David Gaider, creator of Dragon Age and lead writer on the series’ previous installments, has praised BioWare’s reveal of new game Dragon Age: The Veilguard – the first title in the series he will not have had a hand in.
Gaider left BioWare in 2016, two years after the launch of Dragon Age: Inquisition, after early work on the ill-fated Anthem. Now, the brains behind Dragon Age’s world of Thedas has shared his own thoughts on this week’s look at what’s next for the franchise he founded.
“I’ve been pretty busy, but I finally got a chance to sit down and watch the gameplay reveal,” Gaider wrote in a long thread on social media platform X. “Overall, I’d say this made for a better introduction than the reveal trailer.
“We see some story, and tone-wise it feels a lot darker and more Dragon Age. Like I said, trailers often need to be taken with a grain of salt, and my impression is that many fans are relieved. Which is great.”
Gaider had particular praise for The Veilguard’s atmospheric-looking opening location, the dark and magic-infused city of Minrathous.
“The environments look amazing, full stop,” he wrote. “To see the sprawl of Minrathous – wow. I wish we could have done this for Kirkwall or even Val Royeaux. Utterly gorgeous, sells the breadth and tone, such great work.”
The Veilguard’s character design has been a talking point among series fans since BioWare’s initial cinematic trailer last week. On this, Gaider said it would “take some getting used to, but the Dragon Age art style has changed every game so that’s nothing new.
“Combat is more action-y, without any tactical elements, but it seems fine. Style is not much different than, say, DA2’s combat,” he noted. “I had to laugh when I saw the return of the DA2 dialogue icons. Will ‘Purple Rook’ be a thing? Let’s hope so!”
Gaider wrapped up with thoughts on Solas, AKA the Dreadwolf – The Veilguard’s returning villain and former namesake. “It was lovely to see Solas & get a hint of the story to come,” he wrote. “Could probably chatter about the implications for days, and how this aligns (or doesn’t) with where I thought the story would go… but I won’t. I’m just eager to see where this goes. To the folks at Bio: great job. ♥️”
“Whisper it, but Dragon Age: The Veilguard has me thinking the unthinkable: it looks like BioWare is back,” our Chris Tapsell wrote after going hands-on with Dragon Age: The Veilguard this week. In an interview with the game’s creative director John Epler, we also discovered that if you don’t romance characters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, they’ll find other partners for themselves.
In the years since his departure from BioWare, Gaider has founded his own development studio, and last year launched Stray Gods: A Roleplaying Musical.
