Reviews Archives - Page 37 of 128

Concrete Genie Takes Too Long To Get To The Fun Stuff

When I started Concrete Genie, a new PlayStation 4 exclusive out now from Pixelopus, I was swept into its world. The game’s setting is lush and alive, its narrative heartwarming: A latchkey kid named Ash constantly revisits the ruins of Denska, the once-thriving port town he grew up in, to doodle. Denska has been abandoned…

By Natalie Degraffinried Published October 8, 2019

ReviewsToys

‘My Partner Pikachu’ Is A Cold Hard Plastic Pokénomaton, But I Still Love Him

My Partner Pikachu is not a soft stuffed animal. He is not warm nor is he snuggly. He is an electronic interactive toy. He is plastic, stuffed with circuits, batteries, LED lights, and speakers, all held together with cold metal screws. He makes Pikachu noises while his arms and ears wave and his cheeks glow.…

By Mike Fahey Published October 4, 2019

ReviewsPC

Magic: The Gathering Arena: The Kotaku Review

Magic: The Gathering Arena isn’t the same as ripping open Magic packs with your childhood best friend on a sunny park bench, but it is the next best thing. The digital card game, available on PC, smooths down the coarser aspects of paper Magic games, making for an easy landing pad for newbies and a…

By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published September 26, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

FIFA 20 vs PES 2020: Which Is Better?

I can’t remember the last time both of these games so underwhelmed. In recent years both have had their individual highs and lows. FIFA’s last pre-Frostbite seasons were rough, and PES has long been walking a knife’s edge between eccentric brilliance and outright embarrassment. Every time one stumbled, though, the other was there to carry…

By Luke Plunkett Published September 24, 2019

ReviewsToys

Start Off Your Day With A Bowl Of Legend Of Zelda Lego Cereal

Lego artist Baron Von Brunk, builder of transforming Game Boys and massive working NES controllers, is pioneering a new method of stop-motion animation featuring a mix of custom-built Lego puppets and live-action shots. This new project begins, appropriately enough, with a complete The Legend of Zelda breakfast. Instead of using the iconic Lego minifigure, as…

By Mike Fahey Published September 24, 2019

ReviewsPC

I Love You, Colonel Sanders!: The Kotaku Review

The difference between I Love You, Colonel Sanders! A Finger Lickin’ Good Dating Simulator and the dating sims I’ve enjoyed is sincerity. That’s hard to come by in a game that’s actually about making its players fall in love with the idea of buying fried chicken. Dating games and visual novels in general often find…

By Gita Jackson Published September 24, 2019

ReviewsETC

Finding A Snake In Your House: The Kotaku Review

I don’t have a problem with snakes, spiders, scorpions or any other small and potentially dangerous creatures that lurk outside. That’s their territory. I get it. But when one of these things comes into my apartment, I find it annoying. It also is a terrible thing to come home to in the middle of the…

By Zack Zwiezen Published September 21, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

Borderlands 3: The Kotaku Review

Take a bag of potato chips—any brand, anywhere—and you more or less know what you’re going to get. Crispy, greasy salt and oil delivered via thin layers of starch, they make a mess of crumbs and grease, and they’re terribly delicious, extremely difficult to stop eating once you’ve caved into the first, and likely to…

By Joshua Rivera Published September 20, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

Untitled Goose Game: The Kotaku Review

The way Untitled Goose Game’s goose moves, I think, is what makes it so endearing. Its self-assured waddle. The way it leans its feathered neck forward, with an almost innocent inquisitiveness, before turning on some poor guy’s sprinklers and drenching him. How it flaps and flutters after its plans have been thwarted by a human,…

By Nathan Grayson Published September 20, 2019

ReviewsHardwareGame Systems

Nintendo Switch Lite: The Kotaku Review

The Nintendo Switch Lite is one of the finest handheld gaming devices I’ve ever used. It’s sturdy, stylish, and comfortable. It launches with a library that’s already over 2,500 games strong. If all you’re looking for from the Nintendo Switch is personal, portable play, it’s perfect. But is that all you’re looking for? From its…

