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ReviewsYear in ReviewEthan Gach’s Top 10 Games of 2019
It’s been a bad year for great games, but a great year for good ones. I say that not to disparage any particular game, big or small, but rather to help explain why this was the hardest list of games I’ve put together since I started writing for Kotaku three years ago. While a few…
By Ethan Gach Published December 23, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewZack Zwiezen’s Top 10 Games Of 2019
2019 was a weird year for games. Some great stuff was released in the last 12 months, but there was also a lot of stuff released in 2019 that felt too broken or unfinished. There was also a feeling that this generation of consoles has hit its breaking point. A lot of games were almost…
By Zack Zwiezen Published December 22, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Biggest Video Game Disappointments Of 2019
We had such high hopes for 2019, and then it happened. Sure, there was good stuff, but there were some downers, and that’s what we’re talking about today. Oh, the disappointments the year brought! There was that glitchy Red Dead Redemption 2 launch on PC, Ubisoft’s release of a new take on Ghost Recon that…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 20, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Year In Fighting Game Championships
Fighting games have never been as big or monetarily supported as they were in 2019. Every major fighting game franchise had a developer-backed tour leading into a major championship, many featuring some of the largest prize pools of all time. But if it’s never been easier to make a career out of playing fighting games,…
By Ian Walker Published December 19, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Best Video Game Surprises Of 2019
A lot happened in 2019, and we did not see all of it coming. We didn’t expect Sony to just start blabbing about the PlayStation 5, and we certainly didn’t think we’d first see the next Xbox (officially titled Xbox Series X) during a trailer at The Game Awards. We didn’t anticipate that Reggie Fils-Aime’s…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 19, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Gamers Of The Year, 2019
Our annual list of gamers of the year is based on a simple premise: that the people who play video games are an integral part of overall gaming culture. In past years, we’ve honored gamers who’ve made news and, often enough, been a positive influence on gaming or the world at large. We do so…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 18, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewLuke Plunkett’s Top 10 Games Of 2019
I’m going to get this out of the way upfront: I did not think 2019 was a great year for video games. Between the dying days of a console generation and the divisive nature of some of the big contenders, this is the hardest I’ve ever had to work to put together a list of…
By Luke Plunkett Published December 17, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewHeather Alexandra’s Top 10 Games Of 2019
2019 might be the strangest year of my life so far. It felt more like a full decade compressed into 365 days. But there was, as always, video games. So many video games. Many of them were fantastic. My previous years at Kotaku were defined by a voracious consumption of any and all games, but…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 16, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Decade In Five Games
It’s true: Five is a ridiculous number for summing up a decade’s worth of video games. It’s far too small. One can’t even put together an already-insufficient list of one game per year with that little real estate. You should know, then, that this is a different kind of list. This isn’t a list of…
By Joshua Rivera Published December 12, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe Most Underrated Games Of The Decade
The decade has come and gone, with the passage of time once again showing that we live in a meaningless universe where we ultimately die. But hey! There were some cool video games along the way. Caught in that catalogue were countless games that were woefully misunderstood, never getting the limelight they deserved. This is…
By Heather Alexandra Published December 11, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of PC Gaming In 2019
Sometimes, as borders erode, new fissures form in their wake. In 2019, more games flowed between PC and other platforms than ever before, but a single major division cracked the PC gaming landscape in half. This year’s central throughline was undoubtedly the titanic clash between Valve and Epic, with Epic snatching up every high-profile exclusive…
Nathan Grayson & Riley MacLeod Published December 5, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of The PlayStation 4 In 2019
PlayStations don’t tend to go quietly at the end of a console generation. The PS2 got God of War II a few months after the PS3 came out. The PS3 got one of its best exclusive games, The Last Of Us, just a few months before the PS4 launched. In 2019, it may have looked…
By Stephen Totilo Published December 4, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of Xbox One In 2019
Nearing the end of its life, the Xbox One feels less like a box for spinning video game discs and more like a platform for selling digital subscriptions. The pitch of a mostly-digital future that blew up in Microsoft’s face the year the Xbox One launched is now mostly here in 2019 and it’s not…
By Ethan Gach Published December 3, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in ReviewThe State Of The Nintendo Switch In 2019
2019 was the year of the Switch. Wii U is so far in the rear view mirror now that it all just feels like a bad dream. 2019 was the year that Nintendo proved that its console, a true hybrid machine that works just as well as a TV-based player as it does a portable,…
By Chris Kohler Published December 2, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in Review
The 102 Games I Played Last Year And The Ones I Recommend
For 13 years, I’ve been listing the games I’ve played each year. This used to be a means for me to log how many games I finished each year. These days, I use it as a way to tally the number of games I played in the past year, recommend some favorites and see how…
By Stephen Totilo Published January 3, 2019 -
ReviewsYear in Review
The 12 Best Video Games Of 2018
2018 has come and gone. As we do every year, Kotaku’s staff came together to play, consider, and debate the games that stood out to us. Here, in alphabetical order, are our top 12 video games of 2018. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey Celeste Dragonball FighterZ God of War Gris Hitman 2 Into The Breach Monster Hunter:…
By Riley MacLeod Published December 31, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in Review
Maddy’s Top 10 Games Of 2018
In 2018, I enjoyed playing some excellent games from, uh, 2017. It’s too bad that 2017 Maddy didn’t play Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Hollow Knight when they came out; if she had, they would have been on her 2017 best-of list. Luckily for current-day me, 2018 also had several great hits. Here are ten of…
By Maddy Myers Published December 28, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in Review
The Year In Video Game Skies, 2018
Skies are an integral part of many video games, the backdrop against which all the action takes place. Even the most underwhelming game can make you want to hang around and play a little longer if there’s some striking eye candy hanging up above. I started the end of the year roundup of video game…
By Ethan Gach Published December 28, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in Review
The Gamers Of The Year, 2018
At the close of every year, Kotaku highlights not just video games but gamers—people who did noteworthy or influential things in the world of video games. This year, we’ve decided to honor an entire community, one that did its best to group together and recover after a senseless, unthinkable tragedy. In the early afternoon on…
By Ethan Gach Published December 28, 2018 -
ReviewsYear in Review
Paul Tamayo’s Top 10 Games of 2018
2018’s games have blindsided me in many different ways, but one thing remains true: video games are straight up digital magic. Whether they make me emotional, sit on the edge of my seat or zone out for hours on end, I still feel that same wonder wash over my brain. Here are my top 10…
By Paul Tamayo Published December 27, 2018