@Shinato2024 The same game selection that Microsoft is now blaming for the loss of revenue in 2025 even despite releasing on more platforms and to the largest audience they've ever had (and being the #1 Publisher in PS5)? All of those games that ended up being overwhelmingly lukewarm piles of meh?
@somnambulance It's absolutely criminal that their best franchise didn't even get a name-drop. It didn't deserve this level of snubbing.
There was a rumor earlier this month that a new spin-off was in the world for the franchise and we know they've attempted it before with Ghost, Ares, Xel'naga, and a few others, so hopefully they finally get something off the ground.
From what I've read with that one, it was more of a tech demo than an actual game. Not sure how much of it was actually intended to be a game anyway. It was sort of like that old Project Milo for the Kinect. Proof of concept that would've never actually worked with the hardware at the time.
@Cakefish I don't think Everwild was even in a playable form. They basically scrapped it and started over on it a few years ago. What you're thinking of is Project Blackbird, the "amazing" new MMO from the Elder Scrolls Online team. Which honestly, based on the concept art that came out looking like Mass Effect and Cyberpunk 2077 had a baby, it had a lot of potential to be amazing.
There aren't nearly enough sci-fi games in the MMO space and I'm sick of Sword and Magic Fantasy dominating the market right now. It's worse than the 2000's Military Shooter and 2010's Zombie tropes ever were.
This one is definitely on my radar. Just disappointed there was finally a Sci-Fi MMO. If anything could've broken me into the MMO genre, it probably would've been this one.
I completely forgot Unreal Championship 2 was BC. I usually just play it on my original Xbox anyway, but I might have to fire it up on the XSX and see how it handles someday.
Definitely the first game. While I'm not normally a fan of medieval-era fantasy, Fable had a quaint charm to it that I found enjoyable. I loved having the Guild with all of the distinct Heroes you could interact with. Fable 2 was a good game, but its jump to the Industrial Era was too far removed and it lost a lot of the charm that I enjoyed in the first game. I'm looking forward to the Reboot going back to basics with the fairytale styling that early trailers implied.
This is one of the few games I've ever played that I would genuinely give a 10/10 review. Everything about it was surreal and and I had a blast from beginning to end. I was so disappointed that I wouldn't be able to try it out on my new Laptop when I learned about this bug, but I'm excited to finally be able to play it and hopefully load up some entertaining mods to throw in a little more flavor.
Been bored with nothing to play for the last few months, so I've been replaying KOTOR 1 & 2. I finished the first one during Christmas break and I'll probably be done with the 2nd game later today, so I'm probably going to start Jade Empire next and will work on the Mass Effect series after that.
A little sad the new content is only skin deep. New races are nice and I'm glad we're getting a new weapon that will add a little variety, but I actually really enjoyed Avowed and was hoping we were going to get a big story expansion soon. Hopefully they still have something big in the works for later this year. I'm not ready to bury Avowed just yet.
Ooh. Color me curious on BoR. I completely forgot about that one and my curiosity is piqued.
Hopefully Fable being in the show means it's locked in and safe from cancellation. It was supposedly delayed from 2025 fue to their overloaded slate last year, so maybe we'll get lucky and see an early release this year. Avowed was February, so maybe Fable will be, too
Considering consoles are only getting more expensive with time rather than dropping in price like they used to, $500 is my ceiling. I will never pay more than that for a gaming device.
Would love to see something similar to Kameo's transformation mechanic to build on the powerups concept from the earlier games. Kameo is probably the closest game I can think of in terms of visual style and gameplay similarity and I wouldn't be against them taking some cues from the Rare classic. Would also love to see an overworld with an ocean of Gnorcs to wage war against between the more traditional levels that would play more like the original trilogy.
Mark my words, this game will get cancelled. Xbox is on a slashing spree and Blade is a license that struggled to get a simple reboot off the ground. I don't believe this game is long for this world and will likely be cut sometime next year alongside Fable and State of Decay 3.
Definitely the most exciting thing to come out of tonight's showing. The Old Republic era is my favorite time period in the SW universe and I'm psyched to be returning to it again. Even if it's an all new story with new characters, hopefully we'll see little nods and references to the KOTOR titles that maintain a sense of continuity with the events of the earlier games.
Been waiting for what feels like forever for this one! Definitely checking out the demo this weekend. April just became the biggest month of '26 for me.
Maybe instead of alternating title sequels they should just start doing a new CoD ever 3-4 years and free the other half dozen studios stuck working on CoD support so they can make games that are actually good.
