It's been a long wait since Inquisition, but Dragon Age: The Veilguard (formerly known as Dreadwolf) is bringing the band back together this autumn. After a lot of speculation, we've finally gotten a gameplay reveal for the newly renamed next game and it's action all the way down now.
Does Dragon Age: The Veilguard have a release date?
We don't have a release date for Dragon Age: The Veilguard yet but it's launching in autumn 2024. Are we taking bets on whether it tries to launch on the 10 year anniversary of Inquisition in November?
What trailers are there for Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Here's the Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay reveal
Our first true look at Dragon Age: The Veilguard came in June 2024 with 20 minutes of a quest early in the game. It shows off some very action-RPG style combat which we found reminiscent of Mass Effect more than Dragon Age games of the past.
In this reveal, Varric Tethras and new customizable protagonist Rook join Lace Harding and the new investigator companion Neve Gallus on a battle through Minrathous as demons invade the city. They're off to stop Solas, former Dragon Age: Inquisition, from his world-ending plan to rip down The Veil between the magical Fade realm and the physical world.
If this tells us anything, it's probably that Solas isn't our main antagonist of the game. The group seems to be coming head-to-head with him a little early for that to be the case, and the game getting last-minute renamed from "Dreadwolf" to The Veilguard suggests he's not the focal point we once assumed.
Just a few days before the gameplay reveal, we saw a different reveal trailer which introduced all the game's new companions.
Before that, we saw a teaser trailer in 2023 with scenes from lots of countries all over Thedas. The important line comes at the end from a character who says "All the world will soon share the peace and comfort of my reign." That's not our Dread Wolf Solas though, or any character I can name offhand. So we may be in for a different antagonist than we'd suspected.
During The Game Awards in December 2020, BioWare showed off the first real teaser trailer for the next Dragon Age game with voiceover from Varric and some very pretty scenes in Tevinter.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard's setting and gameplay
What is the setting for Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Tevinter—it's official. We'd been operating on this assumption for years now, given the less-than-subtle ending of Dragon Age Inquisition's final DLC.
Tevinter has yet to appear in a Dragon Age game properly, though the country run by mages is often mentioned and we've had several party members from up north. The parts of Tevinter we saw in the gameplay reveal have an almost cyberpunk feel with the colorful urban nighttime and floating central fortress.
BioWare has confirmed that, like Inquisition, The Veilguard will not be set just in one country but will visit other nations as well. "In past games, you only got to see a slice of the world," BioWare says. "You’ll visit meticulously crafted biomes and beautiful regions, some that you’ve only heard whispers about in Dragon Age lore, including Rivain, Weisshaupt, Arlathan, Minrathous, and the Deep Roads - to name a few."
What will Dragon Age: The Veilguard's gameplay be like?
Buckle up for an action-RPG. The Veilguard feels like it's as much Mass Effect DNA as it is Dragon Age, from what we've seen so far. While exploring and getting into combat, you'll be able to bring just two party members with you (rather than the three of past games) and BioWare have done away with any nods to tactical combat.
Protagonist Rook is very mobile, at least in the dual-swords and bow-wielding rogue class we saw in the gameplay reveal. They're able to leap towards enemies, backstep, and dodge. There's even an actual reticle for aiming with a bow.
Rather than swapping to control your party members directly in combat, you'll now use an action wheel to trigger your own skills or order your party members.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be a story about having no power
In a former Gamescom trailer, lead writer Patrick Weekes described how The Veilguard's story will diverge from Inquisition. "For the game we're working on now, we want to tell the story of, 'What happens when you don't have power?' What happens when the people in charge aren't willing to address the issues?" Weekes said. Now that we know the game will be set in Teviner, that's starting to make a lot more sense.
From the sound of it, BioWare is aiming for the story and its characters to feel a little less important to the world than in Inquisition (at least at first). Dragon Age games have typically followed the rise of a seemingly inconsequential hero to a position of power, though it almost sounds as if The Veilguard will follow a character who never breaks into Thedas's traditional power structures.
Character creation
BioWare has confirmed that The Veilguard's protagonist Rook is customizable. You'll pick your class (warrior, mage, rogue), "lineage," gender, and appearance. You'll also choose a faction to join.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard companions
The Veilguard companions
So far we've gotten a brief overview of all the companion party members in The Veilguard. Here's what we know:
- Neve Gallus: A private investigator and mage in Tevinter who helps Rook find Solas.
