Party-based roleplaying games are only as strong as the companions that tag along for the ride. And Dragon Age: The Veilguard will only be as good as its companions.
It’s one of the strengths of Baldur’s Gate 3—one of the best RPGs in recent memory—as every single character, including Wyll and Minthara, has great backstories and motivations to uncover. The previous three Dragon Age games had their memorable allies, too. Alistair and Morrigan stood out in Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age 2 introduced us to the ubiquitous Varric and Dragon Age: Inquisition gave us Solas, who would later become the antagonist of the DLC, and seemingly Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
I came away skeptical of Dragon Age: The Veilguard in many respects after both the character and gameplay reveals last week, despite the gameplay looking better than I expected. As a massive Dragon Age fan, it still wasn’t enough to get over the misgivings I have. Foremost, I haven’t forgotten how great both Mass Effect: Andromeda and Anthem looked in early gameplay reveals before they became two of the most disappointing major releases, somewhere behind Starfield and Cyberpunk 2077. Throw in how The Veilguard apparently had but later axed live service features, and my concerns here aren’t going anywhere until reviews drop.
Then there’s how action heavy or simplified the combat appears, though this could just have been from the gameplay reveal taking place at the beginning of the game, where the player character only had a couple skills. Still, companions are no longer directly controllable, and it appears like you’ll only be able to have a handful of active skills active at any given time, greatly reducing the 8 available in Dragon Age: Inquisition and possibly limiting builds.
However, none of that matters if the companions are great. I could sit through a mediocre game if I cared about its characters—Dragon Age II being proof of that—and look forward to speaking to them about their histories and motivations between missions and taking them out on companion-related quests.
This time around, Lace Harding returns from Inquisition with a glow-up as a full-fledged companion, assuaging the disappointment that you couldn’t romance her previously. As she was previously a personal favorite side character of mine (and if the internet is anything to go by, many others) I’m already sold on playing The Veilguard.
The only other party member we saw in actual gameplay was Neve Gallus, an ice-focused mage and private detective. Magic and detective work seem like a fun combination, and the fact that Neve is also a member of a group fighting against the Tevinter Imperium from within means she’s likely to have an intriguing background with the racist slaving nation that has lingered on the periphery of the games until now.
After these two, I’m most keen on getting to know Bellara as I like her happy-go-lucky design and have a soft spot for both Elves and mages in the Dragon Age universe (see: my romancing of Merrill in Dragon Age II) and I’m quite interested in what the Veil Jumpers faction she’s part of is all about. She also wields a pretty sick magical-looking bow.
The rest of the cast looks fittingly diverse, with two warriors, two rogues, and three mages total, each of a different race and faction. In fact, I’d go as far to say it looks like the best lineup since the original Dragon Age: Origins, as none of the new heroes stand out as characters I wouldn’t like to get to know better, like when I first saw Aveline and Vivienne before completely forgetting about them after finishing their respective adventures.
Even if the gameplay is a pale shadow of the complexity of Dragon Age: Origins, or BioWare falls victim once again to its post-EA acquisition woes, great writing surrounding these seven companions can save the fourth Dragon Age from the fate of recent BioWare releases. I’m typically someone who refuses to buy into hype outside of first-party Nintendo games, but what we’ve seen of them looks promising enough to allow myself a little bit of cautious excitement for when The Veilguard launches this fall.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will release in 2024.
