The response to Dragon Age: The Veilguard seems mixed, confused even. Some people are quite excited for it, but the Dragon Age fans of PC Gamer are all feeling pretty dire. None of us were in love with the first trailer at the Xbox showcase. Online editor Fraser Brown thinks the doubling down on action was a catastrophic mistake, and associate editor Lauren Morton doesn’t see how it could compare with Baldur’s Gate 3. The Veilguard’s long, troubled development and BioWare’s loss of veteran staffers, including the gut punch of a 50-person layoff last year, loom over everything.
But despite all that, I’m still pretty optimistic about the game. I’ve got a song in my heart and love to give, and there are some concrete facts to remember about BioWare and RPGs in general that contribute to my rosy outlook. Better than Baldur’s Gate 3? Absolutely not. But better than anything BioWare’s made since Dragon Age 2? I think it’s a possibility.
RPGs Don’t Get Good Trailers
In-engine Cyberpunk reveal from 2018 certainly springs to mind—but in general? RPGs are chunky, cerebral, slow burns that don’t translate well into 90 seconds of sexy sizzle trying to sell you something. The way marketing campaigns always call these games “mature” always makes my eyes roll: “our game has swears and sex and stuff!” We’re all adults here, you don’t have to make me feel like I’m sneaking something past my parents. I always think fondly of how The Witcher 3 pokes fun at its own edgy story trailer in a late-game quest with Lambert. “Killing Monsters” indeed.
Someone Thought This Was Cool Back Then
Look no further than Dragon Age’s own marketing history for some cringe-inducing stuff. Take the pre-rendered “Sacred Ashes” trailer for Dragon Age Origins, for example: porn parody versions of our beloved party members led by a guy who looks like the facial composite of every single Xbox 360 shooter protagonist. They do epic mid-air flips in combat to the tune of the most generic butt rock the early Obama years had to offer. Someone thought this was cool back then, but it’s not really “Dragon Age” and it didn’t really matter: Origins is still a classic no matter what its marketing looked like.
With that in mind, a quippy trailer set to a remixed pop song ain’t nothin but a peanut. The David Bowie classic “Heroes” is about lovers separated by the Berlin Wall and not Elf Rogues, but if RPG history is any indication, The Veilguard will have a more deft touch than the vulgar language of promo trailers. How about one more bad RPG trailer for the road: This E3 showcase of the classic Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was utterly heinous. “Embrace your demons… Or die by them!”
We’ve Only Seen the Worst Part of the Game
The rainy city jumpcut to rainy elven forest sequence from The Veilguard’s extended gameplay showcase felt stiff and on rails, but it’s apparently the opening section of the game and already looks better designed than the equivalent bits of Dragon Age 2 or Inquisition. RPG intros can be a hard thing to nail, with utter classics bogged down by excruciating “protagonist’s quaint home village” tutorializing, and the Dragon Age series hasn’t always nailed that first hour.
Origins remains a high water mark for the genre, with its six unique prologues and the memorable Battle of Ostagar, but Dragon Age 2 just had you trudging through some ugly brown hills killing Darkspawn and being sad that your annoying younger brother or teacher’s pet little sister died. Inquisition’s intro, meanwhile, feels like it was chopped and