Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dragon Age: The Veilguard aren’t competitors — they’re siblings

Dragon Age: The Veilguard
(Image credit: EA)

It was inevitable that 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilguard would be compared to Baldur’s Gate 3. Almost as soon as the former’s gameplay was revealed in June, community discussions and thinkpieces arose, asking the questions: how will BioWare’s potential comeback title — released after a decade of disappointing launches — compete with Larian Studios’ monumental, acclaimed masterpiece? Can it even do so? 

After all, these are both fantasy RPGs inspired by the world and mechanics of Dungeons and Dragons. When pitching Dragon Age: Origins, then-senior creative director James Ohlen literally told then-lead writer David Gaider to “go make D&D but not,” according to BioWare’s 25th anniversary compendium. Not only that, the first two Bald🃏ur’s Gate games were produced by BioWare back ℱin the nineties, cementing BioWare’s place in RPG history.

It’s a compelling narrative. A former top dog (wolf?) fighting to reclaim its place as number one, up against a newly crowned victor that’s likely redefined what it means to develop an AAA fantasy RPG for the next decade. But I don’t think it tells us the full story of how Veilguard will be received in the wake of 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Baldur’s Gate 3

Dragon Age: The Veilguard screenshot featuring the party standing in Arlathan Forest

(Image credit: BioWare)

Thick as thieves

We've been playing The Veilguard

Dragon Age

(Image credit: BioWare)

Read our 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:Dragon Age: The Veilguard preview to see what we thought after seven hours of pl෴aytime

by postin♎g a side-by-side ꦬof a modded bald Astarion and Solas on Twitter. 

Baldur's Gate 3

(Image credit: Larian Studios)

Solas’ role in Veilguard, as an advisor and aid trapped on a different plane, also reminds me of the Emperor’s role i🅷n Baldur’s Gate 3. Like Solas, the Emperor is deceitful and mirrors how you treat him. That said, a key personality difference between them is, Solas lies only by omission and sucks at it. It’s a nuance that’ll undoubtedly spawn months of fan discussion and comparisons alone, not to mention the rest of their differences. 

Just as r💝e🅰iterated over and over in Veilguard’s marketing, Baldur’s Gate 3’s heart, too, lies in its companions and storytelling — and, I believe, if the friends we make along the way are the main draw for a good portion of fans, they’re not going to pit the games against each other. They’re going to see it as an expansion of their friend group and/or pixel polycule. Already, I’ve seen Baldur’s Gate content creators who don’t know anything about Dragon Age ask who Varric is.

In the game of capitalism, yes, there can only be one winner. But if we approach game launches like communities, the impact of a game and its development cannot be solely measured by sales and awards. Fandom engagemeꦓnt matters. Developers being inspired by each other matters. Everyone wins when there are more perspectives and choices to go around, in one way or another. 

If I were to lean into the fantasy genre of it all, I’d say Veilguard launching the year after Baldur’s Gate 3 is fate. It feels like we’ve come full circle, just as it feels like Dragon Age is finally stepping fully into its own. Where Larian showed that you don’t necessarily need to reinvent the wheel, and that you can make a heavy impact by simply investing in deepening and expanding the systems people already enjoy, BioWare’s previews of Veilguard suggest it’ll show that a little reinvention𓃲 can sometimes be what you need — as long as you don’t forget your roots. 


Dragon Age: The Veilguard creative director answers all of our important questions and some less-important ones: "I am a Final Fantasy 10 diehard; I love the Sphere Grid"

If you don’t find her writing for PCGamesN, NME Gaming, TheGamer, and more, The Game Awards Future Class 2023 member Sherry “Elisa” Toh is probably o🐬ff on a side quest in research, disability advocacy, or game writing. That, or she’s procrastinating by romancing an RPG character again.