Dragon Age: The Veilguard Director On Building "A Very, Very Handcrafted Experience"

With the upcoming release of BioWare's , a beloved but distant video game franchise is yanked back into the current console generation, and spoke with game director Corinne Busche ahead of its release. From first blush, the new game's combat and feel proved immediately immersive during my hands-on preview, aspects which Busche describes as a deliberate focus over these past four years of development. This world of Thedas may be fondly familiar to many, but how those players interact with feels meaningfully new.

In my own time spent testing out the upcoming game, I felt completely drawn into its beautiful environments and exciting new combat direction. And it's not just a matter of walking through the new higher resolution afforded to this rendition of 's storied locales; its transition to action-oriented adventure feels articulate and contemporary, making for fun moment-to-moment gameplay while hinting at the greater depth beyond.

sat down with a director for this highly anticipated new release to discuss these development decisions, and I was taken in by Corinne Busche's own nerdy glee and appreciation for the fantasy series at hand. I knew I was chatting with a devoted fan and player, first and foremost. It's indicative of the resonant qualities retained by design in, as well as the thoughtful introduction of newer, riskier gameplay twists that this sequel brings to the fore.

: I feel like people from the start were commenting [on] [being] this huge departure from, [and] that it’s just so different. When, really, I think every has brought in a huge gameplay shift, and I [believe] this is just part of the franchise?

It's become synonymous with what it is to be a game. In that regard, there are some similarities to, say, games. But we also have this wonderfully deep world/lore/tapestry of characters that is constant.

I often describe it as: the reinvention from entry to entry in Dragon Age is both the greatest challenge and the most wonderful opportunity. Because