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Far cry 4, I just like the setting and the fatigue of the series hadn't set in for me yet.

@everynowandben I had a similar reaction. It's no doubt a good game, or perhaps good story is a better way to put it, but I wouldn't say it's a classic.
Nolan north puts on a god tier performance though, actually thought he was better in this than either uncharted or last of us and he was excellent in those.

Silksong by far! Looks like everything I'd want from a Hollow Knight follow up. Just need that release date!
Plaques Tale 2 is probably second place. First one simple had great characters that carried the experience and I'm looking forward to see what the duo are up to next.
Pentiment, Atomic Hearts and Velheim are honourable mentions.

Game pass is a steel. I do believe there will come a point where either the quality or cheapness or the service will get worse (likely it’s price considering they’ve bought both Bethesda and activision for pass), but the last five years it has been excellent (and I’m sure the next five will be too), the best deal in gaming and it gave Xbox its ‘gimmick’, something to separate it in a good way against the other platforms.
In particular it’s the indies that I felt gave it its most value for me. Discovering games like Hollow Knight which I completely wrote of when it was first revealed but is now possible in my top 10 games ever.
Yokus island express, Citizen Sleeper, Tunic, Donut county, Tetris Effect, Pillars of Eternity, Wastelands 3, What remains of Edith Finch, Carrion, Dead Cells, Trek to Yomi, Streets of Rage 4, Nobody saves the world, Deaths Door are others over the years that have stuck with me.
Looking forward to trying out the likes of pentiment, Scorn, Stalker 2 (all games I probably wouldn’t buy as they don’t look like ‘me’ games but I’ll get the chance to play for ‘free’ thanks to this service), and of course the likes of Silksong, Atomic Hearts and Plaques Tale 2.

@NotoriousWhiz I say that every year....

Yep. Game pass is definitely gaining more speed after a bit of a lull in recent months (in my opinion).
I'll be restarting my subscription very soon. Looking forward to ninja turtles, Tunic, Atomic Hearts, A plaques Tale 2, Cacoon, Velheim, Pentiment, and Silksong (the big one!)

3 and New Vegas are my favourite fallout games! 3 was my first open world RPG besides Pokémon (didn't even know the terms RPG or open world at the time) and New Vegas was my first where I knew what I was doing, taking all the lessons I learned from 3 and feeling like a pro (sort of).
They where also the first games to open my eyes to what dlc could be, those and world at war anyways. Good times, dont think I'll ever be able to repeat those experiences. You can only experience something for the first time once 😭

I remember this from the direct. People seemed excited but it didn't look like something I'd want to buy. But I am getting game pass back soon so I may as well give it a download (whether or not I'll actually play it is another thing!)

Silksong by far. of all the places I expected it, this wasn’t it. Wish there was a date but that’s fine, I get to save a bit of money with it being on game pass 👍
Cacoon, pentiment, and that lovecraftian/detective game looked interesting. I’ll probably check them all out unless the internet throws any of them a red flag or two.
I like Hideo Kojima games but I’m not going to get excited of what they showed, which was nothing. Would like it too be a horror but I’m open minded. The whole ‘power of the cloud’ thing has me worried though.
Starfield looked more or less what I expected. Not sure if that was a good thing. Need to see more.
Awesome to see Persona finally arriving on Xbox, hope you all enjoy those.
And finally Valhiem I’ll have to check out. Heard too many good things about it not too.

In my opinion a game is not really a role playing game if the player created character is voiced so this is a big win for me.

Completely agree. In terms of how they presented themselves this year they knocked it out of the park

For me there wasn't much. Not sure how I feel about Starfield, need to see more. Redfall didn't look as good as I'd hope. I just bought persona 5 Royal on sale (thankfully it was just £15) but having those 3 games finally on Xbox is awesome for those who haven't played them, kojimas new game won't interest me until I see something even though I'm a fan.
Silksong was the only thing that got me really excited. Really didn't expect it to be rerevealed at a Xbox conference of all places, and on game pass! Plaques Tale also looked good but I don't think there was a reveal date. I'll probably check out obsidian new game more because it's them than what they've show.

Hopefully starfield gets fallout 4 at e3 2015 amount of details. Considering how long we’ve waited I wouldn’t be mad if half an hour or more was dedicated to it.
The Gears collection sounds very plausible. Not something is personally like as I’d rather play the original versions but hopefully it’s good for those who want it.
I would like a proper look at Avowed, one of the few Xbox first party ‘announced ages ago and hasn’t been seen since’ games I have some level of faith in. But my gut feeling says it’ll be MIA again.
A bunch of indies hitting game pass. The more quality indies on Game Pass the better.
And finally Forza motorsport X. I don’t know what else I predict. Might be a good thing I’m not predicting a lot, hopefully that means I’ll be caught of guard a few times!

