awp69

I wish you could filter on full game vs DLC, etc. like PSN allows. Really hard looking through sales where there’s a bunch of DLC.

Nice. Always liked Castle Crashers style brawlers but the F2P model turned me off of this. Anxious to give it another try now that it’s “premium”!

@GamerScore200K I’m 99% sure all of those things you mentioned were coming from above and Phil had no say in it (or if he did, they didn’t listen). I really think Phil retired because he wasn’t happy with the way management was handling Xbox.

And every big release has been “awful”? Sure, Forza Horizon 5 was so awful that it was topping PlayStation charts even though it was five years old at that point. Indiana Jones was so awful it got quite a few GoTY nominations. Doom: The Dark Ages, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2 and plenty of other games that got 80+ MC scores.

Nice PR speak that all sounds good but hard to not be pessimistic. Fingers crossed.

I think Phil and Sarah just didn’t believe in the company’s direction and I wouldn’t have blamed them. Just have to grab onto something. It’s going to be a bumpy ride.

@Naughtyottsel92 Was just a joke, not console warring. I own a PS5 and am pissed about this. Honestly I would love anyone to rescue the dev. The remake of Demons Souls is one of my favorite games of this gen.

Sad news. Would be kind of funny if MS snatched them up.

@Fiendish-Beaver Death Howl is fantastic and has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam and an 82 on OpenCritic and Metacritic. I’ve played it on PC before the console release and loved it. Far from being “awful”. Maybe give the game a chance before saying that?

Honestly the game I’m looking forward for on the most out of this batch!

Nice deal that I would have overlooked otherwise. Thanks for the heads up!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Not surprised at all (although I think there was one or two ports where PS5 was a bit better).

@Balaam_ Well, it also does sound like the Xbox Series X runs the game better compared to the base PS5 so it’s not as simple as saying there were no specific PS5 Pro enhancements.

XSX/PS5 Pro run the game better than base PS5. Probably marginally so but that’s their assessment.

Cannot wait to play this game. I do hope they have some of that Japanese nighttime club racing aka Need for Speed Unlimited. I could see that as an entire expansion though.

Towerborne going premium is awesome. Great game!

Death Howl is also very good and glad it’s coming on console day one.

@Kezelpaso There was also a shadow drop of Aerial_Knight’s DropShot on GP but not sure that’s worth mentioning from what I’ve read, lol.

@Kezelpaso Not sure if anyone wants to write a story but the Xbox Game Pass X account is likely teasing that Kingdom Come Deliverance II will be dropping on the service (per an email from “Melissa McGamePass 😀).

@Fiendish-Beaver But again, that’s not what Play Anywhere is. If you look at the Microsoft site about PA, it literally does not mention streaming at all. It’s about getting licenses for both Xbox and PC with one purchase.

So maybe there’s some other program that will push streaming but it isn’t Play Anywhere because that’s not what it’s about. As I said earlier, I think they’re doing it so more games will automatically transfer to a hybrid as a PC game and saves carry over. No additional work needed.

@Daffy-Duck No, it does not. It’s literally always meant that you buy a game once and own rights to PC or Xbox (and supported gaming handhelds that are PC based). And can carry your progress with you. Nothing to do with streaming at all.

Read all about it here:

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/games/xbox-play-anywhere

@Fiendish-Beaver Not sure how Play Anywhere factors into making the next Xbox a streaming device. All Play Anywhere means is that you can buy a game once and play it on either PC or Xbox. The reason Xbox is probably pushing it is because their next hardware will likely be more PC oriented. So if gamers have rights to both versions they wouldn’t need to build a way for said Xbox game to play on a “PC”. The consumer would already have PC rights so could download that version and continue where they left off with no BC-style wrapper involved. Don’t get what that has to do with streaming.

I honestly wouldn’t be shocked if the Marvel game got ported to Xbox one day as a multiplayer game like Helldivers 2 was. I don’t think Sony has even confirmed if it’s premium or F2P yet, have they?

Honestly MGS4 finallu getting released outside of PS3 was the highlight of the show (and, FWIW, I do own a PS5).

BlazBlue Entropy Effect X Is excellent. Well worth a try!

Played the demo last night and while it’s an odd premise, the game itself is pretty fun. Will definitely check out the full game (and ignore the haters here).

@Brigurugi It’s currently 75 on OpenCritic with 9 reviews so there you go. MetaCritic score would be 79 with 3 reviews for Xbox. And unfortunately, there aren’t more than three for each platforms that’s why I use OpenCritic.

Anyway, the 5/10 scores here aren’t even on MetaCritic so those reviewers likely aren’t big enough to make their cut. One of those did make it on OpenCritic and that’s really what is pulling their score down. The rest are mainly 7.5-8. Despite the sentiment here, the scores are overall quite positive.

Forgetting the reviews, I managed to get this early and am absolutely loving it. I’d honestly say it’s closer to Twisted Metal and MotorStorm than Carmageddon so that may be a negative for some.

No, you aren’t slaughtering innocent civilians but zombies instead (that add to your score and boost). But the car combat is where it’s at and it’s a blast. I also like personally like having a racing format over destruction derbies. Bosses also can be fun.

