@Shinato2024 limited? The first KCD is absolutely fantastic. It takes at least a dozen hours to get into the actual game, but once you understand the combat and world, it's amazing. The second one is more approachable, but it's very similar.
@Balaam_ hahaha what? It's a huge deal that a 3rd party AAA game is Play Anywhere. I didn't read anything about the insignificance of quality. Also, there are enough previews out there about the game itself. I personally think it's fantastic that Play Anywhere exists.
There have been enough previews and gameplay out to know it won't be a BAD game. It'll more than likely be good. But going from good to great is a leap I'm not sure it'll make. I've been excited about this game since the first trailer in 2020
It is NOT a sharp looking game on XSX. You can tell it's upscaled a lot and that base resolution has to be very low. I'll wait until Digital Foundry confirms this, but from the half hour I played, it's incredibly soft looking. Nothing like the other hero shooters.
I figured most Xbox fans watched the Developer Direct. I love Fable and I didn't watch the actual trailer. Also, they have a buttload more subscribers. Viewing doesn't mean buying. If people own both consoles, like me, the Xbox version seems like the smarter buy with Play Anywhere and Cloud support. Who knows if I'll be into PC gaming in a few years, but it seems like the smarter choice.
@dskatter a hybrid system that was released 5 years after a "budget" console. I'm not knocking the Switch 2, just stating that comparing the two versions is apples to oranges as one has a mode that runs at 60 fps and the other doesn't. Switch 2 owners are consistently saying, "It's amazing the Sw2 can even run it." What a ridiculous thing to say about a console that was released 6 months ago.
Banishers is one of the best AA games out there. Great combat, fun story, and runs/looks great! I played through it already, but I'm going to give it another go!
Didn't we just have one of the biggest outages across the board just last week with AWS? Hundreds of important apps and sites were down and people couldn't conduct business. I fear this is just the beginning for hacks and outages.
@TheOldHunter4K End of November through the first few weeks of the new year are typically slow for new releases. Things usually start back up mid January. The game awards will give some more 2026 release dates for third party and Xbox first party games. But yeah, it's ALWAYS slow around the holidays
I mean, it's like a year away from release and who knows, the new versions of UE5 might negate a lot of those issues. We'll see how well Stalker 2 looks and runs in the updated UE5 engine when it's released.
Check out performance videos for the Series S for this game. Pretty wild that it runs this well on the weaker platform, especially with 120hz and VRR modes, being UE5 and all.
Played the beta last spring and even then it ran almost flawlessly on Seried X and S. It's a ton of fun too. It's nice to have a game optimized months before actual release and not an afterthought.
As of right now, all I care about is the engine update. Performance has been rocky to say the least. It looks and runs decent on a display with VRR, but the upscaling artifacts and ghosting are really bad. It's just a noisy outcome for the graphics. I've put about 25 hours into it, and feel like I should just wait until they DO update the engine.
Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the ugliest modern gen AAA games I've played in a long time. I have to play on a small monitor to be able to stand the upscaling artifacts. It also runs terribly. I mostly play on my 85" 120hz TV with VRR and 90% of games look great. This one does not. Endgame content is also extremely lacking for MHW. Reviews were very biased since it's a monster Hunter game.
I've tried. With this and the first. Just not my thing, and I don't understand the hype, but to each their own. Working through Wukong and WuChang. I have momentum with those titles so I need to push through.
You guys don't have Jump Space (formerly Jump Ship) on this list. Comes out Sept 19th. All of the previews and people that have played it absolutely love it! I'm excited.
@HeavyHoggJP haha nice! I have Eneloops and then the big boys are the black Eneloop pros. I use them in my IEM for the band. They last double the amount of time as Duracell or Energizer.
@DWMcKie my Xbox controllers have less stick drift than my Switch or PS5. Like WAY less. Also, controllers for the Xbox are half the price of other consoles.
Buy some Panasonic Eneloop Pro rechargeable batteries and game for days. I've charged the same few sets hundreds of times and I can still get tons of hours. They're more expensive, but totally worth it. I also wish phones had removable batteries again
I just beat Reborn Treant - Soulwood just today. I was always terrible at souls like games. Elden Ring wasn't overly difficult for the most part as you can get help with bosses, but this game was hard for me. I think I'm getting it though. It's been a blast so far and I'm glad they're improving the experience. Just need to fix the hiccups with performance.
