Dragon Age: The Veilguard Companions Are More Realized Because You Can’t Control Them, Says BioWare

During Kai's trip to San Francisco to play Dragon Age: The Veilguard, he was able to secure an exclusive interview with BioWare's Francois Chaput (Missions and Level Design Director) and Matt Rhodes (Art Director). Later, though, he also participated in a roundtable Q&A with Game Directors Corinne Busche and John Epler where various colleagues from the press were able to ask their questions.

One of the most interesting answers came on the topic of companions, which are the very focus of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and even prompted the title change from Dreadwolf. When asked when they decided companions wouldn't be directly controllable (unlike previous installments), they said:

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Corinne Busche: I think I can start this one and then maybe John if you want to jump in. Dragon Age has such an amazing, rich lore and history behind it. The worldbuilding, I really think it's what's kept this franchise alive and people discussing it 10 years after Inquisition. So our North Star was that we wanted you to embody Rook, to step into Rook's shoes, to experience this world on the ground as this character. And what that meant is giving you more autonomy, more control of the character, putting you in control of every single swing, and really making it feel like you're a part of this world.

What's more, we've talked a lot about the companions. I know a lot of the questions that came up today about Dragon Age: The Veilguard were about the depth and authenticity of the companions. We really felt like there was a big opportunity here to make the companions feel more realized, more like their characters who fight alongside you and have their own styles, motivations, and interactions if you're not actually embodying them.

But of course, throughout all of that, we do know in the combat system, that sense of teamwork, of pause and play, tactical depth. That has been the