-
OpinionImpressionsThe Kill La Kill Fighting Game Is Flashy But Flimsy
Like the anime it’s based on, Kill La Kill the Game: IF is fast, stylish, rude, and racy. Unfortunately, like the outfits its main characters sport, there’s not a lot of substance. Kill La Kill is a damn fine original series from Japanese animation studio Trigger. It tells the story of a conflict between Honnouji…
By Mike Fahey Published August 2, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsBattlefield V‘s New Map Brings Towering Cliffsides And Fast-Paced Carnage
Battlefield V’s initial post-launch plans focused on story and special game modes, with only a large tank-themed map breaking up the pace. Fans then waited eagerly over the next several months for new battlefields, their patience eventually rewarded with an intense coastal map in June. This past week, Battlefield V has expanded again with another…
By Heather Alexandra Published August 1, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsThis Delightful Bird Rhythm Game Is Also An Entire Musical
Songbird Symphony is the touching tale of an orphaned chick who sets off on an adventure to find his true family, discovering a wonderful little combination rhythm/platforming game along the way. His name is Birb. It’s a good name. Despite his strong sense of rhythm and penchant for bursting into song, Birb’s adoptive peacock family…
By Mike Fahey Published August 1, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsTrying To Please Everyone In Fire Emblem Is Turning Me Into A Sociopath
I knew I had a problem when I saw a timer appear and my first reaction was to immediately hammer my Nintendo Switch’s power button until it fell into a merciful slumber. Fire Emblem: Three Houses has a feature called an “advice box” in which characters write you letters asking for aid. You’ve got to…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 31, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Biggest Elder Scrolls Game Has Been Remade In Unity
It’s easy to forget that Skyrim, with its massive popularity and numerous ports, wasn’t the first Elder Scrolls game. It’s only the latest in a long line of huge roleplaying adventures, some of which feature worlds many times its size. The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall, originally released in 1996, is one of Skyrim’s big brothers…
By Ian Walker Published July 31, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsChaos Is The Hero’s Weapon In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
If Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’s newest fighter, Dragon Quest’s Hero, has you baffled, you are not alone. Playing him for a couple of hours since his release yesterday, I’ve found Hero to be a very strange bird with lots of potential for hype-making moments. Hero has the most moves of any fighter in the game.…
By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published July 31, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsDestiny 2‘s Solstice Event Is Back And Better Than Last Year’s Grind
The Solstice of Heroes has just begun in Destiny 2. It’s the return of last year’s in-game event where you think back on how swell your time playing Destiny 2 has been as you play more Destiny 2. Much like the first Solstice of Heroes, which was held around this time last year, this one…
By Joshua Rivera Published July 30, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsFire Emblem Is Slowly Improving Its Same-Sex Romance Options
The newer Fire Emblem games have placed an emphasis on romance and dating, though the series has been slow to make same-sex romance a viable option. Fire Emblem: Three Houses does allow you to experience same-sex romance—and it is explicitly romantic, and accessible for both male and female main characters. However, the female main character…
By Gita Jackson Published July 30, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsTactical Strategy Game Mutant Year Zero Looks Like A PS2 Game On Switch [Update]
What the duck am I looking at? Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden was one of last year’s surprise delights. Now it’s out on Switch, which should be a great thing. There’s just one problem: It looks really bad. [Update – 10:23, July 31]: The Switch version of Mutant Year Zero got a patch yesterday…
By Ethan Gach Published July 30, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsVivid Painting Adventure Concrete Genie Will Release On PS4 In October
After being delayed earlier this year, Sony’s painterly puzzle platformer Concrete Genie will finally come to PS4 on October 8 for $30. Kotaku first previewed Concrete Genie, created by one of Sony’s tiniest first-party studios, PixelOpus, back at E3 2017. At the time, the game’s creative director Dominic Robilliard said the idea was originally born…
