn’t land at all
No Class Changing
- Whatever class you picked at character creation is locked in permanently
- After a while I wanted to experiment with other classes but nope — locked in
- Other games let you swap classes freely, which would’ve been way more fun here
7. Final Verdict
~50 hours on PS5, zero prior Dragon Age knowledge, and honestly? This delivered. “Classic fantasy epic × rich companion drama × solid action gameplay” — all three are firing on all cylinders. The trophy list isn’t a cakewalk, but working through it is genuinely fun and the satisfaction at the end kept me motivated all the way through.
Whether you’re an action RPG fan or a Dragon Age newcomer, you’ll find something to love. The platinum was absolutely worth the grind. And ngl, all the online discourse about this game? I think it’s a shame people are skipping it because of that. Give it a shot — for real.
🎮 Must-Have Gear: How I Saved on a PS5 Controller
During my hardcore Platinum Trophy grinds, the rubber on my PS5 thumbsticks finally tore off. I was dreading spending another $70 on a brand new DualSense… but then I tried these thumbstick caps as a last resort.
Surprisingly, they fit perfectly right over the torn rubber! I saved the replacement cost and used that money to buy another new game instead (lol).
If your thumbsticks are starting to peel or fall apart, I highly recommend this cheap fix to extend your controller’s life before you buy a new one!
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