A Brief Dissertation on DragonAge: The Veilguard

Since the announcement of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it’s been a roller coaster. After BioWare’s recent flops, people ask how I still have hope.

So, like any sane person, I’ve written over a thousand words about the game’s expanded world, new companions, and BioWare’s promise of deep narrative choices.

The stakes are high, and frankly, so is my word count.

Story and Setting

In Dragon Age: The Veil Guard, players return to war-torn Thedas, where the line between reality and the Fade hangs by a thread. With Solas aiming to dismantle the Veil and unleash chaos, the stakes have never been higher.

That said, based on the 20 minute gameplay trailer, Solas steps aside early, making way for the real antagonists—the ancient elven Evanuris, who aren’t gods after all. It’s deliciously complex, with the true antagonist's designs hinting at serving the horror-esque bodily mutations we’ve come to associate with villains in Thedas.

For those heartbroken from romancing Solas, fear not! You can create your Inquisitor and address your past choices.

It’ll be interesting for sure - especially as all of this is happening a few years after the events of Inquisition and the Trespasser DLC. The world’s changed, alliances have shifted - and there was one BIG decision at the end of Trespasser that affected not only the Inquisitor, but the world at large.

Dragon Age has also been releasing episodes of a fully produced audio drama called “Vows & Vengeance”. So undoubtedly, there’ll be even more to uncover about the story there.

Companions

It’s not a Dragon Age unless there’s a companion to smooch - ahem - I mean befriend and help. The seven new companions were introduced in the controversial trailer (oh don’t worry, we’ll get to that), and now with the ramped up coverage, we know enough about them to be excited.

Neve Gallus: Neve is a private investigator and mage from Tevinter, blending magic and investigative skills for both combat and story intrigue.

Lace Harding: Lace returns from Inquisition as a full-fledged dwarven archer, now with magical abilities to match her evolution.

Lucanis Dellamorte: Lucanis is an Antivan Crow assassin, specializing in stealth and quick, lethal strikes—classic Crow style.

Bellara Lutare: Bellara, a Veil Jumper mage, likely uses unique magic to manipulate or traverse the Veil.

Emmrich Volkarin: Emmrich is a Mourn Watch necromancer, bringing death magic into the mix for combat experimentation.

Taash: Taash is a Qunari warrior from the Lords of Fortune, with treasure-hunting expertise and major non-binary pirate vibes.

Our favorite dwarf with the amazing chest hair, Varric Tethras, is making a return. Because it's not a proper Dragon Age game without Varric's witty one-liners and improbable crossbow shots. That said, he’s not listed among the companions which makes me think he’ll be playing an advisory role.

Visuals and Art Design

When the first trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard dropped, fans didn’t exactly rally behind it. Many were put off by the plastic-like, artificial appearance of the character models, too smooth for a world as gritty as Thedas. It wasn’t just about the aesthetic choices either—some were concerned the game would lack the darkness and depth that the Dragon Age franchise is known for.

Since then, BioWare released new footage, and things are looking up. IGN’s reveals and a few demos show significant improvements in animation and design.

The Darkspawn don’t look as cartoony as feared, and the movement and armor designs are winning me over. I’m not in love with the 'plastic' aesthetic creeping into game design, but the current graphics are breathtaking compared to Inquisition’s awkward models. The environments are beautifully rendered, from the grittiness of the slum towns to the awe-inspiring grandeur of locations like The Lighthouse.

I’m also a soulless husk who hates having pets in video games - but despite this even I can’t deny the cuteness appeal of Darvin’s griffon, Assan.

Non-Combat Mechanics

I’m a nosy player - I love wandering maps for hours, digging into nooks and crannies and seeing what unexpected story elements I can find. Luckily, it seems, there will be plenty of that! Rather than being an overwhelmingly huge open-world map, it seems the devs have created a series of smaller, denser maps.

If you played Trespasser, you’ll remember the Crossroads, which is described as being an example of this. This space between the physical world and the Fade now offers more extensive exploration opportunities. Players can uncover secrets and experience memory sequences, that will reveal insights into the lore and characters. We can only hope a similar level of love and depth was added to other explorable areas of the game!

Recent videos reveal that resources and weapon upgrades are tied to story progression, similar to The Witcher. The devs have also stated that all side quests do relate back to the overarching plot. This statement had me excited, until I thought about how a fetch-quest could totally be related to the main story. I desperately hope there won’t be any required “collection” quests. I might cry.

There is also, the dagger, which seems to be a quest-item that will help you engage with aspects of the game in a similar way to the Inquisitor’s mark in the previous entry.

Combat Mechanics

Here’s where it gets controversial: unlike past games, The Veilguard won’t allow full control of companions in combat.

According to game director Corinne Busche, this is because the game is "a much higher actions-per-minute game" now. Translation: "It's so chaotic that if we let you control your companions, your brain might actually melt." Thanks for looking out for our cognitive functions, BioWare.

That said, we'll still be able to trigger companion abilities via an activity wheel. When you use it, combat pauses, letting you review abilities and plan your stack before executing. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the Final Fantasy VII remake.

Busche claims that in playtesting, players were "more engaged than ever" with this new system. So either this new combat style is actually brilliant, or BioWare has invented some sort of mind control device. If it's the latter, can I borrow it? I’ve got a raise to negotiate.

We're also down to two companions in our party now, instead of three. On an interesting note, it seems that on companion quests, the companion in question does not actually have to be in your party. Which at least gives the occasional illusion of a 3-character party.

Rook

SHOW US THE CHARACTER CREATOR, BIOWARE!!!!

Sorry, I uh, don’t know what came over me there.

Right now we know that players have extensive options to personalize their protagonist, Rook. The character creator allows for detailed customization of physical appearance, including body type, facial features, hairstyles, and tattoos. This includes the ability to choose your pronouns!

We also see the return of the emotion wheel, from previous games in the franchise. Although we haven’t seen as much footage of how background (such as the ability to choose your faction as well as your race and class) and dialogue choices will affect NPC’s perception of Rook, or the story at large.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

So, why am I holding out hope? Let’s break it down.

The Good:

BioWare's poured A LOT of love into this game. The attention to detail in the world-building, the little glint in the eyes of the dev-team when they talk about the combat system - I think they might genuinely believe they’ve put something together that they can be proud of.

And, frankly, the story alone might be enough for me. Killing gods isn’t exactly groundbreaking - God of War's been doing it for years, and even our old pal Corypheus fancied himself a deity in Inquisition. But taking down multiple god-like beings is undeniably epic.

The Bad

It’s all looking good…except for one confirmed detail that makes my heart sink into my stomach.

This game was built using Frostbite. While Frostbite’s clearly capable of producing stunning visuals, its history with BioWare games has been rocky at best. Mass Effect: Andromeda’s launch was marred by technical issues (we all remember the memes), and Anthem's development was notoriously hampered by engine limitations.

While BioWare has had time to improve their mastery of the engine, there's still a lingering worry about potential technical issues at launch.

The Ugly

Here’s the truth about this game: we won’t know how good it’ll actually be until it’s in our hands. And that’s…well..a little under two months away.

We can speculate, analyze every trailer, and debate potential plotlines until the nugs come home. But at the end of the day, all of this is just educated guesswork.

And then, after launch we’ll finally have the answer to that click-batey question: Is BioWare back?