Comments 2,327

Re: Last Chance! What Are Your Final Hopes For The Xbox Games Showcase 2025?

somnambulance

Silksong. That’s what I want. Witchbrook too. I’d love to see Halo announced for Switch 2.

To be honest though, I’m hoping I like the Xbox showcase as much as the State of Play and considerably more than Summer Games Fest and the Future Games Show, as those two shows were awful. I just want the showcase to give me some ease because, even if I liked the State of Play, the last two days of showcases have been sour to me and killed the momentum started to indicate gaming is going in a better direction. Xbox had the best showcase last summer and I’d like them to do it again. If they don’t do that, I just want it to be a pleasant mix of games for many tastes. I’m just hoping there’s more than 2 games that are interesting from it. I’d like it if 2026 was more than Capcom and Grand Theft Auto for me. Lol.

Re: These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (June 9-13)

somnambulance

@TapeLoader That genuinely could be the PR they’re going for with the game, which is cool. Personally, I don’t really like the look of the game from what I’ve seen in trailers, but, if there’s this huge, manufactured conspiracy built around the game, I respect and appreciate the effort they’ve put into crafting a compelling framework into the advertisement of the game.

Re: Surprise! Black Myth: Wukong Finally Has A Release Date For Xbox

somnambulance

@Kaloudz Wo Long was on GP previously, not sure if Wuchang is a GP title. Wukong is the only one among them I had interest in though. I’m not so into Souls style gameplay, which I’d say I think the other two are. Wukong’s visuals and gameplay were what had me interested prior to launch. I’d say Wukong was slightly disappointing as an overall game though. I’d rate the game a 6 or 7/10. It’s hard to call it a 6/10 with the visuals it has or the fluid gameplay it has, but I didn’t exactly like the game.

Re: Surprise! Black Myth: Wukong Finally Has A Release Date For Xbox

somnambulance

@Kaloudz I played the game on PS5 and I would say I’ve got a different experience than @Fanat1c. I actually felt the game was harder than Elden Ring in most parts of it, though part of the problem is that it never felt like the button inputs felt entirely accurate, so the rhythm for the game felt more random than consistent to me. This may be a PS5 at launch thing though. It may also be due to the fact that there was no multiplayer to aid on this one. The game definitely has that trial and error feeling to it like Souls games, but the combat doesn’t feel Souls, if that makes sense.

Re: Our Predictions For The 2025 Xbox Games Showcase

somnambulance

Man, I hope we see Spyro in 2025. Let’s see Xbox have an Astro Bot moment by tossing a lovable mascot a platforming game with little time before release. I want to see Halo and Double Fine pretty badly too.

Also, surely Everwild has to have something at this point, right? And let’s get a release date for Fable?

This is that big moment where I decide if I’m subbing for Gamepass the rest of the year or not! Lol

Re: Xbox Game Pass: All Games Coming Soon In June 2025

somnambulance

I will try FBC. I love Remedy… but I don’t know how much a co-op shooter is for me in 2025. I sort of like the fps genre less and less as I get older and I’m not quite sure if that’s me changing or the games… as I still love the old ones.

The Alters looks like it may have potential too, but I dunno. It sort of gives me Fort Solis vibes too where it may be all atmosphere and land flat with my taste.

It sort of looks to me like Xbox is saving some announcements for their showcase next week though if that’s it. This year has been firing on all cylinders for Gamepass and, even if this looks like a standard month circa 2020-2024 right now, given how well this year has been, I’m sort of expecting something to land and shake up the current line-up.

Re: Pick One: What Was Your Favourite Xbox Game Pass Game In May 2025?

somnambulance

To a T no contest. About halfway through it and I’d say it’s probably my frontrunner for GotY on Xbox, just narrowly edging out Blue Prince.

With that one, Doom, and (although not Gamepass), Nightreign, I’ve finally got a top 10 list for the year. 7 out of 10 of the titles are Gamepass as well, so really strong year for the service so far.

Re: Xbox Has Reportedly 'Sidelined' Plans For A 2027 First-Party Handheld

somnambulance

That’s a smart strategy. I feel like Xbox is going to keep investing into “This is an Xbox,” which translates to having to do less work as a hardware manufacturer while making more profit engineering software en masse. I know the Xbox fans don’t like it, but it makes more money and makes more sense longterm. If Xbox is the first to be integrated into TVs via a cloud platform and the cost of entry isn’t a box but a subscription, Xbox will have found a new way to capitalize on the gaming market that it doesn’t seem Sony or Nintendo are thinking of. Remember that Xbox sees Amazon and Netflix as more authentic competitors to their vision.

Re: Former Game Pass Title Atomic Heart Has Been So Successful It's Spawned A New Publisher

somnambulance

@Valhura I had screen tearing, frame rate issues, audio cutting out, enemies falling off screen, stuttering animations, times where the joysticks didn’t work on my controller, times when the button inputs would lag or outright wouldn’t work, and gave up on the game officially when the game crashed on me when I finally got to the open world portion. I almost preordered the game due to how much I liked the art work. Man, was I glad I played it on Gamepass instead! I’ve never played a game with so many technical issues at launch. It was jarring.

