Ever since The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom released on May 12, fans have been obsessed with the game’s new crafting abilities. With Link’s new skills, including Fuse and Ultrahand, players are build nonsense like planes and tanks to commit war crimes in the kingdom of Hyrule. But there is one thing people can’t help but create: dicks, dicks, shlongs, penises, wangs; you understand.

Learn more: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Players take forever in the massive tutorial area

Critics called the sequel Breath of the Wild a certified classic, which makes excellent use of the Switch’s aging hardware. And with Link’s many new rune abilities that allow him to combine items or rewind an item’s place in the world, people are letting their imaginations run wild. Like, really wild.

Hyrule Kingdom can’t escape the dicks

Link gets a whole new suite of runic abilities in TotK that replaces his old BotW abilities. So say goodbye to things like Magnesis and Stasis and instead say hello to things like Ascend and Autobuild, two skills that allow Link to glide through solid surfaces and instantly build previous creations. respectively. Fuse and Ultrahand are mixed together, abilities that give Link the power to combine items to create anything from giant mechs to pickup trucks. And while people are totally building these things, many players here are flooding Hyrule Realm with dicks. So many cocks, in fact.

You’ve got flamethrower, thick cocks, cars that look like dicks, cock rockets, cocks with rocks for balls-The list goes on and on and on. Hell, Twitter user HKSIcabb even had our Hero of the Wild ride a dick…a raft.

Meanwhile, hideyopo made a wheeled mecha monster that sprayed a patch of hyrulean grass with his water-squirting dick.

What is going on? Why are TotK fans just days after launch stuck on dicks? There are some interesting theories, like a Freudian fear of castration or the idea that it’s all a dick measuring contest. Glamor wrote in 2017 that dick drawings are actually about toxic masculinity– which is not so surprising. Even Kotaku pondered this question in a blog from 2013, speaking to developers and psychologists about why dicks are everywhere in games. And even though we’ve come to the conclusion that drawing a dick is “pushing the limits”, there’s another simpler answer here: dicks are fun.

They are (mostly) hairy and (sometimes) curved. They come in different shapes and sizes and more often than not function as if they have a mind of their own. They are bizarre, serving both comedy and sexuality. And as Maxim wrote in 2015, dicks are fun for “despite what they mean, there is no real place for them in the world, and yet they are there”.

Learn more: Tears Of The Kingdom Could Include The Zelda Series’ First Gay Character

These are facts. Because no matter where you look online, from TikTok to Reddit to Twitter, there’s a TotK dick. They are almost unavoidable now. At least Autobuild’s other abilities, Fuse, Ultrahand and Link can be used for something other than genitals –although players use them for torture. I guess our weird code nature hero is actually nature’s war criminal. Whoops.

It’s May 12, 2023, and on this beautiful day, Nintendo’s much-hyped sequel, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, finds itself in the eager hands of gamers around the world. But you: Maybe you stand out. Maybe you didn’t end up playing the previous game, 2017’s hit Breath of the Wild. Or maybe you touched it and fell for some reason. I won’t judge, I’m here with you.

Now here you are, seeing all those cool trailers and…interesting things you’re jumping into the new Zelda game and wondering, “Should I play Breath of the Wild before Tears of the Kingdom?” Should I?” Well, that’s what I’m here to help you understand.

A series purist will always say to go back and play the games in the correct order (which, if you’re considering how long Zelda has been around, you might want to be careful with that line of thinking). But here I will lay out some pros and cons for each action plan. There are valid reasons for either approach, so let’s go.

By the way, this article is a spoiler-free zone. So feel free to keep reading even if you haven’t touched 2017’s Breath of the Wild.

Is the Breath of the Wild story worth living before Tears of the Kingdom?

Breath of the Wild tells a very average fantasy story. Hold your farmer’s pitchforks; I’m not saying that to put him down. In general, the overall story beats are very familiar to almost anyone who has experienced a joint from Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. You have your dark lord, your threat to peace, your amnesiac protagoboy, your magic items of power, rinse and repeat. Watching a short recap video would be enough to give you a general idea of ​​BotW’s plot, and you won’t be missing out on an all-time great epic if you do.

Learn more: Catch up on Zelda: Breath of the Wild before the sequel in under seven minutes

How Breath of the Wild tells its story, however, is something you might want to consider living through, not just via synopsis. Link’s journey to regain his memories has led him to meet countless charming and memorable characters along the way, which will get you much more emotionally interested in Hyrule’s bigger story (as simple as that is) and the people who live there only if you just blow. through a summary.

If you’re just interested in a SparkNotes brief overview of Hyrulian history, a wiki or video will do. But if you enjoy the experience of meeting interesting characters and gaining a greater emotional investment in a fictional world, jumping into Breath of the Wild first will be time well spent.

Does Tears of the Kingdom make Breath of the Wild gameplay obsolete?

We’ve all been there: first you play a sequel, then the original just seems old in comparison. Some sequels improve on their predecessor so much that it’s hard to go back. Mass Effect 2 is an example. Skyrim may be another.

First of all, no: Tears of the Kingdom certainly has its share of quality of life improvements, as in fast travel and cooking– but nothing as earth-shattering as Breath of the Wild suddenly feels Neolithic in comparison.

