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finished umurangi generation, what an amazing experience. if you play it and hit the credits, do yourself a favor and go to select level or whatever and play the macro dlc, its even better than the main game.
I started playing Little Witch in The Woods on xCloud just to see if it would work, and it does. I played for 30 minutes before dropping because I want to focus on other games, but I was enjoying my time there. I will for sure come back to it another time.
After that, I started Unpacking. What a nice nerve-racking moving-PTSD-triggering game. Like, the game is awesome. I played it for 30 minutes and enjoyed it. I only finished the first room. That said, every time I got an item that screwed my plans, it made me remember of the messes I had to deal while moving to a new apartment, or even worse, the experience of moving to a new country. I'm not looking forward to that anytime soon.
After all items were out, I managed to organize things on the way I wanted and enjoyed it. I know this is a game where there are "no rules" and "no correct way of placing things", but right now I feel like I'm doing things wrongly, even tho I like the way I organized things.
I'll come back to it tomorrow as today I have other things to do \o/
After that, I started Unpacking. What a nice nerve-racking moving-PTSD-triggering game. Like, the game is awesome. I played it for 30 minutes and enjoyed it. I only finished the first room. That said, every time I got an item that screwed my plans, it made me remember of the messes I had to deal while moving to a new apartment, or even worse, the experience of moving to a new country. I'm not looking forward to that anytime soon.
After all items were out, I managed to organize things on the way I wanted and enjoyed it. I know this is a game where there are "no rules" and "no correct way of placing things", but right now I feel like I'm doing things wrongly, even tho I like the way I organized things.
I'll come back to it tomorrow as today I have other things to do \o/
Playing Little Witch, I'm tired of coming in to these games knowing I will like them once they get into their thing, but getting way too tired of just the ridiculous amount of dialogue and conversations. I get that the playfulness and comedy is part of the genre, but these things need some editing down.
Isn't that game precisely about the conversations or is there something more to it? I got the impression it's a game about talking to people mostly (or even only).
Is it a full rpg with combat or something like that instead?
No jokes allowed :<
But yea, I get you. With Game Pass, I have less patience for slow indulgent openings, especially if they are text-heavy. One of the reasons I dropped Chinatown Detective Agency fairly quickly.
That said, I do think conversation games are some of the strongest on Game Pass and this style of distribution model is great for it IMO. Citizen Sleeper and Paradise Killer are two fairly dialogue heavy games that I think are perfect on Game Pass, despite being so indulgently text heavy. GOTG too, but that's a different dynamic. You never know if all the dialogue is gonna be GOOD until you play it. It's nice not to have to pay to know.
I get that the dialogue and conversations are supposed to be an aspect of it, and I'm not asking for none of it. I just think it becomes apparent with some of these games that the writing is sort of done without the gameplay in mind? There's a succinctness and brevity that seems needed when you're also going through the openings of a game. They can just seem drawn out and annoying when it can feel like a lot of bloated text mostly being put in there more for charm and cuteness than it's in there for the actual game or playing purposes.
This also isn't just a case of it just being this game. It's been a lot of indie games lately, it's also been a weird annoyance of mine on games for the Playdate as well. People and smaller teams seem to be making these smaller games and that's great but it seems like a lot of time whoever's thrown in on the writing just kind of goes for broke and it can just get exhausting if it's not actually paced well with the game.
That game is definitely worth playing but man is the platforming frustrating.
Oh I get that too. Sometimes I get surprised myself, I'm enjoying GOTG for example right now mostly due to dialogues and all that, while I have combat basically on easy mode because in this particular game I find it not satisfying plus very long. And I find myself just too lazy since some time ago to even start a text heavy game, I've been postponing Pillars of Eternity a long time for that reason, among others.
But then I want to try Disco Elysium out soon, too. I think that may also be a good surprise. But sometimes story, tutorials, dialogue, inventory, menus, even rpg mechanics etc get in the way when playing more action/gameplay oriented games indeed.
its really frustrating specially on controller but the unorthodox level design allowed me to make some of my favourite photos because i had to take extremely weird paths that revealed uniques angle on certain characters and objects. i ended up really appreciating it lol.
