Dragon Age: The Veilguard – Watch 22 Minutes of Exclusive Gameplay Diving into Exploration and More | IGN First

Our IGN First coverage of Dragon Age: The Veilguard is in full swing, and as part of our recent trip to BioWare we got to take an exclusive look at a brand new area that shed new light on its exploration, its companion sidequests, and more.

The new gameplay, which includes commentary from co-directors Corinne Busche and John Epler, offers the clearest look yet at The Veilguard's moment to moment exploration, showing it to be much more open-ended than it appeared when it was first revealed. You can watch the full video right here.

Taking place at a later point in The Veilguard's story, the journey begins in The Lighthouse — the hub area set within the Fade where you can spend time with your companions — and continues into the Crossroads, which is the area that connects up The Veilguard's various zones. It finishes in the Hossberg Wetlands, a zone almost completely consumed by the Blight — the Darkspawn corruption first introduced way back in Dragon Age: Origins.

Indeed, the Grey Wardens — Dragon Age's version of the Night's Watch — figure prominently in this video, as do the Darkspawn themselves. But wait, these Darkspawn look a little different than before. What's up with that? According to Epler, The Blight is being used by one of the game's main villains as "crafting material" to enhance the Darkspawn, giving them a new look at The Veilguard. It's one of several ways that BioWare's upcoming sequel deepens Dragon Age's lore.

Ultimately, though, it's Davrin, the Veilguard's resident Grey Warden, who is the star of this slice of gameplay. Rook, Neve, and Harding are in Hossberg to aid Davrin as part of his companion quest. Similar to Mass Effect, completing companion quests brings with it special rewards, including unique outfits, and can impact how their story plays out within Dragon Age's larger arc. The video includes a glimpse of Davrin's companion, Assan, an adorable griffon who can aid Davrin in battle (and of course you can hug him too).

The rest of the video contains a multitude of details. Here's what to expect.

• An extended look at combat with the mage class featuring a qunari version of Rook, as well as the synergies and combo with Neve and Harding.
• Info on the Crossroads and how they fit into the overall exploration.
• Upgrading the shops of the various factions and the rewards that come with them.
• How the open-ended design of individual combat zones encourage players to return and discover hidden secrets, chests, and other rewards.
• What to expect from sidequests ("We don't want you to go out to do random tasks," Busche says).

All told, the video paints a picture of an RPG that's very much in the BioWare tradition of character-driven adventure, featuring a hub and spokes design built around a multitude of extensive zones that heavily encourage exploration. In short, it seems far from the linear action game we worried it would be at the start.

We'll have lots more info for you as our Dragon Age: The Veilguard IGN First continues, so keep it locked on IGN through the month of September. Dragon Age: The Veilguard will be out on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC on October 31.

Kat Bailey is IGN's News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.