@Nexozi next year could mean a Halo remake, Gears, Forza Horizon, Everwild, Perfect Dark, Clockwork Revolution, Fable.... Bonkers to even think about. We still have Crimson Desert this year too for a killer 3rd party title. Not enough time in a day.
They'll announce something for the end of the year at Gamescom in August and maybe a shadow drop then. We'll probably get more Fable and Gears gameplay at that point as well. Game Pass subscribers are getting their money's worth.
I'm in the tech test and it runs beautifully on Series X AND S. 60 fps on both consoles with a few dips, but those dips seem to be server related more than anything. It's a lot more polished than I thought for a game I heard very little about.
@Fiendish-Beaver it's all about Game Pass. It has and it will be even more about GP in the future. If they release more and more games on PS, that's where they'll get most of their sales and the rest of the income will be GP. If you look closely, that's where it looks to be heading.
@Dromosus it's not just the Series S version. It's an ugly game with bad performance. If anyone says otherwise, then they're just fanboying. DF did tests with high end GPU/CPU combos and frame stuttering affected them all, with frame rates well below 60 fps.
Witcher 3, Watch Dogs Legion, AC Valhalla/Odyssey/Origins, Forza Horizon 4/5, GOW4/5, and the list goes on... All those games run at 60 fps on the Series S. MHW can barely hit 30 fps on an ugly engine. They should have used CryEngine. Even Unreal Engine 4 looks and runs better than this. I love Monster Hunter, but this sours the experience on ALL platforms.
Obviously Forza Horizon is king, but this isn't even a jester. It's SOOO ugly. God, it looks like a poor man's Xbox One title. Motorfest is way better than this as well. I can't believe people thought this would rival either one of those titles.
They better fix the upscaling artifacts. God it was bad, and it didn't even look very good. Here's hoping most the work went into performance before release. I'd rather have a lower resolution than that noisy upscaling.
@MeanBeanEgg just an example. I never said IGN was bad. They align with my thoughts most times. Eurogamer, Gamespot, etc. All gave it not just good, but GREAT scores
I've had a really good experience so far. You need to be hardwired for it to be smooth. I have a really fast connection. Yes there are issues here and there, but it's been better than most from what I've seen.
Oof. A lot of reviewers will say you either hate it or love it. I played it on my 85 inch TV with VRR and the framerate is no longer an issue. And other reviewers have said the story, gameplay, and writing are too notch, so... Just look at the metacritic scores. Some are saying it's a masterpiece.
Issues like that with your profile can be fixed sometimes by deleting the profile off of the console storage and downloading the profile from the cloud. This happened a few times with my old 360 and it worked every time.
@abe_hikura I was hoping they'd go the way of Atomic Heart and not even give an option for a "quality mode." I understand a 120 fps mode, but 30 seems just lazy. Especially since a lot of games get patches to get them up to par for a 60 fps option. So in other words, developers should just take a but more time
Comments 83
Re: The First Xbox Studios Release Of 2026 Is Here, And It's Been Vastly Reworked For Launch
@Shinato2024 limited? The first KCD is absolutely fantastic. It takes at least a dozen hours to get into the actual game, but once you understand the combat and world, it's amazing. The second one is more approachable, but it's very similar.
Re: 'Romeo Is A Dead Man' Receives Wide Range Of Review Scores, Hits Xbox This Wednesday
So that 4.5 score really doesn't seem like they hated the game. 4.5 is very bad, so I guess I don't get such a low score
Re: Sony Is Hosting A Huge State Of Play This Week, Do You Think We'll Get Any Big Xbox Reveals?
@Kloppo they stated there will be a big 3rd party presence, which means there will more than likely be SOMETHING for Xbox.
Re: Huge Fantasy RPG Crimson Desert Launches Next Month With Xbox Play Anywhere
@Balaam_ hahaha what? It's a huge deal that a 3rd party AAA game is Play Anywhere. I didn't read anything about the insignificance of quality. Also, there are enough previews out there about the game itself. I personally think it's fantastic that Play Anywhere exists.
