Mark Darrah, a former executive producer for the Dragon Age franchise and current consultant on Veilguard, indicated that the series has struggled with combat in the past but has finally found its footing in the newest entry to the RPG series.
In an interview with Game Informer in which the developers detailed various aspects of Veilguard’s combat and RPG systems, Darrah provided his own thoughts on how the new entry is evolving combat.
“What I see in Veilguard is a game that finally bridges the gap… Uncharitably, previous Dragon Age games got to the realm of ‘combat wasn’t too bad.’ In this game, the combat’s actually fun, but it does keep that thread that’s always been there. You have the focus on Rook, on your character, but still have that control and character coming into the combat experience from the other people in your party.”
Historically, Dragon Age has seen many changes to combat. Dragon Age: Origins featured intense real-time strategy with pausing to allow players to better overview the battlefield and take command. Dragon Age II leaned heavier into the action while, Dragon Age: Inquisition was a mixed bag of strategy and real-time action. Dragon Age: The Veilguard, however, has moved into full-on action RPG that includes an ability wheel which will slow down time allowing for some level of strategy in the middle of the real-time combat. It can be most linked to the other massively popular BioWare franchise from the past decade, Mass Effect.
Game director Corinne Busche also discussed the purpose of this shift in focus to real-time combat. She emphasizes that constant action allows for the player to feel more invested in their experience, “That is just the baseline that allows us to get that level of immersion of, ‘I’m actually in this world; I’m a part of it.”
“I would say our goal was to make sure we had a system that allowed players to feel like they actually were able to step into the world of Thedas. They’re not a player observing from afar – they are inside of this world.”
Dragon Age: The Veilguard may be BioWare’s biggest release in decades. Following disappointing releases dating back to the 2017 release of Mass Effect: Andromeda and continuing with the 2019 release of Anthem, both of which were met with fan and critical backlash, it’s in desperate need for a smash-hit success.
The new entry in the Dragon Age franchise, originally revealed in 2018 at The Game Awards, this new entry, originally titled Dreadwolf before being changed recently to Veilguard, has had its own fair share of development turbulence. BioWare has been fairly open ever since its re-reveal at the most recent Xbox Games Showcase and seems confident that this time, they will deliver an experience players will remember for years to come.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is scheduled for release on PS5, Xbox Series S|X, and PC in fall of 2024.
