After almost 10 years to the day since the release of the last game in the series,Dragon Age: The Veilguardhas arrived to what can only be described as a mixed reception. While some fans are eagerly finishing up first and even second playthroughs ofDragon Age: The Veilguard, others are coming away disappointed in the title’s shedding of RPG systems and true role-playing freedom in favor of a more curated, action-oriented experience. Regardless of how players feel aboutVeilguard, it’s a safe bet to assume that many of its elements will carry over to BioWare’s currently in-developmentMass Effectgame, and the newestDragon Age’s UI is a perfect fit for the tactical squad management combat of the sci-fi RPG series.
Both theDragon AgeandMass Effectfranchises have always shared common DNA, both being original IPs from developer BioWare and developed concurrently for 7th-generation consoles and PC.Dragon Age: The Veilguardis the closest that theDragon Agefranchise has come to feeling like aMass Effectgame, though, with its greater emphasis on combat and squad management in real-time combat.Veilguard’s radial menu that players can use in managing companions and their abilities in combat is both intuitive and easy to use enough that it’s a standout element needing to return in the nextMass Effectgame.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s Combat UI Could Correct a Misstep from Mass Effect Andromeda
In the 7 years since the release ofMass Effect: Andromeda, reception for the game has somewhat warmed after an initial knee-jerk reaction against the title from die-hard fans. To be fair,Andromedaalways had the deck stacked against it in trying to follow up one of the most beloved sci-fi RPG trilogies of all time, but it also abandoned many oftheMass Effectseries' core mechanics in favor of being a more action-focused open-world RPG distinct from the structure of the first three games in the franchise. One of the biggest missteps made toward that goal was the removal of players' ability to directly control squad mates.
While players could issue commands to squad members in the form of directing them to attack, retreat, or regroup,Mass Effect: Andromedadid not allow players to select and execute their abilities. Considering the tactical depth inherent in squad management was part of what made theMass Effecttrilogy’s combat so engaging, removing that extra layer of strategy felt like a swing and a miss both at the time of the game’s release and now. ThenextMass Effecthas a chance to correct course by bringing back nuanced squad management during combat, andDragon Age: The Veilguardsets a great precedent for those elements.
How the Next Mass Effect Could Adopt and Adapt Dragon Age: The Veilguard’s UI
The radial menu that players utilize duringDragon Age: The Veilguard’s combat has an easy-to-follow user flow that separates the player and their companions' abilities into three separate zones for easy assignment during the heat of battle. And while it’s clear where the player needs to move the cursor to select abilities, activate runes, and set up devastatingApplicator and Detonator abilities, the on-screen elements of the combat UI could use some trimming to become less cluttered. If the nextMass Effecttakes a similar approach to its radial menus and UI, it has an opportunity to iterate and improve on the work BioWare has already done withDragon Age: The Veilguard.
The aesthetic and setting oftheMass Effectgames(along with the somewhat cyberpunk-leaning look at the future the games crib fromBlade Runnerand other noteworthy 1980s sci-fi films) gives the artists and UI designers at BioWare the opportunity to get creative with how they design the menu and HUD elements of the series' next entry. Still, rather than try to reinvent the wheel from scratch, the nextMass Effectcan take an already great approach to combat menus and squad management fromVeilguardand build on it.