Tears of the Kingdom does not make Breath of the Wild gameplay obsolete. Image: Nintendo

As for whether or not they feel too similar, never fear. While very similar in some ways, Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild are distinct enough that going back to the old game after Tears of the Kingdom would still give you plenty of new experiences to enjoy.

Learn more: Zelda: Tears Of the Kingdom fixes some of BotW’s failures

As my colleague Kenneth Shepard told me after his early hours in Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel’s gameplay is “less of an evolution and more of a sidestep.” Link’s new abilities, especially the crafting and new Ultrahand abilitymake it a distinct enough experience that if you play them in reverse order, you won’t feel like your abilities have been greatly reduced.

Tears of the Kingdom is a looker – and it won’t melt your Switch into plasticky goop. Image: Nintendo

Tears of the Kingdom looks graphically daunting for the old Switch, so should you wait for future hardware?

It’s no secret that the aging Wii U wasn’t too kind to Breath of the Wild. And basically, anyone who saw the first footage of Tears of the Kingdom was a little nervous wondering if the humble Nintendo Switch, released over six years ago, might be able to keep up.

Learn more: Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’s Switch performance feels like a minor miracle

Well, I have good news. Or rather, Digital Foundry has good news: Tears of the Kingdom will work damn well on your old Switch. You can expect a very close to solid 30fps with a few drops here and there, especially when using Link’s new Ultrahand ability. Fast loading times are also quite fast, around 30% faster than in BotW.

Nintendo / Digital Foundry

I hear you thinking, “surely there’s another Nintendo console on the way, isn’t there?” The Switch has been out for a while, that’s true, but as we reported on tuesday 9th mayNintendo has no plans for a hardware refresh or follow-up to the Switch in 2023.

Learn more: Nintendo says it’s not expecting a new Switch this year either

And no, I have no idea what a “You Zoo” is.

How long is Breath of the Wild?

Say you don’t mind waiting for the game everyone’s talking about right now and that you’re cool to jump into Breath of the Wild first. Can you expect to knock him out in a weekend? Well no.

Breath of the Wild is a long game, and every moment is worth it. Image: Nintendo

According Howlongtobeat.com, the main story of Breath of the Wild is around 50 hours long. What if you want to do all the side quests? You’re looking at just under 100 hours. If you’re a completion fiend, HLtB estimates 189 hours. Our own experiences confirm these numbers.

Breath of the Wild is a game of massive proportions. The world is huge and there is so much to do. If you haven’t played it yet and you’re really interested in seeing the release of Tears of the Kingdom to see what this whole Link thing is all about, expect to have to set aside some time for BotW if you’re jumping in first.

Even if you’re not a finalist, stepping into the world of Hyrule in Switch’s first Zelda title is an experience best enjoyed at a gentle pace, and you won’t feel worse for taking time to let everything sink in.

So yes, BotW is long. Which is good, because it’s a great game.

While some franchises can enter at almost any time, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild offers compelling reasons to give it a shot first. The plot consists of standard fantasy concepts, but is told very memorably and in a sight-rich open world that is a joy to explore.

But, if you decide to jump straight into Tears of the Kingdom, a brief summary or two of BotW’s story beats will get you up to speed quickly. And with the differences in gameplay, playing the two games in reverse order shouldn’t feel too strange.

Order aside, another question is whether you should play the old game. You may feel differently, but my personal view is that Breath of the Wild is a truly wonderful experience, from the well-told story with satisfying gameplay, and a truly vibrant and beautiful world to explore, that you owe it to yourself to play this modern classic if you haven’t already, even if you’ve already spent a good few hours in it. Tears of the Kingdom.

Twitch streamer and YouTuber Simply attempted the unthinkable: giving himself just 12 hours, he set out to learn the tricky speedrun from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and nail one as quickly as possible. . The speedrun challenge was insane, full of death and glitches to make for a hilarious and entertaining watch even if the feat wasn’t exactly accomplished as expected.

Learn more: Breath of the Wild’s hottest new Speedrun is getting all the hoes

BotW speedruns are absolutely cracking. According Speedrun.coma site that tracks speedruns for various games, the fastest time for Nintendo’s 2017 hit was set earlier this month and currently stands at just under 24 minutes by BotW speedrunner Player 5. This was for the any percent challenge, an achievement in which a player strives to roll credits as quickly as possible without worrying about completing any main quests or side activities. There are other speedrun categories that add extra stipulations to the bet, like hitting all dungeons or shrines, but sometimes you just want vanilla, you know? (Unless you’re a Limcube speedrunner, which recently collected all the hoes strewn around Hyrule in less than 30 minutes because he was just bored and desperate.)

All this to say that simply, a speedrunner who ran a few Super Mario 64s categories over the years, wanted to see if he could beat BotW as fast as he could, vanilla. In other words, he attempted a run at any percentage of Link’s latest adventure. However, to give this vanilla a bit more flavor like a French vanilla or a vanilla bean, he simply added an extra challenge to the mix: achieving a solid time in the open-world action-adventure game as newcomer to the category any percentage of 12 hours or less. The results were fun and have now been edited into an entertaining half hour video that really makes you feel the struggle of Simply.

