Dragon Age: The Veilguard vs Starfield
Action-RPG polish versus procedural expanse — both have strong combat, but one trusts you to explore 1000 planets.
Updated 11d ago
Better than its 40 player score, weaker than its 80 from critics — the combat nails it, but no companion ever disagrees with you.
Free Lanes finally fixed the space travel — you can cruise between planets now — but the procedural planets and the weak main story are untouched.
By the numbers
Prices checked Aug 7; they move faster than we refresh, so confirm on the store page.
Recent-review figures are Steam's own last-30-days window, read Aug 7.
| Measure | Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Starfield |
|---|---|---|
| Value Dragon Age: The Veilguard wins on value | ||
| Price now | $20.99 −65% · Steam | $34.39 −31% · GreenManGaming |
| All-time low | $17.99 | $34.39 |
| Cost / hour | $0.74/hr $20.99 · 28 h main story | $1.44/hr $34.39 · 24 h main story |
| Off its low | +17% low was Jun 2026 | At its low low was Jul 2026 |
| Main story | 28 h | 24 h |
| Health Too close to call | ||
| Steam reviews | 68% 45k reviews | 57% 175k reviews |
| Recent reviews | 62% 244 votes · vs 68% lifetime · souring | 63% 396 votes · vs 57% lifetime · improving |
| Peak players | 1,235 Jul 2026 · ↑ 10% MoM | 7,294 Jul 2026 · ↓ 8% MoM |
| Launch peak | — | 2% of Sep 2023 launch peak · as of Jul 2026 |
| All-time peak | 60,656 Nov 2024 · now at 2% | 330,597 Sep 2023 |
| Support | ||
| Last patch | 19 months ago | 8 weeks ago |
| Patch cadence | 0 in last 90 days | 2 in last 90 days |
| Steam Deck | Gold | Gold |
Shared scale — same months across the bottom, same player-count axis up the side, so the two lines are directly comparable. A shorter line means a younger game.
What players say
Patterns from long-haul reviewers, taken from each game's verdict. Not live sentiment — each side is dated below.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Players who stuck with it credit the prime-and-detonate combat and the romances, and several say they enjoyed it far more than they expected to.
Series veterans say the writing lost its moral weight and that Thedas here feels generic next to Origins.
from our July 2026 verdict
Starfield
Long-haul pilots credit the ship builder and the mod scene with carrying exploration well past what the vanilla planets offer.
Reviewers with four-figure hour counts say the handcrafted content thins out fast and repeated points of interest turn planet-scanning into filler.
from our July 2026 verdict
Key differences
Which one is for you?
Pick Dragon Age: The Veilguard if
- You prefer action combat over tactical pause and direct companion control.
- You're new to Dragon Age and want a tight 40-hour campaign.
- You value combat polish over companion disagreement and moral choices.
Pick Starfield if
- Ship building is the main appeal — you'll spend hours in the module editor.
- You embrace Bethesda's procedural questing and looting loop.
- You play on PC and consider modding essential to the RPG experience.
Bottom line
Pick Dragon Age: The Veilguard for a polished action-RPG with a focused campaign. Pick Starfield if ship building and procedural exploration with mods are your priority.