BioWare Reveals Companion Control Limits in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
- Dragon Age: The Veilguard won't allow control of other party members.
- Core feature removed to focus on intense action.
- BioWare aims for players to feel like the main character, Rook.
- Higher actions-per-minute make companion control less beneficial.
- Veilguard is a third-person action RPG.
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News
BioWare Explains Why You Can't Control Companions in Dragon Age: The Veilguard
By John Walker
Published Thursday 10:40 AM
One of the most surprising aspects of the forthcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard was the news that we won't be able to control other party members in the action RPG.
A feature that's been core to the previous three mainline entries in the series, its removal has left many wondering what is up.
According to Edge, it's because the action's going to be far more intense this time.
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There's no question that the Dragon Age games have incrementally moved away from their D&D-inspired origins.
The first game played a lot like a traditional BioWare D&D game despite being set in the company's self-created universe.
You could take control of any member of your party and pause battles to decide on their next moves.
By the third game, Inquisition, while you could still control other characters, the emphasis had moved much more toward focusing on your main character and much more on the action.
It seems that transition is now complete.
Talking to Edge, BioWare's Corinne Busch said, "On the experiential side, we wanted you to feel like you are Rook."
That's the predetermined main character of Veilguard, albeit one you can design to look how you wish.
"You're in this world, you're really focused on your actions," the game's director continued.
"We wanted the companions to feel like they, as fully realized characters, are in control of their own actions. They make their own decisions."
However, that's not the only reason.
Busch also told the UK magazine that Veilguard is a much higher actions-per-minute game.
It is more technically demanding on the player.
Apparently, during playtesting, it was found that letting people control the companions wasn't actually adding to the experience.
In fact, in some ways, it was detrimental.
From the early footage, it's pretty clear that Veilguard is a full-on third-person action game on top of being an RPG.
We're totally down for that.
But it's certainly going to be a cognitive shift losing the ability to direct companion actions.
Let's just hope their AI is up to it.