- Lace Harding: Formerly Scout Harding of The Inquisition, a dwarven archer.
- Lucanis: "The mage killer"
- Bellara: "The veil jumper"
- Emmrich: A necromancer
- Davrin: An elven warrior of the Grey Wardens
- Taash: "The Dragon Hunter" and a Qunari warrior
Can you romance your companions?
Just like always, you can pursue romantic relationships with your party members, yes. Except for Varric still, presumably. Sorry everyone. Other than that caveat, you can romance whoever you want, regardless of gender or race.
And yes, that does include sex scenes. "Some of them are more spicy than others," BioWare told IGN. "Just like real life, our companions have such diverse personalities. Some of them are more physical, more aggressive, and some of them are more... we have a gentleman necromancer, for instance, that is more intimate and sensual."
Other Veilguard characters
Solas
One character we know will play a part in the events of Veilguard is, Solas, elven got and former friend of The Inquisition. Based on the gameplay reveal and the game's name change, we're starting to suspect he may not be the game's main antagonist, or maybe even an antagonist at all. It seems unlikely that he'll actually be included in your party this time though. You know, because of the Dread Wolf stuff.
Varric Tethras
Beloved party member and storyteller Varric is definitely along for the adventure in Veilguard. He's never been romancable before so he's not considered one of the seven "companions" that were revealed, but we've seen him as part of Rook's combat party so it seems this guy is never getting a day to stay home and rest.
Who else?
Dragon Age has a history of recurring characters, like Alistair who was a companion in Origins and returned for appearances in the two sequels or Leliana who shares a similar trajectory. It's safe to say that we'll see some more familiar faces, but which ones?
BioWare has committed to hanging up its protagonists between Dragon Age games. Each adventure comes with a new hero, though the Grey Warden and Hawke do have the ability to cameo in Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's possible we might then see an appearance of The Inquisitor in The Veilguard, but they'll likely not be center stage.
Flemeth, like Solas, is either elven legend or a god going by many names, who has seemed to be an underlying force in the overarching plot of the series, as has her daughter Morrigan. It seems likely that one or both will make an appearance as well.
Another old friend that may make a comeback is Fenris, the Tevinter elven warrior from Dragon Age 2. He was the star of a Dragon Age comic called Blue Wraith in 2020. It's hard to say whether Fenris appearing in a comic is setting him up for a cameo in the next game or for retirement as a character. Previous party members showing up in supporting Dragon Age media have gone both ways in the past.
Tevinter mage Dorian Pavus seems like another likely candidate given that he headed back to his homeland in Inquisition's final DLC. He also made a quick appearance in the Tevinter Nights stories. Some of the concept art shown during the behind the scenes video in summer 2020 sure looked like that familiar mustached mage too.
What other information do we have on The Veilguard?
Former Dragon Age lead Mark Darrah returned for The Veilguard
Just as it's gathering some old in-game faces, Dragon Age: The Veilguard looks like it's pulling some BioWare veterans back into the fold. As reported by VentureBeat, former Dragon Age executive producer Mark Darrah is returning as a consultant.
Darrah left BioWare in 2020 after a lengthy tenure with the studio, stretching all the way back to the development of BioWare's second game, Baldur's Gate. Worth noting is that, in the years since, Darrah has spent time dispelling some myths about the famed RPG studio. In 2022, he published a YouTube video declaring that "BioWare Magic is bullshit," arguing that the studio's reputation masked endemic issues with crunch and direction.
According to VentureBeat, Darrah's work as a consultant will focus on "connecting this new experience with the legacy of the franchise," ensuring that the new sequel gels well with earlier games in the series.
The Veilguard won't be a live-service game
In early 2018, Kotaku reported that the next Dragon Age game had been rebooted as a "live" game to better fit with EA's push for "games as a service" that could continue to generate revenue after initial launch sales.
However, as of 2021, Dragon Age: The Veilguard has reportedly ditched all multiplayer elements to stay a singleplayer experience. This news came shortly after BioWare announced plans to cease work on Anthem, the live-service sci-fi game that it had been attempting to overhaul after its poor reception in 2019.
We don't know exactly what plans for Dragon Age: The Veilguard's multiplayer were before this decision, but it's safe to say now that it definitely won't be an online-only game like Anthem. BioWare is now calling it a "single-player focused experience".
Based on what the studio has historically done well, this seems like a good decision. Mass Effect 3 and Andromeda had a multiplayer mode that was actually pretty decent, but singleplayer stories remain the focal point for both series.
