HarmanSmith

It is a good point, indeed.

Recently, I have been playing old games (or new games with an oldies' vibe). Killer7 (doing my annual playthrough!), MGS2&3, RoboCop: Rogue City, GoldenEye 007...

I know it wasn't a hit, but man, I loved Hellblade II and its 6–8 hours of gameplay. Going now for my second run.

(IMHO, Killer7 and Hellblade combat systems are simple but fun).

@Banjo- Yeah, I have seen this kind of inconsistency. IIRC, most Sega/Atlus games are on the program (I even bought Yakuza: Like a Dragon on Xbox, and later I saw it on my PC library too).

But, for example, Soul Hackers 2 isn't on the program (even if it is listed on the Windows Store AND the Xbox Store).

But, while I found out about this, maybe I am gonna wait for a sale (played it the original to death, so there's no rush!).

It will be a "Play Anywhere" supported title? If so, count me in! (I played the vanilla version on Switch and I thought it was great).

@themightyant For all the flaws the reviews highlighted (short length, very similar to the first one, etc.) I didn't read much, at least in the reviews I read after I beat the game, that it was a highly polished release.

And yeah, agreed that the first one was more impactful and maybe more memorable in the end. But I loved Hellblade II all the same. It's a rare gem, a unique game (if we like that uniqueness or not is another issue, IMHO).

@GamingFan4Lyf One of my top 10 games of all time! In fact, the remastered version of Killer7 was the reason why I created my Steam account (for better or worse 😆) .

Does anyone know the size of this patch?

I loved the game, and I am looking forward to playing it again. Even if I am subscribed to GP, I bought it (specially, since this one have the "Play Anywhere" feature, so I can play it on PC too). Recently, I sold my Steam Deck and bought a ROG Ally, and is great to be able to play Hellbalde II on that device!

@BAMozzy Totally agreed.

Ninja Theory never hinted that this one would be radically different from the first one. I don't know what gamers expected TBH, but I highly respect the fact that NT made the game they wanted to make.

@Banjo- I just want to say that the Play Anywhere program is highly underrated and one I would like to see expanded (but I think most publishers won't play ball with it).

@RentedPanda IMO, it stands well on its own. In fact, it was my first No More Heroes game.

I have yet to pay the full saga (1&2 and Travis Strikes Again are on my backlog) so I really don't know if I did lose something of the lore. But, I'll say it is a good starting point for the franchise.

I just came here to say that No More Heroes 3 is great!

I played it on Switch (when it was a timed-exclusive), but I will surely replay it on GP.

@Banjo- I played it a bit, loved the art style and the gameplay, but I drop out because I didn't want to leave it halfway (like Persona 5). Is it that long?

1. Hellblade II
2. Hellblade II
3. Hellblade II

Sorry for the bad joke, but I loved the first one and part II looks great. Looking forward to an intense, if short, game (as devs have said).

About the others, the Indy game looks fun.

@Kaloudz Yes, you raised interesting points. New games require a crazy amount of storage space, so that would be a potential issue.

A dedicated handheld for Xbox One would be great, though! In my Christmas break, I played Ryse: Son of Rome on the Steam Deck (I bought it dirt cheap on a sale) and it looks great, even by today standards. So, I would welcome a dedicated Xbox handheld.

@Kaloudz My mate, I would buy one too! (If it's not crazy expensive, that is). And I have a Steam Deck, but my Xbox library is bigger, so it would be nice. It feels great to play the latest games on it, but it comes with some of the caveats of PC gaming.

Edit: in fact, the supposedly "mobile device" thing is the only rumor I'm interested in, to be honest. But I don't see it happening, at least not yet (much less on the Thursday podcast).

Bloodstained is coming back to GP? IIRC, it was in the service in 2020, the year I got my Series X, I even beat it in Christmas of that year!

It is great, BTW. I did buy it later on Steam, where it is heavily discounted now and then (besides, it looks great on the Steam Deck). Definitely, a must for lovers of Metroidvanias.

@themightyant If all it takes is a few rumours to kill your faith/trust then it wasn't very strong to begin with.

Exactly this.

On the matter, I am not overtly worried. I think we will hear some corporate buzzwords, blah blah, the works. And maybe some changes, but not so drastic as everybody is believing (at least I hope so!). Some titles going multiplat, maybe. One thing I think it will be true is that Hi-Fi Rush will be on the Switch at least (I sure see it as a potentially great seller on that system, but who knows?).

As a side note, I don't really understand why so many people online wants the Xbox brand to be "done". What positive outcome can come from that?

@Kaloudz My man, I am with you, it was a great show. MS is getting good at these events, uh?

Hell (pun intended) yeah!

After Alan Wake II (which released last year), this is my most waited game!

This news made my day already. If true, it's not so far away! This has been my most anticipated game in years (after Alan Wake 2).

