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ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of The Nintendo Switch In 2020
It’s hard to imagine what the state of the Nintendo Switch would look like right now if 2020 hadn’t been so horrible. What could have been one of the hardware’s more stagnant years turned into one of its most memorable, when the soothing escapism of Animal Crossing met a world desperately in need of a…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of Xbox In 2020
This time last year, Microsoft’s current flagship console was little more than a swanky video spot aired during a swanky awards show. Now, it’s the capstone to one of the biggest years for Xbox in recent memory. Time sure works in funny ways. Yes, it’s been almost one year to the day since Microsoft officially…
By Ari Notis -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Worst Video Games Names Of 2020
What’s in a name? When it comes to games… not much. Games can be great and have terrible, awful, dumb names. In fact, many games on this list are good games that are just unfortunately saddled with an awful title Some of these names are silly, some are dumb, some don’t really make sense, others…
By Zack Zwiezen -
ReviewsYear in ReviewZack Zwiezen’s Top 10 Games Of 2020
When I first sat down to put together this list, I wrote down two titles and then sat and thought for a while about what else I played. I think this year has thrown my whole mind into a strange funk, because I couldn’t even name 10 games I had played, let alone loved. But…
By Zack Zwiezen -
ReviewsToysHow The Decepticons Nearly Stole Christmas
The battle between the Autobots and Decepticons is a serious conflict spanning millions of years. Hasbro’s new holiday-themed Transformers stop-motion short recalls the time Megatron and his cronies very nearly stole Christmas from Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, Windblade, and Grimlock. It’s nice to see million-year-old robots from another planet embracing human traditions. One would think being…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsMultiplatformCyberpunk 2077’s Character Creator: The Kotaku Review
The thing that interested me the most about Cyberpunk 2077 was its character creator. I’m someone who’s spent a lot of her time thinking about character creators and how they work for people who are not cis, white, able bodied, or male. I had hope that Cyberpunk’s creator would meaningfully include the wealth of human…
By Ash Parrish -
ReviewsMultiplatformImmortals: Fenyx Rising: The Kotaku Review
Immortals: Fenyx Rising isn’t the game I was expecting. I was prepared for a big Ubisoft open-world action game filled with colorful vistas, Greek gods, and some elements inspired by The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild. It is all of that, but it’s not just Assassin’s Creed: Hyrule. It’s a welcome streamlining of…
By Zack Zwiezen -
ReviewsMultiplatformDestiny 2: Beyond Light: The Kotaku Review
A new year, a new expansion, a new Destiny 2. With Beyond Light, Bungie’s six-year-old loot shooter looks as beautiful and feels as good to play as it ever has, complete with small quality-of-life improvements and a satisfying story that delves into some of the series’ longstanding mysteries and even offers a few, uncharacteristically human…
By Ethan Gach -
ReviewsSwitchHyrule Warriors: Age Of Calamity: The Kotaku Review
Lady Urbosa. You can play as Lady Urbosa. That’s it. That’s the review. We could end the discussion about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity right here and you’d have a pretty good understanding of the game. It has Lady Urbosa and you can play as her. She was my favorite character in 2017’s The Legend…
By Ash Parrish -
ReviewsPlayStationSackboy: A Big Adventure: The Kotaku Review
Ever since the launch of the original LittleBigPlanet back in 2009, I’ve wanted a full, proper game starring Media Molecule’s stitched-together mascot, without any of the building tools that are the main focus of the series. Now I have that in PS5 launch title Sackboy: A Big Adventure, a mostly non-threatening platformer with great music.…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsPlayStationDemon’s Souls: The Kotaku Review
Demon’s Souls, released last Thursday for the PlayStation 5, is a monumental achievement for developer Bluepoint Games. While the From Software original on PlayStation 3 was already considered one of the best games of all time, Bluepoint’s acted like a tumbler, sanding away the 2009 cult classic’s rough edges and leaving behind a beautiful, next-generation…
By Ian Walker -
ReviewsToysLego Super Mario Kicks Off 2021 With A Bunch Of New Sets
The already expansive Lego Super Mario line expands even more come January 1, with the launch of a new series of character packs, Tanuki and Penguin Mario power-up packs, three new expansions, and a new creative toolbox called the Master Your Adventure Maker Set. Now that kids of all ages have figured out how to…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsVideo GamesCall Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War: The Kotaku Review
Call Of Duty: Black Ops Cold War launched on November 13 across multiple platforms, marking the first Call of Duty title to support cross-gen crossplay. Even during a pandemic and a shortened development cycle, we get all the Black Ops goodness we could expect from a Treyarch Call of Duty. There’s a paranoid-filled campaign with…
By S.E. Doster -
ReviewsHardwareGame SystemsXbox Series X: The Kotaku Review
The Xbox Series X does not feel like the kind of machine we usually get at the start of a new generation, when we’re used to clean breaks with radical new hardware that basically starts our time with a PlayStation, Xbox, or Nintendo device over. Instead, the Series X feels like another version of Microsoft’s…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsMultiplatformAssassin’s Creed: Valhalla: The Kotaku Review
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla, a huge game made during a pandemic and with its own studio and parent company in crisis, is a game trying to do some difficult things. The first Assassin’s Creed in two years, and the 12th major Assassin’s Creed overall, it is the work of creators who are trying to honor the…
By Zack Zwiezen -
ReviewsHardwareGame SystemsPlayStation 5: The Kotaku Review
I’m sitting at my desk, staring at the PlayStation 5 looming over my media stand—“entertainment center” is a little too grandiose for the small piece of Target furniture that holds all my gaming stuff—and wondering how the hell I’m going to review this thing. How would my boss, whose various PlayStation 4 reviews I’ve skimmed several times…
By Ian Walker