Not too excited to be honest. Hopefully I don't sound to whiney when I say I've just gotten bored waiting for the games from the first batch of studios they bought (Avowed, Fable, Project Mara, Perfect Dark, inXiles supposed 3d RPG,), those games got me excited about their first party. Now I'm just expecting nothing to show (nothing that's to my personal liking anyways).
Hopefully they announce new quality indies though and throw a big old 'Play Day one on Xbox Game Pass' sticker on them. That would make me a decent bit happy actually!
Suppose seeing some Starfield gameplay (finally!) would help, but I'm worried it'll just be a quick gameplay trailer. Would much rather a fallout 4 E3 presence.

So close to the end of elden ring. Despite still enjoying it a lot I was looking forward to finishing it to try out one of the many other games in looking forward too. But now that I'm closing in on the end I'm suddenly stalling. Feel like I want to stretch it out just a bit longer!

My picks would be Elden Ring, Red Dead Redemption 1 + 2, Forza Horizon 3 (4+5 are good as well), Fallout 3/New Vegas, Skyrim, Sunset Overdrive, Red Faction Guerilla and Nier Automata on the Xbox consoles.
Elsewhere I'd say Gravity Rush 1+2, Shadow of the Collosus and Breath of the Wild

Yokus island express is very good. I'd highly recommend it. It's pinball meets metroidvania. Really cool music and art direction and doesn't outstay it's welcome.

Starfield will be the big game shown at the end with plenty of gameplay (better be!).
The next Forza Motorsport will be shown, coming this fall.
Fable will be shown, not a hug reveal (probably an 'in engine' trailer) and no release date.
Avowed will show a gameplay trailer, vague 2023 release date.
Tekken 8 will be shown. It has been a little while since 7 and I think Xbox will want it at their show to yet again try and push Japan games on their console.
A Plaques Tale 2 will be shown with a September release date.
Hellblade 2 will be shown with just a little bit of gameplay. Still no release date.
Perfect Dark and Everwild will be absent. That game from the just cause guys will be shown with a vague 2023 release date.
Redfall will be delayed to next year. Wolfenstein 3 will be revealed.

Starfield is obviously the big one but I'd like to see Avowed and Fable as well. Feels like it's definitely time to show something from those two.

Game pass for me had a very slow start to the year besides nobody saves the world, even cancelled it in February with the big reason being legends Arceus, elden ring and horizon (which I still haven't gotten too).
However it seems to have picked up recently which is nice; tunic, Trek to Yomi, eiyiden, dangonrompa (did I spell that right?), Weird west, lost in random, I'll have plenty to look forward to when I return 👍

I hope playground games and obsidian don't follow suite. Whilst I think it was smart for Xbox to buy studios at first, at this point I think they need to stop and focus more on the ones they've bought, there's a lot of talent there and by the sounds of it they're not being managed as well as they should be.

Use to really love the series as a teenager but I've struggled to get back into it in my 20's after a break from the franchise, really didn't like 3 which makes me question if I'd actually like the older ones now, too scared to try but I'm hoping this game can win me over, would love to get back into borderlands as it was one of my favourites

A plaques tale 2 and starfield are my top picks for Xbox this year (and hellblade 2 if it is this year).
Gotham knights, Hogwarts, Trek to Yomi and Redfall are likely but will I'll wait to know more.
Also have Tunic, FAR and new game plus on Nobody Saves the World backlogged so my Xbox should be getting a fair bit of use

The AEW roster is for the most part more up my alley than wwe, but 2k22 does look great, if the aew game doesn’t pan out I’ll probably just follow suite once it’s on sale.

“The mysteries of Chinatown Detective Agency require real world investigation, whether that’s an online search for an airport code or tracking down a mysterious quote.”
Very interesting. Might have to put a pin in this game for later.

I’ve bought three, Pokemon Legends Arceus, Elden Ring and Horizon Forbidden West (which I haven’t started yet, waiting to finish the other two first).
I’ve also played Nobody Saves the World but that was on game pass not bought.
I kind of expected this year to be expensive game wise so at least this spending isn’t taking me by surprise. In the near future I’ll no doubt be buying a lot more like Tunic, Mario Strickers, Three Hopes, maybe Kirby and Forspoken… suppose you only live once right? (As far as we know anyways…)

Never did get around to ashen even though it looked great. Guess this is my second chance with the studio, they look like a talented bunch. Plus a dog companion; can't go wrong with that

Their first/second party output has gradually improved over the years, compared to where they where 2015-2016 they are nailing it. Improvements can still be made and I'm sure they will, though I suppose with the amount they've spent on it it better had 😅

@Bartig I forgot about the performance issues until you mentioned it. Probably a telling sign of how good it is.

