Dragon Age: The Veilguard finally shows the first real gameplay and reveals some information about the game. For MeinMMO editor Benedict Grothaus, a long-standing fear has finally been dispelled. And although there is a lot of criticism of what has been shown, he couldn’t be happier.
For me, Dragon Age is still the best role-playing series ever. Although I love Gothic, devoured the Witcher books and the Pathfinder games (or anything by Owlcat, really) are among my evergreens, nothing beats Dragon Age.
My enthusiasm goes so far that even the relatively small series “Absolution” on Netflix excites me more than Arcane, and I – like everyone else – loved that. Dragon Age is simply a big part of my life, a game that has accompanied me since my youth.
Ten years have now passed since I played the most recent installment, Inquisition. The third Dragon Age, which came out in 2014, had a very open ending with a nasty cliffhanger. And since then I’ve wanted to know what happens next.
Often, after a break that is too long, enthusiasm simply wanes. That wasn’t the case for me with Dragon Age – simply because the studio was busy producing other games. And that’s exactly what kept making me worry about whether Dragon Age would even continue.
There were always teasers for Dragon Age 4, but they couldn’t calm my fears:
Dragon Age Dreadwolf Thedas Calls Trailer
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The big fear: Will there even be a Dragon Age 4?
The studio behind the Dragon Age series is BioWare – the same geniuses who were responsible for Mass Effect, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and even the first two parts of Baldur’s Gate.
And for Anthem. You probably know what I’m getting at.
BioWare has had some pretty… difficult years:
In 2023, EA finally laid off 50 BioWare employees. At the time, it was said that the development of Dragon Age would not be affected, but as a fan, you are of course still concerned about your favorite games.
The years since Inquisition have been tough and there was always uncertainty as to whether Dragon Age 4 would ever come. Even with teasers and the code name Dreadwolf, this skepticism remained in my mind – it could always be cancelled. Only now, with the latest information, after almost ten years, have I been able to breathe a sigh of relief and know: Dragon Age 4 is coming and I will have fun with it.
The latest trailer caused quite a stir:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard introduces your companions in the trailer
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The first real trailer is coming and nobody really knows what to think of it
However, I am still relatively alone in this opinion. At the Xbox Showcase 2024, BioWare showed a new trailer for Dragon Age 4, now under the title: “The Veilguard.”
And the fans’ first reaction is to tear everything about the scenes apart. Nothing suited people: too colorful, too wild, and in general it all looked more like Fortnite and not Dragon Age.
I could understand the reaction to some extent, but for me it was much more important: Cool, finally something new about Dragon Age 4, it’s not dead after all! At the same time, I was wondering whether there was something to the fan reactions. Will the game really be good?
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Everyone thinks the new Dragon Age 4 trailer is stupid – I’m absolutely thrilled
by Benedict Grothaus
Just one day later, doubts have been dispelled, at least for a large part of the community. A gameplay snippet of just 24 seconds shows a dark Dragon Age, exactly as everyone wanted it to be.
Now there are even a full 20 minutes of gameplay available and they show a really good game. One that is different from any Dragon Age before it, yes. But that’s also what makes the series special: Each game stands on its own, only the story connects everything.
I can say that after ten years of worrying, I am finally in a good mood and looking forward to the game. However, not all of the details are pleasing.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard shows 20 minutes of gameplay of the new fantasy adventure
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One detail is already sweeping me away like nothing before
Colleague Dimitri Halley from GameStar had the chance to watch a whole hour of the new Dragon Age at the Summer Game Fest. He spoke to game director Corinne Busche and had some questions answered and things shown to him.
The detail that I find most exciting in his report is the background. Similar to Dragon Age 2, the character in Veilguard has a fixed name: Rook. Everything else is freely customizable: gender, race and even origin.
What that means is that I can give my character a backstory. It’s pre-written, but I know from a report that it should be possible to play a crow from Antiva.
The Crows are assassins, spies and infiltrators, sort of fantasy ninjas, and since Origins they have been the faction that I’ve been most excited about by far. After every Dragon Age before gave me a more or less fixed place in the world, I now have the opportunity for the first time to really determine who I am. Not the Grey Warden, not the Inquisitor, not Hawke – but a crow, my crow!
Three pieces of information still make me skeptical
At the same time, Dimitri unfortunately tells me about several things that I’m not quite sure what to think of. With Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare is going down a completely new path with a completely different team than before and you can already tell:
These points make me skeptical, but they only dampen my excitement to a certain extent. I want to get involved with Dragon Age 4, see it as its own game. And I am already very sure that I will enjoy it.
What I know about Veilguard so far makes me feel positive, and BioWare would have to make a very bad mistake to kill the hype for me. But I don’t want to judge the game too much yet. I’ll do that when I’ve played it. Until then, I’ll be happy to hear new snippets about the story and gameplay – or gossip with other nerds about some strange details: Dragon Age finally reveals the gameplay, but fans are almost only talking about a broken crossbow