Kotaku - The Gamer's Guide
Latest Reviews
Avowed
Avowed is a special game that I’ll likely replay multiple times over the next decade not just because I want to see every option, but because I want to return to this world and its people again and again.
LEGO Horizon Adventures
It's an odd experiment, but charming humor and engaging gameplay make this blocky parody of Aloy's story a successful one, too
Life is Strange: Double Exposure
2015’s Life Is Strange was about a high-schooler, the supernaturally gifted Max Caulfield, but its power resided in something deeper than its protagonist’s youth and the setting of Blackwell Academy. I think that, for many of the millions of players it resonated with, Life Is Strange spoke to those parts...
Sonic X Shadow Generations
People will no doubt call Sonic X Shadow Generations a “love letter” or “tribute” to Shadow the Hedgehog, Sonic’s brooding rival who debuted back in 2001’s Sonic Adventure 2. But as a person who grew up seeing the black-and-red hedgehog as the emotional center of the franchise, it feels more...
Metaphor: ReFantazio
‘With all my heart, I hope that fantasy gives you strength’
Star Wars Outlaws
As a big Star Wars fan and video game lover, I’ve long dreamed of a game just like Star Wars Outlaws: a massive open-world action game set in the Star Wars universe that would let me rub shoulders with Jabba the Hutt while freely exploring every inch of a planet...
Nobody Wants to Die
In the first five minutes of the new cyberpunk noir game Nobody Wants to Die, the main character runs through a list of genre tropes in record time. He pounds down a bottle of pills, takes a swig of alcohol from his flask (while another unopened bottle of moonshine sits...
Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure by developer Furniture & Mattress is the kind of delightful, genre-blending game that words can feel inadequate to describe when it’s much more easily understood in motion. Yes, telling you that it’s an adventure game which you navigate via a grid that moves the environment with...
Dungeons of Hinterberg
Speaking of, though Hinterberg’s dungeons lean heavily into Zelda territory, its combat most notably cribs from Dark Souls, though it’s never so grueling. You have a light and heavy swing which can be woven into short and simple combos that might stagger and even topple opponents. When you’re not on...
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
With a unique setting and low barrier to entry, Flintlock might just be the invitation to the soulslike genre you’ve been waiting for
Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
You will never be able to stop thinking about Lorelei and the Laser Eyes. The latest game from developer Simogo, the team behind 2019’s Sayonara Wild Hearts and 2013’s buzzy, puzzly adventure game Device 6, will burn itself into your mind. That remains true even when you aren’t actively playing...
Another Crab's Treasure
Upgrades and other pieces of equipment build upon and feed into the promise of the shell system and make it explode. A grappling hook, for example, allows you to pull shells toward you in the middle of combat, rewarding quick thinking when the going gets rough. An upgrade I unlocked...