Image: BioWare / Deck Nine / Atlus / Kotaku
The year is almost over. Today is November 1, and that means we’re only a few short weeks away from the Game of the Year deliberations that will have us at each other’s throats in December. With only a precious few weekends left in the year, it looks like most of us here at Kotaku are trying to clean up our backlogs, but so many big games came out in October that they’re still bleeding into this month. This past week had some heavy hitters in Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Life Is Strange: Double Exposure, but they’re not the only things we’re playing this weekend. Here are a few games to add to your pile if you’re looking for something to dive into on your off hours.
Play it on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Current goal: Relax
Readers, I am beat. I have been playing long-ass RPG after long-ass RPG as I reviewed Metaphor: ReFantazio and Dragon Age: The Veilguard back to back here at Kotaku. Well, I guess Sonic X Shadow Generations was in the midst of all that, but I digress. Having a game that I can relax and just enjoy a story with sounds perfect right now. I adore the Life Is Strange series, and while I know some aspects of Double Exposure have been a letdown for long-time fans already, I’m keeping an open mind because there’s also been a lot of love for the sequel. Though it’s changed hands from original developer Don’t Nod to Deck Nine, the series still captures raw humanity, even as it delves into superpowers like time travel and telekinesis. It’s that focus on humanity has always stuck with me, and I would have already devoured Double Exposure if it hadn’t come along in the busiest month of the year. But now I can finally carve out time to see what new adventures returning protagonist Max gets caught up in. — Kenneth Shepard
Play it on: PlayStation 5, PS4, Xbox Series X and S, PC
Current goal: Finish??
I recently reached a turning point in my time with Metaphor ReFantazio where I spent a night crying my eyes out because I simply loved the characters so much. If you’ve beaten the game, you likely know the sequence that prompted the waterworks. I’ve spread out my time with Metaphor—whereas everyone I know dove in headfirst—and I think the approach has weirdly altered my thinking on the game. Surely, if I loved it like they all loved it, I should’ve felt compelled to sprint to the game’s ending as quickly as possible, right? Because I didn’t feel compelled to do that, I’ve kept thinking to myself, “I like Metaphor just fine.”
But every time I come back to it after some time away, it’s so hard to put down. I am transfixed by so many of its qualities. I simply adore every person I’ve met along my 70-hour journey so far. I admire how much more precise and difficult the combat can be in this game versus that of a Persona title. I love taking trips on the runner to dungeons and stopping to take in the majestic sights of some otherworldly landmark, only for Neuras to decide to draw it. I love the fleeting sense of hope that this game gives me in the face of political tumult that threatens the very way we live. I’m having a great time, and I know I’m barreling to the conclusion of this epic journey, so this weekend, I may just buckle down and go full-throttle until it’s done and dusted. I’ll be sad for it to be over, but that’s how I’ll know how much this adventure meant to me. —Moises Taveras
Play it on: PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC
Current goal: Get some gaming spooks in for the season
This year, Halloween fell on a Thursday, and I was so busy with work and other things that I didn’t manage to make much time for spooky gaming in the days leading up to it. I still have a hankering for some interactive scares, however, so this weekend, I hope to play one of the landmark games in the history of survival horror, officially translated into English and released in the States for the first time: Clock Tower. The new version, Clock Tower: Rewind, comes to us courtesy of WayForward and represents my first real chance to play the 1995 SNES horror classic.
I actually don’t know much about the original Clock Tower, and I’ve kept it that way on purpose, as I want to go in knowing as little as possible and figure it out for myself. It’s scarier that way. But in short, it’s a 2D, survival horror point-and-click game that tells the story of Jennifer, a teenage orphan who’s adopted by a family with a big, spooky manor, and finds herself stalked by a horrifying entity known as Scissorman. WayForward’s release lets you play an enhanced version of the game “which features numerous gameplay additions and quality-of-life refinements,” and I may check that out as well, but for starters, I’ll be playing in Original mode, and experiencing the game just like it was when it scared the socks off of so many Japanese players way back in 1995. Sure, it may be November now, but I’m gonna linger in late October for just a little bit longer if it’s all the same to you. — Carolyn Petit
Play it on: PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Current goal: Get started
I am such a bloody idiot. Dragon Age: Origins is in my top five games ever. It occupies such a large part of my heart, with its characters and world imprinted upon me. I really enjoyed Dragon Age 2, despite its brevity, appreciating it as a fantastic RPG in its own right, rather than needing it to be superior to the original. And then I never played Inquisition. Why not?!
I do keep trying to. I’ve started it a bunch of times, but honestly, the deviations from DAO’s core format felt so jarring to me, and the characters didn’t immediately click, and it’d been so long that I’d forgotten far too many minor details, and I never stick with it. And that’s despite Kenneth’s constant eulogizing.
I’m now so concerned that not having played Inquisition is going to put a barrier between me and Veilguard, given the connections I’ve read about. Yet, I really want to return to that world, and the BioWare ethos, and the fantasy-meets-humanity it offers. Also, this time I rather like how much more like an action game it looks, feeling like I have more chance of fitting that into a crazy-busy life than a hardcore RPG. So I rather hope to carve out some of my weekend to dip in my toe. — John Walker
Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Current goal: Finish a run
Every once in a while a game is so fun, popular, and successful, it becomes a blueprint for other games; a sub-genre unto itself. See Metroid, Minecraft, and Vampire Survivors. Also Hades, whose roguelite, action-RPG progression is now the foundation for lots of new experiments, including [REDACTED]. Striking Distance Studios’ latest game applies the formula to the alien horror world of its previous release, Callisto Protocol, but you really don’t need to know anything about it to immediately start digging [REDACTED].
The isometric shooter is snappy, well-paced, and sports a very pretty “future punk” art-style. Its twist on the whole “customize your character by choosing between random buffs at the end of each round” thing comes in the form of Rivals, AI-controlled versions of your previous attempts that will try to thwart your progress. The goal of each run is to be the first and only survivor to an escape pod. Defeating Rivals will net you extra tools and resources for your arsenal, but it will also slow you down and potentially fuck up your day. I don’t know if [REDACTED] will ultimately have the same longevity as other standouts in the genre—much hinges on levels of variety and depth that aren’t revealed until several hours in—but it’s a “good one of those” thatI’m excited to dig into more this weekend. — Ethan Gach
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