Summary
- A full playthrough of Dragon Age: The Veilguard may take 100 hours, focusing on companions and combat inspired by Mass Effect 3.
- Locations in the game include cities and large zones like Arlathan Forest, connected by Eluvians.
- The game still aims for quality over quantity, featuring three Acts with side content tied to major factions and companion interactions.
According to a recent interview conducted with BioWare developers, a full playthrough of Dragon Age: The Veilguard may take up to 100 hours to complete. Though its gameplay marks a radical departure from previous titles, Dragon Age: The Veilguard can best be described as an amalgamation of BioWare's biggest strengths. It places emphasis on companions, trades an open world for hubs and missions, and embraces a style of combat inspired by Mass Effect 3.
Both Treviso and Minrathous will function as explorable cities in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and the game will also feature large zones such as Arlathan Forest or Hossberg Wetlands on top of that. These locations will be connected via a network of Eluvians in the Lighthouse, which serves as both the base of operations for Rook, and a gathering place for companions in The Veilguard. While it may not be as large as Dragon Age: Inquisition, it cannot be denied that the scope remains ambitious for BioWare's upcoming release.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reveals Details About Player Backgrounds
Prospective Dragon Age: The Veilguard players can now see how Rook ties into every faction via background choices picked during character creation.
In a recent interview conducted by NoRRza, a BioWare developer shared that their recent playthrough of Dragon Age: The Veilguard took 100 hours to complete. By comparison, a completionist playthrough of Dragon Age: Inquisition can take up to 150 hours on average, whereas Dragon Age: Origins tends to take around 90 hours. Notably, The Veilguard was described in a different interview as having a minimal length of 40 hours, if players solely focused on the main quest, which lines up with Origins perfectly.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard May Take Up to 100 Hours to Beat
The difference between 40 hours and 100 hours is broad, and implies that The Veilguard will likely have a lot of meaningful side content. While Dragon Age: Inquisition was a massive success for BioWare, and even won Game of the Year in 2014, its open world has frequently been the subject of critique over the years. Compared to Mass Effect 2 or Dragon Age: Origins, many players felt that it had a lot of bloat, and this sentiment was even echoed by the team working on The Veilguard.
As a result, Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be a much tighter experience, placing an emphasis on quality, rather than quantity. It will feature three Acts, with the first Act taking the longest to complete. On top of featuring a sprawling main quest, the side content will prioritize the six major factions of The Veilguard, as well as Rook's companions. Notably, choices made by Rook will affect how companions will behave during gameplay – with friendship, rivalry, and romance allegedly having different effects. For example, a Neve that dislikes Rook will not use her supportive abilities in combat, but will have a major buff to her offensive spells. While it remains to be seen how these concepts will work in practice, first impressions by content creators and media outlets have been overwhelmingly positive.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 80 /100 Critics Rec: 71%
- Released
- October 31, 2024
- ESRB
- M For Mature 17+ // Blood, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Violence
- Developer(s)
- BioWare
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
WHERE TO PLAY
- Engine
- Frostbite
- Franchise
- Dragon Age
- Platform(s)
- PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X
- Genre(s)
- RPG
