GamesRPGDragon Age: The VeilguardHas Dragon Age lost its identity, or am I just being grumpy about BioWare’s new take on it?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
GamesRPGDragon Age: The VeilguardHas Dragon Age lost its identity, or am I just being grumpy about BioWare’s new take on it?When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.
(Image credit: BioWare/EA)
Recent updatesUpdate:We’ve nowseen a little gameplay teaserahead of the full reveal.
Recent updatesUpdate:We’ve nowseen a little gameplay teaserahead of the full reveal.
Recent updates
Update:We’ve nowseen a little gameplay teaserahead of the full reveal.
Let me be very clear right out of the gate, I’m owed absolutely nothing from EA, BioWare or the Dragon Age series. Just because I’ve played every Dragon Age game to date, and consider the seriesone of the great videogame events of my life, that doesn’t make me entitled toanything—and it’s certainly not up to me the direction the next game in the series,Dragon Age: The Veilguard, takes.
However, after watching the new reveal trailer, my personal concerns about this sequel have hit DEFCON 1. I’m worried and deflated, questioning myself if, actually, I’m the problem in this series' roadmap to continued financial success thanks to my expectations and wishes, while also at the same time praying to the Maker right now that this cinematic introduction to The Veilguard is not representative of the actual game.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer - YouTubeWatch On
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer - YouTube
Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer - YouTube
Tonal shift
My colleague here at PC Gamer, and fellow Dragon Age fan, Robin Valentine, upon watching the trailer,asked, “Is it just me, or do the newly revealed companions of Dragon Age: The Veilguard look like they’re in a hero shooter?” And he’s bang right, they absolutely do. In fact, I’d go as far to say they look like something from a battle pass expansion for a Marvel movie tie-in game. Like, what is going on with the trailer’s cartoony, Pixar-lite art style? Or the cheesy freeze frame superhero-style intros? Or the nonchalant-at-best, outright-comedy-at-worst, general tone? It is so far removed from anything we’ve seen to date in Dragon Age cinematic trailers that, if it didn’t show me Varric and Scout Harding briefly and have one of them say ‘Darkspawn’, I’d have no idea this was actually a Dragon Age game. I mean, was that the plan? Did BioWare and EA want to largely wipe the slate clean with this release, recalibrating the series into something else entirely? If so, then this trailer is mission accomplished.
(Image credit: BioWare/EA)
I’m not mis-remembering things, either. Compare with theDragon Age: Origins - Sacred Ashes trailer, or theDragon Age: Inquisition - The Hero of Thedas trailer. The difference in art style, music and tone are marked. They’re not only darker and more mature, with an art style that is far from cartoony, but the vibes communicate a world consistent within the fiction that has danger and consequences. The threat within the narrative appears very real and serious in these trailers, which in turn gets me invested in the characters and plot of the game. Even theMarilyn Manson Dragon Age: Origins traileractually showed the game and stayed consistent to its experience, even if the choice of music was a large misstep.
(Image credit: BioWare/EA)
(Image credit: BioWare/EA)
Now look, things change, right? Tastes and styles move with the times, as too do audiences. Things absolutely should evolve to stay fresh. But, that said, there’s also that moment when something is changed so much that it no longer carries the same identity (or, potentially, quality) as the thing that started it, and feels alien to its heritage. For me, watching The Veilguard trailer, that point feels like it is rapidly approaching.
The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals
(Image credit: BioWare/EA)
Hi, it’s me, am I the problem?
When I watched the trailer forBaldur’s Gate 3, last year’s groundbreaking fantasy RPG and PC Gamer’shighest-scoring game of all time, despite the huge visual change from Baldur’s Gate II and the new cast of characters, I immediately felt like I was home, so spot on was the art style, dialogue, music and tone. Larian Studios understood the brief supremely well, producing a game that felt fresh while also honouring its immense heritage and beloved world, characters and lore. It was a game for those who played Baldur’s Gate I and II all those years ago, like me, as well as completely new players.
But as I watched this trailer for The Veilguard, I didn’t get that sense at all. I got a vibe that not only was this going to be a very different experience to what I’ve played before, but also that this game was clearly not made for me, now the legacy gamer in The Veilguard’s roadmap to financial success, but for gamers much, much younger than me, with an affinity for hero shooters and superhero movies. And that’s totally cool. There are some really great games and films in those genres! I’ve enjoyed some myself. But, Dragon Age has never been those things before and, also, whether or not The Veilguard will resonate with gamers who like those things is currently unknown. If Dragon Age adopts their character and tone, shedding some of its own identity in the process, will that be enough to win them over?
Maybe I’m wrong and this trailer is in fact not that representative of The Veilguard’s actual gameplay, which we’re getting our first taste of very shortly, but right now all I have to go off is this, in my opinion, rather concerning first look. Needless to say, I’ll be tuning into that first The Veilguard gameplay reveal tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. PT, hoping to be proven wrong.
More about rpg
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
Path of Exile 2 numberlord spends 16 straight days killing rare monsters to prove that a stat that makes loot better makes better loot
LatestToday’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11See more latest►
Latest
Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11
Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11
Today’s Wordle answer for Saturday, January 11
See more latest►
Most PopularPiranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it
Most PopularPiranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it
Most PopularPiranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’Marvel Rivals’ latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod sceneSorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our faultTeam Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40KIs the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anythingIf you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 offAMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fabI tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bayFinal Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their altsTikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it
Most Popular
Piranha Games will lay off employees after Mechwarrior 5: Clans ‘performed below projections’
Marvel Rivals' latest update quietly killed the game’s burgeoning mod scene
Sorry everyone, Minecraft 2 is cancelled, and it might be our fault
Team Fortress 2 just had the single biggest trade in its history, with ‘the absolute best hat you can get’ going for around $40K
Is the new RTX 5070 really as fast as Nvidia’s previous flagship RTX 4090 GPU? Turns out the answer is yes. Kinda.
Elden Ring: Nightreign is getting a closed network test, and I’m totally not fuming because PC players aren’t invited to the party, or anything
If you’re a content creator and gamer looking for a CPU upgrade, this Ryzen 9 9900X deal will get you $90 off
AMD is now reportedly making all-American Ryzen 9000 CPU dies at TSMC’s Arizona fab
I tried a sim racing rig that generates ‘wind’ at CES 2025 and it’s claimed to help keep VR nausea at bay
Final Fantasy 14 communities panic as it turns out change to blacklisting, meant to help reduce stalking, also lets players use mods to track their alts
TikTok’s time in the US may be ticking to a close as it makes a last stand in the Supreme Court, though Trump now says he ‘opposes banning’ it
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review4Ikea Utespelare desk review5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
HARDWARE BUYING GUIDESLATEST GAME REVIEWS
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
1
Best Steam Deck accessories in Australia for 2025: Our favorite docks, powerbanks and gamepads
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
2
Best graphics card for laptops: the mobile GPUs I’d want in my next gaming laptop
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
3
Best mini PCs in 2025: The compact computers I love the most
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
4
Best 14-inch gaming laptop: The top compact gaming laptops I’ve held in these hands
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
5
Best Mini-ITX motherboards in 2025: My pick from all the mini mobo marvels I’ve tested
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
1Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
1
Thank Goodness You’re Here! review
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
2Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
2
Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
3
WD Black SN850X 8 TB NVMe SSD review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4Ikea Utespelare desk review
4
Ikea Utespelare desk review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
5
Asus ROG Harpe Ace Mini wireless mouse review
