It’s been ten lengthy years since Dragon Age: Inquisition and the expectations for the subsequent recreation within the sequence, Dragon Age: The Veilguard, appear unattainable. A full decade, a bevy of behind-the-scenes changes, cuts at BioWare, and a considerably divisive begin when its unveiling started in earnest in June made me somewhat anxious for my most extremely anticipated recreation of the 12 months. However one among my greatest considerations was my impression, based mostly on early previews, that it was headed within the path of being a linear motion recreation slightly than its extra open-world predecessor. Whereas Dragon Age is understood for altering its type with every installment, I hoped dearly that it wouldn’t lose an excessive amount of of the DA DNA I fell in love with.
After hours of hands-on time unfold throughout two days, I’m happy to say I walked away with pleasure and curiosity, however principally, aid to wave a lot of my considerations goodbye. My time with The Veilguard coated a large smattering of issues: the extremely expansive character creator (extra on that later), the introductory quests, a faction mission, and a companion quest somewhat deeper into the sport. However I used to be principally happy with my potential to only discover Northern Thedas in all its gorgeously designed glory, experiencing a setting in Dragon Age lore that we’ve actually solely heard about.
To be clear, The Veilguard isn’t the open-world playground that Inquisition was – as recreation director Corinne Busche has beforehand said, it’s extra “mission-based.” However what impressed me after the primary few hours was how a lot exploration can nonetheless be finished within the numerous areas, in addition to the affect the participant character, Rook, can have on these areas. Contemplate it one thing of a mixture of Dragon Age 2 and Inquisition – the extra streamlined method of the previous with the wealthy, geographically and sociopolitically various world of the latter.
In fact, among the greater artstyle, fight, and gameplay modifications might be topic to non-public style. However after my time with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I left feeling like these ten lengthy years simply would possibly’ve been well worth the wait.
Getting Acquainted
As followers have already seen from the primary gameplay trailer, gamers are dropped proper into town of Minrathous in the course of the motion as Solas prepares a ritual that may devastate Thedas. Fortunately, our outdated buddy Varric has recruited you to assist, and it barely takes a few minutes for the sport to place the concentrate on Rook. After a surprisingly efficient and succinct story recap from Varric, there are a variety of elements The Veilguard begins easing you into.
For one: the fight. Gone are the times of Dragon Age: Origins’ extra CRPG-inspired tactical system, providing a method that’s a mixture of fast motion and a mechanic the place you possibly can pause and pull up your radial menu. Whereas this positively does take some getting used to, and it’ll be a gradual course of to create what may very well be a extremely personalized construct whereas studying all of your companions’ completely different talents, it didn’t take me lengthy to truly begin having enjoyable with it.
I largely performed mage and rogue builds throughout my hands-on time, and likewise rapidly began to lean on sure companions’ talents. For one, the mage therapeutic potential was important – for one significantly tough Revenant, I principally established a sample the place I used to be solely utilizing Bellara’s mana to heal me, dodging and taking part in it protected when it obtained too dangerous. Neve’s potential to sluggish time was additionally one I saved returning to, providing a bit extra management on the battlefield when the scenario obtained fast-paced. As for glass cannon builds, you’ll wish to have a warrior round to taunt your enemies out of your means.
Like a complete lot in The Veilguard, fight revolves round your companions, despite the fact that you possibly can’t absolutely take management of them like in earlier Dragon Age video games. Completely different companions have completely different combo choices collectively, and there are definitely alternatives to construct staff synergy. Oh, and also you’ll wish to take heed to your companions in fight too, as they’ll often drop some helpful hints.
However fight apart, your dialogue decisions, your Rook’s background (tied to one among six factions you possibly can select), and the constant selections you make are instantly essential, which shouldn’t be too shocking for followers of BioWare video games. The dialogue wheel is again, after all, as is the approval/disapproval system, however I used to be stunned to see that The Veilguard truly explains the results of a few of your dialogue decisions in very clear phrases. It’s a variation of the “so and so will keep in mind that” system, however extra particular.
