Dragon Age: The Veilguard Director Says Choices Going Back to Origins Still Have a Chance to Impact Potential Sequels
Going all the way back to Origins, your choices – and the consequences of those choices – have been a major part of Dragon Age history, with each player character making decisions that have massive implications on the world of Thedas. Did you have the old god baby with Morrigan in Origins? Did you side with the mages or templars in Dragon Age II? Did you drink from the Well of Sorrows in Inquisition? And, for the love of The Maker, who did you smooch?
In line with that theme, starting with Inquisition, you could actually import your world states from previous games via BioWare’s online database, The Keep. That means if you did have the old god baby with Morrigan, the kid could actually show up in Inquisition, along with many other little nods to your previous choices.
But Dragon Age: The Veilguard took a different approach – instead of leaning on The Keep, BioWare instead allows you to recreate your protagonist from Dragon Age: Inquisition in the character creator and select certain decisions you made in Inquisition via tarot cards. However, the game offers only three world state decisions: whether or not you disbanded the Inquisition, whether you vowed to redeem Solas or stop him at any cost, and, of course, who did you smooch in Inquisition?
Speaking to us for our IGN First coverage back in September, the BioWare team explained they wanted to focus on choices in The Veilguard that they could react to meaningfully. Still, that didn’t change the fact that many fans were majorly disappointed upon hearing about the limited options – especially given the fact that they only tie back to Inquisition, with no updates from Origins’ Hero of Ferelden or Dragon Age II’s Hawke.
However, there’s a glimmer of good news for those hoping to see their previous choices reflected in future Dragon Age games, should BioWare decide to make another sequel. Game Director Corrine Busche and Creative Director John Epler recently sat down with IGN for a wide-ranging, spoiler-filled interview (which you can read here), where we asked if the team wished they had integrated any additional past decisions in The Veilguard. Here’s what Busche had to say:
The big thing for us is we wanted to make this story, every single choice you make, feel relevant to it. One thing that we could have stated more clearly or maybe alluded to more clearly in the game is the idea that just because these choices from the past library of games didn’t necessarily impact this particular story, that doesn’t mean they’re gone. This is a chance for us to really key in to what matters with these events and what’s happening in Northern Thedas. I do fully expect that these choices going clear back to Dragon Age: Origins will again matter. So just wanted to be on record with that. Every one of your choices that people have made throughout their Dragon Age journey, those are still your choices.
While that should be encouraging for fans hoping to see their choices reflected in Thedas’ future, the big caveat here is whether or not Dragon Age: The Veilguard will indeed end up getting a sequel, and that’s unclear as of yet. While it received positive reviews and became EA’s biggest single-player game on Steam at launch, an analyst recently told IGN that it faces an “uphill battle” to match Inquisition’s launch sales. Plus, it was already a rocky enough journey to get to Dragon Age 4, and BioWare has shifted its attention to Mass Effect 5 with no plans for The Veilguard DLC.
Still, that’s not to say the end of The Veilguard didn’t hint at events from previous Dragon Age games and how they might come into play for potential future games. We asked Busche and Epler about that as well, but be warned: Full endgame spoilers for Dragon Age: The Veilguard to follow.
A Hint at What a Potential Dragon Age 5 Could Be About
Curiously, The Veilguard has a “secret ending” that comes in the form of the post-credits scene, which you can only view once you find the three mysterious circles by solving a puzzle and completing a couple side quests (read IGN’s guide to getting the secret ending here). Or if you don’t feel like doing all that, don’t worry, you can just view it below:
While it begins with showing our baddies from The Veilguard – Elgar’nan, Ghilan’nain, and the Dread Wolf – we also get glimpses of events and characters that will be familiar to fans who played previous games, including depictions of Loghain, Meredith, Orsino, Bertrand, Corypheus, and Flemeth. Busche brought up this secret ending when talking about the potential of previous choices coming back into play, adding, “if you’ve seen the 2D ending we talked about, some of these events being quite pertinent, it’s easy to see how those choices can and will be relevant into the future.”
But in addition to the more recognizable characters, that secret ending also shows off a mysterious group of masked figures who’ve clearly been pulling some strings. While only well-researched fans would likely guess that this group is The Executors – a shadowy organization that’s just been referenced here and there in things like a Dragon Age: Inquisition War Table mission – Epler talked a little bit about what their appearance might mean for the future of Thedas.
“Without getting into what maybe the future holds for them, their goal is to remove the elven gods from the table,” Epler said. “Again, [the gods] are the most powerful forces on Thedas up to this point. And whatever [the voices’] plans may be, another powerful magical force on the table like that is going to pose some obstacles.”
“I think the other thing about the Executors, they’re very risk averse,” he continued. “They’ve been playing the extremely long game because the one thing they don’t want to do is leave any of their pieces in check. They’re always going to go for the option that keeps them the furthest away from harm, while also advancing these goals.”
Epler went on to point out that there’s a frequent chain of world-shattering events from Origins through the end of The Veilguard. “Why now? Why in this age, why this specific time?” he continued. “You start to get a sense of why that might be – not because anyone’s going in and controlling kingdoms or taking over armies. Someone is seeing the endgame coming and maybe they’re setting up for it.”
When pressed further if we might see more of the Executors’ plans in a potential Dragon Age 5, Epler responded, “never say never.” So, while it still seems clear that Dragon Age 5 hasn’t been officially greenlit as of yet, the creative team certainly has some plans for the future.
For more on the conclusion of The Veilguard and what it could mean for Dragon Age’s future, check out our full ending explained.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
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