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The Best Indies To Play This Summer, The Best Star Wars Games To Snag On Sale, And Other Tips And Recommendations

The Best Indies To Play This Summer, The Best Star Wars Games To Snag On Sale, And Other Tips And Recommendations

We'll help you deal with Helldivers 2's nasty new Scout Striders, too

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Image for article titled The Best Indies To Play This Summer, The Best Star Wars Games To Snag On Sale, And Other Tips And Recommendations
Image: Electronic Arts, Arrowhead Game Studios / Sony, Respawn Entertainment, Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games, Insomniac Games, FromSoftware / Sony, Square Enix, Massive Monster / Devolver Digital, Kotaku, Screenshot: Sony / Kotaku

We’re in the thick of summer right now, and while many of us are already looking forward to the cooler days and changing colors of fall, we shouldn’t miss the chance to snag some great games on the cheap as various platforms run their big summer sales. We’ll clue you in on some of the biggest deals on some of the best games. We’ll also recommend some great indies to stay cool with on these hot summer days, and help you deal with some of Helldivers 2's trickiest new enemies.

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The two main characters of A Way Out.
Image: Electronic Arts

PlayStation’s Summer Sale is nearly over. Sony is slashing prices across various games, DLCs, and even some in-game currency. Odds are if you’ve had a game you’ve been eyeing for a while, it might be fairly cheap at the moment. If you’re looking for a fun cooperative game to play with a friend, a lover, or a family member, there are a few cheap, quick games for you two to finish in a night or two on your PS5 through PS4 backwards compatibility. Here are a few co-op games on sale to play on your couch with your player 2. - Kenneth Shepard Read More

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A screenshot of the fully armored Scout Striders in Helldivers 2.
Image: Arrowhead Game Studios / Sony

For the longest time, the third-person co-op shooter Helldivers 2 has had its very own chicken walkers. A term that fans have used for years to describe Star Wars’ AT-ST units, “chicken walkers” refers to the legs on these bipedal robots—which look quite weak and like they could be taken out easily—as well as the way in which they walk. Helldivers 2’s chicken walkers (officially known as Scout Striders) have typically been pushovers befitting of the name, but with the Escalation of Freedom update, they’ve gotten a fresh new upgrade that makes ‘em bigger threats. - Moises Taveras Read More

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Cal stands in front of a sunset with his lightsaber in hand.
Image: Respawn Entertainment

Star Wars Outlaws is just around the corner. The Ubisoft open-world game set between the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi will take you scheming throughout the galaxy as scoundrel Kay Vess. But the galaxy far, far away has plenty of adventures you can dive into while you wait for Outlaws to launch on August 30. And a handful of Star Wars games are on sale on Steam as part of the EA August sale until August 19, but there are also some others that are just generally cheap right now. Here are a few Star Wars games to whet your appetite in the coming weeks. - Kenneth Shepard Read More

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A screenshot of Alan Wake Remastered showing Alan using a flashlight against lumberjacks corrupted by darkness.
Image: Remedy Entertainment / Epic Games

Back in 2012, Remedy put out Alan Wake, a pulpy third-person shooter about a troubled author literally battling the forces of darkness, as well as his own demons, with a flashlight and a gun. It didn’t light the world on fire, but over the years, it did become a bit of a cult classic, and now it’s widely regarded as this loving ode to a seemingly bygone era of strange games from massive teams. Nearly a dozen years later, Alan Wake finally received a critically acclaimed sequel, and it’s now the lynchpin to a connected universe of titles from its developer, sometimes called the Remedyverse. So if you want to jump in on one of the strangest and most exciting stories in games at the moment, why not start at the beginning? - Moises Taveras Read More

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The key art for Bloodborne: The Old Hunters, showing the player character sitting cross-legged on a chair with a weapon.
Image: FromSoftware / Sony

The more I sit with it, the more confident I am that Bloodborne may actually be my favorite game of all time. It’s got some stiff competition, but my mind just comes back to FromSoftware’s deeply gothic (and maternal) nightmare more often than it does anything else. It’s also one of the studio’s most accessible games and—in keeping with that sentiment—the first one that I ever finished. It’s a game I’ve shared with loved ones, and the guy who helped me beat it the first time around is now my roommate all these years later. I love that I share Bloodborne with so many people in my life, and now I’m sharing it with you all because it’s on sale. - Moises Taveras Read More

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A screenshot of Cloud and Tifa standing back to back in Final Fantasy VII Remake.
Image: Square Enix

Final Fantasy VII Remake is probably one of the boldest left turns in modern games. I won’t get into exactly why, as I still believe in trying to maintain the experience of playing it and seeing it for yourself, but you just have to believe me when I say that the remake of one of the most legendary RPGs simply needs to be seen for oneself, and now you can at a pretty affordable price. - Moises Taveras Read More

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A screenshot showing a strung up creature being sacrificed in Cult of the Lamb.
Image: Massive Monster / Devolver Digital

Back in 2022, one of the most unexpectedly big games of the year was a cute little cult simulator. Cult of the Lamb, developed by Massive Monster and published by Devolver Digital, made a huge splash when it launched two summers ago and spoke to all the little freaks and deviants out there. Its hybrid of Animal Crossing-style daily tasks, recruitment, and relationship maintenance as well as Hades’ roguelike design and fast-paced combat made for a compelling venture into the heart of evil. As it celebrates its second anniversary, you can get it and all of the DLC that’s come out since launch for especially cheap. - Moises Taveras Read More

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A compilation of three indie games.
Image: Kotaku

It’s been a great year for indie games. While the first two-thirds of the year in AAA were dominated by RPGs and Helldivers 2, 2024 in indies has been a great excuse to get weird. We’ve seen legally distinct militarized Pokémon, a roguelite road trip through haunted Oregon, the most addictive card game on planet Earth, a cheerful undersea adventure that’s quietly the most climatepunk game in years, an old-school city builder, the revival of Stardew Valley, and whatever the hell you’d call Animal Well. - Thomas Wilde Read More

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Astro is very happy with his new Gran Turismo outfit.
Screenshot: Sony / Kotaku

Astro’s Playroom has added its third Special Bot since it began counting down to Astro’s return in his upcoming full-length adventure, the aptly titled Astro Bot. This latest bot pays homage to Sony’s long-running racing sim franchise Gran Turismo. - Billy Givens Read More

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