The fact that Raven Software hasn't made a real game since the mid-2000's is criminal. Same goes for High Moon who haven't released a game since 2013
It was a good game for sure, but definitely didn't love up to expectations. The expectation was that the game would be supported for the next 10 years with new content, world events and story expansions that built on the existing infrastructure, but after the co-op patch that should've been present at launch, they literally pulled a GTAV and never gave us any content for the campaign at all. They were too focused on nickel and diming players with ***** cosmetics and *****.
We never even saw the return of classic multiplayer game modes like Invasion, Firefight, Warzone, or Breakout...
Was never a fan. Red Dead Revolver was great for us time, but the Redemption games never held my attention. I tried to pay both and gave up within a couple hours.
@Fiendish-Beaver I agree about Andromeda. So many games get 2nd chances after being patched (Cyberpunk and No Man's Sky...) but Andromeda was never given that 2nd chance. There were some not-so-great elements like exploring the vaults got repetitive and the story pacing was a bit uneven, but for the most part I had a blast with the new ship, new crew, and new Ally and Enemy races. It was a step back from the trilogy, but it was still a serviceable experience. Dragon Age: Vanguard and Anthem, however... Not inspiring.
I've been a fan of every Halo game to some degree and I am impressed with what we've seen of the remake, but I'm still waiting to see how far they take it in changes (Like will they recycle the later levels or will we actually see them redesigned to match Bungie's original intentions for the game.) I'm most excited for the 3 new missions they're adding, but I honestly feel like it's going to be more of a tease for what we could've had with a new game.
Waiting for the new Mass Effect is literally giving me anxiety because I want it to be great, but we saw what Andromeda was (which I was a fan of for the most part) and we see how far Bioware has fallen in the last decade. I think that's a large part of the reason why I want Exodus to be successful. If they pull it off, it'll be the Mass Effect sequel fans deserve.
@Fiendish-Beaver Exodus is honestly the only game still in production that I can say I'm genuinely excited for. I'm doing my best to temper expectations, but it's the first time in a long time that I can say I'm genuinely hyped for a game and not just going through the motions like I am with GTA, Elder Scrolls, and Halo.
I don't expect things from Microsoft and Xbox at this point. I have been one of the most hardcore and avid supporters of the brand for the last 23 years, but this year has been a fast and firm hammering of nails in the coffin and I have done the unthinkable and began transitioning to PC. I dislike PC gaming, but I don't hate myself enough to keep enduring the middle finger that Xbox has become either.
I have more than likely reached the point where I may drop out of gaming entirely. I might dabble with a game or two (I could never walk away from Halo) but the thrill has gone it's hard to be excited for anyone on the horizon at this point. Hoping Exodus changes my mind, but Perfect Dark being cancelled and Fable being sure to follow soon hits hard.
It's so hard to pick. 360 had an amazing launch with so many great games! Kameo blew my mind with how many trolls it had on screen at once, Condemned was atmospheric and spooky, Perfect Dark was a blast to play online with friends (I loved the Counter Strike-esque Dark Ops mode), PGR3 was absolutely gorgeous, CoD2 was chaotic and the last great entry in the series, Most Wanted is still the best entry in the NFS series and even King Kong was a well designed game and I loved transitioning between the hudless FPS gameplay and the Kong Brawler segments (The first time I played its demo I didn't even know the game had transitioned from cutscene to gameplay. The graphics were impressive for the time, as well.)
If I had to narrow it down I would probably say Condemned because it's the one I revisit most frequently, but it's really not possible to choose one over the others because they all brought so much to the table.
Not much of a multiplayer guy anymore, but I will say Halo 5 had the best multiplayer in the series since Halo 2. The campaign was nothing to write home about, but the multiplayer was worth it. Even despite the loot pack system (which I never had to spend actually money on some in game credits were plentiful), Warzone was fantastic and sorely missed in Infinite. The gameplay changes felt good and really worked with the Halo formula without changing up the classic style too much.
Dropped GamePass because of the price hike BS, so I went ahead and bought Crackdown 3 and Psychonauts 2. Want to snag Master Chief Collection, as well, but apparently it's not Play Anywhere and I'm starting to migrate over to PC in anticipation of not buying a next gen console, so I'm holding out hope somebody has MCC on sale for PC soon.
Nothing else of interest for me in this sale, though. Waiting for better prices on TESIV and Split Fiction still.
