We’ve finally gotten some gameplay from Dragon Age: The Veilguard, offering the first proper look at the recently renamed Bioware RPG. What’s it like? Well, there’s a cool looking city, plenty of cameos from established Dragon Age characters, and, well, lots of running around.
While we did get a trailer and a release window at this weekend’s Xbox showcase, fans have naturally been waiting for some gameplay to dig into, especially those who weren’t big fans of that first glimpse of what Bioware’s been working on. Based on the initial reaction in the live chat, it looks like the mixed reaction may not be going away any time soon.

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The reveal featured about about 20 minutes of gameplay from “very early in the game”, with some edits having been made “for bervity and to avoid any major spoilers”. Basically, we got to see Rook – the name given to the protagonist you’ll be taking control of, running through a city where Solas, a companion in Dragon Age: Inquisition, is attempting a ritual that’s rather ruining the city’s vibes.
Series stalwart Varric and Rook sprint through some demon hordes raining down on the place – which looks a lot more dark and broody that the stuff shown in the trailer, picking up Lace Harding and Neve Gallus along their way to tell the elf he’s doing a bad thing.

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The main aspect of all of this that looks like it might divide fans is the combat, which seems to often favour straight-up action RPG hack-and-slashing over the tactical team management a lot of folks might prefer. That said, there were some cool abilities shown off and the customisable ability wheel does look like it’ll let you have some control over your companions’ attacks, so that’s a thing.
That said, this is just one mission early on, so there’s a chance things might get a bit more advanced in that regard as the game progress. Anyway, this gameplay ended with Solas escaping after being confronted by Varric, despite the player trying to talk him out of it via one of the few wheel-based dialogue choices shown, illiciting some disapproval and approval notifications from Neve and Harding.
So, what did you think of this Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay? Let us know below.