Yesterday, during the Xbox showcase, we got our first proper look at Dragon Age: The Veilguard — a game that's reportedly survived a nightmarish development cycle over the last decade or so. While it was only a CG trailer, it prompted immediate reactions from both fans and curious onlookers because of its tone and art direction (and its horrifically bad, blown-out cover of David Bowie's Heroes, but that's a minor complaint in the grand scheme of things).
Basically, the trailer has completely divided opinion. There's no denying that Dragon Age was once a dark fantasy adventure that harkened back BioWare's classic CRPG roots, but The Veilguard looks like a Saturday morning cartoon by comparison. The bouncy, colourful new art style has really rubbed some people the wrong way, and plenty of references to games like Fortnite and Overwatch can be found in posts and comments across the internet.
The brunt of the criticism can be found on YouTube, where said trailer is being utterly slaughtered. The video on the official Dragon Age channel has over 1 million views, but the dislikes far outweigh the likes, at around 140,000 to 29,000 — and this is reflected in the comments. You have to scroll a long way down to find anything particularly positive; it's absolutely brutal.
But look, change rarely goes down well at first glance, and ultimately this is just a CG trailer. Actual gameplay footage is coming our way tomorrow (at the time of writing), with BioWare hosting a 13-minute deep dive on YouTube. There's every chance that the RPG looks much more appealing when it isn't being presented in such a stylised fashion.
There are more positive takes on the Dragon Age Reddit, where fans seem to have calmed down a bit after the initial sh*tstorm. A lot of more hardcore Dragon Age fans are willing to give The Veilguard a fair shake.
But what do you make of Dragon Age: The Veilguard so far? Cast a quick vote in our poll, and then explain your stance in the comments section below.
What do you think of Dragon Age: The Veilguard's reveal trailer? (1,209 votes)
- It's great, I really like it
- It's okay, I'll wait for gameplay
- It sucks, I can't believe this is Dragon Age
Comments 67
It was bizarre watching this and Fable in the same showcase. It's like the two series swapped color palettes and art directions.
The trailer was pretty cheesy, but I don't mind the style and I was happy to see Harding.
I'm eager to see the gameplay. It's still very much on my wishlist.
If it wasnt for the title card, i would have never guessed that its supposed to be dragon age. Never been a fan but i HATE the „hero1, small description, and a one liner“ thing most (multiplayer) games are doing
I think that someone should ban the "Purple neon mood" we have seen in this trailer and in Perfect Dark
It's positively terrible. Let's hope gameplay shows a different game in tone and gameplay, but i am afraid that isn't going to be the case.
@RBMango I’ve never played a Fable game but I really want to play that new one, looks brilliant. Plus Super Hans is in it. Dragon Age on the other hand… nah.
I don't understand why these people can't just make something new instead of bastardising an existing IP to shoe horn in their "quirky" characters and aesthetic where is obviously doesn't fit.
Oh wait, yes I do, because they're creatively bankrupt and can only corrupt that which already exists without making anything new themselves.
It looks like a hero shooter. It's a vile art style. I have no idea what they were thinking.
It did look really off. I'll reserve judgment until I see gameplay but yeah not the best way to reintroduce this game at all. It had that "Marvel stink" all over it.
Hopefully it was just a bad trailer because I really want Bioware to succeed but I can't lie this was a bad trailer.
It sucks, but I'll wait for actual gameplay
Don't know what the problem is. The art is a stylised aesthetic and is definitely what the original games wanted to look like. The whole "getting a team together" thing is one of my favourite themes in movies, amd is why Mass effect 2 is easily the best of the trilogy. And as for it being "woke" well as soon as that word is used the opinion becomes invalid and of no merit
I've never played Dragon age so I don't have a dog in this fight. If I think the game looks fun I'll play it, and if I don't I'll skip it. Simple as that
On the art style, it was quite jarring for me going from that initial scene of Varric and Harding and they look pretty much as they should, instantly recognisable... and then the other characters are shown with the more cartoonish facial features and just, what?
