Kotaku Game Diary Archives - Page 18 of 31

I’ve Finally Gotten Tired Of Making My Video Game Characters Look Like Boring Slobs

I recently got my hands on Daemon X Machina, the new mech action game for the Nintendo Switch, and I was immediately dazzled—not by the power and might of my giant robot armor, or the weighty action of sci-fi combat—but by how much fun it was to style my mech and its pilot in some…

By Joshua Rivera Published September 18, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

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…

By Maddy Myers Published September 17, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Stopped Playing Control Because I Don’t Want It To End

Control checks a lot of my boxes when it comes to not only games but media in general. I love conspiracies and secretive government agencies and stories about human beings trying to grapple with the supernatural. Control is a game about all of those things, and you can fly. I love Control so much that…

By Gita Jackson Published September 16, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Never Got Into Real Hockey But I Love NHL Video Games

I couldn’t tell you the name of the cover athlete of EA’s NHL 20 off the top of my head. For that matter, I couldn’t identify the players on the cover of NHL 18 or 19 ,despite both games still being installed on my Xbox One dashboard. I have little knowledge of the real-life sport…

By Mike Fahey Published September 13, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Wasted My Life Trying To Climb A Dragon Quest Builders 2 Mountain When I Could Have Walked

Since video games have significantly lower stakes than real-world decisions, I am, as a rule, happy to be a reckless fool in them. Eager, even. Many times, this has led to me being a complete and total bonehead. Given the option between a sensible solution to a problem that requires a little planning and a…

By Joshua Rivera Published September 12, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

The Missing Door On This Sims 4 House Is Bugging Me

I try to ignore minor problems in games. When I feel myself getting annoyed at a game, I go through a mental checklist to put the issue in perspective. Is it breaking the game? Is the game still fun to play? If I’m still enjoying myself, then usually I don’t feel a need to harp…

By Gita Jackson Published September 11, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

My Totally Reasonable Gaming Plan For The Next Few Months

Lots of games coming up. Got to think this through strategically. Gears 5? Finish that campaign this week. Then move to Destiny 2. Still haven’t cleared that game’s original campaign but don’t want to skip ahead. I’ve got two weeks or so to catch up. Probably won’t catch up but will get close. Somehow juggle…

By Stephen Totilo Published September 10, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

The Gears 5 Glitch That Saved Me

I’m fighting the same video game battle for the 15th time in the past hour. This time, I think, I’m going to beat it. Enemy gets me with a chainsaw in the back. Nope. Try again. This time? Shot with a missile from afar. Deep breath. It’s going to all work out this time. But…

By Stephen Totilo Published September 9, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

Returning To Final Fantasy VIII After 20 Years Is Letting Me Resolve Childhood Shame

I vividly remember when Final Fantasy VIII came out in February 1999. I coveted it for months but didn’t get it until October for my 11th birthday. It was my first Japanese role-playing game ever. I struggled desperately just to get through its opening moments of tutorials and text walls and Y2K CD-Rom-ass menus. I…

By Paul Tamayo Published September 6, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I’m Suddenly Proud Of The Collector’s Edition World Of Warcraft Pets I’ve Had Since 2004

I never intended to have tiny Diablo, zergling, and Panda pets following me around World of Warcraft. Purchasing the collector’s edition of the original game back in 2004, where these three rare in-game companions were a bonus, was a fluke. Now I’ve brought them into World of Warcraft Classic. Since the cuddly trio are the…

By Mike Fahey Published September 5, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

Final Fantasy VIII‘s Triple Triad Is Why I Love Card Games

Final Fantasy VIII Remastered is finally here, which means I can continue my long and storied history of never actually finishing Final Fantasy VIII because I am too busy playing Triple Triad. It’s a whole thing: I get a copy of Final Fantasy VIII, immediately start playing the in-game card game more than anything else,…

By Joshua Rivera Published September 4, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Can’t Convince My Friends That Overcooked 2 Is Fun, Not Stressful

No game is more controversial among my friends than Overcooked 2, a relatively innocuous game about cooking, plating and serving food. Overcooked 2’s saccharine art style and upbeat ukulele soundtrack are a thin cover for is deeply stressful gameplay. For me, this is a draw; for everyone else who comes to my apartment, Overcooked 2…

By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published September 3, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Should Stop Quitting Games At Boss Fights

I finally got a chance to boot up Control a couple days after the game launched. Since it was late at night, I only had a little time to explore its unsettling world before I had to go to bed. I quit at the game’s first boss fight, intending to play more later. Instead I…

By Riley MacLeod Published September 2, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Keep Quitting Dragon Quest XI Thanks To Its Atrocious Music

Ever since my friend and Kotaku comrade in arms Tim Rogers reviewed Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age last year with glowing praise, I’ve been trying desperately to play it. The combat is snappy, the world is gorgeous, and the prospect of a sweeping story excites me. But every time I play, I…

By Heather Alexandra Published August 30, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I May Never Stop Watching YouTube Tutorials And Actually Play This Strategy Game

For the last couple months, I’ve been trying to get into Stellaris in a big way—partly because the game is one of the few 4X games to get an uncompromised console port, and partly because I think space stuff is rad. Since I’m not a PC guy, I’m still pretty new to games in the…

By Joshua Rivera Published August 29, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

I Didn’t Grow Up In The 80s, But This New Game Makes Me Feel Like I Did

There was a time, I’m told, when arcades were everywhere and kids spent long summer nights pissing away whatever money they had just to lose over and over again in games like Sinistar and Out Run. I missed that period of time by a decade, but that hasn’t stopped me from pining for it, like…

By Ethan Gach Published August 28, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

Control Proves That An Office Building Is The Perfect Setting For A Metroid-Like

Control, a Metroid Prime-like game that takes place inside an impossibly vast US federal government building, is out today. As someone who has been paying the IRS back taxes for a decade, it feels like a game that was made to terrify exactly me. It is also one of the best games I’ve played this…

By Tim Rogers Published August 27, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

My Co-op Gaming Night Turned To A Couple Sad Hours Of Downloading Updates

Recently, a close friend of mine returned after having been out of town for a little while—like way out of town, where time zones made real-time communication out of the question, even though we live in The Future. To celebrate his return to my time zone, we decided to play some games together online and…

By Joshua Rivera Published August 26, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

Romance Of The Three Kingdoms XIII Is A Flawed, But Addictive, Entry Into The Series

The very first time I was a guest writer for Kotaku, I wrote about Romance of the Three Kingdoms IV, which was my favorite in the series. I’ve played ROTKIV too many times to count as its strategy gaming at its best. I did play many of the games after IV, but missed IX-XII. With…

By Peter Tieryas Published August 24, 2019

CultureKotaku Game Diary

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…

By Maddy Myers Published August 23, 2019