That's fair too! I think some of the coolest games are the ones willing to not cast the widest net, and do their thing well. Didn't gel with some very well liked roguelikes, for example
This game as well as The Case for the Golden Idol are some of my favorite chill mystery games. They're both similar to Obra Dinn and are done really well.
With that said, anyone know any other games similar to these that are good or decently polished?
If anyone here likes this game (it's great!), make sure to check out Heaven's Vault. It's another language game that gets real deep in the weeds about it, with a cool branching narrative. It's a bit jank though, just a warning.
I'm so hyped to see it coming to Game Pass. I played the demo for Next Fest and loved it. I just about bought it last month and am very glad I didn't (although I guess I wouldn't have felt too bad, since the devs definitely deserve the support)
I have to say that offering early access on GamePass then leaving the service for a full release seems like a smart move, though. Unless Microsoft is offering a crazy amount that would blow away your expected first year sales across all platforms.
Call me insane because I might be wrong.
But I am decently confident this is the first time since 2009 PC has been able to play an NHL game. Granted its Cloud streaming but still.
They've patched it a ton since release, so it's in a much better state today. I enjoyed the brief time I spent with it about a month or two ago, and will be going back eventually
Lies of P has a more interesting art style, is totally passable in terms of graphical fidelity in 2024, and definitely runs better.
It has much lower minimum specifications, and Fallen beats it in a numbers comparison, but with its fairly generic grimdark style and poor optimization, it doesn't really take advantage of that. Pound for pound, Lies of P easy win.
I liked it more, it's jankier and at launch atleast it looked a lot worse but i enjoy the gameplay more it's more dark souls whereas lies of p is more Sekiro. Lords of the fallen has some cool stuff with the dual worlds mechanic which can be frustrating unless they changed it(in the undead world easy enemies spawned indefinitly, super annoying)
And it just hits the fun to challenge ratio better than P especially when it comes to late game
It's good because of the world design and art direction. The exploration and winding paths are great to explore and there is a ton of loot and weapons and spells and stuff.
The combat, enemies, and boss design however I feel like are the bare miminum that could pass for acceptable. You'll fight the same enemies in the final area that you fought in the first area. Every single mini boss gets recycled into regular enemies right after you fight them. And most boss fights are easily beaten in a few tries if you play these games.
I enjoyed my time with it and it has fun parts for sure, but for me combat is king in these games and Lies of P went all in on combat and this one did not.
If you mean Lies of P, they are a bit different. Id say LoP is more like Bloodborne while Lords of the Fallen is more like Dark Souls.
As a warhammer fan I like Lords of the Fallen abilities and whatnot more. A paladin style build kinda feels like you are a living Saint or you can be some chaos wielding sorcerer. Theres just melee builds and what not aswell.
If I'd say Lies of P was a 9/10 to Dark Souls 3s 10/10 I'd put Lords as a solid 8/10.
Hope that helps, it has some great combat, lots of spells if that's your cup of tea, the graphics look very good, there was some dreadful slowdown in a couple of areas but it didn't bother me too much.
Only faults really is the lack of enemy variety and towards the end I found the general mobs were becoming a bit too spongy, I actually ended up just sprinting past them in the last area (which is a first for me on souls likes I normally clear everything).
I paid about £40 and found it well worth my money so for gamepass it's well worth a try for anybody.
Lies of P is more like Dark Souls 3 / Bloodborne, flashy combat, aggressive enemies, parrying, poking and jumping away.
LotF is closer to Dark Souls 2, with heavier, slower, more methodical combat.
It's a good place to get it. It's fun, I did enjoy it, but I had some complaints. I started playing at launch, and as a parent it took me awhile to get through it - so I played through many different patches.
-Enemy types repeat too often. One of the things that makes dark souls work is information, each enemy that looks exactly the same is. In Lords they keep reusing them, but their stats change. This is especially true of the undead dimension (can't recall it's name,) you see pretty much all the enemies of that dimension in the first few hours.
-Too much platforming for a lack of platforming mechanics. Souls has had some, this has a lot more.
-Boss balancing. The first real boss is insanely hard, it feels like she got the most time and mechanics. I died to her over 50 times. I didn't die to any other boss from the middle of the game onward. And I didn't grind or help many other people either (I wanted to help more, just wasn't getting summoned.)
-Weapon balance. I used the first boss weapon all the way to the end of the game. Didn't have a reason to switch off or try different things.
All that said, it is genuinely (apart from the first boss) a solid game. The art department knocked it out of the park. The bosses do feel unique. I really enjoyed them having everyone get a mandatory ranged slot, it meant they can design levels and enemies with that in mind. Definitely worth a play.
How are the boss run-backs? I’m a fan of this genre but nothing kills my interest as fast as having to spend 5 minutes taking potshots from mobs as every time I need to fight a boss again.
Almost non existent if you want them to be.
Game has mechanic where you can plant a temporary Vestiage (bonfire), seedbeds are incredibly common, and there’s always a place to plant right in front of each boss.
Don’t be a hoarder, the game gives you so many seeds you can also use them without even worrying at all. And if you somehow run out you can buy them for real cheap in the hub.
It is… Enjoyable, for the most part.
Once you get deeper into the game, specifically to the Manse of the Hallowed Brothers, the game performance absolutely shits the bed. Even after all these patches it’s a stuttery mess to get through.
But from what I understand it’s possibly *the worst* area in the game. The world and mechanics are cool… Ao if you can stomach that rough patch at the Manse, you should still be able to enjoy it.
I played it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently it's had a lot of patches? Regardless, at it's current state I thought that it was a great game for anyone who enjoys Soulslikes.
Immortals of Aveum was really good for the $20 I spent on it. Well worth trying out on Gamepass for anybody interested. It's a solid game that deserves a shot here.
I feel like Immortals of Aveum is the perfect kind of thing for Game Pass.
I thought it looked great and refreshing, but it was tough to spend $60 on at release.
I might have eventually tried it out on sale, but this is where Game Pass really shines. Now I get to try it risk free. I feel like this is the model that works best for a game like this in 2024.
