Dragon Age: The Veilguard Big Preview: Story, Combat, Companions, and More!
Game Informer has released an extensive preview of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, diving deep into various aspects of the upcoming RPG, including its story, combat system, companions, and more. Let's break down the highlights:
The Veilguard
- Character Creation: Players can craft their hero from four familiar races: Dwarves, Qunari, Humans, and Elves. The character creator offers extensive customization, encompassing facial details, body proportions (shoulders, hips, etc.), and even voice tonality, with over a hundred options promised.
- Protagonist's Role: Instead of being another "chosen one," The Veilguard's protagonist is a highly capable leader thrust into extraordinary circumstances. Solas (from DA: Inquisition) performs a magical ritual using the protagonist's blood, forging a connection with the Fade and granting him the ability to communicate with the hero remotely.
- Antagonists and Setting: The main antagonists are two elven gods who have broken free from the Fade. The Veilguard's base of operations will be Solas's former hideout, its interior dynamically reflecting the state of the world and potentially the player's choices. The developers promise the largest number of biomes in the series' history.
Companions
- Companionship System: The Veilguard features a cast of companions offering familiar RPG elements: relationship building, personal quests, and unique interactions.
- Meet Bellara: The first revealed companion is Bellara, an elven expert on elven artifacts who relies on electric magic and healing abilities in combat. She possesses a special ability to interact with the environment, which the player character will also acquire later.
- Meaningful Choices: Dialogue choices with companions impact the story, relationships, and potentially grant skill points upon reaching new levels of closeness.
Combat System
- Action-Oriented Approach: The Veilguard introduces a more dynamic combat system. The hero can dodge, block, and perform special moves like jump attacks, combos, and finishing blows.
- Difficulty Levels: The developers aim for a range of challenge levels, allowing casual players to button-mash on lower difficulties while demanding tactical awareness, timing, and exploiting enemy weaknesses on higher settings.
- Progression System: Each class boasts three skill trees and around 160 unlockable abilities, encompassing active, passive, and character-specific traits. Specialization is achieved through talents.
Release
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is set to launch in Fall 2024 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X/S.