I’ve got a high tolerance for jank too. Pokémon ScarVi is one of my favorite Pokemon games. I laughed at the jank of Cyberpunk because it was comical (when Jackie’s gun got stuck in his forehead during my playthrough! It was the highlight of the game!). Just for reference, I can deal with jank if it’s not game breaking. Atomic Heart played outright broken on my Series S.

I didn’t like Redfall either, but I wouldn’t say it was particularly buggy for me, just boring and empty and seemed way lower budget than anyone would’ve expected.

Re: Roundup: Here's What The Reviews Are Saying About Elden Ring Nightreign

somnambulance

@ZuneTattooGuy Eh, everyone has different tastes. You could say that about any game. For me, Clair Obscur and KCD2 are both probably a 7/10 for various reasons, but for others they’re clearly GotY tier, but on the same token To a T is shaping up to be an 8 or 9/10 for me (and I fully expect some here may find me crazy for that because I know that’s an uncommon pov). From what I’ve played of Nightreign, it’s in a similar category to CO or KCD2 for scoring, but I’ve heard people talk about what they love about it and I believe they feel that way. Different strokes for different folks, you know? I’m sure some MAY be paid off, but I think there’s people that love what was made. It’s certainly unique, so I’ll give From that, even if I see some flaws for my enjoyment of it.

Re: Talking Point: Are You Interested In This Week's New FromSoftware Release?

somnambulance

The beta was fine, but I sort of feel like I’ve hit Elden Ring saturation. At least Nightreign mixes up the genre and gameplay focus of the game rather than what Erdtree did, which was basically “hey, we heard you wanted to grind your already leveled up character again, huh?” The lack of crossplay though also means my Elden Ring squad would need to commit to the game and platform, which I don’t know if that’ll happen either. I have a feeling I’ll only get this one if it reviews in an insane degree and it excites my friend group.

Re: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's New Sales Milestone Has Some Crazy Coincidences

somnambulance

@Sindayl I agree with you completely.

While I’m also happy to see the game is having massive success, I’m also torn because I didn’t like it nearly as much as everyone else does and there’s a constant, looping hype cycle for the game, so I also can’t help but feel it’s completely overrated. My whole time playing it, I just felt like the plot was obvious, and the characters were sort of thin. It was just the most “this is just good, but not great” game I’ve played in a long while.

I hope there’s a new GotY contender soon because I’m ready for the hype cycle to jump to its next target, as it jumped from KCD2 once Clair Obscur released.

Re: These 20+ Games Are Coming To Xbox Next Week (May 26-30)

somnambulance

To A T has the potential to briefly hold the top spot on my GotY list this year…

…until June at least…

This year’s been a bit muted for me so far in gaming, but I’m pretty happy about the upcoming schedule and To A T feels like the ultimate appetizer to me before a main course of Nintendo exclusives and Death Stranding 2.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 24-25)

somnambulance

I’m going to be playing the game of clearing out my basement this weekend, so my sister can move in.

On the gaming front, I’m sort of… not playing anything seriously. If I play anything, it’ll be a party game or Red Dead Redemption 2. RDR2 is just so fun to go back to. I had a patch of time where every game I played felt like “Meh, this is ok and overrated,” and RDR2 reminds me that games can be exceptional.

I was going to try the Splitgate 2 beta, but the servers haven’t been working for me, so glad they got all that money just to have the game’s servers be exactly like the first game.

I mostly feel like I’m waiting for Switch 2 and Death Stranding though. I’ll be playing To A T next week.

Re: Report: BioShock Announcement Set For This Summer As 2K Prepares Franchise Return

somnambulance

@Ricky-Spanish Lol. I’m burned out of nostalgia. I’ve beaten Bioshock 4 times already.

I’m 100% sure that, as much as I love the game, I’d have the same feeling I’d have playing Oblivion Remastered:

“Wow. This is cool.” 4 hours later. “Alright. Been there done that, I think I’m good on this. Let’s play something else.”

If I didn’t play so many games in my 36 years of life, I’d probably be ok with the remaster culture, but I played a lot, so that whole thing is boring to me.

Re: Review: Xbox Retro Classics - A Great Addition To Game Pass, With Just One Caveat

somnambulance

This is such a neat curio and I’m really glad it exists, even if some of the games are dumpy to play on a controller. It sure is nice to revisit Pitfall for me in particular. I don’t mind the format of the games, as it’s better for them to be on modern consoles rather than not playable at all. With older games such as many of these, they’ve been collecting dust for ages and I’m glad younger gamers can finally experience them. My son and I got a good hour of fun trying them out last night.

Re: Lies Of P's New Difficulty Update Is Causing A Stir On Social Media

somnambulance

I understand that overcoming adversity is part of the point of Soulslikes, but having fun is the point of games. As Soulslikes have saturated the industry and grown increasingly divisive among gamers as a genre, I’m certain the developer is hoping to widen the interest with players that are disinterested in Soulslikes.

