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CultureKotaku Game DiaryExcellent New Fighting Game Has Indie All-Stars Like Shovel Knight Face Off
Curly vs. Gunvolt. Shovel Knight vs. Isaac. If these match-ups don’t get you excited, you may have missed out on some of the most delightful indie games of the past decade. Fortunately Studio Saizensen’s all-star indie fighting game Blade Strangers is just as quirky and approachable as the games that spawned it. Blade Strangers, launching…
By Mike Fahey Published August 28, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryWe Happy Few Has An Ambitious Mix That I’m Having Trouble Getting Into
Mixing survival gameplay with a narrative is always a tough task for developers, but it’s one the creators of We Happy Few takes on. I’m 10 hours into their game, which is out today for Xbox One, PS4 and PC, and I’m both charmed and frustrated. The writing is excellent, and the visuals are spectacular,…
By Riley MacLeod Published August 10, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI’ve Picked My Side For World Of Warcraft‘s Battle For Azeroth
It’s been years since I gave a damn which World of Warcraft faction I was playing. Horde? Alliance? Whichever. But now, as the Battle for Azeroth expansion rapidly approaches and substantial chunks of the world are getting set on fire and plagued beyond habitation, it’s time I took a stand. Now that we’ve gotten over…
By Mike Fahey Published August 9, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
I Love When An Intense Game Forces Me To Take A Break
I’m a sucker for Flat Heroes’ simple look and how good it feels to bounce around putting off death, but my favorite part of this minimalist Switch platformer is the moment before the levels actually start. Flat Heroes claims to have over 300 levels, though I’m still in the first of its 10 worlds. Each…
By Riley MacLeod Published August 7, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryIt’s 2018 And I’m Hooked On Mega Man X Again
I’ve never enjoyed a single movement in a video game as much as the Mega Man X dash jump. I could dash jump all day—off ledges, up walls, across pits filled with spikes. For all the double jumps, dodge rolls, and infinite sprints I’ve encountered since, nothing has filled my heart with so much joy…
By Ethan Gach Published July 27, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryThe Unexpected Difficulty Of Choosing Who To Play As In Hunting Simulator
I’ve always been curious about hunting sims, mostly because I want to vicariously wander around the woods. I’m excited to check a recent one that just got ported to the Switch, but right now I can’t decide which character to pick. Hunting Simulator launched for consoles and PC last year and arrived on Switch last…
By Riley MacLeod Published July 18, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryThe PS1 Strategy Game That Nails Robotic Destruction
In Front Mission 3’s 18th battle, I’m on a naval base facing down two giant walking artillery cannons, four Gundam-like mechs, and an apache helicopter. It isn’t the most challenging tactical role-playing game from the PS1 era, but like lots of games from that era it’s prone to the occasional difficulty spike. Unlike many other…
By Ethan Gach Published July 16, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
I’m Hooked On A Game About Cleaning Up Murder Scenes
Playing a preview build of Body of Evidence, I found myself working against the clock to clean up crime scenes and hide dead bodies. As I meticulously scrubbed blood out of hardwood floors and tabletops, I felt exhilarated to play a role in a situation I hope I never take part in. In Body of…
By Keoni Nguyen Published July 12, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryThe Star Ocean Mobile Game Is Easy To Hate And Still Play Anyway
There’s finally a new Star Ocean game after 2016’s barebones Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. Unfortunately, Star Ocean: Anamnesis, the latest entry, free-to-play, only on smartphones, and a gacha game to boot. The first of those would be forgivable if not for the second, but as a slot machine for collecting characters from Star Oceans…
By Ethan Gach Published July 11, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
The Long Dark‘s New Cooking System Is Too Real
Last month, snowy survival game The Long Dark got a new cooking system. Like in real life, it requires timing things just right. I couldn’t pull it off in my last game, as well as in most of my own home cooking. The Long Dark added manual cooking in its June update. While you used…
By Riley MacLeod Published July 10, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryI’m Glad I Started Playing The Witcher 1 Last
The Witcher came out on PC in 2007. That feels like a lifetime ago. The series is now easily one of my favorites, but a decade ago I, like a lot of people, had no idea it even existed. That’s created a weird dynamic as I play The Witcher 1 for the first time knowing…
By Ethan Gach Published July 3, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryMy First Hours With The Crew 2 Were Mostly Forgettable
Last night in The Crew 2 I drove from New Orleans to Manhattan in about 20 minutes. Behind the wheel of the free, workmanlike 2016 Mazda MX-5 the gamegave me to start, I zig-zagged between other cars because one, I was going 150 miles an hour and they were not; and two, narrowly avoiding collisions…
By Ethan Gach Published June 27, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Help, I Can’t Decide Which Octopath Traveler Character To Start With
I’m in a pickle. The new demo for the upcoming JRPG Octopath Traveler lets you play the first three hours of the game a few weeks early. Instead of making three hours’ worth of progress, I’ve spent that time trying to figure out which main character to choose. Octopath Traveler is out on Nintendo Switch…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 22, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryWhoops, I Started Playing Bloodborne Again
You know how you tell yourself you’re gonna finally try some new restaurants, then a week later you’re back at the same pizza place you always go to? I’ve been doing that same thing, except with Bloodborne Over the last two days, I’ve spent a good dozen hours replaying FromSoftware’s 2015 PlayStation 4 monster-slicer. I…
By Kirk Hamilton Published June 7, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Every Game I’m Trying To Play Is Patching
Last Saturday, I expected to finally, finally, get through God of War. That was my first mistake. Games aren’t just finite, complete objects anymore. They’re not something I can play whenever I want simply because I can hold them in my hand. Sometimes, developers have other plans. God of War exists on a disc inside…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published June 4, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryStick Fight Is A Perfect Game To Play With Non-Gamers
Most of the time, I want to be gaming. If you’re here, probably, you can relate. In the grand scheme of personality traits, that one isn’t so bad; just not 100% satisfiable in every circumstance. Sometimes I find myself in an unfortunate situation involving me, chilling, and several other people who don’t play games, also…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published June 1, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
I Love Complaining About Destiny 2 While Playing Destiny 2
I love the feeling of getting back into Destiny. No matter how long I’m away, picking it back up again is like slipping my hand into a well-worn baseball glove. After hundreds of hours exploring planets and killing everything in sight, things like the light double-click of the jump button to glide while sprinting as…
By Ethan Gach Published May 18, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryFar Cry 5‘s Ending Answers The Game’s Biggest Questions
While on vacation last week, I finally finished Far Cry 5. Though I’d already spoiled myself on the ending (occupational hazard), I was surprised by how moving I found it when I finally got there. The end wraps up the game’s biggest questions in a satisfying way. The characters in Far Cry 5 are deeply…
By Riley MacLeod Published May 16, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
A Game That Turns Item Shops Into Torture Chambers
I love video game item shops. Even when I can’t afford the curios on display it’s always fun to examine them, read the flavor text, and plan a wishlist of future acquisitions. Item shops also often act as respites from a long and tiring video game journey. In the PC game Roulette Knight, though, they’re…
By Ethan Gach Published May 8, 2018 -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Dating Sim Monster Prom Rewards Some Pretty Ghoulish Behavior
In most dating sims, it’s obvious how to romance your crush. You just talk to them over and over, selecting the nicest dialogue responses until your persistence is rewarded. Monster Prom flips that script by introducing both character stats and a competitive multiplayer component. In Monster Prom, you’re a monster attending a monster school who…
By Maddy Myers Published May 2, 2018