I would kill for the Blades dashboard to make a comeback. I'm so damn tired of being advertised to and bombarded with constant images and graphics. When are they going to learn that being advertised to is going to cost them more sales than it will gain them? I intentionally go out of my way to not buy things that constantly harass me in commercials. The blades design gave it a 'look inside the console' vibe while modern dashboards are just visual vomit.
A little more obscure, but I also miss the Xbox 360's Netflix theater mode. Being able to sync up with friends and watching movies and shows at the same time was great and having the little shadowed Avatar characters at the bottom was a fun touch.
Coalition: Gears E-Day will be delayed to 2027 to give Halo room for its launch.
Double Fine: Will have a small project ready to launch later 26/Early 27.
Halo Studios: Halo will be released on November 15th regardless of whether the game is ready to launch or not. It probably will not be.
InXile: Clockwork Revolution will most likely be cancelled and the studio shut down. May be quiet for the next year and won't be cancelled until the year after.
Ninja Theory: Project Mara will get a cinematic reveal with no release date in sight.
Obsidian: Outer Worlds DLC & Grounded 2 support possibly up to the point of launching the full game.
Playground: Fable will be cancelled and Playground will be restricted to Forza Horizon development. FH6 will likely release in 2026.
Rare: More Sea of Thieves seasonal support. Possible a new large-scale Tall Tales campaign.
Turn 10: Shut down
Undead Labs: State of Decay 3 cancelled and studio shut down.
World's Edge: Age of Empires 2 support. Maybe an Age of Empires V announcement.
Arkane: Quiet in 2026. Blade will be cancelled and Arkane will be shut down in 2027.
Bethesda: Another Fallout 76 Expansion along with the final Starfield expansion before switching gears to fully focus on Elder Scrolls VI. TESVI won't get new content until 2027. Fa
Machinegames: Wolfenstein 3 will get a cinematic reveal trailer.
ZeniMax Online: New Elder Scrolls Online Expansion.
Cancelled. Can't justify paying $30 a month to play 3 games a year. I might fire up Essential eventually since I need it to play Sea of Thieves online, but I bought a new laptop recently and may just make the permanent switch to PC gaming going forward, so it might not be necessary since PC doesn't charge for online play.
Still waiting for some campaign updates and expansions. Some world events and side-story content sure would be nice. Really anything to breathe some life into that giant empty world they built...
As somebody who's been with the series since Day 1, I give it 9/10. It didn't surpass Halo 2 or Combat Evolved (nothing ever will), but it definitely lands a nice 3rd place spot for me thanks to the fantastic writing that finally brought in the lore from the novels and what ended up being my favorite visual aesthetic in the series. The sound work and musical composition were a bit lacking and I hate that they cancelled S2 of Spartan Ops and killed the plot with a crappy comic and a quick moment in the beginning of Halo 5, but otherwise I loved everything about H4.
The Didact didn't get enough screentime to really make a great villain, either, but he was intended to be a threat throughout the trilogy and their wussing out with Halo 5's direction change is more at fault than H4 not writing him well. I also wish Jul 'Mdama had been given more screentime and played some kind of role in the main campaign, but I get he was supposed to be the main antagonist of the S-Ops mode.
It would be neat if they went back in a remake and added the H5 Soldier units and a couple other original units to mix up the dynamic a bit, as well.
Meh. GoY doesn't interest me and I have zero intention of playing it if it ever comes to Xbox. If they want to get a PS franchise going on Xbox, I would much rather see the Horizon series, Death Stranding 2 ( waiting patiently because this one is inevitable), or a Resistance Remastered trilogy. Those are pretty much the only things I want from the Playstation family besides MGS4 (which is all but confirmed with the MGS Volume 2 collection.)
Haven't played Hades 2 yet (haven't beat the first one yet because I'm not very good at Roguelites) and don't have a co-op partner for Split Fiction, but out of the rest of this list the only game I actually like is Death Stranding 2. Only played for an hour so far, but going off of that and how amazing the first game was, it's a safe bet for me. Can't wait to pay more when the Xbox versions launches.
@fatpunkslim What it looks like? It looks like every other COD ever made. It's BO6 with a fresh coat of paint slapped on it. This has been the car for every release in the series for the past decade.
I've always been in favor of the Halo franchise dropping PvP, but it was always in the interest of receiving longer, larger, louder, and more epic campaigns on par with games like Deus Ex and Half-Life. The original Halo Campaign can be beat in 3 hours once you know what you're doing, which after 25 years, most of us know what we're doing. Without significant changes to the level design, that's not going to change much with the new game even with 3 new levels.