And yep, if this is that what they meant by the change in title better representing the focus that they wanted on the party... they were better off sticking to Dreadwolf, in both title and concept. (I do like the variety in the team and their roles though, all sark aside, so hopefully there'll be more of a Dragon Age feeling when they show us actual gameplay)
from the trailer it looks like they used ai for the art.
really should have used the art team from south of midnight.
that game looked good (outside of the framerate problems).
I quite liked it as CGI trailers go. But I think CGI trailers are pretty pointless and disingenuous. More worryingly considering it's apparently launching in just a few months (fall 2024) we really needed to see gameplay by now, and not just little clips of it, but a solid block so we can see the whole loop. It's what matters.
Yeah yeah, whatever. People will bitch about everything these days; no wonder the whole industry is under immense pressure. As for myself: While I didn't expect this kind of style, I don't particularly hate it either. People are SO quick to judge, so quick to just toss it aside from a first glance. It's pathetic and childish to be honest. Now - if they don't like the gameplay that's going to be shown tomorrow that'd be another thing and I would understand that.
But for the love of the maker, don't dismiss the ENTIRE game just because you don't like the artstyle immediately. Remember: People absolutely hated Zelda Windwaker when it was first announced and now, twenty years later, is one of the most beloved Zelda games out there. Just saying. I hate modern gamers.. We've become so monstrously entitled, arrogant and just plain hostile towards not just each other but to gaming companies as well. Something needs to change.
I'm definitely picking DA: TVG up when it releases.
Dragon Age has a history of trailers whose tones don't match the actual game - including the original DA: O trailer - so I'll wait to see the actual game
I thought after all this time ..and bioware needing to prove something .....it was going to be some gorgeous looking game....my only fear is if this sucks that will be it for mass effect
tbh Dragon Age lost me after 1's DLC. Wasn't a fan of the direction the series went in 2 onwards.
I think the fact no gameplay has been shown and it's out this year does not bode well at all.
Even if EA planned to show it themselves at their own thing this teaser doesn't create a very great first impression.
I had no expectations as Bioware is a husk of its former self. Hard to expect them to meet the quality of their ps3 era games when it's practically an entirely new team at this point.
Honestly like the overall colorful style...but then again I never EVER get excited for bullshot CG trailers so I'll wait for gameplay
Looks like EA cut the budget after back to back flops from BioWare. The magic is totally gone.
@Shepherd_Tallon Harding being an actual party member fills me with joy.
I'm quite hoping we get to see Cass and Leliana at some point.
CG trailers are rarely representative of gameplay or even tone.
Usually the gameplay is worse but hopefully in this case it could be the other way haha. At the end of the day, it has been long enough since Inquisition that I've already "mourned" the series so even if this ends up being absolutely terrible, I won't really care.
I'm betting that Bioware will put most of their effort and money into the new Mass Effect. That's where the money is.
@Batesy125s I'm pretty sure it isn't the stylized aesthetic that people are taking exception to. It's the lack of aesthetic and infantile tone in a dark fantasy setting.
DA really doesn't need Whedonism.
Ok, so I wasn't the only that thought that trailer was massively underwhelming.
@Ravix I can't remember the name of the game your avatar is from and it's genuinely doing my head in 😂
I'm actually a fan of the cartoony, colorful art style usually (KoA: Reckoning, WoW, stuff like that) but not for a freaking Dragon Age game.
Also, for what it's worth, it's been so long since Inquisition that I didn't even remember who Harding was, I had to Google her. And I've got platinum trophies on all 3 Dragon Age games.
Not interested nit a cartoon version of dragon age.
But what can you do, bioware aren't the same bioware, they are a slowly dying developer and it's so unfortunate because there games were the best you could get for story telling for a long time.
@Ravix "It sucks, but I'll wait for actual gameplay"
That's what I was thinking, too
But it wasn't a CG trailer. The trailer CLEARLY states it is using IN-GAME engine for the cinematics. I don't know. I am not a fan of it. At all.
I’ve only now watched the trailer, as I was worried about being disappointed. Well here’s to hoping the actual gameplay looks better. One good thing, Harding!!!
I really don't get why they call this Dragon Age.
It might not be a bad game but it's screwed by the manipulative naming.
@Weebleman dragons dogma 2? 😂
Personally I'm not ready to draw a conclusion on it. I'll wait and see what the game plays like and go from there.
