“We wanted to give each character their own flavour, or their own style, of romance,” says creative director John Epler.
Romances have become almost a staple of RPGs over the years, and it’s fair to say that BioWare has had a huge role to play in their popularization. The Dragon Age and Mass Effect franchises in particular have often been strongly associated with RPG romances, and it looks like BioWare is looking to keep that tradition alive with the upcoming Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
The developer had previously said players will be able to romance all companions regardless of gender, and speaking recently with Eurogamer, creative director John Epler offered further details on that front. As per Epler, The Veilguard will give each companion “their own flavour and style” of romance, while interestingly enough, if there are characters that you aren’t romancing, some of them might even end up romancing each other or other NPCs.
“In Dragon Age games, BioWare games, romance is a core part,” Epler said. “We wanted to give each character their own flavour, or their own style, of romance. So some characters may be a little more steamy while some characters maybe a little bit more innocent. But for each one, you can build these relationships.
“And what’s interesting in this game is, if you don’t romance characters, they may decide to find their own romances for themselves, whether within the team or within the world itself.”
And what about characters that you want to keep things strictly platonic with? As per Epler, such relationships and friendships in The Veilguard are going to be just as meaningful as the romances.
“One of the things we tried to do with The Veilguard is it’s not just romantic relationship building,” he said. “You need to get to know a person before you can really build that kind of relationship with them, and if you choose not to build a [romantic] relationship, we never want to feel like you’re being cut off. There’s no ‘okay, well, their arc isn’t progressing, I’m done.’
“We want to make sure the non-romantic relationships are deep as well, with friendships not just for companions and yourself, but also between companions across the party.”
Several more details have emerged on Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is confirmed to be a mission-based game, and will feature multiple graphics modes on consoles. BioWare has also offered more insight into its combat, companions, hub location, and more.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is out this Fall for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