I'm perfectly fine with them cutting the PvP, but they need to add some more substantial changes and upgrades, both in classic design changes and adding more mutations to the campaign that change up each playthrough and add to the replay value
Visually stunning and I love that they've added some extra depth to the level design, but I feel like reusing the original audio of the first game was a miss and if they were going to insist on remaking the 1st game, they could've at least altered the levels to offer a different experience. They could've kept the general aesthetic of the levels, but I would've liked something like the SvP3 mod where they extended the levels with new sections and added to the gameplay experience. CE was great for its time, but it's level design was basic and reusing levels for the 2nd half of the game isn't excusable today. Maybe they will change that element, but the Silent Cartographer playthrough looked pretty 1:1 so far.
I think the best part of this project will be the 3 new prequel levels they're adding to the beginning of the game and I'm hopeful they'll add some more content between existing missions that tie in with the novel. That would make up for my earlier grievance about the 1:1 level recreation.
Regardless, it's a Halo game with 1000gs for me to unlock, so I'll be there day 1 to keep up my 100% Halo Completion streak.
@ElectricWizard Helpful at times, but admittedly sometimes I had no clue what the piece was I was looking for and when it's a tiny little speck on a tiny little platform in a huge level, it can be near impossible to find. My biggest hope with the new game is that they've divided that list into sections so we can at least narrow down where missing sections might be. That would be the best QOL change from the 1st game I can think of.
@awp69 I think give it time. It's only been a couple weeks. Most people are probably still riding their current subscription and some are even stacked out for several months. They announced the hike right after my monthly renewal, so I'm still technically on for another week before it ends. We'll see how it looks going into the new year. It might be vocal minority, but I definitely know there are a bunch of people in the communities I frequent who claim to be cancelling. Time will tell.
I'm definitely cancelling mine, though. I average playing 2-3 games a year on the service. At the previous price point it was justified, bit now it's literally cheaper to just buy those 2-3 games.
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Re: Albion Online Is Finally Making Its Xbox Console Debut After Nine Years
@Shinato2024 The same game selection that Microsoft is now blaming for the loss of revenue in 2025 even despite releasing on more platforms and to the largest audience they've ever had (and being the #1 Publisher in PS5)? All of those games that ended up being overwhelmingly lukewarm piles of meh?
Re: Xbox's Blizzard Team Announces Multiple Showcases Laying Out The Company's Future
@somnambulance It's absolutely criminal that their best franchise didn't even get a name-drop. It didn't deserve this level of snubbing.
There was a rumor earlier this month that a new spin-off was in the world for the franchise and we know they've attempted it before with Ghost, Ares, Xel'naga, and a few others, so hopefully they finally get something off the ground.
Re: Xbox Studios Boss Shares Update On Progress For State Of Decay 3
@Jark
From what I've read with that one, it was more of a tech demo than an actual game. Not sure how much of it was actually intended to be a game anyway. It was sort of like that old Project Milo for the Kinect. Proof of concept that would've never actually worked with the hardware at the time.
Re: Xbox Studios Boss Shares Update On Progress For State Of Decay 3
@Cakefish I don't think Everwild was even in a playable form. They basically scrapped it and started over on it a few years ago. What you're thinking of is Project Blackbird, the "amazing" new MMO from the Elder Scrolls Online team. Which honestly, based on the concept art that came out looking like Mass Effect and Cyberpunk 2077 had a baby, it had a lot of potential to be amazing.
There aren't nearly enough sci-fi games in the MMO space and I'm sick of Sword and Magic Fantasy dominating the market right now. It's worse than the 2000's Military Shooter and 2010's Zombie tropes ever were.
Re: Talking Point: Do You Think The Game Awards FPS 'Highguard' Will Actually Hit Xbox Next Week?
Lost me at PvP. I was onboard for a Single Player narrative, but online-only means it'll be dead within a month of release.
Re: Footage From Xbox's Cancelled ZeniMax Online Game Leaks, Looks Very Cyberpunk
@kanedase7en
This one is definitely on my radar. Just disappointed there was finally a Sci-Fi MMO. If anything could've broken me into the MMO genre, it probably would've been this one.
Re: 50 Backwards Compatible Xbox Games That Are 'Disc Only' In 2026
I completely forgot Unreal Championship 2 was BC. I usually just play it on my original Xbox anyway, but I might have to fire it up on the XSX and see how it handles someday.
