Beautiful New PS4 Game Isn’t Very Fun To Play

Yesterday, at Sony’s glitzy Paris Games Show presentation, a pastel, nonviolent game about being a human-dragon hybrid surprised viewers with its same-day announcement and release. Presenters’ comparisons to the respected titles Abzu and Journey added to its branding as a chill, atmospheric game with lots of style (and a little mystery). I am an optimistic…

What Wolfenstein 2′s Bloody Twist Has To Say About Its Protagonist’s Body

Wolfenstein’s BJ Blazkowicz is one of the original first person shooter protagonists. He is a muscle bound action hero, the all-American army man. Through examining BJ’s body, Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus paints a thin line between power fantasy and Aryan ideals. SPOILERS AHEAD After his injury at the start of The New Order, BJ…

Overwatch Players Resolve Overtime Match With Torbjorn Hammer Duel

A lot of people think winning an Overwatch match is about coordination, acumen and skill, when actually, with just a little imagination, it can be about two Torbjorns hammering each other to death. TheBeginS queued up for a normal Quick Play match the other day that, by the end, was neck-and-neck. Three minutes before the…

We Tried A Dungeon-Themed Escape Room

With Halloween finally upon us, I get to live out my dream of being a camera guy on a ghost hunter TV show walking down dark corridors, crawling through secret passages, and tripping over chains. Kotaku’s Heather Alexandra and Alex Bedder take a trip to Brooklyn Escape Room to see if they have what it…

South Park: The Fractured But Whole‘s Skin-Tone Difficulty Slider Doesn’t Actually Do Much

In early September, the developers of South Park: The Fractured But Whole made some waves when they showed the character customization options, which suggest that playing as a black character will make your game harder. Then Ubisoft took it back. The truth, however, is a bit hazier. As soon as you load up the new…

The New Steven Universe RPG Has Those Paper Mario Feels

In 2015, mobile developer Grumpyface Studios released Steven Universe: Attack the Light, a wonderful turn-based role-playing game that channels Paper Mario. For its console debut, Steven Universe: Save the Light, the studio delves even deeper into Nintendo territory. Picking up where the mobile game left off (though you don’t have to have played the first…

Ex-Goat Simulator Dev Teams Up With Pewdiepie To Make Bonkers Physics Game

After accidentally selling millions of copies of a video game about a chaotic goat, lead designer Armin Ibrisagic wanted to keep exploring games’ sillier side. So he made his own studio: DoubleMoose Games. His first title, out later this week, is the result of a partnership with Pewdiepie, the YouTuber who helped turn Goat Simulator…

Video Game Mini-Maps Might Finally Be Going Away

For the last 15 years or so, we have witnessed the rise of a great evil: the video game mini-map. Recent events have given me hope that the dark era of the mini-map may finally be coming to an end. For years, it has been assumed that open-world games require a mini-map in the corner…

Five Spooky Let’s Plays To Watch On Halloween

Halloween night is an awesome time to turn on a horror movie and get yourself all freaked out. If you’ve already seen many of the Halloween night classics, don’t worry. Let’s Plays of scary games are just as good of a way to spend this evening. Here are some suggestions. Alien Isolation by Christopher Odd…

Why Remakes, Like Shadow of the Colossus, Are Awesome

After spending a little bit of time with the PlayStation 4 version of Shadow of the Colossus, I have to say that I’m really into the idea of game remakes. Yesterday, following its Paris Game Week announcements, Sony held a small event in San Francisco for those of us not lucky enough to be visiting…

Players Are Taking Amazing Super Mario Odyssey Photos

Super Mario Odyssey has tons of worlds and memorable sights. Thankfully, the game’s snapshot mode allows players to take pictures of their favorite memories or create bizarre pieces of modern art. This post will contain light location, enemy, and costume spoilers. A simple press down on the D-pad brings up Super Mario Odyssey’s snapshot mode,…

Which Assassin’s Creed Origins Glitch Is More Nightmare-Inducing?

Which would you rather avoid in the latest Assassin’s Creed game, animals twisted into human shapes, or humans with no faces? It’s a tough call. The glitch that makes animals spawn in seemingly humanoid poses that their textures cannot handle,as demonstrated by Eurogamer’s Tom Phillips on Twitter, definitely has an evil air about it. I’m…

Nintendo Is Having A Very Good Year

This week’s Nintendo financial briefings revealed one undeniable fact: the company is having a killer 2017. Between Mario, Zelda, and the red-hot Switch, Nintendo hasn’t had a year this good in a very long time. A few stats: Nintendo sold over two million copies of Super Mario Odyssey in just three days, which is remarkable.…

The cutest Final Fantasy adventure ever comes to Steam on November 21. World of Final Fantasy hits PC with all the bonus creatures from the PS4 version, plus keyboard and mouse support. Folks who purchase the $39.99 game prior to November 28 get a mini-soundtrack and wallpaper. Oooo.

How Anime Art Has Changed Since 2010

Previously, Kotaku showed how anime art changed from the 1990s to the 2010s. Now, let’s see see how anime art has evolved since the year 2010 in comparison to today. That’s only seven years! The changes are there, but subtle. You might have noticed them, but maybe not. The comparisons originally appeared on 2ch, Japan’s…

This Little Kid Does An Excellent Death Note

Last year, you might remember a kid named Meng Meng who dressed up as No-Facefrom Studio Ghibli anime Spirited Away. This year, she’s Ryukfrom Death Note, and her costume is excellent. As website Curazy points out, Meng Meng’s little joined the festivities this year, dressing as the character L. It appears she knows about Ryuk’s “PPAP”…

If You Like Mecha Anime And Booze, This Tokyo Pub Is For You

This is “Robot Kichi” or “Robot Base.” Openning November 1, this Tokyo tavern is aimed at fans of iconic anime like Macross The izakaya (Japanese pub) is covered with mecha and robot anime images, all of which were licensed from Bandai and Banpresto. You can also watch anime while you dine. Which you should be…

Spring Panorama From 13 Years Ago. Kawagoe, Japan. By François Gibon. JPGs is a photo peek into wherever gamers might find interesting. If you’re a photographer and have images you want to share, drop us a line!