Summary
The first gameplay footage ofDragon Age: The Veilguardrevealed that the darkspawn are back, once again plaguing Thedas. However, they looked much different than they did in previous games, and it was a redesign that many were unhappy with.
In response, The Veilguard’s director, John Epler, saidthere was a reason behind this, although he didn’t elaborate on it at the time. Now, both he and fellow director, Corinne Busche, have explained this reason, and it’s all to do with the elven gods attacking Thedas.
This comes from a new gameplay review hosted by IGN. Here, we get 22 minutes of gameplay, mostly focused on mage combat.
“You might notice as we get into combat with some of these darkspawn, that they do look a little bit different than before, and that’s very intentional,” says Busche. “Ghilan’nain, the god of monsters, she uses Blight like a medium to sculpt and warp the darkspawn to do her bidding, to suit her purposes.”
Epler also touched on this, saying that Ghilan’nain has been “enhancing” the darkspawn, which explains why the Grey Wardens are struggling against them so much. She’s also building an army of darkspawn to carry out her plans, so we can expect to fight a lot of them in The Veilguard.
Of course, that doesn’t change the fact that many fans responded negatively to the redesign when it was revealed. At least this confirms there’s a lore reason behind it, rather than a change in artstyle that could have been felt elsewhere.
Returning Characters Will Also Look Different
It isn’t just the darkspawn that are getting a redesign. As we saw in the last trailer,Morrigan is back, and hasfinallyupdated her wardrobe. In a recent Q&A, Epler said that this new lookreflects her personal journey, particularly in relation to her mother, Flemeth.
He also suggested that other returning characters will get redesigns since the devs want to reflect the ten-year time jump betweenDragon Age: Inquisitionand The Veilguard.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard
WHERE TO PLAY
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is the long-awaited fourth game in the fantasy RPG series from BioWare formerly known as Dragon Age: Dreadwolf. A direct sequel to Inquisition, it focuses on red lyrium and Solas, the aforementioned Dread Wolf.