Another date to add to the list - Escape Academy on June 28th:
www.trueachievements.com
Escape Academy devs: “We can endanger the player character greatly”
Escape Academy is a single-player and co-op virtual escape room game with some dangerous twists coming to Xbox Game Pass. Here is everything you need to know about Coin Crew's co-op puzzle fest.
on XBX i had a mass effect 3 save through the whole trilogy (remastered edition). is there any possible way to get these saves on PC lol? I have noticed that i could play ME remastered on the xcloud thing and continue my campaign that way. But is that my only option?
i dont know if you are aware but in chapter 12 there's a pretty brutal level spike with some boss. like you should be fighting against level 35 enemies or whatever but then you to this place and you reach this dude and he's level 50 lmao. i love the game, its my favorite yakuza but that spike is utter bullshit.
Just started the game recently and knew about a spike. Nice to know when the grinding needs to happen.
Yeah, I got told this a while back...I think in this thread, lol. Im at the arena doing some grinding so I guess Ill be doing it until I hit 50.
I did the boss around level 43 with lots of good gear from the arena and liberal use of Poundmates. It was really hard still and I could have definitely used a few more levels to ease my suffering lol.
Figured this would come at some point. I was going through the remaining list of every game on Game Informer's 2022 list that's coming to Xbox yesterday, and I cross referenced to see how many games were already announced for Game Pass. I fully expect more of the games that have been featured on ID@Xbox streams to filter into Game Pass. Perhaps closer to release, like Tunic, but still.Another date to add to the list - Escape Academy on June 28th:
Escape Academy devs: “We can endanger the player character greatly”
Escape Academy is a single-player and co-op virtual escape room game with some dangerous twists coming to Xbox Game Pass. Here is everything you need to know about Coin Crew's co-op puzzle fest.
BTW. According to that list, of all games that have any level of vague official expectation of coming out in 2022 still (and this includes some games still cruising along in game preview for years or otherwise getting grandfathered into the list through delays), more than 20% ARE ALREADY announced for Game Pass. That statistic truly floored me. Obviously, that's skewed toward the smaller end of games - and typically, the ones of that size that we hear about are the ones that have enough marketing juice to get Game Pass deals. But nevertheless, that's pretty crazy - and it's quite possible that percentage will rise after the showcase.
Played about 2 hours of Yes Your Grace before my kingdom collapsed. Definitely a fun game and it's basically a whole game made out of that final act of Fable 3 or you could also say it's Reigns with more character interaction. I enjoyed this but I'm not sure I'll try another run to try to get to the end this time. I might.
I think I would enjoy a Crusader Kings III playthrough at some point, too.
Wasn't the best of ideas to put resources into a fancy wedding which married my daughter to that lord who was killed at the wedding after all. Though I only got killed later when morale had fallen too low.
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Glad for people that enjoy them, but I think I will personally (probably) never play a single player Early Access game on Game Pass. I was interested in checking out Little Witch in the Woods, previously...so a bit of a bummer.
Eiyuden Chronicles is like a knock off of a great brand that someone really likes....it's not quite the real thing, but someone can't help but notice the similarities that the knock off has to the real thing. The game's got a lot of problems and is definitely lacking in variety, can have a lot of tedium especially with the side quests, has a paper thin plot, and is an extremely simple/easy game (it kinda feels like a modern equivalent of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest for Japanese ARPGs to me).
Yet, despite all those gripes, I'm still really having a great time with it. Helps that I had very low expectations heading in...I expect to wrap the game up with all achievements by the end of next week. I'm really, really, looking forward to 100 Heroes, proper.
Eiyuden Chronicles is like a knock off of a great brand that someone really likes....it's not quite the real thing, but someone can't help but notice the similarities that the knock off has to the real thing. The game's got a lot of problems and is definitely lacking in variety, can have a lot of tedium especially with the side quests, has a paper thin plot, and is an extremely simple/easy game (it kinda feels like a modern equivalent of Final Fantasy Mystic Quest for Japanese ARPGs to me).
