Former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah left BioWare in 2020, saying “I know Dragon Age will not just survive without me, it will thrive”. We’ll never quite know the truth of that claim, as Darrah has now rejoined BioWare to work as a consultant on the recently revealed Dragon Age: The Veilguard. He thinks he is doing well. Specifically, he thinks it’s the most enjoyable Dragon Age combat ever. Shh, no one tells the Inquisition.
“What I see in Veilguard is a game that finally bridges the gap,” Darrah told online magazine Game Informer in a new trailer that delves a little deeper into the game’s newly tactical and light-hearted fists. “It’s not to say that the previous Dragon Age games fell into the ‘combat wasn’t that bad’ realm. The combat is actually fun in this game, but it maintains the thread that has always been there. You focus on Rook, your character, but you still have control and character entering the combat experience from other people in your party. .”
The piece also includes some commentary from game director Corinne Busch, who notes that Dragon Age’s combat has been in motion for a long time and justifies the shift to real-time by making it feel like you’re actually there. “Every single entry reimagines what combat is like, and I would say our goal was to make sure we had a system that allowed players to feel like they could actually step into the world of Thedas,” Busche told the site. “It’s not the players watching from afar – they’re inside that world. Because it’s this authentic world that’s been brought to life, the combat system has to support that, so you’re in control of every single action, every block, every dodge.” , every swing of your sword.”
I’m always a little grumpy about arguments that real-time combat is more immersive, authentic, or what-have-you than, say, turn-based. Dragon Age is a game where I float in the air outside of my character’s body while they shoot purple bolts at demonic incarnations of pride. I will never feel “inside this world” even if I press the button that fires that particular flash. I was more convinced by Busch’s following remarks that he wants Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s combat and upgrades to depend on “real numbers” – that is, big numbers like +25% whose impact can actually be understood at a glance.
In general, Veilguard upgrades are “about changing the way you play, not about stat minutiae,” Busche explains, with passive abilities including guaranteed critical hits and jump attacks. I’d say the more challenging Inquisition percentages change the way you play, but the Veilguard system definitely sounds like it’ll take less time in the census menus. This transition reminds me of the transition from Darkest Dungeon 1 to Darkest Dungeon 2, which also simplifies the stats to multiples of 12.5 and isn’t any worse.
There are also some details about companions getting smaller upgrade trees than the main character Rook (in Inquisition, each character has access to about the same amount of options). They will level up by ranking your relationship with them, giving you a skill point; sounds like they don’t get XP the old fashioned way, although the picture is unclear.
“[Companions] they’re their own people,” Busche said of how companions behave in combat. “They have their own behavior, they have their own autonomy on the battlefield, they choose their own targets. As their plots progress, they learn how to use their abilities more competently, and it really feels like you’re fighting alongside these realized characters in battle.” However, it’s still important to master the characters’ abilities in tandem. Busche gave the example of one character slowing down time to the other could fire a heavy blow, allowing the player to deliver the finishing blow “It’s a game about creating an organic sense of teamwork.”
In my first look at Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I wrote that “I definitely mourn the less kinetic, more strategic Dragon Age it could have been, but I’m more excited about Veilguard than I thought I would be. overcoming the first trailer”. We’ve since learned that the game will limit you to a few companions in battle, a step away from Inquisition’s party-based tactics. So yeah, I’m still grieving a bit, but I remain hopeful that Veilguard will turn out to be a fun action RPG, if not the Dragon Age quadquel I wanted. The key for me will be the plot. I don’t mind that it’s a punchline, as long as there’s a wonderful dark fantasy melodrama in it. Fingers crossed I’m able to play again before release and get an idea of ​​the events beyond the prologue.