Texel

In my opinion Microsoft needs to kill the Xbox PC App in favour of having all their content on Battle.net. Buy games, access Game Pass titles, xCloud etc.

Yes I'd prefer Steam but lets be honest they will always have their own storefront and Battle.net works far better than Windows Store or the Xbox PC App.

Honestly, this game was probably one of my favorites that I've played the past year or so. Really well done!! I enjoyed every aspect of it and would gladly even pay for DLC for this one (but obviously I'm happy its free with GP).

Eternal Strands. This game is so well done, it needs and deserves far more attention than its getting.

I also fully recommend Darth's Door! Such a great game and it was fun getting all the achievements too.

Nintendo has done so well for themselves because they make (for the most part) quality exclusives that you can't play anywhere else. Sony understands this too which is why they pay so much money for exclusivity time with many third parties.
With the Zenimax/Bethesda purchase and now Activision/Blizzard, Xbox finally had a solid list of IP's that could have driven more gamers to the Xbox brand and finally really compete, but they decide to fully embrace being a multiplatform company essentially killing the Xbox Hardware brand to really drive what honestly Microsoft has always wanted, to not be in the hardware business.
While yes I know they will continue to make hardware, but really that is just to not lose customers that would buy their console and not play anywhere else. From a financial standpoint, I can understand their goal especially since their consoles are always sold at a loss, but really it's sad to many of us since the Xbox brand finally had titles like Diablo, Warcraft, Doom, Fallout as their IP which could have really sold consoles and solidified Xbox as worthy competition which is great for us gamers as a whole.

They would be better on the ID TECH engine. Machine Games did an amazing job with Indiana Jones! I personally have always loved ID TECH since Quake.
Also, Halo should have been moved to ID TECH, not UE. Microsoft even owns the ID TECH engine now so they wouldn't have to pay out to EPIC. While UE is easy to work with, its unfortunately very poorly optimized for the most part.

I personally never really liked the newer avatars. I prefer the 360 ones to be honest, glad they are sticking around.

I played this on a friends Switch for an hour or so. It's a really cute relaxing game and well worth buying at this 90% off price.

I just bought it for Xbox thanks to this article. Looking forward to getting all the achievements!

@jesse_dylan Lego 2K is part of Game Pass Ultimate not Core. Thus if you are a Game Pass Core subscriber only, you can't play it, but this weekend you can!

Last Epoch (PC)

Palworld.
However, I would have said "We Happy Few" if I hadn't already played it on Steam (PC) when it first released.

@Romans12 - I think it would be a bit of a slap to everyone's face who just purchased it on or shortly after its Xbox launch on December 6th.

@ZuneTattooGuy I was looking forward to this and I'm really enjoying it so far. It's calm, relaxing and warm. Some of my favourite games this year have been Indie titles.

It's no doubt the 360 era. However, the Series consoles with the backwards compatibility that Microsoft has focused on so well is fantastic. What makes the 360 era so much better though, is the simple fact that games had more fresh ideas back then and were far more complete out of the box than they are today, which really has nothing to do with the 360 itself but its still a factor.

Oh wow, this has to be the best one yet! /s

Both are very different titles. Motorsport holds my attention as its more of a true to life track simulation, whereas Horizon is more of an Arcade racer that allows you to just enjoy doing pretty much anything you want in a vehicle.

My personal preference is on Motorsport, but it really depends on my current mood. Do I want to just mess around and look at cars (Horizon), or do I want a more serious focused challenge without all the cringe voice acting (Motorsport).

@Zucaritas Well said. I couldn't agree with you more.

Cocoon & Lies of P

Really disappointed to hear this. IFR was one of mine and my GF's favorite games since the Series X launch. We were really looking forward to a sequel.

@Moonglow well said.

Alan Wake Remastered

Immortals Fenyx Rising is by far one of my favourite games released. I truly enjoyed every minute of the base game and all three DLC packs.

Tunic is a solid game as well. I had been waiting for its official release for sometime and it was worth the wait.

I completed it within 2 days of launch. Took a break from Redfall and hopped into Ravenlok. What a solid Alice in Wonderland game. Only takes about 5 hours to complete with all achievements. Well worth the play through in my opinion. Only wish it was longer!