This last Christmas, I replayed Hellblade, now on Steam (I have played it on Xbox and Switch, and I plan to get it on PS on a sale someday). One achievement left to get 100%.

@Spider-Kev That's one of the most overlooked benefits of Game Pass: the try-before-you-buy approach.

I have tried many games on GP that I've bought afterwards (maybe on Switch, maybe on a sale).

@Titntin @Kaloudz Spot on, both of you! What a great year has been.

Grabbed Psychonauts 2! I played it on Game Pass, but it is a great game. I want to do a full completionist run on the Steam Deck.

@Kaloudz glad to read you enjoyed Mirage! I will try it when I got time, as I have a long backlog now across Steam, Xbox and Switch. This year has been insane!

Starfield is a good game for sure, but I haven't played it enough to have a formed opinion about it being GOTY material.

Nevertheless, In a year of great games, I think Hi-Fi Rush deserved some more love. Glad to see the game nominated in some categories, though.

Agreed with the review 100%. The games shine even today, despite a myriad of issues with the way the collection is presented. The games have a pace, gameplay and presentation that most modern games would want.

And yes, I am a sucker for the MGS series .

Beaten MGS2 on Switch, now into MGS3:SE...

Hyped already!

Call me old-fashioned, but Alan Wake II, Robocop and MGS was all I needed today!

CAN'T. WAIT.

This is my most anticipated game of 2023!

@Kaloudz I know, right? Is sooo cool indeed

@BAMozzy Indeed, it is a nice video. And it shows an impressive bunch of IPs now owned by MS/Xbox.

@Balta666 @ralphdibny Yeah, thank you! I haven't been as engaged with the club as much as I would want to (due to time constraints), but it is great and I love the Club!

@Kaloudz Loved that analogy! 😂

@Kaloudz Hahaha, thank you my man, as always! That Lulu! 🤣.

@Kaloudz What she said? I can't find the post!

@themightyant Good to know about the podcast. I've yet to listen to it, added to the "play later" list and then got sidetracked by other stuff.

I sure hope so, mate! But with Zenimax/Bethesda "projected" release dates, one never knows! I hope that the management at MS keep them on the right track.

@Kaloudz Me too! Loved Ghostwire:Tokyo. It's one of the greatest surprises I played on GP (after reading some mixed reviews across the board). I hope we can get the sequel soon enough.

Suda5! AND Swery65?

A day one title for me!

I can't!

Well, I must say that we live in a time with great games. I def have some great games on the proverbial backlog that I want to play, so it seems like there's not enough time for them all.

How it has all changed, indeed. I remember the good ole days times when I started gaming (in an Atari console) when you can count the great games with the fingers of one hand. Even on the N64 era, you can end with only one game for months (there weren't many games and money were scarce on the house).

@PJOReilly Thanks!

@PJOReilly I have one tiny question. Is NG+ affected by the difficulty on which I beat the game for the first time?

Great review, as always!

@MoistEmphasis3 The Gameranx review is live now, I think.

Tormented Souls was really good! I'm glad they are making a sequel.

Looks great! Can't wait for October 27th.

@Kaloudz Hey! It looks good, and I hope it will be a great new AC.

Ubi (hopefully) will be on a roll with all the new games they are releasing in the near future!

Such bad news. It was one of my fave new IPs

@Kaloudz As a fellow Ubisoft fan (who recently went to Montreal and took himself a photo in front of the Ubisoft Montreal Studios as any good fanboy would do ), I agree: their games are highly polished (except some minor bugs or glitches here and there).

And, even if this year has been relatively quiet, the future looks bright, with the Star Wars, Avatar, AC and Prince of Persia games! My hype is on!

@themightyant I read most comments about it here and in other articles.

My take is, I don't like it, but I see the business side of it. I think NES has said it elsewhere, but here's an industry which relies too much on FOMO and being exploitive of the customer's lack of patience and self-control.

What I really, REALLY dislike is that there are some elements of wordplay ("play it Day ONE on GP: but wait, if you want to play it REALLY on DAY ONE, fork out the cash!") that intends to deceive the customers. If you want to exploit the FOMO and the hype and make some cash, why not be frank about it and quit the wordplay?

This situation doesn't affect me directly (as I can wait for the GP release/standard release, as with pretty much most games), but I see that it is a deceptive marketing scheme.

@themightyant @Kaloudz Sorry to butt in the conversation, mates!

I get everybody's points about this Early Access/Day One scheme. I am not well versed in the matter, so I will mention one of the few experiences I have had. I think Atlus has done this kind of thing. IIRC, if you preordered the Persona 5 Strikers Deluxe Edition, you could play the game, like, two or three days earlier. But I don't know which other dev/publisher still do this.

@Kaloudz Very useful link, thank buddy!

It is an interesting and informative reading, tbh.

@Banjo- Couldn't agree more with your last comment!