By Ethan Gach Published July 30, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsMadden NFL 20’s Replacement For Story Mode Falls Short
For the past two years, Madden games have included story modes about a fictional up-and-coming NFL quarterback named Devin Wade. In Madden 20, you can still play a single-player story about a would-be quarterback, but this time you design him yourself, from his facial features to his strengths on the field. It’s a fun mode…
By Maddy Myers Published July 29, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsGloomhaven’s Video Game Version Is, So Far, Just Fine
Gloomhaven, the biggest board game (both literally and figuratively) in years, is coming to the PC, and is currently playable in a limited form as part of an early access deal. With only a few options presently available to players (in terms of both gameplay and party composition), Gloomhaven is not really interested in making…
By Luke Plunkett Published July 25, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsTeam Rocket Has Invaded Pokémon Go, But They Sure Are Hard To Track Down
Pokémon Go players booted up the mobile game today to find the world invaded by the franchise’s original baddies, Team Rocket. In addition to taking over Pokéstops and challenging trainers to fights, the dastardly villains have also disrupted the local ecology, changing the kinds of Pokémon that players are likely to find. The theming is…
By Ian Walker Published July 25, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsMario Maker Level Locks You In A Room With A Goomba And Your Darkest Thoughts
A lot of the Mario Maker levels that go viral are pretty universally deranged. They’re usually levels made in the “kaizo” style, impossibly hard courses for expert-level Mario players to speedrun. It’s easy to see why these are widely shared online: We like spectacle. Mario games are easy to parse—a tiny plumber is running from…
By Joshua Rivera Published July 25, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsMarvel Ultimate Alliance 3’s Inhumans Level Is Just Sad
Most of Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3’s story chapters are lengthy affairs filled with enemies to fight, puzzles to solve, characters to recruit, and multiple boss battles. Chapter seven, set in the moon-based Inhuman city of Attilan, is a ten-minute trip to the most boring place in the Marvel universe. Of all of Marvel’s properties, the…
By Mike Fahey Published July 25, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsA Game Where You Try To Prevent A Shakespearean Murder In Real Time
Aside from the Bible and other great religious works, it seems fair to say that William Shakespeare’s plays are among the most far-read stories in the world. Of those, Hamlet might be the most well-known. A murdered king, a brother who marries the widowed queen, a woe-stricken son who plots revenge and everyone dies. Or…
By Heather Alexandra Published July 25, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Division 2’s Big New Update Is As Promising As It Confusing
Ubisoft’s sprawling loot shooter The Division 2 just received its biggest free update since its March launch…except most of it isn’t really free until next week, except for two parts that won’t even be free then, but some of the free stuff won’t be out until the week after next, and one promised part is…
By Stephen Totilo Published July 24, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsOverwatch‘s New Hero Sigma Is Slow But Scary
What would you do if you could control gravity? Would you float everywhere? Hurl boulders at people? Yell all the time about a mysterious melody that haunts your every semi-lucid moment? Overwatch’s newest hero, the unhinged, accidentally evil astrophysicist Sigma, can do all of that and more. He’s fun to play, but he definitely takes…
By Nathan Grayson Published July 23, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsBlood Pact Does ‘Sexy Succubus BDSM Game’ The Right Way
I quite enjoyed Fifty Shades of Grey, in the way anyone enjoys trashy novels: secretly and shamefully, with the kind of guilty glee you feel when you eat a whole box of chocolates just because they were there. But its depiction of BDSM in a relationship is incredibly flawed. NSFW warning: Images of nudity and…
By Kate Gray Published July 23, 2019 -
OpinionImpressionsOninaki‘s World Might Be Enough To Get Me Past The Repetitive Gameplay
Oninaki, an action role-playing game from the developers of I Am Setsuna and Lost Sphear, now has a free demo on Nintendo Switch, Steam, and Playstation 4. I entered into the play experience expecting something generic, and while the combat is a bit mindless, Oninaki’s world is a fascinating place. This short tease has left…
By Heather Alexandra Published July 23, 2019