Simply’s quest to become “the best speedrunner ever”

In April 18 YouTube video, Start simply by explaining how BotW works with any percentage of speedruns. You start by collecting Link’s Runic Abilities like Magnesia and Stasis from the four main shrines of the Grand Plateau so you can grab the Paraglider for air travel. From there you book it to Hyrule Castle to cheer the four Scourge Ganons of existence before taking down the big bad himself, Calamity Ganon. I simply had to learn a plethora of glitches, shield clips to enter shrines faster For the BLSS technique to fly over the Grand Plateau, to complete his timed challenge, all with the goal of becoming “the best speedrunner ever”. But learning was the hardest part here.

Merely

Simply died a handful of times trying to skip the intro section of the game. However, using scope clip And whistle– two issues that lock the game into its day cycle and preserve Link’s stamina, respectively – he was able to leave the early shrine and skip the first cutscene. From there, Simply picked up their first gear (after a few more kills, of course) to continue cracking BotW with glitches. With the help of the aforementioned BLSS technique and shield clip issue, alongside the movement of the wind bomb which launches Link several feet into the air, he simply gathered all four rune abilities to then grab the old man’s (aka King Rhoam) paraglider at the Grand Plateau tower. It was already about three hours into his 12-hour challenge. So he sent it back to see if he could do that sequence of events in under 35 minutes. The movement of the wind bomb made him back up a bit. So, too, made a death. Unfortunately, he didn’t finish in less than 35 minutes, but he was still having a good time. Just four hours into their 12-hour challenge, Simply had plenty of time to beat the game.

Limcube entered the chat to help Simply with his speedrun

Limcube, the noted BotW speedrunner responsible for March’s all hoes challenge, sought to give Simply some pointers to finish his speedrun, which only gets more difficult as you fling yourself to Hyrule Castle and the fight against Calamity Ganon ahead. After collecting mushrooms to cook up some Mighty Mushroom Skewers, which buffs Link’s attack damage for 13 minutes, simply used the BLSS technique to infiltrate Hyrule Castle, dodging all the guards patrolling the area. He picked up weapons with higher durability in hopes of making future fights a little easier. Unfortunately, they weren’t easy enough, because despite the coaching he received from Limcube, including how to perform a glitch to easily kill Windburn Ganon, Simply dead. A lot.

Now, normally, casual players would have completed all four Divine Beast dungeons to halve Calamity Ganon’s health. At this point, you’d probably also have more than three hearts so Link could survive more than one hit in the final encounter. But Simply was learning the all-percent route, which, in the interest of going fast, does none of that. So not only did he have to fight all four Blight Ganons in a row, but he also had to defeat Calamity Ganon at full health, a tall order for even the most skilled BotW players. I’m sure you can guess what happened. If you can’t, then let me tell you: just dead. Again and again and again, each attempt slightly better than the last. He simply completed the challenge, of course, but not in 12 hours or less as he had hoped. Instead, Simply’s last time to learn and complete a run at any percentage was around 12 hours and 40 minutes. His total speedrun time? Just under five hours. It’s not the fastest BotW speedrun, but hey, at least it did, and it’s probably faster than most of us could have too.

Kotaku has reached out to Simply for comment.

Learn more: Breath of the Wild’s greatest stuntman is back, and better than ever

I love stuff like that. The determination it takes to push through despite the insurmountable, if self-imposed, challenge before you. It’s amazing to see, especially considering that Simply could have given up on the feat once the going got tough. But he did not do it. It’s a good reminder that anything can be done if you try hard enough…and get a little coaching from a speedrunning master.

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is almost here, and at first glance the enigmatic faction called Zonai could play a big part in the sequel after mostly existing in the background of Breath of the Wild. If you feel like you walked into something or missed a big storyline in the last game, don’t worry. Despite many theories being hatched over the years, even the biggest Zelda fans don’t have many concrete details about who or what the Zonai were. But let’s break down what we know and why fans think the Zonai are becoming a key player in Tears of the Kingdom.

What do we already know about the Zonai?

In Breath of the Wild, the Zonai are depicted as a tribe that no longer exists within Hyrule, but their nature is apparently up for debate in the game world. They are depicted as both a savage tribe of barbarians , as well as strong magic users who worship animals, especially Farosh, a water dragon that can be found in places like the Gerudo Highlands. Traces of their existence can be seen in places like the Zonai Ruins in the southern area of ​​the map, with long-abandoned architecture hinting at their reverence for Hyrule’s wildlife. In the story and art book The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – Creating a Champion, it is revealed that the animals that feature prominently in what remains of Zonai’s house refer to the three rooms of the Triforce: a dragon for Courage, an owl for Wisdom, and a boar for Power. Beyond the animals, the Zonai also have their own spiral-like crest, seen on architecture associated with the tribe.

