5 Great Games To Clear Off Your Backlog
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
Chappell Roan’s SNL Look Has Dragon Age Fans Excited
We love Chappell Roan here at Kotaku. The “Good Luck, Babe” singer puts out queer bangers, dresses up in chainmail at award shows, and has cultivated a fanbase of gay nerds who record her shows on Nintendo handhelds. So when she shows up on Saturday Night Live this weekend on November 2, I will be tuned in and seated. But before the show airs, Roan has already appeared in some promotional material for the show, and her outfit has activated Dragon Age fans, as if they aren’t already having a stimulating week after the launch of The Veilguard on Halloween.
Roan is scheduled to be the musical guest for this week’s Saturday Night Live, with stand-up comedian and former SNL writer John Mulaney set to host the show. Both appeared in some promotional videos for the episode, and yeah, Mulaney is there, but Roan’s elaborate outfit is the star of the show. The green and gold outfit features a huge crescent headpiece with gold waist pieces stretching out to the side that seemingly double as armrests. The whole fit is something straight out of a fantasy RPG, and folks in fandoms like Final Fantasy are jumping on the jokes. However, Dragon Age is fresh in everyone’s minds and I, too, had to laugh at how Roan’s outfit is evocative of Ghilan’nain, one of the elven gods the player faces in The Veilguard.
Ghilan’nain is a blighted elf, and without getting too into the weeds, that means her body has been twisted into a monstrous eldritch horror. This lady has multiple sets of arms and tentacles, and her face is hidden under a mask connected to a crescent headpiece. In close-up shots you can see her face is just as horrifying beneath the mask, and why she was so willing to become this monstrosity is part of the story you’ll uncover in The Veilguard. With the headpiece and tendril-like appendages, Roan’s outfit calls to mind the elven god of guides and navigation, so Dragon Age fans are all making the same joke.
Ghilan’nain is nothing like Chappell Roan, though. Is the elven god a queer icon? I mean, not yet, but she could be. But all I’ve ever seen her do is try to kill the queer friend group that is The Veilguard. That’s not very “ally” of her.
The Veilguard’s Most Important Quest Is Missable
Dragon Age: The Veilguard has a ton of side quests throughout its multiple hub worlds, but one stands apart as probably the most important in the game, if not the entirety of BioWare’s fantasy RPG series. If you’re concerned about spoilers, don’t worry, we won’t get into them here. This is just a PSA to everyone playing the game that if you want to see some of the most important story and character work in The Veilguard, you should seek out Solas’ memories in The Crossroads.
These questlines are twofold: First, you’ll find short quests that depict playable flashbacks to the original elven rebellion led by Solas eons before the events of The Veilguard, then you’ll have a debrief about them with your team. Solas, the Inquisition party member who turned out to be the elven god of lies, has existed throughout large swaths of Dragon Age history, and to learn about his history is to understand the past of the fantasy world of Thedas. Each of these quests will end with you collecting a wolf statue to bring back to your home base. Once there, you can view an artistic depiction of one of Solas’ regrets from his time among the elven pantheon. These include some of the biggest lore drops BioWare has ever put in a Dragon Age game, and fundamentally change our understanding of this world.
You can find these memories early on, but there’s a point in the main story quests when a character will give you one of the wolf statues that puts the questline in your journal, complete with waypoints to guide you to where you need to go. Some will require you to fight mini-bosses in and out of The Crossroads, but they are worth the effort. Not only do they provide some of the best story reveals in all of The Veilguard, they’re also required to unlock the game’s secret ending, among other changes to the endgame worth seeking out.
For more on The Veilguard, check out Kotaku’s review.