Dragon Presen: The Veilguard is here after all and a lot of the community is liking it. And one person in particular who likes it publicly is Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian’s outspoken publishing director Michael Douse, who has been praising BioWare’s untouched RPG, calling it, among other things, “the first Dragon Age game that really knows what it wants to be.” “.
Douse is not one to shy away from sharing his criticisms on social media, of course, having recently taken shots at Ubisoft following the poor performance of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, calling out resellers for “doing [people] sad,” and spoke candidly about the tradition of layoffs in the video game industry, noting, “None of these companies are at risk of going bankrupt…they’re just at risk of pissing off shareholders.” from Dragon Presen: The Veilguard, Douse is making a song a safer song.
“I’ve been playing Dragon Age: The Veilguard in complete secrecy (behind my backpack in the office, in front of a giant window, in the kitchen),” he wrote on It’s a game that matches my experience during BG3, so I’ll approach it from that perspective. The answer is yes. It’s a nine-season heavy show, a very well-made, character-driven, binge-worthy series. It has a good sense of propulsion and forward momentum. The combat system is honestly brilliant (for me, a mix of Xenoblade and Hogwarts, which is a giga-brain genius. It knows when it needs a narrative highlight, and it does it. “) knows when to let you play around with your class and exploit some of its strongest elements.”
“More importantly,” Douse added, “to me, it feels like the first Dragon Age game that really knows what it wants to be… If you want a character-driven game with a strong combat system in a universe that You know, Amo, or I’ve heard of it, it’s much better than the average action game and much less heavy than the gigantic RPGs that can sometimes be intimidating. In a word, it’s fun!
“I will always be a [Dragon Age: Origins] boy,” Douse persevered in a follow-up post, “and this isn’t that. But at least it’s something it wants to be and not a hodgepodge of everything. I respect it. I like action games, like RPGs, I like when they collide. I like shooting bad guys with wizard magic. Your mileage may vary!”
It’s a favorable outlook on The Veilguard shared via Eurogamer’s Robert Purchese, who slapped Dragon Presen’s new day trip with five luminous gold stars in his glowing review. “What BioWare has managed to accomplish here,” he wrote, “despite all the pressure it has faced since Dragon Age: Inquisition came out 10 years ago, is extraordinary. From head to toe, wing to wing, The Veilguard It is exquisitely realized and full of sophistication in all the systems and narratives, it is warm and welcoming, funny and hopeful, kind when necessary and, of course, it is epic in a way that I think will set a high bar not only for BioWare; in the coming years. “But for RPGs in general, this is one of the best.”
However, back to Douse for one last comment: “I’m extremely happy that BioWare can stick around – presumably – in these uncertain times (due to stupid corporate greed),” he concluded. “[The Veilguard is] An existential game and also fun.”
