Summary
In everyDragon Agegame, I have maintained near total consistency with my parties. There are three main classes in Dragon Age: Rogue, Mage, and Warrior, and three spots for companions. Can you see where I’m going with this? Since Origins, I have built my team around this mathematical serendipity. One Rogue, one Mage, one Warrior. But inThe Veilguard, this will need to change.
The Veilguard is changing up Dragon Age considerably, dropping it to just two companions in an attempt to put greater focus on the protagonist (the Rook) and make everything faster. It seems to be a lot more like its outer space cousinMass Effectin this regard. Mark Darrah, former series director,claims The Veilguard is the first time combat has been “actually fun”, but despite him helming the series through great success, I’ve never reallyagreed with his thoughts on the series overall. Personally, I don’t think we’ve seen enough tojudge how good the combat will be, and it’s the sort of thingyou need hands-on to really understand anyway. But what we do know is my tried-and-true tactics are out the window.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Will Force Players To Use New Tactics
I think I’ll end up being a Warrior again. I loved playing as a Blood Reaver Warrior inInquisition, and the simplicity of speaking softly and carrying a big stick appeals to me. But then again, I thrived as a Warlock inBaldur’s Gate 3, and though it’s rare I play as a Mage in Dragon Age, I like being able to control my magical companions in combat - another thing you may’t do in The Veilguard anymore. In any case, once I decide, I could still fill my trio, but it would be incredibly restrictive.
If I do choose to be a Warrior, then I can take a Mage and a Rogue with me and everything’s fine. But that’s not the point. Though it does offer more full tactical coverage on the battlefield, that’s not as important in Dragon Age as in the aforementioned Baldur’s Gate, and with tactical combat removed and everything streamlined, it’s likely to be less important than ever. Plus it would mean never taking a Warrior with me anywhere, and I don’t want that.
It’s not even like I followed this rule religiously. If it made sense for a particular quest, if I was doing a few side quests at once, or even if I was just in the mood for a specific companion, I’d double up on something. Varric and Sera were my favourite double act of Inquisition, while Leliana and Zevran often got a stroll out together in Origins. Sometimes you need a lot of Mages. Sometimes you need something to be hit really, really hard. And sometimes when you don’t know what you need, having one of everything means you have all your bases covered. Jack of all trades, master of none but it’ll get the job done. It’s not a rule, just a preference. It also makes it easier to make calls on autopilot. I love ‘em all (maybe not you, Blackwall), but having it in categories made choosing between them much simpler.
Fewer Companions In The Veilguard Means Fewer Interactions
The Veilguard has just seven companions, so that will also make choosing a little simpler, but you’ll be forced to either be short a specific party role a lot of the time or ignore the companions who match your own class a lot of the time. The change from the open world design to a more quest based system should mean party change-ups happen more often, giving them all more chance to shine, and limits the need to take someone to a region ‘just in case’ you stumble across the next part of their quest. But it just seems like the most ‘that’s not Dragon Age’ out of everything we’ve heard about the game.
I’m sure the battles will be designed to suit only having three of us fighting the good fight rather than an awesome foursome, but it still won’t feel the same without one of each companion by my side. Not just because we also can’t get a taste of other styles of combat by jumping into their shoes, but because the variety in party banter when you have three companions means you have three separate duos, plus the possibility of them all interacting at once. With just two, you’re not just taking away one companion, you’re losing three extra conversation strands. Across the whole game, those add up to a very different relationship between the Rook and the rest of the gang.
The Veilguard is giving me a lot more green flags than red flags at the moment,even with the title downgrade from Dreadwolf. I’m curious to see how its combat will return after ten years away and so much change, andcontinuing Solas’ story has me hooked. But it will no longer be a story about how a Rogue, a Mage, and a Warrior go into a bar, and whatever we gain in a decade of advancements in the genre, I can’t shake the feeling that that’s something we’ve lost.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
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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.
