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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 Published February 25, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat Was Your Best-Ever Year For Gaming?
It’s Monday and time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take. This week we Ask Kotaku: What was your best-ever year for gaming? John Walker There is only one correct answer to this question, and then there are egregiously wrong ones. The…
By Alexandra Hall Published February 22, 2021 -
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 Published February 21, 2021 -
OpinionIt Would’ve Been OK To Skip This One, Blizzard
Tonight’s keynote for BlizzConline, Blizzard’s virtual showcase, was a tepid hour of previously leaked reveals for World of Warcraft and Diablo, some Hearthstone news, a passing mention of Diablo Immortal, and no Overwatch 2. As we’re fond of saying these days, it could have been an email. To be clear: I get it. 2020 was an…
By Riley MacLeod Published February 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsI’ve Kinda Had My Fill After Wrapping The Division 2’s Latest Season
The Division 2’s latest manhunt is coming to an end. Players who have taken down this season’s previous four targets now have access to the final quarry, with a mission to take her out. This raid, while exciting and climatic, caps off another grind of a season that leaves the future of the game, and…
By Zack Zwiezen Published February 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsAssassin’s Creed Valhalla’s New River Raids Ain’t It
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the last game that needed any extra content right now, but this week it got some anyway, and since I’m still fresh on the game I thought I’d jump back in and check it out. That content arrived in the form of “River Raids”, a new game mode that adds three…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 18, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsRed Dead Online’s New Solo Missions Are Pretty Good
The latest Red Dead Online update, released earlier this week, added a few new missions to the game. These new telegram missions are short and simple but are also built to be played alone, another sign that Rockstar is willing to give players more single-player content even in ostensibly online games. While Red Dead Online…
By Zack Zwiezen Published February 18, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsXbox’s New ‘FPS Boost’ Feature Is The Real Deal
Yesterday Microsoft released FPS Boost, a new backward-compatibility feature for the Xbox Series X and S. FPS Boost will…well boost the framerate dramatically in specific, older games when you play them on a next-gen Xbox. After playing around with FPS Boost a bit I’m excited and impressed. This could be a big change in the…
By Zack Zwiezen Published February 18, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsProject Triangle Strategy Just Became One Of My Most Anticipated Games
Think back to the last argument you had. Did you sway the other person to your side? How much effort did that take? That tug-of-war—the fraught nature of persuasion, and the notion that you don’t initially know if you’ve pulled it off—is the unexpected crux of Project Triangle Strategy, an upcoming tactical game from Square…
By Ari Notis Published February 18, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat’s The Best Co-op Game To Ruin A Relationship With?
Fellow post-Valentine survivors, it’s time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take. This week we Ask Kotaku: What’s the best co-op game to ruin a relationship with? That is to say, what co-op games might be risky to undertake with one’s romantic…
By Alexandra Hall Published February 15, 2021 -
OpinionLuigi Lives Life On Hard Mode
Luigi is the most exceptional, brave, and loyal character Nintendo has ever created. Because despite knowing all too well what others think of him, he carries on regardless. Super Mario’s World is a look at the characters that turned the Mario franchise into a household name for 35 years. Every single Mario RPG spinoff contains…
Mike Sholars Published February 15, 2021 -
OpinionBowser’s Fury Should Be A Template For Future Nintendo Projects
I played Bowser’s Fury this weekend. I’d intended to save it until I’d finished my first run through the Switch’s remake of Super Mario 3D World, having—like most humans—never owned a Wii U. But boy did I get bored of that quickly. And there was Bowser, just waiting on the launch screen, tempting me with…
By John Walker Published February 15, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsForegone Is So Much More Than A Dead Cells Clone
If you missed Foregone, fix that immediately. Foregone is incredible. Full stop. At first glance, you might think Foregone—which released last year for PS4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC—is a carbon copy of Dead Cells, Motion Twin’s eternally popular roguelike. For sure, the two share a lot of DNA in terms of art style, animation,…
By Ari Notis Published February 12, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsAgents of Mayhem (Which Is Good BTW) Plays Way Better On My Xbox Series X
The power of next-gen consoles can, in some cases, help improve games that suffered from performance problems. A great example of this is Agents of Mayhem, a good last-gen open-world shooter made even better thanks to the Xbox Series X and its backward compatibility features. Agents of Mayhem was released back in 2017 and developed…
By Zack Zwiezen Published February 11, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsHitman Is Video Gaming’s Greatest Thrill
The Hitman series is famous for its Rube Goldberg-style assassination plots, and is sold as a cold and calculating murder game, but most of my time spent in Hitman 3 has been with my heart in my mouth, which I mean in all the best ways. Newer readers may not be aware of this, but…
By Luke Plunkett Published February 10, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsDestiny 2‘s Season Of The Chosen Is Good So Far
Season of the Chosen went live in Destiny 2 today, and with it a whole new set of things to grind for. So far, these things—new armor, guns, and exotic gear—seem pretty cool, with interesting new perks to make them worth chasing. But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t already feeling daunted by…
By Ethan Gach Published February 9, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsOver 10 Hours With Bravely Default II
Bravely Default II offers a return to a simpler time where heroes lined up on one side of the screen, fought monsters on the other side of the screen, and then rinsed and repeated until peace and tranquility were brought back to the land. I’ve spent over 10 hours with it, and while what I’ve…
By Ethan Gach Published February 9, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWould You Ever Get A Video Game Tattoo?
It’s Monday and time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take. This week we Ask Kotaku: Would you ever get a video game tattoo? Ian Tricky question! I’m honestly wrestling with it. I didn’t blink when getting my Star Wars tattoo, as…
By Alexandra Hall Published February 8, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsBlue Fire Is A Game So Tough It Reminds Me Of 2020
Every so often, a platformer comes along that so thoroughly knocks you on your ass you can’t help but smile in sick appreciation. For me, the latest to do so is Blue Fire, from the Argentina-based Robi Studios, officially out yesterday for Switch and PC. Blue Fire is a difficult game, yes, but it also…
By Ari Notis Published February 5, 2021 -
OpinionA 12-Year Dream
Let me tell you the best thing about being editor-in-chief of Kotaku There’s a writer or a producer on the team. They have an idea. It’s something real, something they need to tell people, something worth knowing. They write it. They post it. And the readers show up. Maybe I’ve helped make that space for…
By Stephen Totilo Published February 5, 2021