Re: Huge Fantasy RPG Crimson Desert Launches Next Month With Xbox Play Anywhere
There have been enough previews and gameplay out to know it won't be a BAD game. It'll more than likely be good. But going from good to great is a leap I'm not sure it'll make. I've been excited about this game since the first trailer in 2020
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Highguard, Out Now On Xbox
It is NOT a sharp looking game on XSX. You can tell it's upscaled a lot and that base resolution has to be very low. I'll wait until Digital Foundry confirms this, but from the half hour I played, it's incredibly soft looking. Nothing like the other hero shooters.
Re: Fable Likely To Be A Huge Hit On PS5 As Sony-Hosted Trailer Hits 1 Million Views
I figured most Xbox fans watched the Developer Direct. I love Fable and I didn't watch the actual trailer. Also, they have a buttload more subscribers. Viewing doesn't mean buying. If people own both consoles, like me, the Xbox version seems like the smarter buy with Play Anywhere and Cloud support. Who knows if I'll be into PC gaming in a few years, but it seems like the smarter choice.
Re: These 10 Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass, Multiple Major Additions (January 21 - February 3)
Ooo lala! Very niiiiice
Re: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Verdict On The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Demo For Xbox
@dskatter a hybrid system that was released 5 years after a "budget" console. I'm not knocking the Switch 2, just stating that comparing the two versions is apples to oranges as one has a mode that runs at 60 fps and the other doesn't. Switch 2 owners are consistently saying, "It's amazing the Sw2 can even run it." What a ridiculous thing to say about a console that was released 6 months ago.
Re: Digital Foundry Delivers Its Verdict On The Final Fantasy 7 Remake Demo For Xbox
But the Switch 2 version is 30 fps and doesn't have a performance mode like Series S.
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Comparison Shows Difference Between Xbox Series X And Series S
Compare the Series S to the Switch 2 version and you can't help but be impressed by the budget console.
Re: Is 'Xbox Wrapped' Happening For 2025? Fans Clearly Want To See It
I did it through True Achievements and the craziest thing my wrap said was that I played 216 different games this year.
Re: These Nine Games Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass (November 19 - December 2)
Banishers is one of the best AA games out there. Great combat, fun story, and runs/looks great! I played through it already, but I'm going to give it another go!
Re: Is Xbox Down? Huge Azure Server Outage Causes Issues Across Microsoft Services
Didn't we just have one of the biggest outages across the board just last week with AWS? Hundreds of important apps and sites were down and people couldn't conduct business. I fear this is just the beginning for hacks and outages.
Re: Is Xbox Down? Huge Azure Server Outage Causes Issues Across Microsoft Services
@TheOldHunter4K End of November through the first few weeks of the new year are typically slow for new releases. Things usually start back up mid January. The game awards will give some more 2026 release dates for third party and Xbox first party games. But yeah, it's ALWAYS slow around the holidays
Re: Ninja Gaiden 4 Performance Is Impressive But Xbox Series S Visuals Suffer, Says Digital Foundry
Really? Haha of course. Pretty awesome though for a console that you can find for $200
Re: Digital Foundry Impressed By Halo: Campaign Evolved, But Worried About Unreal Engine 5
I mean, it's like a year away from release and who knows, the new versions of UE5 might negate a lot of those issues. We'll see how well Stalker 2 looks and runs in the updated UE5 engine when it's released.
Re: Hands On: Is The Outer Worlds 2 Obsidian's Third Xbox Success Of The Year?
Check out performance videos for the Series S for this game. Pretty wild that it runs this well on the weaker platform, especially with 120hz and VRR modes, being UE5 and all.
Re: Upcoming FPS ARC Raiders Is Completely Free-To-Play This Weekend On Xbox
Played the beta last spring and even then it ran almost flawlessly on Seried X and S. It's a ton of fun too. It's nice to have a game optimized months before actual release and not an afterthought.
