Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a masterclass in sensuality and yearning

Sex in video games is a divisive subject, much like sex in any medium often is. Critics are either too quick to deem video games an unsuitable platform to explore sex, or they damn the scenes depicted for lacking the right kind of sexual content. Herein lies the problem, though – what is the right kind of content?

I ask because Dragon Age: The Veilguard has received no end of backlash, particularly when it comes to its intimate scenes. Accusations levelled against this aspect of gameplay have remarked on how long it takes to arrive at these tender moments, as well as the significant lack of spiciness.

We’ve been treated to such delightfully raunchy displays in games like Baldur’s Gate 3 that we’ve started believing that sex needs to tick that box to be worthwhile. If we’re not feeling the fur of a bear between our fingers, we’re doing it wrong. As someone who blushed and whooped when that scene happened, before giggling like a schoolgirl when the shocked squirrel dropped its acorn, I understand their appeal.

It’s an iconic in-game moment, as are many of the other sex scenes from BG3. However, this doesn’t mean that every other RPG needs to mirror it. Quite the opposite, in fact. To simply try to capture the magic of BG3 without offering any substance beyond “oh, look, bare breasts” is a disappointment no RPGer wants to encounter. I speak as someone who is the go-to ‘smut goblin’ of the GAMINGbible team.

Passion runs through Thedas in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Although you may think me a nerdy video games journalist, my writing encompasses far more than reviews and features about popular franchises. Before I joined GAMINGbible, I was a freelancer with fingers in many pies, with one of my preferred subjects being sex. Ergo, the nuances of sex in all its forms is a topic I can cheerfully talk about, debate, and champion. This is why I’ll passionately defend the sex scenes of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Since BioWare’s newest Dragon Age title has launched, it feels like all I’ve done is defend it, though I have no idea why. It’s a fantastic DA addition that expands on a world we’ve been following since Origins. So what if it isn’t the best of the series (not my opinion)? It doesn’t need to be to be deemed a success. It’s been remarked as being “sanitised”, “boring”, “woke”, and having “mid writing”, yet I cannot fathom how one comes to such conclusions. This isn’t because I’m viewing the game through rose-tinted lenses; I’m more than aware that it has its faults, but so do all the other DA titles. The idea that Inquisition was somehow a faultless entry in the series needs addressing because that simply isn’t true.

Furthermore, the notion that The Veilguard somehow lacks enough romance, sex, or nudity is an oversimplified fallacy that stems from this warped nostalgia. None of the DA games have ever been as horny as BG3. Nor do they need to be. Additionally, not every romance option has ended in sex. Solas romancers are in their thousands, yet you never once go to bed with him – the trickster removes your Vallaslin before breaking your heart. There’s no slapping together of naked bodies, just angst that’s sustained us for a decade.

What’s expressed throughout the game is the art of yearning, of passion that pulsates beneath the surface. The kind of aching for someone that never ceases, you merely learn to live with it. You particularly notice this in Lucanis’ romance. Falling for a complicated assassin once assumed dead comes with much baggage, even more so when family secrets come to light that leaves him questioning who and what he once knew. When such domestic chaos is happening during the end of the world, rampant sex at every given opportunity becomes a secondary thought.

There’s also Emmrich’s romance that I’d like to draw your attention to, for it’s by far one of the most committed and romantic relationships ever crafted in a DA game. There’s such devotion there. We certainly get hot and heavy with Emmrich, but it’s done in a way that leaves the especially intimate moments to your imagination. It’s a less is more approach, and one I believe works.

As for the other romances, I’ve yet to play them myself. That said, I’ve seen other players’ Rooks straddling Davrin, having tender pillow talk with Harding, and witnessed Bellara’s overwhelming relief at being reunited with Rook. Each of these scenes is unique to the characters, it isn’t one size fits all. The way they express themselves, either through their words or bodies or sometimes both, reflects their personalities perfectly. It’s no different to how people approach romance in real life. As a species, our love language is varied, to say the least.

I’m all for being horny. Let your freak flags fly, whatever they may be. However, none of us should assume that horniness must play out graphically. Sensuality is as powerful as raw lust; some would argue more so, though they’re not mutually exclusive. BioWare has captured the potency of chaste yearning in The Veilguard exceptionally well, choosing to emphasise all romantic aspects rather than just the one.