When it comes to triple - A plot franchise , the distance between installments has grown longer and longer . Dragon Ageis often cited as a key example of this , since we ’re occur up on nearly a full decade of a col betweenDragon Age : Inquisitionand October’sDragon Age : The Veilguard . Whether it ’ll be fully deserving the postponement will depend on instrumentalist comeOctober 31 , but having play it at a recent result , I can say thatVeilguardfeels very well - put together and like it ’ll be the better possible version of itself .
Pre - parliamentary procedure at Amazon
Along with playingVeilguard , io9 participated in a roundtable with several BioWare stave at the event , including game director Corinne Buche and manufacturer Jen Cheverie . If you ’re worried about spoilers , do n’t fret — these question are about continuingInquisition’slingering thread , the relationshipDragon Agehas with fellow BioWare franchiseMass Effect , and other theme that do n’t give anything away about the raw release .
© BioWare/EA
Justin Carter , io9 : Solas was always going to be a part ofVeilguard , but when did you adjudicate to bring in a new hero / organization rather than keep on the Inquisitor v. Solas thread ?
Corrinne Busche , game director : basically , it comes down to the nature of what it is to be aDragon Agegame . Every individual risky venture is a dissimilar primary reference , serial publication of locations , but never a direct sequel or continuation . It ’s really central to the franchise ’s wanton end , and of course we have easy end and mysteries that traverse the whole series . Inquisitionended with an open danger looming , and we know that we both needed to direct it , and that it ’d be a adult part of the next game . But it was still very of import for us to continue the serial ’ throughline of a new persona and part of the man taking center stage .
io9 : With the new hero , Rook , how do you feel like they ’re distinct from the Italian sandwich of the earlier games ? Was there a particular protagonist you wanted them to be more in the mold of , like Hawke inDA2or the Inquisitor ?
©BioWare/EA
Jen Cheverie , manufacturer : We really want to go up Rook with the goal of permit players produce the Rook they wanted to be and see . In make grow the character creator , we put a lot of intent behind the coiffure , complexion , and everything . Hopefully , it leave in the touch sensation [ that ] creating Rook feel very personal , and you could bear on even more to the Companions and character you know and the problems you solve throughout Thedas .
Busche : I’ve always been a fan of the games and their admirer — the Hero of Ferelden , Hawke , my dear Inquisitor , whom I still love . One of the most interesting challenge is to have one of those anterior leads , like the Inquisitor , fit Rook . Both of them have distinct , important function within their own journeys and that of Thedas . So when they and Rook hybridisation route , it ’s almost like two titans meeting ; those interactions are so complex , and for longtime fan , they ’ll also be so full of storage and feelings .
io9 : Most of the Companions are all - new for the plot . But some , like Neve and Lucanis , were antecedently check or cite in EU material . Other than them being in Tevinter , what made you want to fetch them into the game proper?Conversely , what ’s your process for deciding to fill a companion slot with a character from a previous game , like Harding ?
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Busche : It ’s a mix of a few things . Tevinter is in Northern Thedas , a place full of brand - new locations we ’ve touch to before . buff have need more of that region , but they never got to go there in the anterior games . We bed we wanted to do right by them , and we also cognize we needed Companions that map these parts of the world , and who were affiliated with these new and retrovert factions .
Cheverie : When I was a QA analyst onInquisition , Scout Harding was such a invariable for us . visit the reaction player had to her , we fuck we had to bring her back to dive into her story more and allow player make grow that relationship with her . It was an exciting effort to permit players get to recognise her more , and pick up more about dwarven history in the outgrowth .
Busche : Harding was a Companion option we made early on . watch players fall in making love with Harding back inInquisitionwas a bit of a surprisal , honestly . But we were inspired , so it feel like a natural extension to make her return as a fully - fledged Companion that also had ties back to the Inquisition .
Other metre , we know what roles the narration requires , and we spend a lot of time look through our backlog of grapheme and their histories to find the perfect fits for this consequence in sentence . Sometimes we essay out different characters and incur out someone ’s well suited to that particular need . As for those returning theatrical role , we ca n’t include everybody from the prior games , but I think longtime fans will be proud of with the cameos that show up throughoutVeilguard .
io9 : There has n’t been a unexampled game sinceInquisition , but you ’ve fill that gap with EU subject matter like poor stories , the show , etc . How have you set up a equaliser between onboarding new players , the diehards who ’ve been sustain up , and those in that in - between space ?
Cheverie : As aDragon Agefan , these games are why I wanted to ferment at BioWare in the first property , so it ’s exciting to come back to this world again . I love that we can remain tale in Thedas with characters fans know and love , and start new stories with character introduced through other media .
Busche : Even if you ’re a diehardfan , it might ’ve been 10 class since you playedInquisition , and there ’s a lot of traditional knowledge to keep in your head . For lapsed players or new 1 , we made sureVeilguardwasgoing to be a peachy ingress point : in our first few 60 minutes , we take majuscule care to focalize on core conception — like who ’s Solas , your contiguous next step , and motivations to keep live .
For the lore drug addict , around every corner , you find new information about these longstanding whodunit . As you get deeper into the game , a lot of longstanding theory will get some resolution . And speaking to expand sensitive , I jazz that we ’ll get to feature character that came from the comics or books and have n’t shown up in the games yet . My immediate go - tos areStrife and Irelin [ fromDragon Age : Tevinter Nights ] , and sports fan - favorite character Maevaris Tilani . There ’s other surprises in store too , and I ca n’t wait for players to get them .
io9 : Dragon AgeandMass Effecthave now borrowed each other ’s gameplay DNA withVeilguardandAndromeda , severally . Did you ever worry that you were taking too much from that dealership and miss some ofDA ’s ( admittedly fluid ) identity ?
Busche : We approached it from the lens of the eye of , “ Was this right for the story , and how would it help us ? ” We look back at our entire catalogue of games to see where we had alike successes , or “ What makes sensation for a fib , environment , and development squad like this ? ” EveryDragon Agegame has reinvented itself in some way of life , from the fight to how we approach the world . It ’s the neat challenge , and for me , the most interesting chance , since it allowed us to wait back on buff - favorite features spanning all previous game , and see if they make sensory faculty to pull forward .
Quick - trade weapons mid - armed combat is pulled right fromOrigins . If I cogitate about the pace of combat and the companion depth and their persona arcs , I see a lot ofDragon Age II . You also see a batch of the DNA fromInquisitionin there as well — butVeilguardis still its own entity and experience . Our hope is that this all come together to respect where we ’ve been , and also advance the dealership into this next risky venture into Thedas .
Cheverie : There are people on this squad who ’ve been with BioWare for a long metre , even going back toOrigins . The mind of what aDragon Agegame is is moderately strong with a batch of the squad , and it ’s a collaborative exploit . As we ’re going through the biz , hoi polloi are giving feedback and offering their insight into things . The witching second for us is when you sit down and play through something you had a helping hand in qualification and you go , “ This feel likeDragon Age , this is it . ”
Dragon Age : The Veilguardreleases October 31 for PlayStation 5 , Xbox Series X|S , and PC .
Want more io9 news ? Check out when to expect the latestMarvel , Star Wars , andStar Trekreleases , what ’s next for theDC Universe on cinema and TV , and everything you need to bonk about the future ofDoctor Who .
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