Heather Alexandra

A Terrifying Five-Minute Horror Game

InSeptember 1999, something is wrong. A lone house holds a secret, recorded on tape. You play through the tape as it jumps through a slow descent into gore and death. The whole game lasts five minutes and 30 seconds. You play through the perspective of someone with a camera who is reviewing recorded footage. It’s…

My Misadventures In Fallout 76‘s Buggy, Bizarre Beta

Fallout 76’s is hosting its first beta this week, and I streamed my time with it on Kotaku’s Twitch channel. Four hours is a long time to watch someone bumble in a buggy beta, so I’ve assembled my escapes into a short video showing off just how absurd this multiplayer spin-off is. I haven’t sorted…

Finally, An Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Ship Battle I Enjoyed

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s live events have finally launched, one week after they were initially promised. These limited time quests offer difficult targets to take down with special rewards for anyone who manages the deed. The first limited bounty—a quest to destroy a rogue pirate ship—is straightforward but the extra difficulty led to one of the…

We’re streaming the Fallout 76 beta right now on Twitch Come join the chat for country roads, glitches, and good times.

I Can’t Believe I Ignored Monster Hunter: World‘s Arena Quests For So Long

When you’re a busy monster hunter, it’s easy to focus on the next big thing, whether that’s sieges against golden dragons or getting caught up in challenging event quests. That means the game’s other option, arena quests are easy to ignore. I’d been putting them aside for a long time and it might be my…

Paul and I are solving mysteries in the fantastic new game The Return of the Obra Dinn right now on Twitch It’s by Lucas Pope, who also made Papers, Please. Join us in chat to sleuth out what happened to this ill-fated ship.

Final Fantasy XIV‘s Player-Run Tournaments Embrace The Fun Of Random Chance

Most players adventuring in Final Fantasy XIV worry about what new piece of loot will drop from a difficult dungeon or if they can earn enough rewards in PVP to unlock that one emote they like. But some players lean toward the more creative side, hosting massive roleplaying events. Combat in these events is mostly…

The Far Cry Series Needs To Let Things Break Again

Far Cry 2 was released on this day 10 years ago, so we thought it was appropriate to revisit what makes that game so special. This piece originally ran on April 9, 2018. Far Cry 5 suggests a world on the brink of a violence apocalypse, but the game’s sanitized gameplay and clean-cut power fantasy…

You Should Opt Out Of Discord’s New Policy Changes

A small but important change to Discord’s terms of service has big ramifications for users. The social app’s terms now include a class waiver, which would prevent participation in larger lawsuits. It’ssupposedly meant to prevent frivolous lawsuits, but if you want to protect your consumer rights, a simple email will opt you out of the…

Dark Souls Remastered On Switch Is Rough But Worth Playing

Dark Souls Remastered released on most consoles back in May, giving players a chance to relive (or finally experience) the game that inspired countless imitators. The Nintendo Switch version will finally arrive this Friday. It’s an impressive technical achievement that, while not as robust as other versions, is still worth exploring. Dark Souls Remastered is…

New Breath Of The Wild Glitch Turns Head Stomp Into High Speed Takeoff

Breath of the Wild players have always taken advantage of the game’s wonky physics, either in speedruns or for fun. It’s one thing to ride on stasis-launched trees, but it’s way more fun to shoot across Hyrule Field with a good head stomp. A new glitch allows just that, letting players gain tremendous speeds and…

A Bullet-Hell Shooter About Loving Your Enemy

The Void Rains Upon Her Heartis an early access bullet-hell game available on PC. It’s all about earning randomized loot and learning to love the monsters you face. Random sequences of difficult bosses challenge the player to adjust their strategies, while special rewards augment your abilities and encourage risk-taking. It’s a colorful experience, perfect for…

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey’s live events—which feature tough, loot-dropping mercenaries and other challenges—are a day late. Speaking to Kotaku via email, a representative of Ubisoft said that while events are currently not working “the production team is investigating and hopes to have more information on an ETA for a fix.”

The Missing Gets Queer Love Stories Right

Last night, I finished The Missing. My initial impression of the game was that it’s a sweet but extremely bloody puzzle-platformer, peppered with queer overtones. As I pressed forward, I found a game that was transgressive and shockingly frank in talking about LGTBQA+ issues. It’s been on my mind all morning. In The Missing, you…

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s ‘Optional’ Questlines Are Just As Important As The Main One

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey packs a lot of activities into its massive world, letting players wander to their heart’s content hunting down cultists or doing side-quests. As a result, the game’s main story is split into multiple branches. Frustratingly, this structure makes some of the game’s best quests and most important story beats optional. Odyssey approaches…

I’m playing SWERY65’s strange, bloody platformer The Missing right now on Twitch. Come and join the chat! (Heads up: this game and stream will have in-game depictions of self-harm and body mutilation.)

What Makes Dead Space‘s Plasma Cutter Such A Great Weapon

Today is the 10th anniversary of the release of Dead Space in North America, so we thought it would be fun to reflect on the original game by re-publishing this piece that emerged from Heather Alexandra’s replay of the game last year Dead Space’s Isaac Clarke isn’t a space marine. He isn’t a special operative…

How To Get Good At Assassin’s Creed Odyssey‘s Ship Battles

It’s tough being a ship captain in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey. Naval combat is one of the game’s trickier aspects and while it’s always going to be tough, these tips should help you deal with any blockades or pirates you come across. Upgrade Your Hull First Ship battles are about outlasting the enemy, so upgrade your…

Paul and I are playing—and probably dying a lot in—Black Ops 4 right now on Twitch Expect zombies, battle royale, and RC cars. Come and join the chat!

The Missing Is A Sweet But Gory Puzzle Game

The Missing begins with two messages: “This game was made with the belief that nobody is wrong for being what they are” and “This game contains explicit content, including extreme violence, sexual topics, and depictions of suicide.” The messages cut straight to the chase: The Missing is both a sweet love story and one of…