Dragon Age: The Veilguard won’t be an open world game. That much was clarified by one of the two game directors, Corinne Busche, who said it would be mission-based for the most part.
However, does that mean it will be as linear as we’ve seen from the prologue mission? Not really. Speaking to Stephen Totilo at Summer Game Fest 2024, the other game director (John Epler) explained that the action RPG will eventually open up in a dramatic way, and some of its spaces are ‘fairly wide’.
Once you get past a certain point, the game opens up dramatically. Dragon Age Inquisition was very much an open world game, and this one isn’t. And that’s partially because we wanted to make sure all the content mattered and was a more structured, sculpted experience for the player. That said… there’s exploration. There are opportunities to go off the beaten path. There are some spaces that are fairly wide.
It sounds like Dragon Age: The Veilguard will straddle the line between the first two installments and Inquisition, ending up somewhere in the middle when it comes to the degree of environmental exploration.
In another interesting interview posted by RPG Site, BioWare’s Corinne Busche reassured fans that the RPG character progression will be very deep thanks to an ‘absolutely enormous’ skill tree. She also confirmed Dragon Age: The Veilguard would feature a level cap of 50.
If I were to contrast Mass Effect versus Dragon Age, for instance… I really view Mass Effect as an ARPG. Big action, minor RPG. We’re almost the total inverse of that. So a few missions in, you unlock the skill tree right away, every level up, you get skill points, of course. The skill tree is absolutely enormous and it is bespoke for your class. So, when we talk about the specializations, we know that skill trees can be overwhelming to players as well. When it is unlocked, imagine almost a gigantic spider web-like visual. And if I’m a mage, right at the very center is the core of the Mage kit.
It is divided into three sections in addition to the specializations. In the case of Warrior, for instance, you have a section that’s more defense-oriented, one that’s more weapons oriented, and one that’s more ability oriented. So what you might do trying to get to, say, the Reaper specialization is rather than going up through defense into Reaper, I’m going to go down through Ability into Reaper.
The skills are unique per class. We have a level cap of 50. One of my frustrations with some other games that have similar skill tree systems is that getting up into the specialization might take up absolutely all of your skill points, and then you have nothing else. We’re the exact opposite. You get into your specialization about mid-game, and then you can really branch out.
Busche also revealed that companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard will have their own unique skill trees designed around their abilities. Each companion has five core abilities.
The game doesn’t have a fixed release date yet, but the developers are confident in a Fall 2024 launch on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series S|X. By the way, fellow BioWare producer (albeit from the Mass Effect team) Michael Gamble teased ‘PC stuff’ that will be unveiled later. This is likely a partnership with either Intel, AMD, or NVIDIA to add specific technologies (upscalers, ray tracing) and possibly bundle the game with new graphics cards and/or processors.