Re: Poll: Ahead Of Developer Direct 2026, Which Is Your Favourite Fable Game On Xbox?
Definitely the first game. While I'm not normally a fan of medieval-era fantasy, Fable had a quaint charm to it that I found enjoyable. I loved having the Guild with all of the distinct Heroes you could interact with. Fable 2 was a good game, but its jump to the Industrial Era was too far removed and it lost a lot of the charm that I enjoyed in the first game. I'm looking forward to the Reboot going back to basics with the fairytale styling that early trailers implied.
Re: Xbox Partners With Kojima To Fix Major Save Bug In Death Stranding Director's Cut
This is one of the few games I've ever played that I would genuinely give a 10/10 review. Everything about it was surreal and and I had a blast from beginning to end. I was so disappointed that I wouldn't be able to try it out on my new Laptop when I learned about this bug, but I'm excited to finally be able to play it and hopefully load up some entertaining mods to throw in a little more flavor.
Re: Xbox Announces Surprise 'Day One' PC Game Pass Addition For Monday, January 12th
Didn't know this was a DD game. I've seen it played on Youtube and it looks fun. Kind of reminds me of Papers, Please.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (January 10-11)
Been bored with nothing to play for the last few months, so I've been replaying KOTOR 1 & 2. I finished the first one during Christmas break and I'll probably be done with the 2nd game later today, so I'm probably going to start Jade Empire next and will work on the Mass Effect series after that.
Re: Xbox-Published Game Towerborne Ditches Free-To-Play Model, Launches 'In Full' This February
Damn. There goes my hope for a February Fable launch. Lol. Maybe this summer...
Re: Avowed Releases For PS5 Alongside Free 'Anniversary Update' On Xbox This February
A little sad the new content is only skin deep. New races are nice and I'm glad we're getting a new weapon that will add a little variety, but I actually really enjoyed Avowed and was hoping we were going to get a big story expansion soon. Hopefully they still have something big in the works for later this year. I'm not ready to bury Avowed just yet.
Curious what the "And much more!" will amount to.
Re: Xbox Developer Direct 2026 Showcase Gets Official Date Alongside Three Confirmed Games
Ooh. Color me curious on BoR. I completely forgot about that one and my curiosity is piqued.
Hopefully Fable being in the show means it's locked in and safe from cancellation. It was supposedly delayed from 2025 fue to their overloaded slate last year, so maybe we'll get lucky and see an early release this year. Avowed was February, so maybe Fable will be, too
Re: Xbox Game Pass: Two Games Announced For January 2026, And Here's When To Expect More
@Scrubchub Only way they're gonna learn. Blindly throwing money and praise at something that's a problem is only going to make it worse.
Re: Xbox Game Pass: Two Games Announced For January 2026, And Here's When To Expect More
Cancelled my GamePass 3 months ago and definitely not regretting it so far. This service has no value left.
Re: Talking Point: How Much Would You Be Willing To Spend On The Next Xbox Console?
Considering consoles are only getting more expensive with time rather than dropping in price like they used to, $500 is my ceiling. I will never pay more than that for a gaming device.
Re: YouTuber Thinks They've Found More Evidence Of Xbox Making A New Spyro Game
God I hope so.
Would love to see something similar to Kameo's transformation mechanic to build on the powerups concept from the earlier games. Kameo is probably the closest game I can think of in terms of visual style and gameplay similarity and I wouldn't be against them taking some cues from the Rare classic. Would also love to see an overworld with an ocean of Gnorcs to wage war against between the more traditional levels that would play more like the original trilogy.
Re: Marvel's Blade Director Shares Brief End Of 2025 Update On The Game's Progress
Mark my words, this game will get cancelled. Xbox is on a slashing spree and Blade is a license that struggled to get a simple reboot off the ground. I don't believe this game is long for this world and will likely be cut sometime next year alongside Fable and State of Decay 3.
Re: Opinion: The Game Awards' Big Surprise Fell Flat, But I Have High Hopes For This New Xbox FPS
It's a F2P competitive PvP shooter. What is there to be excited about? I'm much more interested in No Law being a Cyberpunk side serving.
Re: Here's Everything That Was Revealed At The Game Awards 2025 (For Xbox)
Exodus, Pragmata, No Law, and Fate of the Old Republic definitely won the evening for me. No interest in anything else they showed of.
Re: Xbox Announces Developer Direct Showcase For January, Teases 'A Lot' Of Game Releases In 2026
I'm really hopeful they have footage for the new Perfect Dark as that's my most anticipated game in the XGS lineup... Oh wait. Nevermind...
