KilloWertz

Molyneux seemed like he needed the boot, but they still could have kept Lionhead Studios going. Them and Rare will always be two studios that show how poorly Microsoft was managing things with their 1st party up until their recent turnaround with Phil Spencer. How things turned out up until the last couple of years is basically an instructional video on how not to manage a video game division, as they were clearing riding very high going into the Xbox 360 generation, only being able to finally turn things around lately.

In the end, hopefully this will be just an unfortunate part of their history and things will be extremely good by the time things really get rolling in a year or two.

Already have The Gunk pre-loaded. I won't get to play it right away, but I'm still really looking forward to it and hope it turns out to be good.

@NEStalgia Very fair point, and I know I immediately thought of Ghost of Tsushima too. I'm not expecting it to be quite on that level, but that would be fine. Regardless, this looks good and I will definitely be checking it out next year unless it turns out to be a turd.

Seeing Devolver Digital's name in quite a few trailers lately. I guess they'll have a fairly busy 2022, especially for a small enough publisher.

It's hard to fault the price given how much content you get, which is essentially another game, but at the same time I'll still likely wait on it to go on sale. I'll have plenty to play around this time too anyways, like Horizon Forbidden West and Forspoken on my PS5 and then whatever I'm also going to play around then on my Series X.

I'm happy they are releasing this though. There was talk that this was going to be it's own game before they decided to just lump it into Valhalla, but just treating it as DLC, it's about time Valhalla got something really substantial that's on the level of Odyssey's Fate of Atlantis DLC.

@Sol4ris I can understand how one would rather have Microsoft's short timed exclusive window, but I was more looking at it from a business perspective or if I was a fanboy of one or the other.

As frustrating as Sony's long timed exclusivity can be, Microsoft's few month deals really make no sense. They have no real impact on anything, as it's pretty obvious if one was a PlayStation only owner, you could easily just wait and that was money flushed down the toilet by Microsoft. Obviously people can wait a year or two for Sony's deals to expire, but at least those lengthy deals might actually make somebody think about getting a PlayStation system if they really want to play a specific game (that is if they were actually available).

Quantic Dream has already come out and said that their games will no longer be PlayStation exclusives. Obviously Sony could still pay them for exclusives if they choose to, but I highly doubt they'll be able to pay enough to get this one exclusive. It's not just up to Quantic Dream either in this case, as LucasFilms Games is also involved.

Weird West definitely looks extremely intriguing. Hopefully it turns out to be good. I won't be able to play it right away, but if it's good, I'll definitely make sure to make time for it at some point next year.

Edge of Eternity looks like it has some potential as well. I don't mind turn based JRPGs still, as that's what a lot of the old Final Fantasy games are to an extent (ATB changed things a bit, but still). There's been a bit of a jump in JRPGs on Xbox over the last year, but still, it's still not that common like on PlayStation, so I'll take another one whether it's turn based or not as long as it turns out to be good.

Dragon Age 2 and Halo. I'm not cool enough to join everybody in Halo Infinite yet.

The plan has been to wait and play Infinite until sometime next year. I was going to just play Halo 5 after Halo Wars 2, but figured I might as well just continue through the Master Chief Collection from where I left off a while back. Since that was early in Halo 1 after playing Reach, it'll be a while. I'm ok with that.

Still highly enjoying Dragon Age 2 as well. Getting close to being done with Act 2 of 3, and it also makes me excited to play some of the other really old games that got FPS Boost.

Finally watched the trailer yesterday and my opinion on the game has not changed since the debut trailer... This will be the game that is able to compete with anything from PlayStation. Their games are usually very high quality and a lot of them are 3rd person cinematic games, and this continues to look like it will be able to stand right next to them no problem.

That is obviously meant to be high praise. Basically, my expectations for this have been extremely high and will continue to be after this absolutely gorgeous footage. This is also one of the cases where, although obviously this is my most anticipated Xbox game, I'll happily wait so those expectations can be met.

