With the release of BioWare's Dragon Age: The Veilguard, a beloved but distant video game franchise is yanked back into the current console generation, and Screen Rant 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 Dragon Age: The Veilguard feels meaningfully new.

In my own time spent testing out the 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 Dragon Age'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.

Screen Rant 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 Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as well as the thoughtful introduction of newer, riskier gameplay twists that this sequel brings to the fore.

Dragon Age Will Always Be Different

Deg The Next New Twist For A Franchise Committed To Reinvention

Screen Rant: I feel like people from the start were commenting [on] Dragon Age: The Veilguard [being] this huge departure from Dragon Age, [and] that it’s just so different. When, really, I think every Dragon Age 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 Dragon Age game. In that regard, there are some similarities to, say, Final Fantasy 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 what it allows us to do is really push boundaries, to try new ideas, to iterate. And, also, bring forward some of those elements from each of the prior games that fans really loved and enjoyed.

Screen Rant: Absolutely. There's been a consistent narrative from the start. We're all seeing the same names that we know, and they carry forward their own unique histories through each one. And seeing them end up here in a game that does feel meaningfully different, meaningfully modern, is very interesting.

I know that, at some point, there were ideas about having a multiplayer component. That's definitely not going to be the case for The Veilguard, right?

That's right. In the ten years of development of The Veilguard, my view is that it's really only taken shape over the last four years. Prior to that, a lot of ideas were explored; smaller Dragon Age stories, multiplayer concepts. And that afforded us a wonderful tech stack to build this game on top of. And we had an outline of a story to draw upon. But, really, in earnest, development around this authentic, singleplayer, party-based RPG, this has been about the last four years of having this consistency of direction.

And, again, I'll keep coming back to the word “authenticity.” [It’s about] honoring the games that came before, and what fans expect out of the franchise.

Screen Rant: Right. I don't think it's a part of it, and I don't know what we're allowed to talk about today if it isn't going to be part of our gameplay preview specifically, but will there be anything like a renewable dungeon element introduced at some point, or anything [similar]?

Ah, I see. I'll give you one.

I don't think we've confirmed this, but there will be [a gameplay component where] each of the factions has their own region they hail from and the central camp where they gather. And, with the Lords of Fortune in Rivain, the entirety of their faction's hub is based around these large fighting pits where they challenge foes with interesting varieties of enemy compositions and types, different modifiers and strategies.

Screen Rant: This is awesome.

So, yeah. I frequently go back to the fighting pits just because I can't wait to see what's next, and I really want to test out different builds!

Screen Rant: I love that. And the new gameplay that we've experienced today, it was making me itch for something renewable. I want something to keep going and experiment with, play with. And the fact that there's free respec here means that you could just spin that however many times you want and try out your different builds.

It’s one of my favorite features of the game. We really value player agency and experimentation, it's one of the reasons that the skill tree is so robust. And the experience I have that I always appreciate is, I'll be out in the world, get a piece of gear, maybe a unique that drastically changes the way my build or class would play. And I get to thinking, wow, maybe I should just respec and cater my build around this new item, this new type of play. [It’s all about] that flexibility.

And, because we're an offline single-player game, we can be really generous with the player and allow them to experiment to their heart's content.

Screen Rant: That's such a good point. It’s one way how avoiding multiplayer entrenchment can end up really generous and smooth.

Can I just say that I cannot wait for players to find their own emergent builds, that maybe we didn't anticipate, that really push the boundaries of what the game can do? I fully expect that there are builds out there that we don't know about that'll be pretty good.

The Constellation Tree of Upgradeable Skills in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Respec Freedom Means Experimentation Is Welcome From The Start of The Game

Screen Rant: I mean the skill tree – or skill "spheres" – are massive [...] You can always respec. The two ways to look at that is: you develop a no-respec game, and people feel like, oh, I have to play it all again and try it all this other way. Or, you do a respec, and if you have respec and a skill system that’s as robust as this seems to be, then that would offer potential for people to endlessly thought-craft builds online, and share them.

