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CulturePSA: The Witcher 3 Is Leaving Game Pass
The cycle of Game Pass continues unabated. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt will depart Microsoft’s games-on-demand service on March 15. This is usually the point where I’d say something trite like, “If you haven’t played this tremendous open-world masterpiece, which many consider one of the best games of all time, be sure to check it…
By Ari Notis -
Culture5TH Cell’s Latest Is A Bite-Sized Deck-Building Game You Can Play Right Now
Launching today on Steam from Scribblenauts and Lock’s Quest creators 5TH Cell, Castlehold is a free-to-play deck-building strategy game that manages to cram a ton of strategy fun into battles that last under 10 minutes. A cataclysmic event has shattered space and time, sending champions from different eras to a mysterious realm known as The…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureZynga Buys Torchlight Studio Echtra Games
Echtra Games, the San Francisco-based studio founded in 2016 by Diablo and Torchlight co-creator Max Schaefer, is now owned by Zynga, the company that gave us FarmVille. Fresh off the lukewarm release of Torchlight III, Echtra Games joins Zynga to work on an unannounced cross-platform action role-playing game in partnership with Zynga’s NaturalMotion Studio. According…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureMorning MusicLegend Of Mana’s Grand Score Helps Me Take Its BS Seriously
Welcome to Morning Music, Kotaku’s ongoing hangout for folks who love video games and the cool-ass sounds they make. Today, it’s time to revisit an obscure PS1 classic from Square Soft’s JRPG heyday, which had some of the chillest city-builder tunes around. I’m talking about Legend of Mana, of course. Legend of Mana (playlist /…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureOdds and EndsAn Ode To My Favorite Flavor Texts
More than the set piece battle or the final showdown between hero and villain, it’s the quieter, smaller moments in video games that get me. In some games, those tiny moments can be a sudden expression on a character’s face or a short piece of dialogue from an inconsequential scene. But more often than not,…
By Ash Parrish -
Tips & GuidesHow To Beat Bravely Default 2’s Brutal Boss Battles
Bravely Default 2, the new Nintendo Switch game about watching numbers go up, isn’t easy. The boss fights in particular are guaranteed to mess up your day. If you’ve been playing the game since it launched last week, you’ve likely found yourself banging your head against a wall on more than one occasion. Yes, in…
By Ari Notis -
CultureFinal Fantasy Creator’s New JRPG Lets You Procrastinate With Its Random Encounters
Fantasian, the next game from Mistwalker, the studio founded by Final Fantasy creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, is coming to Apple Aracde later this year. Now we’ve a new trailer finally showing off gameplay of the diorama-based JRPG, including its unique take on random encounters, called the “Dimengeon system.” In classic JRPGs, like the ones Sakaguchi made…
By Ethan Gach -
CultureEpic Games Buys Fall Guys Studio
Epic Games has bought Mediatonic, maker of last year’s hit battle royale Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, the company announced today According to Epic, “gameplay isn’t changing” and the company will continue to support Fall Guys “across platforms,” including PC, PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch. “Your gameplay isn’t changing and neither is our mission to bring Fall…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionSorry PS5, Xbox Series X Has Unexpectedly Become My Preferred Console
I started this new generation of game consoles with the expectation that I would be playing most games on the PS5, like how I played most stuff on PS4 last gen. But nearly five months later, I’m spending most of my time on the Xbox Series X and now I feel bad, like I’m ignoring…
By Zack Zwiezen -
CulturePC Developer Issues Takedown Notice Against Its Own Game, Claims Publisher Pirated It
The Sinking City developer Frogwares has publicly accused former publisher Nacon of pirating the Lovecraftian adventure game for its recent re-release on Steam, the arrival of which put the Ukrainian studio in the weird position of asking potential customers not to purchase its own game last week. UPDATE 8:30pm – Valve has told Vice that…
By Ian Walker -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryBravely Default 2’s Level Up Screen Is So Satisfying
Sixty hours later I still love watching these numbers go up. Like many other JRPGs, Bravely Default II is extremely long and extremely grindy, but the game is also full of small touches that occasionally punctuate the tedium with joy. One of those is the level up screen. After killing a mob of enemies you…
By Ethan Gach