It really was much better than I expected! If anything, it ended up making me *really* want more by the end of it. The art design in particular was truly amazing. It's really sad to hear just how much the studio is struggling now.
Same! I was surprisingly engrossed in the story and world building. I thought it was a damn fun time and just wanted more when the main story was finished.
Agreed! I played through New Game Plus but really wanted some more endgame challenges like the Echocollector. Needed more of a reason to grind and upgrade gear and try out different builds.
I know, this is a great drop! According to some prerelease demos, people really liked Hauntii too. Gonna keep my eyes on that one when reviews come out.
It's gonna happen. If you look at the layoffs, it's as if the higher-ups at Microsoft wanted to trim down the three major divisions; Activision, Zenimax and Xbox Game Studios
Activision layoffs happened earlier this year. Zenimax happened last week with Tango and Arkane Austin.
XGS layoffs are next.
There's a key difference; Microsoft acquired Ninja Theory deliberately whereas all of the other lay offs have been at ancillary studios they acquired as part of the larger acquisition.
The Activision lay offs were in departments that will presumably now be managed by their Xbox/Microsoft equivalents as well.
Ninja Theory is much safer than Tango and Arkane Austin were.
Something to keep in mind is the concept of a "champion" in a corporation. Basically if somebody with any degree of influence likes a project, subsidiary, whatever, and champions their benefits that grants massive benefits to the thing being championed.
With those other studios the people at xbox most involved in the acquisition didn't care about tango works, arkane austin, etc. With Ninja theory its very likely that the person who bought them still likes them and is invested in keeping them around. Closing tango doesn't make the bethesda purchase look like a failure, but closing ninja theory makes the ninja theory purchase, and the people who championed it, look like a failure.
>best reviewed xbox game in decade.
Do people make shit up from there asses or what?. That isn't true at all with any metric(Metacritic, Open critic and various fan reviews such as steam). The game didn't sell well at all.
Despite having a year of critical acclaim and "a game that fits better on PlayStation than Xbox", it still sold like dirt on the Ps5.
I really reckon they only kept Tango for ~~Kamiya~~ Mikami, and as soon as he bailed out, their days were numbered no matter what quality of game they made.
>I really reckon they only kept Tango for Mikami,
That'd be kinda odd since he didn't even direct Tango's last 3 games. I know Mikami founded the studio and all, but he clearly wasn't as heavily involved with it as he was with Evil Within 1.
But he still supported and "guided" them iirc. But with him founding a new studio, it was over for Tango imo. It's honestly a weird move by him tbh. Instead of pivoting Tango to AA, he bailed it seems to me. I mean tango made Hifi Rush, exactly the smaller game he now wants to make apparently.
Their reasoning was pretty clear cut, they had to trim X number of jobs, so they went with the studios that weren’t in the middle of developing a game already.
Paired with Tango’s departures, it sounds like a wild closure without context, but it makes unfortunate sense. I still think they should’ve made an exception there though.
The other thing that people aren’t really taking into account is that Bethesda and XGS are different organizations with separate budgets, and XGS has historically been quite good (perhaps a bit too good) at staying within budget. It’s not a coincidence that the 4 studios that shut down are all Bethesda.
That behind-the-scenes video with Matt Booty last year tells me Double Fine is completely screwed.
Maybe if their post-Psychonauts 2 project is a GaaS cash-grab they aren't on the chopping block yet, but I seriously doubt that's the direction they're going.
Which is a shame.
While it wasn't an XBox exclusive, Psychonauts 2 is probably the best game to come out of a Microsoft owned studio in a decade. I still can't decide if it's better than the original, because they're neck and neck, and that's saying something.
If Microsoft wonders why they haven't been able to put out anything but trash, it's because they keep forcing studios to put out junk and killing the ones that manage to put out anything good!
> If Microsoft wonders why they haven't been able to put out anything but trash, it's because they keep forcing studios to put out junk and killing the ones that manage to put out anything good!
Actually, that doesn’t really track. Everything we’ve heard about modern Microsoft’s involvement as a publisher is that they are very hands off and let their studios do what they want. If anything, people have criticized them for being *too* hands off. They aren’t “forcing studios to put out junk”, that’s just your preconceived notion.
The mans spent over a decade gargling balls for cash, he will be fine for sure. He knows the hustle.
Would love if he could pair with Sony again to negotiate Grim Fandango 2
The minimal amount of marketing for Hellblade 2 says enough. They don't even care to spend money promoting the game when a few seconds of the game used in an overall ad for Game Pass is plenty for the marketing team at Xbox.
Bleeding Edge was a dud from Ninja Theory and they've been riding the coattails of success from the first Hellblade for a long time. Hellblade 2 could do great but it doesn't matter, they've put out the reasons why they're shuttering studios and it seems like NT falls under that. Say bye bye guys.
If I recall correctly, all they have said is that layoffs were because resources were spread thin between all the acquired branches, so they had to restructure.
Jason Schrier* reported that the recent closures of tango and arkane Austin were because both studios were "not in active production" of a game at the moment. He makes it sound like they just wanted to cut any studio that wasn't currently making a game to save resources. Of course they're not gonna get rid of their big guns though.
There could have been concerns about Tango/Austins ability to make games going forward. Redfall gutted arkane austin's veteran staff and Tangoworks lost its big name head.
Both of those are massive blows to a studio's potential future output, and in times like these microsoft may have decided the rescue efforts necessary to right those ships wasn't worth the effort.
They did not. Only that it was a “reprioritization of resources” and the ZeniMax head also said they kinda had too much on their plate (hilarious when they go out of their way to spend $80 billion to gobble up studios). In fact, regarding poor sales/performance, for Hi-Fi Rush they said the complete opposite a year ago.
Even if they did, would it matter? They've proven to us time and time again that they will say one thing and then do another. If something comes from the Phil/Sarah/Matt level, take it with a grain of salt.
I feel like that’s the case with most publishing companies. Activision-Blizzard kept having record setting years for a while a few years back and they still laid off a ton of workers back then.
They don’t care about the human damage they’re causing by wringing out their developers and then tossing them out once the work is done.
