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Xbox Microsoft Xbox Discussion |ST|

Follow-up post: How much of a must-play is Mass Effect? I feel like it's one of those games everyone should have played just because of its rep but I'm strapped for time. Do I try and squeeze it into my schedule?
I feel like across the three games, you will need to make a not insignificant time investment to really get the most out of Mass Effect, as its strength is really in the characters and their own stories and arcs. Keep your expectations super low for the ME3 ending though.

Fwiw I loved the series up until that ending, which soured me on it for a long time.
 
My next Xbox game will be Psychonauts 2 on Game Pass. I might start it this week, perhaps at the weekend. After that, it'll be Lost Odyssey, which I've always meant to play but somehow never found the time for. Was reduced to £4.99 recently so it was an absolute steal. While it's not Series S/X enhanced, I'm guessing it'll run better than it ever has anyway.
Follow-up post: How much of a must-play is Mass Effect? I feel like it's one of those games everyone should have played just because of its rep but I'm strapped for time. Do I try and squeeze it into my schedule?
For me it's an excellent all around trilogy, even if I think the third game makes questionable narrative choices. To make the most of it, you really need to be willing to do side quests, especially anything relating to your squad mates. Plus, some of the DLC - especially for the second game (Stolen Memories and Shadow Broker are my favourites) - is really good and recommended playing. All told, I'd guess a complete run of the trilogy plus most dlc would take somewhere around 100 hours or more.

That being said, you could easily do them one at a time and take a break each time, to make it more digestible. Mass Effect 2 remains one of my favourite all time games, the first game established what feels like one of the best sci fi universes in gaming imo, and while the third game is my least favourite, it has the best combat and the character and world work from the previous games still helps to carry things through. It's a high quality experience all around.

Literally the only reason I haven't jumped in is that my current to play list already mostly consists of RPGs, and my next purchase in March is another RPG. I've also played the trilogy numerous times. If you've never played it, though, I would try to find the time.
 
My next Xbox game will be Psychonauts 2 on Game Pass. I might start it this week, perhaps at the weekend. After that, it'll be Lost Odyssey, which I've always meant to play but somehow never found the time for. Was reduced to £4.99 recently so it was an absolute steal. While it's not Series S/X enhanced, I'm guessing it'll run better than it ever has anyway.

For me it's an excellent all around trilogy, even if I think the third game makes questionable narrative choices. To make the most of it, you really need to be willing to do side quests, especially anything relating to your squad mates. Plus, some of the DLC - especially for the second game (Stolen Memories and Shadow Broker are my favourites) - is really good and recommended playing. All told, I'd guess a complete run of the trilogy plus most dlc would take somewhere around 100 hours or more.

That being said, you could easily do them one at a time and take a break each time, to make it more digestible. Mass Effect 2 remains one of my favourite all time games, the first game established what feels like one of the best sci fi universes in gaming imo, and while the third game is my least favourite, it has the best combat and the character and world work from the previous games still helps to carry things through. It's a high quality experience all around.

Literally the only reason I haven't jumped in is that my current to play list already mostly consists of RPGs, and my next purchase in March is another RPG. I've also played the trilogy numerous times. If you've never played it, though, I would try to find the time.

I've got one more session to go on Psychonauts 1 to finish the final level, then onto Psychonauts 2 it is! I'm also currently playing Infinite (campaign and multiplayer mixed), and Unpacking. Once Unpacking is done, Spiritfarer will probably enter the rotation.

And of course I'll return to Psychonauts 1 down the line to 100% it, but since it doesn't have achievement support I'm gonna pass for now.
 
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Follow-up post: How much of a must-play is Mass Effect? I feel like it's one of those games everyone should have played just because of its rep but I'm strapped for time. Do I try and squeeze it into my schedule?
I think it is worth playing but not necessary by any means. It’s one of those series that was really cool if you were there for it when it came out, but significantly less cool when the zeitgeist of the time is removed. The stories are mostly fine, and the gameplay is just kind of okay.

If you’re strapped for time, there are just better games more deserving of your attention.
 
I'm glad this week there are not interesting BC games on sale, I was buying too much stuff lately. Hope Sonic Unleashed and Generation are put on sale soon anyway <_<

I finished Dead Space, pretty cool game. I'm not sure if I like it more than Resident Evil 4, but I liked it a lot. Now I started Dead Space 2, but I will take it with calm because I want play more Yakuza 0. So far (chapter 3) I like more Majima fighting style than Kiryu's.
 
