Fixing Romance Issues in Dragon Age: The Veilguard

• BioWare addresses Dragon Age II's romance criticisms in Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
• The game is influenced by Dragon Age II's action-driven combat and dialogue.
• Characters are pansexual, independent of the player's choices.
• Previous romantic histories will be referenced in the game.
• Companions can form relationships with each other if not pursued by the player.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Tackles Romance Criticisms

BioWare is addressing one of the big criticisms of Dragon Age II's romances in its upcoming RPG, Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

The new game seems heavily influenced by 2011's Dragon Age II.

It evokes the second game's action-driven combat, returns to its three-path, tone-driven dialogue, and allows you to romance any character you want.

However, BioWare has learned some lessons in the 13 years since Dragon Age II.

It is circumventing one of the criticisms of the second game's approach to romance and identity.

Playersexual Romance Criticism

In 2011, Dragon Age II was an early example of what would be called playersexual romance.

This refers to when players can romance any character regardless of their own character's gender.

Games like this are often criticized for making characters feel like they are molded by the player's presence rather than having their own individual identities.

Dragon Age II's four main romanceable characters are all bisexual.

However, the game has a storyline involving party member Anders, whose past relationship with a man is only brought up if the protagonist Hawke is a man.

David Gaider, a writer for DA2, mentioned this was meant to distinguish Anders' relationship with male or female versions of Hawke.

In hindsight, it comes off like the mage's identity was a switch to be flipped.

BioWare's New Approach

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is making it clear each of its party members are pansexual, regardless of who Rook is or if they're initiating a relationship with them.

Veilguard director Corinne Busche said the team was aware of how these player-facing relationships can be off-putting.

They want to make it clear that each character's identity is independent of the player.

This can be through their previous romantic histories or future love stories that have yet to unfold.

Busche explained that their past experiences or partners will be referenced.

For instance, if a player chooses not to pursue a romance with Harding, she might get together with Taash.

This shows that the player's perception has no bearing on the characters' identities.

Character Relationships

The Veilguard's companions can end up in relationships with each other if the player doesn't pursue them.

This is exciting and something Dragon Age has done in previous games.

If you're going to have a cast of pansexual misfits, some of them might as well start smooching.

It's also a surefire way to demonstrate a character's identity without it having anything to do with the player.

In Dragon Age II, party members Fenris and Isabela enter a relationship with each other if the player doesn't pursue either.

This helped alleviate the feeling that their identities were tied to Hawke.

At the very least, it seems BioWare is aware of criticisms that follow the free-for-all romance approach and is trying to circumvent them.

Release Information

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is coming to PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S this fall.