You’d think by now BioWare would’ve nailed facial animations, right? I mean, after Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem, surely they’d have learned their lesson. But here we are, talking about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and guess what everyone’s buzzing about? Yeah, the faces.
Recently, BioWare and IGN dropped a 22-minute gameplay video, showing off The Veilguard’s hub area, The Lighthouse, along with some good old-fashioned banter between Rook and their squad.
Seems like typical Dragon Age fare, right? Except fans aren’t vibing with how the characters’ faces move—or don’t move, depending on how you look at it.
What’s Up with These Faces?
Let’s be real for a second: there’s a Reddit thread dedicated to dragging The Veilguard’s facial animations.
One fan summed it up with, “I thought the motion capture would mean improvements, but… nope.” Another one dropped the bomb, saying the game’s animations look like they belong in a generation long gone.
They even compared it to Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur’s Gate 3, and let’s just say The Veilguard didn’t come out looking like the shiny new toy.
Do you remember Mass Effect: Andromeda? Of course you do—those stiff, lifeless faces are hard to forget.
Some fans do think that The Veilguard is taking a page out of the Andromeda playbook, and not in a good way.
Worse Than Anthem?
Now, if you’re bringing Anthem into the chat to make your point, things are getting serious
One fan straight-up said, “I don’t get how this is worse than Anthem, and that game wasn’t exactly winning any beauty contests.” Oof.
Comparing anything to Anthem isn’t exactly high praise, especially when Anthem wasn’t known for, well, much of anything except missed potential.
If a five-year-old game is outshining your latest project, you’ve got a problem.
Should we Blame It on Frostbite Engine?
So, what’s the deal here?
A lot of people are pointing fingers at the Frostbite engine.
EA’s proprietary baby is fantastic for sports games like Madden and FIFA, where it’s all about getting those hyper-realistic faces down.
But for RPGs? Eh, not so much.
It just doesn’t seem equipped for the kind of full-body, emotional performances we’ve come to expect from big-budget RPGs.
Baldur’s Gate 3 set the bar high, and The Veilguard seems to be trying to limbo under it.
But here’s the thing: not everyone’s up in arms about it. Some players are saying, “Hey, it’s not worse than Inquisition.”
And if the faces in Inquisition didn’t bug you back then, you’ll probably be just fine here.
But, let’s be honest—gaming has evolved a lot in last 10 years, and with titles pushing facial realism to the limit, it’s hard not to notice when something feels off.
Does It Matter?
Will these animations ruin your entire Veilguard experience? Most likely not.
I mean, if the story’s solid and the world sucks you in like it always does, you might not even care if a few characters look like they’re in the middle of an awkward Zoom meeting.
But if you’re all about those finely-tuned details—the little eyebrow raises and subtle smirks—you might end up a bit let down.
Personally, I remember playing Inquisition and thinking, “Okay, the faces aren’t bad.” But after seeing what Baldur’s Gate 3 pulled off, my standards have definitely climbed.
It’s like going from standard definition to HD—once you’ve seen the better version, it’s tough to go back.
We’ll find out soon enough if these facial animations are just a minor hiccup or if they’ll be haunting us more than a horde of darkspawn.
Either way, I’m still suiting up for another trip to Thedas—whether the characters look like they’re squinting through bad lighting or not.
So, what about you? Are you here for the Dragon Age lore and epic world-building, or will these animations bug you enough to hit pause?