Re: Stalker 2 Update 1.6 Arrives On Xbox, Here Are The Patch Notes
As of right now, all I care about is the engine update. Performance has been rocky to say the least. It looks and runs decent on a display with VRR, but the upscaling artifacts and ghosting are really bad. It's just a noisy outcome for the graphics. I've put about 25 hours into it, and feel like I should just wait until they DO update the engine.
Re: These 40+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (September 15-19)
So excited for Jump Space. All the previews I've seen have been positive! Ever since it was shown a few years back, I've been waiting.
Re: After Silksong, These Are The Top 10 Highest-Rated Games Of 2025 So Far
Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the ugliest modern gen AAA games I've played in a long time. I have to play on a small monitor to be able to stand the upscaling artifacts. It also runs terribly. I mostly play on my 85" 120hz TV with VRR and 90% of games look great. This one does not. Endgame content is also extremely lacking for MHW. Reviews were very biased since it's a monster Hunter game.
Re: Talking Point: So, Is Hollow Knight: Silksong Worth The Hype On Xbox Game Pass?
I've tried. With this and the first. Just not my thing, and I don't understand the hype, but to each their own. Working through Wukong and WuChang. I have momentum with those titles so I need to push through.
Re: All New Games Coming To Xbox In September 2025
@DienteDeHombre haha I just said this. It looks to be better than most the stuff on this list. I've watched a ton of previews
Re: All New Games Coming To Xbox In September 2025
You guys don't have Jump Space (formerly Jump Ship) on this list. Comes out Sept 19th. All of the previews and people that have played it absolutely love it! I'm excited.
Re: Poll: Should The Next Xbox Controller Support AA Batteries Again?
@HeavyHoggJP haha nice! I have Eneloops and then the big boys are the black Eneloop pros. I use them in my IEM for the band. They last double the amount of time as Duracell or Energizer.
Re: Poll: Should The Next Xbox Controller Support AA Batteries Again?
@DWMcKie my Xbox controllers have less stick drift than my Switch or PS5. Like WAY less. Also, controllers for the Xbox are half the price of other consoles.
Re: Poll: Should The Next Xbox Controller Support AA Batteries Again?
Buy some Panasonic Eneloop Pro rechargeable batteries and game for days. I've charged the same few sets hundreds of times and I can still get tons of hours. They're more expensive, but totally worth it. I also wish phones had removable batteries again
Re: Wuchang: Fallen Feathers Gets Difficulty Tweaks In Update 1.5 On Xbox Game Pass
I just beat Reborn Treant - Soulwood just today. I was always terrible at souls like games. Elden Ring wasn't overly difficult for the most part as you can get help with bosses, but this game was hard for me. I think I'm getting it though. It's been a blast so far and I'm glad they're improving the experience. Just need to fix the hiccups with performance.
Re: Xbox Has Three First-Party Games Coming Out Within 12 Days Of Each Other
@Nexozi next year could mean a Halo remake, Gears, Forza Horizon, Everwild, Perfect Dark, Clockwork Revolution, Fable.... Bonkers to even think about. We still have Crimson Desert this year too for a killer 3rd party title. Not enough time in a day.
Re: Xbox Has Three First-Party Games Coming Out Within 12 Days Of Each Other
They'll announce something for the end of the year at Gamescom in August and maybe a shadow drop then. We'll probably get more Fable and Gears gameplay at that point as well. Game Pass subscribers are getting their money's worth.
Re: ARC Raiders Set For Huge Xbox Launch As Previews Say It's Better Than Marathon
I'm in the tech test and it runs beautifully on Series X AND S. 60 fps on both consoles with a few dips, but those dips seem to be server related more than anything. It's a lot more polished than I thought for a game I heard very little about.
Re: Roundup: PS5 Players Share Their First Impressions Of Forza Horizon 5
The gripes are basically, "I've never played a Forza Horizon so I'm overwhelmed by how much content there is." That's such a backhanded gripe
Re: Talking Point: Will The New '2027' Xbox Console Have Steam Support?
@Fiendish-Beaver it's all about Game Pass. It has and it will be even more about GP in the future. If they release more and more games on PS, that's where they'll get most of their sales and the rest of the income will be GP. If you look closely, that's where it looks to be heading.