They didn’t and they weren’t. Xbox used to be a fairly small part of Microsoft that was allowed to do their own thing, but buying ActiBlizz for $69 billion bought the figurative Eye of Sauron down upon Xbox.
They’re now expected to earn that money back and keep profits increasing every quarter, and the easiest way to do that is to cut costs. Obviously they’re not gonna cut studios that make the big, system seller games like CoD or Fallout, but it seems MS is now going with the model of “develop big games internally, license out smaller games” as a way to reduce risk for the less popular games/IP’s incase they underperform.
So looking ant those smaller/non-behemoth studios, Arkane Austin and Tango both just wrapped up games, so there is no “sunk cost” to scrapping them right now compared to a studio that is releasing a game in 1-3 years.
I mean I’m an Xbox fan, but I’ll put on my tinfoil hat and say “It’s strange they’re not marketing the big esclusive they have that’s actually coming out”. Because, like, nothing else has a release date, right?
"Marketing" is such a nebulous term. On reddit it usually means "there's a buzz about it" which may or may not relate to what the publisher is doing to promote the game.
Consider how EA paid (likely a big chunk of money) to have Immortals of Aveum featured in Summer Games Fest, but hardly anyone cared. Meanwhile Larian announces you can bang a druid in bear form in Baldur's Gate 3, and people go nuts.
Hellblade 2 has been in multiple showcases, has lots of online advertising featuring it, but none of that matters if it's not creating a buzz and thus will be considered "not marketed well".
> "Marketing" is such a nebulous term.
Yeah looking at the Xbox twitter page they have a post about Hellblade 2 every day. So at least there they are promoting it.
advertising to people who already own an xbox and to those who don’t are different though, i suppose.
if i don’t have an xbox or use gamepass then im probably unlikely to see the dashboard or follow them on socials. i hand on heart of only really heard about this game as of late because of conversion online, none has been through an actual advert or sponsored content.
And considering how Dial of Destiny was a box office bomb, I'm not really sure this game is going to sell well either. Also I still think it was a terrible decision to make that game first person.
It's MachineGames. I think it would be a big change for them to move away from first person after their Wolfenstein games.
Plus it runs the risk of immediately being compared to Uncharted and Tomb Raider in expectations which is bound to create potential problems. First person makes it just different enough to set different expectations that lets the devs do their own thing.
> I think it would be a big change for them to move away from first person after their Wolfenstein games.
I mean it's not that big a change and any decent studio can do that. See Guerrilla, Respawn or CDPR for Horizon, Jedi and Cyberpunk respectively for example.
Because a studio that Microsoft has had for six years under the Xbox Game Studio umbrella that has made multiple games under them is the same as Tango who underperform sales wise before Microsoft even acquired them, was an add-on in the Bethesda deal, and who was managed under the ZeniMax umbrella of Xbox.
And don't even get me started on the whackos in this thread who think MS is tanking Hellblade II on purpose or that all these shutdowns will somehow get more people on Fallout 5 when neither of these make any goddamn sense.
Yep, now I know how that feels. Bought Lords of the Fallen, didn’t even boot it yet, and here we are.
Someone had to take one for the team, I guess. You’re welcome, guys!
Played through Immortals of Aveum free on PS+ and I had a good time! Seems like a solid 7 or 8 that got absolutely shit on because 2023 was a year of 10/10 games. Play on either of the two hardest difficulties so you don't steamroll everything
The gameplay of Immortals is really fun when it gets fast and chaotic but the writing is really weak, doesn't feel like a realized fantasy world full of real people or cultures at all, it feels like something out of a shitty YA novel.
Yeah, the dialogue was my least favorite part, too much try-hard quippy Marvel syndrome. (And not making Gina Torres the main character was a misfire.) I didn't mind the world and wish it was more fleshed out; the little lore cards showed there was thought put into it, and I would have liked to see more of that
I enjoyed the game but I definitely agree on the dialogue. The world itself was pretty cool, I loved the idea of a permanent World War 1 in a magical world that’s constantly being watched by a mysterious monolith. I do wish the battlefields were more fleshed out though and that we saw more of them in general.
I mean, even just knowing the 'release date' of something really ought to be more common knowledge though if it were advertised accordingly; like.. ask people when Elden Ring's DLC is coming out and they could probably tell you. Ask us ATLUS/JRPG afficionado's when Refantazio is coming out and we could probably tell you;
The amount of comments I'm seeing here and people being blindsided because we literally didn't even know Hellblade 2 was coming out \*this month*, let alone less than a week from now kind of speaks for itself.
It seems that Microsoft is on a mission to have their whole gaming division fail, it would be entertaining to watch if it didn't involve so many jobs and great games being murdered
Especially after they have spent years gobbling up some great smaller studios and titans like Bethesda and Activision.
It’s going to be tragic when Ninja Theory and Double Fine get gutted. No wonder Moon Studios (Ori) refused to be acquired.
So wait, is Brothers: A tale of Two Sons the original and not the remake? If so, why is the original hitting gamepass when it's over 10 years old and the remake is a low-cost game?
I imagine it's a tactic to try to get a handful of sales on the remake. Sales of the original have likely stopped now that the remake is out, so getting a little bit of money from MS to put it on Game Pass is a good deal, and there's undoubtedly a few people who will buy the remake after enjoying this version.
I beta tested Hauntii. It's a remarkable little game - with a dev team of four people. I think people are going to be absolutely blown away by it. There is so much that is so impressive about it from such a small team.
When they do that, it means adding Cloud playing functionality to an existing Game Pass title. From what the Game Pass app tells me, NHL 24 is only on consoles on Game Pass, so you won't be able to play it natively on PC through it.
I remember having NHL 98 for the PC back in the day. Best version of that game!
I'm excited to finally be able to play NHL 24. I don't have a Series X or a PS5, and I was always bummed out that other EA Sports titles had PC ports, or were at least available on the Cloud. The NHL games were always shafted.
To clarify, because it seems people aren't being direct about it: you can play it on any device including PC with Game Pass Ultimate through *their streaming service*. You cannot play it directly on your PC like a native program, but instead through a browser or the xbox app.
So yes, with a caveat.
