Is a new Bioware born with Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
For better or for worse, Electronic Arts’ new RPG has left us speechless and could mark a new beginning for Bioware, the fallen queen of Western role-playing games.
It’s easy to go against Dragon Age: The Veilguard , but be careful not to give it up already. It’s true that the trailer shown during the Xbox event was disastrous, it almost looked like a hero shooter like many others and for a Dragon Age it’s twice as serious; it is equally true that we expected a completely different character design from Bioware, certainly not this gameplay. From a certain point of view, it hurts to see this series transform into something that, apart from the title and some characters, does not seem to have much connection with past chapters, but are we certain that this change is not positive for once?
Follow me in my reasoning…
Nextgen
Like many, I loved Bioware from the beginning, and I think that up until the first Mass Effect they didn’t make a mistake in a game. However, I was among the most critical of his latest works, to the point of even considering Commander Shepard’s last beloved adventure to be the beginning of the end. While you were waiting for Andromeda and Anthem, I was among those who took insults, predicting the worst and urging caution.
Is a new Bioware born with Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Gameplay presentation video
Many years in this field have made me more realistic than the king, certainly more cynical, so I was the first to be surprised when at the end of the extended presentation dedicated to Dragon Age: The Veilguard I changed my mind about this game, the same one about which I would not have bet a cent a few hours before.
Restart
Sunstroke? Senile dementia? I do not exclude either diagnosis, but grant me the possibility that this good impression may be the result of a certain experience. The first beautiful thing about this new Dragon Age is precisely the break with the past , but be careful: not the break with the other games of the same series, but the break between the Bioware of today and that of the past.
Is a new Bioware born with Dragon Age: The Veilguard?
We must acknowledge that Bioware is a different entity from the original one: the two founders left some time ago, other veterans followed them, recent failures have radically changed its characteristics and new recruits have taken office, reformulating its potential and weaknesses . The fact that Bioware has finally understood that it is no longer the same software house is perhaps the best news we could have had.
A clear change
Before knowing about Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I would have expected another pale attempt to revive some historical series, and instead here I am with a nice question mark, full of a certain optimism, printed on my forehead in front of the game I would have least expected To see. This new project is totally different from what Bioware has created throughout its history, at least it seems so: overload of colors, almost Fable-like maneuverability , smooth combat system, but potentially full of depth.
Don’t forget that what we were shown comes from the beginning of the game, so we haven’t yet seen how the mechanics that only appeared a few seconds on the screen will evolve. But the potential for an interesting and dynamic system is there , and that in itself is great news. There will be crafting and a base located in a lighthouse that will change appearance throughout the adventure. It’s carefree, light, fast, and there aren’t many like this made in the West lately.
Identity
In short, Dragon Age: The Veilguard seems free from the weight of the past . Maybe it will turn out to be absolute rubbish, we can’t know this, but finally there is a flash of creativity where the spark seemed definitively extinguished. If they had presented us with the usual abnormal open world what would we have said? And are we certain that Bioware today is able, or even willing, to challenge Larian? Better to do something totally different, just like The Veilguard seems to be.
And don’t look disappointed, as if Dragon Age had ever had its own identity to preserve: with the first they tried to make a new Baldur’s Gate on Thursday and only half succeeded, the second was an experiment never completed and the third completely changed races and lore to offer an experience full of surprises, but never totally focused on the gameplay. Dragon Age has always been a worksite of ideas that have never been perfected and it won’t be The Veilguard that will worsen its reputation.
A wrong name
What we could have done, but they didn’t have the courage, is to change the title . It would have been much better to make a totally new series, avoiding messing with characters that the public has come to know in one way and now naturally finds it difficult to see their distorted features. Old faces imprisoned in a totally different way. A world that, although not particularly characterized, attracts me with its flying structures, the fantasy that dominates the sometimes pedantic realism of modern games.
Bioware has accustomed us to very beautiful games, but the beauty of RPGs which are usually less refined than other genres. The Veilguard, on the other hand, seems to have its own characteristics and balances, both in its gameplay potential and in its artistic stillness. But let’s hope we do something about those faces. This game still has a lot to prove , and it clearly walks a tightrope to the point of representing a sort of last chance for Bioware.
It doesn’t look like a Bioware game , it’s true, but if you try to hide the title and the name of the software house you could finally see it with different eyes and, who knows, maybe for what it really is: a possible, interesting and unexpected breath of fresh air. Let’s hope so.