Culture

Mask Of The Rose Is A Romantic Visual Novel Set In, Uh, Fallen London

Failbetter Games introduced players to the Fallen London universe, in which the English capital has been transported underground by mysterious forces, through an eponymous browser game and gothic survival sequels Sunless Sea and Sunless Skies. But the studio’s next project aims to be a more intimate take on the Unterzee. Mask of the Rose is…

Destiny Now Has A Dungeons & Dragons Campaign

Fans began trying to turn Destiny into a Dungeons & Dragons-style pen-and-paper RPG two years ago. This week they released the 1.0 version of the Dungeons & Destiny Player’s Guidebook, providing an entirely new way to experience Bungie’s loot shooter alongside the Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition ruleset. For those unfamiliar with Destiny, it’s a…

How Miles Morales Connects To Harlem In The New Spider-Man Game

In Insomniac’s 2018 Spider-Man game, Peter Parker’s relationship with New York City involved the occasional selfie with a citizen and a lot of palling around with the NYPD. The new Miles Morales game does something different. It foregrounds Miles Morales’ relationship to Harlem and the community he’s a part of there. Spider-Man: Miles Morales consulting…

Catching Covid-19 Sucked, Though Video Games Helped

Some call it a hoax. Others say it’s no worse than the common cold. But make no mistake: the covid-19 pandemic is very, very real. If you don’t believe the mountain of scientific literature, the army of medical professionals, the frontline reporting from countless reputable sources, the firsthand accounts, the secondhand accounts, the politicians, the…

Genshin Impact Wins Apple And Google Play’s Best Game Of 2020

Huh, people seem to like massive free-to-play action role-playing games with serious The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild vibes. miHoYo’s Genshin Impact came out on top of both Google and Apple’s official game of the year lists, beating out whatever the Candy Crush people are doing and all of those games advertised in…

Any Place Is Where I Want To Be When I’m Listening To FTL: Faster Than Light’s Otherworldly Tunes

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today it’s time to jump through hyperspace with the whiz-bang chiptune-y goodness of the soundtrack to 2012’s strategy roguelike masterpiece FTL: Faster Than Light FTL: Faster Than Light (playlist / longplay / VGMdb) is a game…

Fortnite Season 5 Brings Bounties and The Mandalorian [Updated]

After a battle with Galactus that briefly shut down both Fortnite and Twitch, we have some information about what’s coming in Chapter 2, Season 5. There are some big map changes, along with some new systems and characters who do more than just try to kill you. (Update, 6:58am—This story first appeared at 12:40am. It’s…

Track: Bad Friend (End of the World Remix) | Artist: Rina Sawayama | Album: Bad Friend 

Kinda-Famous Metal Gear Ad Removed From Building After Seven Years

In 2013, a huge piece of street art was commissioned in Leeds, England for the launch of Metal Gear Rising. For some reason it has stayed up for seven years, becoming something of a local legend, until last week it was finally covered over by a different ad that has nothing to do with Raiden.…

Nintendo Thief Jailed For 2017 Hack And “Possessing Images Of Child Abuse”

21-year-old Ryan Hernandez, who had been arrested in relation to the theft of “stolen information, including pre-release information about the anticipated Nintendo Switch console,” has been sentenced to three years in prison. In 2016, Hernandez and a friend managed to obtain a Nintendo employee’s credentials, which they used to then “gain access to and download…

Twitch Stopped Working Right After Fortnite‘s Big Marvel Event

Today, Fortnite players battled Galactus, devourer of worlds, in the culmination of the game’s Marvel-flavored fourth season. With the event ending on a cliffhanger, the biggest boy in a fictional universe of very big boys did not end up going down. But Twitch sure did. In the immediate wake of the event, which millions of…

Fortnite Goes Offline After Players Fight Galactus

Fortnite’s Season 4 came to an end today, when Marvel super villain Galactus finally arrived on the battle royale island. As expected, players fought the giant bad guy—and then the event ended on a cliffhanger. The event started with all of us players stuck on the Helicarrier (which seemed to confuse more than just me).…

Rocket League is getting an EDM concert stadium, goal celebration anthems, and new rewards when its second season goes live December 9 (the game’s seasonal model rebooted when it went free-to-play earlier this fall).

Dead Cells’ second paid DLC is set to arrive early next year. The game’s Fatal Falls update will cost $5 and add two more biomes and a bunch of new weapons.

The Massive Radio Telescope From GoldenEye Just Collapsed

The massive Arecibo Observatory radio telescope, made famous in the James Bond movie GoldenEye and paid homage to in the classic Nintendo 64 game, completely collapsed early Tuesday morning. This breaking news comes just a few weeks after the announcement that the invaluable astronomy tool would be demolished due to fears that it would completely…

It’s Official: Control Is Coming To Xbox Game Pass

Well, the rumors were true. Control is coming to Xbox Game Pass. Starting December 3, you’ll be able to play the darkest third-person shooter in human history on Xbox consoles via Microsoft’s games-on-demand services. It’ll also join the list of playable Game Pass games available on Android. On Sunday, a post on the Xbox Game…

Yakuza: Like A Dragon‘s Crowded Pharmacy Really Stresses Me Out

In addition to battling randos and dodging traffic in the streets of Japan, I’ve spent a lot of time in Yakuza: Like a Dragon browsing the wares of various pharmacies and convenience stores. But one store is always so crowded that it’s impossible to navigate without shoving my fellow patrons out of the way, which…

After A Disappointing Start, WoW: Shadowlands’ Story Picks Up Big-Time In Maldraxxus

The more I think about Bastion, the more I’m glad I put the golden fields and star-dotted skies of that deceptively beautiful hell behind me for the pus-green, boil-covered and fleshy pastures of Maldraxxus. Seriously. Even though I knew I’d be trading one of the most beautiful zones ever designed in 13 years of World…

I Hate That Everybody In Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Can Read

As granite-hewn Viking woman Eivor, I’ve done a lot of things in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: I’ve run across boundless landscapes. I’ve raided more churches than I can count. I’ve stabbed guys and thrown their bodies at other guys, who I’ve then proceeded to stab, thus beginning anew a process I like to call The Circle…

Tempest 2000 Was The Rare Jag Game Worth Crankin’ The Volume For

Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s daily hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today we’re listening to the Atari Jaguar game that sounded like a rave at a llama ranch, Jeff Minter’s psychedelic retro update Tempest 2000 Since 1993’s ill-fated Atari Jaguar was billed as a 64-bit Interactive Multimedia…