nofriendo

@UltimateOtaku91 I wonder if the reason why Game Pass is able to acquire bigger titles at greater frequency is precisely the impermanent model: folks get to play the game for a while, and when it leaves the service, may be compelled to purchase it at a discount. Whereas with PS Plus, developers and publishers have to be OK with folks permanently owning a game they haven't directly paid for.

I have a Series X and a PS5, and while great graphics are a big part of immersive gaming for me, I think we're getting diminishing returns on console "generations". TLOU2 looks better than anything that's come out so far for this generation, and that's due to art direction, not processing power. (Don't get me wrong. I would much rather play it on my PS5 at 60FPS.) The fact that Sony is still manufacturing PS4s speaks more to the fact that their systems are still in way more demand than Microsoft's, and Sony would be foolish not to meet that demand in whatever way they can. I don't know how you can look at games like Horizon Forbidden West and claim Sony is compromising the current gen to make sure exclusives are playable on previous-gen hardware. When I look at videogames now I'm in complete awe of what they achieve visually.

@NEStalgia Thanks for that detailed response. I'm going to give 3 a shot anyway, even though it seems as though I'll slide right out of it after a couple hours. I just completed TLOU2, and while it doesn't look like the Hitman series is anywhere near as tense, I think I'm done with stealth for a while.

I would like to play these games, but lately I've been allergic to complex mechanics and systems, preferring more arcade-y moment-to-moment action to strategy and depth. So perhaps the Hitmen aren't for me at the moment. But does anybody know if it's possible to enjoy them on this level at all? Will I bounce off them immediately if I don't want to hunker down and get serious? My plan was to start with 3 because fine visuals will often do a lot of the heavy lifting in investing me in a game.

Perhaps they'll pursue some larger Game Pass acquisitions to compensate. Just trying to find the bright side here!

@Beagle Hear, hear! Death's Door, The Ascent, Unsighted, Artful Escape... all these award-winning indie games at my fingertips. I only hope it remains lucrative for the studios involved, because on the flip side, I generally have fewer qualms about purchasing well-reviewed indie titles at full price.

Outer Wilds and ME:LE are huge for me. Never played either. Goodbye free time! And though it wasn't previously on my radar, the reviews for Spelunky 2 have earned it a download. What a feast!

Gorogoa is brilliant and the other two have been on my radar for some time. Looking forward to jumping in!

@Nightcrawler71 Kaze is a phenomenal platformer that'll take you right back to the days of Jazz Jackrabbit and the like. Perfect art style, music and, most importantly, gameplay. I bought it full price and it's been worth every penny. It gets SUPER tough on the casual gamer but there are difficulty tweaks you can employ to keep you from quitting the thing altogether. Hope you enjoy!

@koffing I too am finding Unpacking delightful. Played a bit with my wife and we both made decisions on where to put items. The aesthetic is perfect, the music relaxing, the colors soothing, the gameplay simple and tight. A well-executed little gem, that one. I will also recommend A Short Hike and The Touryst if you haven't given those a go yet. Both games offer relaxed, unhurried exploration and light puzzle-solving, and both feature air-tight visuals and gameplay.

I do tend to like games like this one, but I bounced off it pretty hard. The gameplay, dialogue and overall production were just a little too rough for my taste. Broke any of the relaxing immersion the game promised.

@Hutchieace I've only ever played Skyrim on the Switch. While I'm loathe to give up motion controls for my archery, I'd love to experience recent graphical upgrades to enhance the immersion. Worth it, you think?

@Odium Happy birthday! Cheers and enjoy!

Just started the original Judgment and having loads of fun with it. 10 minutes in I switched over to Japanese audio with subtitles. The dubbing was fine but the voice acting, man... it's campy, I get it, but just so, SO much better in the original Japanese. It really solidifies the atmosphere.

@Krzzystuff Of course it's all fair game whatever these companies decide, or not fair, depending on your view. I guess I'm just curious what the actual numbers behind these decisions are. Seems wild to exclude a console as widely adopted as the Playstation if you're purely looking at the bottom line. I think the Bethesda exclusivity experiment will be decided when Starfield comes out. My guess is that the game will eventually be released on Playstation. My guess and my hope

@Krzzystuff Would a timed exclusive accomplish the same thing with a game of this profile? I would wait a year if I knew it was guaranteed to arrive. And I would never pay $300 for a console just to play one game.

Or you could sell 20 million more copies on Playstation.

Tried the demo and found it bland and repetitive, with poor writing and dull combat. Booted up Astral Chain immediately afterward to remind myself just how good a game like that can (and should) be. But hey, it'll be "free"!

Loved the Mandalorian and watched the seasons as they released. Commented then on how the show incorporates video game tropes and seems ready-made for an adaptation in that direction. (Completes mission, earns credits, upgrades armor.) So yeah, I see a lot of potential here. Mando is a much more compelling character than Cal Kestis (sorry bud... love ya!). I can't wait to collect all the ponchos for Grogu. Another excellent Star Wars game will make Jedi Fallen Order less of a fluke. Let's get a streak going!

Dandara is one of my favorite indie games. The unique movement mechanic coupled with the finely crafted atmosphere makes for a haunting, immersive affair. And the boss fights bring about some awesome white-knuckle heroics. I do recommend you give it a try.

