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CultureWhat Games On Your Backlog Do You Want To Finish This New Year?
Every December, I wonder where the year went. Every week before January 1st, I wonder what games from my backlog I will finally get to in the New Year. There’s so many games I need to tackle, going all the way back to the PS2. Suikoden V, Rogue Galaxy, and Valkyrie Profile call out to…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 31, 2019 -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryLost Odyssey Is A Moving Story About Immortality, Memories, And Loss
There’s a game I keep coming back to every few years. It’s Lost Odyssey for the Xbox 360. Developed by Hironobu Sakaguchi’s Mistwalker Studios, it’s basically Final Fantasy mixed with the old show about immortals, Highlander. The first two times I played it, I got to the White Boa, then stopped. Life just got in…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 31, 2019 -
UncategorizedOne Punch Man Is About The Plight Of Being Too Powerful
What’s it like to be the strongest person on the planet? If you answered that it’d be a boring depressing state of existential dread, then you’d empathize with the hero of One Punch Man One Punch Man is a superhero anime based on the Manga of the same name that combines action, comedy, and satire…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 31, 2019 -
CultureThe Story Behind Solomon’s Key, One Of The Most Challenging NES Games
Constellations, block puzzles, magic, and a Taoist monk collide in this odd but extremely difficult puzzle game called Solomon’s Key. Published by Tecmo as an arcade game in 1986, it was ported to the NES in 1987. Michitaka Tsuruta was the main designer and he explained over email how he drew the original inspiration for…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 31, 2019 -
UncategorizedThe Weird But Memorable Sidequests Of Yakuza 0
I loved Yakuza movies growing up, and the Yakuza series reminds me of the best of them. I actually enjoyed films like Sympathy for the Underdog, Battles Without Honor and Humanity, and Sonatine more than their mafia-themed cousins we have here in the west. So when Luke wrote his great review of Yakuza 0, I…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 31, 2019 -
UncategorizedThunder Force IV Was One Of The Best Shooters Of The 16-Bit Era
Thunder Force IV is the ultimate adrenaline rush and hands down one of the best shooters on the Sega Genesis. It also had one of the most depressing endings on a 16-bit era game. Developed by Technosoft in 1992, it was renamed Lightening Force: Quest for the Darkstar in the US. I got it as…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 31, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe 12 Best Video Games Of 2019
2019 has run its course, and now we have a whole new decade to look forward to. As always, Kotaku’s staff has come together to pick our favorite games of the year. Here, in alphabetical order, are our top 12 games of 2019. Apex Legends Baba Is You Control Death Stranding Disco Elysium Fire Emblem:…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 31, 2019 -
CultureSyd Mead Has Died
Legendary concept artist and futurist Syd Mead, famous for his work on movies like Blade Runner and Tron, has died. He was 86 years old. Mead had only announced his retirement in September. His career as a concept artist saw him work on projects like the aforementioned Blade Runner (and its sequel, Blade Runner 2049)…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 30, 2019 -
UncategorizedEVE Online‘s Raffle System Adds Some Drama To The Game’s Economy
Gambling in video games has been a hot topic in 2019, with lawmakers in Europe and the United States making moves to stem the tide of loot boxes. EVE Online has had its own brushes with gambling, but they seemed to come to an end in 2016 when CCP banned all forms of gambling in…
By Lee Yancy Published December 30, 2019 -
OpinionFight, Magic, Item: The Comfort Of Simple RPGs
The last two games I played on my Switch were the original Dragon Quest and Breath of Fire, two early examples of the Japanese role-playing game. Today, they might seem overly simplistic: grind for levels, brute-force through a boss, repeat. These two games are, if anything, even more simplistic than their peers. And right now,…
By Chris Kohler Published December 30, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Year In Title Screens
I’m the biggest sucker for a good PRESS START screen. For all the many hours I spend with a game, I reserve a lot of fondness for those first moments before I even push a button. Final Fantasy X-2, Persona 3 FES, Chakan: The Forever Man—I’m sure they’re all games I’d remember even if I…
By Joshua Rivera Published December 30, 2019 -
CultureShould I Replace My Damaged Nintendo Switch?
There is a hole on the top of my Nintendo Switch where the vent grill used to be. It’s been growing for the past year and a half and It is very concerning. A replacement console may be in order. What do you think? I’m pretty sure the gaping hole is my fault. It started…
By Mike Fahey Published December 30, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Sims 4 Unexpectedly Captures The Best Part Of New Year’s Eve
I have a fondness for New Year’s Eve that I find hard to explain. When I drank, the appeal was absolutely the drinking, which makes sense. After experiencing my first non-drinking New Year’s Eve last December, though, I realized there’s something more to the night before the calendar rolls over than just partying. It’s about…
By Gita Jackson Published December 30, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Greatest Game Trailers Of The Decade
The decade ends, history’s book turns another page, and you’ve still not finished playing The Witcher 3 for some reason. While the games of the past decade have left their marks, we can also remember the flashier side of things: trailers. Here are the best of the decade. Writing a list of best trailers feels…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 30, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewFahey’s Top 10 Games Of 2019
Can you pick out my top ten games of 2019 from the image above? Of course you can’t, there are only seven games shown there. Want to find out what the other three are, maybe read my justifications for them being on my list? Gonna have to click. That’s how I get you. I spent…
By Mike Fahey Published December 30, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in Review2019’s Video Games, In Under Two Minutes
2019 is on its way out. Just like every year, Malcolm Klock has cut together some of the year’s biggest games and crammed them into less than two minutes for your reminiscing/enjoyment. There’s a few games in this video I completely forgot (Far Cry New Dawn does not feel like this year to me), but…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 30, 2019 -
UncategorizedHow To Get Into The Witcher In 2019
Maybe you’ve heard of this thing called The Witcher. It’s a book series, three video games, soon-to-be a Netflix show, and a hallmark of Polish culture. Maybe you’ve heard about it but never really tried to figure out what the fuss is. Now that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is coming to Switch, you say:…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 30, 2019 -
CultureThe Week In Games: It’s A Bit Of A Ghost Town…
The last days of 2019 are here and the first days of 2020 are coming. And there aren’t new games coming out during the transition to a new year. Seriously, if you thought last week was a quiet week, look down below this paragraph and see how short the list is this week. I had…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 29, 2019
