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Tekken World Tour Announces Drastic Improvements For 2019
It feels like only yesterday that the fighting game community watched surprise South Korean competitor Hyeon-ho “Rangchu” Jeong crowned global Tekken 7 champion in Amsterdam. It wasn’t, obviously, but it was only three months ago, and the folks behind the Tekken World Tour already have new details to share about what competitors can expect from…
By Ian Walker -
Thanks to today’s Jump Force update, players can now skip the game’s hideous, frozen-faced cutscenes. The first big patch, already out on PS4 and PC and coming soon to Xbox One, also greatly improves load times and offers various battle and stability fixes. And hey, the fighting is still fine.
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsJump Force Does A Lot Of Stuff Wrong, But The Fighting’s Fine
There are many things that bother me about Jump Force, Bandai Namco’s all-star anime fighting game. There’s the massive roster that has only three female characters. The jarring dissonance between the plastic, lifeless anime characters and the realistic textures of their clothing. The jilted gait my character affects while exploring the game’s expansive yet largely…
By Mike Fahey -
OpinionImpressionsGod Eater 3 Is Like Monster Hunter But Simpler
The God Eater series is Bandai Namco’s take on Monster Hunter, and while not nearly as big or deep as the best games in that series, God Eater 3 does a good job of making up for those shortcomings with flashy combat and an apocalyptic backdrop that helps raise the stakes. God Eater 3, which…
By Ethan Gach -
Ace Combat 7′s Most Lovable Character Is A Picture Of A Dog
The cutscenes in Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown take place in gorgeously rendered environments populated by excellent 3D character models. Also, this static picture of a very good dog. Introduced in a lengthy cutscene leading into the game’s sixth mission, Ace Combat Dog sits stoically by its master’s side. Its tail never wags in excitement.…
By Mike Fahey -
Ace Combat 7 Is A Proper Ace Combat Game
Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown delivers the supremely satisfying air combat players crave and the melodramatic narrative we’ve come to expect. There’s nothing quite like shooting down drones while your squadron calls you “murderer.” Ace Combat has been serving the arcade-style dogfight loving public for more than two decades. Since 1995’s Air Combat for the…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryOne Of My Favorite Tales Role-Playing Games Just Got Better
Tales of Vesperia is one of the best entries in the long-running Tales series. Originally released worldwide in 2008 for the Xbox 360, it came out on PS3 only in Japan in 2009 with extra playable characters, a more fleshed-out story, full voice acting, new mini-games and more. Nearly a decade later, Bandai Namco finally gives…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureKotaku Game Diary
Nier Automata‘s 2B Is Too Good For SoulCalibur VI
When SoulCalibur VI launched with The Witcher’s Geralt as a playable character, I was like, “Okay, that makes sense. He’ll fit in.” This week Bandai Namco added Nier Automata’s android protagonist 2B to the mix, and well, I feel bad for the rest of the roster. She’s too much for them. It’s not YoRHa No.…
By Mike Fahey -
CultureKotaku Game DiaryKatamari Damacy Never Fails To Roll Me Up Into A Ball Of Joy
While there’s no recapturing the weird and wonderful feeling of playing Katamari Damacy for the first time, this week’s remaster Katamari Damacy Reroll brings all of the joy of the original tumbling right back. For those of you who’ve not had the pleasure, Katamari Damacy was a 2004 game for the PlayStation 2 that introduced…
By Mike Fahey -
Both Switch And PS4 Versions Of Taiko No Tatsujin Are Fun In Different Ways
It’s a good year for drum-based rhythm games. Hot on the heels of the wonderfully quirky Gal Metal for the Switch, Bandai Namco’s released two new Taiko no Tatsujin drum games, one for Nintendo’s console and one for PlayStation 4. Which one to get depends on which sort of rhythm gamer you are. Taiko no…
By Mike Fahey -
The Weirdest Soulcalibur VI Character Creations
SoulCalibur IV includes the most robust custom character creation tool in series history. The game’s only been out for four days, and already the internet is flooded with twisted player creations, and not all of them have giant fake cocks. The character creation tool in SoulCalibur VI is ridiculously feature rich. Players can choose between…
By Mike Fahey -
Soulcalibur VI’s Story Mode Does Geralt Dirty
Bandai Namco’s fighting game does an excellent job of portraying the personality and likeness of The Witcher 3 protagonist, but fails to make good on the full crossover potential CD Projekt Red blessed it with. Soulcalibur VI’s Geralt moves like a witcher and talks like a witcher but spends most of the game’s story mode…
By Ethan Gach -
Soulcalibur VI Is A Fresh Reboot Of Its Eternally Retold Tale
The Soulcalibur franchise needed either a hard reboot or an adrenaline shot, and Soulcalibur VI is both. The latest entry in the fighting game series, available October 19, circles back for a do-over of the first few Soulcalibur games, retelling the major characters’ stories all over again and even putting everyone back in their original…
By Maddy Myers -
For Some Reason, Soulcalibur VI‘s Tira Is In The Beta, But Still Sold Separately As DLC
Last month, Soulcalibur fans were disappointed to learn that longtime series regular Tira was not on the main roster for Soulcalibur VI, instead relegated to day one paid downloadable content. She did, however, make it onto the roster for this weekend’s free network test. Great. It’s understandable that fans of the series would be upset…
By Mike Fahey -
ReviewsMultiplatformDragon Ball FighterZ: The Kotaku Review
Dragon Ball games are for Dragon Ball fans. Fighting games are for fighting game fans. Dragon Ball FighterZ is both of those things, and it’s for everybody. This piece originally appeared 1/30/18. We’re bumping it today for the game’s release on Switch. Combining a beloved series spanning 34 years of manga volumes and anime episodes…
By Mike Fahey -
Tales of Vesperia Definitive Edition arrives on PS4, Xbox One, PC and Switch on January 11, 2019. If you played the North American Xbox 360 version without all the cool Japanese Ps3 exclusive stuff that’s being included in the Definitive Edition, you pretty much failed as a Tales fan. Sorry.
By Mike Fahey -
Dragon Ball FighterZ gets its next update on May 9. It adds new modes, including Party Battle where three players team up to fight over-powered bosses, and fixes a number of bugs. It also tinkers with some characters like Goku Black, but doesn’t do much over all in the balance department.
By Ethan Gach