I likely won't be able to start it right away as I'm still in the middle of a couple of other games, but I'm still likely going to pre-load it over the weekend and then be ready to start it whenever. Really hoping it turns out to be as good as it looks like it could be.

@StonyKL It's all good. We'll all experience brain farts from time to time.

I played The Medium finally back in October as my one horror game for the month and thought it was ok. At some points, the graphics were quite good, while others merely average. Same kind of goes for the game itself, but I also didn't feel like I wasted my time either. I do wish I had headphones, as the audio was supposed to be fantastic and that would have helped at least a bit. The Series X was probably still worth it for you regardless.

Yeah, GP is great, but obviously not perfect. I still tend to just play what I plan on actually finishing, as I don't have time to really just experiment much. I have tried a few games I wouldn't have normally bought, but I still stick to what I probably would have bought already more often than not. I know that's rare.

@Korgon Same here. The Bethesda deal was all well and good for several reasons, but I've always been more intrigued by the Ninja Theory and Obsidian acquisitions. Both developers have made some really good games, and now they have more money to work with. The PlayStation Studios stable of developers rightfully get a lot of praise, and I believe Ninja Theory and Obsidian can both reach those levels too. Hellblade 2 seems to be shaping up to be a prime example.

I guess there's one good way to look at it, and this isn't me crapping on Xbox. Things are definitely much better with Xbox now for the first time since sometime during the Xbox 360 generation if there's a game people think got robbed at The Game Awards. Hopefully things continue and maybe they will get one that finally wins big sooner or later (Hellblade 2 maybe?).

Still, Psychonauts 2 probably should have won something, even if it wasn't going to get GOTY. It Takes Two might have been a bit of a stretch, but at least it went to something different than the usual winners and it was a really good game in it's own right from the reviews.

@StonyKL There have been multiple timed exclusives on Xbox recently that have only been around 3 or 4 months like The Medium instead of the more logical and meaningful year that timed exclusives like Final Fantasy 7 Remake (until it was renewed for the PS5 version) and Deathloop have been recently for PlayStation.

That's why I was making a joke about this being a timed exclusive. Who knows how long it will be, as they don't usually announce the time frame. Again, not trying to start anything. I was just having a bit of fun with their recent track record with timed exclusives. Stalker 2 will be another really short timed exclusive next year if the internal documents that were reported about back in May are accurate (3 months).

As for the game being on Game Pass, nothing has been announced. I would doubt it at launch since you think they would have mentioned it yesterday when the release date was announced.

Let me guess. A 3 or 4 month timed exclusive before it pops up on PS4/PS5 like all of their timed exclusives recently.

Not trying to start anything. Just poking fun at the fact that their timed exclusives have been ridiculously short lately.

Might finally play the demo of this to try it out, as I never did when the demo first came out a year ago.

@themightyant I had the same thing happen with the game page, which is why I did it that way fine. Things like this are one reason why it kind of sucks that basically everything, even basic stuff like managing a game, is all online and loaded off of their servers. It is what it is though I suppose. I half expected some issues given how the game was released. Doesn't make it better. Just made me prepared, even though it was annoying not having the game's page work even though it's plastered all over the UI.

Maybe the jumping through hoops was because a portion of the game was already released? I don't remember many, if any games, that I've played (or in this case will play) that have been this way. Not complaining, just saying.

@themightyant I had an issue downloading it as well. Well, kind of. The page for the game refused to load, so I just went into the Manage game page for the Multiplayer portion that was already there and selected the Campaign. It just added it to the update it was already downloading for Multiplayer and then it just downloaded it all. I'm guessing the servers were still taking a beating, but didn't notice it in actually download speed. This was after Midnight EST too, which was surprising.

This is unfortunately an issue that is far wider than Halo Infinite on Xbox. A lot of games don't come close to including the full game on the disc but do on PS5. I'm not trying to start anything. I'm just stating a fact after a year with both consoles. I've been able to install full versions of games (minus a day 1 patch) on the PS5, but some games on my Series X require a much larger download than they should.

