The first hour of Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay looks more fun than that trailer

It’s hard to be a Dragon Age fan in 2024. It’s been 10 years Dragon Age: Inquisitionand BioWare has changed a lot since then, creating a very different kind of game within it Hymn that had fans (and former staffers) who worried that the studio had turned away from its focus on narrative games. That might be why, when I saw the first hour Dragon Age: The Veil Guard during a hands-off demonstration at Summer Game Fest, the game’s creative director John Epler said the word “story” to me at least a dozen times, as if to reassure me that this game wouldn’t let me down on that score. I ate it every time, grinning and nodding like a bobblehead. Because honestly? That’s all I really want Dragon Age: The Veil Guard to be, and I don’t think I’m the only one.

The first hour of the game drops your player character into the middle of a really bad situation. As we know about InquisitionSolas has decided that it is time to destroy the Veil, a construct he himself created long ago that separates the physical realm of Thedas from the magical, metaphysical realm called the Fade. Long ago, these two worlds were not separate, but Solas separated them because he thought it would be beneficial to his fellow elves, and it was, except it also caused a lot of other problems.

Unfortunately, destroying the Veil will Also cause many problems, such as ghostly spirits and demonic entities fleeing the Fade and attacking the innocent citizens of Thedas. That huge, scintillating battle is how the game begins, with your character (a newcomer who you can customize) being thrown in with stalwart Dragon Age heroes like Varric and secondary character Harding, who has been promoted to party member status in The Veil Guard.

Character customization is very extensive here; you can choose from the four races (human, elf, Qunari, or dwarf) and then choose a fighting class (rogue, mage, or warrior). You then choose from different backstories that tell what kind of person you were before appearing in the middle of the exciting action scene at the start of the game. The character creator has many sliders for body parts and overall shape, none of which are tied to the voice or pronouns (she/her, he/him, or they/them, a new addition to the series) you choose. Luckily, when designing your character, you can look in different lighting conditions to ensure you really like the custom look. Epler took special care to show off the game’s extensive curly and textured hair options, including different versions of braids and locs, and noted that increasing these options in particular was very important to the team. You can change your character’s physical appearance at any time during the game, but not his class or backstory.

After designing a deceptive character, we spoke with Varric and his friends. I was so excited to see Varric and hear him tell jokes; he is my favorite character. This came up when I asked Epler about the dating sim mechanics in the game, to which he just laughed and declined to answer in detail. (Told BioWare CEO Gary McKay IGN earlier this month that players can “romanticize the companions (they) want,” which has led most people to assume that this is Dragon Age different from Inquisition, in which all the companions had specific sexual orientations.) Epler did assure me that the player character’s choices will increase or decrease the other characters’ estimations over the course of the game.

From what I saw, the game’s combat looks exciting and engaging, although it may disappoint those who were hoping to have full control over each companion. You control your own character in real-time third-person action combat: light and heavy attacks, parrying and dodging. You can also ‘pause’ everything by pulling up a skill wheel to select further combat skills, including combo attacks with your companions. Epler emphasized that the different combat classes should make it possible for every player to enjoy combat, depending on how they prefer to handle it. Each individual class also has some variability; even the mage class has some close range personal attacks, as a mage player character may still have an assassin backstory and therefore need some attacks to accommodate that kind of career path.

For those who don’t care about the combat and are only interested in the long-awaited narrative elements, Epler also told me that the game has an easy mode, and that there is even a setting that makes it impossible. so that your player character dies in battle.

Image: BioWare/Electronic Arts

The Veil Guard starts right in the middle of the action. Solas is already in the middle of his ritual to destroy the Veil, and you and your brand new friends are going to do your best to stop him before he completes it. The city of Minrathous – which looks beautiful by the way, with neon magic lighting up shops and houses instead of electricity – is already overrun with demonic entities and spirits attacking the population. You and your friends fight your way through these bad guys; eventually you encounter Neve Gallus, a private investigator with an impeccable fashion sense (she’s from the Dragon Age comics and also appears in an anthology of Dragon Age short stories, Epler told me). She joins you, Varric, and Harding, and you continue to make your way to Solas himself.

Epler explained to me that the team wanted this opening hour to feel almost like the climactic ending of another game. That’s certainly the case – it’s certainly not the slow start that some other Dragon Age games have had (I’m referring here to the hinterland in Inquisition). When you and your party finally reach Solas, Varric decides to try to take him down instead of attacking with force. I loved this section; While the rest of the crew fended off ghosts, we could occasionally overhear snippets of Varric and Solas’ tense, emotional conversation. Of course, it is not that easy to talk Solas out of his plan. The confrontation does lead to his ritual being interrupted, but it certainly doesn’t seem like we changed Solas’ mind.

After we finished the hour of play, Epler turned to me to once again emphasize the game’s story. The game, he said, is really about each of the companions, each of which will have their own storylines and arcs. I saw a lot of battle scenes in that first hour, but I also heard a lot of spicy dialogue. I left excited and even optimistic about getting to know my new group of friends. After all, it is Dragon Age – and it will pass story, people! That’s what they told me, and that’s why I remain excited about playing when Dragon Age: The Veil Guard is finally released. For now, the release date is Fall 2024 (although that’s all we have, still no exact date), and it’s coming to PlayStation 5, Windows PC, and Xbox Series X.