Take, for instance, my first confrontation with Solas, aka Fen’harel aka the Dread Wolf. I selected a extra sarcastic, humorous method with him, and on the finish of our confrontation, textual content on the facet of the display screen knowledgeable me that I’ve “traded verbal jabs with Solas.” It was removed from the one prevalence of this type of textual content, and it leaves me curious as to how your relationships with numerous characters will construct and department out over time based mostly in your perspective.
Talking of penalties, it rapidly turned clear to me that there would constantly be tons of decisions in The Veilguard that’ll have lasting outcomes. It most likely looks like I’m stating the apparent right here, however I obtained the sense that much more of those sorts of decisions is perhaps peppered all through than the same old BioWare recreation. Proper originally, as an example, I decided that led to Harding getting injured, and she or he remained bruised-up for the rest of the subsequent couple of hours. I felt like an actual jerk about it, and that was most likely the purpose; Dragon Age: The Veilguard appeared to be telling me, proper from the beginning, that I’m going to really feel like a jerk lots. With out spoiling an excessive amount of, you’ll have the ability to see a few of your development and decisions within the surroundings round you as nicely.
However, as soon as introductions have been out of the way in which, it was time to discover the broad world of Thedas and see its previous and current collide.
(Veil)Leaping Into the World
As talked about earlier, one among my greatest worries was that The Veilguard may find yourself being extra linear in its method, buying and selling branching gameplay for a straight line. And certain, the opening hours – primarily, the tutorial zone – are somewhat railroad-y, save for a few key selections you need to make. However when you’re previous that and extra established inside Act 1, you’re way more free to deal with quests as you please as you unlock increasingly more areas.
You do that by way of The Crossroads. For many who aren’t brushed up on their Dragon Age lore, that’s a nexus between the waking world of Thedas and the metaphysical realm of The Fade by means of which the traditional elves would journey by means of magical mirrors referred to as Eluvians. You now use the Eluvians for that very same function, and to unlock new areas, you need to combat by means of sure areas of The Crossroads earlier than you can begin fast-traveling to them.
Unlocking stated areas opens up an enormous community of areas and, not in contrast to previous Dragon Age video games, they’re dramatically completely different from each other. Take, for instance, the Arlathan Forest, a stunning, colourful area whose aesthetics combine greenery with elven magic. You’ll be able to see nugs burrow into the grass, magical artifacts abound, and there’s an enormous array of nature to easily simply admire. You’re hit with an enormous tone shift, nevertheless, once you head to Hossberg; at the moment beneath siege by the Blight, right here is the place you’ll see among the extra horror-inspired aesthetics and, frankly, simply among the grosser elements of the Blight. Whereas The Veilguard’s tone definitely leans extra excessive fantasy in locations like The Crossroads, don’t fear; those that miss the gore and darkish fantasy of Origins will discover that too in locations the place the Blight has unfold.
However I couldn’t assist however spend loads of my time simply operating about in Treviso, the bustling metropolis that’s dwelling to the Antivan Crows faction. For one factor, a energetic metropolis seems like a novelty in Dragon Age. However there was merely a lot to discover that I saved getting sidetracked – a service provider with distinctive objects right here, a brand new quest to choose up over there, a random fight encounter right here. And that’s simply once I wasn’t trying round for a cat or canine to pet (as a result of sure, you possibly can pet the cats and canines).
Outdoors of the cats and canines, there are some distinctive methods to work together with the surroundings too. Every companion has an environmental potential, a few of which got here in fairly helpful for me. In my time within the Arlathan Forest, I often referred to as upon Bellara, whose environmental potential permits her to tinker with magical artifacts. In a pleasant quality-of-life addition, your companions don’t even have to be in your get together so as so that you can use these talents. (As an apart, one other one among my favourite high quality of life additions is the truth that get together banter pauses and picks up once more later if you happen to set off fight, a cutscene, or the rest that might interrupt their dialogue. That’s proper – no extra awkward standing round as a way to hear the entire dialog).
