EMBARKING ON THE ADVENTURE: THE GRIT AND GLORY OF DRAGON AGE: THE VEILGUARD

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is going to be one of those… big budget, dark fantasy adventures. One of those games that encourages a demographic within a demographic of narrative enthusiasts. You know the type. The 24-hour marathon RPG sessions. The ‘we’ll play until we’re mindlessly buzzing out of our skulls on Mountain Dew and codpieces’ kind of people. And this one’s gonna be so pretty… You can taste the narrative polish, the narrative depth, the narrative enhanced mechanics; the narrative fried dough and the narrative curly fries.

THE JOURNEY BEGINS: A GLIMPSE INTO THE PROLOGUE

From the very beginning, with a prologue that doesn’t feel like a prologue but like the end of a story, this book puts everything on the line. It’s a bold approach, not to mention one that will immediately make players care about a drama unfolding before them in a way that other forms of storytelling are not well-suited for. Players can dodge bar fights, chase down companions and go into electrifying battle against demons.

BE WHO YOU WANT TO BE

Choosing who you are nudges the game’s centre of gravity; there is no better form of character customisation Base-building in the real world is a notoriously difficult challenge. Choose a character class to play – rogue, warrior, mage – and the excruciating details of erecting a dwelling (admittedly a crude one) in a hostile environment disappear. The ‘Factions’ feature, where players can devise an origin story for their character and explain how relations with other player groups have evolved, is a stroke of brilliance. It’s about your survival in a magical world.

CREATING A WORLD WORTH SAVING

As with all BioWare titles to date, worldbuilding is part of the publisher’s lifeblood and The Veilguard does not disappoint: from the antique Elven foundations of Minrathous to the Elf magic-powered electrics of its modern city, every corner of the space is dripping with layers of history and lore, inviting players to come on in and traverse through the eons. Wise players will want to protect such a place, not just for their own safety but for the sake of all who dwell within. The unique quality of environmental storytelling, both on the grandest of scales and in the minutiae of the space itself, keeps the ride fresh and exciting at every turn.

INSPIRE A TEAM OF UNFORGETTABLE HEROES

No journey is complete without companions, and The Veilguard promises that yours will be both diverse and integral to the story. The character of each companion, and his or her integral role in the story, means that every conversation and every choice will be consequential. What BioWare calls its ‘principle of a team of unforgettable heroes’ means that characters on a journey have the potential to make that journey more consequential and meaningful, forging new relationships and experiences as they go.

MOMENTS AND MISSIONS

In ‘The Veilguard’, gameplay is almost seamless, so that you initially can’t tell whether you are having a conversation or you’re inside a piece of gameplay, when you are travelling from one place to another by a vehicle or on foot. Combat is very fast-paced and snappy. You can use your skills and magic, use certain movements so that you can outflank your enemies and come in, and your weapons can kill things quite efficiently. Making the right decisions, in combat and out of combat, via conversations or skills, will have consequences on the gameplay, they will have consequences on the dialogue trees, on the characters, on the storyline itself.

AN ADVENTURE FOR THE AGES?

It’s in the way those parts fit together to create a journey that is as compelling as the sum of its parts; in the way they offer the adventure fans have grown to expect from BioWare. Their prologue promises an epic journey. Their world awaits exploration. ‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ could be BioWare’s best work yet.

EXPLORING THE JOURNEY

That’s what makes ‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ work so well: it’s a journey, a combination of discovery, tactical combat, and storytelling that most other five-hour games aren’t. You’re not just a customer, you’re a collaborator in a world that cares about choice, difference, and consequence. And likely, it’s not really about getting there – it’s about the things you discover and the people and relationships you make and break on the way.

From its lush graphical sensibilities and gripping prologue to its focus on character and world, Veilguard suggests to its audience that the adventure to come will be as broad as it is intimate. Whether it’s because of its mechanical innovations or its narrative ambitions, in spite of its budget and its scale, this is a game that will stand as a grand example of the BioWare series and a perfect legacy of the studio’s work.