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OpinionBiden’s Animal Crossing Island Is Lovely But Meaningless
Joe Biden’s presidential campaign built a propaganda island in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. It’s really lovely except when it’s not. I’ve been dreading November ever since it became clear that Biden was going to be the Democratic nominee for this year’s presidential election. The party largely coalesced around the former vice president in March, banking…
By Ian Walker Published October 16, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Most Fun I’ve Had In Avengers In Weeks Is This Chair
Boredom can do strange things to a person, especially a person who has been waiting weeks for fresh content in a popular service game. Today’s patch finally brought a new hub location to Marvel’s Avengers. That’s where I found this one chair. S.H.I.E.L.D. Substation Zero is a new hub location added in patch 1.3.3. It’s…
By Mike Fahey Published October 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsKingdom Hearts: Melody Of Memory Demo Shows Off A Charmingly Simple Rhythm Game
The demo for the upcoming Kingdom Hearts rhythm game is live today for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Switch. Based on what I’ve played, it’s the most straightforward game the series has ever seen, so simple you can play it with just one button. In Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory’s Field Battles, which are the…
By Mike Fahey Published October 15, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsMinecraft‘s Steve Is Super Weird In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Earlier this month, Super Smash Bros. director Masahiro Sakurai revealed the latest fighter for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It wasn’t Crash Bandicoot, as rumors suggested. It wasn’t Master Chief, as hopes and dreams did. It certainly wasn’t the long-clamored-for Waluigi. It was Steve, from Minecraft. Last night, Steve officially joined the Ultimate roster as the…
By Ari Notis Published October 14, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsAirborne Kingdom Is A City-Builder, Only You’re FLYING
That’s it. That’s the pitch for this game. You’re building a city, only the city is also a giant airship thing that’s flying through the air. OK, maybe that’s not quite it. There’s also the fact that this is only partially a game about building cities. Set in a vast, open and sparsely-populated world, Airborne…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 13, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsTorchlight III Is Fine
As I guide my Railmaster, my dragon pet, and my ridiculously cool personal murder train set through what feels like the umpteenth goblin-infested dungeon in the first act of Torchlight III, one nagging thought keeps popping into my head. “Why am I doing this?” It’s certainly not the story. The third installment of the Torchlight…
By Mike Fahey Published October 13, 2020 -
OpinionAsk KotakuWhat’s Your Preference: Japanese-Style RPGs Or Western-Style RPGs?
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 preference: Japanese-style RPGs or Western-style RPGs? (Note that “JRPGs” are not necessarily RPGs made in Japan but RPGs in the Japanese console-game style. And…
By Alexandra Hall Published October 12, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsI Spent Three Hours In Baldur’s Gate 3’s Character Creator And It’s Pretty Good
I love me a character creator. Buried in the deepest recesses of my brain lies the eight-year-old me who loved dress-up Flash games. Character creators in today’s games scratch the same itch, letting my inner child play with an even greater freedom of expression. So when Baldur’s Gate 3 hit early access earlier this week,…
By Ash Parrish Published October 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsBorderlands 3’s Bloody Harvest Event Is Back, And Just As Fun As Last Time
No trick, Vault Hunters, Borderlands 3’s latest event is quite a treat. Yesterday, the well-liked “Bloody Harvest” kicked off again. On a surface level, “Bloody Harvest” bears similarity to any other Borderlands event—shoot everything, get guns—but it stands apart by being a total blast with minimal slog. That, and the fact that you get more…
By Ari Notis Published October 9, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsBlack Ops: Cold War’s Beta Tweaks Include Console FOV Slider
Black Ops: Cold War has shaped up nicely since last month’s playable alpha build, which allowed players to play an assortment of maps and modes for the upcoming Call of Duty release. The beta already feels like a good improvement, especially thanks to the addition of some key features, including console players finally getting an…
By S.E. Doster Published October 9, 2020 -
OpinionStar Wars: Squadrons Is Exactly What I Needed
In 2013, Electronic Arts signed a deal granting them the exclusive rights to develop and publish Star Wars video games. For most of that time, sitting on the most lucrative licensing on the planet, they managed to release…three games, and cancelled at least three more That’s a terrible return! After years of neglect from a…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 8, 2020 -
OpinionMortal Kombat 11 Cheapens Its Guest Characters’ Legacies
At the end of First Blood, the 1982 movie adaptation of the David Morrell novel of the same name, John Rambo tells his former commanding officer that there’s no turning off the violence he was taught to inflict as a veteran of the Vietnam War. He breaks down. He weeps. It’s a powerful image: the…
By Ian Walker Published October 8, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsYou’ll Probably Love Pikmin 3 Deluxe If It’s Your First Pikmin
Seven years ago, I wrote seven reviews of the terrific Wii U game Pikmin 3. I had played the game Switch-style before there was a Nintendo Switch. There’s a photo of this. I’m at the Daytona Beach airport, Wii U plugged into a wall socket and no TV in sight as I played Pikmin 3…
By Stephen Totilo Published October 8, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsThe Solitaire Conspiracy Makes Card Games Look Cool AF
I’ve never been more enthralled by virtual playing cards as I have been playing The Solitaire Conspiracy, the latest game from Bithell Games, of Thomas Was Alone and Volume fame. Once the cards finish falling, it’s a clever twist on the classic solo card game with a heaping helping of video game personality Greg Miller.…
By Mike Fahey Published October 7, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsRainy Season Is Incredibly Chill
It’s the time of year for a lot of big, loud and explosive games, so if at any time you’re feeling in need of a palate cleanser, you could always check out Rainy Season A very small, very quick game by Inasa Fujio, it puts you in the role of a Japanese boy whose plans…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 6, 2020 -
OpinionImpressionsWe’ve Finally Got A Great Game Of Thrones Game
After a number of bombs and false starts, and a glorious mod that doesn’t count because it’s a mod, there’s finally a very good, official Game of Thrones video game. And all the developers had to do was port a board game to the PC. As we’ve written here loads of times, the Game of…
By Luke Plunkett Published October 6, 2020 -
OpinionImpressions20 Hours With Baldur’s Gate 3‘s Buggy Early Access Version
My time with Baldur’s Gate 3 can best be summed up by what it made me do: After spending all of Saturday playing it, I re-downloaded Divinity Original Sin 2, a game I previously played for over 100 hours Original Sin 2 is one of my favorite games, so BG3 deserves serious credit for reigniting…
By Nathan Grayson Published October 6, 2020 -
OpinionAsk KotakuDo You Usually Buy Consoles Near Launch?
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: Do you usually buy consoles near launch? Ian As a kid, new consoles were a rarity in my household. It’s funny telling people that I basically…
By Alexandra Hall Published October 5, 2020
