Hands-On With Star Wars Outlaws, Weighing In On Dragon Age Discourse, And More Takes For The Week
Image: Ubisoft, Sony, BioWare / Larian Studios / Kotaku, Sony, Bandai Namco, Devolver Digital, Fellow Traveller, Screenshot: Microsoft / Kotaku, Capcom
With Kotaku in attendance at last weekâs Summer Game Fest, we got to go hands-on with some of the biggest games on the horizon. Read on for our impressions of Star Wars Outlaws, Horizon Lego Adventures, and the delightful-looking Astro Bot, among other games. Weâve also got an early look at one of next yearâs most promising RPGs, Citizen Sleeper 2. And, with all the Dragon Age: The Veilguard news out of SGF, weâre also in the early throes of some intense discourse about the game. We weigh in on that, too. Click on for these stories and more.
Image: Ubisoft
Kay Vess, lovable scoundrel and star of Ubisoftâs upcoming action adventure game Star Wars Outlaws, has a data spike shoved through her ponytail like a number 2 pencil. Alongside Kay at all times is her adorable companion Nix, a Merqaal that can help her snag hard-to-reach objects or distract enemies by running in front of them and playing dead. When repelling down ledges with Kayâs grappling hook, heâll hop on her back and peer down with excitement while panting. On crime-hub planet Mirogana, neon signs inject bright pops of color into dark, seedy alleyways, droids cook strange foods at little stalls, and citizens enjoy some back-alley gambling. As Kay walks through this bustling world, a Mon Calamari asks for some credits to feed his gambling problem. – Alyssa Mercante Read More
Image: Sony
The first thing to know about the recently announced Horizon Lego Adventures is that itâs a Lego game first and an adaptation of Horizon Zero Dawn second. Itâs not attempting to be a one-to-one, brick-by-brick recreation of the expansive open-world RPG or even an abridged version. Think of it more as a Shakespeare for Kids spin on the sci-fi adventure, except instead of translating the Bardâs iambic pentameter into contemporary English, itâs taking the familiar bones of a Lego adventure game and putting a pre-historic robot-smashing twist on it. – Ethan Gach Read More
Image: BioWare / Larian Studios / Kotaku
In 2023, Larian Studiosâ award-winning game Baldurâs Gate 3 filled a void in RPG fansâ hearts. As of last year, BioWare, the developer behind Dragon Age and Mass Effect, hadnât released an RPG in six years. Larianâs take on the Dungeons & Dragons ruleset checked off a lot of boxes for fans who wanted a party-driven RPG full of game-changing decisions, lovable and complicated characters, and a sprawling, impressively designed world. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
Screenshot: Microsoft / Kotaku
The âone more thingâ at the Xbox showcase during Summer Game Fest was a reveal trailer for Gears of War: E-Day, a prequel to the original Gears trilogy starring everyoneâs favorite bros, Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Naturally, Gears fans (myself included) were very excited at the reveal, though itâs not clear when it will launch. – Alyssa Mercante Read More
Gif: Strange Scaffold / Kotaku
I have no bullets left in my handgun. Iâm low on health. In front of me is an armed soldier ready to shoot my head off. I donât have more than a second or two before Iâm dead. So I chuck my empty pistol at the dude, knocking him down. Meanwhile, I grab his gun and swiftly kill him and two more guards running toward my location. This all happens in about three seconds or so. It feels amazing. And itâs the kind of thing youâll do a lot in the new Steam Next Fest demo for I Am Your Beast. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
Image: Sony
I canât remember the last time I played a PlayStation game and felt this happy. Iâve loved plenty of first-party Sony games and their expensive melding of Hollywood cinematics, refined gameplay, and dense systems. Astro Bot is in many ways the antithesis of that. Itâs no less refined, perhaps even more so. And it certainly doesnât look or feel cheap. But it does play like a game unsaddled from the self-conscious baggage of an industry chasing the emotional weight of prestige TV and the content expectations of $300 million blockbusters. Astro Bot is whimsical, delightful, and most importantly, just a whole lot of fun. – Ethan Gach Read More
Image: Bandai Namco
Fans have been waiting 17 years for a sequel to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3, a PS2 and Wii-era arena fighter that celebrated the beloved anime with a story mode that retold all of its biggest moments, a massive roster full of iconic characters and deep cuts alike, and spectacle-fueled showdowns that leaned into the seriesâ hyper-violent pomp and pageantry. Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero looks, sounds, and feels like Budokai Tenkaichi 4 in all but name, and despite some small caveats and concerns, it seems well on its way to being the next-gen revival that diehard fans have been desperate for. – Ethan Gach Read More
Image: Devolver Digital
When the action-adventure game Neva was first revealed a year ago with a trailer that included the immediate emotional death of a large wolf-like creature, I knew this game would be a tearjerker. That isnât surprising given developer Nomada Studiosâ track record. Its first game, 2018âs emotional platformer Gris, required a box of tissues handy at all times. So I thought I would be prepared for the emotional weight of Neva during my hands-on demo at the Tribeca Film Festivalâs official games selection. Turns out I wasnât at all. – Willa Rowe Read More
Screenshot: Capcom
In Kunitsu-Gami: Path Of The Goddess a demon that looks like a giant stomach with a big purple tongue coming out of it appears out of a portal at night and tries to ensnare a mountain village in evil energy. I strike him down but more waves of enemies follow, each snaking along different routes to try and get to the Maiden Yoshiro whose divine powers are the only thing that can cleanse the shadows. Some village archers pick off a couple while others get stuck on a gate. Another group of conscripted locals attack with axes, slow the enemiesâ advances with auras, or heal one another with medicines. Itâs classic tower defense presented in a very novel way, and I have a hard time putting it down when my appointment ends. – Ethan Gach Read More
Image: Fellow Traveller
As an avid fan of 2022âs Citizen Sleeper and its subsequent DLCs, I consider myself an expert on the narrative-heavy RPG. So when I booted up my first playthrough of the Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector preview build provided by developer Jump Over The Age, I was sure I would make all the right choices. I was wrong. – Willa Rowe Read More
