The big Dragon Age announcement for mid-2024 continues. It was recently revealed that the long-awaited fourth game in the series will be completely offline with no microtransactions, will be mission-based rather than open-world, and will have difficulty options so detailed that death can be turned off completely.

The latest information via Game Informer explains that each recruitable companion will have a "relationship level" that can be leveled up, and each level up will earn skill points. This level is not just a measure of the strength of the romantic relationship, but can be improved as the character overcomes difficulties or solves personal quests.

As game director Corinne Boucher says, "Not only is romance key, but friendship is also key. We wanted to lean not only on the relationship between the characters and you, but also on the relationships between them. It is a found family, and at the end of the day, everyone needs to trust each other."

The skill tree of the companion in "The Veilguard" also seems to be much smaller than that of the player character, with only five abilities. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth is to be expected with that, but if those abilities are actually useful rather than a bunch of passive bonuses, then frankly, five is plenty. Especially if you regularly replace members of your party.

It has been a part of "Dragon Age" ever since "Origins" that a companion's combat effectiveness improves the more they are liked. As favorability increases, each NPC gets a bonus to its core stats - Alistair gets a higher constitution, Morrigan gets better magic, and so on. Vale Guard seems to carry on the baton, and also continues the series' tradition of having dialogue options divided into types: sarcastic, friendly, direct, and flippant. I look forward to getting a taste of everyone's favorite dialogue and, if it isn't sarcasm, constantly annoying everyone with my snide remarks.

Another interesting thing about the relationships in Dragon Age: The Veilguard is that the non-romantic companions sometimes chase each other. This was a feature of Dragon Age: Inquisition and Mass Effect 3, adding a fun scene where we overhear a budding romance between companions; in Baldur'sGate3, we missed out on Will and Carrack's shippings coming to fruition.