Part of the problem is Smart Delivery, as good as the feature is for the most part. Sometimes only one version of the game is on the disc, or a little of both, and it just creates a mess in some ways for installing games from disc. They should have put the Series X versions of games on the disc and had the Xbox One version pretty much digitally, but even then I have my doubts this wouldn't be an issue still. Also, having to stick with Blu-rays because of Smart Delivery means they can't use UHDs, which hold more than a regular Blu-ray.

The other problem is one I've brought up before that the compression used isn't as good as what Sony came up with for the PS5. If a game is larger than 50 GB, no matter if Smart Delivery is involved or not, it wouldn't fit on the disc. It wouldn't be as much of an issue if the games were compressed better like they are mostly on PS5. Just using it as a recent example, but Skyrim is under 20 GB, while it is much bigger on the Series X. In other words, I don't know the install size, but it's entirely possible it never would have completely fit on the disc anyways if it's 50 GB or larger.

@themightyant True, in the end this is in better shape than most games have been this year. So, I will give 343 credit for that.

If I was going to play Infinite this week, either issue wouldn't be gamebreaking for me. I'd still enjoy it, but knowing that the minor(ish) issues are there and that they are going to work to fix them makes it easy to stick to my plan of waiting a little while before I play the campaign.

@themightyant One could say that the facial animations issue is a legit complaint since it seems to not be on purpose. They said they are working to fix it, so that was definitely not by choice like Ember Labs with Kena having the cutscenes be at a different framerate completely. I can't say for sure since I haven't seen it in action, but that could be something that would be legitimately annoying. The freezing issue that you mentioned is definitely the biggest issue though.

In a way, after reading this article, it makes me somewhat glad I'm not playing Infinite's campaign until sometime next year. I have other games to play and never got around to play Halo 5, which is essential for the story, so the plan for a while has been to wait. By then, it should be smoother technically and even more enjoyable.

@Nalverus One has to wonder how much influence Activision had in the really negative aspects of the Destiny franchise such as what you mentioned.

I find it at least somewhat amazing that MachineGames is putting this much work into what was essentially a total surprise drop. A remaster/upgrade along with new modes, etc.

3 browsers and 2 attempts on Google Chrome and it managed to work with PayPal... after I bought a $10 gift card for it not to be a payment option on the website.

Dragon Age 2... Still really taking advantage of my Series X. Still amazed to be playing the game in 60 FPS, so there's that. I also expected to like it better than what the game ever got credit for, and that is still the case.

It's a shame this doesn't work with F.E.A.R. Really weird they added that to the backwards compatibility list even though you can't buy it. The only way I know of is to pay $40 or $50 for a new copy of it on eBay (I don't buy used copies of old games like that, as who knows what the disc looks like now).

I'm not very knowledgeable about the dev kits and such, but it's a bit weird that there's a waiting list to get them. It obviously made it impossible for them to optimize it at all for the Series consoles.

The price is too high for me to jump in to a game that's nearly 10 years old. It's up my alley, so maybe it'll be a pretty good port by the time it drops in price.

Unless they did update and vastly improve Generation Zero (the reviews are awful, and I have no interest if the world is empty and bad), I'll likely skip that. Don't have time for a game that isn't very good no matter if it's free or not. If people here say it's been much improved with updates it's received, then I will definitely reconsider as this type of game is right up my alley. I just have a lot of games to play, so I need to be picky.

Evil Genius 2 looks very intriguing though. I'll likely check that out at some point. It looks to be a nice take on the lair-building strategy games, especially since you get to be a villain. Strategy fans should check it out, as it is supposed to be pretty good.

@Chaudy Exactly. Hopefully the game's campaign brings us back to those days as well, as there's a level of optimism for the game that hasn't been there in a long time either.

Also hopefully we look back at this being the true turning point for Xbox in general (along with Horizon 5 of course). Yes, these are the flagship titles that they've always had, but Halo returning to AAA form would be a big deal along with the potential future catalog from all of the acquisitions, putting Xbox in a position they haven't been in since back in those days. This would be the true beginning of that.