Yet, despite all those gripes, I'm still really having a great time with it. Helps that I had very low expectations heading in...I expect to wrap the game up with all achievements by the end of next week. I'm really, really, looking forward to 100 Heroes, proper.
There's some pretty good stuff at the middle to end of the game that I think is worthwhile. But yea, I know there's a lot of small stuff that I probably (definitely) missed or overlooked. Many small decisions all over, and some can have big impacts. It's cool though, definitely worth getting to the ending for IMO.
I made a thread on Yes, Your Grace after I played it because it has some yikes moments.
There's open spoilers for the game in the thread so don't click if you're planning on playing through it.
https://www.resetera.com/threads/can-we-talk-about-yes-your-grace-for-a-moment-spoilers.388778/
I'm playing Deep Rock Galactic more with the release of Season 2, and damn the game is just a lot of fun. The randomly generated caves always feel unique, the weapon mod/overclock system is both easy to understand and makes for a wide diversity of builds, the multiplayer is effortless, the visuals are beautiful, it's well balanced, the content updates are substantial and free, it's charming, the music and cave atmosphere is great, and it's only 2.3GB and $30 MSRP. I'm so impressed by the game especially considering the dev team is only around 12 people. Absolute shame that it seems to be totally overlooked by most of Era.
Fortunately the game's really, really succesful, even if not that popular here in era, but yeah, i agree with you. For me, it's one of the best co-op games of the last, i don't know, ten years? maybe one of the best ever made. It's reaaaaaaaally good.
Interesting. I think your critique by and large makes sense. On one hand, this game treats everyone poorly. The story is that there are no characters of any persuasion who don't have the possibility of a terrible end). Nevertheless, your point about the flip side of the endings and the structure of how you do everything "perfectly" is a good counterpoint to that. And yea, the wife is a woefully underutilized and undeveloped character. Totally agree.
I will push back on characterizing them as yikes moments, maybe, though. I do agree that it does have that effect in sum total, when seen through that lens. But as you note, it never feels malicious or even that clear of a throughline. IMO the choices presented and the consequences felt reasonable within the game's universe of desperation, even when the paths involve some nasty stuff. This is not the same situation as, say, the situation around Mordhau and "historical accuracy".
But I do see what you're saying.
Yeah. I was hoping the thread would have sparked a discussion that never happened. I agree that the game didn't feel mean spirited. I didn't get the sense that this was what the developers intended to say.
Just that when you take a step back and look at the narrative they want to tell and combine that with game mechanics and player agency, it starts to leave me feeling a bit icky overall.
Buddies and I have been co-oping this game off and on for a while now. Been a lot of fun that I'm surprised never really caught on I guess?
We feel that way about For The King too, though it's not gamepass
Sometimes the talking is the gameplay, and that's fine imo. We already have plenty combat/puzzle/platforming heavy games.
This sounds like exactly the kind of game I would hate, but I find it oddly compelling too. I think a big part of what makes it work is the game recognizes exactly what kind of game it wants to be, doesn't take anything too seriously, and offers all sorts of QoL stuff to not make the fetch questy aspect any more burdensome than it needs to be. Seriously, between this and Xenoblade Chronicles DE, the ability to pretty much instantaneously travel anywhere has made a lot of other RPGs seem painful in comparison.
I played Grounded with a friend today and I have to say that I did not enjoy the first 20 minutes. We were playing through xCloud (flawlessly) but we were struggling with the commands, menus and map at the beginning. Struggling in the sense that we felt lost. We didn't even knew there was a map for some time. And I'm sure it is our fault, but that never happened to any other game I've ever played. Since we didn't understand several menus and mechanics at the beginning, our first night was a struggle. We didn't have any tools and neither the correct materials to make a place to sleep. After the first night we finally understood the systems and started enjoying it a lot. We left the game wanting to play more of it and invite other friends to help us build a bigger base.
