Dragon Age: Veilguard Impresses, Echoes Baldur's Gate 3 Success

Larian Studios’ Publishing Director Michael Douse recently lauded Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Read on to learn more about his assessment of the newly released action RPG.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Receives High Praise from Larian Studios’ Publishing Head“It Feels Like the First Dragon Age Game That Truly Knows What It Wants to Be,” Said Baldur’s Gate 3 Executive

Michael Douse, @Cromwelp on Twitter (X), the publishing director of Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian Studios, offered effusive praise for BioWare’s latest RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Douse used Twitter to share his opinions on the game, admitting that he’d been playing it "in complete secrecy"—he quipped that this involved playing behind his backpack at the office.

According to Douse, The Veilguard feels like a game that "truly knows what it wants to be," which he considers a refreshing focus compared to past installments in the series that have sometimes struggled to balance storytelling with gameplay. Douse even likened the game to a "well-made, character-driven, binge-worthy Netflix series" rather than "a heavy, 9 season long show."

Douse also commended the game’s combat system, which he described as "a mix of Xenoblade Chronicles & Hogwarts Legacy," a combination he terms "giga-brain genius." This new direction appears to bring The Veilguard closer to the style of Bioware’s Mass Effect series, with fast-paced and primed attacks that players can chain together for powerful effects, rather than the slower, tactical style of earlier Dragon Age titles.

Praising The Veilguard’s pacing, Douse said the game "has a good sense of drive and momentum," and knows "when it needs a pivotal narrative moment, and when to let you experiment with your class and leverage its strengths"—perhaps a thoughtful departure from its predecessors’ more conventional RPG roots. His commendation for the game even extended to BioWare’s continued industry presence, which he said remains vital during times of "foolish corporate avarice."

But the most intriguing aspect Douse highlighted is The Veilguard’s newfound identity. He hails it as "the first Dragon Age game that truly understands its own nature." While this could be viewed as a subtle critique of past Dragon Age entries perceived as lacking focus, Douse, however, clarified his position: "I’ll always be a [Dragon Age: Origins] fan, and this isn't that." It might not evoke the nostalgic appeal of "DA:O" for Douse, but The Veilguard seems to embrace a unique vision, a quality Douse deeply appreciates. "In short, it’s fun!" said Douse.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Rook Character Customization Allows for “Genuine Player Agency”

In Dragon Age: The Veilguard, BioWare aims to craft a profoundly immersive character experience for players through the Rook, a custom protagonist with highly individualized traits. According to a recent feature by Xbox Wire, players will be able to delve into The Veilguard with an impressive level of creative control over their Rook’s background, skill set, and moral compass. As Rook, players are tasked with assembling a party to confront two ancient Elven gods menacing Thedas.

Character creation in The Veilguard appears to be designed to ensure that every selection, from backstory to combat specialization, harmonizes with the player’s role-playing vision. For example, players can choose between classes that include Mage, Rogue, and Warrior—each with unique specializations like Spellblade for mages, which allows players to wield elemental magic at close range. There will even be instances when choices extend into Rook’s home, the Lighthouse, where players can personalize rooms to mirror their character’s journey.

"As you do, Rook reflects on their history before the game's events," A developer told Xbox Wire. "This allowed me to define more about my Rook—even down to choices I thought were insignificant, like why he has face tattoos. The result is a character who genuinely feels like mine."

This attention to character detail may be part of what Michael Douse found commendable, especially as the game focuses on choices that feel genuinely consequential to the player. With The Veilguard set to release on October 31, BioWare will be hoping that players share Michael Douse’s opinion.

In our review of Dragon Age: The Veilguard, we mentioned that the game finally adopts "the faster pace of the action RPG genre" with a gameplay style that "is more fluid and more engaging than the older games." For more on our thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and why we awarded the game a score of 90, check out our article below!