In many ways, Dragon Age: The Veilguard is a game of revelations for the series. At last giving some answers to longheld questions, BioWare's latest RPG lifts the lid on the nature of the Blight, the true story of the elves, and even explores the real history of the dwarves. It's a real treat for lore fans, but it also begs one major question: what's next for Dragon Age?
With some big mysteries put to rest and some major ongoing story arcs resolved, the future of the series is arguably wide open. With the chance to speak with creative director John Epler, that openness is what's most exciting about whatever comes next after The Veilguard.
"I love how much we reveal, but I also love how many questions we've also started asking throughout the game," Epler says. "And I think what's exciting about this one going into, say, someday we do a Dragon Age 5, or whatever comes next, I think there's just a feeling of possibility. There's a feeling that we can tell any story we want to tell. And I think there's going to be a lot of opportunity to tell something that feels very identifiably Dragon Age, but brings in new elements and new characters."
While Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, and Dragon Age: Inquisition are all quite different in terms of how they play and feel, they explore some similar themes and each tell ongoing interconnected story beats that look at The Blight, Darkspawn, elven lore, and more. Since The Veilguard has brought some of those to a close, things have shifted. and Thedas has changed - which opens up the way for something new and raises interesting questions about what the next game might explore.
"We've been doing elven gods and elves and the Blight for four games now," Epler says. "I do like that this one [The Veilguard] feels like, okay, those story elements are, for now, at least, put to the side. What comes next? What does this world look like? Because I think the big thing about the end of the Veilguard, that I think sets it apart to some degree, is the world has completely changed."
"The world over the course of Veilguard - you get this through the Inquisitor missive - the South is not doing so hot, after the gods and the Blight," Epler adds. "And even the North: Minrathous is going to be rebuilding for a while, there's the Antamm in Treviso and Antiva, even Rivain. Everything has changed, and what does that change look like? I think it is going to be a very fun question for us to answer, honestly."
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