Kotaku
After about 40 hours of hellish action and sitting around level 95, I’m stuck on Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty’s last boss. I guess that makes sense. This is the end of the game, after all, so of course the finale would be difficult. But reaching this point was perilous for one specific reason: Despite being one of the most…
Kotaku
There are different kinds of “scary” things. There’s what I’d call “haunted house scary,” anything that immediately elicits a sharp scream, like a plate falling on the kitchen floor, that you forget about as soon as it’s over—you gather up the shards and move on.
Kotaku
Welcome to the first edition of Exp. Share, Kotaku’s new Pokémon column in which we dive deep to explore notable characters, urban legends, communities, and just plain weird quirks from throughout the Pokémon franchise. This week we’re taking a look at one of the breakout characters from Pokémon Scarlet and Violet.…
Kotaku
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet launched in an incredibly rough state last November, and it seems that the latest patch has introduced an even bigger problem for its players. Fans on Reddit have reported that connecting to the Pokémon Go app or downloading the DLC has caused them to lose their entire save files.
Kotaku
In Lincoln County, Tennessee a Last Of Us-like situation is happening as a strong, heat-resistant fungus is spreading across trees, homes, cars, signs, and decks. And you can blame all of it on Jack Daniels and its warehouses full of whiskey, which this particular fungus feeds off of. Residents are so mad that at…
Kotaku
Jimmy “MrBeast” Donaldson, the biggest YouTuber in the world, recently asked fans to do him a favor: patrol the shelves of their local big box retailer to make sure his Feastables chocolate bars weren’t a huge mess. Some appear to have happily enlisted in his effort, while others lampooned the brand activation psy-op…
Kotaku
Last week, Final Fantasy producer Yoshida Naoki objected to the label “JRPG,” stating that the term felt “discriminatory.” His comments kicked off a round of discussion about whether or not the term “JRPG” was racially problematic. Some couldn’t understand how JRPG could be pejorative, especially given the genre’s…
Kotaku
There are a lot of tough jerks in Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. I’m talking warriors like the infamous Lu Bu (Dynasty Warriors fans know), demons such as the four-horned cow monstrosity Aoye, electric dragons, fiendish porcupines, and so many more you’ll probably want to dig your own grave instead of engaging in the game’s…
Kotaku
Today, Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon released the first trailer for the upcoming animated film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. And it’s not only a cute trailer that promises a fun, teen-focused TMNTstory, but it also looks amazing. Just ignore the weird Seth Rogen stuff.
Kotaku
You think Elden Ring is hard? Try painstakingly recreating one of the game’s iconic locations out of paper, that’s hard. But that’s also what artist Sky Burkson did when he made a miniature model of the Leyndell Royal Capital out of paper, toothpicks, wool, and other components.
Kotaku
No more waiting: after over a decade, a new Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi game is officially in development. Longtime fans are losing their minds. Everyone else is hopelessly confused.
Kotaku
With just one episode to go, we’re nearing the end of Joel and Ellie’s long journey together. This week’s entry, “When We Are in Need**,”** corresponds with the game’s winter section, though the HBO adaptation isn’t using the same seasonal structure of the game, and here in TV land, it’s been winter for a while.
Kotaku
When I finished The Last of Us’ eighth episode “When We Are in Need,” which recounts the events of the game’s winter section, I had to go take a walk. I thought I was emotionally prepared to see a live-action version of the source material’s darkest moments, but I was once again surprised by the HBO show’s willingness…
Kotaku
Last year we said a sad goodbye to Zachtronics, developers of some of the most interesting independent video games of the past decade. And this year we say hello to The Lucky Seven, a new card game—from some of the very same people—that looks extremely cool.
Kotaku
Last month the niche city-builder Workers & Resources: Soviet Republic had one hell of a time, after a fan went rogue and got the game’s website and Steam store page taken down.
Kotaku
Veteran actor Tom Sizemore has died at the age of 61.
Kotaku
Northampton, Massachusets officials have greenlit a plan to create and install four Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle-themed manhole covers to celebrate the fact that the massive franchise was originally created there. And to pay for it, the town is using funds intended to help rebuild towns and businesses affected by the…
Kotaku
Recently, “AI” machine-learning technologies have been creeping their way into artistic fields in both entertaining and harmful ways. While some AI content creators are just making videos for harmless fun, others, like the creators of a recent AI-generated anime short, wrongfully believe they’ve democratized the…
Kotaku
Between games, art, and even journalism, a lot of industries are dealing with the rise of artificial intelligence removing the human element of creative works. As people have begun using AI and algorithms to create art rather than hiring workers to do it, companies are making hard stances about whether or not they’ll…
Kotaku
Neo-noir comedy Pokémon: Detective Pikachu came out in 2019, and it was surprisingly good. In the era of risk-averse studios rebooting and remaking everything under the sun, a sequel seemed inevitable. Sure enough, one was already in development when the first debuted. No one’s heard about it since. Until today.
Kotaku
The original Dead Space may not look as fancy as that new remake released earlier this year, but thanks to a new fan-created mod, you can play the original game in first person. Not only does this seem scarier, but it actually looks really good, too.
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“Fashion experiences itself as a right, the natural right of the present over the past,” critic Roland Barthes said in his 1967 book The Fashion System. Likewise, I’m saying that an outfit change can completely usurp a video game, pushing itself to the front of the crowd, making all previous outfits and vibes null.…
Kotaku
The arrival of the new era of Scarlet & Violet Pokémon TCG cards is now only four weeks away. As worldwide players prepare themselves for the big shift from the V cards to the rebirth of “ex,” in Japan the base sets have already been out for over a month, and now the follow-up set, Triple Beat, is revealing some…
Kotaku
Steve from Minecraft was added to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in October of 2020. In the years since, sentiment around the character has gotten worse and worse due to accusations that the character is broken and overpowered. Now, a recent discovery around a competitively advantageous glitch has brought these…
Kotaku
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, the latest Soulslike from action game masterminds Team Ninja, is an enrapturing amalgam of Bloodborne and Nioh 2 with some Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice sprinkled in for good measure. It’s punishing as hell, but also one of the most approachable games in a genre known for bludgeoning your…
Kotaku
In a recent, wide-ranging interview with late-night host Stephen Colbert, uber-successful director Steven Spielberg talked about his family, his long career, and his love of films. But we aren’t here to talk about that. Instead, what’s that over there behind you Stephen and Steven? Is that…oh yup. It’s a Star Wars…
Kotaku
The big baby update for The Sims 4 is nearly here, and Kotaku got an inside look at how the new Growing Together Expansion Pack DLC and the free base game updates will play out.
Kotaku
Stardew Valley celebrated its seventh anniversary Sunday while still reigning supreme as the ultimate cozy game. Nearly a decade on, Stardew Valley has become one of the most fascinating case studies among indie game successes. Created over four and a half years by lone developer Eric Barone, who goes by ConcernedApe,…
Kotaku
Give Me Toilet Paper! is a game built around a simple universal concept: At some point in our lives, we’ll forget to check the toilet paper roll before we sit down. That’s exactly what happened to these digital helpless businessmen, trapped behind an unfeeling bathroom stall. Only you can save them—by sticking a Joy-C…
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Square Enix is getting a new boss. Yosuke Matsuda has served as the Final Fantasy publisher’s CEO for 10 years, and spent the last couple of those hyping up NFTs and other blockchain scams. He’s now set to be replaced by a relative newcomer, pending shareholder approval in June.