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Psychonaughts 2 is absolutely amazing.

I have also been playing Jedi Fallen Order. And honestly? It's telling a better story than everything in the sequel trilogy. It's kind of a bland game overall, with not much originality. But it's still really good.
 
I’ve mostly been playing Switch outside of my Halo Infinite dailies but I’m excited for Rainbow Six on Gamepass and that “indie aaa” JRPG Edge of Eternity is a Gamepass game in February. I’ll also be getting Elden Ring on XSX so I will be getting plenty of use out of it this spring.
 
I’ve mostly been playing Switch outside of my Halo Infinite dailies but I’m excited for Rainbow Six on Gamepass and that “indie aaa” JRPG Edge of Eternity is a Gamepass game in February. I’ll also be getting Elden Ring on XSX so I will be getting plenty of use out of it this spring.
Oh shit, for real?

Has mixed reviews on Steam but i'll check it out anyway.
 
Thanks for the advice and recommendations everyone! My 1TB SSD card finally arrived in the mail so I downloaded both ME and OW. Don’t know if I’ll play them but it’s Game Pass so no harm done if I don’t and just uninstall later.
 
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I've been spending most of my free time playing Gamepass games recently, despite really wanting to play/finish SMT V and Astral Chain.

Overcooked 2 - Going through and 3 starring all of the levels with my wife. Considering maybe picking up a couple of the DLC packs, although maybe the 'All You Can Eat' edition would be a better buy.

The Gunk - Fun little short game that I play maybe 30 minutes of each night. I think I am nearing the end and I'm curious how it's going to wrap up.

Gorogoa - Really interesting puzzle game that is somewhat hard to describe. Seems to be pretty short, but it's nice game to solve a puzzle or two each night.

Looking forward to giving Outer Wilds a try, as I've heard good things, but I want to try to finish the things I'm currently playing before picking something else up. Also 'Nobody Saves the World' is coming on the 18th and looks interesting. Too much good stuff and not enough time...
 
I have also been playing Jedi Fallen Order. And honestly? It's telling a better story than everything in the sequel trilogy. It's kind of a bland game overall, with not much originality. But it's still really good.

It really is a bit bland but I ended up liking Cal way more than I expected to. Playing it on PS4 made it unnecessarily difficult due to the performance issues so I'm craving another replay on my S but maybe I'll wait until the sequel is announced...
 
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A small example of how this game just pales in comparison to Botw, reminding me why Botw was open world magic in a world where I was tired of the modern open world

I just climbed on top of an exploded structure that was on fire (as a part of the story) to see if it had any easter eggs or skulls. Unfortunately, the fire on this structure was just visual. It caused no damage to me, I could stand right in it, and it didn't properly scale / load in to adjust for me being close to it.

And continuing on this, another minor frustration. After the game taught me there would be an easter egg and surprise for journeying off the beaten path... it broke that rule when I climbed 3/4 of the way up a Spire and found that suddenly my grappling hook wouldn't work due to an invisible wall gating me from climbing all the way up.

Gah.
 
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People say JRPGs are long but I've been playing AC:Valhalla since the holidays and have only finished 43% according to the app. Holy shit the game is long.
 
Did the Battlefront 2 campaign. It's the kind of thing I'd never buy outright, but it was pretty fun, if carried somewhat by the Star Wars license itself. Flying combat much better than ground combat, so I'll probably give Squadrons a go at some point.

Psychonauts 2 next up on Series S, though.
 
I think my frustrations with halo infinite are coming from the fact that all i can see in the campaign are the years it spent in development hell. Ive always played through halo with my buddy, so not being able to do that for another six months is a larger omission for me than it might be for others. The open world stuff is a lot of fun, but many of the main missions are in repetitive interiors, this was likely done to limit the players ability to use help and vehicles, and they were likely less time consuming to develop because there were less variables to account for. Also, as a fan of halo 4 and 5, its disheartening to see those plot threads largely swept under the rug, I wont go into specifics how obviously, but it feels as if 343 set up a story that they didn’t quite know how to tell. Anyway, im sorry for my rant. I love halo, and halo infinite certainly has some
Bright spots, like the excellent multiplayer, but the campaign just doesnt hit the heights of halo 4, 3, reach, or 1 for me, and it feels like its missing so much still.
 
