Dragon Age: The Veilguard is improving the series’ romance system
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will feature seven companions, some of whom are returning from the previous games, and it appears that this time around, they’ll be able to romance each other. While all seven companions will join our party during the game’s first act, and become romanceable almost immediately, BioWare game director Corinne Busche told IGN that “it’s not until the later parts of the game where you really commit to romance and it gets pretty spicy.”
Interestingly, Busche says that the companions won’t only be attracted to the player, or “playersexual,” and can instead romance each other and other characters in the world. They’ll also be pansexual, offering a glimpse into their likes and dislikes when learning about their backstories. “Their past experiences or partners, they’ll reference them and indeed who they’ll become romantic with,” Busche said. “For instance, we saw Harding. I might be playing a straight male character flirting with her, but I choose not to pursue a romance. She might get together with Taash. So my perception, my identity has no bearing on their identities and that comes through really strongly.”
Building on this, Veilguard’s creative director John Epler told Eurogamer, “One of the things we tried to do with The Veilguard is it’s not just romantic relationship building. 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.'”
As for the spiciness, Epler says that “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.”
After last year’s fantastic Baldur’s Gate 3 and its ultra-spicy sex scenes, comparisons can easily be drawn with Dragon Age: The Veilguard. While we won’t be fornicating with bears — and likely not the Dread Wolf himself — Busche confirmed with IGN that Veilguard does “have nudity.”
“What I love about the two games is I think they live side by side in a really interesting way,” Busche said when speaking about both games. “They’re very different games, but those emotional connections and how the narratives hook you, I think there’s space for both.”
Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be aiming for a “real life” approach to its companion romancing, with some being steamy, others aggressive, and in the case of a certain “gentleman necromancer,” intimate. “Our companions, we want them to be relatable and fully realized,” Busche told IGN. “So they can get spicy, but in a way that I think people will actually relate to.”
Dragon Age: The Veilguard launches on Xbox Series X|S and PC this fall. Take a look at Veilguard’s reveal trailer for a look at the upcoming adventure.