everynowandben

If you haven't played these yet, you were never going to play them anyway, and you didn't miss out on anything. There's only so much time, and you already made your choices. You could buy the game, but let's be real, you'll just play something else, again, and it will end up being a waste of your money. Be happy with what you did play, not upset about what you didn't.

Pokémon Legends Arceus solo.

Aliens Fireteam Elite with the boys. Almost done with it!

@gollumb82 All I meant is that people hype the game up to be this unbelievable mindf**** when in reality the game just does a couple interesting/atypical things with its narrative.

@Medic_Alert I played it a couple months ago, and while it has some interesting aspects to it, don't get your hopes up. It's not THAT interesting or unique in my opinion. I went in expecting to have my mind blown and was pretty disappointed. Just keep your expectations in check is all I'm saying.

Fighting the urge to buy more games when I already have so many....

I've never played CoD before. I might give one a shot once they hit Game Pass, but honestly probably not since there are so, so many other games I'd rather play instead.

Timesplitters

Tony Hawk is literally the only one of these I've ever played.

Death's Door. I'm about 1/3 of the way through and it's pretty good so far. It's not exactly god's gift to gaming like some people were making it out to be, but it's pretty good.

Cyber Shadow is great if you're into that kind of thing.

Still have to play 2 before this comes out. The original and reboot are both stupid fun. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes Duke Nukem, Shadows of the Damned, and raunchy d*** jokes in general.

I will also echo that I'm finding Mass Effect to be extremely slow paced and boring. Story and world building seems vaguely interesting, but not enough to push me through. I was talking to a coworker about it, and coincidentally ME is his favorite game series, and he said I should definitely keep going or even skip the first game entirely and watch the recap that plays at the beginning of the second game, assuring me that it's worth it. I'm not sure. I put it down for now to focus on the other game I'm playing, which is Metro: Exodus. This game is really good. I'm not sure the open world elements do it any favors though. I prefer the more linear style of the first two games, but that's probably just me. Loving every minute of this one. Also played some Aliens: Fireteam Elite with the guys last night. Fun stuff!

Played for about 45 minutes. Boring. Poor performance. Couldn't relate to the characters. Not for me.

Never got into this one. My friends and I played for about an hour and just kinda never went back. I also don't think it looks THAT good, but to each their own. This one just wasn't for me.

My daughter is 2 and the only game she's been drawn in by so far is Banjo-Kazooie. She absolutely loves the opening sequence, so basically we just watch that over and over

Almost finished with Portal Stories: Mel. I was really having a tough time with one of the levels last night, but I refuse to look up the solution. I beat Portal 1, 2, and Reloaded on my own, and this will be no different.

I started Mass Effect when the Legendary Edition dropped onto Game Pass and it seemed like something I would enjoy, but I may put off continuing it until I beat Metro: Exodus first so I can give both of these games the full attention they seem to deserve.

Even if this was part of Game Pass, I doubt I would play any of their games tbh. Sadly none of them seem to do it for me. I feel like Ubisoft games are shiny and pretty, but always end up feeling hollow after a couple hours. Maybe it's me, but I haven't really enjoyed my time with their efforts.

Edit: Actually, I did enjoy Mario + Rabbids.

I'd say yes in the far future when its as easy as putting on glasses. VR will be a niche market for at least another decade.

Hopefully their next addition will be this game to Game Pass

Ghost of a Tale is phenomenal, however, be careful if you play that - the Xbox app erased about 5 hours worth of my progress (looks like its saving, multiple save slots, but upon booting up the game the next day, the only save slots that existed were from days earlier, saves I actually saved over even). I bought it and finished it on GOG instead.

Thief. I know the universal consensus is that this game is trash, and yeah, its not even close to as good as the previous 3 games in the series (or Dishonored for that matter), but it's not that bad.

Also playing Portal Stories: Mel which I picked back up after putting it down for about a year. Over halfway through now and starting to run into some real brainbusters. Pretty sure I "cheated" on one of the puzzles, but hey, my strategy worked so I'm calling it fair game even though I'm 99% sure I didn't solve the puzzle "correctly."

I started Metro: Exodus as well, but I think I'm going to hold off until I beat one of these other games before I get too deep into this one.

I take my initial comment back, I bought Deus Ex: Mankind Divided in the recent sale, but it was a gift for a friend (I already own it). Pretty sure he's going to love it!

Haven't bought anything on Xbox in a while. Game Pass is more than enough.

There's definitely room for both of these games. They're both great, and their individual mechanics are very much unique enough for each to stand on their own.

Work has been very busy this last week, so pretty much playing the same games as last weekend for me: Half-Life: Alyx and Darkwatch. I might start up Return to Castle Wolfenstein if I finish one of the other two.

30/122 games and DLCs that I beat this year, plus 9 more I didn't finish. Game Pass is amazing.

@BlueOcean https://www.purexbox.com/guides/all-games-with-fps-boosts-on-xbox-series-x-and-xbox-series-s

@BlueOcean @Kidfunkadelic83 @NEStalgia It did get FPS Boost though. 60fps on Series consoles.

