Kotaku Weekend Guide: 3 Great Games Keeping Us Grounded

Play it on: Xbox Series X/S, PC

Goal: Take down Boss_Wallducker.

I like boomer shooters just fine, but Mullet Madjack has me hooked in a way other games in the subgenre rarely have. Originally released last year on PC, the arcade FPS roguelite just hit Xbox Game Pass this week and is scratching my 3D Hotline Miami itch (happy 10-year anniversary to that game’s sequel, by the way). While the shooting is snappy and the weapon upgrades are neat, it’s the hyper-stylized art and fun level design that’s kept me entranced. The premise is simple enough—save a minor internet celebrity from robber baron robots in a futuristic world that feels like The Matrix huffing neon glitter glue—but it’s a perfectly alienated fit for the sicko event horizon our online culture currently finds itself sucked into. Never has a game met the moment with a vibe so pure (and engagingly deranged). — Ethan Gach

Play it on: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Goal: Brew a decent cup of tea.

I’m excited to try Wanderstop, the new game about, as its Steam page puts it, “change and tea,” for a few reasons. One is that it’s the first game from Ivy Road, a studio founded by Davey Wreden. Wreden previously created The Stanley Parable and The Beginner’s Guide, both highly original games that were fully committed to their own distinctive visions. On the surface, in the trailers that I’ve seen, Wanderstop looks like it could be a fairly conventional “cozy game,” another chill, low-key release in which you soak up the pleasant vibes while running a business of some kind—in this case, a tea shop. However, given Wreden’s involvement, I suspect there’s more to Wanderstop than that, and that sooner or later the game’s gonna throw me a curveball. Which is what I want! I want to be surprised, caught off guard, to have my expectations undermined.

The other reason I’m excited is that I’ve seen the game receive a pretty wide range of critical reactions, from lukewarm praise to enthusiastic raves. (I haven’t read these reviews yet because I want to go into the game knowing as little as possible, but it’s clear to me that there’s a good assortment of opinions on it out there.) I believe that most games should receive a much wider range of critical reactions than they do, but given that mainstream game criticism sadly still tends overwhelmingly toward consensus, when a game does receive a decent spread of critical responses I tend to sit up and take notice, because it inevitably means that the game is doing something interesting.

It doesn’t mean that I’ll love it; it just means that even if I don’t like it, I’ll probably at least think it failed in an interesting way, and I’d typically much rather play a game that tries something distinctive and doesn’t quite come together than a game that plays it safe and succeeds. Of course, it’s also possible that I will end up loving Wanderstop. I intend to find out one way or the other this weekend. But right now, this moment before I’ve even started it, is sometimes one of the best parts: to be on the cusp of beginning a new game, and not having any clue of just what to expect. — Carolyn Petit

Play it on: 3DS

Goal: Remember where everything is in Kalos

Pokémon’s sixth generation has always been a weird one for me. I love the lore of the Kalos region and the Mega Evolutions battle gimmick, but despite that, I’ve never gone back to the 3DS games after all these years. With Pokémon Legends: Z-A coming out this year, however, it feels like the right time to return to my old copy of Pokémon Y and refresh myself on what came before. Game Freak was definitely still getting used to making games in 3D with X and Y, and as a result, a lot of the visual character the Pokémon had exuded in earlier games was drained from them in favor of mostly pretty lifeless 3D models. Back when the games came out, it still felt like a huge deal to finally see Pokémon in 3D on a handheld, but despite this visual shift, X and Y were a breaking point for me as I finally grew tired of the original Pokémon formula.

Today, Pokémon Y is a relic of a bygone era in a series that has started to think outside the box in recent years, which makes it kinda quaint to go back to after games like Legends: Arceus and Scarlet/Violet have taken some pretty big leaps. That said, the simplicity of old Pokémon still has its charms. If I’m going back to reacquaint myself with Kalos, I’d rather not have something dense and cumbersome. It’s fine! It’s pleasant! I can’t complain too much about hanging out with my Raichu in a place we haven’t visited in a decade. — Kenneth Shepard