Overall, right now I’d give it an 8/10 and really happy with my purchase. I’ve been missing these kind of games.

@Old_Man_Harper Yep, those reviews annoy the crap out of me. Maybe they should limit reviews to people who actually played the game more than 30 minutes or something. These people clearly haven’t even played the game. May not get rid of it completely but might help.

AMD’s CEO seems to believe that the next Xbox is still happening in 2027.

https://x.com/wario64/status/2018824006477193400?s=46

@Sindayl To be fair, you still do run over people. They just happen to be zombies. And the more you run over, the more boost you get.

On another note, OpenCritic now has 6 reviews. Four of them are 8s (well, one is an 8.2). One is a 7.5 and the other is a 5. So the vast majority of them so far are quite good.

Doesn’t seem like a horrible game when 4 out of 6 reviews are 8+. I honestly was expecting 7-ish at most for this kind of game and, as mentioned before, I wouldn’t have cared since the games in the series never reviewed well.

So I’m pleasantly surprised. But we’ll see as more reviews come in.

I’ve seen a few more positive reviews than the ones referenced here. But honestly, none of the Carmageddon games have gotten good reviews and that didn’t stop them from being a blast.

If they were all atrociously negative, maybe a different story. But I’m still planning on giving this a try.

@PipOwO Maybe FF III will be in the second half of February’s drops.

Fantastic line up! Really looking forward to High on Life 2 and, especially, BlazBlue Entropy Effect X. It’s nice to see Entropy Effect launch on consoles with this new version. Original on PC has very positive reviews and is a blast. Great day one add!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner As Fraser said, there’s 5 Day One games just in this group. And this is just the first half of February so we may get even more the second half so this is a good pace. As mentioned above, I strongly recommend Entropy Effect from that group of day one adds!

@FraserG You’re probably asleep at this time but Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii shadow dropped on GamePass.

GamePass socials are also teasing Avatar coming soon.

MIO by a country mile. Fantastic day one metroidvania!

I’d give at least an 8 as well. Really enjoyed my time with it and don’t understand the hate. Well, maybe not Redfall hate but a lot of people thought it was average. I think it may have to do with Obsidian not necessarily breaking new ground. But do they need to? They’re great at what they do and this is another game to add to that track record IMHO.

Ah, tried Drop Duchy on PC a bit and was waiting for the console version so happy it’s here. Fun game!

@bert0503 I was actually thinking that the gameplay reminded me more of Twisted Metal than Carmageddon, which is a good thing.

Might have to pick this up if reviews are decent!

I played some of the first game (think on GamePass?). I liked it but it didn’t hook me and I fell off of it to play other games fairly quickly.

Both are in the “if I ever get through my backlog” I might play them. Admittedly, that may never happen. 😀

Would love a WoW console port!

I have to keep my eye out for a sale on this one. Sounds good!

Sure a lot will be looking for Space Marine but I’m excited for Drop Duchy. Have played the demo of it on PC and it’s a blast. Glad it’s coming to Xbox on Day One!

I love how it sounds like it will be a fully explorable world. Being able to go into every building, how the NPCs can be followed for entire days with their routines, hiring them for work, etc. Sounds like a truly lived in world and that’s something I’m not sure that’s been fully achieved in any game to this point. Sounds brilliant.

I’ve always wanted all of the FH expansions so I knew I’d be buying it. The increase sucks but went ahead and preordered the upgrade with promo mentoring earlier in the US.

@darylb24 That’s a bummer, especially considering the price increase is even more notable in the UK.

@Kezelpaso Don’t know if the offer is in all countries, but in the US, Microsoft has an “limited time” offer where if you preorder the Premium edition or upgrade, you get a $5 gift card and $5 in car vouchers. So that takes a little bit of the sting off in terms of the increase.

@anxiouz These shows are always meant to be deeper dives on three or four games. They are not just to show a stream of trailers. Personally love the format that gives us a chance to see more and hear directly from the devs.

If you expect a bunch of trailers, don’t watch the Developer’s Direct.

Looks absolutely fantastic. Love the new races types. Mountain races remind me of the “Canyon Duel” races in one of the older Need for Speed games and I loved them.

Looked fun but they spent way too much time in it IMO. Also thought it might be a shadow drop. Oh well..

Loved FH 6 and Fable. Happy to hear that Beasts of Incarnation is going to be on GamePass. Kiln could be fun but they spent way too much time in it. And that’s the only reason I dropped it to a B. Otherwise fantastic stuff!

@FraserG Was just thinking that maybe we’ll get a Day One shadow drop during the Developer’s Direct on Thursday. Fingers crossed. 😀

@FraserG Overall the games for January were pretty good but wasn’t their just one “Day One” game (maybe two if there was a PC-only game)?

I’m curious how they’re going to get to 75+ day one games a year if this is the pace we get. Maybe it’s partly that January is a relatively slow month for new games.

Great list to round out the month!!! Been wanting Talos Principal 2 but glad I held off on buying it!

Second batch:

https://x.com/xboxgamepass/status/2013612633748869229?s=46