Following BioWare's recent gameplay reveal of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, developers and fans alike have been sharing their thoughts - including one of the RPG series' earliest creators himself.
David Gaider, the narrative designer and writer behind the first three Dragon Age games, says that he "finally got a chance to sit down and watch the gameplay reveal" for The Veilguard. He recalls the initial criticism from fans regarding the RPG's art style, explaining that the recent gameplay footage "made for a better introduction" than the controversial first trailer. "We see some story, and tone-wise it feels a lot darker and more DA," Gaider states.
The longtime dev then delves deeper into the upcoming game's combat and visuals: "The stylized characters will take some getting used to, but the DA art style has changed every game so that's nothing new. Combat is more action-y, without any tactical elements, but it seems fine. Style is not much different than, say, DA2's combat." As for the world - Gaider thinks the "environments look amazing, full stop."
The environments look amazing, full stop. To see the sprawl of Minrathous - wow. I wish we could have done this for Kirkwall or even Val Royeaux. Utterly gorgeous, sells the breadth and tone, such great work. pic.twitter.com/eTJXANxvxtJune 13, 2024
"To see the sprawl of Minrathous - wow," he continues, "I wish we could have done this for Kirkwall or even Val Royeaux." The writer concludes on the environmental design that it's "such great work," describing it as one that's "utterly gorgeous" and "sells the breadth and tone." As for smaller stylistic choices like "the return of the DA2 dialogue icon," Gaider says he "had to laugh" when he saw them. "Will 'Purple Rook' be a thing? Let's hope so!"
Speaking on the lore, the dev's own primary area of expertise, Gaider admits "It was lovely to see Solas and get a hint of the story to come." He doesn't share too much, though, explaining that he feels he could "probably chatter about the implications for days, and how this aligns (or doesn't) with where I thought the story would go... but I won't." Instead, Gaider says he's just "eager to see where this goes." As for his message to The Veilguard team - "To the folks at Bio: great job."
