RiverGenie

@Titntin thank you for the detailed reply I very much appreciate it.

At the moment I am thinking I will just wait a week to see what the devs do,. I mean I am not losing anything by doing so.

From what I have seen so far they have been pushing patches in response to issues so that is a good sign.

Thanks again for the response and I hope you continue to enjoy your adventure.

I play Minecraft and also enjoy Diablo like games a lot too so Dungeons was a good little mashup for me personally.

Minecraft Dungeons wasn't very demanding in terms of mechanics but it was never meant to be. It was just a simple and fun way to pass a few hours playing a game. Simple fun is still fun & nothing wrong with that.

It will be interesting to see if that same format will carry over into the second one or if they make it a little more mechanically complex.

Either way certainly interested in Minecraft Dungeons 2

@VisitingComet1 that doesn't sound promising and would probably cause some discomfort or outright pain with my hands if i did it too long.

Thanks for the reply though.

Can I ask how folks are getting on with the QTE mechanics in Crimson Desert?

I have issue with my hands which makes such things difficult even when fairly slow paced. I have seen a few stories on reddit of folks being 100% progress locked due to qte's with very rapid button pressing over a prolonged period which would be a big problem for me.

I understand it has almost zero accessability options too (??) which is how i normally resolve these issues.

There is a lot of noise going around Crimson Desert so any input from folks here would be welcome & appreciated.

Back home after a week in hospital, nothing too serious but extremely painful. So now I am at home with orders to take it easy & plenty of time on my hands. Video game therapy!

EDIT: Removed question regarding Crimson Desert moved to more appropriate article.

I am going to continue on with WH40K Rogue Trader for now but I am nearly done with it. I guess something like The Witcher 3 or KCD 2 might be an option after that if I don't want to take the risk on Crimson Desert.

I bounced off this one quite hard when I tried it on PS5. Pretty sure it being on Xbox won't change that result.

Pearl Abyss shares have dropped nearly 30 points based on these reviews.

Source: https://www.eurogamer.net/pearl-abyss-shares-tumble-after-crimson-desert-fails-to-meet-expectations

I was interested in this game but a little hesitant just based on my time with Black Dessert Online. This game sounds similar miles wide but inches thin intersped with lots of busy work.

I guess a future sale may tempt me or it might end up on gamepass or ps plus eventually.

In terms of dlc I hope it's more than just remaking & reimagined previous dlc for the current gen and are able to come up with a bit more original content this go around

So other than nostalgia what do any of the ui concepts do to improve the user experience?

My only real comment on them is that they are unrealistic in that non feature ads but that is something that will 1000% be part of any ui design on future consoles.

Asking as someone who never used anything but the series consoles ui. Which while it isn't perfect it's good enough for it purpose imo.

CP 2077 is a good game and worth your time if you never played it before (Phantom Liberty the dlc is just as good too.) I already own both and have multiple completions done so a gamepass release does nothing for me.

Construction Sim sounds like a game I could sink time into but I have many others game ahead of it that I am more excited to play.

While it has had a few good games released on the service its not really offered me any value. Mainly due to already owning them or having played them elsewhere. I did get to enjoy Kingdom Come Deliverance and that really has been the only highlight of the year so far for me.

Still compared to PS Plus were I went 13 months without seeing anything of interest I can't really complain about gamepass in general. It will take a much longer dry spell before I start to reconsider my options.

I recently finished Kingdom Come Deliverance and had a fantastic time for the most part with only a few frustrating moments mostly with combat.

Instead of diving straight into KCD 2 I decided to revisit WH40K: Rogue Trader for a change of pace. I am for sure not going to be distracted by other games this time and will certainly finish all the dlc content that has been sitting there forever. (nothing I am too excited for new release wise in the near future I might actually manage it this time, hopefully.)

Its fine saying "let us cook" but with what 15 days left till launch not having any console footage is not a good look & poor marketing at best.

That aside the scope of this game looks breathtaking and has huge potential. Mark me down as waiting on console reviews before deciding if this is an immediate or sale purchase

@FraserG and when that "some point" rolls around I will be very happy. However, we have had years of teases / rumours & folks can only cry wolf so many times before I just have no interest & its just background noise.

Too many rumours and / or teasers regarding Fallout remasters for too long that I have stopped caring about it. Tell me solid release dates and my interest may perk up again.

I already KCD 2 with all dlc so it coming to game pass isn't a big deal for me.

However if you haven't played it absolutely give it a go as its a fantastic game but it is a long game (even without dlc) so be aware of that too.

@AkumaG Cool I hope it was worth the wait for it and you have fun.

KCD 2 is an excellent game but its quite a big time investment and folks should be aware of that from the start. I think my first playthrough was 95 or so hours without any dlc.

I do want to do another run of KCD 2 as I do now own all the dlc and on the back of recently finishing the original KCD. However the time commitment is a bit intimidating and I have other games I want to get around to as well.

CP2077 is a good game but by now its a bit like gta 5 or the Witcher 3 in that anyone vaguely interested will likely already have picked it up in the many many sales its been in.

So while its cool its potentially on gamepass i can't see it doing that huge in terms of engagement. Maybe if they have the dlc included that will help?

I was going to download this to see what the fuss was about but then I remembered it's an extraction shooter so yeah big NOPE

When we see something of substance instead of a whole load of word spaghetti as of the past week I will be able to give you an answer

Not really my thing but I may take a look at Marathon out of curiosity given all the fuss that's been made of it.

I had a number of those too but glad it was just a system error and nothing nefarious

Dead Island 2 at that price is a steal. I enjoyed the main game and the dlc was ok but felt a bit flat in comparison.

Still at that price you can't go wrong

Kingdom Come Deliverance is taking up most of my gaming time at the moment. I am enjoying just immersing myself in the world of the game and the interesting stories that you experience throughout your journey.