Re: Review: Monster Hunter Wilds (Xbox) - A Great Hunt, But Maybe Avoid On Series S
@Dromosus it's not just the Series S version. It's an ugly game with bad performance. If anyone says otherwise, then they're just fanboying. DF did tests with high end GPU/CPU combos and frame stuttering affected them all, with frame rates well below 60 fps.
Re: Review: Monster Hunter Wilds (Xbox) - A Great Hunt, But Maybe Avoid On Series S
Witcher 3, Watch Dogs Legion, AC Valhalla/Odyssey/Origins, Forza Horizon 4/5, GOW4/5, and the list goes on... All those games run at 60 fps on the Series S. MHW can barely hit 30 fps on an ugly engine. They should have used CryEngine. Even Unreal Engine 4 looks and runs better than this. I love Monster Hunter, but this sours the experience on ALL platforms.
Re: 20 Of The Best Backwards Compatible Games You Can Play On Xbox
GTA 4 also has an unlocked frame rate, so on the Series X and S, it's 60 fps which makes the game that much better.
Re: Test Drive Unlimited Solar Crown Is Free To Play On Xbox This Weekend
Obviously Forza Horizon is king, but this isn't even a jester. It's SOOO ugly. God, it looks like a poor man's Xbox One title. Motorfest is way better than this as well. I can't believe people thought this would rival either one of those titles.
Re: 30 Xbox Series X|S Games To Look Forward To In 2025
Eternal Strands, Towerborne, and believe it or not, I'm excited for the new Double Dragon.
Re: Capcom Unveils Monster Hunter Wilds Performance Details For Xbox Series X And S
They better fix the upscaling artifacts. God it was bad, and it didn't even look very good. Here's hoping most the work went into performance before release. I'd rather have a lower resolution than that noisy upscaling.
Re: Three More Xbox Game Pass Titles Confirmed For Early 2025
@Lup it reminds me so much of Immortals Fenyx Rising. I absolutely loved that game.
Re: Review: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (Xbox) - A MachineGames Misfire
@MeanBeanEgg just an example. I never said IGN was bad. They align with my thoughts most times. Eurogamer, Gamespot, etc. All gave it not just good, but GREAT scores
Re: Review: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (Xbox) - A MachineGames Misfire
@YeyoFairy according to nearly every other review, it's a HUGE win.
Re: Review: Indiana Jones And The Great Circle (Xbox) - A MachineGames Misfire
IGN gave it a 9. Stalker 2 was the same thing. Are you guys just salty or....
Re: Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 Dev Explains Why The Game Can't Be Downloaded In Full
I've had a really good experience so far. You need to be hardwired for it to be smooth. I have a really fast connection. Yes there are issues here and there, but it's been better than most from what I've seen.
Re: Review: Stalker 2 (Xbox) - GSC Game World's Long-Awaited Sequel Is A Mess
80 on metacritic for the Xbox version. How is there such a difference? Stalker has always been an obscure game. Slow and tactical.
Re: Review: Stalker 2 (Xbox) - GSC Game World's Long-Awaited Sequel Is A Mess
Oof. A lot of reviewers will say you either hate it or love it. I played it on my 85 inch TV with VRR and the framerate is no longer an issue. And other reviewers have said the story, gameplay, and writing are too notch, so... Just look at the metacritic scores. Some are saying it's a masterpiece.
Re: Xbox 360 Users Take To Social Media As Online Server Issues Persist
Issues like that with your profile can be fixed sometimes by deleting the profile off of the console storage and downloading the profile from the cloud. This happened a few times with my old 360 and it worked every time.
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Performance Patch Adds New FPS Targets On Xbox Series X And S
I have it set to Quality with RT on and it's actually pretty decent with my 120hz TV. Feels a lot like Avatar's 40 fps mode. Towns still suck though.
Re: Digital Foundry Compares 30FPS, 40FPS & 60FPS Modes In Star Wars Outlaws For Xbox
@abe_hikura I was hoping they'd go the way of Atomic Heart and not even give an option for a "quality mode." I understand a 120 fps mode, but 30 seems just lazy. Especially since a lot of games get patches to get them up to par for a 60 fps option. So in other words, developers should just take a but more time