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Fucking hell there are so many BC games I want buy lol I need check what are games are put on sale regularly so I can ignore them.
 
Fucking hell there are so many BC games I want buy lol I need check what are games are put on sale regularly so I can ignore them.

A bunch of them just went on sale today! I added a ton to my wishlist last night and bam, all the Sonics will be mine



Also, hey folks! After my poking in and out of here talking about cloud gaming... I finally picked up a Series S yesterday! Cloud works 90% of the time, but my hours played really justified having my hardware in house finally. One too many aggravations while playing Halo multiplayer, and I wanted to experience Psychonauts 2 in full glory.

Initial impressions...
  • This thing is darn cute and a perfect match for my OLED Switch
  • OS is snappy and nice, Quick Resume has been working well so far
  • Launching games early while downloading, not so much. Halo was limited to offline tutorials, all other menus failed to load.
  • Cloud streaming on console + ethernet is leagues above my experience in browser (mac / iOS)... I played around in Nier a bit and it was buttery smooth!
  • Jesus the game pass library is even bigger than I thought, I'll need a storage expansion sooner than later.
 
I took a break from Game Pass for a while but man I looked at the catalog again last night and there's so much good stuff. Time to renew again this week
 
I think I’m gonna buy sonic unleashed and the time splitter games from the sale. I’m hoping to get one more thing but torn between red dead revolver
 
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I took a break from Game Pass for a while but man I looked at the catalog again last night and there's so much good stuff. Time to renew again this week

I went all in on three years for the cost of 3 full price games... unreal, that Gold conversion.
 
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I can't believe Xbox got better re-releases of Generations and Unleashed vs Colors Ultimate with BC alone, and I can grab them each for 5 bucks...
 
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A bunch of them just went on sale today! I added a ton to my wishlist last night and bam, all the Sonics will be mine
Ah yeah I did my post because the recent sale 😅 I'm a bit scared because it's 150 dollars I would pay for some dozens of games, but damn they are cheap lol

I wanted buy the Fable and Gears of Wars games, but the discount is not that great and I can always play them on Game Pass. Decisions~
 
Well, I'm sad that Unleashed and Racing Transformed never got resolution bumps but hooooly hell does Generations look outstanding.

Ah yeah I did my post because the recent sale 😅 I'm a bit scared because it's 150 dollars I would pay for some dozens of games, but damn they are cheap lol

I wanted buy the Fable and Gears of Wars games, but the discount is not that great and I can always play them on Game Pass. Decisions~
Ahh duh lol, my b.
 
Gamepass additions for the second half of the month. Looks like the image leaked and the full announcement with dates is due later today
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Pretty well rounded selection - Hitman is amazing, a great 2021 indie, three new indie releases and rounded out by Danganronpa and Taiko No Tetsujin.

And Ubisoft games exist too I guess.
 
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I guess I don't have to get Death's Door on Switch then. Really looking forward to Nobody and Windjammers 2, too. WJ2 I will probably get on Switch as well if it's as good as the original.
 
That feels like a pretty great lineup. Deaths Door was well received and Nobody Saves the World looks really interesting. I've never played any of the Hitman game, so I'll probably give that a shot.
 
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I was possibly gonna get Death's Door on Switch but now I don't have to. Seems like a great lineup in general.
 
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There are many ramifications to be discussed about the AB acquisition and I'm sure they'll be well covered in the specific thread, but regardless of everything else it sounds like we're getting a lot of AB games on Gamepass here soon.
 
Two megatons and it's not even 9am this morning, jesus Christ

Activision and Death's Door I mean lol

and we have the hitman trilogy coming this week... lord
 
Wonder is Crash will be in the next smash now, or if they'll leave him alone unlike banjo

Banjo/Crash/Spyro game when?
 
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Fancy new box and hundreds of game pass games to play

Here I am chilling with Sonic Unleashed.

To be fair, it’s a long time dream of mine to play the HD version after growing up on the Wii one
 
I got the OG 360 RPG...

Enchanted Arms...

I never recalled playing it at all, but I am now!
 
Replaying unleashed and generations just has me in awe, no one fumbled the bag after this quite like sega. Unreal, the formula was perfect.
 
