Tips & Guides

Tips For Playing The Division [Updated!]

The Division can be fun, but it can also be overwhelming. There are a billion things to do, a thousand “looters” to murder, and only so many hours in the day. I’m here to help. This piece originally appeared 3/1o/16. Over the course of my first week with the game I’ve accumulated a handful of…

Tips For Playing Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest and Birthright

You’re going to need more than a cool dragon transformation if you want to survive out in the battlefield. Thankfully, we’re here to help. As you may have heard by now, Fates is way tougher than Awakening. I’ve had to readjust some of my thinking about how Fire Emblem should be played. I thought I’d…

Tips For Playing XCOM 2 (Now With More Tips!)

It’s a long, grisly war out there, commanders. These alien occupiers are tough bastards, and you’re gonna lose a lot of good men and women. We’re here to help you keep casualties to a minimum. [This article originally ran on 2/8/2016. We’ve updated it with new tips and refined some old ones.] My colleagues Nathan…

Tips For Playing Gravity Rush

You’re a discerning individual with refined tastes. Let’s say you want a really cool new video game to play. You think, “Hey, that Gravity Rush game is out on PS4. I’ll play that!” Wise decision, my friend. Yes, I really like Gravity Rush. It’s a good game, better on PS4, and I hope you play…

Tips For Creating The Most Powerful Diablo III Characters

The real endgame of Diablo III starts in Adventure Mode, when our character finally finds one or two powerful items, and begins its journey to collect all the pieces required to clear everything on the highest difficulty levels in no time. The road to get there is bumpy, but our small guide might help a…

Tips For Playing The Witness

I’d rather not spoil anything. I’d rather you figure out everything in The Witness yourself. But if you need some general advice, here goes. Keep A Notebook Nearby You’re going to start this game drawing lines through easy puzzles and you’ll wonder why in the world people said this game was difficult. Then you’ll get…

One Important Thing To Do Before Gifting A Game Console On Christmas

If you’re thinking of giving someone an Xbox, PlayStation, Wii U, 3DS, Vita, or iPad this Christmas, there’s something you can do to sweeten the deal even more for the recipient: download every update for the console first. Yes, this will require you to open the gift, take the console out, and then repack it—which…

Tips For Playing Fallout 4 [Updated!]

It’s a harsh wasteland out there, fellow vault dwellers. Horrors can be found in every corner of the Commonwealth. Making it through Fallout 4 in one piece can be tough—especially at first. Thankfully, we’re here to help. A few of us here at Kotaku have been playing the game non-stop for the last week, and…

How To Get Really Good Armor In Fallout 4

Fallout 4’s armor situation is a bit confusing. I’m not talking about Power Armor here—I’m talking about the more everyday stuff your character can wear to keep him or her safe from the hazards of the wastes. If you want to give your character some protection, you can either wear full armor suits, or you…

You Should Try Fallout 4 Without Fast Travel 

For a couple of days now, I’ve been trying an experiment with Fallout 4—and it’s completely transformed my experience with the game. Last week, I read a thought-provoking piece by Tom Chick,who lauded Fallout 4’s geography but lamented that the game’s mechanics undermine that landscape: Bethesda has no interest in addressing the difficult problem of…

Fallout 4 Players: You Can Upgrade The Silver Shroud Armor

If you’re anything like me, you’ve spent the bulk of your time in Fallout 4 dressed up in a slate trench coat and a sliver scarf. That’s because you’re wearing the Silver Shroud Armor, a good single-piece armor set you can get from an early-game sidequest. This post contains some spoilers for the Silver Shroud…

How To Get Started Crafting In Fallout 4

Did you know that Fallout 4 has a deep, complicated crafting and settlement-management system? Well, it does. Thing is, the game doesn’t do the greatest job explaining how it all works. Early on, you’ll find your first base of operations: The Red Rocket Truck Stop. You’ll walk in and see some crafting tables. There’s a…

Tips For Playing Assassin’s Creed Syndicate

We’ve been pleasantly surprised by Assassin’s Creed Syndicate ‘round these parts. In the ever-unfolding tapestry that is the Assassin’s Creed franchise, Syndicate is one of the good ones Stephen, Chris and I have been playing the game a lot over the last week, and between us we’ve assembled some tips to help y’all get the…

​Tips For Playing Divinity: Original Sin: Enhanced Edition

Divinity: Original Sin is a really cool game, but it’s not all that interested in holding your hand. It can be complicated and challenging, and some early difficulty spikes may leave new players feeling a bit burned. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to make your first hours in the game go…

Tips For Hard Mode In Destiny’s King’s Fall Raid

Just as we were getting a hang of Destiny’s latest six-person raid, Bungie releases a new hard mode to keep us on our toes. Enemies are tougher, bosses have a few new tricks, and… well, everything else is pretty much the same. Still, some tips are in order. Launched this past friday, the “heroic” version…

Tips For Playing Destiny: The Taken King

Destiny is both refreshingly simple and terrifyingly complicated. It’s mostly about shooting aliens in the head… but it’s also about mastering a complex system of currencies, equipment, reward tiers, and experience points. I’m here to help. Over the past year, I played more than 700 hours of Destiny. Since The Taken King expansion came out…

Unlock Super Mario Maker’s extra content faster by manipulating time. YouTube’s Cutman demonstrates how easily timed unlocks succumb to simple console clock manipulation.

What To Do (And Not Do) This Week In Destiny 2.0

Playing Destiny after Tuesday’s 2.0 patch is a little bit like waking up in a just-barely parallel universe. Everything has shifted a little, but you can’t always put your finger on how. Did that thing always sound that way? Did that lady always stand over there? Was that thing always blue? The 2.0 update is…

Tips For Playing Metal Gear Solid V

So you just woke up from a nine-year coma, you’re missing an arm, and there’s a giant horn implanted in your forehead. Whatcha gonna do? Whether you’re a series newcomer or an experienced Metal Gear Solid cut-scene watcher, allow us to give you some helpful tips for getting the most out of Metal Gear Solid…

Ten Things You Need to Know Right Away About Galak-Z

Galak-Z is a space shooter, which means fast reaction time and good command of controls. Galak-Z is also a roguelike, which means you’ll encounter randomized levels, enemies and loot. It’s damn important that you know that this is a game that looks like you should play it one way but is designed to be played…