Dragon Age: The Veilguard, previously known as Dreadwolf, and casually as Dragon Age 4, is a fantasy role-playing game (RPG) that's out now. It's been nearly a decade since the last main-line entry in the series, Dragon Age: Inquisition was released, and fans have been clamoring for a new chapter ever since.
Though not without their blemishes, the Dragon Age games are among some of the best RPGs and best story games of the last two decades and serve as high bars for fantasy storytelling. We've now played the game, so be sure to check out our thoughts in this Dragon Age: The Veilguard review.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard: cut to the chase
- What is it? The fourth installment in influential Dragon Age series
- What can I play it on? Xbox Series X, PS5, and PC are likely
- When did it come out? October 31, 2024
- Who's making it? RPG veteran BioWare
Dragon Age: The Veilguard release date
Dragon Age: The Veilguard released on October 31, 2024.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is available on PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, and PC. For now, it looks like the game will not be launching on last-gen consoles.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard trailers
The release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard was finally revealed via the trailer below:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard received an extended gameplay showcase on June 11, 2024. In it, we see an early mission in the game, involving Rook, Varric and some new companions as they group together to stop Solas. Check it out below:
Dragon Age: The Veilguard received its first proper trailer at the Xbox Showcase that aired June 9, 2024. It gives us our first look at the new art style, as well as returning characters like Varric.
A teaser trailer dropped on December 4, 2023, offering a look at the never-before-seen locales of Antiva, Rivain, and the Anderfels. Most importantly, however, this new trailer promised a "full reveal" in "summer 2024".
In typical Dragon Age fashion, there are also some foreboding voice clips. "All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign," says one mysterious speaker. You can see the trailer for yourself, below.
The two other Dragon Age: The Veilguard trailers can be found on the official Dragon Age YouTube channel. These include the teaser trailer from the 2018 Game Awards as well as the second teaser featured during the 2020 Game Awards. There was also an in-game cinematic trailer released on December 4, 2022, which can't be found on the official channel but is available here.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard story and setting
BioWare hasn’t confirmed the exact storyline for Dragon Age: The Veilguard just yet, but the former title (Dragon Age: Dreadwolf) and the game’s recent trailers make one thing clear: Solas is involved in a big way. This time, it looks as though he'll be the main antagonist. We put together a guide on exactly who Solas is for those keen on digging into the details. Suffice it to say, he’s a murky character who made a strong impression in Dragon Age: Inquisition.
BioWare’s description of him paints an interesting picture. “Solas, the Dread Wolf. Some say he might be an ancient elven god, but some say not. Others say a betrayer of his people…or a savior who now seeks to rescue them at the cost of your world. His motives are inscrutable and his methods sometimes questionable, earning him a reputation as something of a trickster deity - a player of dark and dangerous games.”
Thanks to a recent gameplay trailer, showing off the game's prologue, we see exactly where Dragon Age: The Veilguard picks up. Players will take control of Rook, a fully customizable character, who can be either a Rogue, Warrior or a Mage. The story will visit new locales including Rivain, Weisshaupt, Arlathan, Minrathous, and the Deep Roads.
From what we've seen so far, Solas is hellbent on opening the Veil, a portal that'll bring demons spilling through it if he succeeds. Varric, Rook, Lace Harding and Neve Gallus are the characters confirmed so far. It's also been revealed that there will be seven party members, with all of them being romanceable.
New heroes and fresh starts make sequels accessible and we also know that playing Dragon Age: Inquisition isn’t going to be a prerequisite for getting stuck into Dragon Age: The Veilguard. BioWare has confirmed that “if you’re new to Dragon Age, you have no need to worry about not having met our antagonist just yet. He’ll properly introduce himself when the time is right”.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard characters
While we don't know much about all of the new and returning characters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we do know that Solas, also known as the Dread Wolf, and Varric the storyteller will be making returns..
Fans of Dragon Age: Inquisition will remember Solas the elven mage as a party member who joins your team early on in support of your efforts to prevent the emergence of dangerous magical rifts caused by the evil mage Corypheus. However, it turns out that Solas was the elven Dread Wolf the whole time and was playing the long game, looking for a way to break the veil between magic and reality on his own terms, not Corypheus'.
From the gameplay we've seen so far, we know that Varric is once again available as a companion. Solas is clearly the game's antagonist, at least at the beginning, with plans to open up the Veil, and send the world into chaos. Lead inquisitor Lace Harding also makes a return as a companion, and those that keep up with the comics will recognize Neve Gallus, a private investigator working out of Minrathous.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay
We've now seen gameplay for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and it looks to be an evolution of the action-RPG mechanics of the previous games. Players will be able to choose between Warrior, Rogue and Mage classes, with sub-classes available for those looking to specialize further. Combat mostly plays out in real time, with an ability wheel that can be triggered to unleash special moves. You can also stop the action and select skills from party members, offering a more tactical option.