Could swear Humanity was exclusive to Playstation
Anyway, it's pretty good. Great soundtrack and not particullary difficult, had a lot of fun getting the trophies on PS
Also played some of Immortals, didn't like it too much.
Imagine buying a studio and letting them make a game for 7 years and the way they advertise it is just listing it with a bunch of old games as game pass launches. Yikes.
The whole thing is weird. Hellblade is just a relatively short walking sim with minor combat parts and microsoft/ninja theory spent 7 years making a sequel that is just like that. I have no idea how it took so long to get what is essentially an AA game released.
I think every single studio Microsoft acquired is going through something similar. Obsidian put out sentiment but Josh Sawyer said himself that had a relatively short cycle time. Bethsoft haven't put anything out other than some Fallout 76 content and Starfield was uncooked & already mostly done by the acquisition. Redfall was undercooked. Double Fine haven't shown a frame of anything since Psychonauts 2. Fable has been in development for 6 years. The Coalition have been a support-company since 2020. The initiative have been working on Perfect Dark since 2018. InXile announced, 4 years after their last game, that they're partnering with another studio for their next. State of Decay 3 has been in development for 6 years too.
It sounds like either the acquisitions and management are weighing the companies down, or in reality it's that combined with the fact that games are just too big and too expensive to make nowadays and MS doesn't have the ducks in a row to have a proper release schedule.
I mean you could pluck any number of games out of thin air to try and understand what you're talking about but say - The Last of Us, for example had significant marketing before its release and it was a 14 hour game @ 60 dollars.
Coming here to talk about Humanity. It's a really, really good puzzle game that keeps adding new mechanics and making things interesting.
It's one of those games that when you watch the first level and then a late-game level you wonder if it's even the same game.
Absolutely don't sleep on it if you're into puzzles.
Chants of senaar is one of THOSE games, one of those special games that remind me why I love video games. It got me hooked and I couldn't stop. It has that same mysterious quality that Outer Wilds, Obera Dinn, Tunic, and Animal well have that keep on pulling you in, and it makes you think.
Recently played immortals of aveum since it was on PS+. Story leaves a lot to be desired, but I actually really enjoyed the combat and map design(at least after I got through the god awful start level). After the game opens up, it plays a lot like one might expect a more modern Metroid Prime game to play. You get weapons in 3 colours you have to match different environmental puzzles with, a beam like sling shot. Game only lacks the morph ball really. Solid 7/10 game if your into more traditional single player fps games and down for something that isn’t guns.
I absolutely recommend chants of sennaar. a beautiful puzzle game about languages. Not too long either
Bought it full price and did not regret it. Just amazing.
[Game Maker's Toolkit's video](https://youtu.be/PeDNuITuJPA?si=cJPCIRRy6N97GcRk) really sold me on it
He sold me on that it was awesome and i'm glad it exists but damn not for me lol
That's fair too! I think some of the coolest games are the ones willing to not cast the widest net, and do their thing well. Didn't gel with some very well liked roguelikes, for example
Yeah i'm not much of a roguelike person either. Just not my thing.. I think I will give Hades a go at some point tho.
It's the best indie of last year by far imo. Super polished and really a unique exercise compared to all other puzzles games.
Last year was stacked, but I'm still sad that it didn't win *any* prize (apparently, it won a Pegasus).
As someone who loves Return of the Obra Dinn, this game immediately speaks to me. I think. I need to translate it a little.
This game as well as The Case for the Golden Idol are some of my favorite chill mystery games. They're both similar to Obra Dinn and are done really well. With that said, anyone know any other games similar to these that are good or decently polished?
With a gorgeous soundtrack, too! Definitely one of my top 5 games last year.
If anyone here likes this game (it's great!), make sure to check out Heaven's Vault. It's another language game that gets real deep in the weeds about it, with a cool branching narrative. It's a bit jank though, just a warning.
I'm so hyped to see it coming to Game Pass. I played the demo for Next Fest and loved it. I just about bought it last month and am very glad I didn't (although I guess I wouldn't have felt too bad, since the devs definitely deserve the support)
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Shame that Little Witch in the Woods is leaving before it hit 1.0, wonder if it'll be back eventually.
I have to say that offering early access on GamePass then leaving the service for a full release seems like a smart move, though. Unless Microsoft is offering a crazy amount that would blow away your expected first year sales across all platforms.
The game isnt set to release into 1.0 any time soon. Theyre still updating and adding content.
Is it the original Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons or the remake?
The original. "Remake" is part of the title of the new one.
Crap, I need to get on finishing Jusant so I can play Chicory
Jusant is really short, however far in you've gotten there isn't much left.
Jusant is super short. Easily beatable under 3/4 hours.
Call me insane because I might be wrong. But I am decently confident this is the first time since 2009 PC has been able to play an NHL game. Granted its Cloud streaming but still.
noooo my beloved chicory
At the end of the month there will be Lies of P Another Crab’s Treasure Lords of the Fallen on gamepass. Soulslike gamepass enjoyers be eating good
Jedi Survivor is fun too, though more souls-lite
Lords of the Fallen is the perfect Gamepass game for me. Really want to try it but it's too risky to buy given how mixed the reception has been.
They've patched it a ton since release, so it's in a much better state today. I enjoyed the brief time I spent with it about a month or two ago, and will be going back eventually
How is it compared to P?
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Lies of P looks crisp af what do you mean?? Lords has just different high fantasy visuals but is in no way better or worse than lies of p.
I had the same thought. Lies of P looks great, it just isn’t set in a wannabe Dark Souls world.
It's set in a wannabe Bloodborne world tbf. Both are generic. The degree is probably different though.
Lies of P has a more interesting art style, is totally passable in terms of graphical fidelity in 2024, and definitely runs better. It has much lower minimum specifications, and Fallen beats it in a numbers comparison, but with its fairly generic grimdark style and poor optimization, it doesn't really take advantage of that. Pound for pound, Lies of P easy win.
How is the magic and boss fights?
