Ten years ago, Geoff Keighley won Game of the Year at the inaugural The Game Awards Dragon Age: Inquisition. This may come as a surprise. Although it was well received at the time, sold well and is still loved by many fans, Inquisition occupies an awkward place in gaming culture.
In 2014, it was overshadowed by loud online sensations such as Hearthstone And Destination; the following year it was completely supplanted as the standard-bearer for epic role-playing games The Witcher 3. It also sits firmly in the shadow of what happened next to its developer, BioWare, which spent the next decade struggling with the failures of Mass Effect: Andromeda And National Anthemand difficulty maintaining the development of one Dragon Age sequel on track. Inquisition hasn’t exactly been forgotten, but it hasn’t taken a permanent place in the gaming canon either. It’s just a game that came out once and that some people played.
So it might seem strange to predict that the Dragon Age series is about to win its second consecutive GOTY. But while I’m not quite ready for that yet, that will have to wait until we see reviews Dragon Age: The Veil Guardwith a release date of October 31st – the truth is that the stars are perfectly aligned for BioWare to repeat that feat. At this stage it is Game of the Year The Veil Guardis to lose.
First of all, remember that a new Dragon Age game has a natural advantage at The Game Awards, and not just because the series has won before. As I detailed in my analysis of what makes a Game of the Year, the TGA voting jury has a terribly strong leaning towards single-player games in the RPG or action-adventure categories, preferably with strong story and performance elements, and preferably with AAA production values. Dragon Age: The Veil Guard ticks all these boxes. It’s also a more comfortable proposition for the jury than some other 2024 games that tick the same boxes, such as Capcom’s unusual and divisive games. Dragon dogma 2. If the review is good enough (the Game Awards’ grand jury is largely made up of critics from the games media) it should easily earn a GOTY nomination.
Secondly, the most The Veil Guard‘s competition has a kind of asterisk against it. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirththe current frontrunner, is already fading in memory; it was released in February and didn’t sell spectacularly well. Astrobot is a critical darling, but as a storyless, family-friendly platformer it belongs to a genre that TGA historically hasn’t taken all that seriously. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is a minor entry in the series with a somewhat shaky critical reputation – its metascore of 85 is dangerously low for the GOTY proposition. Atlus’ Metaphor: ReFantazio is an upcoming RPG with fantastic buzz, but it’s a game from a developer operating deep within its niche rather than appealing to a broader audience as most GOTY winners have done.
As if that wasn’t enough, other potential contenders have left the frame. Indiana Jones and the Great CircleThe December release date falls after TGA’s closing. More importantly, Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been postponed to next year. Whether or not it would have been a likely GOTY nominee, it would have competed strongly with The Veil Guard for media attention and mindshare in the final months of 2024. In the realm of AAA single-player games, BioWare and publisher EA are having an almost completely clear run this fall, with no significant rivals.
In reality, Dragon Age: The Veil GuardThe game’s biggest rival, and perhaps the biggest external roadblock it faces on the road to GOTY, isn’t a new release, but a former winner. Baldur’s Gate 3 won GOTY in 2023, was critically acclaimed and redefined what many players expect from a traditional fantasy RPG. The hardcore game mechanics, strong ties to tabletop gaming and emphasis on player freedom captured the moment, while the Dragon Age team seems to have taken its series in the opposite direction with The Veil Guardand markets it with a slicker, more action-oriented style. Baldur’s Gate 3‘s runaway success is probably a good thing for The Veil Guard Overall, it’s proven that there’s still a large audience hungry for meaty RPG campaigns. But as far as GOTY chances go, the jury will no doubt weigh in The Veil Guard‘s performance rivals that of a game that many like to call a masterpiece. Baldur’s Gate 3 casts a long shadow.
Dragon Age: The Veil Guard looks good; we’re very encouraged by what we’ve played so far. When the reviews come in, we’ll know if it’s likely to be Game of the Year. If it achieves a Metascore of 90 or more, it would be foolish to bet against it. There are few obstacles The Veil Guard repeating the trick Inquisition got off the ground in 2014. It just has to be good.