You'll play as Rook in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a fully customizable protagonist. You’ll choose your class, lineage, gender, overall appearance and more. Choosing which faction Rook is part of will unlock different narrative, dialogue, and gameplay interactions. So far, we've seen how some of these dialogue choices will play out, though there's still a fair bit of mystery surrounding just how much player choice will be on offer in the full experience.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard news
Hans Zimmer reveals Dragon Age: The Veilguard's main theme
The prolific composer Hans Zimmer has unveiled his main theme for Dragon Age The Veilguard. The full soundtrack will be available to stream on November 1, 2024. For now, we'll have to wait for the full game to hear more.
BioWare reveals Dragon Age: The Veilguard's skill tree
Following the latest gameplay demo, which gave us a deeper look at the world we'll be exploring in The Veilguard, BioWare has now offered a new deep dive into the game's leveling system.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't let you control your companions
In their latest interview with Edge Magazine (transcribed by user Felassan on Tumblr), The Veilguard's director Corinne Busche and creative director John Epler discussed the game's combat system and how it differentiates to Dragon Age entries that came before, as well as how this plays into the overall world of Thedas you get to explore.
"Responsiveness was our first-and-foremost goal with this baseline layer of the combat system,” Busche said. "We very much wanted you to feel like you exist in this space, as you’re going through these really crafted, hand-touched worlds. That you’re on the ground in control of every action, every block, every dodge."
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has more lines of dialogue than the last game
BioWare has revealed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard has more lines of dialogue than Dragon Age: Inquisition.
In a recent interview with GamesRadar, creative director John Elper and creative performance director Ashley Barlow discussed the reason behind The Veilguard's decade-long development, and confirmed that one of the main reasons came down to the overwhelming amount of dialogue included in the game.
"We had other projects going on at BioWare as well. We wanted to make sure we got this one right," Elper said before calling the upcoming role-playing game "the best version" the game "could possibly be."
Dragon Age: Dreadwolf is now Dragon Age: The Veilguard
BioWare has revealed that the new name for the next mainline Dragon Age game is now Dragon Age: The Veilguard. This was announced via a blog post, that also reveals a 15-minute gameplay reveal for June 11, 2024.
13 unionized Dragon Age: Dreadwolf QA testers laid off
As reported in October 2023, 13 quality assurance (QA) testers were laid off at Bioware. The employees were offered "minimal severance". This followed an earlier wave of BioWare layoffs back in August where 50 staff members were made redundant to "meet the needs of upcoming projects."
Mass-Effect devs join the team
As reported by GameBeat, several Mass Effect developers joined the development team working on Dragon Age: Dreadwolf to help the game cross the finish line. Former BioWare executive producer Mark Darrah also joined to serve as a consultant.
Alpha milestone reached
In a Dragon Age: Dreadwolf blog update published in October 2022, GM Gary McKay revealed the game has reached its Alpha Milestone, meaning it is now playable from start to finish. But the game "is not finished by any means", and the studio is now focused on polishing narrative and gameplay features.
"First and foremost, we can now turn our sights toward bringing the visual fidelity to its final form and iterating on gameplay features," McKay wrote in the blog. "The big question now is, “Where do we focus our efforts?” To answer that, we solicit feedback from a number of sources, including our Community Council members who each have unique perspectives and experiences, our quality verification team, and extensive internal playtesting. Gathering feedback from multiple sources gives us the greatest insight on where we need to spend more time improving the experience.
"Additionally, we can now evaluate the game's pacing, how relationships evolve over time, and the player’s progression, as well as narrative cohesion – essentially how the story comes together. We can take the story we’ve written and see if we’re expressing it well through the characters, dialogue, cinematics, and ultimately, the player’s journey. Now that we have the ability to do a complete playthrough, we can iterate and polish on the things that matter most to our fans."
Dragon Age: The Veilguard FAQ
Will Dragon Age The Veilguard be on PS4?
Dragon Age The Veilguard is only planned for current-gen consoles, so won't be arriving on PS4. This is likely to be so that the team can focus on the latest technology, now that the PS5 is nearly four years old.
Is Dragon Age: The Veilguard a sequel?
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a direct sequel to Dragon Age: Inquisition. This is largely due to the two games featuring Solas the Dread Wolf, who is a party member in Inquisition, and seemingly the main antagonist of The Veilguard. While it's clear that Dragon Age: The Veilguard follows the events of the previous game, EA has stated that it is approaching the game with all audiences in mind. We'll have to wait and see, but it does seem that new players will be able to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard without any prior experience with the series.
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