I have really enjoyed some of their titles, but Ubisoft doesn't have enough different content to really justify a subscription. Most of their games are very similar and somewhat just feel like reskins in my opinion. Plus, most times their games are on sale within 3-6 months anyway, which makes the subscription rather pointless.

It still blows my mind that they are asking so much for this subscription, especially when you compare it to Game Pass.

Finished Ravenlok this morning (started yesterday night), excellent indie title. Only took about 5 hours to finish with all achievements.

Continuing through Redfall (on PC Game Pass) since I'm enjoying the mindless Vamp killing. The gunplay, abilities and overall creepy post-apocalyptic atmosphere is done well in my opinion. Yes the game has its bugs/glitches, but I find them comical and they don't take away from my enjoyment of the game.

While I agree it could use some patching due to glitches and stuttering, the issues in no way made this unplayable as some have mentioned.
My wife and I absolutely loved playing through this one and highly recommend it. I finished yesterday evening with one missing achievement which appears to be broken as I have found all the anchor points. I gave it a 9/10.

I voted for The Last Case of Benedict Fox. I finished it yesterday evening. Aside from a few glitches that required quitting right out of the game to fix, this game was excellent.

I also had a lot of fun playing through the Minecraft Legends campaign.

I was really excited about Ghostwire, but couldn't really get into it, felt dull and repetitive.

The Last Case of Benedict Fox.
I'm about an hour or so in, and its an absolutely solid Metroidvania title. A "must play" in my opinion.

@Trotterwatch - what are you playing it on? It runs smooth on my Series X with performance mode. Resolution mode feels horrible though.

I picked FF Pixel Remaster, since its what I'd be most interested in based on the options given. However, what I'd really like is FF7R & FF16.

Forza Horizon 5 Rally Adventure (XSX)
Marvel's Spider-Man (Steam)
Darktide (PC GP)

Just finished Hi-Fi Rush this morning, I might work on finishing some missed achievements for it.

Probably play through more of Sonic Frontiers and MH Rise.
Also contemplating buying Spider-Man remastered, since its on a Steam Sale right now.

Tinykin & Tunic

This deal only helps the majority of the world where PlayStation basically has a monopoly. The only place where Xbox even somewhat keeps up with PlayStation is the USA & Canada, everywhere else including Europe its a clear PlayStation monopoly which constantly confuses me as to why the EU have been putting up any roadblocks at all.

Tinykin deserves so much praise. What an absolute surprise of a gem! I'd easily vote this as my GOTY.

The nerd in me really enjoyed this video.

To bad it doesn't support Cross Play (currently). I have friends playing it on Steam that don't sub to Game Pass so I'd be playing with randoms if I install it.

@rhyno_888 Yes, MH Stories would be nice too. I tried to play both demos for Rise and Stories on Switch but just couldn't handle the low frame rate. I unfortunately get a headache and eye pain playing things with less than about 50 fps.

I pushed myself through a bunch of short sessions just to play Plague Tale Requiem. But at least that game doesn't require much fast movement so its more tolerable.

High On Life & Crisis Core FF7

Both Dreamcast Sonic Adventure titles. Nothing else IMO has come close.

My wife and I have been playing it on Switch since release. Great game!

A Plague Tale Requiem, Persona 5 & Gunfire Reborn

Glad to hear about the updates. I will have to install it now.

To some other companies who recently launched titles running at 30fps on the Series X or S... see what some proper optimization can do!

The original Most Wanted (2005) is by far my favorite one!
I also really enjoyed playing NFS II (1997) & Porsche Unleashed (2000) on PC.

Does anyone know if this update will also contain the ability to replay missions? I'm waiting to go back and 100% my campaign playthrough.

Well since I finished Tinykin yesterday, I may put a bit more time into it for a few achievements I missed. Also, I started "You Suck at Parking" last night so I plan to continue with that.

I definitely don't think Microsoft will raise prices. I wouldn't be surprised if they actually did a slight price drop, just to make gamers more upset with the PlayStation increase and drive more gamers to Xbox.

Fortnite
MultiVersus
Fall Guys
Halo Infinite Multiplayer

I wish Path of Exile was supported better on console. It also needs Cross-Play & Cross-Progression.

@Feffster I agree, I really enjoyed Omno. It was very calming and well put together in my opinion. Especially since its a solo dev creation!

I highly recommend anyone who enjoys a simple puzzle game in multiple beautiful environments gives it ago before it's gone!