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Corporations usually play it safe with their AAA holiday season video game releases — even more so when they’re several sequels deep into a franchise. But Dragon Age: The Veilguard is different. It’s a years-late fourth installment in a once-beloved fantasy story, hitting at just the time when big complex RPGs have had a huge resurgence thanks to critical and commercial hits like Elden Ring and Baldur’s Gate 3.
The safe move would have been to take part in that ongoing movement, and build on the tactical foundation of 2014’s Dragon Age Inquisition, which sold millions of copies. The dice-rolling market is primed for the next thing to play after finishing the monster that was BG3, and Veilguard could have been that game.
Instead, EA and BioWare went in a totally different direction. I still think fans of those other titles will like this new game, but it plays and feels nothing like the current market norms for the genre. Its audiovisual underpinnings are state of the art, but its aesthetic is more vibrant and fun, with a dashing beauty and flair to every character and setting. Its game design is full of strong references to the very divisive Dragon Age 2. Its story is at once fresh and new…
