When I sawDragon Age: The VeilguardatSummer Game Fest, it was in a vacuum. It was the first time press had seen anything of the game, and there was no one with me besides my colleague at TheGamer Eric Switzer. I had no idea what anyone else would think of the game. My general reaction was that I still didn’t like the name (it has grown on me since), I didn’t like the companion trailer (it has not grown on me since), and the game… well,Dragon Agewas back, and that was enough.
It was tough to see past that initial starry-eyed reaction. It’s been ten years since the last Dragon Age game, and in that decadeBioWarehas made nothing that has won my affection, despite once being my favourite studio. I had reservations, withthe move away from a four-man partyandthe lack of controllable companions, but I was still on board. Harding being part of the main team seemed a fantastic choice, the character creator had depth, and Neve (the only new companion I met) felt like a classic BioWare foil. Even the decision to meet Solas so early seemed narratively bold. Yeah, I was into this.
The Veilguard Still Needs To Win Fans Over
Since then, it has been a rocky road for the game. The decision to debut with just the companion trailerrather than any gameplayshowed to press set the game up for a negative reception, while that was not smoothed over by pushing the influence of the Dragon Age Council (a group of hardcore fans involved in some development discussion) in this age where the silent majority of fans arewary of the fanfictionification of media. The unearthing ofDavrin actor Ike Amadi’s Twitter activity, which included following Andrew Tate and Libs of TikTok, wasa distraction BioWare could do without.
But a game is not what people think of it during the marketing cycle, it is what people think after they have played it. These bumps in the road were not derailing - Dragon Age is still a large enough series that thousands upon thousands of fans will be excited to give it the benefit of the doubt. I count myself among them; none of what I have seen, read, or heard about the game has changed its spot from my most anticipated game in the home stretch of the year. However, Dragon Age is not making it easy for me.
In the most recent gameplay footage, one of the big complaints was the look of the qunari Rook, whose face is too smooth. It’s a whole separate issue that the qunari look different in every game and are leaning into being yassified at the same time that fantasy storytelling is rounding off most of its races to be humans, but with a tail this time. I also think it’s bad form to have routinely spoken about games costing too much and taking too long because of an unnecessary pressure to be photorealistic, and then turn around andcomplain about face animations. So I won’t do that, but it is another minor bump on The Veilguard’s road. However, I can’t quite get over how slow everything looks.
Dragon Age’s Combat Is Yet To Convince
Each of the three Dragon Age games play very differently.Dragon Age: Origins is the most tactical of the lot, and a game that could easily be made turn-based without all that much changing to the general approach to combat. Dragon Age 2, my personal favourite, is an action game built on speed, and so it may be natural that the others feel slower in comparison. Dragon Age: Inquisition is the broadest game, making best use of the battlefield by spreading companions out and giving each of them a purpose, keeping the individual brilliance of Origins with the speed of 2. Despite having now seen over an hour of The Veilguard between my preview and various footage,I’m not sure what it is.
Everything feels centred on the Rook, which is natural since you can’t play as your companions, only direct and command them as inMass Effect. But from the movement in the world itself to the approach to combat, it all looks very slow. Making it fantasy Mass Effect might have worked if this was a high-octane affair, but it keeps the more reserved attitude that suits controlling (as in, physically inhabiting) multiple characters across the battlefield. And we don’t have that. If the combat footage we’ve seen is to be believed, we have rolling. Lots of rolling.
It doesn’t always feel like the companions are there, either in combat or when wandering around the map. It may be that the footage is a gentle jog to show off the environments and lose the more hectic feeling players may have when tearing through caves seeking treasure, but it all seems so sluggish too. Every Dragon Age is different, but I’m not sure how much this feels like any of them, and after ten years away, going against the grain people have been craving is a risk.
I’m still excited for The Veilguard, but between so many changes to series staples, a last minute name change, the smallest cast ever, and a story that appears to reflect on Inquisition as much as build on it, I get the feeling The Veilguard is a game caught up in an identity crisis. I hope it’s keeping its cards close to its chest and is ready to prove me wrong this October.