Beyond that, Link can acquire Barbarian armor in Breath of the Wild that is said to have been worn by members of the Zonai long ago after navigating specific labyrinths believed to have been built by the tribe. While it all fits together, much of what we know about the tribe is speculation fueled by the game’s ambient storytelling. It’s a very minimalistic, FromSoftware-style approach to world-building and largely rewards those who want to explore the big game world. However, it could pay off for all of us in Tears of the Kingdom.

Nintendo of America

Why do fans think Tears of the Kingdom will involve the Zonai?

Theories that the Zonai would be a major player in Tears of the Kingdom have been rumored since the game’s reveal in 2019 due to the emphasis on the spiral pattern at the heart of Zonai architecture. However, the connection is much more concrete now thanks to the latest gameplay showcase. During this stream, Nintendo revealed that the Zonai were tied to the events of Tears of the Kingdom via a piece of loot. In the 10-minute gameplay trailer, Link defeats an enemy in the Sky Floating Islands and drops an item called Zonai Charge. The video doesn’t dwell on the object, but it clearly has the same green energy seen powering up the machine-like enemies Link is fighting, the (broken) seal around Ganondorf seen in the original trailer, and the Link’s corrupted and shiny arm.

Will we encounter the Zonai in Tears of the Kingdom?

Given Nintendo’s silence regarding the story of Tears of the Kingdom, it’s hard to say whether or not Link will encounter a member of the Zonai tribe. Given that the group seems to have disappeared entirely from Hyrule in Breath of the Wild, with the only information we have about them coming from theories and their remaining architecture, it seems more logical that the Zonai were wiped out or went into hiding. . But even so, their technology and magic are still present and causing problems for our hero in Tears of the Kingdom. That being said, it’s not entirely out of the question that some survived and waited for the events of this game to unfold. The series is also no stranger to time travel, as it’s a key mainstay in games like Ocarina of Time and Oracle of Ages. So there’s a chance that Link could come face to face with the Zonai during their prime, but it’s unconfirmed.

Wait, how does Twilight Princess play into all of this?

Like most of the possibilities discussed here, the connection between The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and Tears of the Kingdom is still speculation, but fans believe they have found connections between the Zonai and the Twili, which were introduced in Twilight Princess. . Breath of the Wild incorporates multiple tribes and species of life from the series, from the Sheikah to the Zora. The Twili, however, are notably absent, but given the similarities to the architecture and magic seen in Tears of the Kingdom and that of the Twili, fans believe the Zonai might be the original race that were turned into monsters by Zant in Twilight Princess. There are even breakdowns of iconography and sigils throughout Breath of the Wild which look a lot like the images from Twilight Princess. It’s all theory at this point, and Breath of the Wild itself doesn’t do much to make this possible connection directly apparent. So don’t feel like you’ve completely missed out on a potential connection. That’s all the fan interpretation, for now.

Whatever the Zonai are, it looks like they will at least be part of the larger Tears of the Kingdom setup. Whether we’ll encounter one remains to be seen, but we’ll find out when the game hits Switch on May 12.

While the haunting emotional beats and turbulent moral themes of The Last of Us can sometimes be the source of a more optimistic and restorative outlook, that’s not always the case. The Last of Us is heavy as hell, but luckily if the HBO series finale left you in a bad mood, the outtakes and bloopers are starting to roll in, giving us all a chance to have a little laugh – you know, before the fear consumes us once again.

Learn more: The Last of Us Season 2: Everything We Know

If you haven’t seen The Last of Us finale, fair warning: some of them involve spoilers. But we’ll leave out the main story beats for Part II, in case you’re waiting for season two.

Human suffering and violence are at the heart of The Last of Us. With the exception of limited moments in the show and games, the characters rarely smile, almost never laugh, and are constantly in a state of stress, pain, and / or perpetual post-traumatic rage. So having the opportunity to peek at some funny behind-the-scenes moments is quite an unexpected sight when we’re used to watching these actors portray characters in brutal storylines. And honestly, I bet they need mental breaks to shoot this shit anyway.

That last lie… interrupted by an infectious laugh

Initially posted by Pedro Pascal himself on his Instagram pageperhaps the most cathartic blooper in the last episode of the series Pascal failed to stick together as he portrays Joel lying to Ellie about what happened in Salt Lake City, bursting into laughter and giving us all a break in this difficult and difficult moment of cloudy morality .

The Instagram post also has some cute out-of-character shots of Pascal and Bella Ramsey during this difficult scene. How can you not love this?

Laura Bailey Wins ‘Funniest Script Ever’ (And What It Was About)

Other out-of-character moments making the rounds on the internet include what’s definitely not a deleted scene (although that would be funny) and an image that should now replace our use of the Grant Gustin meme. Shared by series co-creator Neil Druckmann, who described it as the “the funniest text ever“, actress Laura Bailey, who voiced the characters in the first and second games, strikes a humorous pose about this poor dead doctor who was moments away from vivisectioning Ellie.

Laura Bailey’s presence in the final episode also sparked speculation as to whether or not she was secretly playing the character she voices in the game’s sequel. According to Neil Druckmann on a recent episode of Kinda Funnywhere he also fulfilled fans’ desires for a third gameBailey’s presence was not a character reveal, but rather “to honor what she did in the first game”.

