BioWare is back in a big way. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is only a few short weeks from the October 31st release, and if you’re an RPG fan like I am, your excitement has likely hit a fever pitch. On September 5th journalists were invited to a preview with more than 7 hours of Dragon Age: The Veilguard (DA:V) gameplay. As much as Veilguard is a return to Thedas for fans of Dragon Age: Inquisition it’s also a triumphant return to form for BioWare, whose last flagship intellectual property Anthem left players gasping for something more.
Ten years from the time Dragon Age: Dreadwolf began development, BioWare is finally set to release a brand-new game for one of their most beloved properties. Veilguard has come a long way. “It has been about ten years, and in that time, there’s been a lot of playing with alternate Dragon Age concepts,” game director Corinne Busche said in our interview. It turns out that the team floated smaller adventures and even a multiplayer concept before settling to a premiere single-player authentic BioWare RPG.
It wasn’t until four years ago in 2020 that BioWare’s vision for Veilguard really took shape. Upon entering the delicately lit venue within EA’s campus, every PC displayed a loading screen beckoning a player to take the reins and undertake their next adventure. One of my major concerns was that the game would look a little outdated. Afterall, development began ten years ago and with glorious games being built in Unreal Engine 5, I was skeptical as to whether Frostbite would be able to stand visually next to current generation titles.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as it turns out, is quite visually appealing. My first few steps into character creation drove home that the team is really taking visuals and customization to heart here. For starters, apart from choosing your lineage (race), you’ll also be able to choose your class, faction, playstyle and there are extensive appearance options which include gender fluidity as well as the option to choose your pronouns.
One issue I did have was that the presets would be a good starter template for the character that I wanted, but due to the time constraints of working through the first area in such a short time span, I never really had the chance to fully create my attractive female elf. I think that somewhat encapsulates how I felt about the character presets and randomization options—I never managed to find a particularly attractive standard model to base a character from. I’m generally not superficial, but I think I’ve become spoiled by the character creator in Baldur’s Gate 3. Still, customization options in Veilguard are staggering, and I merrily left character creation beaming with pride that my Elf Mage was as comely as she was powerful.
The Patented BioWare Swagger
If the ability to make tough choices is the name of the game, Dragon Age has it in spades. Upon entering Thedas, player character Rook will be met by some familiar faces in the Dragon Age franchise as Varric, Harding, and Neve join forces to stop the Dread Wolf himself Solas. Choices come at you hard and fast. Some of the choices you're presented with may come from your character creation, but you'll also be able to import some things from your previous playthrough of Inquisition. Within a few short moments from my first cutscene I was already delegating tasks to my teammates. Little did I know my choices would have consequences as all choices tend to do, and it wasn’t until the post-battle clarity that I realized Harding had been injured.
It would be unfair to divulge how this came about, but that’s part of why Dragon Age: The Veilguard is so much fun. “I love that there's the interest in the options for players, I think for us, there's so many facets to how we choose to make a Dragon Age game that is right for this time,” Corinne said when asked about how BioWare has pushed their choice and relationship system forward in the past 10 years. “We’re quite proud of our approach to it.”
In Veilguard a relationship isn’t necessarily about how well your companions get along with you. Your companions and their relationships are unlocked from being completely player-centric here. There won’t be a simple experience system dictating whether your companions agree with you or have affection for you. On the contrary, you may find that certain situations may push your companions closer together instead. You may even find yourself put in the role of matchmaker, or perhaps you can choose to poison a relationship. It's a dynamic that the team spoke about, but one I had yet to cultivate through my play through.
Developing a relationship with your favorite companions isn’t just an aspect of story and romance building. As you learn and grow with your favorite companions, you’ll learn how to work together which will eventually lead to unlocking the hidden potential in your companion’s abilities. However, this would be all for naught if the combat fell flat and if battles had to come to a standstill every time you wanted to fire off a companion synergy.
Dragon Age Combat Leveled Up
For a developer whose games are primarily known for their story, DA:V has cranked combat up to a dizzying degree. Each of the three classes, Warrior, Mage, and Rogue have three specialization classes. During character creation the team certainly knows how to make each specialization enticing, but I settled on wanted to try the Spellblade, as I love hybridized playstyles.
Unfortunately, you don’t become a Spellblade until you reach level 20, so I had to start from the bottom with my Mage. Combat has a learning curve, with multiple weapons at your disposal, combos to learn, and skills to manage. You’ll also need to block and dodge powerful attacks, all while coordinating with your team, which is instrumental to defeating some of the most difficult opponents.
The pace of combat does keep you on your toes, despite the ability to slow combat to a crawl to execute companion abilities, but that’s not what makes the combat so stellar. What catapults the combat to take the crown as BioWares best is the variety of ways you can play. “I always feel a hunger to have some more flexibility,” Corrine said. “So that was one of our central design goals. You unlock your specializations about mid game, and you can continue to invest points in them. We have a level cap of 50, and you can get 10 extra skill points from various exploration activities.”
Every skill point you earn can be put towards meaningful traits in your skill tree. Whether you’re picking up a new ability, or increasing the effects of a specialization build, leveling up and slotting new builds was almost as much fun as refunding all my ability points (for free, and at any time) and trying a completely new build. My main pain point here was that you can’t dual-class specializations, even if you have the points to do so.
That didn’t stop me from doubling down on doubling down on Necrotic and Bleeding damage on my Rogue Duelist, and then boosting my momentum from the Saboteur skill line to build around the Overwhelming Tactics greater passive. My theory crafting eventually paid off when I began to tear through enemies once these statuses were applied, and due to the nature of how I had to proc the statuses, I couldn’t help but stay wildly entertained throughout every Rogue battle I encountered.
Gear also plays a big part in how you build your character, and through my seven hours of play time, I was slightly disappointed to find that I didn't come across nearly as much loot as I had expected. What I did find often had elemental damage and some unique modifiers. Eventually you'll be able to obtain and modify gear in ways that will be beneficial to your build, but in my limited play time I didn't have an abundance of prizes found within treasure chests to really grasp the extent of the gear system.
Whether you're hyped about the story, combat, or you're just looking forward to returning to Thedas and getting lost in the crossroads, I think Dragon Age: The Veilguard has enough here for fans as well as plenty for the Dragon Age uninitiated. Considering how well received Inquisition was 10 years ago, and the fact that Veilguard surpasses it in nearly every way, it only stands to reason that Dragon Age: The Veilguard not only lives up to the hype, but will be a serious contender for Game of the Year. You can pre-order the game on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation now, or wait for the official release on October 31st, 2024.
