David Gaider has shared his thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s romance options.
Gaider, who is the creator of Dragon Age and lead writer on previous installments of the series, offered a lengthy thread on the social media platform X where he compared the approach of romance to Baldur’s Gate 3.
“I think I moved in [Dragon Age: The Veilguard] for ‘all fellows are dear to all’ is not a great surprise, considering [Baldur’s Gate 3]but – strangely – I have some thoughts,” he began, before admitting that “the fandom is pretty divided on romantic design.”
Gaider said that a large part of the game’s community wants the option to love anyone and everyone, and therefore feels that not being able to do so is “a slap in the face”. Others, however, prefer “characters with more agency, even (and perhaps especially) if it doesn’t match their preferences.”
The developer didn’t admit that either side was right or wrong here, simply stating “it depends on what you want out of the game” and “we’re not all here for the same reasons, okay?”. He added “the only unfortunate aspect, in my experience, is that these two approaches are pretty much diametrically opposed, design-wise.”
The earlier Dragon Age writers realized that once a character became romanticized, it limited the stories that could be told with that character, as they became “committed to their romantic arc and their need to be, at the end of last, attractive,” Gaider said.
“Why is that a limitation? Because not all character story arcs are defined by being appealing to the player. Even if an arc’s appeal is to a relatively limited audience, the appeal requirement essentially limits the possible stories to a quite a limited audience,” Gaider continued.
This is why players were unable to romance the series’ dwarf companion Varric in previous entries. “I can already hear some fans groaning in disappointment, even though we did it to not *ruin Varric’s character*. You can’t have it both ways, I’m afraid,” Gaider said.
He added that Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s approach to romance being described as new was “curious”, considering “the only difference between this and [Dragon Age 2]after all, it is not that every [Dragon Age 2] the follower was romantic”.
“The ones who could be pansexual. In fact, we made the *same* argument that they weren’t ‘sex players’ (ugh),” Gaider said. “The call to move away from this approach to [Dragon Age Inquisition] it was mine, made with the support of Mike and the team. I didn’t like what the stalker agencies did, which turned them into sex dolls whose only purpose is for the player to hook them up and go ‘now kiss’!
Gaider admitted that this was a “personal (and disinterested) preference,” before adding that he also wasn’t a fan of what he did for the characters in Baldur’s Gate 3.
“Some characters would have had a stronger arc without the romance, and the feeling I got from the whole big team being ready to throw trou if I blinked wrong… meh,” he said.
However, despite admitting he’s not the biggest fan of Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s approach to romantic characters, he thinks it “should be fine” if the developers “go unapologetically” like Larian did with Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s a legitimate approach, like I said, and a lot of fans are going to be happy and excited about it,” he said, “which isn’t a bad thing at the end of the day.”
Furthermore, if you don’t like a character in The Veilguard, they will find another partner for themselves.
In a later post, which I’ll admit made me chuckle, Gaider said he would refrain from sharing more thoughts on Dragon Age: The Veilguard for now. His reason? Because he doesn’t want to “provide fodder for news articles that want to talk about what ‘former Dragon Age head writer’ tweets.”
Sorry Gaider, we can’t help it – we find what you have to say interesting, and so do our readers! In fact, if you want to read another article on Gaider’s Dragon Age: Veilguard Impressions, we’ve got you covered.
Plus, our own Chris Tapsell went hands-on with Dragon Age: The Veilguard earlier this week, and he had a go at it. “Whisper it, but Dragon Age: The Veilguard makes me think the unthinkable: it looks like BioWare is back,” he wrote in Eurogamer’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard preview.