As Druckmann discussed in the episode, Bailey originally voiced one of the nurses in the first version of the game in 2013 (this role was recast in later remasters and the recent remake as she would continue to voice a more substantial character in the following). Given that Joel and Ellie’s original voice actors, Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, have made memorable appearances on the show, Druckmann also added that, for the second season, the show “will honor the great job it has done. in the second game, I think, in another way.” So be sure to keep your eyes peeled for Bailey in a future season of the show.

Up close with the bloater and does anyone know the brand of this sweater?

A few other interesting and humorous out-of-context images also made the rounds. One includes some shots with Marlene’s play and show actor Merle Dandridge and a costumed bloater (Kotaku recently interviewed Dandridge on his interpretation of Marlene). Since the bloating appears briefly during a pretty hectic and dark action sequence in episode fiveit’s a beautiful clear and bright photo of intense costume work.

Show: Merle Dandridge from The Last of Us explains how she looks like Marlene

Another fun image is a seemingly innocuous shot of Ellie while filming the show’s snowy segments. A fan just wanted wondering if anyone knew the brand of sweater Ellie was wearing?

Of course, Bella Ramsey has blood on her face after cutting up David, which kind of makes this image fun to watch and has since inspired some fun photoshop.

The Last of Us makes it difficult to watch and play. If you had a hard time weighing in on the intense twists and turns of the story, I hope these moments of smiles and laughter will brighten the mood a bit.

At Kotaku, we get a lot of tips by email. Some are spam, some are hateful messages filled with errors, and a few are serious allegations that require serious investigation. So it’s refreshing when something comes up that just points us to something fresh and cool, as was the case with a recent boot fashion tip from the house. Like a dragon: Ishin! developers, Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio.

A development subdivision of Sega with roots dating back to 1998, Ryu Ga Gotoku (“RGG”) is a Japanese studio responsible for the 2012 third-person shooter Binary Domain. However, you’re probably most familiar with RGG’s most important work, the Yakuza series. Since 2012, RGG has been in charge of the action-adventure franchise, developing new main entries and remastering old ones while assembling spin-offs such as the Judgment series and the latest remake, Like A Dragon: Ishin!

It was this latest game, which was originally a Japan-only release in 2014 before making its global debut earlier this week, that was the subject of the advice email we received this week. In love with editor Alyssa Mercante “fashion legend” of The Game Awards bland dripthe reader (whose name we decided to keep hidden) said we should check this making-of of the video Like A Dragon to see “cool costumes”.

Learn more: The Best Fits at The Game Awards 2022

“I loved the fashion caption and The Game Awards follow-up article and 40 seconds in this video about Ryu Ga Gotoku making the next game Like A Dragon, there’s an amazing promotional photo of the staff,” said the reader in an email to Kotaku. “I guess if you’re in charge of the Yakuza/Like A Dragon series, you’re basically obligated to wear a cool costume.” And they don’t lie! RGG is literally setting the entire industry back in one fell swoop.

SEGA Asia

In the first episode of a multi-part series on Sega Asia’s English YouTube channel, we get a quick look at RGG’s fashion sense. Japanese fashion is quite captivating if you follow it. Filled with flowing silhouettes, wild colors and patterns, and an interesting mix of casual and smart aestheticthe inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun know how to dress. RGG is no exception. Sure, the suits the developers are wearing about 40 seconds into the video above are all black, but the nuance is in the details. Two staff members have jackets with interesting markings: one with a variety of white dots and another with many small crosses. A different member of staff has a coat with tastefully accenting white lines. Three other staff members have all-over designs, with two of the staff members’ costumes having a nice shine. If you told me it was an alternative J-Rock band and not a video game developer band, I’d believe you.

Even the developers’ boots, while indefinable on the surface, really add to the developers’ collective drip. Most in the photo have round shiny pointed toe boots without laces like they all just came out of filming The Matrix or something. Two others mix things up a bit, one staff member wearing what appear to be Dr. Martens lace-up round boots (but maybe not that exact brand) and another apparently wearing very dark boots, maybe Suede. Either way, RGG’s cuts are on point! I may not be the fashionista that Kotaku’s Alyssa Mercante is, but I, too, gag at the confident simplicity that RGG exudes in their almost matching looks. It’s great to see, especially in an industry known for some of the most predictable (graphic tee and blazer) outfit combos ever.

Learn more: Like a dragon: Ishin! : The Kotaku Review

Anyway, kudos to RGG for killing the entire industry in seconds with both their killer mode and their even more killer samurai game, Like A Dragon: Ishin! In fact, writer Sisi Jiang called it “the best samurai game you can play right now.” You should take a look at it.

While TV show The Last of Us remained very faithful to the PlayStation, it is sometimes deviated significantly. Episode three, which aired last night, featured the biggest change from the source material yet, and co-creators Neil Druckman and Craig Mazin did their best to explain why in a new interview with IGN.

Spoiler Warning: The following post details the main plot points of the game and the series. If you haven’t played or seen either yet, now is your chance to brake and turn around.

