Heather Alexandra

Destiny 2: Forsaken Ruined My Guardian’s Outfit

Destiny 2’s infusion system allowed players to easily power up their favorite gear to use throughout their adventure. Forsaken has tweaked how upgrading is handled; the change shakes up player’s arsenals and encourages experimentation, at the cost of making customization and identity-building more expensive (and grindy) than before. I approach Destiny 2 casually, spacing out…

Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu announced on his blog that he will be taking an indefinite hiatus from work due to illness and fatigue. “I have decided to take an extended leave of absence and give my mind and body the time they need to properly mend,” he said. “If I am to return, I…

Fortnite‘s Tilted Towers Temporarily Had An Address On Google: The Freedom Tower

I stumbled upon something strange today while writing up a story about how the Fortnite cube crushed a building in Tilted Towers. Looking up an image of Tilted Towers on Google brought up a listing for a real world address. But it wasn’t just any address; it was the site of One World Trade Center,…

Fortnite‘s Cube Destroys The Game’s Unluckiest Building [Update: It’s Sunk Into Loot Lake Now]

Last month, the giant rift in Fortnite’s sky closed and spat out a giant alien cube that’s stomping around the map. Players are eagerly tracking each new move, wondering what will happen when it finally stops. The cube’s latest route took it through Tilted Towers, where it destroyed what might just be Fortnite’s unluckiest building.…

A Cyberpunk Detective Game About Finding Rogue Androids

In Subserial Network, humanity as we know it doesn’t exist. Instead, synthetic beings populate the world. They live mostly normal lives. There’s only one rule: don’t connect yourself directly to the net. The synthetics who disobey are deemed “Subserials.” Your job is to hunt them down. Subserial Network is an investigation game where you need…

Cowboy Bebop Wasn’t Afraid To Let Its Heroes Fail

1998’s classic anime Cowboy Bebop is well known for its fusion of jazz confidence and Eastern melodrama. While it’s easy to remember the characters’ stylistic flair, what really allowed the series to endure was how often it showed its core cast to making mistakes and failing spectacularly. Cowboy Bebop follows two bounty hunters, Spike Spiegel…

Max Payne 2‘s Revamped Bullet-Time Showed a New Side Of Max

I recently started a playthrough of Max Payne on Kotaku’s Twitch channeland was pleased to find that its stylish gunplay still holds up. I’ve not finished yet, but I snuck ahead to Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne last night. The sequel contains one small change to bullet time that completely alters how…

What We Liked (And Didn’t Like) About The Dragon Prince

Netflix released The Dragon Prince this weekend, a new fantasy story by the writers of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Senior Reporter Cecilia D’Anastasio and Staff Writer Heather Alexandra sat down to talk about what they liked and whether or not it can live up to Airbender’s pedigree. Cecilia D’Anastasio: Heather, hello! Today, we’re talking about…

That Time A Player Tricked Everyone Into Thinking You Could Get The Triforce In Ocarina of Time

On February 4th, 1999, one of the greatest hoaxes in video game history began. The Zelda fandom was shock by a player claiming to have found the Triforce in Ocarina of Time. Ariana Almandoz, a gamer from Colombia, had all the details, but she wasn’t quite ready to share them with the world. Through vague…

Paul and I are starting our own devious cyberpunk mercenary company in the super chill tactics game Frozen Synapse 2 right now on Twitch. Come join the chat

Splatoon 2 Gets Tweaked Before Becoming A Paid Online Game

Splatoon 2 is still kicking thanks to a community of dedicated fans. The new 4.0 update rewards that dedication with big changes to how Splatfests work and a cache of stylish weapons. Splatfests have always felt equally exciting and frustrating in Splatoon 2. These timed events run about every month, asking players to choose a…

A Tactics Game That Lets You Run Your Own Cyberpunk Company

I’m a sucker for tactics games and cyberpunk settings. Frozen Synapse 2 combines both into a cerebral, moody management game full of corporate politicking and high tech squad battles. While the game can be glitchy and has rough edges, the core experience nails everything I want in a cyberpunk game. Frozen Synapse 2 is a…

All The Ports Announced Today For Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch continues to be a powerhouse console for ports. From Final Fantasy to Katamari Damacy, here’s all of the new ports that we announced during tonight’s Nintendo Direct. New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe New Super Mario Bros U is some good Mario. The Switch port adds Nabbit, who doesn’t take damage and…

Call of Duty‘s Frantic Battle Royale Takes Some Adjustment

Playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s new battle royale mode Blackout is both familiar and strange for anyone into the genre. The game is split between frantic gunplay and methodical movement. I’ve had a lot of fun with it, but its fast pace doesn’t match the battle royale experience I’m used to. There’s two…

Where we droppin boys!? Heather and Chris are playing Call of Duty Black Ops 4‘s new battle royale mode, Blackout. Come and join the chat.

An Exploration Game About Breeding Plants

Plenty of explorations games give you the opportunity to walk through colorful fields or strange, alien worlds. But sometimes it feels like all you can do is wander around. Mendel allows the player to breed plants in order to create wild and unexpected new species. Created by Owen Bell, Mendel is as much a science…

Spider-Man‘s Take On Police Feels Out Of Touch

Spider-Man has taken on his share of street thugs and supervillains, sometimes teaming up with the police to face down foes and rescue the people of New York. While Spider-Man on PS4 undoubtedly shows Spidey’s allegiance to his community, it also casts him as a big fan of police and their tactics that sometimes conflict…

Mega Man 11‘s Doors Are Screwed Up And I Don’t Know What’s Real Anymore

The Mega Man 11 demo released on the Nintendo Switch yesterday and while it mostly feels like old-school Mega Man, a tiny change to how doors work somehow makes it feel like not-Mega Man. If you’ve ever played a Mega Man game, you’ve probably jumped into a boss door at one point either on purpose…

Fornite‘s New Getaway Mode Is A Fast-Paced Comedy Of Errors

Fortnite’s newest limited-time mode, Getaway, feels a bit like a mini-crash course in everything you need to know if you want to win in the main battle royale. The capture the flag-esque mode is full of dangerous drops and surprising turns of fortune. Matches are short but packed with new surprises. If you wanted something…

Battlefield V‘s Beta Feels Too Slow

I dove into the Battlefield V beta last night. While I enjoyed the tense gunfights, I’m not so sure about some of the game’s changes. From shifts in how ammo is handled to changes to weapon customization, my fun was tempered by some skepticism about what my favorite multiplayer shooter might be like at launch.…