Mike Fahey

If the crossover between Nintendo’s two big mobile role-playing games gives us nothing else, we’ll always have Dragalia Lost’s kick-ass J-pop version of the Fire Emblem theme. It’s like turntable-based tactics up in here. 

Mortal Kombat 11‘s Microtransactions, Explained

Mortal Kombat 11 is getting slammed over its supposed equipment grind and the perceived greed of its microtransactions; user-submitted reviews on Steam and Metacritic have been poor. In these reviews, as well as in comments and on social media, fans have complained about the slow pace of earning rewards through gameplay and the randomness of…

Dragalia Lost Is Crossing Over With Fire Emblem

It’s a big week for players of Nintendo’s mobile action role-playing game Dragalia Lost. Along with permanently reduced prices for summoning heroes and dragons, familiar faces are crossing over as part of the special Fire Emblem: Lost Heroes event. A portal opens between the worlds of Fire Emblem Heroes and Dragalia Lost, bringing beloved characters like…

‘Persona 5 S’ Isn’t A Switch Port, It’s Persona 5 Scramble, A Musou Game

Following yesterday’s detailing of a cool, expanded edition of Persona 5coming to the PlayStation 4, today Atlus reveals Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers, a musou action RPG by Dynasty Warriors developer Omega Force, coming to the Nintendo Switch and PS4. Welp. Fans of Omega Force games like Dynasty Warriors, Hyrule Warriors and Fire Emblem…

Thanos Returns In Fortnite‘s Avengers: Endgame Event, And He’s Got Company

Last year Thanos rampaged across Fortnite Battle Royale’s island, taking out players left and right as part ofan epic Avengers: Infinity War tie-in. Now the Mad Titan is back, backed by a team of Chitauri warriors and opposed by a team of heroes wielding Avengers weapons in the limited-time Fortnite Endgame event. Rather than pitting…

Mortal Kombat 11: The Kotaku Review

2015’s Mortal Kombat X signaled the beginning of an evolutionary turn for Netherrealm Studios’ storied fighting game series, featuring fresh new characters, a compelling story and the ability to select different fighting styles for every combatant. Mortal Kombat 11 continues this evolution, but not every aspect of the game is moving in the right direction.…

People Are Upset About Things That Don’t Actually Happen In Jax’s MK11 Ending

In keeping with series tradition, every character in Mortal Kombat 11 gets a unique ending sequence depicting what would happen if they won. This game’s big baddie is Kronika, a new villain with the power to control time. She’s got serious beef with thunder god and humanity’s pal Raiden, and she plans to do away…

Mortal Kombat 11’s Tutorial Is An Excellent Intro To High-Level Play

Everybody knows how punching and kicking work, but do you know what Frame Advantage is? How about how to perform a Frame Trap? If you get knocked down, do you know which defensive “Getup” moves to use to counter your opponent’s likely follow-up attack? Work your way through Mortal Kombat 11’s exhaustive tutorials and you’ll…

Mortal Kombat 11 Has A Great Story Mode

Thanks to the temporal manipulations of a powerful new foe, past and present versions of iconic heroes and villains collide in Mortal Kombat 11’s story mode. It’s easily the most entertaining tale the series has ever told, and it leaves the future of the franchise open to exciting possibilities. When we last left our heroes…

Final Fantasy X-2 Is All The Fun Of The Series Without The Self-Importance

Final Fantasy X has a happy ending, and it’s called Final Fantasy X-2. It’s a game that starts with a toe-tapping musical number and features a combat system built around magical girl-style outfit transformations. And yes, blonde rogue Rikku looks adorably ridiculous in it. This week sees the release of Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster…

Even In Early Access, Dreams Is An Impressive Showcase Of Creativity

The breathtaking painting above is called “Demon’s Penance.” It was created by artist Tomasz Mrozinski using tools included within Media Molecule’s Dreams, released this week in early access for the PlayStation 4. I’ve been staring at it for hours. It’s one of the dozens of games, musical arrangements, sculptures, paintings and strange contraptions I’ve fallen…

When Life Gets Tough, I Make A New World Of Warcraft Character

This is Raisin. She is a level 43 gnome Mage on the Proudmoore server. I created her a few days ago to help me cope with a horrible situation I am dealing with in real life. Like many throwaway World of Warcraft characters before her, she’s been doing a bang-up job. It’s doubtful Raisin will…

Star Wars Lego Makes Podracing Cool Again

Between the upcoming video game, the return of the Clone Wars cartoon and Episode IX trailer that dropped over the weekend during the Celebration event, I am officially excited about Star Wars again. Not just the good bits, either. Thanks to this Anakin’s Podracer set, which is part of the Lego Star Wars 20th anniversary…

Rayark’s Cytus, one of my favorite mobile rhythm games, is soon to be one of my favorite Nintendo Switch rhythm games. Cytus Alpha launches on the Switch on April 25 with more than 200 songs from the original game and extra unreleased tracks. Retail copies, out May 14, even come with a CD, which one…

Comfy gaming chairmaker SecretLab is making chairs based on Batman, a superhero with a literal secret lab. Celebrating the Dark Knight’s 80th anniversary, it’s the most on-brand gaming chair marketing tie-in ever. Now somebody make me a Batman power wheelchair. 

Scuf Gaming’s Vantage, the$200 officially licensed PS4 answer to the Xbox Elite Controller, now comes in four cosmically-inspired new colors, just in time for black hole photo season. More importantly, the Scuf Vantage now works perfectly on PC, thanks to a newly-released driver. Check out the whole Cosmic line at Scuf’s website

The battle against giant alien insects intensifies in Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain, out today for the PlayStation 4. It’s a different sort of EDF game, more intense, more difficult and more personal, thanks toits new character creation system. You can watch Kotaku Dot Com’s Tim Rogers play the game right here.

The Weirdest Little Transformers Ever

Throughout the years, the Transformers series has made a lot of things transform into robots. Cars, airplanes, tape decks, animals, and more have sprouted heads and limbs accompanied by the signature transforming sound. So why not everyday household items, sporting goods, and food? Hasbro’s BotBots Transformers turn everything into ridiculous little robots. Who’s up for…

Greetings, Troubleshooter. Welcome to Alpha Complex, where happiness is mandatory. Developer Black Shamrock is making a role-playing game based on Paranoia, one of the greatest and silliest tabletop RPGs of all time. It’ll be out this year on consoles and PC, if Friend Computer approves.

Falcon Age Is All About That Bird

The amount of enjoyment to be found in Falcon Age, a falcon-hunting adventure game for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR, depends on how much one falls in love with its feathered co-protagonist. Fortunately, the bird is ridiculously lovable. Falcon Age is a game about the relationship between human girl Ara and her bird, or at…