Entitled “Long, Long Time”, episode 3 of TV show The Last of Us finally introduces Bill, a belligerent but no-bullshit survivalist played by Nick Offerman (Parks And Recreation, Devs). The play alludes to Bill having a romantic relationship with a man named Frank, but never goes into specifics. Last night’s episode not only delved into the relationship in detail via flashbacks, it also changed the way it ended.

“When we got to this part of the season, Craig brought up a really interesting point which is…there are a lot of examples of things not going well for people, and a lot of times it’s musings and stories. uplifting for Joel of ‘here what you stand to lose,’” Druckmann told IGN. “It was, what if we showed them what you could bear to win?”

In the game, Bill helps Joel and Ellie find a truck they can use to head west. Bitter and rude, he is the only person left in a town called Lincoln, surrounded by infected and his homemade traps. He explains to the couple that caring about others is a surefire way to get themselves killed, mentioning a close partner he’s tried to take care of in the past. This partner is later revealed to have hanged himself after being infected, writing in a note that it was ultimately even better than staying with Bill.

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In the show, Bill is already gone by the time Joel and Ellie arrive in Lincoln. And viewers get to see how Frank, played by Murray Bartlett (Looking, The White Lotus), first meets Bill, as well as bits and pieces of the 20-year relationship that followed. Frank eventually becomes debilitated by a terminal illness and Bill helps them both take their own lives together. When Joel and Ellie arrive, they find a letter from Bill talking about how protecting Frank after the outbreak was precisely what had made his life worth living, a complete reversal from what happens in the game. The change was apparently Mazin’s idea, though Druckman warmed up to it when they did the math on how it would help support the rest of the story.

“I think it is a happy ending,” Mazin told IGN. “I think we tend to view death as failure, particularly when you’re talking about playing a video game. It is literally failure. And for our show so far, there’s been some brutal moments where Joel has failed or at least perceives that he’s failed: he failed his daughter, he’s failed Tess, and he’s certainly feeling that weight at both the beginning and end of this episode.”

It’s this sort of compassion and hope that The Last Of Us was arguably missing, and Druckman said the changed plot point also served as a warning sign for Joel; that, without someone to take care of, surviving just to survive is pointless. It’s also the sort of deviation Druckman would have said “fuck no” to in the past, he told IGN. “Are we better in this version of the story, in this other medium, or are we worse?” he said. “If we’re better, we should embrace it fully. And this was such a beautiful story. It was very easy for me to say, ‘Let’s do it. Sounds amazing.’”

Last year, footage of the upcoming Grand Theft Auto, believed to be GTA 6, leaked online. While Rockstar quickly tried to erase the videos from the internet and plug holes in the ship, it was impossible to completely contain such a massive and unprecedented leak. So fans around the world got a really good look at the future of Grand Theft Auto. And now myself and others are struggling to get back to aging GTA Online.

Late September 19, 2022, 90 short early gameplay videos of what would later be confirmed by Rockstar as the next GTA entry leaked online via hacker. The footage revealed a lot about the upcoming game in the massively popular open-world franchise, including that the series would return to Vice City, Florida, a fan-favorite location last seen in GTA: Vice City Stories, the prequel to the beloved PS2 classic, GTA: Vice City. It also gave us a good look at the new protagonists in this upcoming crime adventure and some of the missions we might experience when GTA 6 finally releases. Fans have even started mapping the game’s virtual world using leaks.

Rockstar definitely hates leaking and probably wishes he could go back in time and prevent that from happening, but it ended up revitalizing the playerbase. For the first time in a long time, there was enthusiasm and energy in the GTA community, which after years of GTA online updates and badly received remasters was in a very bad place before the leak. Even an early, unfinished or unpolished leak of GTA 6 was better than radio silence and glitchy remasters. People were excited about the future of Grand Theft Auto in a way I haven’t seen in years.

But then, once the leaks cleared the web and it became clear that Rockstar wasn’t going to release an official teaser or trailer to capitalize on the moment, all me and other fans of GTA could do was go back to GTA Online. And it’s harder to do now that I’ve seen the future.

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The last big free expansion for GTA Online, War on Drugs in Los Santoss, came out late last year at a really bad time for me to play and cover it for the site. So I… didn’t play it. For the first time in the history of GTA online, I completely skipped a new update. I still haven’t played it. At first, I blamed my skipping the last update on bad timing and a busy schedule due to holidays and year-end content. But now, a few weeks away from all that, with more free time to play, I still haven’t launched the new update. And I think it’s time to admit that my growing exhaustion around GTA Online has been greatly heightened by this little taste of what’s to come. This look at the future of GTA in Florida has ruined me.

I could go back and drive on the same highways and streets of Los Santos that I have been driving since 2013. I could launch the game and discover the new activities and missions that come with it. I could, of course. The thing is, I don’t know if I want to. I mean, eventually, I’ll be playing GTA Online more. I kind of have to because it’s part of my job here at Kotaku. Still, if that wasn’t part of my career, chances are I’ll never play GTA Online again.

To be clear: it’s not because GTA Online is worse today than it was ten years ago – it’s actually much better to play in 2023 than in 2013 – but because getting a glimpse of… ‘a fresh new world killed my desire to boot up the same old Los Santos after a decade of GTA Online and GTA V. I mean, just having new songs on the radio will be amazing. I love Queen’s ‘Radio Ga-Ga’, but you can only hear it so many times in 10 years before you’re ready for some new tunes as well.