Oh man this was the last chance for BioWare to redeem themselves and they blew it.
The trailer was awful and actually lowered my interest in the game as the tone was nothing like what I expected. Dragon Age's world is dark with demons, political intrigue, back stabbing and questionable morality. It's should never have been a weird comedy heist movie trailer with Fortnite / Borderlands graphic styles.
Also trailers as a whole should all focus more on gameplay as cinematics tell us very little about the final product.
I must be blind or my excitement is keeping me ignorant. I don’t see any Fortnite or Overwatch art direction in this. It reminded me of an evolution to Dragon Age: Inquisition. I liked the introduction to the companions. It was an introductory cinematic and that is what I took it for. I’ll reserve judgement for the gameplay trailer.
@Ravix thank god!! Cheers man. You know when you just know it but can't quite get there. Thank you my man, thank you 😂
I fell out of love with Dragon Age (I have found that most sequels to Bioware games pivot too hard for my enjoyment) by the second game, but I might still pick this up eventually. That being said the original game still holds up amazingly especially with mods. I still wish Bioware well with this game.
"It's okay, I'll wait for gameplay."
Don't judge a book by its cover. ^^
I've played all Dragon Age games, twice actually in the case of Inquisition, but I have no memory of any 'Harding'. I wonder why people are so happy to see her😁
I think the article forgets that PushSquare also reported that the gameplay would be very different and removed from Inquisition. It also suggests that Inquisition itself was an evolution of what came before, and I remember struggling at first with falling in love with it. But I did find in much to love in its RPG elements. The Veilguard, however, needs to show me that it fundamentally is a story-focused and deeply strategic party-RPG or I am out and will at best consider it a not-for-me spinoff and hope that the real game will come at some point in the future. At worst, it means that the games Bioware makes are simply not for me.
And I would consider that to be a real loss. It would mean that the effort, to lovingly bring the Mass Effect Trilogy up to date, wasn't an educational exercise for its new developers to learn the ropes of a game that tells brilliant stories through its many characters with strong arcs for party members and meaningful choices for the protagonist to shape his/her/their journey through the game, but rather a cash grab that was quite easy to do.
So, it would be a loss for me, a loss of a really great studio.
I really appreciate the people who tale their time to comment on other comments and say: "Hey, guys, let's see the gameplay before we start a riot!" If not for Game Informers articles (whom I've not read btw) I'd say 'you're right'. I await tomorrow with trepidation.
Revealing a game without gameplay is always a terrible idea, so the trailer was terrible. As for the art style? It's fine. It's better than the over abundance of super realistic looking visuals these days.
I'm hoping the tone of the writing in the trailer is NOT reflective of the game itself. Not interested in a quip-fest at every turn. The fun banter from Origins would be welcome though, but that only happened in between plot scenes and was more background.
This was the one and only disappointment for me in the show. It was absolutely horrible. The horrible music was the first problem, though this isn't the only culprit. What is with this trend of putting unrelated pop music in a trailer for a game it doesn't fit in. I'd say they're "trying to appeal to a younger audience", but among the trailers we had Bowie and Pat Benatar...not exactly hip with teh kidz....
But there's nothing about this Fortnite/cartoon art style, the mood and tone, the writing, or even, from what we do know so far the gameplay that has anything to do with Dragon Age. Seems like another focus tested game for a target market that doesn't exist. The corporate idea that an existing popualar thing should be retrofitted as something totally different for some new younger market (that's into Bowie?) that can only be defined by pointing to someone else's product that sold to them and looks kind of similar.
If you want to make a new kid-friendly playful action IP in a medieval world.....why not....just make one? Why retrofit an IP that isn't that into that market prototype?
The gameplay better be good or no way I’m getting this.
After that trailer, Dragon Age is dead. This might finally kill Bioware which might be good. They are so bad now that it's embarassing. EA will finally end them for the string of terrible games and decisions.
