Overwatch 2’s Identity Crisis, The Hate Driving The Assassin’s Creed ‘Controversy,’ And More Opinions For The Week

Image: Kotaku / Ubisoft / Sony / Rocksteady / Nosyrevy (Getty Images), Digital Sun, Vicky Leta / Blizzard, Nintendo, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios / Sega, Cyan Worlds Inc

This week, Ubisoft released a statement addressing what might generously be called a “controversy” about the upcoming Assassin’s Creed game, Shadows. Let’s be real, though. It’s just the latest salvo from a reactionary hate movement. You can read our thoughts on that, the terrific texture of Yakuza 0, the missteps of Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition, the amazing sound design of the Riven remake, and more, in the pages ahead.

Image: Kotaku / Ubisoft / Sony / Rocksteady / Nosyrevy (Getty Images)

On July 23, in response to the ongoing backlash against a Black lead character in the upcoming Assassin’s Creed Shadows, developer Ubisoft released a lengthy statement. The responses on X (formerly Twitter) were exactly what you’d expect: racist images, slurs, and calls for historical accuracy in a video game series that has always been steeped in science fiction. An unpublished community note (a feature frequently used by users to “add context” to posts) reads “Assassin’s Creed N***** Squire.” – Alyssa Mercante Read More

Image: Digital Sun

I love strategy games, but getting into a new one is always an uphill struggle for me. There’s a ton of new information to take in, new systems to familiarize myself with, and all of the odd quirks and clumsy controls to get accustomed to. But every once in a while one of them instantly gets their hooks in me and doesn’t let go. Right now that’s Cataclismo, an excellent tower defense city builder that uses what’s cool about Lego to elevate a strategy game from good to great. – Ethan Gach Read More

Image: Vicky Leta / Blizzard

Today Blizzard published a lengthy Overwatch 2 Director’s Take addressing the Reinhardt-sized elephant in the room: whether or not the sequel should revert back to the original game’s 6v6 format. Written by game director Aaron Keller, the massive blog post traces back to Overwatch 1 and the major changes made throughout its lifetime and up through the shift to 5v5 for the sequel, explaining Blizzard’s thought process behind the franchise’s biggest adjustments. But by the end of the nearly 4,000-word blog post, it’s clear that the team is still struggling to define Overwatch 2, which once again leads us back to the question: Why does it exist in the first place? – Alyssa Mercante Read More

Image: Nintendo

God, Nintendo World Championships: NES Edition is so frustrating. I’m this close to absolutely adoring this assortment of timed challenges from NES games. In many ways, it feels like it’s designed precisely for NES sickos like me, folks who have an enduring fondness not just for well-regarded classics like The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. but also for the rougher, more frustrating first-party games on Nintendo’s first console, like Ice Climber. But one huge, glaring flaw holds it back, relegating it to an interesting curiosity rather than the conversation- and competition-driving release it could have been. – Carolyn Petit Read More

A screenshot of Goro Majima, one of Yakuza 0’s protagonists, elbowing a man in the back of the head. Image: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios / Sega

I’m fairly late to the Like a Dragon party. To date, the only games I’ve played are Yakuza: Like a Dragon, Infinite Wealth, Gaiden, and the spinoff, Judgment. They’re all great games and I’ve enjoyed sinking hundreds of hours into the series across all of them, but I think the most interesting of the bunch is the latest one I’ve picked up: Yakuza 0. A prequel to (most of) the rest of the games, Yakuza 0 is credited with popularizing the series in the West, and it’s a shame that more of its design principles and tenets didn’t survive as the franchise continued to balloon. – Moises Taveras Read More

Image: Cyan Worlds Inc

Even with its gorgeous modern graphics and intricate puzzles, 2024’s Riven impressed me most with its sounds. The remake of the 1997 sequel to the seminal puzzle game Myst is a masterclass in how creating an ambient soundscape can help flesh out the world of the game. Even with so much visual splendor on display, the songs of Riven’s mysterious islands are what have stayed with me the most since finishing the game. – Willa Rowe Read More