If you haven't already, please pick up and show support for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided. Guardians was great, but Deus Ex doesn't deserve to die for it.

Thief Simulator would be cool

Depends on the person of course, but if I had to choose just one regardless: Forza Horizon 5

@themightyant That sucks about the lost progress! Were you playing on PC or console?

Last night I played some Aliens Fireteam Elite for a short while and had a bit of fun with the guys.

I also started The Gunk last night. It's alright. Easy, looks nice enough, fun to explore.

I'm kindof trying to savor Half-Life Alyx, so I'm not playing more than a chapter per day or two. It is extremely good. I'm past the halfway point now and I just don't want it to end. The level of immersion of unparalleled, and as you would expect from this franchise, the game itself is very well paced and impeccably designed. The barrier of entry is high to say the least, but it's definitely worth it. Easily makes it onto my "one of the best games ever" list.

Also playing Darkwatch on PS2. It's okay. Heard it was a hidden gem, but I'd say it doesn't really hold up. It's not awful, and has a decent aesthetic, but it's probably not worth the time it takes to play it considering how many games there are that are better.

I got this on PS3 through PS Plus in something like 2014 and finally played it just last week. Quick thoughts/opinion: Presentation is wonderful. Performance is terrible. Gameplay is less than mediocre.

Quick, let's all shout down the echo chamber!

Lol seriously though, some of y'all are blowing this way out of proportion. This is possibly the most pessimistic, cynical, and overly dramatic comment section I've ever seen on this site. The game isn't out for another 6 months. Let's wait until we get more details before we all jump on the doom and gloom bandwagon. The devs are allowed to appeal to an audience that extends beyond our personal tastes. NFTs in STALKER 2 is a red flag, sure, but if it doesn't end up effecting our enjoyment of the game, then it simply isn't going to matter. I'm not going to let this information ruin a game I'm looking forward to before fully understanding the details.

I might use this to whittle away at Bug Fables before bed. Alternatively I might just give up on BF entirely instead.

I'll play The Gunk for sure, and possibly Firewatch as well.

Finished Guardians of the Galaxy last night, and it was truly great. I wish Deus Ex didn't have to die for it, but it was really fun, and I highly recommend it.

Started up Half-Life Alyx late last night and played for about an hour. Can't wait to dive back in. So far, it's pretty dang amazing.

Wow, October? Dang. Plenty to play in the meantime but yeah, that's not very soon.

Halo Infinite last night with the guys. They like quick play, but I have the most fun playing the big battles.

On my own, I'm halfway through Guardians of the Galaxy and I must say it is very good, and I'm enjoying it very much.

@JRJalapeno Occasionally games will return as well. It's not often, but it does happen every once in a while.

I bought 5 games from holiday sales, but this weekend probably just getting through more of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond with a little Wolfenstein 3D (ECWolf mod) to break up the monotony. Maybe some Back 4 Blood or Halo Infinite tonight if my friends are available.

Unfortunately nothing on Xbox. However, I did buy Wolfenstein 3D, Spear of Destiny, and Return to Castle Wolfenstein on Steam for $3 total. I also bought Half-Life: Alyx. I spent all my Microsoft money on a customized controller a couple weeks ago.

@NEStalgia Sortof. I was having a hard time with the mouse and key setup (even though I'm in my late 30s, I'm new to PC gaming) and couldn't figure out a good controller mapping solution, so while I did play through a bit of the Revision mod on PC, I ended up playing through the PS2 version. That version has it's own pros and cons, but for me, playing it with a controller and simplified menus/UI was worth the tradeoff of a lower resolution and framerate.

@NEStalgia I have to disagree. I played the original for the first time in 2021 and thought it was amazing. It's dated in many ways, sure, but it's still quite easy to appreciate it for what it is. Anyone into imm sims should definitely play through the original Deus Ex.

@BlueOcean Unfortunately Invisible War isn't backwards compatible. I'd recommend playing that on PC if possible anyway for widscreen support and higher frame count. I'd also recommend playing the original before IW as it's a sequel and would make less sense story-wise without the context of playing the first one beforehand. I liked MD a lot for what it's worth. I know some people have issues with MD's narrative structure, but the gameplay is incredible.

@BlueOcean @NEStalgia Not sure you guys care about the full range of the Deus Ex franchise, but just in case you or someone else reading this does:

The original was ported to PS2 as:
Deus Ex: The Conspiracy.

Then there's also:
Deus Ex: The Fall for PC/Android/iOS
Deus Ex Go for Android/iOS.

Also there's the "not technically a Deus Ex game":
Project Snowblind for Xbox/PC.

Edit: I suppose technically Deus Ex: Breach for PC would count as a separate entry since it was released as a FTP standalone, even though it was originally just a separate mode in MD.

Deus Ex: Invisible War with the "visibility upgrade" on PC. Just got to Trier. Sure it's not as good as any of the other games in the franchise, but I'm still having a great time with it.

This is great! Will definitely sign up.

@PhileasFragg It's not that great imo - 6/10 at best. There are loads of better games on Game Pass that are much more deserving of your time. Unless you're a diehard for the genre, I'd say skip it. You're not missing anything special.