-
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Help, I Accidentally Bought Mario Party Instead Of Smash
After last night’s announcement that Persona 5’s Joker is coming to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, I finally decided I was going to buy the damn game. Then I bought Super Mario Party I don’t know how I made this mistake. Maybe I was just being hasty. Maybe after so many hours of Game Awards my…
By Gita Jackson Published December 7, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryKatamari Damacy Never Fails To Roll Me Up Into A Ball Of Joy
While there’s no recapturing the weird and wonderful feeling of playing Katamari Damacy for the first time, this week’s remaster Katamari Damacy Reroll brings all of the joy of the original tumbling right back. For those of you who’ve not had the pleasure, Katamari Damacy was a 2004 game for the PlayStation 2 that introduced…
By Mike Fahey Published December 6, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
I’ll Finish Just Cause 4 Once The Balloon Grapple Stops Being Hilarious
How am I supposed to focus on freeing Just Cause 4‘s fictional South American country of Solis from the grip of the Black Hand mercenary syndicate when the aftermath of every skirmish looks like a birthday party gone horribly wrong? Just Cause 4 is an action adventure game with a story and everything, but the…
By Mike Fahey Published December 5, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
A Strategy Game That Finally Made Me Take Stealth More Seriously
I’m not very good at stealth games. I like the idea of trying to sneak around undetected, but as soon as I get caught all hell breaks loose. In real life I’m happy to be a wallflower, but in games I often want to be at the center of the action, or violently creating it…
By Ethan Gach Published December 4, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Damn, It Feels Good To Be A Healer
Lately I’ve been playing a lot of violent games for work. In the last week, I’ve thrown knives and lit people on fire in Battlefield V, blasted people away with my revolver in Red Dead Online, and engaged in all sorts of wacky assassinations in Hitman 2. It’s often a lot of fun, but every…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 3, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
I’m Playing Assassin’s Creed Rebellion For The Haystack Assassinations
I am living the true modern gaming experience these days when I fill the empty moments during Assassin’s Creed Odyssey load times by playing the mobile game Assassin’s Creed Rebellion on my phone. I won’t keep this up for long. Rebellion is too much of a Modern Mobile Game for my taste, but I’ve discovered…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 30, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryFarming Is A Lot Of Fun When You Aren’t Actually Farming
“I’m the farmer. I work in the fields all day.” The chorus from Barenaked Ladies’ “Straw Hat and Old Dirty Hank” plays on repeat in my head as I sit in front of my computer tending virtual crops in Farming Simulator 19. That’s as close to hard outdoor work as I like to get. I…
By Mike Fahey Published November 29, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
My Nice Guy Approach To A Red Dead Redemption 2 Train Robbery Went Very Wrong
I’ve been mostly playing as a good guy in Red Dead Redemption 2, or at least as much as the game will let me. This is more of a cowardly choice than a moral one. Bounties and lawmen stress me out. Nevertheless, I recently decided to rob one of the game’s trains. It did not…
By Riley MacLeod Published November 28, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
The Criminal Minds Game Gets Right To The Grisly Bits
Based on the long-running television show about a crack team of FBI profilers hunting serial killers, the new Criminal Minds mobile game has no qualms about depicting cartoony atrocity by murdering a family of four in the first minute. I got into Criminal Minds while I was hospitalized earlier this year. Forced to watch commercial…
By Mike Fahey Published November 27, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
A Sims 4: Get Famous Story
Three generations ago, my grandmother came to Del Sol Valley, trying to make it big as a movie star. I’m the same as she was when she first started now, and from my new home in the desert, it’s hard not to think about what she went through as I embark on my own journey.…
By Gita Jackson Published November 26, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
The Fun And Frustration Of That Doctor Robbery Early In Red Dead Redemption 2
Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t force many of its myriad activities on players, though it it’ll often send characters your way to tempt you to try certain things. Those of us who’ve played the game haven’t all seen the same sights, but a good chunk of us have at least have robbed the doctor’s drug…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 23, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI Can’t Stop Talking With This Red Dead Redemption 2 Character
There’s a lot to do in Red Dead Redemption 2. There’s so much going on that even when I head into a town for a few errands I’m besieged by things to buy, strangers to help, and places to rob. But there’s a guy in Valentine I always make time to speak with, whether I…
By Riley MacLeod Published November 22, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
My Son And I Have Issues With The Latest Paw Patrol Game
Paw Patrol: On A Roll is a capable, kid-friendly platform game. Heroic hounds of every rescue discipline travel left to right, collecting items and using their special skills to save humans and animals in peril. It’s fun, but after a dozen missions, its endless instruction repetition and a lack of equal puppy representation frustrates even…
By Mike Fahey Published November 21, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Pokémon Let’s Go‘s Leveling System Raises Some Morbid Questions
If Pokémon Let’s Go is banking on my nostalgia, it’s working, but it’s also bringing to mind some disturbing questions about the nature of Pokémon. ’90s kids’ idle fantasies of weed-whacking our way through forests alongside some loyal, sweet Pokémon companion are realized in the latest Pokémon game, which even lets you pet and play…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published November 20, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider‘s New Tomb Is As Awkward As The Rest Of The Game
Some games’ post-release plans are stingy, others generous, some comically convoluted. And then there’s the seven-part plan for Shadow of the Tomb Raider, an awkward game that is now getting some awkward expansions. On paper before release, it all seemed pretty good. Shadow of the Tomb Raider would be a sequel to the excellent Rise…
By Stephen Totilo Published November 19, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Hitman 2016 Taught Me A Better Way To Play Hitman 2
Usually when I play a single-player game, I go through it from start to finish. I play each new level after the last one, until I stop playing or get to the end. That’s not how I played 2016’s excellent episodic Hitman, however, and it’s not how I’m playing its fantastic new sequel. I’ve played…
By Kirk Hamilton Published November 16, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Pokémon Let’s Go Helped Me Connect With My Son
“Dad, can we play Pokémon together?” my seven-year-old son Seamus asked as I wandered about Kanto in Pokémon Let’s Go! Eevee. It was the first time he’d asked to play a video game with me. It led to the first time we played a video game together. Seamus and his twin brother, Archer, love video…
By Mike Fahey Published November 15, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Let’s Go Are The Prettiest Pokémon Games Yet
The story is familiar and the players are the same, but the scenery has never looked so good. Gorgeous visuals abound in our latest trip through the Kanto region, making Pokémon Let’s Go! Pikachu and Eevee the prettiest pocket monster games yet. Take a look! Before we begin our tour of the sights of the…
By Mike Fahey Published November 14, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryThe Spyro Reignited Trilogy Preserves The Excellence Of A PlayStation Masterpiece
Back in 1998, Insomniac Games gave us a small purple dragon who’s a joy to control, colorful free-roaming playgrounds and backed with exquisite music. The Spyro Reignited Trilogy looks different, but it feels just as good. Released in 1998 for the original PlayStation and followed by a pair of sequels in 1999 and 2000, Spyro…
By Mike Fahey Published November 13, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Hitman’s Deadliest Weapon Is A Coin
Before leaving for missions in Hitman 2, you can choose to bring a handful of gadgets and gear. You have your trusty silenced pistol, remote controlled mines, and lockpicks. These dastardly tools of the trade pale in comparison to the game’s most deadly accessory: the humble and unassuming coin. Coins have been a part of…
By Heather Alexandra Published November 12, 2018