Was there something that inspired that? Because I really do think that the availability of skills and upgrades here is much broader than I anticipated.

Yes, absolutely. I will say that I'm a diehard RPG fan, and I came up through much of my career as a systems designer. I eat, sleep, and breathe progression systems. And, of course, we have a wonderful systems design team and experience team that has lovingly crafted this.

I personally draw a lot of influence from games like Final Fantasy X, the Sphere Grid, and Final Fantasy XII, and Zodiac Age in particular, with the License Board. Just the flexibility and, I would say, the journey that you experience as you're building out your character, it made a really sincere impression on me. And that's something that I wanted to bring forward into Dragon Age. To give players that kind of agency within the world of Thedas.

Screen Rant: What are you calling it? Because it's not a skill “tree,” per se. It's not fair or accurate to call it a skill tree.

Where we've kind of landed on is the “constellation tree.” Because I love how you can zoom out and see that it actually paints this constellation that is this abstract representation of your journey throughout the game.

Screen Rant: The constellation tree, fantastic. So, we do have this constellation tree, but there are still only three classes. How and where was that approached during development? Did you consider more classes, but whittled them down?

Yeah. So, where we landed is, there is a long history in Dragon Age of the warrior, the rogue and the mage. And we wanted to be true to that, that felt like a constant that we wanted to lean into. And not only do these classes show up throughout all the games, but they're often very intertwined into the narrative. There are expectations and conversation options. People within the world will respond to you because of the class you are. And we wanted to preserve that.

What the constellation tree and the specializations give us, however, is, each of the specializations — for, let's say, the rogue — feels akin to a class in and of themselves. What I mean by that is, if I'm playing a Veil Ranger...which is ittedly my favorite class right now, but it’s a bit like picking your favorite kid! But, if I play that versus, say, a Rogue Saboteur, I'm going to have a very, very different gameplay loop, a very different style of play. And that's all before you even throw in enchantments, and gear, and properties, and unique items into the mix.

So, while it is true we have the three thematic core classes, with the depth the system actually gives us, there's so much more flexibility there.

Screen Rant: I’m really impressed and surprised by how the combat works in the game. I know this is like what you were saying at the beginning of this conversation, in of Dragon Age almost being a mechanism through which to see what game technology is like now, where all of them have become that sort of representative.

But the world and the level design that I've seen is way less tunneled or straightforward hub-and-spoke. I don't feel like I'm getting rushed down paths, everything feels very organic [...] That aspect seems pretty significant too, that you guys are opening up the level designs significantly.

Yeah. How we frequently describe them is, the environments, the missions, they're extremely handcrafted. We pay very special attention to sightlines, being able to see your next objective, where you have the best view of enemies that are coming towards you, where we get the best beauty shots, and where we can really lean into those crunchy narrative moments throughout the story.

It is a very, very handcrafted experience. And what you may have seen in the prologue and earlier, where it's more directed, you still get the sense that you're in this massive living city. And then, when you get a little bit farther – say into Arlathan, or Hossberg, or Treviso – these areas significantly open up where you can have self-directed gameplay. You can go off and find quests and mysteries, treasures, apex bosses that are all narratively salient, even if you're not doing the bespoke story missions.

Screen Rant: It's been so much fun just getting lost in it and wandering, which just feels really satisfying. But not like a Final Fantasy game. It feels more directed, but immersive, I guess, is the word. It feels immersive in a different way.

The team's been very mindful of that. You're never going to find fetch quests. Everything exists for a purpose. And, again, you might from Inquisition, the Hinterlands, it’s a very large space. But the content there, it didn't always contribute directly to the narrative, or the story of the location, or enhance the themes or the threats that you're up against.

Here, everything is very focused, very intentional. I really think it'll pay off, whether you're a min-maxer that's exploring to try and get the absolute best gear and highest challenges, or you're that narrative player that really wants to understand more of the world and unlock these secrets and connections.

In fact, some of our juiciest answers to longstanding mysteries exist out there in these exploration spaces.

