Dragon Age: The Veilguard Missed A Trick With a Cut Dragon Age: Inquisition Idea

Posted by By our-little-miss-is-home January 9, 2025 19 Views 6 Min Read
Dragon Age: The Veilguard Missed A Trick With a Cut Dragon Age: Inquisition Idea



Despite being overlooked for Dragon Age: The Veilguard and its world hub, a cut concept left over from Dragon Age: Inquisition‘s Skyhold hub would have been the perfect fit for the Lighthouse in the sequel. As a near-direct sequel to DA: Inquisition and its Trespasser DLC, Dragon Age: The Veilguard expanded the previous game’s use of an eluvian network connecting the game’s central hub to various regions, such as Minrathous, Treviso, and Rivain. Yet while DA: The Veilguard built on DA: Inquisition, it missed its chance to revive a cut idea that would have led to an explosive finale in its Trespasser ending.

Due to the significance and central role DA: Inquisition‘s Skyhold had throughout the game, the cut concept for this hub to become one of the game’s final and most poignant levels was a missed opportunity. But even DA: The Veilguard seems to have repeated this mistake regarding its Lighthouse hub, especially when the story had the ideal opportunity to set this up for its own ending. With BioWare making its plans for 2025 and its future games beyond DA: The Veilguard, it seems like the cut idea from DA: Inquisition has been permanently shelved for the Dragon Age series.

mass-effect-4-liara

Related


One Cut Dragon Age: The Veilguard Feature Shouldn’t Be Left in The Dust For The Next Mass Effect

Mass Effect is still early in development which means it isn’t too late to include a crucial feature that was cut from Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Lighthouse Missed Redeeming Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Skyhold

One defining location in DA: Inquisition was its hub, Skyhold, an isolated fortress the player is led to by none other than Solas, and throughout the game it gradually becomes a hive of activity for the Inquisition itself. But beyond the significant role Skyhold had throughout DA: Inquisition, there were hints BioWare might have planned something more for the player’s hub, given its various renovations, customization, and scale compared to past Dragon Age hubs. As showcased by the post below on X by Dragon Age‘s art director, Matt Rhodes, Skyhold’s explosive destruction during DA: Inqusition‘s Trespasser DLC could have done more than Solas’ twist reveal.

Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Cut Skyhold Siege Missed an Opportunity

An image of the Skyhold from Dragon Age: Inquisition

In short, DA: Inquisition‘s Skyhold concept would have seen players renovating and upgrading their hub as per the base game, but similar to BioWare’s own Mass Effect 2 and its final level, Suicide Mission, these upgrades and player decisions would have been instrumental in the game’s finale. Likely as a tie-in to DA: Inquisition‘s Trespasser ending where players can choose to disband the Inquisition, the destruction of Skyhold could have been intended as a symbolic ending to the Inquisition itself. However, the Skyhold siege was ultimately cut, potentially due to time constraints or the difficulty BioWare might have had in bringing the idea to life.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Made the Same Mistake as Dragon Age: Inquisition

Given that the Lighthouse was originally Solas’ base before the events of DA: The Veilguard, it would have been equally symbolic to see the player’s hub come under siege and potentially be destroyed in the game’s ending. Moreover, dialogue between Elgar’nan and Ghilan’nain in the Crossroads implies the gods’ plan to retake the Lighthouse from the Dreadwolf, as well as the existing Blight infestation throughout the Crossroads conveying their presence to the player. Though the Lighthouse itself may not have been as expansive as DA: Inquisition‘s Skyhold, it and the Crossroads could have been part of the perfect lead into DA: The Veilguard‘s climax.

Reviving Dragon Age: Inquisition’s Skyhold Siege Would Have Been Perfect for Dragon Age: The Veilguard

Dragon Age The Veilguard The Heart of Corruption Crossroads

Additionally, with BioWare’s confirming it has no DLC planned for DA: The Veilguard, a final siege on the Lighthouse is even more of a missed opportunity, especially when the story could have easily accommodated it. During the events where Rook escapes Solas’ trap in the Fade, DA: The Veilguard could have better used the time jump to set up its Lighthouse siege. In doing so, fighting through the Lighthouse and the Crossroads to reach Minrathous for DA: The Veilguard‘s Last Gambit mission would have punctuated the ending with a sense of the game’s stakes, its finality, and closure for the player’s journey.

Source link