We only got a few weeks left before the full release of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and so we decided to check out the playable demo build it had at Tokyo Game Show 2024 where I was allowed to play a story mission for about 30 minutes. My impressions will mostly focus on the combat gameplay as the story is a bit hard to grasp when I only had such limited time. Nevertheless, with the short slice I was able to experience, I can already tell that Bioware is getting its groove back and they’re eager to show the world with this one. Here are our Dragon Age: The Veilguard hands-on impressions.
After achieving massive success in 2014 with Dragon Age: Inquisition, Bioware has had a few stumbles in the form of Anthem and Mass Effect: Andromeda. It made fans question whether or not the studio has lost its touch. A lot is riding on The Veilguard in terms of proving that the studio can still be considered one of the greatest to ever do it in the RPG space. I will admit that I also had doubts on this one even though preview materials have been showing something that catches my interest. Cool visuals, returning characters, and a strong focus on narrative stakes. Based on what I played, Dragon Age: The Veilguard looks, feels, and sounds more like a confident product. Bioware was cooking with this one.
I chose to play as a mage, mostly because I saw how cool the spells looked in the trailers. And true enough, they look and sound even better up close. The immediate thing I noticed about The Veilguard was its incredibly punchy sound design. I recommend making sure you have a good sound system when you boot this up. And it’s also accompanied by incredible VFX work that makes it all a spectacle to behold. This makes combat in the game so much more satisfying to do.
I fought mostly regular enemy minions with the occasional tank-like variant that takes a few more hits to take down. Speaking of which, I was initially concerned about only being able to directly control your character and no one else. But, a freeze button pops up a skill wheel where you can direct your party members what do to and which targets they should focus on. You can even task 2 party members to focus on one enemy. It lessens the micromanaging from previous titles and places more emphasis on what your character does.
I like this dynamic more. I never really enjoyed having to pay too much attention to what my companion should do for the best possible outcome in a fight. I like how this time around, they have more autonomy. I’m trying to fight a battle here, not babysit. Combat in Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels flashy, punchy, and more engaging because of it.
The developers did confirm that the game runs on the Frostbite 3 engine. For those who know, this was the reason why developing Dragon Age: Inquisiton, Anthem, and Mass Effect: Andromeda were so difficult for Bioware due to how complex and incompatible the engine was. It was made for FPS games like Battlefield, not story-driven RPGs. But they did assure that this time around, the team has highly modified Frostbite 3 to cater to their needs. Now that they have a better grasp of what they’re working with, there is a sense of confidence in the way The Veilguard presents itself.
The game looks phenomenal to say the least. I was just playing on the base PS5 and environments, textures, lighting, environmental elements, and character models all look highly detailed. I especially liked how The Veilguard is not afraid to let its colors pop. It’s a visually striking game from what I’ve seen so far.
I am a lot more relieved that Bioware is opting to go to a tighter mission-based approach this time around. While I appreciated how open Inquisition was, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who felt overwhelmed by the scale of it. That game bit off more than it can chew and it showed with the myriad of filler content.
Given the more linear approach, exploration comes in the form of discovering slightly hidden paths along the way toward the objective. Sometimes it can be as simple as turning a corner or you may have to look for breakable objects to open up an extra path. The loot I found in hidden areas seemed more like crafting materials. Most of the equipment is dropped from enemies or in certain chests. It does look like the game will utilize a rarity system with random perks per equippable loot. I only hope that it doesn’t over-bloat the inventory as you progress in the full version.
If there was one takeaway I have from all of this is that Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels like Bioware is showing that it can be the studio that fans have fallen in love with years ago. A lot of good stuff here and I enjoyed my time with the demo build for what it was. Thankfully, we don’t have to wait too long for the rest as the game will be released on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and Series S, and Microsoft Windows on October 31, 2024.