I suspect they’ve discovered that there is a large group that would be interested in the game, but will never purchase due to the difficulty. They’ve hit the ceiling of Souls fans, so to speak.

Of course the Souls fans are mad about this as they were with Elden Ring and how people chose to play it, but they need to understand that their preference in suffering is not shared by all. At least there are more than enough games these days that offer it, however.

Re: Talking Point: Do You Have High Expectations For The Xbox Games Showcase 2025?

somnambulance

I’ll be honest: I’m not sure how much I’m expecting. Gears of War isn’t for me, nor is Blade, and I’m just not sure how many upcoming games in the first party docket are for me. I’m sort of expecting one that doesn’t hit as hard for me, though I expect an entertaining show nonetheless.

Fable is basically the only confirmed heavy hitter that speaks to me, though Perfect Dark and Everwild, I’m trying my best to be optimistic about them. Would be nice to see something concrete about State of Decay and Halo. Last year’s was maybe my favorite showcase across any platform last year.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? (May 17-18)

somnambulance

Y’know, I was going to play Doom: The Dark Ages, and I still might. Given the reviews, I can almost predict exactly how I’ll feel about it, which feels nice to know, given I’ve largely gambled with games I’ve picked up this year and lost the dice roll, but then… I downloaded Red Dead Redemption 2 again because my son drew a western themed comic on his napkin while we were taking my wife out for Mother’s Day, and I booted it up and started a new save and it’s just so good. There hasn’t been a single XSX/PS5 era game that’s THIS good (though Death Stranding 2 is right around the corner and that’s got the potential). Man, is it good. I’ve beaten it, played it to death, but man, I can’t get over it. I suspect I may be playing it til I’m sitting outside a store on June 4th trying to acquire a Switch 2 the old fashioned way.

Re: Talking Point: Do You Feel You've Had Value For Money With Your Xbox Series X|S?

somnambulance

@16BitHero Thanks, my friend! Appreciate the shout out! I try to maintain a positive mindset. My comments are typically a bit more negative on Pushsquare lately though, so don’t look! 😅

Happy to be worth reading though! Your message guarantees that I will be zeroing in more on your comments in the future now as well. The community across the Hookshot sites is truly great. Happy to be a part of it!

Re: Mortal Kombat 1 Fans Disappointed As Definitive Edition Launches On Xbox

somnambulance

I feel like no one remembers the days back when Street Fighter and most other fighting games would basically re-release on a yearly basis for full price for the sake of adding four characters and minimal gameplay tweaks.

I will say though that MK1 had an egregious monetization system though and, even if the gameplay (outside the Kameo system, which felt totally unnecessary) and visuals were an improvement on MK11, it was the weakest total package of an MK game since MK vs DC. The made mistakes with the launch of MK11 and corrected them right away then doubled down on them with MK1 and ignored fan response. What do they expect? Respect your customers and they’ll respect your business. Plain and simple.

Re: Here's A Look At The Updated Xbox Game Studios Roadmap From May 2025

somnambulance

@RegnumSolipsi See, the Ninja Gaiden game I’m interested in is Ragebound. Have never really enjoyed 3D Ninja Gaiden as much as I enjoy the 2D series. Hope that one comes to Gamepass too. Outer Worlds… I dunno. I liked the first one at launch, but it’s not exactly a game where I felt I needed a sequel from it. Avowed didn’t really click with me either, so I’m feeling sort of meh about it. As of right now, I feel like I’m putting 90% of my gaming eggs in the Nintendo Switch 2 basket after May. Hope I can find one!

Death Stranding 2, MGS Delta, and Ghost of Yotei (and potentially Silksong) are otherwise the only games I’m for sure playing if I can’t find a Switch 2 at the moment

Re: GTA 6 Gets A New Release Date As Rockstar Delays To May 2026

somnambulance

@Kaloudz My son is 8, so he’s totally in that age group I was when I started playing games that I’m sort of surprised my parents approved looking back… Doom, Mortal Kombat, etc. He largely sticks to platformers and Minecraft (though he does like Sea of Thieves too, since that’s been a topic in our discussion), and I know he doesn’t want to play Doom, but I know he wants to watch.

MS has SoT dedicated for at least another 3-4 years from what I’ve seen and it’ll probably keep going past that. I don’t actually know anyone that plays the game a lot, but it seems like a lot of people play it for a little bit and then go back to it every couple months. It’s doing something right, I guess. Personally, I couldn’t get into it, but live service and survival style games just don’t really mesh with my tastes anymore… though if games like it existed back in the 360 era, I’d have certainly loved it. Rare must be doing something right, as the studio head got promoted to the MS org chart last year.

Pragmata is a multi-platform title that was announced in the original PS5 showcase years ago. It was scheduled for release in 2022 and then pushed back in 2021 to 2023 and now there’s no information about it at all. Capcom was making the game with the RE Engine and it looked pretty big budget and unique. I get surprised every time Capcom announces some other huge game and then doesn’t even shoot an update on this one. I have it wishlisted, so I don’t think it’s cancelled? Who knows?