I managed to get through pillars 1 to introduce me to the world ready for this game, probably going to skip 2 (not a huge isometric RPG guy and I think I've seen enough of the world to get the jist of its world).
Really looking forward to Avowed, the near future looks very cool for RPG fans with starfield, fable, outer worlds 2, final fantasy 16, dragon age 4 (please be good), elden ring, steel rising and this which is nice considering last gen lacked a bit in this department in my opinion

I haven't played the game but I hope that this update isn't just for next gen performance, I hope there are some major updates to the game itself to improve it, now seems like the right time to attempt something like that.

Hollow Knight is my favourite 'picked up on a whim on game pass' game. One of the greats and not just within its genre in my opinion.
Nier Automata and resident evil 7 would round out my top 3 suggestions, but others are dead cells, tetris effect, the forgotten city, nobody saves the world, halo collection, deaths door, pyschonauts 1 + 2, dead space, dragon age, mass effect trilogy, fallout 3/NV, doom + eternal... Basically a lot 👍.
Edit: I forgot what remains of Edith Finch, lumines and Limbo.

There's a lot of games I want for February and march, but I think I need to get more strict with my gaming purchases again, been slacking with that in recent months.
Too many games on the go, I will only be buying elden ring, everything else can wait until I've caught up!

I tried extraction on game pass, I figured I wasn't going to love it and I was right, still that's part of the charm of game pass, my curiosity can be treated for free.
Nobody saves the world on the other hand I expected to love and so far I am. Looking like another hit from drink box.
I'll also give Tetris 99 a spin with the arceus event on, got a online trial ready to use.

I've strangely only played the second one. It was good even if I'm not a huge fan of visual novels. Might give this a go once gaming calms down a bit, but it's safe to safe I'm getting my money's worth from game pass so far this year 👍

@Chaudy the second AAA exclusive could very well be forza, and of course starfield and possible redfall at the end of the year, that's not too bad a trio.
There's also stuff like plaques tale 2, extraction, atomic hearts, nobody saves the world, stalker 2, death loop etc for game pass.
It's not as good a lineup as ps or Nintendo but I don't think it's catastrophic personally, just a little quiet in the first half much like last year.

I almost bought hitman 3 on sale a few times the past few months. So glad I didn't but... Where the hell I'm I going to get time for 3 more games 🤔

I didn't know this game was launching so soon, one of my most anticipated of the year especially after the demo 👍
Good timing too with how packed this year is. Hopefully I'll get this and outer wilds done (or almost done) by the 28th for acrues. Will also play around a little with rainbow six, may as well it's on game pass 😜

I think this is the last gen I buy multiple consoles, I just can't keep up with everything I actually want to play 😔
This game looks fun but I'll probably have to skip it for now at least. Rainbow six, arceus, outer wilds this month (plus backlog), sifu, elden ring, horizon next month (and whatever else game pass will throw at me)... I will have to let some games I want to play pass me by, don't see another option...
Ok, that's my ranting over 😜 back to playing games

Suicide mission plus the shepherd/Cerberus dynamic makes mass effect 2 my favourite. But all 3 of them are classics, even 3 despite some of its decisions

@blinx01 there’ll probably be a good game or two for the reasons you’ve stated.
I imagine tales of arise will be there sometime in first half of 2022 considering the publishers history with game pass. I’m surprised dark souls hasn’t hit it with Elden ring on the horizon, seems a bit late for that now but you never know. Maybe sonic colours to build hype for the new one?
As for brand new AAA games, mlb again maybe (they seem to push sports games a lot). Not sure what else though, grid maybe?

Great selection there. Mass effect is Mass effect no more need be said. I really wanted to give the outer wilds another go, contemplated buying it again but game pass finally saved me from a purchase for once as oppose to a day after I bought something so that’s neat.

Still playing the multiplayer, but I never finished the campaign. Got to the open world, did a few side activities and haven’t returned since. I probably will at some point though otherwise it’ll be the first halo I haven’t completed.

I hope starfield is a return to form for Bethesda, not that I hated fallout 4 but compared to their previous work is was a bit of a drop. I have a good feeling about it however.
Elden ring is no.1 for me as I imagine it is for a lot of people. Redfall looks very interesting, could be my new go to multiplayer game but will have to wait and see.
Nobody saves the world demo was really addictive and fun so the full release will be a must play, as will be hellblade and plaques tale sequels.

Eastward (so close to the end, should finish it today), new Pokémon snap, Alan wake and probably a little of halo multiplayer (I say all this but likely it’ll just be Eastward and a game or two of halo)

Happy new year! 🎂

@CrazyJF that’s quite the trio of games 👍

@Chaudy it’s not a bad game, story is pretty good and the visuals (particularly the environments) are some of the best this year. The combat and exploration are kind of bland though. I wouldn’t say this game is a must play personally but perhaps worth it if your really in the mood to play something and nothing else interests you.

Nothing. I’ve bought enough this year!

14/20, I’ll take it! If I took a second or two longer on some of them I think I could have been 1 or 2 higher but that’s an excuse I guess