That much, Hope the wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 and its sunny beaches, palm trees, and new characters aren’t too long because I’m ready to leave Los Santos for a tropical vacation in Vice City.

Earlier this month, the wiki hosting company Fandom has taken over several game sites, including Giant Bomb and GameSpot, in a $50 million acquisition. And that exorbitant sale price, coupled with what the website calls “questionable staffing decisions” at the company, led Zelda Wiki to free itself from “corporate consolidation” and assert its independence from vis-a-vis Fandom.

Opened in 2005 and independent until its transfer to Gamepedia hosting in 2017, the Zelda Wiki is one of the largest fan-run gaming wikis. With thousands of game entries across the franchise, you could spend days or weeks perusing the digital encyclopedia and probably not finish it all. It’s my go-to resource when looking for information on a specific enemy or weapon in Nintendo’s popular franchise, and it hosts 11,199 articles. However, you will now need to visit a brand new website if you have bookmarked and/or frequented the old Zelda wiki.

Staff on site announced on Twitter this week that, “after several months of preparation”, the website is now completely independent of Fandom or any other entity.

“For over a decade, from its inception in 2005 to its transfer to Gamepedia in 2017, the Zelda Wiki was an entirely independent site,” the wiki’s EIC wrote. “Even after the transfer and subsequent acquisition of Gamepedia by Fandom, Inc., the site has sought to continue its mission of curating an independent, high-quality fan-run editorial wiki. However, we have come to believe that these ideals are incompatible with Fandom.

There was a reason for such a scathing statement. Citing Fandom’s “recent takeovers and questionable personnel decisions”, Zelda Wiki staff said they wanted to “protect the internet from corporate consolidation” and “hegemonic control”. As such, the team moved the wiki to a new homeyet Fandom’s is still operational.

Reactions to the news have been overwhelmingly positive online. Several people have called it a big win for the Zelda Wiki, while others are eagerly awaiting less ads and better layout on the site. Even the Fallout Wiki’s Twitter account, one of the few to publicly feud with Fandom over intrusive site videos and ads, congratulated the Zelda Wiki team to break with the company. In general, the public is wary of Fandom’s growing influence on fan-run wikis that have provided useful free resources to the community on major franchises. Thus, there is now even shared resources for alternatives to Wikis Fandom, and some encouragement in the comments to this announcement for more Wikis to do the same. Although independent wikis exist, over the years Fandom has become the most dominant website when people search for certain topics on Google.

In Discord messages with Kotaku, community staff member ModdedInkling said the old Fandom wiki will “continue to be updated” by a few volunteers who have chosen to remain there. Just about everyone, however, will move to the new website domain. ModdedInkling also explained what this independence means for staff.

“Being ‘editorially independent’ means having full creative control over the content of the wiki according to one’s own policies, as opposed to Fandom’s policies,” ModdedInkling said. “This also includes the overall appearance of the wiki (UI, templates, etc.), which has been one of the main topics discussed by many independent wikis that split from Fandom. Another topic of interest is avoiding mandatory censorship. Some wikis also have socio-political and ethical content that is often limited by Fandom, but deemed relevant by the community.

ModdedInkling extrapolated on the nature of Fandom’s alleged censorship. He said that while nothing was blocked on the Wikia Zelda (as far as he knows, anyway), there were a few changes made to the entries after posting to other wikis.

“Basically, Fandom’s policies can invoke a level of censorship on certain sensitive topics, even if relevant to a work of fiction, if deemed contrary to their policy,” ModdedInkling said. “Sometimes that may mean changing his information as well, even if it’s less accurate. This can happen across a variety of topics, such as discussions involving retroactively changing a character’s traits, even if it was historically inaccurate to change them.

ModdedInkling brought up a case where Fandom’s policies prevented making available what they consider to be accurate information. On Wookieepediathe Star Wars Digital Encyclopedia, there would have been complications changing the name of someone who later came out as trans.

“There was some debate about the naming conventions of someone later identifying as trans,” ModdedInkling said. “The mandate was to retroactively change any of the names displayed for the person or character, even though that was not how they were referred to at the time. I don’t remember if it was a real person or a fictional character. This didn’t cause them to branch off, but it was a concern NIWA had in potential examples involving character pronouns like Vivian from Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, Sheik from Ocarina of Time, or Vilia from Breath of the Wild.

ModdedInkling clarified the example to Kotaku, saying it’s not representative of his beliefs or the rest of the Zelda Wiki team. He noted Nintendo’s Independent Wiki Alliance, a network of other wikis for Nintendo games, aims to “handle sensitive topics with care to avoid any form of misrepresentation”. This, he noted, aligns with the ideals of the Zelda Wiki teams.

Kotaku has reached out to Fandom for comment.

