ZeD

I recently finished at the start of the year on my Switch 2 and I was very underwhelmed by it. I did put a lot of time into it (40ish hrs) and did all of the side character stories and a lot of the other side content. I found the side content stories a lot better than then main story.
I fully accept that some will say it is a masterpiece and life changing but for me, it was neither of them to me

As a third party publisher, I can see Xbox doing really well. They have a lot of really good studios under their belt now.
As for hardware, I see this project Helix as the pivot point to help gamers transition from what we would call a general console experience into a PC experience. Microsoft, in general, are probably making a lot of money from subscriptions (such as Office 365), so they still need something to sell Game Pass on (other than a standard PC set up).
Plus, they have the billions from King.com 😐

@Fiendish-Beaver I honestly think that if Microsoft killed Game Pass, it would kill the Xbox. I was looking at my systems and what games I own on them (PS5 Pro, Series X and Switch 2) and the Series X is 99% Game Pass games! At this point, I might as well just stream through my TV and pick up any games I really want to play on my PS5 Pro or Switch 2.

@Nicekix erm no…
I was expressing my opinion that no matter how a live service game reviews, it lives or dies based upon It’s player base. There have been many examples of this with High Guard being the latest. It’s a tough market to break.
In the flip side, you have Hell Divers 2, which has a quite active community and have devs that actually listen to them.
I wish Marathon all the luck but the live services landscape is very over saturated atm.

Edit: I’ve just seen that Bungie have already posted so info regarding feedback from players and what they will change. That is very positive and a great way to stay close to community needs

@Nicekix nah I wasn’t talking about High Guard getting a good score. Was saying in general if a live service gets a good score, it doesn’t matter if the player base is not there.

@themightyant good points. If a live service lasts a year (big shout these days), a "Year Later" review would make sense.

@FraserG totally agree. I think for live service games the best "reviews" will be any BETAs (like the Server Slam) or watch streamers. For me the Server Slam was enough for me to decide the game was not for me.
Maybe the way forward is to have mid season reviews but like you say, time is the problem as these seasons really require a lot of time and effort to complete.

@Kaloudz it could get a great review, but as we saw with Highguard, you have to keep the player base happy. Unhappy player base, failed game.
Edit: to save confusion, I am saying in general if a live service gets a good review, it will die if the player base dies.

@themightyant it would make sense to make it standard practice to have ongoing reviews for live service games. Just needs to be standardised. Also, on the topic of review scores; with how easily games can be updated to something brand new (ie Cyberpunk 2.0), review scores are pointless these days lol

Game Awards 2026 will get a trailer for it. With a Holidays 2027 release.

lol reviews are being held back because Bungie are asking outlets to hold off until they add another mode. Such BS. Review it in the state it is now!
Plenty of live games get reviewed on day 1 with bad reviews and they stick forever.

@GeeEssEff I know it was a very short segment for the combat, but it really has put me off. I got to the point where you just escape an ambush at a lake. I might go back to it later but it seems very over complexed for me. I laughed when I read that before you put on armour you had to put under clothing on first. Makes sense but un necessary (to me any way)

@GeeEssEff combat is very rough. I followed the tutorial and I still had no idea what I was doing

@Titntin this is me with KCD2. I love the look of it, but after reading what people say regarding how big it is, it always puts me off.
Good time to give it a go. Nothing to loose...

@TheKracken I am on the fence with Deliverance 2. It is one game that has peaked my interest but seeing how much time is needed for it scares me 😂
Maybe I should put a few hours to the side one night and give it a good go.

On a side note, I have never heard of Minishoot Adventures before, but it does look pretty cool

@Scrubchub I recently finished Cyberpunk and even though I really enjoyed the world, I swear I played a different game to the majority of the internet. Don't get me wrong, it is a good game but (to me) no where near a master piece. Think I am sore about the absolute terrible ending I ended up with!

@Fiendish-Beaver I stacked GP until April next year and I will be using it to play the (hopefully) upcoming Xbox Game Studios, then after that I will probably cancel.
In the last few months I have been enjoying going back to playing games I actually own (crazy right?!) and it feels like I have been freed from this imaginary guilt of "I must play as many games as possible on GP as I have paid for it!", even though I have never paid full price for it in about 5 years!
In hindsight, stacking was not a great idea but we live and learn

I also have PS Plus premium running which I will never cancel as I am grandfathered into a £65 per year deal! 😂

Damn…. What a meh list. Back to either Borderlands 4 or Ghost of Yotei for me this month

@Gemini53 that's my biggest worry is how big the game is! That and I have heard the combat is a rather tough

Am I missing much if I do not play KCD 1 before 2? Both games are huge

@themightyant this is true. Game Pass has really started off strong this year.