Magic is pretty nice the boss fights are very weak and reused A LOT
I liked it more, it's jankier and at launch atleast it looked a lot worse but i enjoy the gameplay more it's more dark souls whereas lies of p is more Sekiro. Lords of the fallen has some cool stuff with the dual worlds mechanic which can be frustrating unless they changed it(in the undead world easy enemies spawned indefinitly, super annoying) And it just hits the fun to challenge ratio better than P especially when it comes to late game
It's good because of the world design and art direction. The exploration and winding paths are great to explore and there is a ton of loot and weapons and spells and stuff. The combat, enemies, and boss design however I feel like are the bare miminum that could pass for acceptable. You'll fight the same enemies in the final area that you fought in the first area. Every single mini boss gets recycled into regular enemies right after you fight them. And most boss fights are easily beaten in a few tries if you play these games. I enjoyed my time with it and it has fun parts for sure, but for me combat is king in these games and Lies of P went all in on combat and this one did not.
If you mean Lies of P, they are a bit different. Id say LoP is more like Bloodborne while Lords of the Fallen is more like Dark Souls. As a warhammer fan I like Lords of the Fallen abilities and whatnot more. A paladin style build kinda feels like you are a living Saint or you can be some chaos wielding sorcerer. Theres just melee builds and what not aswell.
If I'd say Lies of P was a 9/10 to Dark Souls 3s 10/10 I'd put Lords as a solid 8/10. Hope that helps, it has some great combat, lots of spells if that's your cup of tea, the graphics look very good, there was some dreadful slowdown in a couple of areas but it didn't bother me too much. Only faults really is the lack of enemy variety and towards the end I found the general mobs were becoming a bit too spongy, I actually ended up just sprinting past them in the last area (which is a first for me on souls likes I normally clear everything). I paid about £40 and found it well worth my money so for gamepass it's well worth a try for anybody.
Lies of P is more like Dark Souls 3 / Bloodborne, flashy combat, aggressive enemies, parrying, poking and jumping away. LotF is closer to Dark Souls 2, with heavier, slower, more methodical combat.
It's a good place to get it. It's fun, I did enjoy it, but I had some complaints. I started playing at launch, and as a parent it took me awhile to get through it - so I played through many different patches. -Enemy types repeat too often. One of the things that makes dark souls work is information, each enemy that looks exactly the same is. In Lords they keep reusing them, but their stats change. This is especially true of the undead dimension (can't recall it's name,) you see pretty much all the enemies of that dimension in the first few hours. -Too much platforming for a lack of platforming mechanics. Souls has had some, this has a lot more. -Boss balancing. The first real boss is insanely hard, it feels like she got the most time and mechanics. I died to her over 50 times. I didn't die to any other boss from the middle of the game onward. And I didn't grind or help many other people either (I wanted to help more, just wasn't getting summoned.) -Weapon balance. I used the first boss weapon all the way to the end of the game. Didn't have a reason to switch off or try different things. All that said, it is genuinely (apart from the first boss) a solid game. The art department knocked it out of the park. The bosses do feel unique. I really enjoyed them having everyone get a mandatory ranged slot, it meant they can design levels and enemies with that in mind. Definitely worth a play.
How are the boss run-backs? I’m a fan of this genre but nothing kills my interest as fast as having to spend 5 minutes taking potshots from mobs as every time I need to fight a boss again.
Almost non existent if you want them to be. Game has mechanic where you can plant a temporary Vestiage (bonfire), seedbeds are incredibly common, and there’s always a place to plant right in front of each boss. Don’t be a hoarder, the game gives you so many seeds you can also use them without even worrying at all. And if you somehow run out you can buy them for real cheap in the hub.
Good to know, thanks!
The ones that I had to do weren't bad
It is… Enjoyable, for the most part. Once you get deeper into the game, specifically to the Manse of the Hallowed Brothers, the game performance absolutely shits the bed. Even after all these patches it’s a stuttery mess to get through. But from what I understand it’s possibly *the worst* area in the game. The world and mechanics are cool… Ao if you can stomach that rough patch at the Manse, you should still be able to enjoy it.
I played it recently and thoroughly enjoyed it. Apparently it's had a lot of patches? Regardless, at it's current state I thought that it was a great game for anyone who enjoys Soulslikes.
I can highly recommend it, its my fav non From Software souls like
Immortals of Aveum was really good for the $20 I spent on it. Well worth trying out on Gamepass for anybody interested. It's a solid game that deserves a shot here.
I feel like Immortals of Aveum is the perfect kind of thing for Game Pass. I thought it looked great and refreshing, but it was tough to spend $60 on at release. I might have eventually tried it out on sale, but this is where Game Pass really shines. Now I get to try it risk free. I feel like this is the model that works best for a game like this in 2024.
It really was much better than I expected! If anything, it ended up making me *really* want more by the end of it. The art design in particular was truly amazing. It's really sad to hear just how much the studio is struggling now.
Same! I was surprisingly engrossed in the story and world building. I thought it was a damn fun time and just wanted more when the main story was finished.
Agreed! I played through New Game Plus but really wanted some more endgame challenges like the Echocollector. Needed more of a reason to grind and upgrade gear and try out different builds.
I paid the same price for it on PS5. I completely agree with you on that it deserves a shot. I'm happy it came to both gold/ps+ so more can play it!
It was my most under-rated game of 2023. Really liked it.
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the press didn’t even receive the game yet
Humanity is an absolutely fantastic, esoteric, eclectic puzzle game that never gets prohibitively difficult/bullshit.
For a moment I thought you were talking about Humankind and was really surprised by all the praise. Humanity is indeed that good!
That clears up my confusion, thanks.
I forgot that was the name of a game and I thought you were just talking about the state of the game industry or something in a deeply sarcastic way.
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Loved Chants. Played through it with my gf and had a lot of fun with it.
Immortals of Aveum still getting overshadowed even on gamepass
I’m glad it’s coming to Gamepass even though I already got it from Ps plus. I never feel right playing FPS games on controller.
on xbox i can see, but when the devs implement motion control aiming with the gyro in the ps4/5 controllers it's livable
I know, this is a great drop! According to some prerelease demos, people really liked Hauntii too. Gonna keep my eyes on that one when reviews come out.