The Zelda Wiki is only the most recent digital encyclopedia to split from its parent company, and the third to split from Fandom specifically in recent memory. Earlier this year, the team behind Terraria Wiki announced on Steam that it will host a new site separate from Fandom. Meanwhile, the Runescape Wiki became independent years ago in reply to corporate mandates forcing videos to autoplay in the posts. The Zelda wiki can now be found in the NIWA databasewhich includes other independent, volunteer-run websites, such as Bulbapedia (the digital encyclopedia dedicated to all things Pokémon) and SmashWiki.

Update, 10/21/22, 6:30 PM ET: Added a clarifying statement from ModdedInkling.

Image: THQ Nordic/Black Forest Games

The PS2 era of video games was defined by wacky and quirky titles, especially compared to what we see in the gaming industry today. It was a wonderful time, and it was during this time that the Destroy All Humans franchise emerged. Now, after remaking the first game in the series in 2020, Black Forest is back with a whimsical new remake of the bigger, wilder sequel. And while it has a few technical flaws, it’s still a wonderful alien-themed blast from the past.

The original Destroy All Humans! 2 was released in 2006 on PS2 and Xbox. It was developed by Pandemic, the same studio that developed the first game in the franchise, with the original Star Wars Battlefront Games. Like the first game, DAH2 lets you step into the tiny silver boots of an alien invader on Earth who has access to a growing arsenal of strange alien weaponry and even has his own personal UFO, complete with a powerful death ray . While the first game was set in the 1950s and was heavily inspired by alien films of that era, DAH2 is set in the 1960s and expands its parodies to other film genres and general hippie jokes, the beginning of the cold war and the sects. Also, now the main alien in the game has genitals, and hey, does he like to make jokes about it.

Destroy all humans! 2 – Reprobed – Exit Trailer | PS5 Games

Like the first Destroy All Humans remake, this new and improved version of DAH2 was developed by Black Forest and is a true remake, with an all-new engine and entirely new textures and models. And it’s a damn beautiful game. Sometimes when I was jetpacking around the various levels, destroying humans, of course, I would stop and soak up the gorgeous vistas that exist in this game. The lighting in particular is often gorgeous, reminding me more of a animated film than an open-world PS2 game. And there are a lot of little details in the game, like how the characters get covered in dirt as they walk through the mud and then leave muddy footprints.

Although these improved visuals come at a cost. The game occasionally has framerate issues in busy scenes, as well as screen tearing and hitching in large parts of cities. It’s not unplayable, but it pops up once in a while.

The story behind this alien adventure is that a decade after the events of the first game, the Russian KGB somehow figured out what happened and attacked the Furon invaders’ mothership, destroying their plans to conquer the world and steal human DNA to help rebuild their species. Naturally, Crypto (the alien you play as) and his boss fight against the KGB and begin to learn about Russian history with aliens as they fly around the world, visiting and destroying various cities. famous, like San Francisco and London.

Screenshot: THQ Nordic / Black Forest Games / Kotaku

Just as with the first remake, DAH2: Reprobated reuses the audio files from the original, and as a result, it ends up being a fairly faithful recreation. Maybe too loyal? There are definitely some missions and activities that feel weird, like something you’d play in a PS2-era open-world game, which I guess makes sense, because it’s basically… an open-world game from the PS2 era. Additionally, some jokes and dialogue seem a bit out of place and dated 2022, which the game even warns you about before you start. Luckily, you can skip all dialogue and cutscenes in DAH2 if you just want to blow up buildings with your UFO or human anal probe.

While its story and general mission structure remain unchanged, Black Forest has done a lot to improve the combat to make it more modern and responsive. You fire with the right trigger and aim with the left trigger, while the sticks react to your movement as you’d expect from any good third-person shooter released in 2022. As a Crypto, you have access to a large wheel of weapons of destruction, including flash guns, plasma guns, anal probe weapons and even a “Free Love” ray that can force all humans around you to start dancing and is useful to escape difficult situations.

And all of that, along with your shield, jetpack, and hover boots, can be upgraded over time as you visit new towns and complete missions. Of course, nothing revolutionary, but the progression is fun and after a few hours I felt more powerful and badass than when I started.

Screenshot: THQ Nordic / Black Forest Games / Kotaku

Most missions involve a mixture of heavy firefights, a bit of physical fun and a bit of stealth – you’re an alien after all and people will call the cops if they spot you. Luckily, no mission in the game takes more than a few minutes to complete and with all the weapons and abilities at your disposal, missions can be completed in a variety of ways without becoming boring or stale. Each mission also has at least one optional objective that gives you additional upgrade resources to do something like “Kill 10 cops” or “Blow up five hippie vans”.

Destroy all humans! 2: Reprobed doesn’t reinvent the wheel or shake up the original sequel’s formula too much and that’s fine with me. In many ways, it was nice to have a wacky open-world game that doesn’t feel too big and overloaded, with a map with a million icons. It’s the kind of game that will only take most people around 20 hours, not 200 hours. And most of that time will be spent having fun and doing silly things, like fighting mutants or putting hippie trucks on rooftops to start a cult.

It’s not a game for everyone, but if you miss that era of goofy and weird PS2 originals, it’s a faithful, modern remake of one of the best from that era. Let’s just hope they fix some of the performance issues in a future patch.

Destroy all humans! 2: Reproved is available now on Xbox Series X/S, PS5 and PC.