Baldur's Gate 3's publishing chief praises Dragon Age The Veilguard for being a 'bingeworthy Netflix series', and says it knows what it aims to be.

This week, BioWare releases Dragon Age: The Veilguard. An RPG, it is sure to be compared to Baldur's Gate 3 by Larian Studios, the sequel to a series that BioWare started 26 years ago. Michael Douse, Larian's chief publishing officer, has been playing The Veilguard with reviewers over the last few weeks. He called it "the first Dragon Age that truly knows what it is."

He continued to say that the Netflix series is "well-made, character-driven, binge-worthy," compared to Baldur's Gate 3's "heavy, 9-season show." He praised the action-heavy combat--a "giga-brain genius" mix of Xenoblade and Hogwarts Legacy--and said he's happy that the positive response so far suggests BioWare will "stick around--presumably--in these uncertain (because of moronic corporate greed) times."

Douse, like Lauren Morton who wrote our Dragon Age The Veilguard Review, is a fan of the beginnings of the series, back in 2009, with Dragon Age Origins. Origins translated Baldur’s Gate’s tactical combat and eccentric characters from the isometric viewpoint of classic PC RPGs to full 3D for new audiences of RPG enthusiasts. It was the first time I played anything similar, and I learned about Baldur’s Gate only afterward. The series gradually lost its Baldur's gate influences over time and became more action-oriented.

Douse said, "I'll be a Dragon Age Origins guy forever and this isn't that." "But it's at least something it wants it to be and not a mishmash." I respect that."

Douse made it clear that his comments were directed at Baldur's Gate 3 players who might be wondering if The Veilguard would appeal to them. "I'm just a dev-adjacent man happy to play a new DA and happy the team--ostensibly--will get to make more," he said.

Baldur's Gate 3 will be mentioned around every major RPG release in the near future. It's for good reason. It's more interesting to discuss their different approaches to an old genre, rather than pitting them against each other in a fight to the finish. Douse's remarks echo many of the reviews that I've read today, and, if nothing else, highlight how great it is to be a RPG fan at this time.

Dragon Age: Veilguard will be released on Thursday, October 31, 2018.