Re: 'No Law' Is An Open World Cyberpunk Shooter RPG Heading To Xbox Series X|S
Neat. Like Syndicate and Dying Light had a baby. I'll keep an eye out for this one.
Re: Exodus Is Giving Us A Mix Of Mass Effect And Starfield Vibes, Hitting Xbox In 2027
Pragmata, Fate of the Old Republic and Exodus all shown at the same time? Stahp!!! I can only handle so much excitement!
Re: Star Wars: Fate Of The Old Republic Sounds Incredible, And It's Likely Coming To Xbox
Definitely the most exciting thing to come out of tonight's showing. The Old Republic era is my favorite time period in the SW universe and I'm psyched to be returning to it again. Even if it's an all new story with new characters, hopefully we'll see little nods and references to the KOTOR titles that maintain a sense of continuity with the events of the earlier games.
Re: Capcom's Pragmata Launches Next April, And It's Getting A Free Demo On Xbox
Been waiting for what feels like forever for this one! Definitely checking out the demo this weekend. April just became the biggest month of '26 for me.
Re: Xbox & Activision Issue Statement On The Future Of Call Of Duty Following Black Ops 7 Backlash
Maybe instead of alternating title sequels they should just start doing a new CoD ever 3-4 years and free the other half dozen studios stuck working on CoD support so they can make games that are actually good.
The fact that Raven Software hasn't made a real game since the mid-2000's is criminal. Same goes for High Moon who haven't released a game since 2013
Re: Talking Point: Four Years On, Did Halo Infinite Ever Live Up To Expectations?
It was a good game for sure, but definitely didn't love up to expectations. The expectation was that the game would be supported for the next 10 years with new content, world events and story expansions that built on the existing infrastructure, but after the co-op patch that should've been present at launch, they literally pulled a GTAV and never gave us any content for the campaign at all. They were too focused on nickel and diming players with ***** cosmetics and *****.
We never even saw the return of classic multiplayer game modes like Invasion, Firefight, Warzone, or Breakout...
Re: Talking Point: Will You Be Revisiting Red Dead Redemption On Xbox Next Week?
Was never a fan. Red Dead Revolver was great for us time, but the Redemption games never held my attention. I tried to pay both and gave up within a couple hours.
Re: Talking Point: Did You Expect More From Xbox 360's 20th Anniversary?
@datamonkey I could never go to PS5. The controller hurts my hands and isn't sustainable for long term gaming.
PC also has the benefit of Play Anywhere, so at least not starting at zero. I've also been working on a Steam Collection for several years.
Re: The Game Awards 2025 First Reveal Confirmed Ahead Of Next Month's Showcase
@Fiendish-Beaver I agree about Andromeda. So many games get 2nd chances after being patched (Cyberpunk and No Man's Sky...) but Andromeda was never given that 2nd chance. There were some not-so-great elements like exploring the vaults got repetitive and the story pacing was a bit uneven, but for the most part I had a blast with the new ship, new crew, and new Ally and Enemy races. It was a step back from the trilogy, but it was still a serviceable experience. Dragon Age: Vanguard and Anthem, however... Not inspiring.
Re: The Game Awards 2025 First Reveal Confirmed Ahead Of Next Month's Showcase
@Fiendish-Beaver
I've been a fan of every Halo game to some degree and I am impressed with what we've seen of the remake, but I'm still waiting to see how far they take it in changes (Like will they recycle the later levels or will we actually see them redesigned to match Bungie's original intentions for the game.) I'm most excited for the 3 new missions they're adding, but I honestly feel like it's going to be more of a tease for what we could've had with a new game.
Waiting for the new Mass Effect is literally giving me anxiety because I want it to be great, but we saw what Andromeda was (which I was a fan of for the most part) and we see how far Bioware has fallen in the last decade. I think that's a large part of the reason why I want Exodus to be successful. If they pull it off, it'll be the Mass Effect sequel fans deserve.
Re: The Game Awards 2025 First Reveal Confirmed Ahead Of Next Month's Showcase
@Fiendish-Beaver Exodus is honestly the only game still in production that I can say I'm genuinely excited for. I'm doing my best to temper expectations, but it's the first time in a long time that I can say I'm genuinely hyped for a game and not just going through the motions like I am with GTA, Elder Scrolls, and Halo.
Re: Talking Point: Did You Expect More From Xbox 360's 20th Anniversary?
