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OpinionImpressionsKnight Squad 2 Knows How To Party
Party games balance on a tightrope. If they’re too rooted in chance, everyone will be at each other’s throats within a round. (See: Mario Party.) If they’re too basic, they’re boring, and if they’re too complex, well, there’s no fun for a party. Every so often, a game comes along and nails the balance, like…
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CultureOdds and EndsEven Outriders Has Flat-Earthers
Outriders is set on an exoplanet roughly a dozen light years away from Earth, so it’s no surprise the game features some anomalies, like electromagnetic hurricanes and tank-sized, fire-spitting arachnids. But perhaps the strangest entity in People Can Fly’s loot-shooter is also a familiar one: human beings who believe the planet is flat. Giovanni “Hailstorm”…
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CultureFortnite Says Ahoy To Horizon‘s Aloy
Aloy, the protagonist of robot-dinosaur-busting game Horizon Zero Dawn and its upcoming sequel, Horizon Forbidden West, is the latest crossover character to join Fortnite. She’ll be playable starting April 15. Aloy’s addition is part of Fortnite’s “Primal” season, which added crafting, wildlife, and a new biome to the game. It also saw the death of…
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CultureOutriders Can’t Catch A Break
It’s been a long week-and-a-half for the loot-shooter Outriders, a game rocked by eleven days of missing functionality, server issues, and player uproar. The latest wave of problems started Friday afternoon when developer People Can Fly pushed out a patch for PC and PlayStation consoles, with an Xbox version to follow at a later, unspecified…
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ReviewsBacklogNo One Warned Me About Hitman 2’s Cutscenes
Over the past few months, I, late to the party, have fallen head over heels for the new Hitman trilogy. Pretty much everyone I’ve spoken to, including several Kotaku colleagues, have said Hitman 2 is the best of the three, or at least the one I should play first. They did not mention how jarring…
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Tips & GuidesTips For Playing Outriders
At first glance, Outriders might look like a game you’ve played one thousand times: a sci-fi third-person shooter in which you shoot stuff to get better gear in order to shoot more stuff. But there are plenty of quirks, making this loot-shooter more complex than you might think. Since the game’s early-April launch, a few…
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CultureOutriders’ First Major Patch Will Nerf The Trickster
The first major patch for Outriders will be available next week, developer People Can Fly revealed in a blog post today. If you’ve been waiting for general fixes regarding connectivity and inventory wipes, you’ll still have to wait. But, hey, at least the coolest class is getting some serious nerfs. Yes, the Trickster, that crafty…
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CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Seem To Be Having Commitment Issues In Outriders
Over the past week or so I’ve sunk about 25 hours into Outriders—on top of the dozen-ish I spent repeatedly running the demo. And yet, I still haven’t committed to a main class. That’s not indicative of indecision on my part (okay, fine, maybe a tiny bit). That’s a testament to how awesome all the…
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ReviewsBacklogWelcome To Backlog Month
April’s pretty thin as far as new game releases go. So we at Kotaku are taking the moment to focus on something shared among every gamer: a backlog. You could call it a month…about backlogs…surely there’s some sort of cutesy phrase we could use? Aha! Backlog Month! Look, it’s not like April is literally devoid…
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OpinionImpressionsFree From Stadia, Lost Words‘ Story Hits Hard
Lost Words: Beyond the Page is poised to snag a second lease on life. First released last spring as a Stadia exclusive, the idyllic puzzle-platformer from Sketchbook Games, officially released yesterday for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and the Switch (where I’ve been playing). Lost Words sports the sheen of star power: Rhianna Pratchett, of…
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CultureOutriders Apparently Has A Bug That Wipes All Your Gear
How’s this for a horror story? You spend hours farming gear in your favorite loot game. You find some truly awesome stuff, including some legendaries. Then, one moment, out of the blue, it’s all gone. Everything, to the point where your character is basically naked. For some Outriders players, that’s less a terrifying nightmare than…
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CultureHere’s Everything Coming To And Leaving Game Pass Soon
Xbox Game Pass started April strong with the day-one launch of Outriders, but that’s not the only major addition to Microsoft’s games-on-demand service this month. Here’s everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in the next few weeks: April 8 Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud, Console) Zombie Army 4: Dead War (Cloud, Console, PC) Disneyland Adventures…
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CultureOdds and EndsSquare Enix: That ‘Redneck Mob Storming D.C.’ Line In Outriders Is Pure Coincidence
There’s an offhand line in Outriders that sure sounds like a reference to the failed January 6 insurrection in Washington, D.C. According to the game’s publisher, any connections one could make there are “purely coincidental.” Developed by People Can Fly and published by Square Enix, the class-based looter-shooter Outriders officially released last week for everything…
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CultureOutriders Launches To A Day Of Server Problems, Like Every Other Online Game
If you play video games in the 21st century, you’re no stranger to this: A popular game launches that demands an internet connection. Interested players buy it, can’t access the servers, and can’t play the thing they paid for. The latest offender is Outriders, a class-based loot shooter from developer People Can Fly. Outriders launched…
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Tips & GuidesFive Good Settings To Tweak In Outriders
As if there weren’t enough looter-shooters around, Outriders is out today. It’s a whole lot of game, with a whole lot of settings that can affect how you play. Some are obvious; some are not. It goes without saying that such things are a matter of taste, but I’ve found the following tweaks have made…
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Tips & GuidesPSA: If You’re Stuck On The Outriders Title Screen, Be Patient
Outriders is finally out today for all of the things (save for the Switch). But some players have reportedly found themselves unable to play, seemingly stuck on an infinite loading screen. Pro tip: Just stay in line. They have to count your login. A similar issue plagued the Outriders demo, which became available late February…
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Tips & GuidesIt’s So Easy To Carry Your Progress From The Outriders Demo To The Full Game
Following a delay and a month-long demo period, looter-shooter Outriders is out today for basically every platform but the Switch. If you played the demo, you can carry your progress over to the main game if on the same platform, something developer People Can Fly made clear from the jump. But it’s astonishing how seamless…
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CultureHalo Infinite Delayed To 2022 [UPDATED: We Got Got]
Hey, everyone, I am a dumbass. Halo Infinite has not, to Kotaku’s knowledge, been cancelled. We fell for a fake tweet from an in hindsight obviously fake account. (Follower count: 53.) On the eve of April Fool’s. Yes, I realize how this looks. I regret the error. Kotaku regrets the error. Halo Infinite is planned for…
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CultureAssassin’s Creed Valhalla Players Still Have No Clue What Those Odin Runes Mean
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is practically as old as its subject matter at this point, but even the most devoted players haven’t dusted off all its secrets. Nowhere is this more evident than the so-called “Odin runes,” an arcane set of symbols strewn around digital 9th-century England. They no doubt house an underlying meaning. And yet,…
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