Keep talking

The second half of probably the most (mis)quoted review from Edge’s very early days rarely gets as much attention as the first. “Perhaps you could try and make friends with them, form alliances… Now, that would be interesting.” Granted, asking for the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with Doom’s creatures was maybe a little optimistic, but many games since have heeded the call for a little more conversation, a little less action. This month’s Hype crop seems especially keen to allow us to get to know others better – in doing so, perhaps we can also learn something about ourselves.

Take Fullbright’s Open Roads for starters. As teenager Tess, you embark upon a road trip with your mother Opal, digging into the past to uncover truths about two generations of your family. The pair’s autumnal journey together promises to reveal much about their relationship with one another, too. Then there’s We Are OFK, an interactive episodic series set against the backdrop of the Los Angeles music scene. We won’t just find out how the titular band got together, but what drives them, with each episode inviting us into the lives of the different members. Elsewhere, detective puzzler Acolyte uses natural language input to let us test the conversational limits of chatbot Ana, an AI who seems as fascinated by us as we are by her.

Admittedly, there’s not a great deal of time for chat in the monster-ridden highlands of Wicca. But protagonist Teagan will need to parley with the spirit that’s currently occupying her brainspace, not to mention the past versions of herself she can team up with thanks to her newly granted time-shifting abilities.

Talking of powerful women, that brings us to the latest outlet for the Internet’s raging lockdown libido. Regardless of your feelings for the nine-foot-six Lady Dimitrescu, we’re not sure you’ll want to get too closely acquainted with the other inhabitants of Resident Evil Village, as our discussion with director Morimasa Sato suggests.