Important Accessibility Options Revealed for 2024's Dragon Age The Veilguard

Just weeks before the October 31, 2024, release of Dragon Age the Veilguard, Bioware has finally announced the accessibility options implemented to facilitate an immersive and tailor-made experience for all players. From varying game difficulties and UI settings to interface, graphics, and audio controls (and everything in between) the list of customizable options is robust and in-depth. These options allow players to personalize their game, however, they like it while counterbalancing base game system requirements.

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Difficulty Settings

Staying in line with previous titles, Dragon Age the Veilguard will have six different difficulty levels, ranging from very easy to customize. Storyteller mode is arguably the easiest, focusing on Veilguard’s narrative while downplaying combat. Keeper is a more balanced setting focusing on group dynamics and equipment utilization. Adventurer mode lands directly in the middle of the settings, as the default: offering a balanced experience equally focusing on party, gear, and combat.

Underdog pushes the player to their limits, with the necessity for strategy and planning to survive encounters. And Nightmare, as its name suggests, is not for the faint of heart: Where creatures offer no quarter to the party and players must master every element of combat to survive. Once a player chooses Nightmare, there is no turning back as the setting cannot be changed and the player must start a new playthrough if they wish to continue. Additionally, Unbound mode is specifically for players who want to fine-tune a play setting with certain aspects from different difficulty settings.

UI and HUD

Dragon Age the Veilguard’s accessibility options for the game’s UI and HUD are even more inclusive than previous entries into the franchise. Text options have two separate, clear versions. Subtitles have gained multiple options: wherein players can not only adjust when the subtitles appear (Never, Conversations-Only, Always,) and have them mark the name of the speaker, but players will also be able to increase or decrease their size to make them more legible and scale their background opacity, so they stand out.

For Colorblind players, Veilguard has implemented full-screen filter settings for those with Protanopia, Deuteranopia, or Tritanopia. A Persistent Dot feature is also available for those who may be easily overwhelmed by busy graphics. And for players who may want to hide part of the game’s HUD, there are options to remove the Mini Map, Combat Text, Advanced Combat Text, Objective Tracker, Abilities, and Player Health.

Audio and Visuals

Sliders for music, speech, sound effects, ambient, menu, and global sounds can be adjusted to the players’ specifications and incorporate narrow dynamic, wide dynamic, headphone, and night mode speaker settings. With appropriate hardware: 3D audio and Mono audio can also be set. Audio cues for incoming attacks, conversation wheel interactions, and target lock-on are also available. A slider to adjust the audio ping for glinting objects and interactable mechanics can also be adjusted to make it easier to locate them.

Threat settings and assists; a setting that adjusts the visual actualization of attack warnings; allows players to manage the halo visuals for incoming melee attacks and linear indicators for incoming ranged attacks. Customizable Exploration Presets will allow players to implement visual cues when no sound indicators are needed. Object Glint and Object Glint, Object Marker, and Waypoint visibilities can all be toggled on or off; and can be further adjusted to set how often they ping the UI or how close they are to the player.

Combat

No matter which difficulty setting the player chooses in Dragon Age the Veilguard, the combat settings are further customizable according to their preferences. If a player wants to play an Archer Rogue, but finds the aiming mechanic difficult, they can adjust Aim Assist and Aim Snap to flesh it out more and make it feel more cohesive with their playstyle. Players can also change the settings for enemies, setting thresholds for mechanics such as an enemy's aggression, damage output, health, resistance, and vulnerabilities. And for those players who only want to complete the story, the Prevent Death setting can be used to mitigate player death -but only in Storyteller mode.

To the player’s delight, Veilguard won't have any Quick Time Events and will include both rapid and simultaneous inputs for certain melee combos and ultimate abilities. Finishing moves are optional but may require quicker reactions to pull off. Combat timing windows can also be adjusted for Parry, Dodge, and Perfect Defender mechanics, for those who may find it difficult to implement the mechanic effectively.

Additional Accessibility Options

Aside from the previously mentioned, Dragon Age the Veilguard and Bioware have also incorporated even more options for players to utilize -in hopes of making the game easier for any player, no matter their level of gaming experience. A library will be available for players to revisit codex entries; to further understand the intricacies of Thedas; and tutorials can be turned off and on whenever necessary. Local and World maps, pause-able gameplay, and robust saving make Veilguard even more user-friendly -done manually or automatically, anytime outside combat, cutscenes, or cinematics.

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This article was written by Nicole Lent.