Electronic Arts and BioWare have released the official 20-minute gameplay video for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. The demo shows the beginning of the game and companions, dialogues, boss battles, and combat mechanics.
Warrick, who game director Corinne Boucher calls the «Obi-Wan Kenobi» of the franchise, tells the backstory to explain the motivation of Solas, aka the Dire Wolf. The video gives a glimpse of the various characters and classes in action, including a level 1 rogue named Rook, Scout Lace Harding, Ice Mage Niv Gallus, and Warrick as they fight demons to stop Solas from destroying the Veil. The video also shows the attacked city of Minratus, the battle in the Arlatan Forest, a look at the ability wheel during battle, and much more.
The elven trickster god Solas wants to tear down the Veil that separates Thedas from the demon world to restore immortality and glory to his people – even at the cost of many lives. But the heroes destroy his ritual, and two of his oldest and most powerful enemies are freed. They seek to complete what they sought millennia ago — complete domination of the world. The journey with the intention of stopping these two powerful deities will span the entirety of Thedas. The rest of the demo is one long action sequence as the protagonists race through the Empire’s capital, Tevinter.
The size of the group, including the player’s character, has been reduced from four to three — battles will become more active per companion. This makes the game look more like Mass Effect than Dragon Age. Enhanced character interaction: one character could cast a weakening effect on the enemy, while the other would attack at the same time.
Interestingly, the abilities they can develop also depend on the relationship with their companions. In turn, relationships depend on choices in dialogues, both with them and during the game. Also, the development and skills of companions depend on the choice of backstory, which usually does not have much gameplay value in such games.
«Each of the companions you travel with has a really complex backstory, their own problems, deep motivations. And they play out through very well thought out character arcs. Missions that are unique to them, but ultimately connected to a larger story. And along the way, we will make important decisions for each of them, sometimes affecting who they are, sometimes painful, I’ve cried more than once, and sometimes very joyful,» says Corinne Boucher.
Combat is centered on evading, countering, and using risky but powerful attacks designed to break down layers of enemy armor. At the center of its strategy is the ability wheel, which stops events and allows you to give orders. In particular, companions can be equipped as support units or healers — player request after Dragon Age: Inquisition.
Boucher confirmed that in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, you can have an affair with any companion, regardless of the character’s gender or race. In previous Dragon Age games, romantic characters had different sexual orientations. For example, Solas in Dragon Age: Inquisition’s only female elves could have an affair with him.
«They will refer to their past experiences or partners… For example, we saw Harding. I might be playing a straight male character who flirts with her, but I’ve decided not to have an affair. She can meet Taash. So my perception, my personality, has nothing to do with their identities, and it comes through very strongly»
Boucher confirms that you’ll be able to start flirting with everyone fairly early on, when you engage all seven companions within the first act. But it’s only in the later parts of the game, when relationships develop, that it can get spicy. BioWare games have very explicit sex scenes in these cases, and The Veilguard is no different: «Of course we are — an M-rated game. We have nudity».
Corinne Boucher admits that she played in the Baldur’s Gate 3 and is an advocate for it: «The more group-based, character-centered role-playing games with a deep emotional connection, the better». She says that some of the scenes in Baldur’s Gate 3 were «shocking and comical in a way, and I would say I enjoyed it».
Traditionally, BioWare games don’t have the best hair customization. In their quest to create their own version of Shepard or Hawke, players usually have trouble with a limited number of hairstyles, most of which look bad. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will finally have a large variety of hair options, with hairstyles that are natural and physics-based.
«Of course, we know that when we talk to our fans, the first thing everyone asks about is our hair. Every single time. So with the hairstyles, we paid special attention to make sure they are well represented so that everyone sees hairstyles that feel authentic», — says Corinne Boucher.
According to Boucher, The Veilguard uses stranded hair technology partially borrowed from the EA Sports game. The hair is «fully controlled by physics», so it «looks even better in motion than in static». Some commentators have already noticed the improved hair in the videos presented.
In addition to hairstyles, Dragon Age: The Veilguard character editor offers many options for customizing other settings: «all the sliders you could want». There is a body morph option that allows players to choose different body sizes. There are also options for choosing pronouns to address, so you can play as a non-binary character. Of course, the editor lets you choose to choose between humans, elves, dwarves, and kunari, with additional options for origin, class, faction, and playstyle.
«It’s very important to us that everyone can see themselves, their idealized version of themselves or someone similar in the game, and the character creator really allows for that».
You will also be able to choose your faction when creating your character. There are a total of six factions, including «Antiva’s Ravens», «Gray Wardens», and «Shadow Dragons».
Dragon Age:The Veilguard will allow you to carry over decisions from previous games, but this time everything will work a little differently. The ability to import your choices is integrated into the character editor.
«It had been 10 years since the players had played. They might not remember [what they did in previous games]. They might need a refresher, and we don’t want new players to feel like they’re missing out. So in the character creator… you can go back to your past adventure».
When asked if all previous characters will be woven into Veilguard like Hawke, Boucher said: «I won’t say all of them, but yes, some of them». However, the editor will not read files from previous games.
It has been confirmed that the game will not require mandatory account linking and can be played completely offline. According to unofficial reports, the new version of the Frostbite Engine is aimed at playing at 60 frames per second. On consoles, the game will have performance and quality modes. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be released in the fall of 2024 for PlayStation 5 (PS5), Xbox Series X|S, and PC (Steam and Epic Games Store).
Source: IGN