Dragon Age: The Veilguard gameplay shows Varric’s tragic loss of Bianca at Solas’ hands and eldritch demons from the Veil

We have finally seen a decent chunk of gameplay for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Developer BioWare has published a full 20-minute video detailing some beautiful locations, an encounter with Solas, and the tragic loss of Bianca in what seems like a very early part of the game.

The video shows the player character following Varric as they move through a city in turmoil. Their plan is to prevent Solas from tearing down the Veil and opening up a hole to the Fade. This would allow demons to pour into the world, though many of them are already present and attacking the party as they collect more characters moving through the city. The heartbreaking encounter with Solas is so impactful here, though. Poor Bianca never saw it coming.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard‘s gameplay shows off Varric and Solas’ explosive encounter

Bianca is Varric’s beloved crossbow. Ever since his introduction in Dragon Age 2, she’s been a staple weapon for him. She could shoot dozens of arrows at once and make short work of any enemies. Now, though, as we see in the video above, she’s been ripped apart by Solas in a fit of rage when the two friends shared a moment, and Varric pleased with him not to tear the Veil.

BioWare initially showcased a new trailer for Dragon Age: The Veilguard during the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 on June 9, 2024. The trailer went down like a lead balloon, though, garnering 198,000 dislikes. The reason for such distaste was the context of the trailer. Fans believed it was too tongue-in-cheek and commercial, shying away from the hardcore fantasy themes at the heart of the series.

Based on the videos’ comments at the time of this writing, it’s hard to tell exactly what fans think of the gameplay. I’d say that most fans were vaguely happy with it, but some remain unconvinced. User gennarolinguori376 explained, “Hmm don’t know what to make of this.. I am not really convinced that this is going to be a “true” Dragon Age game. Looks more like an action game to me, no tactical combat shown, companions seemed to deal no damage.. kinda weird gamplay reveal imo. And why the f is Varric’s hair black? was his hair color not always kinda brown-redish? Scout Harding looks amazing though, always loved her.”

The Dragon Age series has added and removed features with each release in the past. It’s difficult to say what defines a true game in the series for everyone. For me, provided the world of Thedas remains uncompromised and the vision for the fantasy remains the same, it works.