In 2023, Larian Studios’ award-winning sport Baldur’s Gate 3 crammed a void in RPG followers’ hearts. As of final 12 months, BioWare, the developer behind Dragon Age and Mass Impact, hadn’t launched an RPG in six years. Larian’s tackle the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset checked off a whole lot of bins for followers who wished a party-driven RPG filled with game-changing choices, lovable and complex characters, and a sprawling, impressively designed world.
As Larian was sweeping sport of the 12 months awards final 12 months, BioWare was working away on the reportedly troubled fourth Dragon Age sport. Followers famous that the EA-owned studio releasing a fantasy RPG inside a 12 months of one of many most acclaimed video games of the previous decade was doomed to ask comparisons—probably unflattering ones. However now that we’ve seen The Veilguard in movement, I’m extra satisfied than ever that pitting the 2 video games in opposition to one another is a superficial waste of time.
This has occurred earlier than. In 2014, Dragon Age: Inquisition gained loads of sport of the 12 months awards, solely to be shortly adopted by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. CD Projekt Purple’s RPG arguably stole BioWare’s thunder as the large fantasy RPG on campus, and drew consideration to a few of Inquisition’s flaws like its mediocre open-world. However as ex-Kotaku author Kirk Hamilton identified again in 2015, BioWare had significantly better relationship dynamics and world navigation than The Witcher 3. However evaluating the 2 is tedious, and I’m already feeling that tedium after seeing an hour of The Veilguard at Summer season Sport Fest.
Sure, Dragon Age and Baldur’s Gate are each fantasy RPGs with a give attention to their companions, however even a quick have a look at Veilguard reveals how totally different these two video games are. Baldur’s Gate 3 is a CRPG much like the primary Dragon Age sport, whereas BioWare has gone full motion RPG for The Veilguard. Systemically, these two video games couldn’t be extra totally different. There’ll undoubtedly be people who find themselves dissatisfied that Dragon Age is leaning tougher into the motion RPG subgenre after Baldur’s Gate 3 pulled off the tactical strategy so effectively, however to that I say: Simply play Baldur’s Gate 3 once more.
Is Baldur’s Gate 3 what Dragon Age must be in 2024? That’s sophisticated
PC Gamer’s Lauren Morton wrote about how Baldur’s Gate 3 feels just like the model of Dragon Age: The Veilguard individuals in all probability would have envisioned 15 years in the past. For those who performed Dragon Age: Origins in 2009 and imagined the collection a decade and two console generations later, Baldur’s Gate 3 might be a detailed approximation of what essentially the most pie-in-the-sky model would seem like. For Morton, this goes past sticking to tactical fight, additionally involving its darker tone, as The Veilguard’s quippy dialogue and acrobatic motion really feel like one thing out of a contemporary franchise movie.
Morton asks what Dragon Age’s identification is at this level, however I really feel the collection has had an identification drawback for 15 years. BioWare has maintained that every Dragon Age sport is a really particular second in time for its universe, and that’s why it modifications areas, protagonists, and kinds every time. That has usually been used as a defend to deflect criticism of how poorly it handles continuity and payoff, but it surely’s additionally why I believe the Baldur’s Gate 3 comparability seems like clinging onto one thing that’s been gone for over a decade. Dragon Age has by no means been in a position to efficiently reconcile its supposed anthology format and its need to have interconnected tales, but it surely does imply that I accepted a very long time in the past that attempting to find out what makes a Dragon Age is as futile as attempting to find out what Last Fantasy is.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard goes to be divisive. It already is. Whenever you’ve spent ten years ready for one thing with an thought of what it might be in your head, if it’s not that factor, you’re sure to be dissatisfied. However finally, The Veilguard just isn’t attempting to perform the identical issues Baldur’s Gate 3 did. Its give attention to action-based techniques means we’re in all probability not going to get the extremely reactive, Dungeons & Dragons-esque spells and problem-solving mechanics. Nevertheless it does imply we’re going to get what appears to be like like a frenetic motion RPG that continues the story we’ve been ready a decade for. That may not be what you wished from Dragon Age, however that different sport exists.
We will unpack whether or not or not The Veilguard accomplishes what it’s getting down to do when it launches within the fall, but when the dialog begins and ends with “I wished The Veilguard to be this particular factor,” we’re wanting on the improper franchise. After seeing The Veilguard pivot in such a special course from its predecessor that impressed Baldur’s Gate 3, I’m simply not excited about inspecting it by way of the lens of this comparability. It’s the least fascinating solution to dissect artwork, and now, it seems like a disingenuous solution to dissect these two video games. We’ve bought two desserts which are comparable shapes however totally different flavors. We will eat them each.
.