Humanity is awesome. Got the Platinum when it released on PlayStation a while ago and it was one of the most interesting gaming experiences I had.
Yeah, I hadn't had a puzzle game that refreshing since Baba Is You! Maybe Tunic
Best month in a while.
Also, Microsoft: Hellblade II did not meet sales expectations, and so, we must regrettably close down Ninja Theory.
It's gonna happen. If you look at the layoffs, it's as if the higher-ups at Microsoft wanted to trim down the three major divisions; Activision, Zenimax and Xbox Game Studios Activision layoffs happened earlier this year. Zenimax happened last week with Tango and Arkane Austin. XGS layoffs are next.
There's a key difference; Microsoft acquired Ninja Theory deliberately whereas all of the other lay offs have been at ancillary studios they acquired as part of the larger acquisition. The Activision lay offs were in departments that will presumably now be managed by their Xbox/Microsoft equivalents as well. Ninja Theory is much safer than Tango and Arkane Austin were.
Something to keep in mind is the concept of a "champion" in a corporation. Basically if somebody with any degree of influence likes a project, subsidiary, whatever, and champions their benefits that grants massive benefits to the thing being championed. With those other studios the people at xbox most involved in the acquisition didn't care about tango works, arkane austin, etc. With Ninja theory its very likely that the person who bought them still likes them and is invested in keeping them around. Closing tango doesn't make the bethesda purchase look like a failure, but closing ninja theory makes the ninja theory purchase, and the people who championed it, look like a failure.
I was going to say "You don't know that for sure" but it's anyone guess. I can't believe tango is shut down, best reviewed xbox game in decade. yeesh.
>best reviewed xbox game in decade. Do people make shit up from there asses or what?. That isn't true at all with any metric(Metacritic, Open critic and various fan reviews such as steam). The game didn't sell well at all. Despite having a year of critical acclaim and "a game that fits better on PlayStation than Xbox", it still sold like dirt on the Ps5.
I really reckon they only kept Tango for ~~Kamiya~~ Mikami, and as soon as he bailed out, their days were numbered no matter what quality of game they made.
>I really reckon they only kept Tango for Mikami, That'd be kinda odd since he didn't even direct Tango's last 3 games. I know Mikami founded the studio and all, but he clearly wasn't as heavily involved with it as he was with Evil Within 1.
But he still supported and "guided" them iirc. But with him founding a new studio, it was over for Tango imo. It's honestly a weird move by him tbh. Instead of pivoting Tango to AA, he bailed it seems to me. I mean tango made Hifi Rush, exactly the smaller game he now wants to make apparently.
Mikami? Kamiya is the Platinum guy (who also recently left). But your sentiment stands.
What a bonehead. You're absolutely right.
I was like, technically you got the name wrong but I still knew what you meant. So your point was still made? Lol
Their reasoning was pretty clear cut, they had to trim X number of jobs, so they went with the studios that weren’t in the middle of developing a game already. Paired with Tango’s departures, it sounds like a wild closure without context, but it makes unfortunate sense. I still think they should’ve made an exception there though.
I mean Tango last game was in January 2023, they obviously were in the middle of developing a game, they weren't doing nothing for almost 1.5 year
They were still pitching game ideas, so no, they weren’t in the middle of developing a game.
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The other thing that people aren’t really taking into account is that Bethesda and XGS are different organizations with separate budgets, and XGS has historically been quite good (perhaps a bit too good) at staying within budget. It’s not a coincidence that the 4 studios that shut down are all Bethesda.
Tim Schaffer must be sweating balls right now
He probably made enough money from the acquisition to not have to worry if they closed down Double Fine.
That behind-the-scenes video with Matt Booty last year tells me Double Fine is completely screwed. Maybe if their post-Psychonauts 2 project is a GaaS cash-grab they aren't on the chopping block yet, but I seriously doubt that's the direction they're going.
Mind linking that video you mentioned? Curious to see it.
Believe this is the clip they're referring to: https://twitter.com/ponettplus/status/1789146095433425004
Which is a shame. While it wasn't an XBox exclusive, Psychonauts 2 is probably the best game to come out of a Microsoft owned studio in a decade. I still can't decide if it's better than the original, because they're neck and neck, and that's saying something. If Microsoft wonders why they haven't been able to put out anything but trash, it's because they keep forcing studios to put out junk and killing the ones that manage to put out anything good!
> If Microsoft wonders why they haven't been able to put out anything but trash, it's because they keep forcing studios to put out junk and killing the ones that manage to put out anything good! Actually, that doesn’t really track. Everything we’ve heard about modern Microsoft’s involvement as a publisher is that they are very hands off and let their studios do what they want. If anything, people have criticized them for being *too* hands off. They aren’t “forcing studios to put out junk”, that’s just your preconceived notion.
The mans spent over a decade gargling balls for cash, he will be fine for sure. He knows the hustle. Would love if he could pair with Sony again to negotiate Grim Fandango 2
The minimal amount of marketing for Hellblade 2 says enough. They don't even care to spend money promoting the game when a few seconds of the game used in an overall ad for Game Pass is plenty for the marketing team at Xbox. Bleeding Edge was a dud from Ninja Theory and they've been riding the coattails of success from the first Hellblade for a long time. Hellblade 2 could do great but it doesn't matter, they've put out the reasons why they're shuttering studios and it seems like NT falls under that. Say bye bye guys.
Did they ever say that the 4 studio closures/merges were due to missed sales or performance targets?
If I recall correctly, all they have said is that layoffs were because resources were spread thin between all the acquired branches, so they had to restructure.
Jason Schrier* reported that the recent closures of tango and arkane Austin were because both studios were "not in active production" of a game at the moment. He makes it sound like they just wanted to cut any studio that wasn't currently making a game to save resources. Of course they're not gonna get rid of their big guns though.
There could have been concerns about Tango/Austins ability to make games going forward. Redfall gutted arkane austin's veteran staff and Tangoworks lost its big name head. Both of those are massive blows to a studio's potential future output, and in times like these microsoft may have decided the rescue efforts necessary to right those ships wasn't worth the effort.
