BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard will continue the admittedly adult series when it arrives on 31st October on PS5, with its legions of adoring fans ready to return to the fantasy world of Thedas. Whoever wrote the game’s Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) description certainly sounds keen enough, and we’re sure Baldur’s Gate 3 fans, having finally beaten that game, will be counting down the days.
The elevated levels of descriptive text the usually censorious site opted to use were first detected by GamesRadar+. Things start predictably enough, if a bit gratuitous, with general descriptions of the graphic violence the player can expect to partake in: “Cries of pain, explosions, and blood-splatter effects highlight combat. Cutscenes also depict instances of violence and blood: characters impaled on swords and shrivelled corpses amid bloodstained torture devices. Some scenes depict corpses lying in pools/large blood splatters; one boss battle occurs in a large pool/room full of blood.”
It certainly sounds grim, but so is the series. Then things start to pick up as the game’s sexual content is described, and we’re even given some awkward examples: “The game contains some sexual material: characters kissing, moaning, and straddling each other; characters caressing each other while in their underwear; dialogue referencing sex, e.g., ‘Think about us having sex’; ‘Are you trying to have sex with me?’ Characters are sometimes depicted topless for prolonged periods of time (e.g., character customization) and/or during love scenes. The word f**k appears in the game.”
For comparison, the ESRB description for BioWare’s Mass Effect Legendary Edition describes three games worth of adult content as follows: “[Characters] can engage in romantic relationships with others; cutscenes depict characters embracing, kissing, and caressing each other on a bed—sexual activity is implied. Characters are sometimes seen nude, with exposed buttocks and partially exposed breasts.”