Since the Dragon Age; The Veilguard trailer dropped during the Xbox Showcase this weekend, people have been up in arms over the "tone" of what was shown. "Where's the dark fantasy?" "What is with this trailer?" "What's going on?" Now, after sitting in on an hour-long hands-off presentation from EA during Summer Game Fest Play Days, let me be the first to tell you: Chill, y'all, the game is fine.
Our session started with a look at the character creation system, which features a robust selection of faces, skin tones, and more – including some of the best hair textures I've ever seen in a game, thanks to a new hair tech that renders each hair on the character's head individually. Also, something I particularly appreciated was being able to see your characters in different lighting situations; as someone who spends a lot of time in the character creation suite only for said character to look like a stooge in the sunlight, I'm glad I can make those informed changes I might not have caught before I head out into the world.
After designing a character's appearance, it's time to choose between one of three "core" classes: Rogue, Warrior, and Mage. The word "core" was specifically used in our demo, as each class also has a set of three specializations that will let me play the class how I want to play it. Next comes choosing a Faction, which will influence my character's relationship with certain characters – including special lines of dialogue that mention events in my character's past. I can also select a difficulty setting, and after all of this, it's time to drop in.
The scene opens with the player character – whose name is Rook – stepping into a bar and demanding information from the bartender. She refuses and summons three goons to help her…, but instead of immediately descending into a battle, the first action that pops up is a dialogue choice: Do I wish to talk this out, or would I rather fight? Our demo driver chooses to fight, and we see the bar brawl play out in a cutscene – don't worry, the actual fighting comes later.
After the brawl, we see the series staple dialogue wheel return as Rook speaks with Varric about the info they received: The ice mage Neve Gallus is in a place called Dimat Plaza, and the duo has to find her in order to find Solas, who is trying to remove The Veil that separated the elven gods and the Fade from the real world – this would cause the world to be flooded with demons, which is a problem.
Just as they are discussing what to do, Solas's ritual begins, and the demons attack. This is where The Veilguard's combat system comes into play, which is described as giving the player complete control. Every sword swing, every camera angle, and every companion ability can be executed manually in a fight, which allows you to fight your way every time.
Combat also offers some versatility to the player by giving you a choice between the full ability wheel, as seen in previous games, or a more streamlined ability system where a few key actions can be executed easily. This quick access allows Rook to conduct the flow of battle in a neat way, like when a perfectly timed use of his special ability zapped two enemies at once.
Rook and the group then run into Lace Harding – who is a full companion with a full romance arc in this game, by the way – and she leads us to where Neve was taken. The thing is, Neve has disabled all of her captors, and she's ready to confront Solas immediately. Eventually, they get there, and we're met with a few new choices: How should the party deal with Solas? Who's going to confront him? Who is going with Rook to play sabotage? All of these and more are answered in the demo…but that would be spoiling things, and I'm not going to do that to you here.
Suffice it to say, despite this demo only running an hour or so, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the high-fantasy adventure people are aching for, even if that first trailer at the Xbox Showcase didn't capture the vibes properly. Customization is deep, the action looks great, and the fantasy setting is alive and well. You'll get the chance to see it for yourself when Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches this fall.
