Dragon Age fan Rae was able to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard for seven hours at a preview event – and is absolutely thrilled.
When it comes to BioWare, I have a lot of unpopular opinions. Dragon Age 2? Absolutely underrated. Mass Effect Andromeda? Far from as bad as often claimed. Mass Effect 2 the best part? No way. And no, Anthem didn’t deserve its early end!
So. Now that this is out of the way and you may have potentially lost all trust in me, let me explain why you should still believe me when I say that Dragon Age: The Veilguard could be the best Dragon Age in the series – whether you’re a veteran of the series or a newcomer.
I had the opportunity to try out the latest installment of the RPG series for nearly seven hours and ask the development team questions. During this time, I could see that BioWare – despite all doubts – has found itself again.
Who’s writing here? Rae is Head of Editorial at Webedia and part of the editorial team at MeinMMO. She loves RPGs and fell in love with BioWare over 10 years ago with Dragon Age: Origins. When she’s not making the same decisions in RPGs for the 317th time, although she “definitely wants to do everything differently this time,” she mainly plays multiplayer shooters and cozy games.
BioWare relies on old strengths
What exactly could I play?
- about 7 hours of Dragon Age: Veilguard
- five different save slots from Act 1
- four different builds: 2x mage, 1x warrior, 1x rogue
If you ask a BioWare fan what they consider the special strengths of the studio, two things are usually mentioned: characters, story, and decisions with consequences.
After only seven hours with an RPG that will likely land in the higher double digits in terms of hours played, I obviously can’t make a definitive statement about those aspects just yet. However, there were a few indicators for me that suggest BioWare has returned to its former strength.
Don’t worry, this preview remains spoiler-free! I won’t reveal any details about the plot but will only provide assessments of moments that left me with the impression that BioWare is on the right track.
Let’s start with the characters and the story.
The characters and especially the companions I encountered were very well-rounded and full of personality from the very beginning. The dialogues, despite the dark situations, were full of humor and life – even if fan-favorite Varric wasn’t around to make a joke.
Almost always there were conversations happening in the background, and there seemed to be more party banter than in previous installments. Depending on whom we took with us, the dynamics were also completely different.
While Qunari Taash was relatively taciturn with me in combination with mage Emmerich, she was much more open with Kevin from GamePro, who had her with another companion.
Main character Rook also made a good and rounded impression. Even in my short time with her, there were repeated references to her previously selected background in the character creator.
This is something I sorely missed in Inquisition, especially compared to Dragon Age: Origins, which had six different playable beginnings. Unfortunately, we are similarly denied this in Veilguard, but it’s good to see that it’s not completely irrelevant which background our Rook has.
At the start, we can decide in the character editor which faction Rook belongs to, and thus what background story he or she has:
- Veil Jumper
- Grey Wardens
- The Mourn Watch
- Shadow Dragons
- Lords of Fortune
- Antivan Crows
They all come with their own bonuses, and regardless of which one you choose, you can still undertake the quests of the other factions. However, yours is naturally the one that is most positively inclined toward you and will be referenced repeatedly throughout the game.
For my self-created character, I chose the Shadow Dragons, an underground organization that fights against slavery in Tevinter. Thus, I already had additional conversations with one of my first companions, Neve, as she also belongs to the Shadow Dragons.
As for the story itself, I don’t want to say too much to avoid spoilers. However, I was positively surprised from the start, especially regarding Solas’s role and possible intentions. The fact that BioWare changed the title of the fourth Dragon Age game from “Dreadwolf” to “The Veilguard” already hinted at that. Still, it’s nice to see that the studio enjoys playing with fans’ expectations.
And of course, a story in every BioWare game also involves hard decisions with consequences. And yes, there will be this in Dragon Age: The Veilguard again.
Right at the start, it had visible effects, which companion I chose in a mission. As a result of my choice, she was injured and looked visibly worn out in the following scenes. This is naturally a minor detail overall; however, I can’t say anything about the major decision I made later in Act 1 for NDA- (and spoiler-) reasons.
But let me reveal this much: You will be thrown into situations that will have larger impacts on the subsequent gameplay, similar to the “Templar vs Mage” question in Dragon Age: Inquisition, making multiple playthroughs of The Veilguard worthwhile.
What you shouldn’t expect, however, are subtle options or hidden choices like in Dragon Age: Origins or most recently in the excellent Baldur’s Gate 3. Here it often happened that we didn’t realize we were altering the course of the story until hours later when we were confronted with the consequences. That doesn’t seem to be the case in The Veilguard.
The decisions I made during my seven hours with the RPG were always very clearly recognizable as such and the outcomes foreseeable. Of course, there may be more hidden in the final release, but I wouldn’t expect any subtlety.
This is unfortunate because it’s one of the things I love about Baldur’s Gate 3 and that has ensured I still think back to my first, disastrous playthrough of Dragon Age: Origins after 13 years. Making a decision and only having the “Oh Shit!” moment hours later is part of what makes RPGs so appealing to me. It would be nice if Veilguard offers more in this regard, especially for those who may have only found enjoyment in the genre through BG3.