Also, I finished the third room in Unpacking. I felt judged lol. I felt like the game said "Did you have fun organizing things on the other room? Cool, cool, cool. Now here is a room with things placed in the correct way". Shades were thrown. Of course that is not the intention (👀), but I felt it a little hahaha. It was funny. That said, I'm enjoying exploring seeing how the character grows by seeing their belongings. It is weird in a good way. I never thought I would get to know a character like that.
Also, I finished the third room in Unpacking. I felt judged lol. I felt like the game said "Did you have fun organizing things on the other room? Cool, cool, cool. Now here is a room with things placed in the correct way". Shades were thrown. Of course that is not the intention (👀), but I felt it a little hahaha. It was funny. That said, I'm enjoying exploring seeing how the character grows by seeing their belongings. It is weird in a good way. I never thought I would get to know a character like that.
Yeah - definitely a great point on the fast travel being great in the game and helping alleviate what would have been incredibly annoying backtracking. And spot on with the phrasing of the game being oddly compelling...that phrase perfectly sums up my own sentiments, exactly, too. Nice to know Xenoblade DE has fast travel, also...I've had it sitting in my backlog for a while but hearing something like that really makes me want to get to it sooner than later, if I can...
I noticed that AC Origins isn't in the Ubisoft+ Classics list for PS Plus. It's not really that common for Microsoft to tease a game coming to Game Pass in a few months, like they did with Origins.
So my question is, is Origins going to be added to the Classics service soon and hit both PS/GP, is Game Pass going to get a separate Classics list to what PS is getting, or is Ubisoft+ as a whole coming to Game Pass? 😂
So my question is, is Origins going to be added to the Classics service soon and hit both PS/GP, is Game Pass going to get a separate Classics list to what PS is getting, or is Ubisoft+ as a whole coming to Game Pass? 😂
There is no way normal Ubisoft+ is coming to GamePass.
Time to check out Vampire Survivors.
Right now anyone's guess can work. Mine is that Origins will come separate from Ubi+ for now as the only thing.
Does a Day 1 Game Pass debut make your game convert worse on Steam?
Our data says.. not so much!www.gamedeveloper.com
An interesting study: does a Day 1 Game Pass debut can make a game convert worse on Steam?:
- Being on Game Pass isn't negatively affecting the conversion rate on Steam, on aggregate
- There is no evidence that the game is performing worse because it also appears on Game Pass
- People consuming a game on Game Pass often aren't the same people who would have bought it on Steam - especially if the game is a small or medium-sized one.
- The agency making the study recommends people taking a Game Pass deal - as long as it's for a reasonable sum -, especially for a small/medium sized game. It helps significantly with dev costs, provides more casual players and doesn't cannibalize non-Game Pass sales.
I've found it pretty relaxing to play and I've genuinely laughed multiple times at the writing. It's just a charming little game, I actually quite like the battle system, if they had wanted to make the game more difficult they had the battle system to support it. Kind of a shame they didn't, plus it takes like five hours to even get the entire system opened up.
I totally get that. I feel like that is the 'survival' part in Survivor games. To some extent at least, you are meant to feel a little helpless, lost, scrounging for that first foothold to get propped up. I really enjoyed the time I put into Grounded. Played it solo, and really thought it was very well put together for being an 'Early Access' title. Spiders though, effing spiders. Felt really great once I was able to gear up well enough to actually be able to take them out. I hope you keep at it with your friend and see some of the other bits the game throws at you, and some of the other things you will be finding.
Another one I really loved, just a really peaceful way to tell a story. I went into it thinking it would be an EXTREMELY light puzzle type of game. Something to just ... relax with. Largely it was just that, but there was a story under that and I really found myself wanting to know more about the character, growing with them, empathizing with them, and even drawing some parallels to my own life. Really lovely game.
Oh, I should've clarified that there's an actual date for Assassin's Creed: Origins. I don't think there was a concrete date yet aside from the new 60 fps patch going up next week.
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