Dragon Age: Early Moments of Familiar High Fantasy: The Veilguard
The sensuous, dulcet tones of Varric narrating the commencement of another exciting adventure set the tone of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which starts what many fans of the saga would expect at this point in its protracted storyline. While the narrative merely sort of leaps right into things under the presumption you have some knowledge of where things left off in Inquisition, the character's usual wit and charm is very much present. Varric has gathered a crew to try to stop Solas, the Dreadwolf, who is already carrying out a horrific ritual to destroy the Veil in the capital city of Tevinter Imperium.
The demonstration started with a player choice whereby Rook, our highly configurable hero (more on that later), had to decide whether to battle an entire bar or try to talk his way into more tranquil conditions. Naturally, the demoist decided to beat everyone in a bit of Dungeons & Dragons-esque tavern fun, complete with Varric pinning the shadowy bartender to her own station with a well placed crossbow bolt for some interrogation. It's cheeky, fun, but at this point it's somewhat familiar - not exactly to Dragon Age as a whole, which I believe does some great job in subverting high fantasy expectations or extending on less often used tropes, but to the genre itself.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard's Fighting Is Their Best Prospect For Making Impact
To be honest, I'm a Dragon Age 2 apologist through and through and believe that game was masterfully created. A major reason I believe that is the combat it housed, which was fun, quick, and a power fantasy of all the most enduring tropes in the genre - the explosive mage (no pun intended for Anders' sake), the nimble rogue, and the brutal warrior were present and gently merged into a system that simply bucked a trend many players weren't ready to switch over from at the time. Combining the tactical pauses of Dragon Age's profound strategy with a more fluid, eye-catching approach to combat that may occasionally produce amazing visuals, Veilguard offers an enhanced variation of that battle system.
Rook and crew fought various foes on their route to stop Solas throughout the demos. Sometimes battle started on a movie screen and other times by just walking toward an enemy on the map. Our Rook was a rogue focused in agility-based skills and a bow to aid close gap advantages; the string of assaults achievable when playing Rook made the combat look somewhat dynamic on a basic level. Every class in Dragon Age: Inquisition will have a charge meter tailored to them that honors players for roleplaying their job successfully; in the case of the Rogue, it's by chaining attacks together without getting struck and lithely escaping hits. Charging the meter fuels particular skills accessible through either the tactics wheel or a mapped shortcut button.
Customizing Characters Is Back And Better Than It Has Ever Been
The other Dragon Age element that stopped me was its character designs. First of all, though, it merits appreciation for the breadth of characterizing choices it offers. Though we only saw some of them in the demonstration, they are significant enhancements and changes with hair rendering for styles that have regularly been attacked as lacking one of the most dramatic out of the gate. Choosing a political/power group to be affiliated with instead of "noble" or "street urchin" helps players simplify their focus on character background by allowing them to represent some of their background and so influence how the world views them.
A slider that facilitates body type selection and aids in the very finding of that sweet spot in player representation is another major tool for character modification. Navigating around seemed quite simple, and it produced a physique either akin to that player's actual identity or their ideal fantasy self. Though everything seems great so far, I am quite forward to have my hands on The Veilguard customizing more drastically to see exactly how deep the rabbit hole goes.
Still Concerned Regarding Dragon Age: The Veilguard
The Veilguard demo I watched at Summer Game Fest 2024 left me in two thoughts. The Dragon Age The first is one of extreme panic: why on Earth does this game look like Varric is discovering where Tomato Town is? Its first hour presents even more story hooks for the Dreadwolf narrative; do we really need more?
That other mind, though, is one of hope. Clearly, with its ambient design and combat colorful and exciting, BioWare has given style much thought, aside from character aesthetic. If it isn't another 100 hours with too much side material, the depth of character customization and skills should hopefully inspire a motivation to play through the game numerous times.
I watched the First Hour of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and wonder if Inquisition looms over the Series or if I should be legitimately concerned.
I saw a behind-closed-doors view of the future of Dragon Age: The Veilguard in an hour-long developer-led demonstration of the game's opening events during Screen Rant covering Summer Game Fest 2024. My time with the Dragon Age games has been one of extremes: Origins reignited my love of massive fantasy RPGs; DA2 made me question what I actually wanted out of an RPG; and Dragon Age: Inquisition made me want to start seriously evaluating how I was spending my limited time. I was nervous heading in.
That's not to say Inquisition was horrible; I believe by now most of us can agree it was maybe a little bloated, with the Hinterlands a legendary portrayal of how not to create an early environment. But even with Solas's wonderfully bald head present in even the earliest inklings of story in Veilguard, I can't help but worry there will be more bloat added to what at its core is a beautifully told tale of revenge, regret, and the complexity of good and evil. Dragon Age has made me leery of being able to wrap its Dreadwolf arc in satisfying, succinct fashion.