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Deaths door is up! I don’t see hitman yet.

EDIT: ah, the trilogy will be a new listing coming up tomorrow 10am PT
 
I’m playing so many xbox 360 games upgraded on series x. Sonic Generations is the very best of them all. Simply amazing in 4k60.
 
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Deaths door is up! I don’t see hitman yet.

EDIT: ah, the trilogy will be a new listing coming up tomorrow 10am PT
I played Deaths Door a bit lastnight. I really don’t get how everyone was comparing this to Zelda. I don’t see the similarities at all. This is more an isometric hollow knight and not much more.
 
Quoted by: em
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Have to say, I'm quite disappointed in Nobody Saves The World. After loving both Guacamelee titles as well as Severed, I expected to enjoy this one as well but the combat feels extremely stiff for this kind of game. Ah well...
 
Quoted by: em
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I played Deaths Door a bit lastnight. I really don’t get how everyone was comparing this to Zelda. I don’t see the similarities at all. This is more an isometric hollow knight and not much more.

Classic Zelda and Metroid are not so dissimilar.

Besides, Death’s Door has three (or so) dungeons linked by an overworld, each with its own boss and associated ability that’s used to solve puzzles in the respective area and open the path to the next. Certainly DD is smaller than any Zelda game, but it is quite reminiscent of TLoZ/ALttP/LA with a stronger focus on visceral combat.
 
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Have to say, I'm quite disappointed in Nobody Saves The World. After loving both Guacamelee titles as well as Severed, I expected to enjoy this one as well but the combat feels extremely stiff for this kind of game. Ah well...

I’m disappointed to read that, but I’ll still give it a go since it’s on GP.

Although I loved Guac, I didn’t care for Severed and thus was already wary regarding NStW.
 
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I’m disappointed to read that, but I’ll still give it a go since it’s on GP.

Although I loved Guac, I didn’t care for Severed and this was already wary regarding NStW.

Oh, you should absolutely try it yourself. It seems to be getting great reviews. But to me being locked into 4 directions given how combat heavy this is just does not feel good at all.
 
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If Infinite is the platform for the next 10 years of halo, does that mean the single player will be constrained by last gen hardware throughout?
 
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Gamepass is still just so incredible. Its absolutely insane.

In the past 2 months I have owned my Series S, I have beaten the following games:
Halo Infinite ($60)
It Takes Two ($30)
Halo 1(anniversary collection) ($30)
Psychonaughts($10)
Psychonaughts 2 ($60)
Katamari Damacy Reroll ($40)
Plants vs. Zombies(????)
Jedi Fallen Order ($30)

Now, just by this amount of games alone, I would have already spent: $260 on this batch of games that I played, have beaten, and enjoyed tremendously. Now, this doesn't even cover it to the games I have tried, and some of these games I am currently playing.

Forza Horizon 5 ($60)
Deaths Door( ($20)
Ori and the Blind Forest ($20)
Streets of Rage 4 ($30)
Cities Skylines ($20)
Outer Worlds ($30)
Tetris Effect Connected ($40)
Octopath traveler ($50)
Bug Fables ($20)
Hitman Trilogy($100)
and probably a lot more I am forgetting.

This has really just let me vibe with my games, see which games I am feeling instead of justifying my videogame purchase. And I have played over $650 worth of games in 2 months, for a paltry $30. I just had to take a second and do the math, but man that's just incredible. Especially considering that non-nintendo games don't really hold that much value or have as much inherent replayability, I am really okay with not owning these games, its just really fun to take a look at them, and the ones that grab me, I can beat. It really is quite amazing.

Luckily my Switch is still getting a good amount of playtime too, being portable and all. But these two are a killer combo. I know for sure that I play my Xbox more than I ever have on my PS4.
 
I would have never tried a game like Crusader Kings 3 without game pass but ended up really liking it.

Played a bit of Windjammers 2 the other day, barebones but very well done, snappy controls. Could use an interactive tutorial though.
 
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Ever since the Switch launched and Xbox Gamepass became a thing, I feel like I'm as into video games as I was in the Ps1/Ps2 years. Seriously, last gen I was telling myself I was "over" console gaming.... what a dummy lol.

TBH the only bad thing about Game Pass is that it can sometimes feel like you have too many choices at times. But that's absolutely not a real problem.
 


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