Tokyo Game Show 2024 - Dragon Age: The Veilguard Hands-on

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I was chatting to a member of the dev team while waiting in line for the TGS Dragon Age: Veilguard demo. After a bit of small talk, we naturally got on to the topic of Dragon Age, and we shared our experiences with the series. He asked what I'd enjoyed about Origins, DA2 and Inquisition, and then shared some insight into the development of Veilguard.

He spoke about the backlash to Mass Effect Andromeda, and a desire to go back to basics. He asked me what aspects of past BioWare titles I'd enjoyed most, and we spoke about the importance of memorable companions and how they resonate differently with different players. That was when he told me that he'd worked on Mass Effect 2 back in the day. "Mass Effect 2 is one of my all-time favourites" I excitedly blurted out. He gave a knowing smile and told me to enjoy the demo. 

With renewed interest, I got stuck in.

I wasn't entirely sold on what I'd seen of Veilguard up to that point, in particular the slightly cartoonish art style, which struck me as a strange choice for a series as "mature" as Dragon Age. But I'm happy to report that it's actually quite effective when experienced firsthand. The smooth faces didn't bother me at all, and the art style complimented the setting and gameplay in a way that wasn't conveyed by the trailers.

The visuals have a distinct violet hue, which gives Veilguard an otherworldly feel. It adds warmth and means that the colour palette is different to your typical high-fantasy adventure, with their drab greys, browns, and dark greens - the colours of mountains, forests, caves, and everyone's favourite, swamps!

As for the companions, my lady Rook was joined by a dwarf by the name of Harding, who had little to say in this mission, and an elf called Davrin, who was partnered with a juvenile griffon, Assan. The voice acting was on point, as you'd expect, and BioWare's dialogue wheel returns, so you'll be making friends and enemies in equal measure. The expected outcome of some dialogue choices was blindingly obvious, while the potential effects of others were far more vague. 

On the surface, combat is a fast-paced, hack and slash affair, but there is a little more to it than that. I played as a vanilla warrior, parrying and staggering my way through hordes of enemies, though mostly staggering. Parrying wasn't particularly difficult, but bashing my way through battles was even easier and worked a treat. Run of the mill Darkspawn are mushy and satisfying to smash to pieces, and they don't put up much of a fight, even in large numbers. However, meatier foes required a little more strategy and reliance on my companions. 

Clicking both analogue sticks unleashes an Ultimate Ability, which is the actual name of this attack, and not just a case of me forgetting what it's called! Hopefully the name choices are a little more imaginative elsewhere! Holding down L2 - I was using a DualSense - and pressing a face button will activate a special ability that needs to cool down before being used again. R1 brings up a radial dial that both pauses the game and gives you access to abilities and instructions for your companions, in and out of combat. While you can't switch characters and fully control them, you can issue orders which they'll dutifully carry out. To be honest, I really wasn't aware of the presence of my companions in battle, though I suspect that will be different in more challenging fights. 

The demo featured some basic traversal like clambering over rocks, using zip lines, and jumping on shit. Using the ability wheel, I could have my companions activate environmental abilities and create new paths. For example, Assan the griffon could slice through ropes and bring down crates dangling from cranes, and thus create climbable platforms. That was about as exciting as it sounds, but it beats just pressing forward until you hit the next battle. Probably. Progression in the demo was very linear, but I can't comment on whether this is representative of the full game.

I still have plenty of questions about Dragon Age: Veilguard. Will the combat hold up over dozens of hours? Will I miss the vast openness of Inquisition? Can it capture the sense of dread present in the previous games? Will I sour on the art style? How much do I like purple? Having played the demo, I'm now far more interested in discovering the answers than I was beforehand. Job done!