Reviews Archives - Page 47 of 129

Chrono Trigger: The Kotaku Review

In the mid-nineties, at the approach of the millennium, the creators of Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest combined their considerable talents in the hopes of creating the ultimate Japanese role-playing game. What resulted was Chrono Trigger, considered not only one of the best games of the era but also one of the high-water marks for…

By Chris Kohler Published May 31, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Pillars Of Eternity II: The Kotaku Review

Toward the end of my time with pirate RPG Pillars of Eternity II, one of my crew members, foul-mouthed furball Serafen, presented me with a gift. It was a garment meant to be worn by a captain, he said, but after witnessing me pass so many difficult moral tests with flying colors, he’d decided captaining…

By Nathan Grayson Published May 29, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Dark Souls Remastered: The Kotaku Review

When Dark Souls released in 2011, it helped solidify a new genre of action RPG. Since then, players have held onto the game, with fight clubs and massive, yearly revisitations. Dark Souls is more ritual than game at this point, and it was only inevitable that we’d get a remaster. I think I’m okay with…

By Heather Alexandra Published May 29, 2018

ReviewsPS4

Detroit: Become Human: The Kotaku Review

The PS4’s latest blockbuster moviegame Detroit: Become Human is like something my Alexa would come up with, were I to ask her to write a story about androids with feelings. As I imagine it, the vaguely sinister, sporadically helpful digital assistant that currently resides on my desk would quickly synthesize a bunch of pop sci-fi…

By Kirk Hamilton Published May 24, 2018

ReviewsXBox

State Of Decay 2: The Kotaku Review

It’s easy to get in over your head in the open-world zombie survival game State of Decay 2 A call for help came in over the radio, and my follower and I set out for a nearby farmhouse. We had plenty of ammo, full health, and brand new melee weapons. The sun was shining brightly.…

By Stacie Ponder Published May 22, 2018

ReviewsSwitch

Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition: The Kotaku Video Review

Hyrule Warriors came out for the Nintendo Wii U in 2014. It came out for the Nintendo 3DS in 2016. In 2018, Nintendo finally looked “Hyrule Warriors” up in the dictionary. That’s my joke about the word “definitive”! Don’t worry. I, uh, I won’t make another one, much as I would like to. A Musou…

By Tim Rogers Published May 16, 2018

ReviewsPC

Spy Party: The Kotaku Early Access Review

Someone is a spy and you need to take them out. There’s only thirty seconds left for them to bug the ambassador and complete their mission. You see movement out of the corner of your eye? Is that balding man reaching towards the ambassador’s pocket? You take the shot and the party goers scream. Over…

Gita Jackson & Heather Alexandra Published April 20, 2018

ReviewsSwitch

Nintendo Labo: The Kotaku Review

The first question you might have about Labo is: what’s so special about a box of cardboard and some mini-games? And the first thing to understand about Labo is that what’s actually in the box is only part of the appeal. What’s more valuable is what this tiny cartridge and its accompanying sheets of cardboard…

By Keza MacDonald Published April 20, 2018

ReviewsPS4

God Of War: The Kotaku Review

There’s a telling scene very early on in the new God of War, in the denouement of an exhausting battle sequence that ends with Kratos and his young son Atreus taking down a massive troll. Dad’s done most of the work, with the arrows fired from Atreus’s bow only contributing a bit of damage to…

By Chris Kohler Published April 20, 2018

ReviewsPS4

Yakuza 6: The Kotaku Review

Yakuza 6 is a game of firsts. It’s also a game of lasts. It’s a first because, having creaked along using outdated tech for a number of recent releases, Yakuza 6 is the first game in the series to feel truly “next-gen” thanks to its new “Dragon” (of course it’s called that) engine. You might…

By Luke Plunkett Published April 17, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Sea Of Thieves: The Kotaku Review

Playing Sea of Thieves feels a bit like working in a theater before the set has been completely built. There’s plenty of space to goof around and a few swords in the wings to have mock fights with, but none of its quite ready for show time. A lack of features and polish has frustrated…

By Heather Alexandra Published April 6, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

A Way Out: The Kotaku Review

A Way Out merges narrative games with couch co-op, and the result is a smart and emotional experience so good that it had to be reviewed by two Kotaku writers. We’ve never played a cooperative experience like it. The game cannot be played alone. It takes two players to guide a pair of convicts, a…

Heather Alexandra & Gita Jackson Published March 26, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Far Cry 5: The Kotaku Review

I’ve spent a long time trekking across Far Cry 5’s fictional Hope County, Montana fighting the members of an apocalyptic cult led by a man called Joseph Seed, and I’m still not sure what their deal is. They drive around blasting weird Christian synth and shooting non-members on sight. It’s weird and terrifying and unsatisfyingly…

By Ethan Gach Published March 26, 2018

ReviewsBoard Games

Vengeance: The Kotaku Review

Vengeance is what happens when someone takes the murderous revenge tale of movies like Kill Bill and turns them into a board game. Or at least tries to. A game for 1-4 players, Vengeance puts you in control of a person who has been wronged at the hands of criminal gangs, and who is now…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 25, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Ni no Kuni II: The Kotaku Review

It can be difficult, as a jaded adult, to appreciate a great fairy tale—one where the hero always wins and naivety is a character strength rather than something to grow out of. So it is with Ni no Kuni II. But if you can look past this game’s more childish tendencies, you’ll find a fairy…

By Jason Schreier Published March 23, 2018

ReviewsSwitch

Kirby Star Allies: The Kotaku Review

Great games are interesting, as are terrible ones. Mediocrity’s a bore. Too bad Nintendo’s newest Kirby game is just that. Kirby Star Allies is the Nintendo Switch debut for a franchise that was on a hot streak in recent years on 3DS. It boasts the same top designers as 2014’s Kirby: Triple Deluxe and 2016’s…

By Stephen Totilo Published March 16, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Kingdom Come: Deliverance: The Kotaku Review

Kingdom Come: Deliverance was a grand idea. In a genre awash with fantasy epics, it sought to ground a role-playing adventure not in some distant and imaginary land, but in history. There would be no wizards, no dragons, no giant rats—just you, a horse, some mud, and a cast of flawed human beings. Drawing on…

By Luke Plunkett Published March 14, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Secret Of Mana: The Kotaku Review

Secret of Mana is a broken game that I will always love. Playing through the recent remake forced me to reckon with why that is. Originally released by Square in 1993 on the Super Nintendo, Secret of Mana is the textbook example of the “action role-playing game.” Like any RPG, the damage you do to…

By Chris Kohler Published March 9, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Metal Gear Survive: The Kotaku Review

Metal Gear Survive is wreckage of the long battle between the series’ lead creator, Hideo Kojima, and Konami, his long-time employer who ditched him three years ago. Kojima split with Konami after a lifetime of making Metal Gear games, going back to the first in 1987. Survive is Konami’s attempt to make a new one…

By Heather Alexandra Published March 7, 2018

ReviewsHardwareComputers

Zotac Magnus EK71080 Mini PC Review: A Powerful Little Black Box

Zotac is renowned for making powerful mini PCs. Zotac also makes the world’s smallest Nvidia Geforce GTX 1080 graphics card. Combine those two things and you’ve got one heck of a powerful small black box. There are several ways to make a very small gaming PC. One way is to make a gaming laptop without…

By Mike Fahey Published March 5, 2018