The latest entry in the Dragon Age series was probably the most talked-about game at the Summer Game Festival. I’m a huge RPG fan, so I often have people come up to me and ask, “Have you seen Dragon Age?”
Because of regular scheduling issues, I didn’t see it until almost the end of the show – but it did give me an interesting opportunity. I was able to throw this question back to the media or other members of the industry who asked it, and their reactions were pretty universal, which doesn’t happen often – which was fun.
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It would be one of those – “Ah, yes…” with a slightly pained expression and a slightly raised tone, which always suggested that the sentence was about to go on for longer. And it did. People always responded that Veilguard looked great, but…
The exact parameters of the “but” were always explained in vague, loose ways – but once I saw the game in person, I understood it. Sitting down to write this, I understand why others had trouble articulating through the “I was too busy” brain fog midway through the show. But now, with a little time and distance, and the show over, let me talk about it.
Dragon Age: Keeper of the Veil means a lot to a lot of people. If you’re a fan of the characters, the love story, and the world, I think it’s probably the best Dragon Age game yet. If you like visuals and cinematic style, this game has more in common with games like EA’s Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order than any other Dragon Age game. It looks very polished, very powerful, and very good. but…ah……
I guess the timing of this game’s release is a bit odd. Dragon Age Origins was released as a spiritual sequel to games like Neverwinter Nights and Baldur’s Gate. But over the years it dramatically shifted from a capital-C “CRPG” to a small “cRPG,” so to speak – pursuing more action-based combat and streamlining a lot of choices to make adventuring accessible. This new game continues down that path – but in 2024, it’s hard not to think about the success of Dragon Age. Baldur’s Gate 3
Any split of opinion about the latest Dragon Age entry is bound to revolve around how much you like or want a traditional RPG. Fans of Dragon Age: Origins might not be as well suited to this game. In fact, this game most closely resembles Dragon Age 2 – albeit without that game’s small-scale, small-stakes vibe.
The succinct SGF demo (which took up the first hour or so of the game) showed that the developers have been taking equally impressive inspiration from other industry darlings. Like I said, the camera position was very far away, reminding me of Star Wars Jedi Knight. The same was true of the hack-and-slash approach to dealing basic damage to enemies–at least the Warrior class I saw in the game. Oddly, the pacing of basic attacks was reminiscent of the “two-button” combat of Fable II and Fable III, which had a particularly strong rhythm. Someone later compared it to Arkham, and I nodded sagely in agreement.
Of course, the ability wheel can be pulled up, temporarily pausing combat to let you trigger up to nine skills – three for the protagonist, and any two companions who accompany them. There will be a handful of skills above three on the expanded skill tree, with three specialization paths for each “core” class.
So a fighter can choose to be a “Reaper” (deals massive damage, steals enemy health, etc.), a “Butcher” (wields a great sword, deals massive damage), or a “Champion” (wields a shield, similar to a Paladin) on the class tree. This is where most of your progression will come from – although BioWare didn’t show this system in detail in this demo.
The two games have always subtly borrowed from each other, but the moment-to-moment flow of combat feels more action-packed and similar to Mass Effect. This feels a bit like a Jedi Knight game, just like Mass Effect 2 was to Gears of War back in the day.
Skills have a weird build-up and depletion mechanic. So for the Warrior class, attacking enemies usually builds up “rage,” which can then be spent in ability rounds to trigger more powerful attacks. While I haven’t seen them, my understanding is that the same is true for other classes, just with different names – rogues don’t have rage, but “momentum,” and mages, of course, have “mana.” But the core idea is the same: because this resource limits your use of more powerful skills and is accumulated by getting stuck in, you’re encouraged to be proactive in combat. It’s back to that Fable-y, Arkham-y rhythm. Snap, snap, snap, technique. Snap, snap, snap, technique.
I really enjoyed the combat graphics – but again, I know there will inevitably be some hardcore RPG concerns. Mass Effect has always been arguably the more action-oriented of BioWare’s franchises, while Dragon Age is a more traditional RPG. This feels like a step towards the Mass Effect style – and in many ways, this game about forming a squad has a strong ME2 vibe to it, which was first introduced to the press via a stunning cinematic opening reveal.
I feel like the cinematic nature of this sequence is revealing, or at least divisive, about the game – it’s totally One of the Action game. If you took a home DNA test on The Veilguard, the results would show at least some Nathan Drake. The demo had those beats – ziplines, sliding hills to limit your progress between sections, and giant glowing environmental cues to pick up loot or refill health potions.
Admittedly, during the Q&A, BioWare reps noted that this action-packed and completely linear sequence isn’t really representative of what kind of game Veilguard is — the final game will certainly feature more open-ended exploration. But it’s not an open-ended game. Instead, this feels like a more linear role-playing game that will offer breadth in other ways — like its character creator, which looks incredibly detailed and is undoubtedly the best BioWare has ever made. Or its cast of characters, who grow, change, and transform based on the choices you make — and your decisions have endless positive or extremely negative consequences.
The world is gorgeously rendered, and more interesting than any area in a previous Dragon Age game. There’s a sense of a confident BioWare taking its strengths (characters, worldbuilding, storytelling) and playing them hard. But it’s interesting that this fits with a game that comes across as less confident in some of its structural design elements.
In some ways, Dragon Age: Guardians of the Veil reminds me of another recent big-budget RPG sequel: Final Fantasy 16. FF16 was a great game – and I feel like Guardians of the Veil will be, too. But 16 is also a game that walks a fine line between its allegiances (series tradition, roleplaying expectations, a truly rabid fanbase) and its ambitions (making a truly mainstream action-adventure, cinematic, without making development a chore). The two feel like birds of a feather.
But honestly, all of this is hard to judge from just the prologue. The public is allowed to watch about 20 minutes of the hour we watched. I feel like those 20 minutes are crucial to watch, especially to wash off the stink of that terrible trailer. But ultimately, all of this is just from the opening hour of the game. The demo I watched Finish As the game’s late title cards appear, it can be said that when the game really start.
Now, people are beginning to question Veilguard’s linearity, RPG mechanics, and so on. In that sense, showing the press only the opening hour of the game and not reading anything about it felt like a strange choice of broadcast. But at the same time, I did feel like I got a pretty good introduction to Veilguard.
Like I said, it has a Final Fantasy 16 feel to it. This is a series that tries to honor its past while tiptoeing into the future. This certainly feels the most confident BioWare has had in a decade. I’m very much looking forward to learning more.