@FraserG Thanks for the tip! Do we know why a game that is available for purchase on console would get the Game Pass treatment only for PC?

Flippin' heck Ghost of a Tale looks good! Would love to see it on console...

Scorn looks extremely gnarly. I don't want to spend too much time in that world but I definitely want to experience it!

Congratulations on a successful re-launch. I poke my head in here daily. I especially appreciate the Game Pass news and sale round-ups. I would love to see more game reviews in 2021! And a big thank you to the community as well for keeping things relatively sane and civil. Happy holidays to all, and happy gaming!

Glad to see Yooka-Laylee available. These games don't necessarily wow but they're well-crafted and charming for when I crave a lighter mood.

And can anybody recommend Greedfall? I've heard it's more interesting than it looks.

Tetris Effect for me, thank you!

I was skeptical of this game at first as the previews made it seem generic. But it turned out to be one of my favorite games of the year. It's a gorgeous, detail-rich, narratively-rich game. I hope collecting different colored ponchos becomes the industry standard for replayability!

I've had Eastshade on my wishlist for months and months now, and nary a sale has popped up. Quite excited to play this one! And of course, Celeste is easily one of my top 5 games of all time. Can't recommend that one highly enough. Enjoy!

Eastshade has been on my list for ages. Can't wait to give it a try!

I’ve been delighted by how well-made and entertaining this game is. Highly recommend.

Personally can't resist the "clean up malevolent corruption so natural life can bloom again" mechanic. As long as levels aren't procedurally generated, I'm in.

9 Monkeys of Shaolin and Kaze are fantastic.

Oh my goodness, I am going to have a frankly offensive and disrespectful amount of fun.

It is rare that I step into a video game website comments section and find myself completely at home, but I’m very pleased to see the anti-Facebook sentiment here. Gives a curmudgeon hope....

Looks to borrow heavily from one of my favorite games in recent memory, Astral Chain. I’ll play it if it’s fun, but I don’t know anybody who can beat Platinum at their own game! (Ha.)

Thank you so much for doing this! All that grinding deserves a level up!

Has anybody played Mirror’s Edge Catalyst? Looks like a blast but I’m worried the first-person perspective makes gameplay awkward. That price tho..........

Could be fun, could be a clunky mess like Golazo. I hope it’s the former because I’m a big fan of games like this!

@FraserG In fact I did not! I know this wasn’t a Game Pass promotion, but subscribing to Game Pass has resulted in a gaming attention span invisible to the naked eye, so on the first instance of being prompted for the disc, I uninstalled it as quickly as though I were drawing my six-shooter in RDR2. File didn’t know what hit it.

Downloaded, tried to play, but was barred from doing so by a prompt asking if I owned the disc, so I uninstalled. Was looking forward to trying as I’ve long been curious what the Lego games are like but haven’t yet played one.

Control would be the big get, wouldn’t it? I still hold out hope for something like Sekiro, though I know From doesn’t ever come To. I’d be delighted by an Indie surprise too. Had my sights on games like Eastshade for a while now.

Who else finds Sony’s silence during this time eerie? Either they’ve got a literal game-changer on their hands or a disaster that hasn’t been publicly exposed yet.

Kinds feels like Xbox is competing against nobody.

Red Dead 2 is so much more compelling than I expected going in, so it’s got its hooks in me real good. I doubt I’ll lasso enough time to play anything else this weekend. What a stunner!

This is the only game shown yesterday that actually got my heart rate up but then I’m a sucker for space exploration/combat games that look RULL GUD. But... but... is anybody else growing weary of the transdimensional alien glitchscape ala Astral Chain and Control? It was cool the first time I experienced it and seems kinda copout-y and characterless now. Still!

And separate from its dazzling visuals and style, fans of the genre may finally have a chance to experience a decent story in it. (I’m looking at you, Starlink).

Odyssey is a gorgeous game that quickly reveals its lack of depth and originality gameplay-wise. It is also an open world that is frustratingly gated by enemies that look no different from the ones you just defeated but are impossible to defeat until you level up. The first two hours were awesome, then it quickly became a game I need to smoke before playing, and by playing I mean peacefully traversing its gorgeous landscapes while running away from boring fights.

Dragon Age: Inquisition has me hooked! Dead Cells for shorter sessions. And on over to my Switch for Tetris 99 and Skyrim. Happy weekend everybody!

SO MANY TIMES I almost pulled the trigger on this when it was on sale. Got burnt recently when I bought Nier full price (worth it, though). Now, finally, self-restraint has won the day!

I want my games to look cool and run smoothly. But even more than that I want them to be great games. I’ve really enjoyed my One S (bought holiday season last year), but nothing I’ve played on Game Pass (which is fantastic, and has brought my overall spending on video games way down) has come close to Mario Odyssey or Breath of the Wild in terms of sustained engagement and investment for me personally, as a gamer. I realize it’ll be hardware hype season till the consoles actually launch, but I want to hear more about the games we’ll be playing. Isn’t that why we’re all here?

Breath of the Mild

Reminds me of Hob, TBH. In a good way. I hope there’s depth here to match the charm!