‘Dragon Age: The Veilguard’ Almost Had A Way Better Artstyle

I have very mixed feelings about the latest Dragon Age game from BioWare and EA. The Veilguard often feels like the kind of product you get when there are too many cooks in the kitchen—and too many corporate suits calling the shots. Everything from the ridiculous title (as far as I know, nobody even says the word ‘Veilguard’ in the game) to the milquetoast writing feels far, far too safe and focus-tested.

There’s just enough diversity to fill the quota, every companion is chipper and happy 99% of the time—except the non-binary character, who bristles unpleasantly at any suggestion that someone (perhaps your character, Rook) might try to define who they are—and everyone acts about as far-removed from the earth-shattering, cataclysmic events at the center of the story as possible. I fired up Mass Effect: Legendary Edition recently to start a new playthrough, and within the first five minutes you have all sorts of mistrust and tension between characters. There’s probably more discored in the opening mission of that game than in the entirety of The Veilguard.

But one of the most controversial aspects of the game is its artstyle. While the graphics are often quite good, the character design and overall art design in the game lean heavily toward cartoonish. Beyond the Pixar-esque characters, the world itself is very bright and saturated. Many of the enemies you encounter glow a bright neon teal or purple color. Comparisons to the cartoony Fortnite are apt. Between the chipper dialogue and companions and the heavily-saturated, cartoony look of the game, you never get a sense that this is a dark, gritty RPG like you do in games like The Witcher or, well, any of the other Dragon Age titles that came before.

It didn’t have to be this way! Way back in 2014, BioWare art director Matt Rhodes drew up some concept art for what would eventually become this game. This was prior to the release of Dragon Age: Inquisition, and shows some scenes in places like Arlathan Forest and characters like Solas, the “Dreadwolf” (which is still a better title for Dragon Age 4).

“All the way back in 2014, before Dragon Age: Inquisition had even shipped, I started sketching out what cool things might come next,” Rhodes tweeted recently. “We had momentum, so these quick mock ups explored where some of the unfinished story threads might lead.”

As you can see, this is a very different aesthetic to what actually shipped. Granted, these are just mock-ups, and they look more like an animated movie or TV show than a video game, but they also look . . . way better than the final product. They’re darker and moodier and more ominous. They look more like Dragon Age.

I still enjoy the action combat in this game, but I think if it had been paired with stronger writing and more nuanced characters (i.e. less chipper, with more intrapersonal conflict) and this artstyle, it would have been a far, far better product. Better dialogue and less heavy-handed, preachy social justice politics shoehorned in (you can have that stuff, but make it fit the fictional world please, and do it in a way that feels organic and natural!) and this lush, gloomy aesthetic would have made for a far more immersive experience. Oh well.

Maybe next time.

P.S. I just remembered writing about the concept art for Diablo III that was so much darker and more in-line with the series than the game we ended up getting. Diablo III actually had a similar problem to Veilguard in that it felt very cartoony and less grimdark than Diablo II. I’m confused why video game studios keep doing this. There is a place for a brighter, more cartoony aesthetic. It works great in Overwatch. Less so in Diablo or Dragon Age. What next, Dark Souls in the style of Pixar? That sounds like a Midjourney prompt.