BioWare has only released four new games in the last ten years, and two of them didn't do very well, so it drew upon its old successes for Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
"I think for us, where we've been, the last two projects we've released, Andromeda and Anthem, we wanted to make sure that this one landed in a way that was satisfying, that told a good, cohesive story, could tell a good, coherent story," creative director John Epler tells 12DOVE.
Mass Effect: Andromeda launched to mixed reviews from critics. "Not a disaster, but definitely not the fresh start this series needed," is what we wrote for our review of the sci-fi sequel.
Anthem fared a lot worse. This was BioWare's attempt at making a live-service shooter, quite far out of its wheelhouse. "Empty, utterly frustrating, and genuinely makes me sad," we said in our review of the short-lived game.
BioWare instead looked at its back catalog of beloved games for The Veilguard. "A lot of that came down to, okay, let's look at what's worked in the past," Epler says. "Let's look at what we've done before. Not copy from it, but draw inspiration."
The strategy appears to have worked wonders. We wrote that The Veilguard is "A true return to RPG form for BioWare" in our review of the latest Dragon Age installment. After waiting 10 years for it, fans seem to love it, too, as it's currently sitting on mostly positive reviews on Steam.
With a catalog comprising the original Mass Effect trilogy, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, and the first two Baldur's Gate games, there's certainly a lot of successful history to draw upon, so it's nice to see BioWare back on form.
Read more from our interview: "It felt like we needed to do something": How Varric Tethras went from nearly being left out of Dragon Age: The Veilguard to becoming a foundational character.
