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(I swear it’s relevant, yo don’t leave.)
I’m pretty sure I might have even accidentally come across as confident.
Epler, for his part, certainly was.
The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
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When you’re looking at making a new game, how do you square all of that?
They’ve got a Black Divine.
But what makes a Dragon Age game a Dragon Age game in 2024?
I think Dragon Age, all the way back to Origins, has always been about the characters.
Dragon Age: Origins obviously had a fairly significant cast of companions.
Dragon Age is characters and choices that matter, that have an impact on the world.
Getting into character
That said, The Veilguard.
I mean, it’sThe Veilguard, right?
There’s a very clear emphasis on the party.
When was that decision made to really hone in on the characters like that?
Pretty early on, honestly.
We really wanted to make this about the companions.
There’s other options, but those seem to be the most common.
And when people talk about even the critical path like Halamshiral, they talk about the companions.
The way that Solas had to deal with the racism of Orlesian society and things like that.
It just felt like a natural focus for us.
Because there are a bunch that are not represented.
What kinds of characters?
It’s funny, because some of the existing factions, the Grey Wardens existed before.
And talked a little bit about Assan and that.
But other characters Bellara existed before there was a Veil Jumpers faction.
Originally she was going to be strictly a Dalish character.
Things are going weird in Arlathan.
But the faction then became, OK, what does that mean?
What is the character of Bellara?
As a Veil Jumper, how does she impact the world?
So what does that story look like?
It has continued to evolve, and here and now, it feels very “action RPG.”
What do you see that brings to the game as opposed to going the Baldur’s Gate 3 route?
Previous games, because of technological restrictions, we had to do a lot of this through cutscenes.
I’ll use Siege of Adamant as a great example in DAI.
Who do I use when?
Pause and play through the combat wheel.
How do you introduce those people to this world?
But if you’re not, it’s a big fantasy spectacle.
Obviously, Baldur’s Gate last year; fantasy is big right now.
House of the Dragon, people love Rings of Power.
I have the books, I’ve read the books more times than I can count.
A game’s a little bit different.
Getting that opportunity to kind of build your character out, especially as you move towards the specializations.
Rogue is a great example.
“I’m much more of a ranged player,” so you start speccing towards Veil Ranger.
And like that is our answer to that question.
What do you hope people take away from Dragon Age: The Veilguard when they are able to play?
Honestly, I hope people take away the companions.
