Rise: Blood Hunter

Rise of the Ronin feels like a game that’s already one or two generations old. Developer Team Ninja has called it their “most ambitious” title to date, but that ambition is overshadowed by lackluster graphics, outdated design concepts, and…

There is a lot of advice out there about how to maintain a healthy relationship with your significant other. Communicate effectively, set aside time to spend with each other, things like that. Having been in a relationship with my partner…

Mech pilots have feelings, too. Armored Core VI is a game about blowing up everything in sight with a smorgasbord of overpowered weapons. But it’s also a game about vain, self-righteous men who think it’s their God-given right to take over…

Say what you will about Modern Warfare III—it was developed in a confusing rush, hence why its campaign mostly sucks, and it’s currently the worst-rated Call of Duty game in the franchise’s 20-year history—but god damn, does its multiplayer…

Screenshot: Kira LLC / KotakuPlay it on: Windows (Steam Deck OK)Current goal: Stop wasting all my silver on heal potionsIt’s beautiful when folks who grew up loving video games start making their own, spinning out fresh, oft-strange takes…

The other day, the official Twitter account for Alan Wake 2 tweeted, “You must write to escape…” and I felt my blood run cold. As a writer who knows the agony of writer’s block—the fear of looking inside myself and having to face all the…

Cyberpunk 2077’s one-and-only expansion, Phantom Liberty, is coming out on September 26, but the 2.0 update—which brings some pretty significant systemic changes to the RPG that has been getting incremental changes since its disastrous…

71-year-old Japanese artist Yoshitaka Amano—best known in gaming circles for the Final Fantasy concept art he’s made for developer Square Enix since 1987—is having a great weekend. Before I sit down with him at New York’s Japan Society,…

Eternights, a hack-and-slash dating sim by Studio Sai, wears its Persona inspirations on its sleeve. When I played the game for the first time earlier this year at Summer Game Fest, I said its action combat felt flimsy and its characters…

Dragami Games announced this month that its Lollipop Chainsaw remake release was getting delayed to 2024. Never having played hack-and-slash Lollipop before, but eagerly awaiting the remake, I decided to cope rationally: I spent $40 on a…