Please Game Pass.... slow down a little!

I tried this one when it was added to PS Plus, and it did not click with me. I stuck it out for about and hour and what a strange hour that was....

@FraserG feels like a "filler" month. Some good games to keep you busy. I am still working through Outer Worlds 2 (damn the companion missions are too good), then I will probably make a start on Resi Village

Premium is really shining as the stand out tier. I wonder why MySims is only on the PC

@Titntin played the first one and really enjoyed it. Could not get into the second one. I tried 3 times and I really felt it was more unfair with the dice rolls and turns compared to the first.
I get it is all about risk vs reward, but I feel they changed it too much.

Already maxed it myself, but Outlaws is a great addition. Was thinking the other day I would like to play the early FF games and here is the first one (hopefully others will follow).
Premium is definitely the best option now, if you don't mind waiting a little longer for 1st party titles and don't care about CoD.

Now we wait for the "no value" crew to show up.... 😂

@dani3po have you got the full list of additions for January?

@themightyant the dlc is still separate.
I think I played Little Nightmares when it was added to Games with Gold but I will play it again as I still need to play the second one.

@themightyant just had to look up the showcase and I remember watching it but I remember nothing about Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy! 😂

I must have been living under a rock but when was a new A Plague Tale game announced?

I have bought nothing! Trying to stick to a minimal spend year.... trying

@Vladspartan this is why I have invested a little bit into my Switch 2 over the holidays. Trophies and achievements definitely drive games these days, instead of the actual content inside the game.
I have recently just finished the main quest in Cyberpunk 2077 on my Switch 2 with the mindset of "I am just going to enjoy this game" and I ended up pretty much doing all the side stuff without thinking. Where as if I plated on PS5/Series X, I would always be looking at the trophy or achievement lists.

To stop caring what the main line media and "influences" say about gaming and just enjoy gaming again.

@Scrubchub was just about to post this lol. Catching up on a few articles on here and nearly every one has the one user "I cancelled my game pass... blah... blah... blah". It is like those people who announce they are leaving social media.
We get it, some don't like the changes

@DeadSpace I have had my eye on this one but was put off it when I saw in a few reviews that it can be "difficult". As some one who likes to play games on Easy, would you say this game is difficult and if so, what would you compare it to?

@LordDieALot I have purchased one of they last week and it is a really good controller. Cannot wait until Xmas day!

@LordDieALot my son has asked for it for Xmas, so it is sitting waiting to be wrapped.... I'd love to have a cheeky play of it but it's the effort of removing it from the switch 2 each time so he does not see it lol

@Tasuki I actually enjoyed Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and not just voting that because I am a sheep....
I have not played a great deal of games this year but that was a stand out title for me, amongst others on different platforms too.
Anyway, if it was multiplatform voting, Death Stranding 2 would have taken my number 1 spot.

@Weebleman I do like Devil May Cry. I really need to catch up on some trailers for games this year!

I am probably going to get shouted out for living under a rock... but I have never heard of this game! Maybe it is a souls like game and once I heard that I totally forgot about it.

@Chip-Douglas lol. There is nothing in the upcoming year that I am really excited for. Think I am in a slump. Completed Mafia TOC and that was 'meh' and I have a dozen incomplete games installed on my Xbox.
On a positive note, Cyberpunk is keeping me invested on my Switch 2 👍

Had a look at the list of announcements and there was not really anything that peaked my interest.
Not sure if it is because I know 99% of the trailers will be CGI or that my passion for video gaming is slowly dying away

@Fiendish-Beaver no worries dude. I actually picked up the deluxe edition of Borderlands 4 from Loaded because I saw you mention it! So it does work 🤣

@johnedwin you forgot "Xbox Studio Game -1 point" lol

@Fiendish-Beaver are you secretly the owner of CdKeys? 🤣
With modern comment checking systems, you are lucky you have not been flagged up as a bot! lol

*Side note: I got the upgrade DLC from loaded for £16 instead of £30 lol
@RiverGenie my key for the upgrade dlc was there not long after the reviews went live

Cannot wait until tomorrow!

@Kezelpaso best way would be to add tags the games (like True Achievements)

Being spoilt for Halloween across Game Pass and Plus

• Alan Wake 2
• The Casting of Frank Stone
• Silent Hill 2

To add some positivity into this, has any tried the new XCloud? I fired it up on my TV and it looks really good. It is very impressive.

I have just stacked 6 months for £11 each over at Loaded (CdKeys). I am good now until Nov next year