Wise Words From Dragon Age: The Veilguard And An Unboxed PS5 Pro Got Us Through Election Week

We won’t belabor the point because if you’re a normal person with normal mutuals, chances are your timeline is already doing that—this week sucked, and so will the next four years.

But what made the past few days slightly less awful was getting to share our impressions on a freshly unboxed PS5 Pro, calling out the queerphobic backlash Dragon Age: The Veilguard has received, and setting aside our enjoyment of Pokémon TCG Pocket to make the case that it shouldn’t be promoting gambling to children.

Read on for those and more very Kotaku opinions.

Sony’s PS5 Pro, a $700 mid-gen upgrade of the PlayStation 5, launches later this week. And ahead of its official launch, Sony has sent over a PS5 Pro for us to play with and poke at. And while I can’t say anything (yet) about how games play or look on the new console, I can at least walk you through opening the box. - Zack Zwiezen

Read More

It’s nearly impossible to talk about Dragon Age: The Veilguard on certain sectors of social media without being overrun by people who have a vested interest in seeing the game fail. There are plenty of criticisms to levy at the fourth entry to BioWare’s fantasy RPG series, such as its lack of choice continuity from previous games and Whedon-esque quips sprinkled through its dialogue. And if you’re a CRPG diehard, you’re probably not too thrilled by it pivoting hard into an action RPG. But most of the time, these criticisms are buried under (or wielded by) people who are being pretty blatant that their real issue is that The Veilguard features queer characters who are actively presenting as such. To which, I have to ask, have you played a Dragon Age game? If you think this is a sudden pivot, I’m doubtful we played the same games. - Kenneth Shepard

Read More

It’s a rough Wednesday, but you probably don’t need me to tell you that. If, somehow, you’re learning this through Kotaku and not anywhere else, convicted felon Donald J. Trump is projected to win the 2024 presidential election over Vice President Kamala Harris. As a queer person in America, it’s pretty hard to write about video games when I know the next four years will be built upon the fearmongering Trump and his running mate JD Vance have campaigned on all year. But, still, the world turns, and we’re all expected to return to our daily lives first thing in the morning. Whether that’s heading into the office, taking kids to school, or, in my case, writing about games like Dragon Age: The Veilguard. - Kenneth Shepard

Read More

There is a way to play the Pokémon TCG on your phone or tablet that is entirely free. Not “free-to-play,” but “free to leave it with your kid and not ever worry.” While it’s not the world’s best piece of software, Pokémon TCG Live is an application that lets you play the full-size, 60-card deck version of the trading card game for an unlimited amount of time and doesn’t feature a single way to pay money. Cards are added to the game using the code cards that come as an extra in physical Pokémon card packs, but they can also be bought in their hundreds for cents from various websites and stores (I throw them in the recycling in stacks), but that’s the end of any expenses. Even if you wanted to, there’s no way to add your bank card to purchase even the silliest of cosmetics. And when it comes to Pokémon, that feels right. - John Walker

Read More

Metal Slug Tactics isn’t what I was expecting. Fortunately, that’s not a bad thing. Instead of Final Fantasy Tactics, it’s Into the Breach with some clever twists that help infuse it with some of the classic arcade series’ run-and-gun roots. I’m having a fun time with it so far, even if it has some glaring annoyances. - Ethan Gach

Read More

Going first usually has its advantages. Not in Pokémon TCG Pocket. The mobile card game flips the traditional calculus on its head. Going first doesn’t just lose its edge, it feels downright bad. - Ethan Gach

Read More