7 things you might have missed from Dragon Age The Veilguard gameplay trailer

The new gameplay trailer for Dragon Age called The Veilguard has showcased what players and fans of the series can expect from this latest title that is coming a decade after Dragon Age Inquisition. This role-playing game from BioWare will come during the fall of 2024 after being marked for long delays since its development started in 2015.

Having showcased an in-depth first look at what to expect from this upcoming game, the Dragon Age The Veilguard trailer also had plenty of notable elements that many might have missed in the trailer.

In this article, we look at the top seven things you might have missed in the new gameplay trailer and how they are important.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the author's opinions.

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7 things you may have overlooked from Dragon Age The Veilguard gameplay trailer

1) Character relationships will be affected by your choices

Decisions have an impact on the outcome of the game (Image via BioWare)

Dragon Age The Veilguard's character builder will allow players to choose which major decisions, made in previous games they would like to keep and import to this new game. This means it won't use Dragon Age Keep since it was a web tool that allowed you to create world states for import into the previous title.

Although the last Dragon Age game came out 10 years ago, BioWare has become known for incorporating elements from previous games into new ones. As a result, the company is rethinking how it approaches providing those choices across titles, which will give players the option to import choices in The Veilguard without having to import any save files.

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2) Return of Inquisition characters

Harding is one of the returning characters in The Veilguard (Image via BioWare)

Dragon Age The Veilguard will see a return of Dragon Age Inquisition characters. Solas, who was a party member from the Dragon Age Inquisition, is now an antagonist. Lace Harding will also be seen here as a party member. Alongside Solas and Harding, the protagonist of the 2014 game will be making a return. Players of The Veilguard will be able to customize The Inquisitor's aesthetics.

This is quite similar to how players could customize Dragon Age II protagonist Hawke in Inquisition. Although the role of the Inquisitor is yet to be properly understood, it is a sigh of relief that the character who began their tale a decade ago will be here to see it reach a fitting end in the upcoming sequel.

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3) You can counter enemy attacks and projectiles

Deflecting projectiles is a part of the combat in the Veilguard (Image via BioWare)

The protagonist of The Veilguard will be able to deflect attacks and projectiles, showcased in the gameplay. So, there will be a parry timing window within which, pressing a button—unspecified in the trailer—will allow you to deflect ranged attacks or ranged magical abilities.

This allows for extra combat action and lets you dominate during battles. Players will also notice a straight pathway of small white arrows that will point out the fact that foes are targeting the Rook from a distance and shooting projectiles. When the projectile hurls toward you, this line of arrows will blink rapidly in a yellowish color.

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4) Dialogue wheel makes a return

Dialogue options will return just like the previous Dragon Age games (Image via BioWare)

You will have options during conversations that influence your companions' thoughts and opinions of you. This is quite similar to the dialogue system in a way that was present in the previous games of this series. This is because this rating can help or dissuade potential romance opportunities with other characters.

Where The Veilguard shines further than its previous games is that your companions can acquire special skills if they form a strong enough link with your Rook. The gameplay footage trailer showcased several examples of traditional Dragon Age language options that ranged from sarcasm to brusque.

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5) Charge up time for bow

The bow of Rook will have a certain wind-up time (Image via BioWare)

Having renamed the game from Dreadwolf to The Veilguard, the gameplay showcased Rook, the protagonist, with eight bows in the inventory. When using them, there is a considerably small charge-up time, which essentially means players can wind up their bows to increase the amount of damage they do.

This also showcases the fact that these bows will regenerate back one by one after seven to eight seconds of cooldown time each. This equates to the fact that players will be able to rapid-fire a certain limited amount of arrows before being able to wait for the cooldown on them.

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6) Party Size has been updated

The new Dragon Age game will feature parties of three members (Image via BioWare)

The party size used to consist of four members in the previous game Dragon Age Inquisition game. However, The Veilguard's parties will only house three, including Rook. The Veilguard's decision to trim your party may come as a surprise.

While this may frustrate some older players who had fun exploring and constructing a team during the Dragon Age Inquisition days, it may also increase The Veilguard's replayability by allowing players to form newer parties of three for different team experiences.

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7) The Ability wheel tactically pauses the game

The ability wheel offers several tactical advantages (Image via BioWare)

Another change that will likely upset some Dragon Age fans is the removal of the top-down tactical mode in favor of a new ability wheel. While you can still pause the game with this ability wheel to give orders to your other party members, check their cooldowns, and view enemy weaknesses and resistances, it's not quite the same as the old system.

The Veilguard will feature its own version of the Mass Effect battle wheel, allowing you to pause the action, select an ability, aim it at the baddie of your choice, and fire it. The gameplay footage showed a wheel with nine ability slots, but it looks like you will be able to tab across to another wheel, like in past games.