Should you’re feeling overwhelmed, the problem and accessibility choices do permit for about simply as a lot or as little hand-holding as you want. For instance, with one Antivan Crows quest I used to be doing, I may flip the navigation on and easily comply with the sport’s steerage, or flip it off and search for clues within the surroundings to comply with – on this case, The Crows’ purple image, painted on sure partitions. I additionally simply occurred to be taking part in an Antivan Crow Rook whereas finishing this quest, which led to some enjoyable dialogue choices.
As soon as I used to be within the thick of issues, I may clearly see the “okay okay, we heard the complaints” options in The Veilguard. Particularly, addressing the notorious Hinterlands Problem, a reference to the primary open-world space gamers go to in Inquisition. The zone was full of greater than 50 sidequests, a lot of which boiled right down to mere fetch quests, and left many gamers drowning in a bevy of checklists that felt inconsequential to the story. The Veilguard has boiled this down rather a lot – you’re nonetheless free to discover, however the scope isn’t practically as dizzying, and the quests level again to the principle story, a area or faction, or a companion.
One other clear response to criticisms of Inquisition are our villains in The Veilguard, Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain. The two elven gods really feel way more current all through the occasions of the early recreation than Corypheus, the frankly lackluster baddie of Inquisition.
Whereas there’s an entire lot extra Thedas to see and speak about, I’d be remiss if I didn’t deliver it again dwelling to The Lighthouse.
The Base of Operations
The Lighthouse will seemingly be an important location of The Veilguard, serving because the hub for you and your companions. Every one among your companions has their very own room, and conveniently, a light-weight shines exterior of their door after they have a cutscene accessible. When you get additional into Act 1, it definitely begins to really feel extra lived-in, and you’ll uncover some fairly charming character quirks. For instance, I discovered that Manfred, Emmrich’s skeletal assistant, enjoys spending time on the balcony, and I even obtained a couple of video games of Rock, Paper, Scissors in with him.
It’s additionally, clearly, the place you’re capable of do some housekeeping, particularly in terms of The Caretaker. This wildly useful spirit is at all times standing by that can assist you enchant and improve armor for you and your companions.
However I discovered The Lighthouse considerably symbolic of one of many greatest challenges this recreation is dealing with: bringing in new gamers whereas honoring the now extremely huge lore that Dragon Age has constructed throughout the video games, comedian books, brief tales, and extra. Principally, if you happen to have been anxious that the identify change from Dragon Age: Dreadwolf would imply much less Solas, assume once more – his historical past, together with the historical past of the Evanuris, are baked into The Lighthouse, and also you be taught increasingly more concerning the menace you face as you unlock Solas’ murals with numerous wolf statues. You even get to see a few of his reminiscences firsthand.
As a lore nerd, I very a lot appreciated this, in addition to the assorted different callbacks to sequence historical past. The Origins followers will seemingly love the Gray Warden-heavy quests, and we already know the Inquisitor (the protagonist from Dragon Age: Inquisition) might be concerned ultimately, as you possibly can recreate them and choose your world states within the character creator. However I do surprise if it’ll overwhelm new gamers, which BioWare appears to be courting with its action-heavy fight system.
That’s why it helps, no less than, to have one thing of an outsider like Rook to take the helm of The Veilguard. Plus, the scrappiness of Rook jogged my memory a little bit of taking part in as Hawke in Dragon Age 2, slightly than the extra “chosen one”-esque protagonists of the Warden in Origins and the Inquisitor in Inquisition.
In brief, lots’s modified in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, however there was a lot I used to be relieved to see keep: the concentrate on companions and romance, the wealthy lore, and a stunning world to discover. Evidently, there’s nonetheless a ton of The Veilguard that I haven’t seen, particularly if it’s as massive as Origins and Inquisition (and it definitely looks like it). However after ending my preview, I discovered myself much more wanting to dive into it – and way more hopeful that this may very well be the hit BioWare wants.
Alex Stedman is a Senior Information Editor with IGN, overseeing leisure reporting. When she’s not writing or modifying, you’ll find her studying fantasy novels or taking part in Dungeons & Dragons.