Former Dragon Age lead thinks The Veilguard being more similar to Mass Effect was "inevitable," but it "likely means good things for gameplay"

A former Dragon Age lead writer thinks the series having "a closer alignment with Mass Effect's style was inevitable," but it could mean good things for gameplay.

Yesterday, BioWare revealed Dragon Age: The Veilguard, the game formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, and announced that 15 minutes of gameplay would be coming next week on June 11. The developer also announced brand new gameplay details, including the fact that players can bring along two companions for every fight, not unlike the Mass Effect games.

David Gaider, who wrote on the original Dragon Age trilogy, thinks this "closer alignment with Mass Effect's style was inevitable," but it now means that both Dragon Age and Mass Effect development teams in BioWare's Edmonton studio are now "working from the same premise." This "likely means good things for gameplay," Gaider supposes.

Gaider also theorizes that The Veilguard's new combat focus, where players can direct their companions in combat with an ability wheel, "means a more action-y style" for the new game. The former BioWare writer is "less enthused about" this, personally speaking, but he's charitably still looking forward to seeing how it plays out in the final game.

"The writing team will knock it out of the park, regardless. That much, at least, is guaranteed," Gaider concludes. A Twitter user proposes that the switch to two-party characters instead of the typical four means a "tighter" experience, and Gaider somewhat agrees with them but points out that he doesn't necessarily regard the Mass Effect games as "tight" experiences that focus primarily on your player character in combat.

A lot of the questions surrounding Dragon Age 4 will (hopefully) be answered by BioWare next week, when we see 15 minutes of brand-new gameplay from the opening moments of The Veilguard (as part of Summer Game Fest 2024). Considering how long the new game has been in development and how beloved the franchise is, there's no doubt plenty of people are anxiously awaiting the new look at BioWare's next game to see what direction the developer has taken the RPG series in.

Elsewhere, Dragon Age: The Veilguard devs confirm that, yes, multiplayer was toyed with, but that's gone: "It's straight-up single-player story goodness."