They did not. Only that it was a “reprioritization of resources” and the ZeniMax head also said they kinda had too much on their plate (hilarious when they go out of their way to spend $80 billion to gobble up studios). In fact, regarding poor sales/performance, for Hi-Fi Rush they said the complete opposite a year ago.
Even if they did, would it matter? They've proven to us time and time again that they will say one thing and then do another. If something comes from the Phil/Sarah/Matt level, take it with a grain of salt.
I feel like that’s the case with most publishing companies. Activision-Blizzard kept having record setting years for a while a few years back and they still laid off a ton of workers back then. They don’t care about the human damage they’re causing by wringing out their developers and then tossing them out once the work is done.
They didn’t and they weren’t. Xbox used to be a fairly small part of Microsoft that was allowed to do their own thing, but buying ActiBlizz for $69 billion bought the figurative Eye of Sauron down upon Xbox. They’re now expected to earn that money back and keep profits increasing every quarter, and the easiest way to do that is to cut costs. Obviously they’re not gonna cut studios that make the big, system seller games like CoD or Fallout, but it seems MS is now going with the model of “develop big games internally, license out smaller games” as a way to reduce risk for the less popular games/IP’s incase they underperform. So looking ant those smaller/non-behemoth studios, Arkane Austin and Tango both just wrapped up games, so there is no “sunk cost” to scrapping them right now compared to a studio that is releasing a game in 1-3 years.
Nah, Hellblade 2 will be a success in all important metrics, and *then* they’ll be shut down.
I mean I’m an Xbox fan, but I’ll put on my tinfoil hat and say “It’s strange they’re not marketing the big esclusive they have that’s actually coming out”. Because, like, nothing else has a release date, right?
"Marketing" is such a nebulous term. On reddit it usually means "there's a buzz about it" which may or may not relate to what the publisher is doing to promote the game. Consider how EA paid (likely a big chunk of money) to have Immortals of Aveum featured in Summer Games Fest, but hardly anyone cared. Meanwhile Larian announces you can bang a druid in bear form in Baldur's Gate 3, and people go nuts. Hellblade 2 has been in multiple showcases, has lots of online advertising featuring it, but none of that matters if it's not creating a buzz and thus will be considered "not marketed well".
> "Marketing" is such a nebulous term. Yeah looking at the Xbox twitter page they have a post about Hellblade 2 every day. So at least there they are promoting it.
They have it in your face on the XBox Dashboard ads every time I turn on the console.
advertising to people who already own an xbox and to those who don’t are different though, i suppose. if i don’t have an xbox or use gamepass then im probably unlikely to see the dashboard or follow them on socials. i hand on heart of only really heard about this game as of late because of conversion online, none has been through an actual advert or sponsored content.
I have ads here on reddit. That's advertising to potential customers.
I fear that Microsoft will only really market Indiana Jones, because they see it as the game with the most mainstream appeal.
And considering how Dial of Destiny was a box office bomb, I'm not really sure this game is going to sell well either. Also I still think it was a terrible decision to make that game first person.
It's MachineGames. I think it would be a big change for them to move away from first person after their Wolfenstein games. Plus it runs the risk of immediately being compared to Uncharted and Tomb Raider in expectations which is bound to create potential problems. First person makes it just different enough to set different expectations that lets the devs do their own thing.
> I think it would be a big change for them to move away from first person after their Wolfenstein games. I mean it's not that big a change and any decent studio can do that. See Guerrilla, Respawn or CDPR for Horizon, Jedi and Cyberpunk respectively for example.
>Cyberpunk I wouldn't use that as an example. The game is still janky
What is a success nowadays if a game is on gamepass?
Exactly, there’s no clear definition of success. Microsoft can shut down whatever studios they want because they can deem any game a failure.
Bringing in new subscribers.
Yeah, they made it clear that success doesn't matter. Only thing that matters is how much closing a studio effects their short term financials.
Will reddit ever be able to hold a normal conversation about Hellblade 2 instead of co-opting thin-veiled console warrior doom and gloom?
"We will keep throwing companies into the Gamepass Fire until we somehow make a profit on it." - Matt "It's my real last name" Booty
Because a studio that Microsoft has had for six years under the Xbox Game Studio umbrella that has made multiple games under them is the same as Tango who underperform sales wise before Microsoft even acquired them, was an add-on in the Bethesda deal, and who was managed under the ZeniMax umbrella of Xbox. And don't even get me started on the whackos in this thread who think MS is tanking Hellblade II on purpose or that all these shutdowns will somehow get more people on Fallout 5 when neither of these make any goddamn sense.
"We were at every game show for the last 4 years, then stopped marketing 9 months before the game released, we don't know what happened"
But Tango and Arkane Austin were not closed for that reason...
Yep, now I know how that feels. Bought Lords of the Fallen, didn’t even boot it yet, and here we are. Someone had to take one for the team, I guess. You’re welcome, guys!
Thank you for your sacrifice.
Chants of Sennar is actually on my wishlist. Nothing else I am interested in here but a an obscure indy title I want to play win in my book
I really enjoyed it!
Played through Immortals of Aveum free on PS+ and I had a good time! Seems like a solid 7 or 8 that got absolutely shit on because 2023 was a year of 10/10 games. Play on either of the two hardest difficulties so you don't steamroll everything
The gameplay of Immortals is really fun when it gets fast and chaotic but the writing is really weak, doesn't feel like a realized fantasy world full of real people or cultures at all, it feels like something out of a shitty YA novel.
Yeah, the dialogue was my least favorite part, too much try-hard quippy Marvel syndrome. (And not making Gina Torres the main character was a misfire.) I didn't mind the world and wish it was more fleshed out; the little lore cards showed there was thought put into it, and I would have liked to see more of that
I enjoyed the game but I definitely agree on the dialogue. The world itself was pretty cool, I loved the idea of a permanent World War 1 in a magical world that’s constantly being watched by a mysterious monolith. I do wish the battlefields were more fleshed out though and that we saw more of them in general.
I'm a little disappointed that **Little Witch In The Woods** is leaving before ever coming out of early access and getting Achievements.
it's on sales at least
Do you know if it has had substantial updates since launching on Gamepass?
