RentedPanda

Has anyone played Thise Who Remain? I am wondering if it is more survival horror or dig novel/walking sim (leaning toward gameplay or story). Somewhat interested but never heard of it. I'm in a similar boat with the recent gamepass add, I think it was Close to the Sun?

@InvaderFromSpace I agree! When I first started hearing about this, I thought it would be like the recent Guardians of the Galaxy game, deep single player experience. Then I saw it was built for coop, and thought, ok, borderlands but DC, maybe still a buy...and now it seems characters are even less distinct than that. Oh well. I probably won't buy. Hopefully the projected poor launch does not kill the studio. With all the layoffs of the past year plus, I am dreading it

I love this as a feature! I tend to enjoy indie games best. I just picked up Howl on Switch and really enjoy it so far. I have seen it compared to into the breach, and I agree in the main (great little strategy levels, and you know what the enemies will do as you move forward) although I find it much more chill, since you can retry levels. Great little game for the price

@Kaloudz Ha, right, I saw that post in the resolutions thread! If you do try it, hope you enjoy

I'm in the who knows camp. I think they can hang in for a couple more gens (say, 10 years or so), and by then things may be very different, the game landscape changes quickly.

I like the idea of them putting older games on other systems. At this point, throwing Gears 1 -3 or Banjo on PS or Switch is probably not cannibalizing console sales, and they make some more money as a publisher to fund more AAA first party (or smaller games from smaller teams within their stufios, like Pentiment) which they can keep exclusive for as long as it makes financial sense and the console owners don't feel ripped off.

There has been talk lately (post Insomniac hack) as to whether AAA development is sustainable, and maybe turning 1st party to timed exclusive helps make it so?

@Kaloudz I think it is the same dev as Her Story, but I have not played that one (not sure if that answers your question). I "played" Immortality for a while, realized I was missing something, looked online, went back and got really into it. Once you start to see the second layer, I found it very interesting. But again, I know there are folks out there who just did not like it, so personal taste and all that, but I'd recommend giving it a try at least until your first ah ha moment to see if it's for you

@Kaloudz this is not a standard FMV game. The unique gameplay/mechanic and story within story (not to go too spoilery) - it is worth a shot even if you generally shy away from the style. At least, for me it was, maybe you already know the game and still isn't your thing, in which case, ignore me 😀

I think it worked out great, was probably a high point on the year for xbox fans.

In terms of "what if" scenarios had it been announced earlier, I wonder if there would have been impact with metal hellsinger (I think that is the name?) . Would people have talked more about one being similar to the other or copying one another or stealing ones thunder, in terms of rhythm based combat, had hi fi been in the public consciousness with people hyped for it? Or do I have the releases backwards? 🤔 Not they are terribly similar beyond "rhythm based" but you know how the internet can be

Very cool! I love the Psychonauts games especially, but have enjoyed the Cave and Broken Age too. Interested to see what they have coming.

If they had a shadow drop like Hi Fi Rush.... well, I'll try not to get my hopes up.

I did not watch the documentary they did, but heard there was mention of a couple projects ongoing late in Psy2 development, although anything could have happened since then. But maybe..?

I keep thinking about RE2, as it is frequently on deep discount and I hear it is great. Just not sure it is my kind of game This will be a good chance to find out.

With the recent changes combined I expect I will go from earning free gamepass 2 of 3 months to 1 of 3, depending on purchases. I did occasionally get into games via the quests, but honestly this was usually true only if they were already in my play later queue. I'll miss the earlier version but it won't impact me much. I wish they still had the monthly challenge things on the rewards site, where you had to get achievements from a certain set of games. I didn't always do those, but they were fun

For me, I connected with Ghostwire Tokyo, which I completed and really enjoyed. I didn't hate Starfield, HiFi or Redfall, just not for me. Gave up on all of them pretty quickly. Never tried Forza.

I've been all about indies and 3rd party gamepass this year.

This year, I have played some games with noticeable and frustrating bugs, some to the point I stopped playing. I have played a few games that are just not for me. But nothing I consider truly bad in terms of gameplay

Ironically, I play the most on xbox, but for sales, I bought disco eliseum on ps5, and a bunch on switch, such as Dave the diver, murder by numbers, ghost trick, we love katamari, and backpack hero. Nothing on xbox. Maybe after Christmas...

I think I have bought Smile For Me, Strange Horticulture, Midnight Suns, and one other which eludes memory. Mostly play gamepass on xbox. I purchased more on Switch because I can get nintendo gift cards through a reward program where I work

I have entered my education and work history but cannot figure out how to have my xbox generate a resume

Happy with my 5 choices, but Lamplighters league might have bumped something if I saw it on the list; I give it an honorable mention. Had a lot of fun gaming this year

Yeah, we will probably see some Activision games soon in 2024, but the press releases have been saying for a while it will take time. Some games may have complicated licenses, different business models. But anyone buying Diablo 4 today should not be surprised if it shows up on GP next year. I bought it over the summer and it looked pretty likely then I could wait it out, so I won't be upset. I'll be enjoying the Diablo 2 release at no extra cost, instead

@Fiendish-Beaver for your total games played, do you click into games on cloud for rewards? My guess is that is what is driving mine so high. It showed over 100 for me, and it seems high, even though I do a lot of checking out GP titles for an hour or less if they seemed interesting, and definitely do the quick open (usually via cloud) to satisfy the weekly rewards