I don't expect things from Microsoft and Xbox at this point. I have been one of the most hardcore and avid supporters of the brand for the last 23 years, but this year has been a fast and firm hammering of nails in the coffin and I have done the unthinkable and began transitioning to PC. I dislike PC gaming, but I don't hate myself enough to keep enduring the middle finger that Xbox has become either.
I have more than likely reached the point where I may drop out of gaming entirely. I might dabble with a game or two (I could never walk away from Halo) but the thrill has gone it's hard to be excited for anyone on the horizon at this point. Hoping Exodus changes my mind, but Perfect Dark being cancelled and Fable being sure to follow soon hits hard.
Re: Poll: Which Is Your Favourite Xbox 360 Launch Title?
It's so hard to pick. 360 had an amazing launch with so many great games! Kameo blew my mind with how many trolls it had on screen at once, Condemned was atmospheric and spooky, Perfect Dark was a blast to play online with friends (I loved the Counter Strike-esque Dark Ops mode), PGR3 was absolutely gorgeous, CoD2 was chaotic and the last great entry in the series, Most Wanted is still the best entry in the NFS series and even King Kong was a well designed game and I loved transitioning between the hudless FPS gameplay and the Kong Brawler segments (The first time I played its demo I didn't even know the game had transitioned from cutscene to gameplay. The graphics were impressive for the time, as well.)
If I had to narrow it down I would probably say Condemned because it's the one I revisit most frequently, but it's really not possible to choose one over the others because they all brought so much to the table.
Re: Deals: Xbox Black Friday Sale 2025 Now Live, 2000+ Games Discounted
@pepsilover2008
Not much of a multiplayer guy anymore, but I will say Halo 5 had the best multiplayer in the series since Halo 2. The campaign was nothing to write home about, but the multiplayer was worth it. Even despite the loot pack system (which I never had to spend actually money on some in game credits were plentiful), Warzone was fantastic and sorely missed in Infinite. The gameplay changes felt good and really worked with the Halo formula without changing up the classic style too much.
Re: Deals: Xbox Black Friday Sale 2025 Now Live, 2000+ Games Discounted
Dropped GamePass because of the price hike BS, so I went ahead and bought Crackdown 3 and Psychonauts 2. Want to snag Master Chief Collection, as well, but apparently it's not Play Anywhere and I'm starting to migrate over to PC in anticipation of not buying a next gen console, so I'm holding out hope somebody has MCC on sale for PC soon.
Nothing else of interest for me in this sale, though. Waiting for better prices on TESIV and Split Fiction still.
Re: Xbox Announces 9 Titles Coming To Game Pass At November's Partner Preview Showcase
Armatus might be worth keeping an eye on. Zero interest in anything else shown here, though. Not really surprised.
Re: Seven Things We Miss About The Xbox 360 Era In 2025
I would kill for the Blades dashboard to make a comeback. I'm so damn tired of being advertised to and bombarded with constant images and graphics. When are they going to learn that being advertised to is going to cost them more sales than it will gain them? I intentionally go out of my way to not buy things that constantly harass me in commercials. The blades design gave it a 'look inside the console' vibe while modern dashboards are just visual vomit.
A little more obscure, but I also miss the Xbox 360's Netflix theater mode. Being able to sync up with friends and watching movies and shows at the same time was great and having the little shadowed Avatar characters at the bottom was a fun touch.
Re: Talking Point: Xbox Is 24 Years Old Today, What Do You Expect From Next Year's 25th Birthday?
Re: Poll: Now That The Dust Has Settled, Which Xbox Game Pass Tier Are You Subscribed To?
Cancelled. Can't justify paying $30 a month to play 3 games a year. I might fire up Essential eventually since I need it to play Sea of Thieves online, but I bought a new laptop recently and may just make the permanent switch to PC gaming going forward, so it might not be necessary since PC doesn't charge for online play.
Re: Halo Infinite's Final Major Content Update Arrives This Month
Still waiting for some campaign updates and expansions. Some world events and side-story content sure would be nice. Really anything to breathe some life into that giant empty world they built...
Re: Talking Point: Exactly 13 Years Later, How Are You Feeling About Halo 4 These Days?
As somebody who's been with the series since Day 1, I give it 9/10. It didn't surpass Halo 2 or Combat Evolved (nothing ever will), but it definitely lands a nice 3rd place spot for me thanks to the fantastic writing that finally brought in the lore from the novels and what ended up being my favorite visual aesthetic in the series. The sound work and musical composition were a bit lacking and I hate that they cancelled S2 of Spartan Ops and killed the plot with a crappy comic and a quick moment in the beginning of Halo 5, but otherwise I loved everything about H4.
