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The Video Game Music That Helped Us Through 2020
26.12.2020
2020 was tough. There were nights we wondered where and how this year would end. Just when things seemed like they couldn’t get worse, they did time and again. On every level, it was difficult just to get through the day. One of the things that helped us through was music. Specifically, video game...
How A Dark Time-Traveling Fantasy Game Became the Original Fallout
26.12.2020
The end of the world was both darker and more humorous than anyone could have imagined, and in the original Fallout, released for the PC in 1997, gamers got to experience the apocalypse firsthand. The iconic, “War, war never changes,” introduction set the somber mood, which was written, strangely...
Ys VIII's Compelling Story Makes You Care About Every NPC
26.12.2020
I always approach classics with a certain sense of trepidation, especially if I’m playing them outside of their original release window. Games that might have truly been remarkable in their day and age might come across antiquated and difficult to endure in the present, especially with how much...
An Ode To The Games It Took Us Forever To Finish (Or How It Took Me Over Twenty Years To Finally Finish The First Suikoden)
26.12.2020
Hi Kotaku! The last time I was a weekend editor for Kotaku was way back in February and honestly, that seems like a lifetime ago. So much has happened since then that even looking back at my old articles feels like I’m peeking at a time capsule from a different age. Read more
Why Ice Levels Keep Showing Up In Video Games, Even Though Most Of Them Are Bad
25.12.2020
In games as in life, slipping and sliding on ice patches while torrents of snow transform your eyelashes into crystalline daggers can be frustrating, to say the least. And yet, ice and snow levels are a time-honored trope in video games. On this week’s episode of Kotaku’s Splitscreen podcast,...
Ari's Top 10 Games Of 2020
25.12.2020
The past year has been one endless, pitch-black night with a single burning, incandescent star: video games. I mean, can you imagine what 2020 would’ve been like without video games? I, for one, cannot. Better yet, it’s not like the annual release calendar was a dry spell, either. From tip to tail...
The Best Games For The Xbox Series X And S
25.12.2020
A new console generation usually means a new library of games. That’s not exactly the case with Microsoft’s Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S, at least not yet. There are few true next-gen exclusives. Instead, several recent Xbox games were released in both last-gen and next-gen versions.Read more
CD Projekt Red Faces Investor Lawsuit Over Cyberpunk’s Messy Launch
25.12.2020
Two weeks after the troubled launch of Cyberpunk 2077, CD Projekt Red is facing a class action lawsuit. But the filing isn’t on behalf of players who may feel burned over a pre-release cycle that hid the state of the game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Rather, it’s on behalf of investors.Read more
The Best Games For The PlayStation 5
25.12.2020
Congratulations! You weathered the queues and were able to nab a PlayStation 5. You’ve somehow finagled the thing into your TV stand and turned it on without issue. So, what comes next? Of all the options at your fingertips, which games deserve your time and energy?Read more
I Went On Vacation And Ended Up In A Video Game
25.12.2020
On a trip to a state park, I’m pretty sure my partner, my dog, and I stumbled into a video game. My own personal isekai.Read more
The Biggest Video Game Disappointments Of 2020
24.12.2020
God, this year sucked. Video games were supposed to be a reprieve from that, and in many ways they were. But in other ways they were just as messy, ill-fated, and broken as the year itself.Read more
Cyberpunk 2077: The Kotaku Review
24.12.2020
It’s been two weeks since Cyberpunk 2077 officially released. In my initial impressions, I wrote that I was ready for everyone—developer CD Projekt Red, the studio’s PR people, fans—to stop talking about the game and just let me play it. I’ve been playing steadily since before launch, but weeks...
John Walker’s Top 10 Games Of 2020
24.12.2020
The eternally burning tire fire that is 2020 hasn’t exactly been a laugh riot. And yet, as I reflect on what have been some of the most gruelling times I can remember, it’s interesting how much video games have played a part in getting me through. As pure colorful distraction, or even daily...
I Wanna Be The Guy Has Been Remastered
24.12.2020
A group of fans have remastered I Wanna Be the Guy, improving the notoriously difficult platformer’s performance for those still willing to subject themselves to its dastardly tricks.Read more
Cyberpunk 2077’s Latest Patch Resolves The PC Save File Size Limit
24.12.2020
It’s no secret that Cyberpunk 2077 is plagued by a raft of technical issues, particularly on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Today, CD Projekt Red released another hotfix for the troubled game, aiming to address some of those issues, including the seemingly arbitrary filesize limit placed on...
20 Years Later I’m Still Thinking About The Bouncer
23.12.2020
Sometimes a piece of pop culture worms its way into your brain, builds a comfortable, cost-efficient home in your cerebral cortex, and lives there happily for decades on end. My own tenant is The Bouncer, an odd beat ‘em up by Square Soft, which came out in Japan 20 years ago today before fading...
The Biggest Video Game Surprises Of 2020
23.12.2020
Every year, we run down the best annual surprises from the world of video games. Needless to say, 2020 was not like previous years. That’s why, this year, we’re reorienting our annual tradition to focus on the biggest—not necessarily the best—ones.Read more
Happy Holidays, Everyone
23.12.2020
Here’s a 12-hour, 4K yule log in the style of Hades, courtesy of Supergiant Games:Read more
Ian Walker’s Top 10 Games Of 2020
23.12.2020
This is the first time I’m doing one of these…well, professionally, at least. I was hired at Kotaku right before the world went to shit, and despite a tumultuous year, I’m still here. I broke news. I reviewed the PlayStation 5. I wrote about a digital dog’s butt.Read more
Trump Pardons War Crimes, Illegal Steam Spending
23.12.2020
The White House announced a new round of presidential pardons yesterday, granting clemency to several controversial figures. Among them were the perpetrators of the Nisour Square massacre and Duncan Hunter, a former California congressman who was indicted for illegally using campaign funds...