Worth Reading: The Tragedy And Ecstasy In The Binding Of Isaac

Sometimes, the most tragic stories are lurking just beneath the surface. This week in Worth Reading, a dive into what’s really happening in The Binding of Isaac, how Fire Emblem lets players tune the difficulty to their choosing, and much more. Let’s start the weekend! Hey, You Should Read These “Beards optional: Embedded difficulty decisions…

Look Out, Robot! Everything on This Planet Is Trying to Kill You!

Remember the terrible deaths that sad little boy suffered every time you screwed up in Limbo? Would you care if it was a robot dying in lots of painful ways instead? Take a look at the brightly colored Planet of the Eyes and see if you feel any empathy for a walking computer. The Cococucumber…

I Wish I Liked Code Name: STEAM More

Over the last week, I’ve put in about 15 hours into Code Name: STEAM, a steampunk turn-based strategy game from Intelligent Systems. As Intelligent Systems has proven itself before with games like Fire Emblem and Advance Wars, it’s pretty easy to get hyped up about the idea of Code Name: STEAM. It’s a new Nintendo…

Dying Light’s New Hard Mode Is Definitely Harder

Dying Light was already a tough game for many people when it first came out, but a new patch this week answered other players’ demands by making it even harder. Loot is one of the weirdest things about video games. I usually can’t stand it when a game makes you obsess over weapons and items…

Valve Is Not Psyched They Got An ‘F’ In Customer Service

Not too long ago, I stumbled across a curious fact: Valve, maker of the world’s biggest PC gaming service, was given an F by the Better Business Bureau. Other major gaming companies largely have A’s. The culprit? Poor customer service. According to the BBB’s page on Valve, people have filed 717 complaints about Valve and…

Dying Light patched out its famous loot-harvesting weapon-duplication trick once again this week. And once again, someone found another way to perform the same exploit. Follow the new instructions in the video above, especially if you need help surviving hard mode. Thanks to Reddit’s Uber-Lurker for the PSA. Step-by-step instructions included below: From the info…

Let’s Remember How Ridiculous The Xenogears Demo Was

Next week, we’ll finally be able to get our hands on the much-anticipated demo for Final Fantasy XV, which is basically the Half-Life 3 of JRPGs. This continues a long tradition of publisher Square Enix releasing demos for their big RPGs alongside other games… like the demo for Xenogears, which launched with the horror game…

Maybe video games are better without characters? Ian Bogost explores that idea over at The Atlantic and concludes that we should all join The Borg and play Sim games forever. Well okay, there’s a little more nuance than that.

I Have Failed To Impress The Gods

I thought I’d be showing off a thrilling victory to you today, Kotaku readers. A five-minute saga where a Norse warrior woman defeats a gigantic winter elemental as a taste of a promising indie game yet to come. But, no, I stand before you defeated. Now I want to play Jotun even more. The game…

Why Bard Is Such An Exciting League Of Legends Champion

League of Legends’ newly-minted “Bard” champion just dropped into the game by surprise yesterday. Players are extremely curious about this “wandering caretaker” and his potential in the game thanks to the big bearded guy’s more…distinctive qualities. What makes him stand out, you ask? A few key things. First off, here’s the champion spotlight Riot provided…

One of last year’s most bizarre and surprising hits on PC was Goat Simulator, and it’s coming to Xbox 360 and Xbox One next month. You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @patrickklepek

A Gameworld That Changes Every Time You Die

Lots of video games trap you in places where everything is trying to kill you. But many of those environments at least have the decency to stay the same so you could figure things out. Not Necropolis. You’re going to be starting a whole new death march every time you bite the dust. Necropolis won’t…

Today’s selection of articles from Kotaku‘s reader-run community: Shonen Jump Round Up: Bleach 617 and One Piece 778, Bleach 618 & 619 and One Piece 779 • Why Doesn’t This Game Exist: The Zelda Initiative • Spacemon: A Pokémon Tabletop Story, Vol. 2: Chapter 17 TAY Classic—TAY Open Forum—Beginner’s Guide To TAY Follow them here.

Mortal Kombat has dabbled in horror icons as characters in the past. Next up? Friday the 13th‘s Jason Voorhees in next month’s Mortal Kombat X. The bad news? The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions have been delayed until summer. You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @patrickklepek

LEGO Wild West Town Is Huge And Has Everything

Train station with a telegraph office? Check. A stagecoach entering the town? Check. A saloon, a sheriff’s office, a cattle ranch and a bank? Check. Kris Kelvin‘s giant LEGO diorama is not the typical abandoned Old West boom town. It’s full of life and features. It is called “Pif Paf City” and here are some…

The Sinking of the Titanic, Rendered in Unreal Engine 4

Titanic: Honor & Glory is project dedicated to recreating the RMS Titanic’s ill-fated maiden voyage using Unreal Engine 4, and they made a video showing the famous grand staircase of the ship disappearing. Their goal is to recreate the entire ship, its voyage and its final hours. The final game will include a free roam…