Kotaku
The Last Of Us Season Two, Episode One Recap: Everybody Hates Joel
“Future Days,” the first episode of The Last of Us season two, opens with the closing moments of season one. Joel (Pedro Pascal) and Ellie (Bella Ramsey) are standing on a hill with the Jackson settlement they’ll call home in the distance. Ellie, unconvinced by Joel’s story about raiders massacring the Firefly revolutionaries who were…
A Minecraft Movie Has Some Fantastic Things To Say About Toxic Masculinity
A Minecraft Movie is fine. It’s not a surprise subversive treat like The Lego Movie, nor an unwatchable dirge, but much like 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, it lands firmly in the region of “fine.” My 10-year-old enjoyed it (with qualifications), as did the many other kids around us. It’s also an astonishing success,…
The Last Of Us, Season 2: The Kotaku Review
In the years since The Last of Us Part II launched in 2020, I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon when people talk about Naughty Dog’s divisive sequel. Some people talk about Ellie’s revenge story in ways that seem incongruous with the game I experienced. Where I would call The Last of Us Part II a beautiful…
A Ton More Final Fantasy Cards For Magic: The Gathering Just Leaked
Image: Square Enix The Final Fantasy Universes Beyond set for Magic: The Gathering doesn’t drop until June 13, but previously unrevealed cards have already been spotted in the wild after a starter kit seemingly got into someone’s hands early. Thanks to the decks inside, fans have now gotten early looks at Steiner from Final Fantasy…
South Of Midnight: The Kotaku Review
Many games are set in America, but few truly feel American. And I don’t mean that most games lack patriotism or red, white, and blue banners. I mean that, while they may use the country’s landmarks, stars, and cities, and even make reference to its politics, they don’t truly engage with American culture. South of…
My Excitement For The Switch 2 Is Dying By A Thousand Cuts
Let me get this out of the way first: I’m not a Nintendo girlie. A couple of decades ago, my parents gave me a choice between N64 or PlayStation for my birthday, and I chose the team with the badass bandicoot and didn’t regret it. It wouldn’t be until 2019 that I’d pick up a…
Elden Ring Director Hidetaka Miyazaki Explains What You Actually Do In Bloodborne-Looking Multiplayer Switch 2 Exclusive Duskbloods
The Duskbloods was far and away the most surprising thing revealed during the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct this week. First, there was the fact that FromSoftware was making a new game that certainly had the vibe of a Bloodborne spiritual successor. Second, it was revealed to be a Switch 2 exclusive. And a multiplayer one…
12 Years Late, This Kickstarter-Funded Tribute To A Legendary Adventure Game Series Is A Complete Disaster
In 2012, renowned developers Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe launched a Kickstarter to spiritually revive their classic Space Quest series, a game to be called SpaceVenture. Some 13 years later, following numerous delays and botched half-launches, the game has finally arrived on Steam. And oh no, it’s so bad. But before we confront its awfulness,…
PowerWash Simulator Has Two Key Problems The Sequel Needs To Fix
I absolutely adore PowerWash Simulator. I’ve adored it for three years now. It’s the console game I keep coming back to; curling up on the couch, putting on a podcast, and cleaning the muck off an ice rink or UFO. It got me through a horrible bout of covid, it offers me comfort when I’m…
No, Daredevil: Born Again’s Fisk Is Not An Allegory For Trump
Daredevil: Born Again is really quite something. It feels like the first genuinely adult-focused project within the MCU, and its shocking brutality is all the more surprising for being created by Disney. (While Deadpool & Wolverine had gore and naughty words, it’s hard to really credit the silly movie with being “adult.”) It’s not just…