@Weez but it doesn't have a lack of aesthetic, it has a stylised aesthetic just like 1 and 2 did. And as for the infantile tome, the characters don't speak much differently to the characters in Baldurs gate 3, which are generally considered well written
@breakneck Right? I say let these people be negative - their choice, their decision. For me, I'm simply going to allow myself to be excited, as I absolutely love the art style that they used here. Unexpected, and kind of weird, but I really dig it. Still, it remains to be seen if the gameplay itself is good or not.. If people dislike that, then I understand turning away from the game.. But dissing it JUST after a first trailer? That's just plain silly - and to be honest, kind of childish too. Considering how many childish comments are left on not just Youtube but also on here worries me for the gaming community...
@Lavishturtle Good lord, could you be any more dramatic? You should join the whiny-brat club on Youtube; you'd fit right in with your hissy fit. Kind of embarrassing that y'all are acting this way when you don't know anything else about the game. Yikes.. getting some second hand embarrasment for you and most Youtube commenters here
It's not my favorite art direction, but I'm still at wait and see.
Think I'll change my username because Dragon Age is dead.
The gameplay may be good, but the tone and presentation are signaling that they haven’t learned why the cast of Mass Effect Andromeda fell completely flat.
Given how most everything said in the trailer was a cliche and each character they introduced were only demonstrating how plucky and skilled they were tells me that BioWare is content to have another dull cast of characters that aren’t moved by their experiences or connected to each other or their world. No amount of smarmy one-liners can distract from that.
I thought I was watching the concord trailer again 😂
What else is new, EA.., comes out with a mass market appeal casual thing made by corporate fools.
@Batesy125s this is the most sensible comment in all of the discussions about this
@Lavishturtle and when EA close Bioware down and makes the staff redundant, I imagine you'll be commenting "**** EA killing the industry" and we can remind you of this ridiculous comment you've posted
I can see them doing a Suicide Squad, and giving this more time to cook after the overwhelmingly negative response. But I also don't see them being able to change it much, other than by dropping all the bright, campy, aesthetic and making it grim-dark. Seems most people prefer their high fantasy like that, which is fair. We all know which was the better trilogy between LoTR and The Hobbit...
@Batesy125s Stylized aesthetic is a design choice - departing from realism/nature for effect. Lack of aesthetic speaks to visual identity and appeal, or the lack thereof. The two aren't mutually exclusive.
I have no issue with stylization, I just thought the trailer lacked visual identity, was a poor choice (in terms of execution) for the setting and had a couple of legitimately unappealing design choices.
As for the tone, if you don't think this is a juvenile take on dark fantasy (and all that implies), I'm not sure what more to say.
On the up side, the developers have since released a gameplay preview, in response to the overwhelmingly negative trailer reception, and it seems entirely different. I'll reserve judgement until the game launches - after which I can see if the poor direction was limited to a single trailer.
@Cry_Zero Blame Marvel for this new trend. It sucks.
@Weez I understand where you're coming from with the splash screens and the little quippy way they introduced the characters, I just don't think it was that bad, though it was a good way to show off the characters.
And as you say the little gameplay snippet looked good so hopefully will win people over and be the Dragon age people want. Me personally I'm looking forward to this as I loved Inquisition and its now been a full decade since a Dragon age game. I'm hoping it's a return to form but as you say we can reserve judgement until we've seen more
Was left very confused/concerned after this trailer. I think it’s safe to say that BioWare’s future is very bleak if this isn’t a success
I'll wait for gameplay. Saints Row had a terrible trailer and that game turned out great.
I've still yet to play Inquisition, but I was a big fan of DAO (and 2 was pretty decent as well) — CG trailers usually leave me feeling a bit indifferent, but I got really pumped to get back into Thedas, it's been way too long!
Bioware is the only one that has gone from dark fantasy to light fantasy while almost every other media has gone exactly the opposite route. Truly they were ahead of their time and I hope they're sticking to it and not going ligh
I mean, Inquisition was a colorful game! The landscapes were amazingly varied and colorful, as well as the characters. I get that the trailers tone was not in line with what we've come to expect but I didn't see anything wrong with the art style. Not to mention that it's a CGI trailer and not a gameplay trailer. I'll wait to see gameplay but I am concerned about the move to real time action. I loved the combat in Inquisition, but I know not everyone did.
This is also another example why developers/publishers need to have their initial trailer (not necessarily teaser) have real gameplay in it as to offset these kinds of reactions. I am certainly excited for this, even if the new name is dreadful?(hahahaha get it!?)
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