10 Things To Know Before Playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard

10 Things to Know Before Playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Welcome to MojoPlays, and today we’re looking at everything you need to know about “Dragon Age: The Veilguard”, releasing on October 31st for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC.

The Name Change

For years, “Dragon Age 4” was known as “Dragon Age: Dreadwolf”, and was believed to follow up closely on the cliffhanger at the end of “Inquisition” that Solas is the Dreadwolf, one of the Elven gods. It’s rare that a game gets a name change after the game has already been announced with a different name, but BioWare has said that this reflects the change in direction the game has taken. We’ll talk more about WHY the name has changed in relation to the story later, but suffice it to say, it doesn’t look like Solas is our big bad anymore, with the game instead more concerned with the Fade, the magical realm where “Dragon Age’s” spirits live.

The Team

It’s no secret that BioWare has struggled in the last ten years. While “Dragon Age: Inquisition” was a monumental game, 2017’s “Mass Effect: Andromeda” was poorly received as a disappointing sequel to the groundbreaking trilogy. After that, EA dictated that BioWare change direction, and the studio put out the live service flop “Anthem” in 2019. “Veilguard” looks like a return to form, but it’s also had a tumultuous time behind the scenes, with a lot of developers leaving the project. This includes the game’s former creative director, Matt Goldman, leaving BioWare in 2021. Luckily, it’s starting to look like the next “Dragon Age” game IS coming together, and at least it’s not going to be online anymore.

The Story

If the name’s been changed, what’s the game about now? From the trailers, it’s clear that, as said, Solas isn’t the main villain. IGN’s exclusive footage of the game reveals that Solas will feature prominently, including in the intro, but that two other Elven gods, Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain are the villains, and they’re much more dangerous. There’s also another Darkspawn Blight ongoing and, therefore, another Archdemon threatening Thedas. Most interesting of all is one moment in a trailer that shows Scout Harding, a dwarf, using magic. Long-time “Dragon Age” fans will know that dwarves can’t use magic, so whatever’s happening to the Fade is affecting EVERYBODY. We can’t wait to find out.

Character Creator

We’ve finally been shown footage of the character creator and, as expected, it’s even more complicated than it’s been in the previous games. Yet again we can play as a Qunari, which the hardcore “Dragon Age” fans will love, but you can also play as the other three main races - human, dwarf, and elf. It’s got incredibly deep options for how to customize your character, including adding blemishes and eye cataracts, and having some of the best hair styles we’ve so far seen in a “Dragon Age” game. This even includes long hair, which hasn’t been in any of the previous entries, presumably because it’s not easy to animate. You also pick a backstory and which of the game’s many, new - you want to be aligned with.

Morrigan

The first trailer for “Veilguard” featured Varric heavily, which is no surprise; the dwarven storyteller was certainly the standout character in “Dragon Age 2”, and a fan favorite party member in “Inquisition”. Though, we’re going to be devastated when Bianca gets destroyed in the prologue. But later trailers have featured a DIFFERENT returning character, and it is, of course, Morrigan. Revealing Morrigan definitely won over a lot of the more skeptical fans and we’re excited to see her again. Despite her moral ambiguity, she’s always an asset and easily a selling point for “Veilguard”. Other returning characters include Scout Harding and, obviously, Solas.

Minrathous

It was rumored for years that the next “Dragon Age” game was going to take us further north than we’ve ever been before, into the Tevinter Imperium. This is absolutely true, as the first gameplay reveal showed. We got to see Rook and the party fighting through the streets of Minrathous, Tevinter’s capital and the biggest city in the entire game. But it’s not JUST going to be set in Tevinter, as we’ve also seen footage concerned with the Antivan Crows. It would also be fun to see some other classic locations revisited, like Kirkwall and Denerim – though, we wouldn’t be surprised if Orlais is largely skipped since it featured so heavily in “Inquisition”, and “Dragon Age” generally likes to move on.

Skill Tree

Like all good RPGs, “Dragon Age” has classes. It’s got a simpler class system than other fantasy games, having only mages, rogues, and warriors, but there are various sub-classes and specializations to invest in. It looks like all of this is going to continue in “Veilguard”, and we’ve so far seen a large constellation-looking skill map, which is very different to how skill progression has looked in past “Dragon Age” games. It’s hard to tell without getting hands on with all the different classes exactly how varied the potential builds are going to be, or how useful the skills and specializations will become. Hopefully, different specializations will affect the narrative and what dialogue options you can use.

The Lighthouse

Once again, we have a large home base for our characters, much like Skyhold in “Inquisition”. This time, it’s called the Lighthouse, and it exists in the Fade. This is where you and your companions will spend time, as well as providing tons of new lore about the Elven villains. It’s also, presumably, where you’ll be doing all of your romancing, which we’ll get to. BioWare has implemented a useful system where companions’ rooms will be illuminated if they have a unique cutscene to watch, to save you from running around after every mission checking which characters have something to say. The Fade will be even more important, since a particular area, the Crossroads, is how you fast travel. Via the Eluvians, which have all now reactivated, you fight through the Crossroads to get to other areas of Thedas. After the area is cleared, you can fast travel.

Companions

The first, unpopular trailer was a roll call for a bunch of new companions we haven’t formed an attachment to. This, along with the cartoonish art style, made people worried that the game wasn’t going to be the sequel they wanted. That doesn’t appear to be the case, though, and “Veilguard” will introduce a cast of new characters that are sure to become beloved. BioWare’s trademark dialogue wheel is also coming back, along with symbols that tell you the tone and meaning of each option, not to mention the consequence system. The consequences are even deeper now, with the game telling you exactly why one character did or didn’t like something, and how it’s changed their opinion of you overall. And, yes, there’s going to be plenty of romance.

The Combat

The biggest thing people have been talking about is the combat and how different it is from “Inquisition”. After going a more actiony route for “Dragon Age 2”, BioWare backtracked with “Inquisition” and made the combat slower and more complex again. But now we have another “Dragon Age” with more action-oriented combat, including the ability to switch between different weapon types during encounters, which you were previously unable to do. You also can’t control other party members directly anymore by playing as them, which has been a staple of every other game in the series. There IS still real-time with pause, though, so the focus on tactics isn’t completely gone.

Let us know whether you’ll be checking out “Dragon Age: The Veilguard” and which class you’ll be playing as!