If you don’t romance characters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, they will find other partners for themselves

Dragon Age: The Veilguard The developer told Eurogamer that it features a more detailed romance and relationship system than BioWare’s previous games – including the ability for party members to find love interests for themselves if you’re not interested yourself.

Speaking to Eurogamer deputy editor Chris Tapsell at an event in Los Angeles this week, The Veilguard creative director Jon Eppler revealed more about the game’s relationship system.

“Romance is a core part of the Dragon Age games, the BioWare games,” said Eppler. “We wanted to give each character their own flavor or their own style of romance. So some characters might be a little more sensual while some characters might be a little more innocent. But for each one, you can create these relationships.

“And what’s interesting in this game is that if you don’t romance characters, they can decide to find romance for themselves, whether it’s within the team or within the world.”

It’s somewhat reminiscent of how Shepard could see Garrus and Tali kiss at the end of Mass Effect 3 – but only if you’d already decided not to show any romantic interest in either of them.

Another improvement from BioWare’s previous games seems to be how a character’s romance arc will be better woven into their own individual story arc, and their involvement with The Veilguard’s main questline. BioWare has also worked to ensure that getting to know your characters as friends feels just as satisfying – and that just because you’re not in a relationship with your friend, their (platonic) relationship with you will still continue.

“One of the things we tried to do with The Veilguard is show that it’s not just about having a romantic relationship,” Epler added. “You have to get to know a person before you can have that kind of relationship with them, and if you don’t want to do that, you have to get to know them. [romantic] In a relationship, we never want to feel like you’ve been cut off. It’s not like, ‘Okay, well, their arc isn’t progressing, I’m over’.

“We want to make sure that even non-romantic relationships are deeper, including not just friendships between a partner and you, but also friendships between companions in the party.”

for more information Dragon Age: The Veilguard, Eurogamer’s full must-read preview Here’s a look at the game’s opening hour, as well as more on the lessons Epler learned for BioWare’s present and future.