"We've been doing elven gods and elves and the blight for four games now" Dragon Age: The Veilguard devs discuss where the series could go story-wise in the future
"Everything has changed, and what does that change look like?"
Yesterday was Dragon Age day, and fittingly, some of the top devs behind Dragon Age: The Veilguard used it as a chance to chat a bit about where the series could go in the future, now most people have seen the end of this latest adventure that involved Rook, Solas, and everyone else.
Yep, everyone's just finished waiting ten years for the sequel to Inquisition to actually arrive, and we're already talking about what could come next, because video games. Here's hoping this next thing might not take quite as long to rock up.
In an interview with GamesRadar, BioWare creative director John Epler offered his view on what things are looking like for DA going forwards. The answer? Probably a bit less Elven deity and blight filled.
"I think what's exciting about this one going into, say, someday we do a Dragon Age 5, or whatever comes next, I think there's just a feeling of possibility. There's a feeling that we can tell any story we want to tell," the developer said, adding that he thinks this could be a chance to tell a story that "feels very identifiably Dragon Age, but brings in new elements and new characters".
"We've been doing elven gods and elves and the Blight for four games now," he continued, "I do like that this one [The Veilguard] feels like, okay, those story elements are, for now, at least, put to the side. What comes next? What does this world look like?" Epler certainly seems to think that this latest entry's ending, complete with secret cutscene, sets things up nicely for potentially switching gears a bit going forwards, a setiment he also touched in another interview, this time with Eurogamer.
"We wanted to make sure that this one ended in a less ambiguous way, where it's very clear that this story is done," he said of Veilguard in comparison to Inquisition, "What comes next, you will see, but it won't require the same level of 'okay let's catch you up on what's happened'.
As for what that next thing could be, Veilguard game director Corrine Busche seems to have some possible ideas, saying in that Eurogamer interview that tackling the Elven and blighty stuff has left her "curious about the other aspects that are less explored and equally as interesting: the nature of the qunari, what's across the seas, what's happening with the titans, the development of the dwarven people".
We'll have to see if the next Dragon Age thing does actually end up delving more deeply into any of that stuff , but in the interim, Veilguard just got some cool new stuff to celebrate DA day, and modders are now doing interesting things with it.