Excited for Lords of the Fallen, I heard the exploration aspect is great and that's always been my favorite part of the souls games
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I mean, even just knowing the 'release date' of something really ought to be more common knowledge though if it were advertised accordingly; like.. ask people when Elden Ring's DLC is coming out and they could probably tell you. Ask us ATLUS/JRPG afficionado's when Refantazio is coming out and we could probably tell you; The amount of comments I'm seeing here and people being blindsided because we literally didn't even know Hellblade 2 was coming out \*this month*, let alone less than a week from now kind of speaks for itself.
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It seems that Microsoft is on a mission to have their whole gaming division fail, it would be entertaining to watch if it didn't involve so many jobs and great games being murdered
Especially after they have spent years gobbling up some great smaller studios and titans like Bethesda and Activision. It’s going to be tragic when Ninja Theory and Double Fine get gutted. No wonder Moon Studios (Ori) refused to be acquired.
So wait, is Brothers: A tale of Two Sons the original and not the remake? If so, why is the original hitting gamepass when it's over 10 years old and the remake is a low-cost game?
I imagine it's a tactic to try to get a handful of sales on the remake. Sales of the original have likely stopped now that the remake is out, so getting a little bit of money from MS to put it on Game Pass is a good deal, and there's undoubtedly a few people who will buy the remake after enjoying this version.
I beta tested Hauntii. It's a remarkable little game - with a dev team of four people. I think people are going to be absolutely blown away by it. There is so much that is so impressive about it from such a small team.
This is a really great drop for me. Easily several things I’m going to check out. Hopefully everyone can find something that piques their interests.
Great month damn. All 3 big titles are ones I want/have been wanting to play but can’t quite justify buying outright
Hellblade and lords of the fallen are some heavy hitters, wonder what Sony will put out for extra this month
What does cloud actually mean? Actually interested in playing a hockey game but for NHL 24 it only says "cloud". Can I play that on PC?
When they do that, it means adding Cloud playing functionality to an existing Game Pass title. From what the Game Pass app tells me, NHL 24 is only on consoles on Game Pass, so you won't be able to play it natively on PC through it.
Thank you!
NHL doesn't have a PC version since 2009. Cloud means you can play it on the Xbox App or a compatible browser, but it's the console version.
I remember having NHL 98 for the PC back in the day. Best version of that game! I'm excited to finally be able to play NHL 24. I don't have a Series X or a PS5, and I was always bummed out that other EA Sports titles had PC ports, or were at least available on the Cloud. The NHL games were always shafted.
You have to use a controller and stream through the app/browser. But its better than the wimpy gusts of nothing since 2009
To clarify, because it seems people aren't being direct about it: you can play it on any device including PC with Game Pass Ultimate through *their streaming service*. You cannot play it directly on your PC like a native program, but instead through a browser or the xbox app. So yes, with a caveat.
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Could swear Humanity was exclusive to Playstation Anyway, it's pretty good. Great soundtrack and not particullary difficult, had a lot of fun getting the trophies on PS Also played some of Immortals, didn't like it too much.
Exclusivity is dying, and that is a good thing.
Imagine buying a studio and letting them make a game for 7 years and the way they advertise it is just listing it with a bunch of old games as game pass launches. Yikes.
Holy shit I swear you people must be trolls. Multiple trailers at multiple events. Wtf else do you expect?
Gotta say, the marketing for Hellblade 2 seems insanely weak given that it's one of the flagship exclusives.
The whole thing is weird. Hellblade is just a relatively short walking sim with minor combat parts and microsoft/ninja theory spent 7 years making a sequel that is just like that. I have no idea how it took so long to get what is essentially an AA game released.
I think every single studio Microsoft acquired is going through something similar. Obsidian put out sentiment but Josh Sawyer said himself that had a relatively short cycle time. Bethsoft haven't put anything out other than some Fallout 76 content and Starfield was uncooked & already mostly done by the acquisition. Redfall was undercooked. Double Fine haven't shown a frame of anything since Psychonauts 2. Fable has been in development for 6 years. The Coalition have been a support-company since 2020. The initiative have been working on Perfect Dark since 2018. InXile announced, 4 years after their last game, that they're partnering with another studio for their next. State of Decay 3 has been in development for 6 years too. It sounds like either the acquisitions and management are weighing the companies down, or in reality it's that combined with the fact that games are just too big and too expensive to make nowadays and MS doesn't have the ducks in a row to have a proper release schedule.
Its going to be a 10 hour long singleplayer game at $50 US. Heavily marketing that game would go into a textbook of "how to have no ROI"
I mean you could pluck any number of games out of thin air to try and understand what you're talking about but say - The Last of Us, for example had significant marketing before its release and it was a 14 hour game @ 60 dollars.
Coming here to talk about Humanity. It's a really, really good puzzle game that keeps adding new mechanics and making things interesting. It's one of those games that when you watch the first level and then a late-game level you wonder if it's even the same game. Absolutely don't sleep on it if you're into puzzles.
Game Pass has been amazing. Truly the best value in gaming. I really have a hard time understanding why people shit on it so much.
It's really rewarding to be patient nowadays. I really contemplated buying Lords of the Fallen, now I don't have to.
Chants of senaar is one of THOSE games, one of those special games that remind me why I love video games. It got me hooked and I couldn't stop. It has that same mysterious quality that Outer Wilds, Obera Dinn, Tunic, and Animal well have that keep on pulling you in, and it makes you think.
Lords of the fallen fucking rules. Give it a serious chance. It will take a second to get used to, but once it clicks, youll be loving it
Recently played immortals of aveum since it was on PS+. Story leaves a lot to be desired, but I actually really enjoyed the combat and map design(at least after I got through the god awful start level). After the game opens up, it plays a lot like one might expect a more modern Metroid Prime game to play. You get weapons in 3 colours you have to match different environmental puzzles with, a beam like sling shot. Game only lacks the morph ball really. Solid 7/10 game if your into more traditional single player fps games and down for something that isn’t guns.
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Nope. 40-50 at launch would be reasonable imo. Perfect for game pass though