@LastKing318 Both deserve praise. FF7 Remake is one of my favorite games of the last console generation, but Xbox deserves a lot of credit as well for making a lot of old games basically completely new with FPS Boost and even some getting a resolution boost as well. Old Xbox 360 games like Fallout 3 and Sonic Generations being 4K/60 now is nuts (obviously there are several others as well).

@NEStalgia But that's not the issue. You're not wrong about how it all works with FPS Boost, but this is a case where it legitimately doesn't make any sense when the game's standalone expansion is boosted but not the regular game. How can it break the full game but not the expansion?

@I_want_avowed There's no way I can believe that they can't. The "expansion" Death of the Outsider is boosted, and that would obviously run on the same engine and such, so it's like they just somehow forgot to do it and won't bother going back to do one game.

I took criticism for basically saying that on here before, but I'll say it again because there's no reason why Dishonored 2 is not boosted by now. I've changed my tune on the last crop of titles, as there are quite a few I'm interested in after going through the list again and watching some videos on YouTube where some of them are also enhanced from back on the One X, so some are 4K/60 now. That's game changing, and I give Xbox a lot of credit for their FPS Boost and enhancement work on old titles, but it's still frustrating and disappointing that an obvious game to receive the treatment it already should have won't because they are done with it for now.

Even though I look forward to finally playing Lost in Random after buying it during the Black Friday sale and expect to highly enjoy it, I have to go with Mass Effect Legendary Edition. It would easily be my Game of the Year, but since it's a collection, I'd call it the Release of the Year instead. Regardless, it was great to be able to revisit one of my favorite series of all time and one of my favorite games of all time in Mass Effect 2.

@MyThoughts31 Fair enough. I'm not interested in it either really. If it somehow turns out to be good, I may get it if it's cheap, but I'll never consider it a Saints Row game regardless.

@LtSarge Since it's very similar to at least the previous 2 (couldn't comment on the first two games at all), I can understand people maybe getting burnt out on 5 more than the average game of it's caliber.

So, in the end, it's more game specific than just about getting bored of gaming in general. Not knocking the game at all as I'm sure it is as good as people say it is, but maybe if they found ways to "spice" it up a bit, then maybe some wouldn't feel they were getting bored or should take a break from it. I'll finally give it a try after I'm done with my on again off again playing of Forza Horizon 4, but it'll likely be a while after that. I don't mind getting into it late like I did with 4.

@MyThoughts31 It's a reboot not actually called Saints Row 5 (it's just Saints Row). It was announced back in August I believe.

@Roqka Don't worry. Deathloop will be on Game Pass whenever it can finally be on Xbox, which would be a year from it's September release.

Dragon Age 2. I never played the series whenever it originally released because I was so focused on the PS3 after buying one in the middle of that generation, but obviously that problem can be easily rectified on Xbox. I played Origins last year, but now that Dragon Age 2 got on the latest FPS Boost list, it seems to be the perfect time to finally experience the sequel. Not only is it amazing to be playing a 10 year old game in 60 FPS, but it was shocking that Quick Resume actually worked for a 10 year old game too.

I know it wasn't beloved when it came out, but I'm highly enjoying it so far. I don't mind the fact that some parts of the game are streamlined, and the story is interesting already only a few hours in.

I don't mean to be rude or anything, but the guy said possibly late 2023 or early 2024, so no it won't sooner rather than later.

@loafit I already stated why I believe Dishonored 2 is a strange and disappointing omission. The fact that the first one and the sequel's expansion all have it and Dishonored 2 doesn't is why. Especially the fact that Dishonored 2's expansion has it but the standalone game doesn't. It's not like they would run on different engines or anything.

Those are valid reasons to wonder why Dishonored 2 hasn't already received FPS boost. No reason to get so defensive and borderline hostile.

I already have Tropico 5 on PlayStation when they gave it for free on PS Plus many years back, but I'll take it for Xbox now too since that's what my brother plays on. I can compare achievements if I ever decide to play it again.

Critically a solid month, but honestly it would be nice to get a higher profile game that's also not extremely old from time to time like PS Plus.