By Mike Fahey Published September 19, 2019

ReviewsSwitch

The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening: The Kotaku Review

The best feeling you can possibly feel while playing a video game is the act of swinging a sword in Zelda. I came to this conclusion recently, while playing the new remake of Link’s Awakening and trying to pinpoint exactly what it is that makes me love Zelda games so much. The answer, I think,…

By Jason Schreier Published September 19, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

Sayonara Wild Hearts: The Kotaku Review

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a shining example of using a game’s design to say something meaningful while also making it look cool as hell. The game controls simply with the analog stick and a single button. What makes it stand out is its music, its look, and its mood. Sayonara Wild Hearts tells the story…

By Paul Tamayo Published September 18, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

NBA 2K20 MyCareer: The Kotaku Review

NBA 2K20 is one of the best sports games I’ve played in a long time. It’s also a giant scam that is perpetually gross, and sometimes even terrifying, to be around. This might sound weird considering this is a sports game, but 2K’s basketball titles are some of the hardest things I ever have to…

By Luke Plunkett Published September 17, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

Greedfall: The Kotaku Review

In many ways, Spiders’ latest, Greedfall, does what it sets out to do. It provides a role-playing adventure comparable to BioWare’s most compelling narratives, with companions to meet and recruit, quests to discover, and more. But Greedfall’s tendency to settle for the barest possible option constantly weakens it. Whether that is an unwillingness to reckon…

By Heather Alexandra Published September 17, 2019

ReviewsControllers

Big, Beefy Switch Controllers For Big, Beefy Hands

Joy-Cons are small. They are designed so that Switch can be a sleek, nearly-seamless handheld gaming device. Hori’s Split Pad Pro is what happens when ideas like “small” and “sleek” and “not ridiculous” are tossed out the window. The more I play with them, gripping them in my larger-than-average hands, the less I mind their…

By Mike Fahey Published September 16, 2019

ReviewsMultiplatform

Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers: The Kotaku Review

Shadowbringers, the latest expansion to Final Fantasy XIV, released two months ago, and I cannot begin to fathom the amount of time I have spent in the worlds of Eorzea and Norvrandt. Shadowbringers is one of Final Fantasy’s finest stories, buoyed by powerful music and sweeping gameplay changes that make job classes sleek and enjoyable.…

By Heather Alexandra Published September 13, 2019

ReviewsToys

I Have Several Issues With This Year’s Halloween Pokémon Toys

Pikachu as Mimikyu. Charmander as Cubone. Lucario and Celebi as live-action role-players. This year’s batch of special Halloween-themed “Pumpkin Parade” plushies from The Pokémon Company are adorable at first glance. But if you look closely, the cute facade begins to crumble. Let’s start with Charmander wearing another Pokémon’s dead mother’s skull as a costume. Depending…

By Mike Fahey Published September 13, 2019

ReviewsSwitch

Daemon X Machina: The Kotaku Review

Daemon X Machina, out September 13 from Marvelous, is a game about gigantic customizable mechs. Here is another way to describe it: the worst filler episode of your favorite anime series. It is a mess of a game, with a story mode chock full of unintelligible cutscenes, repetitious anime tropes, and a core of mech…

By Natalie Degraffinried Published September 13, 2019

ReviewsToys

Lego’s Gingerbread House Holds Disturbing Secrets

Every year around this time, Lego unveils the latest expansion to its ever-growing Winter Village line of sets and I bemoan not having a massive basement to deck out in blocky holiday cheer. This year’s addition, the $100 Gingerbread House, looks like the perfect standalone piece for brick fans with limited room. Whereas sets like…

By Mike Fahey Published September 12, 2019

ReviewsHardwareGame Systems

Sega Genesis Mini: The Kotaku Review

Sega was always more loved than it was successful. At no point was the maker of the Genesis and Dreamcast the worldwide leader in video games. When it succeeded in America, it fell short in Japan, and vice versa. The Genesis Mini is an encapsulation of that moment when it came closest to victory—a reminder…

By Chris Kohler Published September 12, 2019