Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s launch trailer gives BioWare’s latest RPG a summer blockbuster feel

Electronic Arts released the official Dragon Age Veilguard launch video just one week before the game's release. The trailer is an action-packed extravaganza full of sound and fury that signals the arrival of a new videogame.

As seen in the trailers, a pair elven Gods will also be arriving soon. This is bad news for everyone. The story says that they were "horrific dictators" and "the worst was yet to come." If we don't stop them."

I'm not up to date on my Dragon Age lore but, last time I checked, the elves in Thedas were reduced to poverty, slavery, and abuse by humans after losing their homeland in a battle with the Tevinter Imperium. In this light, I can’t shake the feeling of maybe a little elven oppression is only fair. To paraphrase Michael Madsen: They deserve their revenge and we deserve death.

(Yes, I took Iorveth's route in The Witcher 3 and no, the decision wasn't difficult.)

The obvious implication is that these pointy-eared tyrants will be bad for everyone. So we're putting a team together to put a stop to the whole thing. It's all very grim and dramatic, with a "summer-blockbuster" cinematic style that's focused 100% on generating buzz rather than saying anything substantive. It's understandable, since everyone has already decided whether or not The Veilguard is a movie they'll watch. But I was tempted, despite the high volume, to criticize it for its superficiality. Then I wondered: is it really that unusual?

It is not. Please forgive the video quality, it was a very long time ago.

They're not that different after all, are they? There are cinematics, dramatic music and bits of gameplay scattered about. The title card is also flashed.

Comments on the Dragon Age Veilguard launch video on YouTube are largely positive. Many people believe Electronic Arts should have started with this trailer, instead of the widely-disliked reveal trailer, which we've also expressed before.

There may still be some ground to cover. It's not encouraging that the launch trailer has 12,000 likes and 5,000 dislikes. While it's easy to click "dislike" just for fun, this is a low ratio. Baldur's gate 3's launch trailer has 50,000 likes with only 517 dislikes. This is a testament to the benefits of early access.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is released on October 31. There will be no preload period for PC due to our unfortunate tendency to pirate games. You can download the game when it goes live at 9am PT/12pm ET on launch day.