Markatron84

@RentedPanda have fun with Dispatch. I adored it and will be going back for a second playthrough at some point.

During the week, I finished up Gotham Knights and slammed through The Rogue Prince of Persia, the latter of which is one hell of a game. As a Dead Cells enjoyer I couldn't put it down. I did end up with a sequence break though, which rendered two of the Steam achievements unobtainable unless I start a new game. You know what though? The game's so good, I'm not even mad and I probably will start a new save file to get them.

So I might do that over the weekend. I'll also still be chipping away at Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, playing some Helldivers 2 and maybe pick something else out of the Backlog of Shame™.

@OldGamer999 Happy birthday!

@Jenkinss Not only that, but it's got one of the most welcoming and friendly communities, in my experience anyway.

@Weebleman ❤️

@Lup I would hazard a guess that there's not a snowball's chance in hell that all 400+ are included in the base game.

Well, that didn't take long. I guess it could be taken as a good sign?

@Weebleman please tell me it's what I think it is...

@abe_hikura you just need to wave your hands side to side and believe enough.

@FraserG you've basically just told us "I'm going away for the weekend. NO PARTIES." We're going to be straight in the liquor cabinet as soon as you're not around. 😁

@DonkeyFantasy Fraser has always looked shifty to me.

We're only looking at a group of just over 2,000 people that make up these results, so they're not necessarily representitive of the entire industry.

I didn't know you could get that much sugar on one spoon.

@shiningpikablu252 it's the wrong choice because it's like covering a room wall to wall and floor to ceiling in tinfoil and switching on the light. 🤣

@Broosh Back in 2024, for scientific purposes, I once switched to the white theme on a Switch OLED. The weird spots in my vision still haven't gone away.

@themightyant I made this point once. Got dogpiled for it. Best of luck.

@IronCrow86 from what I remember reading, Clockwork Revolution is more RPG than action game, so all going well it should be able to differentiate itself from Bioshock Infinite.

@Broosh Switch has had a grand total of two themes since 2017: white (the wrong choice) and black (the right choice).

And Nintendo fans have been totally 100% satisfied with those two options.

Honest 👀

@eduscxbox Steam takes the same approach as Xbox regarding achievements and I hate it. At one point I had all the achievements in Vampire Survivors (220+) and a cool ribbon next to the game on my profile. Then a new update and new achievements arrived and Steam's like "f**k you idiot, 94% completion".

The combat reminds me of Destiny's Crucible PvP mode

I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

@RiverGenie absolutely.

I dipped into it when it released on Xbox. It was outdated and clunky when I'd last played it 15 years ago on N64, even more so now. Some games age well and some don't, and Goldeneye definitely falls into the latter category.

@FraserG @Lup I distinctly remember being able to go into the settings on Xbox One and Series X/S and choose where achievements (and other notifications) popped up on-screen. Some games, like Fraser said, override this setting though.

@ozkrmz you're right. The only real solution to this is to have John Cena's entrance music play every time an achievement is unlocked.

@FraserG That music is very Mick Gordon. Any word on if he's involved?

@swedetrap I couldn't get on with Redout either. I never felt like I was ever in control of the vehicle.

@LordDieALot

Like SIege and Apex combined and on a horse.

Sold.

Remember when Halo Infinite's multiplayer launched and everyone (myself included) rightfully proclaimed how great it was and that Halo was back? It had a healthy player-base and everything was going great. Then 343 s**t the bed entirely and the game never recovered.

Initial impressions mean next to nothing for a game like this. Even if players flock to it, something like not enough ongoing support or even one bad decision could have it all come crumbling down.

There, that's my optimistic glass-half-full comment of the day.

A second Developer_Direct this year couldn't hurt, especially if Microsoft has anything substantial to show off regarding Gears E-Day and Halo. If they can really showcase those games well, show us why we should be hyped and maybe drop in another Kiln-sized surprise, bring it on I say.

Having said that, the fact that this is coming from Jez "My Uncle Works At Xbox" Corden has me assuming this won't happen. That man gets way too much benefit of the doubt.

Let's not forget that I'm In Love With Your Dead Grandmother just came out. Bore off, GTA VI.

@FraserG the problem with a poll like that this early in the year is that at least a few of the GOTY contenders for 2026 might not even be announced yet 😂

@Titntin I turned the difficulty in Advance Wars down from classic to casual at mission 6 and it's still kicking my arse on the regular (I'm on mission 19) 🤣 I've taken to finishing a mission and then not touching it for the rest of the day so I don't get frustrated with it and bin it off; I don't want to do that because it is good.

