Westernwolf4

These articles are very helpful, and I don't mean to imply they are not. But I want to share with folks what I do, because I find it useful for me.

Basically, I keep my own list. When a game comes to the service that I am interested in, I type it in along with the date it came on the service. I then assume I have a year from that date to play it and plan my time accordingly.

Obviously not a perfect system. Not all games stay for a year (sometimes more and sometimes less). And of course, the best thing would be for Microsoft to just tell us how long a game is there for in the first place.

But I have found that the year time frame applies to most games. I find it pretty easy to keep track of myself, and to structure my time so I don't miss anything essential.

Edited to say that I do not believe that time frame applies to first party titles.

Never did get to Lake. My backlog and other available games are just too big. Oh well.

Having too many interesting games to play is a good problem to have!

@Titntin I am indeed an oldie. 😃 Back in the day you could not tear me away from those Sierra titles: Police Quest, Space Quest, King’s Quest, So You Want To Be A Hero….good times.

I think this looks compelling too. Going on the old wish list.

So……….basically Police Quest for console?

I still miss those Sierra games.

I am usually a very narrative driven gamer-if something does not have an engaging story, I am usually out.

My one exception to this: An excellent combat system can make up for a dull story. Kingdoms of Amalur has been my go to example of this for years: The story and world in that game could not be more bland, but I had tons of fun dropping rocks from the sky on fools.

So, I still have some hope for this. "Punchy combat and some decent boss battles" sounds like it could be worth it after a sale.

It would always be good to have a performance mode of some kind. But as to the question of whether it is still an entertaining game at 30FPS: I am going to wait until I actually play it (or at least see reviews) before I answer that question.

This seems like one of those games where everyone is making up their minds before they even get their hands on it. Which is totally fine-I am not going to tell people how to spend their money. But I plan to wait until it is out before deciding anything.

I just finished Trek to Yomi. So much was good about it-audio, visual, story-but I wish the combat was better and less repetitive.

For the rest of the weekend I am playing As Dusk Falls. I have been really looking forward to this one!

This game has some flaws: the combat system gets pretty repetitive, and the game dragged well past its welcome.

But it is worth a play: it is visually brilliant. More than that, it has a really big heart, with an emphasis on the power that comes from being a nice, good person. I was charmed by it way back in the day.

I play about that per week, and I have a busy job (not Phil Spencer busy, but way more than 40 hours per week) and a big family. The difference for me is that I trade game hours for sleep. 10pm is usually when I start gaming.

It isn’t healthy. I don’t recommend it. But it is the only way I can enjoy my favorite hobby.

I can't wait to play one of the smaller releases, Circus Electrique. Darkest Dungeon with circus performers? Alongside a circus management element? Sign me up!

Glad I got around to the very wonderful Spiritfarer.

And, if you have not played Hades yet, please don’t miss it. Another great one from Supergiant.

Fenyx Rising is really fun. Great atmosphere, fun combat, some decent puzzles. Well worth a play.

My one criticism is that there are TOO many puzzles in the game. Everything you want to do or collect is gated behind a puzzle, which is fine. But by the end of the game the player is really sick of pushing boulders onto switches over and over.

But that is a minor gripe. It is well worth your time, especially if you have gamepass.

I just wanted to say that Rebel Galaxy Outlaw is really good. Great arcade like dog fighting, and also has the best pool/billiards sim I have seen in a game in a long time (you can play it and other mini-games on space stations).

Not much story, but the rest was so fun I didn’t really care.

A gem worth playing!

@101Force Agreed. Anyone who likes Rogue Lite games should give Children of Morta a try. Fun game with some nice story sections as you progress.

Fallout 3 was one of the games that got me back into gaming after a graduate school hiatus. I could not believe the expansive world and choices. It will always be #1 for me.

New Vegas is fantastic, but it just can’t be first because of all the bugs. I have never owned a game that crashed so much. I even had a bug where the game would crash if I did not enter the strip wearing a specific cowboy hat. How ridiculous. But when the game actually let me play, it was pretty great!

@GADG3Tx87 I read the whole piece thinking this too. It is amazing how “No BS” someone starts to look when they start handing you bags of cash. 😃

Can’t wait to try Chorus!

On the one hand: Always better to have a delay than a Cyberpunk situation.

On the other hand: I am super disappointed.

I have been at the same job for 15 years (!), and the only major breaks we get are around Thanksgiving and Christmas when our offices close for a bit. I try to play a big game around those times that I can really savor, and I was really looking forward to Starfield being that game for this year.

It is on me for not tempering my expectations, and I will def. be ready to play whenever this finally drops. But I am just super disappointed at this moment. Really looking forward to this.

I have lots of games on Xbox, PS, and Switch that I haven’t played. From this generation and previous generations. Mostly bought on sale for cheap.

I am a little ashamed of my big backlog. At the same time, at this stage of my life time is a lot more valuable than money. I want to play what I want, and to have lots of options. If the worst thing that happens is I never get around to playing a bunch of games I paid pennies for-oh well.

True Colors is really good. The way the plot resolves doesn't make much sense if you think about it for more than a minute, but the characters and atmosphere are so good that it doesn't really matter. Really great protagonist, really great world to spend time in-and there are some really great next gen looking vistas to take in too. The powers in this entry are also really well implemented. Those who have not played it yet are in for a treat.

I am looking forward to Lost in Random.

I really enjoyed LIS-platinumed it over on PS4. But I cannot think of a game I have played where frame rate would matter less. I could be wrong because I have not played the upgraded version, but this game has a lot of slow walking around taking in the environment as part of it. I guess a higher framerate is always desirable, but for this kind of game it certainly does not seem necessary.

Infernax looks really interesting-I am def. going to check it out.

And, the trailer is worth checking out for the musical joke at the end alone............

I have no dog in this fight at all. I have an Xbox and a Playstation and a Switch and a couple of other systems kicking around too.

I don't like Microsoft continuing to buy up huge developers. I think it is going to keep a lot of gamers from playing games they want to play, and I think continuing to carve out what is closer and closer to a monopoly is bad for creativity and the industry as a whole. I also don't like it that Bobby K is gong to get a huge payout from this sale.

Again: This will have no impact on me at all. I will still play the games I want to play. But some people won't be able to, and that is sad to me. I understand why it is good business for Microsoft, but I don't think it is good for gamers overall.