Jesse Norris's Reviews
Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn is a lot of fun if you engage with all of it. At first, I was flying through the main quest before I slowed down and explored every inch of each map. Once I made that change I went from enjoying my time to loving it. It’s not the tightest game out there, but it has a lot of great ideas that come together for a package well worth experience.
Nobody Wants to Die is an incredible experience. Engaging detective gameplay, an incredible soundtrack, and a fascinating noir-yarn come together to create one of my favorite games in a long time.
Darkest Dungeon 2 is a beautiful, great-sounding, difficult, and addictive roguelike. If you’re into the genre then it’s an easy recommendation on whatever platform you prefer. It works great with a controller and can last 100+ hours if you want to see everything.
Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess is experimental Capcom at its best. While some of the fights can teeter on feeling unfair the majority of the game is a glorious mix of hack-and-slash action with a heavy dose of tower defense. It’s launching directly into Game Pass and is well worth checking out for anyone looking for 14+ hours of a damned good time.
Neon White features incredible gameplay and some of the best “one more try” levels in recent memory. It’s so fun to play that it can’t be brought down by its poor story. It is worth a purchase or Game Pass download, especially if you’ve got some friends to compete with on the leaderboards
Tchia is the latest, and one of my favorite, late ports to Xbox that’s arriving thanks to Game Pass. It’s a beautiful game, with an incredible soundtrack, fun gameplay, and an emotional story full of loss and love.
Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is my favorite expansion ever. Supplanting the twins of The Witcher 3: Blood & Wine, and Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, there is more to do here than most games twice over. Outside of an over-tuned final boss, I have zero major gripes and dozens of things I adore. It’s not easy, it’s not meant to be, but it is amazing.
Still Wakes the Deep is a special experience. A brilliant setting for a horror story is matched by quality writing and stellar voice acting. It’s available on Game Pass at launch and I highly recommend giving it a try to anyone interested.
#Blud is a damned funny title with a great art style. While the combat and puzzles could leave me feeling a bit burnt out at times it’s still an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a beautiful, funny dungeon crawler.
For any fan of Alan Wake 2 and especially those that are invested in the greater Remedy storylines this expansion is a no-brainer. It’s $20 for this and the second release, Lake House, which should hit around October 2024. Do yourself a favor and play this ASAP and with as little info going in as possible. It looks and runs great and adds exciting new branches to the ever-expanding storyline of Remedy’s future titles.
Destiny 2: The Final Shape mixes incredible environmental art, fun gameplay, and a compelling new subclass with a boring story full of predictable cliches. It’s not the rebirth of Destiny 2 that some were hoping for, but it’s still as fun to play as ever. If you felt burnt out this expansion isn’t likely to change that. If you want to ignore a disappointing story and enjoy a gorgeous new area to play through with a plethora of fun new toys then this one is worth checking out once the server issues clear up, if the $50 price tag doesn't scare you off.
Humanity is an excellent blend of puzzle and platformer that has an enormous amount of content. It’s one that will be in my Quick Resume for a long time as I jump in for a quick puzzle or two. It’s in Game Pass at launch on Xbox and I highly recommend anyone interested give it a spin.
HYPERCHARGE Unboxed is a solid co-op shooter with a nice compliment of MP modes. The base game is $30 and if you have friends to play with you’ll get a week or two of fun out of the campaign as you try to unlock everything. It’s never bad, it’s never great, it’s fine.
The Rogue Prince of Persia’s Early Access launch is a solid one. While there is a decided lack of content the core gameplay is fantastic and I cannot wait to see what this one turns into by version 1.0.
System Shock is an all-time classic, and this is by far the best way to experience it. Nightdive Studios have followed through on their promise and delivered a full remake that gets what made the original so special.
Little Kitty, Big City is a short and sweet experience, much like this review. Full of charm and heart, it’s well worth checking out Day One on Xbox Game Pass whether you’re a cat person or not.
Hades II Early Access launch is better than I could have hoped. If this was version 1.0 it would be better than 95% of games launched in the past decade. As is they’ve said they’ll be working on the full launch through the end of 2024. If you enjoyed Hades then know that the sequel is, somehow, even better.
Indika is an odd, wonderful title. Mixing 3D photo-realistic art with 2D-pixel graphics makes some bold choices. Excellent writing and voice acting help carry mediocre gameplay and created an experience I will never forget.
Another Crab’s Treasure is a balls-hard Soulslike that was one of the most frustrating experiences of my reviewing career until I gave in and used its game-saving accessibility options. Once the difficulty was better balanced the game’s humor and heart were able to shine through.
TopSpin 2K25 is a massive disappointment. Feeling more like beta software, with a lack of modes, players, and fun. I cannot recommend this one at the egregious $70 price point.