Maddy Myers

Disco Elysium Lets You Choose Your Character’s Dialogue And Also Their Thoughts

In real life, if you think over an argument you had with someone, you’ll probably come up with more ideas on what to say to them when you see them again. Video games don’t usually work this way; you get what you get when it comes to dialogue options. But in Disco Elysium, you can…

The Brilliant Outer Wilds Breaks Many Of Gaming’s Unwritten Rules

In the indie sci-fi exploration game Outer Wilds, you play as a four-eyed alien setting off in a rinky-dink rocket on an outer space mission. That’s all very exciting, at least until the sun explodes and demolishes your galaxy. That galactic destruction kicks off a mysterious time loop that brings you back to 22 minutes…

The One Fire Emblem: Three Houses Paralogue I’m Glad I Didn’t Miss

It’s hard to decide which optional Paralogue battles to play and which to ignore in Fire Emblem: Three Houses. I could look up which battles would give me the best weapons, but what I really want to know is which have the best storylines. The game doesn’t have a way to tell me that; I…

In Borderlands 3, The Faster You Leave The Starting Area The Better

The first few hours of every Borderlands game tend to feel like an uphill grind until you finally unlock better skills and find cooler weapons. Borderlands 3 is no different. But it gets a lot better once you leave Pandora, especially if you want to find a gun that isn’t an underpowered pistol or a…

John Kirby, Former Nintendo Lawyer And Kirby’s Namesake, Dies At 79

This week, the man after whom Nintendo’s iconic pink blob Kirby was named passed away. John Kirby, who died on October 2 from a form of blood cancer, represented Nintendo in the company’s 1984 case about whether Donkey Kong violated Universal Studios’ copyright for King Kong. John Kirby helped Nintendo win that case, which is…

If Only Ghost Recon Breakpoint Were More Like Assassin’s Creed

Assassin’s Creed games have gotten better and better at establishing a sense of place and filling that place with tons of satisfying, stealthy missions. After a few hours with Ghost Recon Breakpoint, Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo is still mostly just thinking about how much he likes Assassin’s Creed. On this week’s Kotaku Splitscreen, we talk…

Judge Rules That Twitch’s Contract With Banned Streamer Includes ‘Unconscionable’ Language

The legal saga between Twitch and the banned Counter-Strike: Global Offensive streamer James “PhantomL0rd” Varga continues. The judge’s latest ruling is a potential mark in the “win” column for Varga, as well as other Twitch streamers who might have grievances with Twitch in the future. The trouble started back in 2016, when Varga was banned…

Apple Arcade Seems Like The Future Of Gaming, For Better Or Worse

Apple Arcade offers up a ton of cool mobile games for only 5 bucks a month. The price seems more than fair from the player side, and it helps that these games aren’t packed with microtransactions, since they’re already funded by the subscription fee. But is that subscription model actually sustainable? And do we want…

It’s Kind Of Creepy How Obsessed Professor Byleth Is With Her Students

Fire Emblem: Three Houses protagonist Professor Byleth is very good at spying. Three Houses isn’t a stealth game; Byleth doesn’t use her impressive sneaking skills in combat. Instead, she uses them to listen in on dozens of private conversations that unfold between her students. It’s never actually specified in-game whether Byleth can hear all of…

Divinity: Original Sin 2‘s Cross-Save Between PC And Switch Is Magic

Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a big, chewy role-playing game that benefits from a mouse and keyboard, but sometimes, you just want to lie down on the couch and play a game on the Switch. The game’s new Switch port allows players to go from one to the other, like magic. On this week’s Kotaku…

Gears 5’s Multiplayer Is Very Good, Too

In addition to its gripping, creatively risky campaign, Gears 5 also has a huge suite of multiplayer modes that also deliver. There are updates to old classics like Horde, as well as the new additions Escape and Arcade. Once again, widening the world of Gears pays off. Horde mode This co-operative multiplayer mode has been…

Gears 5 Campaign: The Kotaku Review

Gears 5 has the longest and most ambitious campaign that Gears of War has ever done and, for the most part, that ambition pays off. In a series first, the story focuses on a female character, putting the player in a woman’s shoes for the majority of the game. Gears 5 heroine Kait Diaz’s journey…

How Gears 5’s Confusing Microtransactions Work

Unlike Gears of War 4, Gears 5 technically doesn’t have loot boxes. But don’t have a party just yet. It has a convoluted system for unlocking cosmetic rewards that can be used to outfit the characters in Gears 5’s many multiplayer modes. It’s not intuitive, partially involves microtransactions and will definitely test people’s patience. For…

Gears 5 includes nineteen Pride banners, from the classic rainbow to the bisexual pride flag (selected above), in customization options for multiplayer avatars. You get them with Scrap, which is only earned from playing matches, not with real money. Banners show up behind players’ avatars if they win MVP of a match.

Gears of War Isn’t As Fun Without The Chainsaw Gun

I love the Lancer from Gears of War. That’s the chainsaw gun. So I’m pretty disappointed that Gears of War 4, which I’m playing now to prep for the sequel, keeps taking my Lancer away. I’ve loved the Lancer since the series’ original hero Marcus Fenix used it in the first Gears game. Within the…

No Man’s Sky‘s Beyond Update Fulfills The Childhood Dream Of Virtual Reality

You look left and see a giant alien behemoth. You look right and see your spaceship. And then you re-adjust your virtual reality helmet to account for all the head turning you just did. That’s the dream, right? At least that’s what Kirk assured me and Jason on this week’s episode of Kotaku Splitscreen when…

Being Impatient In Outer Wilds Wasted More Time Than Simply Waiting

I have not beaten Outer Wilds yet. One reason I still haven’t is that I wasted hours trying to land my ship on the Black Hole Forge instead of just using the Ash Twin teleporter to get there. I thought I was saving myself time by taking this “shortcut.” I was not. Why, you might…

Fortnite Is All About The Kids (And The Aesthetics)

The Fortnite World Cup was packed with young faces, both attendees and competitors. Unlike many other esport events, this one had a kid-friendly, earnest vibe that dovetailed well with the chaotic playground atmosphere of Fortnite. Kotaku editor-at-large Riley MacLeod came on Kotaku Splitscreen this week to talk about his coverage of the Fortnite World Cup…

Two Women Say They Were Sexually Assaulted At Red Bull’s Evo 2019 Party

Last night, Red Bull hosted its annual official after-party for the Evolution Championship Series at the HyperX Esports Arena, a venue at the Luxor Hotel in Las Vegas. This morning, two women have come forward to describe having been sexually assaulted while attending this party. Also, a male attendee has shared his belief that a…

E3 Expo Leaks The Personal Information Of Over 2,000 Journalists [Update]

A spreadsheet containing the contact information and personal addresses of over 2,000 games journalists, editors, and other content creators was recently found to have been published and publicly accessible on the website of the E3 Expo. The Entertainment Software Association, the organization that runs E3, has since removed the link to the file, as well…