Screen Rant: I also loved how, at the intro point here when we picked our backgrounds, that’s something which has already fed into a few moments in the game, even from just what I played. But is it confirmed that we're doing away with the Dragon Age Keep system entirely? This is basically representative of that, right?

What we have now is something that's actually integrated into the game.

So, you may have seen in the character creator, we have Adventurer’s Past. The goal with that was twofold. We know that a lot of players will be ing us for the first time, and they're playing on a different platform. We also knew it was very important to us to really commit to how this is an offline game.

So, what Adventurer’s Past unlocks for us is, not only can you go in and remake those choices that really matter in the context of this story but, if you haven't played in ten years, or if you're a brand-new player, the dual purpose it serves is to let you know what these events are.

Screen Rant: It still felt like I was guiding something about the start of this game, and I already saw that reflected in some conversations. And I thought, oh, this almost feels like a very fast-tracked version of the Keep system.

This is one of the big debates we have among the team: did you try to romance and redeem Solas in past games, or did you just want to punch him in the face? When I go in and start a playthrough, I very much am going to customize the starting experience such that my Inquisitor did indeed have a romantic relationship with Solas. That’s just one example of how things can carry forward and actually are contextually relevant to this Dragon Age.

Screen Rant: To drill a little more into the new combat system, you mentioned that the game has been intensively developed over the past four years. I know the combat has been inspired by some other games, but what was it like when the combat system really began to gel? What was that like from a development standpoint?

Yeah. It was a very interesting journey. Our north star for – I'm hesitant to say even just the combat system – but how we approached level design, how we approached character creation, we wanted you to feel immersed and very present in the world. We wanted you to feel like you were stepping into the shoes of Rook, that you're in control. That every step you take, every swing of the sword, literally every action, you are Rook, and you are in this world.

So, we started with that premise. What we knew that meant was that moment-to-moment fluidity needed to be present in the gameplay system. That became our baseline. And it's, in fact, the thing that we worked on first.

We always knew that the beating heart and soul of Dragon Age combat is that pause-and-play deep tactical layer. And I love how that exists in this version of Dragon Age. But that initial focus on making the game feel reactive, fluid…My goodness, the work the team did on animation-cancelling, branching windows, parries. It just makes you feel very attached to the world and in control.

And then you layer on those deep tactics with the ability wheel, pausing gameplay. It feels very unique.

Screen Rant: It's almost like all that stuff - the pausing to issue commands and spells and all that - that’s just Mass Effect/Dragon Age DNA, that's in there. But the way it works in this game, the way it even looks, how it pulls everything off, the focused zoom-in. All of that, this almost feels like the purest version of this, like this is what they wanted to do in these games from the start.

And that's what we were going for, this focused experience, right? We want the player who really enjoys that tactical layer to have that at their fingertips. And maybe players that in Inquisition didn't use the tactical camera, this [here] is a system that's more inviting towards that strategic style of play in many ways.

At the same time, we also know, we're in the middle of an RPG renaissance. There are so many flavors and varieties of RPGs. We'll help players us that really want that fluid, uninterrupted, always-in-real-time experience. If you want to do that, you can use shortcuts and access those exact same tactics, that exact same depth, but with never pausing the action.

So, that flexibility, I really believe it will serve our diverse player base, and their expectations and motivations.

Screen Rant: Yeah, [...] We are in a new renaissance, and it feels like Dragon Age is right at home here. This is something that’s not a throwback, none of it feels like a throwback at all today. It feels very forward-thinking, it feels different. And yet, even the conversation gameplay, the updated UI. You could almost draw a line from the old paragon/renegade reactions in the first Mass Effect to the new use of this symbolic language. It’s so good.

And we really hope that our players will feel that, the BioWare DNA, what it is to be a BioWare game, we really draw so much inspiration from what's come before, and where it could go in the future. So, I hope players pick up the controller and recognize that this is the style of BioWare game that they .

Screen Rant: One last question: Bianca's getting repaired, right?

I'm just going to have to leave right now [...] You know what goes through my mind, whenever I see that scene where Bianca is destroyed? All that time in Inquisition I spent upgrading that thing!

Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on October 31.