Mike Fahey

Hob: The Kotaku Review

Torn asunder by unknown forces and ravaged by corruption, the world of Hob is in desperate need of repair and rescue. Its nameless, silent hero’s quest to set things right is one of the most captivating and spectacular adventures of the year. Having established its mastery of the Diablo-style isometric action RPG with the Torchlight…

The New Puzzle Fighter Plays Better Than It Looks

While the plastic-looking 3D characters can never replace the charming big-headed sprites of the original, Capcom’s new free-to-play mobile Puzzle Fighter gets the puzzle fighting bit done well enough. I won’t make too much of a fuss over the art direction of Puzzle Fighter, as it’s little more than set dressing to the main event.…

Nintendo Switch Owners Really, Really Care About The Game Icons

How important is the design of game icons, the visual indicators of the titles available to launch from our consoles’ dashboards? A number of Switch owners are very particular about the colorful squares that show up on their home screens. They’re calling for changes, and developers are listening. On Thursday, September 18, three days before…

The Best Game About Japanese School Girls Released Today

Released today for the PlayStation 4 and PC, Blue Reflection is an exploration of the relationships young women forge and the personal growth that comes from sharing experiences with friends, all in the form of a stylish magical girl role-playing game. Beats the hell of ninjas in bikinis with water guns. It’s a very strange…

Zelda’s Hyrule Historia Gets A Follow-Up Encyclopedia

Nintendo’s partnership with publisher Dark Horse has already brought us two outstanding volumes, Hyrule Historia and Art & Artifacts. Next April the “Goddess Collection” gets its third and final volume in The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia, a comprehensive guide to the series from the first game to Twilight Princess HD. Hyrule Historia and Art &…

The Lego Ninjago Movie Videogame: The Kotaku Review

The Lego Ninjago Movie Videogame is short and a little rough, but a dynamic new combat system and a couple surprising tweaks to aging mechanics make it one of the most exciting new Lego games in years. The eight story chapters in the game focus on rehashing the plot of The Lego Ninjago Movie. Green…

This Is A $2,200 Retro Gaming Machine

This is the Zette System, handcrafted from wood by Swedish artist Love Hultén. In its resting state it resembles a stylized wooden boombox, but it’s actually a retro gaming machine with a pair of wireless gamepads and a built-in projector. Only 25 of them are being made, and they are not cheap. From boombox mode,…

Big-Headed Master Chief And Locke Say Hey

Just in time for next week’s 10th anniversary of Halo 3: Live Halo Or Die Trying, the folks at gaming gear makers Jinx have launched a new line of official Halo clothes and things. Things like these six-inch vinyl figures of Battle Damaged Master Chief and Night Ops Spartan Locke, for example. Designed by Jinx…

Pokken’s Funky Fighting Controller Finds New Purpose On The Switch

Since the Nintendo Switch launched earlier this year, mine has rarely seen the inside of the TV dock. Now that Pokken Tournament DX is here, that’s changed. I need that USB port for Hori’s Pokken Tournament Pro Pad DX—and not just for Pokémon battles. Released in white for the Wii U version and now in…

Final Fantasy Creator’s Latest Mobile RPG Is Pretty Complex

Available now foriOS andAndroiddevices, Terra Battle 2 is the follow-up to the mobile RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi’s studio, Mistwalker. It’s a bit dense, but very pretty. The original Terra Battle, released in 2014, introduced players to a unique battle system in which characters positioned on a gridded playfield must flank their enemies…

Pokken Tournament Is Way Better On A Console That Isn’t Dead

There was nothing wrong with the Wii U release of Pokémon fighting game Pokken Tournament that couldn’t be solved by Nintendo releasing an entirely new, more fully-realized platform for people to play it on. And here we are. Originally published on 9/18/17. Pokken Tournament is one of my favorite games on the Wii U. It was…

Taco Bell Made A Taco Out Of A Fried Egg, And It Is Delicious

Taco Bell continues its grand tradition of wrapping things that are not tortilla shells around other things and calling them tacos with the Naked Egg Breakfast Taco. It’s a shimmering wonderland of breakfast grease, wrapped in a very firm fried egg. The Naked Egg Taco is part of Taco Bell’s continuing efforts to get people…

Win Or Lose, Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite Multiplayer Battles Are A Good Time

The story side of Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite stumbles in trying to achieve a semblance of order amidst the clashing of discordant fictional worlds, but the multiplayer action is just as intense and chaotic as it’s ever been, with spectacular battles that are enjoyable no matter which side comes out on top. While I played…

Ubisoft’s New Game About Size Is Just Too Small

Ubisoft Reflections, the studio behind Grow Home and Grow Up, continues its growth spurt with the release of Atomega on Steam. It’s a blocky competitive first-person shooter in which players battle over mass, attempting to out-grow and overpower the competition. It’s a cool little game that could use some serious expansion. Atomega is a combination…

Vava Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Review: Not Bad For A Budget Board

There are a lot of big-name peripheral manufacturers making mechanical keyboards, but a search for the term “mechanical keyboard” on Amazon yields a ton of keyboards from companies you’ve probably never heard of. Like Vava, makers of the relatively good $80 no-name mechanical I’ve been typing on for the past week. At this point in…

After Ratings Problem, Golf Game Returns To Switch, Minus The Sexy Demon Art

In early August, Zen Studios’ latest game, Infinite Minigolf, wasremoved from the Nintendo Switch eShop following a sudden shift in the game’s rating from E for Everyone to T for Teen. The racy artwork responsible for the shift is now gone, and the game is finally back up for sale. Zen Studios never specified which…

Toys’R’Us Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, But It’s Not Dead Yet

Faced with $5 billion in long-term investment debt and fierce competition from a rapidly-changing retail marketplace, toy and children’s goods retailer Toys’R’Us has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Don’t start mourning and sharing childhood memories just yet—it’s not the shutting down sort of bankruptcy. Things haven’t been great for Toys’R’Us over the past decade and…

Who’s Ready For Guild Wars 2‘s Path Of Fire Expansion?

Guild Wars 2‘s second expansion, Path of Fire, launches this Friday, taking players to the Crystal Desert and the Kingdom of Elona to track down a rogue god. Along the way, giant rabbits will be mounted. Who’s excited? I must admit, this expansion snuck up on me. The initial announcement only happened in early August.…

Monster Hunter World arrives on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One worldwide on January 26, with the PC version coming later. Along with the standard release there’ll be a $69.99 digital deluxe edition with extra cosmetic items and a $149.99 physical collector’s edition with art book and statue.

Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite Could Do Without Story Mode

Marvel Vs. Capcom Infinite arrives this week, bringing a revamped two-character tag-team battle system and cinematic storytelling to the long-running crossover series. The fighting is a blast. The storytelling could use some work. Since X-Men Vs. Street Fighter back in 1996, Capcom’s been pitting heroes and villains from Marvel Comics with its own character creations…