Kirk Hamilton

Destiny 2’s Ace Of Spades Quest Is A Pain, But Totally Worth It [Updated]

If you notice an unusual number of players using hand cannons in Destiny 2 this week, it’s because they’re probably trying to unlock an exotic weapon called Ace of Spades. It’s a long, occasionally annoying quest, but I am happy to report that it is also super worth doing. Spoilers for the Ace of Spades…

Destiny 2: Forsaken Is At Its Best When You’re In Over Your Head

Last night, with the help of the Internet, I found and completed a harrowing challenge in Destiny 2’s new Forsaken expansion. I wasn’t supposed to be powerful enough to do it, but after some creative trial and error, I found a way. Just a note up front that this post involves discussion of late-game areas…

My Amazing Destiny Helmet Is A Test For Bungie

“They’re totally gonna nerf this,” I said into my headset mic. The words just spilled out before I even realized what I was saying. I added a hasty follow-up: “I mean, I hope they don’t!” With the launch of the Forsaken expansion, weapon balance in Destiny 2 has shifted significantly in favor of making players…

The Makers Of Hollow Knight Are Fine With Players Missing Things

One of the best things about Hollow Knight is how often it makes you feel like you’ve uncovered a secret. There was a huge chamber hidden behind that breakable wall, and you just happened to stumble on it. What other secrets might you have missed? This week on Kotaku Spltscreen, I talked with Team Cherry’s…

Everything You Need To Know Going Into Destiny 2: Forsaken

Destiny 2 is getting a big expansion next week, and some lapsed players are thinking about coming back to the game. A lot’s happened over the past year, so you could be forgiven for not following all the story developments closely. That’s what I’m here for. Forsaken, next week’s expansion, will introduce a bunch of…

Destiny 2’s Weapon System Is Now Drastically Different

Bungie has changed a lot of things about Destiny over the last four years, but only rarely have there been changes as sweeping as today’s 2.0 patch. Destiny 2 now plays significantly differently than it did yesterday. Today’s 2.0 patch paves the way for next week’s Forsaken expansion, which the optimistic among us hope will…

Bungie has posted patch notes for Destiny 2‘s big 2.0 update, which is being applied today. There’s too much for me to summarize here, but, hooray one-shot shoulder charge. The developers have also gone into further detail about the year to come, and published a hefty new roadmap.

Five God Of War Moves I Never Used Before New Game+

God of War has a complex and entertaining combat system, but you wouldn’t know it from my first playthrough of the game. Sure, I knew about all the moves and combos that were available to me, but I spent most of my time relying on the same handful of attacks. I’ve been playing the recently…

Another week, another batch of details about what’s changing in Destiny 2: Forsaken. This week it’s mostly PvP, with some granular stuff about Crucible and Gambit progression and rewards. Notable: Radar is returning to competitive, Glory ranking is getting simplified, and the Redrix’s Claymore grind is being retooled. More here

There Is No Longer A ‘Best’ Time To Play A Video Game

That game you bought last month isn’t the same game today. It’s almost certainly been patched, updated, rebalanced, and tweaked. The original version is shrinking from view as it washes downriver. But is it better now? Truer? Should you have played more of it back when you bought it, or waited? This article was originally…

I Put A Big Air Cooler In My PC And It’s Working Pretty Great

Last week, I documentedthe constant low-level anxiety I had been feeling about cooling the CPU in my gaming PC. I’d spent a couple of years wrestling with all-in-one liquid coolers and had never found something that worked like I wanted. Well, good news: I’ve finally found something that does. Last Thursday I replaced my Corsair…

Monster Hunter: World Is Even Better The Second Time Around

I’ve been voraciously replaying Monster Hunter: World on PC over the last few weeks, and have been having a hell of a good time. That’s partly because it’s just a good game, but also because I’m so, so much better at it than I was on my first time through. I first played Capcom’s third-person…

How To Get Monster Hunter: World Working Better On PC

Monster Hunter: World finally came out on PC last week. It’s a hell of a fun game, but the PC version has some frustrating technical problems. Fortunately, fans and modders have been working on unofficial fixes to improve things while we wait for official ones. I’ve been playing the PC version of Monster Hunter: World…

If you’re getting the “ERR12″ crash in Monster Hunter: World on PC, you’re not alone It’s hard to know for sure what’s causing it, but it seems to be an Nvidia driver issue. I’ve asked Nvidia what’s up, and in the meantime have managed to stop the crashes on my end by rolling back to…

Monster Hunter: World NPCs, Ranked

In addition to all those deadly beasts, Monster Hunter: World has loads of colorful non-monster characters. You’ll find them walking in the wild or chilling out at HQ, usually minding their business and occasionally giving you a sidequest. We’ve ranked the monsters, so now let’s rank the rest. Here are 51 of Monster Hunter: World’s…

Bungie has shared a ton of new information about how progression and currencies will change for Destiny 2: Forsaken. Tokens are going away but the ones you have will still work, exotics will always drop above your power level, you’ll be able to pick from one of three nightfalls each week, there’ll be a heroic story…

Hollow Knight And The Art Of The Video Game Joke

More than a dozen hours into Hollow Knight, the 2D Metroidvania played a joke on me. It was a really good joke, and also kind of a mean one. Then again, most good video game jokes are a little mean. A few hours into Hollow Knight, you meet a bug named Millibelle. She’s a banker.…

Dead Cells Developers Say Improving Switch Performance Is Now Their Priority

Dead Cells is a really good video game, and is a perfect fit for the handheld Nintendo Switch. However, the Switch version performs noticeably under 60 frames-per-second, which makes for a less smooth experience than on other gaming systems. Yesterday, the game’s developers said they’re getting to work on improvements. In a post on Reddit…

Don’t Neglect Your No Man’s Sky Buggy

Look, starships are cool and everything. They’re great! They can fly, they have lasers, and they usually look nice. But if you’re playing No Man’s Sky, I have some advice for you: Don’t neglect your buggy. In No Man’s Sky, you can craft a buggy station (aka “Roamer Platform”) at any time, as long as…

Tips For Playing Dead Cells

The Castlevania- and Rogue-inspired Dead Cells is out this week on a bunch of systems. It’s a really good game, and also a tough one. Would you believe me if I told you I had some tips for you? I’ve lived, died, and lived again many times, and with each death has come some knowledge…