Yes there has been some frustration, even a couple of times I had to turn the console off & go for a walk. I don't like random encounters in any game that immediately stun lock you & give no way to fight back so you just die. Its especially egregious in kcd with its limited save system.

Those moments aside I am enjoying my time and having fun with this game.

Well there goes the last voice at Xbox that remembered that they served more than shareholders. Interesting times ahead and by interesting I mean more expensive (for consumers) ai driven 💩

I hope my nursing home has good internet & download speeds because that is where I will be by the time this releases

I really enjoyed my time with Satisfactory but fair warning if this game clicks for you it consumes all your spare time.

I haven't even watched any of the trailers yet and I am not convinced it will release this year.

Its a little sad to me that Starfield is likely the last new release from Bethesda I will be in a position to play. While I did have some fun with it the game didn't land as well as any of their previous efforts.

Bethesda certainly phoned this one in and their competitors like Warhorse Studios, CDPR and a few others have forged way ahead of what Bethesda seem capable of these days

The Witcher 3 has been on sale so often & while it is a great game I have played it so much I haven't really anything left to do. So it being on gamepass is a non event for me personally.

No interest in the other two so I won't be playing any of these releases

I had a quick go of NG+ and its as fun as the first go around. I did have to redo the final fight to create the NG+ data but that is not a problem.

On ng+ start you have the option to remake your character, including looks, name & refund your skill points. I redid my points so I can explore a more melee build rather than my gun / magic hybrid of my first playthrough. I am enjoying all the difficulty options we now have to fine tune pretty much everything and wish they were in from the start.

Once I get done with Kingdom Come Deliverance I am looking forward to fully committing to this ng+ run.

@Fiendish-Beaver As far as we are aware this is it for Avowed but they have said another game in the series is likely in the future.

I suppose if it sells gangbusters like Forza did on Playstation plans could change but that is an unlikely scenario imo.

For anyone interested Avowed NG + update is live on Xbox. Just over 6GB download

Patch notes: https://forums.obsidian.net/topic/137490-patch-20-is-live/

Cold hearted, how? Or would you prefer they blow smoke up you 🍑 and give false hope.

They gave the truth from their perspective and that is all it is no more or less.

With Sony owning the Spiderman franchise (though it is believed Disney / Marvel retain some merchandise rights) highly unlikely was always going to be the best that Xbox could expect in the current climate.

Avowed gets its NG+ update on the 17th plus and a bunch of other things such as a new weapon type, character races and QoL based around the difficulty to make it more challenging or not as you see fit.

It also launches on the PS5 on the 17th too.

@Scrubchub Good time for that as Avowed is getting huge update next week to coincide with its launch on PS5.

The big thing is new game plus but for first time players they have added new race options (& a way to change in game during your play through), quarter staff as a new weapon type and a bunch of other QoL options centered around the game difficulty to make it more challenging or not.

Hope you continue to enjoy your play through regardless.

I had planned on other games this weekend the current gen upgrade for Kingdom Come Deliverance has thrown all that out of the window.

While I have played the game before that was many years ago when I still had a viable gaming pc. I can't remember a whole lot about it but I do recall being a bit frustrated at its often time very finicky game play. Hopefully I will have a little more patience this go around.

Anyhow those flowers wont pick themselves so back to it 😉

Only wandered about a bit in the first town & gathered a bunch of herbs but it seems to run really well as far as I can tell & looks great too.

Looking forward to properly exploring this game again over the weekend and hope I don't get frustrated with it.

Well there go my plans for the weekend it seems a trip to Bohemia is on the cards instead 🙂👍

Already own D2R but a new dlc just dropped with a new warlock class so I might give that a whirl eventually I guess.

Not really interested in the other two games.

This has happened before but most recently I had that happen while watching YouTube. I continued on after ignoring the age verification again, which I will continue to do.

"This Proximity Radar helps identify cars in your blind spots, making it easier to avoid unintentional collisions and keep the racing clean, especially when using cockpit, hood, or bumper cameras."

Specifically with regards to multiplayer races that is all well & good but unless you punish folks who intentionally hit you its a pointless feature.

As for the rest of the list I am still not seeing any standout features other than location that sounds exciting to me. So I am still not really hyped by this entry to the franchise but I will take a look via game pass and hope to be surprised.

@Fiendish-Beaver On a Series X it' does well these days and it's a lot better than when it launched.

It's still a euro jank RPG so some aspects of the UI are clunky but I would say worth giving it a shot if you find it on sale.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance will be worth a look especially if the rumours about a remaster prove true.

Its a lot less forgiving gameplay wise than the sequel and can be extremely frustrating at times from what I can recall. Its still worth sticking with though and is satisfying when everything eventually clicks together.

Finally finished Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon inc its dlc. While its very much a Euro jank rpg I really enjoyed its dark and gritty take on the King Arthur & Knights of the Round Table mythos. Will go back at some point to do a new game plus run so I can explore the magic user side of the game.

Will continue on with my solo run of Baldurs Gate 3 and probably some Division 2 if I fancy a change of pace.

Nothing worthwhile for me personally but I Imagine most will find an audience.

My routine is just to blow air through the vents every couple of months or so with a small handheld blower i got off amazon. Never really had much dust come out and both my Series X & PS5 remain as quiet as the first boot up.

All I can say is I enjoyed both Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2. So much so that I am more excited for the dlc for OW2 & the NG+ patch for Avowed than I am for many of the new releases announced for 2026.

I am sad that we won't see anything Outer Worlds beyond the dlc though.

I have tried several of the Yakuza games and I have to be honest I just don't get the appeal.

FF2 might be something I will play for nostalgia but its not something I am going to be in any rush to start either.