Adventures in Game Pass

DrDamn

So as per other post recently went for an X1X and Game Pass Ultimate deal as I’ve been so impressed with GP over the last year and more recently acquisitions by MS. Have to admit I was sceptical of the MS published games being day one on GP because I couldn’t see that not impacting the game design detrimentally and steering MS more towards games suitable for that model. I was wrong. Some game design suits it obviously, but there is no big slant towards GaaS, no stripped down games with lots of DLC, and far from a shift away from SP narrative games there is a lurch towards them.

So that out of the way this thread is more for discussion of hidden gems, recommendations for others and general GP discussion beyond the titles being added, removed.

On the point of game removal - I actually don’t mind that so much, as long as titles are available for a decent amount of time and titles leaving are given good notice. It helps push you towards completing the titles you want to before they go or buying them and giving the devs more cash.

After setting up the box I had a list to download and not that’s all set up I have a library of 20 odd games ready to play - and more on my list to try after that. Current playlist:

Forza Horizon 4 - fantastically feature complete and expansive driving game. Great fun, easy going default handling and beautiful representation of the UK. I enjoy just tooling about in Horizon games and find it quite relaxing compared to a more dedicated racing game. Nice to just chill, drive and enjoy with the occasional event. Will be my go to driving game for quite a time.

Dead Cells - one I liked the look on for ages but never pulled the trigger. I’ve clearly been missing a gem. Tight controls, beautiful and artistic pixel art aesthetic and interesting death mechanic make it a fun title to play. Recommended.

Slay the Spire - only tried this for the first time last night. Card battler with what starts as a simple system that is building interesting layers on top all the time. Made it through the first section before bed and looking forward to going back to it. Seems really nicely balanced, presenting you with tough looking fights you can beat with clever tactics and thought. I was looking for a title like this. Recommended.

DrDamn

Yoku’s Island Express - you play a beetle pushing a ball around an island after taking over as postman in a beautiful 2D pinball/platformer. Bizarre premise, great game idea, executed with charm and a chilled atmosphere. Little mini-quests keep you moving about the island in a non-linear way. Skills or abilities are gradually added to open up more areas and ways to move about. Recommended.

DrDamn

Continuing to really enjoy Yoku’s Island Express. It’s fantastically well designed and thought through - not just some nice ideas thrown together and gated by abilities.

One cunning tip, eventually you get the ability to latch on to flowers and slingshot round them. I was having problems with the timing of release (you spin quite fast) until I realised it’s mapped to a trigger and the biting point for actual release is quite late. So an initial partial release of the trigger to the biting point and then timing from there helped a lot.

DrDamn

Finished up a successful run in Dead Cells yesterday. Great little game with a well judged gameplay loop and great controls. I’ll revisit it for further runs at a later date.