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OpinionMario Is Making Animal Crossing Weird For Me
Before Animal Crossing: New Horizons added Mario items on March 1, my island was a pleasant place that was not being stalked by a dead-eyed plumber cosplayer with an axe. I must admit I scoffed when Kotaku contributor John Walker posted about how wrong Animal Crossing villagers looked dressed up in Mario costumes. Surely he…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsPyra Is My New Favorite Sword Main In Smash Bros. Ultimate
I greeted Pyra and Mythra’s announcement last month with a big sigh. Ugh, more sword fighters? It’s my preferred class in Smash Bros. Ultimate, but even I was beginning to get sick of them. After a couple hours with the new duo, however, I’m pleased to announce my initial skepticism was misplaced. Pyra and Mythra…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionThank You, Persona 5 Strikers, For This Adult Who Doesn’t Suck
Persona 5 Strikers has been out for a little more than a week, so I feel pretty comfortable saying this: Thank God for Wolf! Wolf (née Zenkichi Hasegawa) is the newest and only adult member of the Phantom Thieves. There are adults who help the Phantom Thieves and keep their secret, but until Strikers, there’s…
By Ash Parrish -
OpinionImpressionsQueen: Rock Tour Is Packed With Great Music, Not Ads And Microtransactions
Queen: Rock Tour is a mobile game that isn’t filled with nasty microtransactions, ads, “energy” timers, or make-believe currencies. Instead, it’s a fun rhythm game that replaces that crap with a ton of classic Queen songs. Released earlier this week for Android and iOS, Queen: Rock Tour is a rhythm game in the same vein…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionImpressionsLoop Hero Is A Wonderful New RPG About Overcoming Despair
Loop Hero is a lot of things: an RPG, a roguelite, an auto-battler, a card game, a city builder, an evocative visual novel. It’s also excellent, and I can’t stop playing it. Developed by Four Quarters (maker of 2015’s brilliant behavioral experiment Please, Don’t Touch Anything) and out today on Steam, the appropriately titled Loop…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionHey Nintendo, A Few More Requests For That Fancy New Switch
As the latest rumors about the Switch Pro/Super Nintendo Switch fly all about us, everyone is focused on the potential for that Samsung 7″ OLED screen, and just how well it’ll pull off its 4K resolution in docked mode . But if Mario HQ is currently piecing together components, we have a few other requests…
By John Walker -
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 -
OpinionImpressionsSorry Crazy Taxi Fans, Taxi Chaos Ain’t It
Taxi Chaos is not Crazy Taxi. But it’s trying to be, and it succeeds in some important ways while completely failing in many others. Consider this a warning: Don’t buy Taxi Chaos. But if you do, I can help make the game a bit better. I get why some folks might be tempted to buy…
By Zack Zwiezen -
OpinionNow That’s How You Do A Damn Game Reveal
After being utterly underwhelmed by BlizzCon, last week’s Nintendo Direct, and yesterday’s PlayStation State of Play, I wasn’t expecting much out of today’s Pokémon 25th Anniversary presentation. But it feels like The Pokémon Company took a good look at the competition and said, “Alright, now watch a master work.” No shade at all to those…
By Ash Parrish -
OpinionSquare Enix Is Finally Making The Final Fantasy VII Cinematic Universe Playable
Yesterday’s most important Final Fantasy news wasn’t delivered at the end of Sony’s lackluster State of Play livestream presentation but was instead casually tweeted out afterward: a new mobile game called Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis is coming. This latest FFVII remix will tell the story not just of the original game but also of…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionImpressionsBlack Ops Cold War’s Large-Scale ‘Outbreak’ Mode Shakes Up Zombies
Season Two of Black Ops Cold War arrives today, with a new 6v6 multiplayer map, new weapons, more challenges to complete, and another 100-tier battle pass to grind. It also brings the most unique Zombies experience we’ve seen in a while, in the large-scale “Outbreak” Zombies mode. As a part of Black Ops Cold War’s…
By S.E. Doster -
OpinionImpressionsBravely Default 2 Is Another Fun But Flawed Old-School JRPG
Bravely Default 2 is a trip, man. Going in, I thought I knew exactly what this game was, and it turns out I pretty much did—except for all of the tiny moments that occasionally delight, and just as occasionally elicit big, heaving sighs. Every time the familiar old-school JRPG wins me over it follows that…
By Ethan Gach -
OpinionIt’s Weird To See Ryu Use A Gun In Fortnite
Yesterday, after some hints and leaks, Street Fighter characters Ryu and Chun-Li came to Epic’s mega-popular battle royale game, Fortnite. Watching Ryu run around shooting people with an assault rifle is weird. It’s also just one more example of how Fortnite consumes popular characters and franchises without much care or celebration. Guest characters have been…
By Zack Zwiezen