Yeah, Gotham Knights is a decent action game. My main gripe with the gear system is that having to go through all your gear again and equip/craft new stuff any time you want to switch characters is a pain. It's made me focus on one character (Robin, my initial pick) so hopefully that doesn't bite me on the arse later on, as it's still aching from the kicking it's getting from Advance Wars.

I'm also enjoying the focus on the Court of Owls. Scott Snyder's run on Batman was peak overall, but the Court of Owls/Night of Owls arc was something else.

I'm chipping away at Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, which I'm enjoying but my god is it difficult. I feel like there's a specific strategy that's tantamount for success in each mission, and if you don't hone in on that strategy from turn one then you'll be decimated.

Other than that, I started Gotham Knights a few days ago and that game is way better than everyone said it was. It's no Arkham Origins/Asylum/City/Knight, but what is? The only thing I'm not really liking is the whole gear system; it feels superfluous and obviously a remnant of the game originally being intended as a live-service. I'm enjoying the game overall though.

@themightyant fair enough. I obviously need to Google harder in future 🤣

@Cakefish @RegnumSolipsi Microsoft/Xbox executives being pleased with Everwild's progress was the word of professional rumour-monger Jez Corden, so make of that what you will.

@Cakefish so is Prince of Persia. I wouldn't put money on Beyond Good & Evil 2 ever releasing.

@FraserG the article mentions six games being cancelled but the blurbs only reference five (Sands of Time and four unannounced games). Any word on what the sixth one is?

CoughBeyondGood&Evil2Cough

Everybody needs to play Psychonauts 2.

@OldGamer999 well, Forza Horizon 6 at least. Let's wait and see about Fable.

@Fiendish-Beaver if Masters of Albion doesn't have someone calling the player a "poultry punter", we riot.

@Balaam_ or did you get your comparatively inferior to native play cloud gaming on my corporate greed? HMMMM??

It's an absolute crime that I'm in Love With Your Dead Grandmother will be completely forgotten by the time Game of the Year season rolls around.

@Weebleman Oh no! Cover your eyes and ears, it's back!

@nomither6

Fable 3 because it’s the only one i’ve played

This. But replace Fable 3 with Fable 2.

Edit: No wait! I've played Fable: The Journey as well!

So Fable 2.

@Fiendish-Beaver my reasoning for a vague 2026 window being given next week is that Microsoft must - right now anyway - have a certain confidence that Fable will release this year to be giving it such a spotlight. This isn't a massive presentation with dozens of games, so by focusing one third (that we know of right now for certain) of a presentation on Fable, I feel like they'll actually say 2026. Of course, things change and I do believe it'll delay into 2027, but right now I think Microsoft will specify 2026.

That's my reasoning anyway.

I don't think they'll give any specific date for Fable at next week's Developer_Direct; I think we'll get a vague "2026 🤷‍♂️". Although, I'm with @Fiendish-Beaver on Fable, in that I think it'll ultimately get pushed again into 2027.

Who knows with Halo? Smart money would've been on November to coincide with the series' 25th anniversary, but then GTA VI happened.

Gears, I could see that in June/July.

@ILuvGames at this point it feels like we'll all be zombies before State of Decay 3 comes out.

I said to my wife when Larry went to Unity that, if I were working in that space, Unity is the absolute last place I'd go. Had he not been paying attention to what the company was up to, oh I don't know, around September 2023?

@Fiendish-Beaver

If I remember rightly, Peter Molyneux has a habit of making claims that don't quite come to fruition.

We've got an early contender for understatement of the year 😂

Don Mattrick says "If you can't afford an Xbox Series X, we have a console for you: it's called the Xbox One".

@FrenchVaniIIuxe who cares what they look like? You're playing a game as them, not marrying them.

@FraserG

Toys for Bob isn't technically a first-party studio (their next game is being published by Xbox, but they haven't been acquired)

Toys For Bob was a first-party studio until fairly recently.

I would be very interested to see Beast of Reincarnation. Game Freak's output on Switch has been spotty.

@Brigurugi DOA Xtreme and DOA3, eh? I had a witty remark spring to mind, but I'll save the mods the trouble:

[Removed - inappropriate]😉

What could that mystery Xbox game be?

A 10-years-too-late-to-the-party toys-to-life game featuring characters from Everwild and Perfect Dark.

@Smackosynthesis I can't not laugh at that official 2XKO tweet. It's written like an 11-year old texted it to his mate.

There's some cool looking games there. Barring any disasters, Forza Horizon 6 will be a rare day one purchase for me.

Also, I like Invincible but damn, that Invincible VS. is one ugly arse video game.

Also also, how many "XX Xbox Series X|S Games To Look Forward To In 202X" articles has Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake appeared in now? What with that and Beyond Good & Evil 2, Ubisoft is becoming to new king of vapourware.