I saw the first hour of Dragon Age: The Veilguard and it was action-packed

This story is part of our Summer Gaming Marathon series.

I got a look at the first hour of Dragon Age: The Veilguard at Summer Game Fest Play Days this year. The long-awaited fourth entry in BioWare’s fantasy RPG series still retains the interesting dialogue options and tactical use of fantasy abilities that are at the series’ core, but definitely leans into the action game elements more than even Dragon Age: Inquisition did.

Although its reveal trailer was a bit underwhelming to me, seeing the first hour of Dragon Age: The Veilguard gave me a vote of confidence that this is the return to form BioWare desperately needs.

The journey begins

Dragon Age: The Veilguard kicks off with an artful cinematic where Varric gives the backstory of Solas, an elven god who is now looking to destroy the Veil that hampers the abilities of the elven race, even if that comes at the cost of unleashing world-ending destruction upon Thedas. After that, players can start the game and enter its immensely detailed character creator. Game Director Corinne Busche, who narrated what we were seeing as another developer played through the first hour of the game, explained that a core tenet of the game is “be who you want to be.”

Dragon Age: The Veilguard | Official Reveal Trailer

Essentially, that means EA plans to have an incredibly detailed character creator that supports all kinds of body types and offers up a lot of sliders to tweak the most minute of details. The character creator even offers a lighting preview so players can ensure their character looks right in all kinds of lighting before they start the campaign. If a large list of customization sliders overwhelms you, there are character presets for all four of the game’s races: Human, Elf, Qunari, and Dwarf. After that, it’s time to choose Warrior, Mage, or Rogue as a starting class, the specialization within that class, and a Faction background for your character.