Jesse Norris's Reviews
Cult of the Lamb is awesome. The game offers up beautiful visuals, hilarious dialogue, is damned smart and plays like a dream. It is one of the best roguelikes mashed together with one of the best community builders I have ever played.
Far Cry 5 upped the gameplay of the series in satisfying ways. The entire campaign was finally playable in co-op, and the premise had potential. In the end, it misses the mark severely story-wise, but it’s a really fun shooter. It isn’t the best experience on any Xbox console but it does run beautifully on even a mid-range PC. Since it’s on Game Pass either solo or co-op it’s well worth checking out.
I have been unable to find out the final price of this title. If it’s under $10 and you have someone to play with it might be worth checking out, though you’ll most likely finish every level in a single night. From the gameplay to the graphics and the lack of variety, there is nothing here that even reaches the level of being mediocre.
If you’re looking for a game that is gorgeous, heartbreaking, and that tackles the most serious issue our and future generations will face then Endling - Extinction is Forever deserves your attention.
Featuring little in the ways of improvements with only the base resolution and framerate changing, and lots in the ways of game-breaking bugs, it’s impossible to recommend this $30 broken mess of a game at launch. Once things are patched up and hopefully working better it might be some couch co-op fun, though only on a deep sale. Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance II’s “remaster” is a major disappointment.
Seeing Bone Shaker and Rip Rod in full-size as I jump 2000 feet through one of if not the best-looking video game landscapes of all time is everything I could have ever dreamed of. If you enjoyed the base game at all then you owe it to yourself to play this expansion.
Bright Memory: Infinite is a short but fun big dumb action game. It doesn’t have much if anything in the way of replayability, but it feels pretty good, looks great, and as long as the price isn’t too bad it’s worth checking out. Not only for the solid, overpowered feeling action, but it’s one hell of a weird-assed ride that I was glad to experience.
For $10 you get a good amount of content that both adds new areas and new mechanics to what is already a great game. It’s not transformative, but what it adds is excellent. If you haven’t tried the base game out yet it’s on Game Pass and it deserves a try. If you find yourself falling for it as I did then this DLC is absolutely worth a buy.
It’s a bit light on content outside of the games, but every option you could want is here, things run great, and the full package is a decent value. If you’ve got the itch to play through a bunch of classics, some real stinkers, and a few really cool games you probably haven’t heard of before then Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium is what you’re looking for.
PowerWash Simulator is a very simple, and very good game. Alone or with friends it’s both fun and stupidly satisfying to clean dirt with water. A healthy variety of locations, tools, a solid upgrade path, and even new looks are on hand to make this one well worth checking out.
With a bland, uninteresting, and predictable story, repetitive and awful feeling combat, poor enemy variety, and the maddening decision to have no save system mixed with constant freezes and crashes this game simply is not worth your time.
Overrogue’s value will depend entirely on the price, which I simply don’t know before launch. There are far better options on the Xbox platform, especially those on Game Pass like Slay the Spire and Monster Train (just to name a couple). Great music and decent graphics can’t save what is otherwise a bloated and unbalanced mess of a title.
Eternal Hope is a beautiful, great-sounding disappointment. Even at its low price, it’s hard to recommend. With a playtime of no more than two hours and seemingly no replay value there are far better options out there for your time and money, but not many that look so danged pretty.
MADiSON is a psychological horror game without any psychological horror. It has jump scares galore, and at least on PC, it’s a completely broken mess for me before launch. I’d advise taking a wait-and-see approach for both PC and Console due to all of these issues. Priced at $35.99 US it’s a steep cost for something that isn’t very good even when it’s working. If you love yourself a good horror game I’d give this one a little time post-launch, and take a look at it eventually on a deep sale.
Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition is an eventually great game. It requires a ton of patience to see through, so even though it’s on Game Pass you need to make sure you’re willing to commit that much time because boy does it both start slow and make some head-scratching decisions when it comes to the map and exploration. If you can hold on for a solid 10 or 15 hours though you’ll end up finishing up one of the best 2nd halves of a game in the past generation.
House Flipper is really fun and it’s a great addition to Game Pass. It’s an Xbox Play anywhere title and available on both console and PC. The UI works best on the latter but the game is still a hell of a relaxing time on the former. Grab your bucket and mop, start vacuuming up every roach you can see, and you’ll be building the home of your dreams in no time.
Ms. Chalice and the new weaponry and charms are an excellent addition to what was already a stellar package and you can even complete all of it on the simple mode for once! Everyone should at least see if not play this expansion, it is truly wonderful
Outriders: Worldslayer is a solid 8 or so hour expansion that adds a seemingly long and quite enjoyable endgame grind to what was already a solid title. With the base game on Game Pass, it is worth giving that a shot and if you like it just know that this expansion is available, and it’s damned good. It takes everything the main campaign has and dials it up to eleven in a brilliantly dumb-fun kinda way.
Whether you’re looking for a fascinating trip through history or one hell of an action RPG there are few games out there better than this one.
AI: THE SOMNIUM FILES nirvanA Initiative is one of my favorite games to release this year. With a mixture of wit, humor, and above all else heart it is something no one should miss. Whether a fan of the Visual Novel genre or not this game is a damn near perfect follow-up to the original.