Reviews Archives - Page 49 of 130

Black Fleet: The Kotaku Review

There are too many board games about pirates. But Black Fleet is one you should fight through the fatigue for. It’s similar in scope to other buccaneering board games, since it involves merchants carrying goods across the Caribbean and pirates raiding (or trying to raid) them. But where Black Fleet is cool is that it…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 13, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

The Longest Five Minutes: The Kotaku Review

The Longest Five Minutes presents its basic fantasy tale as a series of flashbacks experienced by its amnesiac main character during the game’s final battle. It takes an otherwise generic retro turn-based RPG and turns it into something special. Wait, I’m already at the end of the review? How did I get here? Oh wait.…

By Mike Fahey Published February 13, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Dragon Quest Builders: The Kotaku Review

Here is how I play Minecraft: Step one: find a tree. Step two: build a house. Step three: walk in one direction for five minutes. Step four: get bored, turn off the game. If only there was something like Minecraft, but with tangible goals. And if only it was also… a JRPG? Dragon Quest Builders,…

By Jason Schreier Published February 9, 2018

ReviewsPC

Civilization VI: Rise and Fall: The Kotaku Review

It took Civilization V two full expansions to become the classic it’s regarded as today. Civilization VI is halfway there. While my 2016 review of Civ VI was glowing, it did come with the historical reservation that Civilization games are so big, and their design process so ever-evolving, that they’re rarely a masterpiece from the…

By Luke Plunkett Published February 7, 2018

ReviewsPS4

Shadow Of The Colossus: The Kotaku Review

It’s strange to think about it now, 12 years later, but there was a time when I wondered if Shadow of the Colossus was going to be any good. I was a big fan of its predecessor, Ico, and when the doors opened at E3 2005 I beelined for the Sony booth to get a…

By Chris Kohler Published February 6, 2018

Reviews

Football: The Kotaku Review

If Football—that is, the American National Football League football—used the same naming scheme as “Dungeons & Dragons,” we’d call it “Beer Commercials & Cheerleaders.” Like dungeons and dragons, beer commercials and cheerleaders are two things that not everyone likes. They are also, however, not The Point of their respective games: they are simply nouns which…

Tim Rogers Published February 4, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

EA UFC 3: The Kotaku Review

In MMA, there are fighters who’ve got all the potential in the world, but continually fail to put the pieces together. My heart breaks each time they steal a round from a canny vet, only to be force-fed a diet of dirt and canvas dust in the second. A slip or two on the way…

By Nathan Grayson Published February 2, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

Celeste: The Kotaku Review

Celeste is pure. Each room offers new challenges, but the solution is always the same: jump. Jumping is remixed in dozens of different, exciting ways. Celeste is the very soul of simplicity, and that’s what makes it such a beautiful game. Celeste tells the story of Madeline, a young woman on a journey to climb…

By Heather Alexandra Published January 25, 2018

ReviewsBoard Games

Raiders Of The North Sea: The Kotaku Review

Raiders of the North Sea is the brightest, breeziest way to pillage the shores of Europe I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing. It’s a worker placement game for 2-4 players, where everyone is in competition to build up a crew of bloodthirsty marauders, secure provisions then head out raiding monasteries and villages in an…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 17, 2018

ReviewsBoard Games

Android: Netrunner: The Kotaku Review

The card game Android: Netrunner does not feel like a game. Jacked into its system, Android: Netrunner’s thorny mechanics melt away until all that’s left are electric impulses in my brain interfacing with my opponents’. It becomes a stylish dance of psychology. Android: Netrunner is not a new card game, but it’s the most captivating…

By Cecilia D'Anastasio Published January 17, 2018

ReviewsBoard Games

Scythe: The Wind Gambit: The Kotaku Review

Scythe is one of my favourite board games of the last few years, and having missed its first expansion I was super excited to drop back into the game to test out its second, the airship-based Wind Gambit Having begun as a game about mechs and workers stomping their boots around the grasslands of an…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 9, 2018

ReviewsBoard Games

Civilization: A New Dawn: The Kotaku Review

It’s hard work, turning a video game into a board game. Video games are big, sprawling pieces of audio-visual entertainment. They come packed with AI, can resolve battles in an instant and look fantastic while doing it all. It’s unfair to ask a board game, with its sedate pacing, books full of rules and cardboard…

By Luke Plunkett Published January 4, 2018

Reviews3DS

Style Savvy: Styling Star: The Kotaku Review

The best thing about the newest Style Savvy isn’t the cute outfits or the glamorous fantasy. It’s that it makes you feel good about helping people. Style Savvy is a series of games about running a boutique. In them, you have to stock a store and then sell clothing to customers. It’s your responsibility to…

By Gita Jackson Published January 3, 2018

ReviewsMultiplatform

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds: The Kotaku Review

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is straightforward. Dump 100 players onto a map, tell them that only one person can win, and watch them tear each other apart. It is brutal and base, violent and wonderful. It’s a game that could only be made in 2017, for better or worse. Battlegrounds, which officially launched on PC this week…

By Heather Alexandra Published December 22, 2017

ReviewsYear in Review

Fahey’s Top 10 Games Of 2017

Here are Fahey's favorite games from the year of our lord 2017

By Mike Fahey Published December 21, 2017

ReviewsBoard Games

Fallout: The Board Game: The Kotaku Review

Fallout: The Board Game is as faithful an adaptation of the source material as you could possibly hope for. There have been other good video-to-board games, sure—Doom most recently—but its similarities were merely thematic. Fantasy Flight’s Fallout game, on the other hand, has been built from the ground up to play the same on a…

By Luke Plunkett Published December 12, 2017

ReviewsSwitch

The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild: The Champions’ Ballad: The Kotaku Review

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s second piece of downloadable content, The Champions’ Ballad, is a distillation of everything the game does well. Its collection of puzzle shrines holds some of the most inspired moments of the series, culminating in a wonderfully complex final dungeon. It is a strong end to the DLC…

By Heather Alexandra Published December 12, 2017

ReviewsMultiplatform

Reigns: Her Majesty: The Kotaku Review

In my time as queen in Reigns: Her Majesty, I was torn apart by my subjects, eaten by wolves, and burned at the stake. I had affairs with pagan women, barbarian queens from other lands, and rakish explorers of new worlds. I was coronated again and again, born anew to rule once more. You’re always…

By Gita Jackson Published December 7, 2017

ReviewsMultiplatform

Nine Parchments: The Kotaku Review

When an explosion at the Astral Academy scatters nine magical parchments to the four winds, a group of irresponsible students sets off on an adventure to retrieve the lost magic for their own mischievous use. At least it should be a group. Action RPG Nine Parchments can be played alone, but where’s the fun in…

By Mike Fahey Published December 7, 2017

ReviewsMultiplatform

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp: The Kotaku Review

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, the new sequel of Nintendo’s cute neighborhood series for cellphones, is Animal Crossing but a bit more stressful. I love it and hate it at the same time. Pocket Camp takes elements from a few different Animal Crossing games and shoves them into a mobile app that’s surprisingly robust. It has…

By Gita Jackson Published December 1, 2017