If you’ve noticed that there is a bit of a “divide” over the hype regarding Dragon Age The Veilguard, you’re not alone. The 4thentry in Bioware’s beloved RPG franchise has gone through NUMEROUS changes over the years, including entirely different storylines and titles, and even being multiplayer-focused at one point! So, when this “final version” was announced, and it appeared to veer away from what Bioware had done in the past, many spoke out against it. Some of it was over how the storyline was detailed, or the characters you’d get in your party, and so on and so forth. One thing that stuck out to the game’s director was the constant chat about the game’s “tone.”
Specifically, certain fans feel that the game’s tone is “too light and funny” for a world that is meant to be incredibly dark and grim most of the time. That led to the creative director of Dragon Age The Veilguard, John Epler, speaking out against those detractors, noting that past games did have a similar tone and the team is merely borrowing from that. As The Gamer noted:
“Something that I think we occasionally lose sight of is Dragon Age: Origins also had moments of levity. You have Alistair [who] kind of comes across as a goofball. There’s a lot of funny moments with Dog. “I think it’s that contrast that Origins did that we really lean into in the Veilguard. There are characters who are a little bit lighter. But even they have tragedy. They have moments of personal despair.”
He went even further into his description by noting that if the world was “miserable” all the time that people would be miserable as well as they progressed. There needs to be a “balance” between it all so that when the highs hit, they’re great, and when the lows hit, you truly feel them.
If you look at most RPG series, including a certain spacefaring series from Bioware, you’ll see that same level of balance. Sure, the stakes are “always high” because you’re dealing with the “fate of the world” or universe, but you also have moments where the main characters strike jokes with one another or reveal embarrassing stories and so on.
That’s not to say that fan fears about the game are unwarranted, as previews and gameplay impressions have also been mixed. Many are also displeased with how Bioware ignored many key story elements from the last entry when making the new one. So, it remains to be seen how well it’ll do upon release.
