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OpinionI Am In Love With Assassin’s Creed Valhalla’s Wilderness
If you’d asked me between 2015-2020 why I loved The Witcher 3, I’d probably have drawn up a very long list of things. In 2021, though, following the release of both Cyberpunk 2077 and Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, that list is a lot shorter. It’s basically now just “the wind” and “the sun”. In earlier, more…
By Luke Plunkett Published January 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsI Hope Immortals Fenyx Rising’s First DLC Is A Lot Like Its New Bonus Quest
Last week, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Ubisoft’s don’t-call-it-a-Zelda open-world action game, received a bonus quest. It’s short, fun, and moderately challenging. Better yet, it supposedly gives a peek at what the game’s first expansion, A New God, will look like. If you’ve slept on it, reconsider. The quest in question, “When in Olympos,” was added to…
By Ari Notis Published January 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsSpace Invaders Extreme Is My Favorite Way To Shoot Invaders From Space
While there will always be a place in my heart for the original Space Invaders, Taito’s 1978 arcade classic is not the most engaging way to spend a quarter. Space Invaders Extreme, recently released for the Nintendo Switch and PS4 as part of the Space Invaders Forever bundle, is my preferred chaotic and colorful method…
By Mike Fahey Published January 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsScott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game Is The Winter Hangout I Needed Right Now
Absence can make the heart grow fonder, and with Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game the wait has set me up to fall in love with its retro gaming nostalgia-fest all over again. Its return couldn’t have come at a better time either. Cooped up in my home away from friends and family while…
By Ethan Gach Published January 19, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat Media Property Would You Like To See Adapted Into A Game?
It’s Tuesday and time for Ask Kotaku, the weekly feature in which Kotaku-ites deliberate on a single burning question. Then, we ask your take. With Star Wars and Indiana Jones in the news for getting new video games, this week we Ask Kotaku: What media property would you like to see adapted into a game?…
By Alexandra Hall Published January 19, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsA Hand With Many Fingers Captures The Paranoia Of Cold War Conspiracies
Most mystery stories involve flashy detective work and sharp deductions, culminating in a dramatic reveal. In the novel Murder on the Orient Express, there’s a point where detective Hercule Poirot gathers everyone together and dives into a detailed breakdown of exactly how a murder occurred, and how deep its roots ran through every car on…
By Eric Van Allen Published January 18, 2021 -
OpinionThe New York Times Is Worried Kids Are Playing Video Games Too Much During The Pandemic
Yesterday, the New York Times ran a story that focused on how kids are spending too much time playing video games and using their phones during the covid-19 pandemic. Today, that story was on the front page of the paper. This seems strange considering how the world is falling apart and democracy is dying in…
By Zack Zwiezen Published January 17, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsPersona 5 Strikers Feels More Like Persona 5 Than I Expected
When I heard Koei Tecmo studio Omega Force was making Persona 5 Strikers, I imagined a Dynasty Warriors game with Persona 5 characters. Turns out it’s not quite that at all. After playing through the first few hours of the full game, Strikers feels more like an extension of Persona 5 with a different combat…
By Mike Fahey Published January 15, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsTest Your Zombie Survival Skills With Cold War’s New Cranked Mode
Killing zombies is the best part about Black Ops Cold War’s mid-season update for Season One. New maps and modes were added on January 14, including a new large-scale Fireteam map, a standard 6v6 multiplayer mode called “Dropkick,” and a Cranked mode for Zombies. Overall, I feel a little underwhelmed by this content drop. The…
By S.E. Doster Published January 15, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsASUS’ CES Showcase Is A Free Steam Game
Due to the ongoing global pandemic, this year’s Consumer Electronics Show is a completely online affair. Gaming hardware maker ASUS takes the show’s digital format to the extreme with ROG Citadel XV, a free download on Steam that’s one (small) part first-person shooter, one part fancy virtual hardware showroom. ROG stands for Republic of Gamers,…
By Mike Fahey Published January 14, 2021 -
OpinionBig Game Publishers Are Retreating Into The Safety Of Hollywood’s Back Catalog
This week, the video game industry got a fresh infusion of boomer energy with the announcement of a new Indiana Jones game. Meanwhile, there’s also a James Bond game in the works, and Ubisoft announced it’s working on an open world Star Wars game—the first in a possible flood of new games taking place in…
By Ethan Gach Published January 14, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat’s Your Favorite Jump In Video Games?
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’s your favorite jump in video games? Ethan The dash jump in Mega Man X. I’ve never felt anything quite like it to this day. Mega…
By Alexandra Hall Published January 11, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsHitman 3‘s Dubai Shows Agent 47 At His Murderous Best
Hitman 3, which releases January 20, is the last in the trilogy of Hitman reboots that started in 2016. What I played of it in a preview this week felt as tense and exciting as ever, with a glamorous new location to infiltrate and powerful figures to track down. While there are a few new…
By Riley MacLeod Published January 8, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsI’ve Kept My PS5 ‘Upside Down’ For Months And It Hasn’t Exploded
There’s the proper way to set up a PlayStation 5. And then there’s the improper way, a method that has been utilized by such prolific users as (apparently) a PlayStation executive and (definitely) yours truly. Yes, I’ve had my PS5 upside down since the day I got my hands on it, in late October. To…
By Ari Notis Published January 7, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsThe PS5’s DualSense Is The Perfect Canvas
One of my first thoughts upon seeing the futuristic armored look of the PlayStation 5’s Dualsense controller was, “Man, I bet that’s going to look awesome with a custom paint job.” Indulging my pink and black obsession, the painting pros at Colorware have confirmed my hypothesis. Thanks to the touchpad and the solid grips that…
By Mike Fahey Published January 7, 2021 -
OpinionRemembering Kotaku Writer András Neltz
András Neltz, a Budapest-based writer and editor who worked the morning shift at Kotaku from 2012-2016, died last month at the age of 31. Today, we mourn the loss of a cherished former colleague. András joined Kotaku near the start of my run as editor-in-chief, as part of an expansion of editorial duties to then-Gawker…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 7, 2021 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat’s On Your Gaming Wishlist For 2021?
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’s on your gaming wishlist for 2021? Stephen Can we get a new Metroid this year? I know Prime 4 is a ways out. That’s fine.…
By Alexandra Hall Published January 4, 2021 -
OpinionImpressionsCarto’s Cozy Puzzles Are Just Tough Enough
Ask people which superpower they’d want, and you’ll likely hear the same answers. Flight. Super-strength. Invisibility. You’re less likely to hear about the unusual ones—say, the ability to literally reshape the planet to fit your needs. Such an ability is the crux of Carto, a cozy adventure game that grants you enormous power but not…
By Ari Notis Published December 31, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsSuper Meat Boy Forever Is Not The Sequel I Was Hoping For
After 10 long years Super Meat Boy is back, this time as an auto-runner in a sequel that channels much of the original except for what I loved most about it: snappy controls and tight platforming. In the year of Spelunky 2 and Hades, it’s a letdown to see Meat Boy return without the key…
By Ethan Gach Published December 30, 2020 -
OpinionHow The Past Year Got Me Thinking Of Post Apocalyptic Games In A New Light
Almost every day, I go for a walk with my kid. She’s just over two. There’s a strange serenity in the isolation of entire city blocks when there’s so few people out and about. In the first few months of the pandemic, it felt like we were walking through an abandoned city. I’ve lived in…
By Peter Tieryas Published December 27, 2020