What we've been playing - Dragon ages gone by, PlayStation mascots, and Phillipino teen life
A few of the things that have us hooked this week.
13th September
Hello! Welcome back to our regular feature where we write a little bit about some of the games we've been playing over the past few days. This week we've been returning to the Dragon Age game that started it all, Origins; we've been revelling in Sony's latest PlayStation blockbuster, Astro Bot; and we've been returning to the tender times of teenage life in Until Then.
What have you been playing?
Catch up with the older editions of this column in our What We've Been Playing archive.
Dragon Age: Origins, Xbox Series X (via EA Play)
In my excitement for Dragon Age: The Veilgard's upcoming release, I've returned to Origins to romance Alistair and murder Darkspawn and naughty mages, if they step out of line. Or if I accidentally pick the wrong dialogue option, which is always a worry in BioWare games and especially true of Origins. That's part of the fun really, as Origins was designed to be the spiritual successor to BioWare's Baldur's Gate series. You might not see dice rolls, but you'll definitely see the carnage of a bad decision play out.
There used to be a time where I played Dragon Age: Origins at least once a year, which burned the consequences of every decision into my brain (replacing nothing too important, I'm sure), but it's been so long since my last playthrough, there's only whispers of the right path bouncing around my head when I reach for help on what dialogue option will offend the least. It's been fun! Almost like returning to how it felt to play Origins when it originally released in 2009. True to my awful track record of decision making in games, that original playthrough did not turn out well for anybody in my party, so perhaps it will be less fun when I screw up again.
For now though, I'm loving the recap of Dragon Age's deep lore while I make questionable decisions and slice my way across Ferelden, blood spatter coating every part of my party on the way. Why does there have to be so much blood? I don't know, but it certainly makes for a unique mood when flirting at camp.
-Jessica
Astro Bot, PlayStation 5
Astro Bot is happiness in a game - that's all. Do I have to write more than that?
OK. Astro Bot is the first time in a long time I've experienced nothing but glee while playing a game. Even the more frustrating levels don't make me angry because I don't mind playing them again if I die. It means I get to experience them all over again.
That word, "experience", is crucial when it comes to Astro Bot, because you don't just play the levels, you experience them through everything the PS5 controller can do. The speakers, for instance, are used in every aspect of your adventure, and it doesn't detract or distract from what you're doing but enhances it. One early level has items all over the floor that I wouldn't normally pay any attention to, but because the sound of running through them was so satisfying, I ran around in them for a while. I don't want to spoil too many other functions, because discovering them yourself is part of the experience, but suffice to say it's a joy.
Astro Bot has also had the unexpected consequence of making my to-play list larger than it was when I started it, as the cameos and levels paying homage to older PlayStation titles reminded me how much I liked them in the first place. Thank you, Astro Bot.
-Marie
Until Then, PC
I played a demo of Until Then earlier in the year, and at the time it felt like it might be this year's A Space for the Unbound - which, if you haven't played this excellent visual novel-cum-gentle point and click game, is a touching high school romance set in 1990s Indonesia. Until Then moves its time frame forward a little (with one early - and rather delightful - moment all about trying to insert a USB key the right way round into your laptop so you can cram a school book report before class begins), and shifts its setting to the Philippines, but its focus on a slightly lackadaisical teen being galvanised into action and purpose by his budding love interest feels like it's playing very much in the same kind of wistful and poignant sandbox. And it has a light dash of the supernatural for good measure, too.
But having played a good chunk of the game now it's out in full, Until Then does feel like more of its own distinct beast compared to A Space for the Unbound. I've still got a tiny bit to go before I get to its conclusion, but this tender tale of friendship and finding your passion in life is much more concerned with the everyday business of student life than it is with its cast's internal mindscapes. Technology plays a greater role in dividing and bringing people together - with one, late-night phone messaging exchange being particularly heartbreaking - and its wonderfully expressive pixel art is arguably more successful in conveying even the tiniest of emotional nuances.
But there are also places where it drops the ball slightly - fun little moments like getting your USB stick into your laptop become few and far between as the game goes on, and I can already feel its hints of something more behind the curtain of reality starting to fall a little flat in their delivery and build-up. I hope I'm pleasantly surprised, but I also wouldn't be surprised if its emotional climax ends up falling just short of A Space for the Unbound's absolute gut-wrencher of an ending by the time the credits roll. We shall see! Still, it's nice to be in that same kind of headspace again, and if you liked A Space for the Unbound, there's plenty to like in Until Then as well.
-Katharine