Interesting, my son games on my xbox account, and my total time and most played seems to have included his Minecraft for Nintendo (linked to the MS account). Minecraft was top played, and Switch version was 3rd. Taking away his total minecraft time across both platforms, it seems I put in 110 hours on Marvel's Midnight Suns 🌞 as my most played. All of our xbox gaming combined, 724 hours

I never watch any of them, but enjoy coming here for the breaking news coverage during and after. I don't have a favorite

I'm seeing Immortals of Aveum deluxe for 8 dollars, 90 percent off.
I think it is GPU members only

I have El Paso, Elsewhere on my wishlist, got a notice it was on sale. I may grab it, have heard good things. Also tempted by Shadow Gambit, but have some other tactics games on GP right now

70 plus the cost of the obligatory season pass most big games tend to launch with. But it's not that huge a hike considering inflation in general, and I very rarely buy new releases, so for it's meh

I just logged in and Remnant and Remnant 2 are recently added to GP....?!

I haven't picked up anything yet, but I just checked on Switch and a big chunk of my wish list is on sale, so I may be making some purchases. The second Katamari game is half off and portal collection is deeply discounted
plus some indies... There are a handful I'm thinking about on xbox. Have not seen much on ps for me

@InterceptorAlpha Midnight Suns was very good, I liked the tweak on the xcom formula, good use of the license and the social sim and exploration aspects were ok, too. And discounted to what, $20 in this sale? Very nice!

I have plenty to play, but I do like to see the hoard grow larger each month

The only thing on my wish list currently on sale is ghost trick. Hoping some of the others get added later

I don't think it will happen, but Day 1 gamepass might get people to care about this and save the launch

The teaser video reminded me of codename STEAM on 3DS. It looks fun and review makes it sound like my kind of thing. Maybe once I finish Lamplighters league

I have no interest in the series, mostly due to being bad at fps. But just wanted to comment to ask if there is any other property outside of sports sims with more entries? That is an impressively long list!

@Gabrielmpf not sure why the timing, but it looks like later releases can be considered in the next year, since Pentiment was a nominee and it released in Nov 2022

@MistaJ seems to be the full game via EA play portion of GPUltimate. There was a 10 hour free trial when it launched, not sure if that is still available, but this is the game, no strings attached aside from the sub, from what I am reading

Thanks for the PSA! I am going to set this up today

I think this is a feature on Netflix. In addition to letting you know about games you are already playing, it is a nice fyi if you are about to start something (e.g., a lengthy rpg you've had backlogged; might be better to watch for a sale than start it now)

I'm firmly against. That is my semi informed (fine, uninformed) opinion. Humans all the way!

So they plan to train an AI on old games and genre tropes to generate fresh new experiences in filler conversations and side quests? Can't wait!

I have not remotely had enough time to play everything I wanted to from Oct but have put some hours into Lamplighters and really enjoyed it. I have played 2 of 3 cases in Frog Detective, because it is easy to play for a few minutes after a busy day to unwind and get my "played a gamepass game" and usually an achievement for the Quests rewards points. It is a fun little game

I thought Plate Up would just be off brand overcooked, did not realize it had progression and other elements. Now I'm interested, as I am a sucker for all that. I mean, I like Overcooked, too, but there are already 2 of those plus dlc

Inscryption was great, and for half price easy to recommend. I never finished, I should go back and do that.

I think I may have heard of Wartales a while back. Curious what it is. The thing I recall is a mercenary band struggling to survive in a realistic fantasy setting, strategy rpg. Given all the new games and huge gamepass adds, it may get lost in the shuffle, at least for me.

I have been looking forward to Jussant, and my son will probably want to try headbangers with his friends

I thought 3 was fun enough as a coop shooter. It just wasn't what I was expecting from the franchise. I liked the co op components. I played as the secondary character and realizing I was seeing things (trauma from their backstory) the main character/ my coop partner wasn't, was a cool moment. But I preferred the first game for mechanics and overall tone and story. Looking forward to playing the remake on gamepass when time allows

I have not played in a while. Have they added vampires in any of the updates?

Ok, Gamepass. I bought a 1TB memory expansion. Happy now?

@GuyinPA75 I played Gunfire Reborn for a few hours. It was fun, and I like the RPG/Rogue lite leveling, spending points after each run. I am not much for shooters or online play, so I bounced off it, but had fun while it lasted. The actual shooting and gameplay were fun! I recall it was a little rough in terms of text being clear, maybe translation issues, but it isn't a AAA title, and was free on GP, so whatever

I had an Activision best of game for PS2 with their old arcade and Atari games like Pitfall, Megamania, River Raid. I would love to see that on Gamepass. It had licensed 80s music and retro borders on screen, etc for complete nostalgia trip. I would love to see it redone, and I assume it would be super cheap to do. I also assume it would make almost no money 😂 so probably not going to happen

Sounds like Best Buy wants to reopen the debate: are games media? 😀

The game came out when they planned, and who knows, they may not have had enough funding to hold off, even once the release calendar became clear. I imagine there are factors at play we don't understand or know, rather than a team oblivious to the game climate.

It is a tough situation. I like the game. I have had some performance issues, but not enough to kill the enjoyment. I believe I had performance issues with XCom enemy unknown back in the day.

Also sad that the similar seeming pirate game (cursed crew?) closed shop after launch, although I think that was a decision, not as driven by finances. the last Mario and Rabbids strategy game underperformed too. I like the genre but it seems like a tough space

Yes, I would buy a plastic guitar controller for this. Especially if some of the back catalog games stay compatible and were on game pass. I did not get any of these games the first time around, but I think they would be fun, especially with my kids