I want them to find a way to list the DLC separate from the actual game like they do on PlayStation. While I prefer the gamerscore to the confusing trophy values, trophies are presented a lot cleaner than achievements are on Xbox. Honestly, I think that's more important than an equivalent to a platinum even though I wouldn't mind that either.

@Scenes Whether I'm wrong or not, Dishonored 2 is definitely a very strange omission, and I find it hard to believe that's the only one in the series to break with FPS boost.

I'd be less disappointed with them not including that one if it wasn't for the fact that both the first one and the expansion for Dishonored 2 weren't both boosted. There's almost no way I can believe that they could do Death of the Outsider and not the actual sequel.

Yes, I will complain because there are omissions that make no sense and would have been far better to have than a lot of the games they threw on the list earlier this month.

I find it hard to believe that they can't do it for games in series that they randomly skipped over. At the very least, newer ones like Dishonored 2, Assassin's Creed Origins, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and probably others I'm not thinking of right now. Also now Final Fantasy 13 since the other two lesser sequels for it got FPS Boost this month.

It's not that I don't appreciate what they've already done. It's great, but the quote really makes it seem like they just don't want to bother doing any more when there are games out there like the ones I mentioned that have to be able to be boosted.

Somebody forgot the usual poll for us to vote on the games...

Anyways, I'll mostly be playing Quantum Break this weekend as part of the Game Club here. I'm enjoying it so far. It was a bit of an adjustment going back to a 30 FPS game, but otherwise it's a surprisingly good looking game for being an early Xbox One game (kind of like the often compared Infamous: Second Son still looking really good on PlayStation).

Might dip into a little bit more of Halo Infinite as well even though I'm one of the people in the world that doesn't play multiplayer games much anymore. It's good, but not that much fun for long periods with just random people.

@OldgamerDave Worst case scenario if you don't have the time before you want to play Halo Infinite next month would be to play Halo 5 since Infinite is a direct sequel to that. Also, like already mentioned, the story was "born" in Halo Wars 2. If you like strategy games, that wouldn't be a bad play either.

If you have the time and don't think you'll experience burnout, then by all means play them all.

@Rural-Bandit It's nothing that would get me to stop playing my Series X, but it will still always mystify me that they somehow missed them when this was even in beta for weeks/months before they released the updated dashboard.

As for deleting games that you've only gotten a small amount of achievements for, like you said, I wouldn't hold my breath on it ever happening. It's basically a general rule that you can only delete them if you have yet to get an achievement. It's the same on PlayStation unfortunately. There are several games I tried that I ended up not liking, but got at least one achievement because some games give at least one out pretty early on.

It'd be fine if it gets added, although it could very well be gone by the time the new gen version gets released. That and it's only $10 on Black Friday if you're in the US (either Target or Walmart).

Could be off base as I haven't looked at any reviews yet, but just based on the descriptions and trailer images here, this looks to be one of the better Game Pass drops in a little while. At least without a major release. They all look and sound intriguing.

Next Space Rebels seems like it could be quite unique, and probably isn't as bonkers as it looks.

@Benjamin Not to mention for whatever reason the game tiles aren't in 4K on the achievements page. You can clearly see they are blurry in comparison to the tiles everywhere else. It's weird that somehow got overlooked as everything else is in 4K it seems.

As for other achievement related stuff, yes, they really need to separate the main game and the DLC somehow. Say what you want about PlayStation, but the way they list the trophies on the PS5 is fantastic. Really clean and plenty of information all right there.

It's also a shame some developers have gotten lazy over the years and stopped bothering with progression tracking. There's still a decent amount overall, but it's not almost a lock that a game will provide it like they used to back when the Xbox 360 was the main platform for games. It's also weird when games like Valhalla have partial tracking, where some of the cumulative achievements have tracking but others don't.

Wish I had seen this before I was done playing Halo Infinite and still had my Series X on so I could see it on my TV. Regardless, after watching the video, I'll stick with the Original Xbox background. I appreciate the options, but this is just ok, while the Original Xbox background will be hard to ever top.