Those who backed Shenmue III on Kickstarter, including me, finally got a taste of the upcoming adventure game this week with a “trial version.” While it’s limited, it definitely feels like old-school Shenmue: Stiff and stilted, but charming and detailed. I’m a longtime Shenmue fan. I was there when Yu Suzuki’s landmark adventure game series…
The end of the year is always busy here at Kotaku. For many of us, it means a string of reviews to write and games to cover. I’ve gone from Monster Hunter to Greedfall and beyond. Getting the time to circle back and play a game that you missed out on is a fun treat.…
Did you know there’s gonna be a new MediEvil game? Sony’s been showing it off at events, like the most recent State of Play livestream, but details have been a little scarce. A new limited time demo that came out today offers a sneak peek into the upcoming exclusive action-comedy game. The brief preview shows…
Perhaps you’ve heard that a skilled dataminer recently found that there was more to P.T., the infamous “playable teaser” for the canceled Silent Hills, than meets the eye. Well, he’s not done digging, and has turned up even more scares hiding just out of frame in Hideo Kojima’s horror demo, including a grotesque corpse. P.T.,…
Since Star Wars Battlefront II released in 2017, fans have wanted to know: Where are the clone commandos? These long-awaited badasses are finally in the game, bringing a rough-and-tumble play style that’s focused on staying alive and adapting to any situation. It’s been a long time since Star Wars: Republic Commando. Released in 2005, the…
I’ve enthusiastically expressed my love for role-playing game Skies of Arcadia in a variety of different ways since I started writing for Kotaku. I’ve gotten a tattooand reached out to producersalmost two decades after the game was released. Released in 2000 on the Dreamcast, Skies of Arcadia’s story of air pirates, heroes, and adventure ignited…
Mario Kart Tour is available today on iOS and Android, bringing some portable kart action to phones and other devices. If you want to enjoy tough races with a faster pace, though, it turns out you’ll need to shell out some money. Mario Kart games have always had different racing tiers. This usually means starting…
Heather and Chris using the Force and sneaking through Imperial bases right now. Come join chat, buds!
In The Surge 2’s worst moments, when too many enemies clutter too small hallways, it is a slog. But in other moments, everything falls into place, and it suddenly becomes one of the most addictive games I’ve played all year. The Surge 2 has absurd highs and damning lows, creating an inconsistent experience that I…
Slice and dice! I am playing the nanotech-infused action game The Surge 2 right now on Twitch. Come join chat for Dark Souls chat, some mild dismemberment, and chunky robot exoskeletons.
Many game developers have shifted to release their games on the Epic Games Store, but the upstart platform has proven surprisingly controversial. A report outlining Control developer Remedy Entertainment’s deal with Epic grants a clearer picture into the money and percentages that draw in high profile games. A financial report from Digital Bros (via gamedaily.biz)…
I play games because they give me pleasure, but sometimes, that pleasure comes specifically from a desire to master all of their secrets. Clear all the time trials, get higher ranks, collect all the goodies. Sayonara Wild Hearts, Devil May Cry 5, Monster Hunter World. Sometimes you just want to be the best. I felt…
Devil May Cry games kick ass. The stylish and over-the-top antics of demon hunter Dante and his cohorts helped define the action game genre. This year’s Devil May Cry 5 made everything sleeker, sexier, and energetic. Dante’s had great games over the years, but there’s one game that doesn’t shine. Devil May Cry 2, whose…
Farfetch’d, the leek-carrying bird pal that’s been around since the original Pokémon games, is finally getting an evolution of his own. His buff new form, appearing exclusively in Pokémon Sword, is called Sirfetch’d, and the internet has some thoughts about this smug bird knight. According to the official Sword and Shield website, Sirfetch’d is incredibly…
Celeste’s recently added epilogue, Farewell, is an extremely difficult but charming send-off to a fantastic game. A normal playthrough takes anywhere from four to five hours and is immensely challenging. Skilled speedrunners are completing it in less than 20 minutes. Farewell adds tons of new mechanics to Celeste and even teaches players some advanced techniques…
Apex Legends added its first new hero, the speedy Octane, early after launch. The electric-fence-dropping Wattson followed at the start of Season Two in July. Since then, there’s been supposed leaks and speculation about the next hero. Most folks believe it will be a sneaky hacker named Crypto, and he seems to have made an…
In many ways, Spiders’ latest, Greedfall, does what it sets out to do. It provides a role-playing adventure comparable to BioWare’s most compelling narratives, with companions to meet and recruit, quests to discover, and more. But Greedfall’s tendency to settle for the barest possible option constantly weakens it. Whether that is an unwillingness to reckon…
Final Fantasy XIV’s latest expansion, Shadowbringers, brought a sweeping storyline and tons of job adjustments that streamlined how the game played. Last month, we emailed questions to Final Fantasy XIV director Naoki Yoshida (through Square Enix PR) about class adjustments, roleplaying, and how the game’s music is composed. Heather Alexandra: One of the goals for…
Shadowbringers, the latest expansion to Final Fantasy XIV, released two months ago, and I cannot begin to fathom the amount of time I have spent in the worlds of Eorzea and Norvrandt. Shadowbringers is one of Final Fantasy’s finest stories, buoyed by powerful music and sweeping gameplay changes that make job classes sleek and enjoyable.…
Cult-classic card game Baten Kaitos: Eternal Wings and the Lost Ocean is a pretty big game, especially if you want to collect everything there is to find. A 100% speedrun takes over 300 hours to complete, and even a single mistake could spell disaster. World record holder “Baffan” learned this the hard way during a…
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