Summary
The dialogue wheel present inBiowaregames, including theMass EffectandDragon Agefranchises, has long been controversial among players. The wheel marks different options with summaries of the chosen dialogue and icons representing the tone of each choice. It’s a little clunky, but a mainstay of the studio’s games, and we’ve just found out thatthe mechanic will be returninginDragon Age: The Veilguard. I am, to say the least, not thrilled about this.
DATV has been in development for a long time – almost a decade, in fact. Because it’s been in the works so long, it was always going to feel a little dated and unable to keep up with current RPG trends, especially since we’ve gotten so many cool new interpretations of the genre in recent years. But after playingBaldur’s Gate 3, which spoiled me completely when it comes to RPGs, The Veilguard’s dialogue wheel feels like a throwback to a worse time in gaming.
The Power Of Baldur’s Gate 3’s Dialogues
You don’t need me to tell you that Baldur’s Gate 3 revolutionised the RPG in the ways it gave the player as much agency as technologically possible. The silent protagonist and myriad possible responses a player could give to a single question made it extraordinarily easy to play your character exactly as you envisioned them – they did whatyouwanted.Youcreated the character and chose how they behaved in different situations, allowing for nuance and unprecedented player choice.
In comparison, The Veilguard doesn’t even come close. The Rook isn’t silent, often acting in scripted ways in cutscenes – your dialogue choices work around the character, instead of vice versa. Your choices, as well, are very limited, usually between three options, all of which marked with tone indicators that pretty much force you to pick between just three types of personalities. It feels incredibly limiting.
On the bright side, the dialogue wheel has been tweaked so that it now indicates the kind of response you will get instead of just paraphrasing what your character will say, which clears up the issue of players expecting their player to say something and getting something completely different. Editor-in-Chief Stacey Henley goes into more detailin her preview. Unfortunately, this doesn’t solve the issue of wanting more freedom and agency to roleplay properly.
Not Every Mechanic Works For Every Game
I recognise that it’s not entirely fair for me to be comparing these two games. They have different aims and goals, and therefore will use different mechanics to get there. DATV is presumably trying to tell a linear story with a protagonist that makes specific decisions, which means letting players get too weird with their choices will derail the game’s story. It has to limit the player in ways Baldur’s Gate 3 didn’t, because there isn’t enough flexibility in the story to accommodate any player’s every whim.
But I was hoping that if DATV was going to stick to its more rigid structure that it would at least have evolved more in complexity. The dialogue wheel was controversial ten years ago, and it’s even more so now considering just how dated the mechanic is. RPGs are changing, and Dragon Age doesn’t seem to be following suit. The question that keeps coming to mind is: will the rest of Dragon Age: The Veilguard feel as dated? The combat looks vastly improved, but apart from that, what’s changed? Veilguard is supposed to update the series for a new generation, but will it be able to pull that off? I guess we’ll find out.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.