The Didact didn't get enough screentime to really make a great villain, either, but he was intended to be a threat throughout the trilogy and their wussing out with Halo 5's direction change is more at fault than H4 not writing him well. I also wish Jul 'Mdama had been given more screentime and played some kind of role in the main campaign, but I get he was supposed to be the main antagonist of the S-Ops mode.
It would be neat if they went back in a remake and added the H5 Soldier units and a couple other original units to mix up the dynamic a bit, as well.
Re: Xbox Is Questioning Fans About PS5 Game 'Ghost Of Yotei' In New Survey
Meh. GoY doesn't interest me and I have zero intention of playing it if it ever comes to Xbox. If they want to get a PS franchise going on Xbox, I would much rather see the Horizon series, Death Stranding 2 ( waiting patiently because this one is inevitable), or a Resistance Remastered trilogy. Those are pretty much the only things I want from the Playstation family besides MGS4 (which is all but confirmed with the MGS Volume 2 collection.)
Re: Xbox Gets One Nomination For 'Ultimate Game Of The Year' At Golden Joysticks 2025
Haven't played Hades 2 yet (haven't beat the first one yet because I'm not very good at Roguelites) and don't have a co-op partner for Split Fiction, but out of the rest of this list the only game I actually like is Death Stranding 2. Only played for an hour so far, but going off of that and how amazing the first game was, it's a safe bet for me. Can't wait to pay more when the Xbox versions launches.
Re: Xbox Game Pass: All Games Coming Soon In November 2025
@fatpunkslim What it looks like? It looks like every other COD ever made. It's BO6 with a fresh coat of paint slapped on it. This has been the car for every release in the series for the past decade.
Re: Halo Studios Gives Reason For Dropping PvP Multiplayer In Campaign Evolved
I've always been in favor of the Halo franchise dropping PvP, but it was always in the interest of receiving longer, larger, louder, and more epic campaigns on par with games like Deus Ex and Half-Life. The original Halo Campaign can be beat in 3 hours once you know what you're doing, which after 25 years, most of us know what we're doing. Without significant changes to the level design, that's not going to change much with the new game even with 3 new levels.
I'm perfectly fine with them cutting the PvP, but they need to add some more substantial changes and upgrades, both in classic design changes and adding more mutations to the campaign that change up each playthrough and add to the replay value
Re: Here's A Full Walkthrough Of 'The Silent Cartographer' Level In Halo: Campaign Evolved
Visually stunning and I love that they've added some extra depth to the level design, but I feel like reusing the original audio of the first game was a miss and if they were going to insist on remaking the 1st game, they could've at least altered the levels to offer a different experience. They could've kept the general aesthetic of the levels, but I would've liked something like the SvP3 mod where they extended the levels with new sections and added to the gameplay experience. CE was great for its time, but it's level design was basic and reusing levels for the 2nd half of the game isn't excusable today. Maybe they will change that element, but the Silent Cartographer playthrough looked pretty 1:1 so far.
I think the best part of this project will be the 3 new prequel levels they're adding to the beginning of the game and I'm hopeful they'll add some more content between existing missions that tie in with the novel. That would make up for my earlier grievance about the 1:1 level recreation.
Regardless, it's a Halo game with 1000gs for me to unlock, so I'll be there day 1 to keep up my 100% Halo Completion streak.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Say About PowerWash Simulator 2 On Xbox Game Pass
@ElectricWizard Helpful at times, but admittedly sometimes I had no clue what the piece was I was looking for and when it's a tiny little speck on a tiny little platform in a huge level, it can be near impossible to find. My biggest hope with the new game is that they've divided that list into sections so we can at least narrow down where missing sections might be. That would be the best QOL change from the 1st game I can think of.
Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Say About PowerWash Simulator 2 On Xbox Game Pass
@awp69 I think give it time. It's only been a couple weeks. Most people are probably still riding their current subscription and some are even stacked out for several months. They announced the hike right after my monthly renewal, so I'm still technically on for another week before it ends. We'll see how it looks going into the new year. It might be vocal minority, but I definitely know there are a bunch of people in the communities I frequent who claim to be cancelling. Time will tell.
I'm definitely cancelling mine, though. I average playing 2-3 games a year on the service. At the previous price point it was justified, bit now it's literally cheaper to just buy those 2-3 games.