XboxEra's Reviews
Dead Take is a solid four or five hours of classic horror puzzle fun, mixed with some excellent (and some mediocre) live-action scenes. It isn’t looking to break any ground, instead targeting a good, scary time, and nailing it.
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 is about as much of a continuation as one should expect from an arena fighter sequel. You’re here for the spectacle, for Demon Slayer, and a game you can pull out to play with friends on a whim and not much more. The fights are extravagant as they are beautiful and for me, that’s more than enough. And I’m sure anyone eyeing this game feels the exact same way. ∎
NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound looks great, and is a lot of fun. A few balance issues and a short run-time vs. its $40 price hold it back from greatness.
The core strengths of the original are here and intact, from the gorgeous world and solid survival mechanics, to another intriguing story to unpack, but I can’t help but feel there should have been more from the start that feels truly new. Still, it is a lot of fun, and as we begin another early access journey, this peblet and clay foundation is pretty solid – I can’t wait to see what else is in store.
Star Overdrive has a lot of great ideas and a beautiful presentation while also being encumbered by frustrating platforming and combat systems. It’s hard to ignore the latter when the game’s best part is frequently put on hold to engage with tedious platforming puzzles and enemies that send out protagonist flying into the sand with no reserve.
Ultimately, Wheel World is a small and charming open world, presenting a stylish look, an enjoyable biking gameplay loop, and various high adrenaline races, up and down the hills of this magic island. With rather formulaic open-world activities and slightly unpolished physics, the game doesn’t quite reach its full potential, but it’s also a pleasant experience that ends before some of its shortcomings could start to bore or frustrate. And, well, it’s out today and is on Game Pass, so it doesn’t cost much to give it a shot yourself. So, hop on your magical apocalypse-avoiding bikes, and let’s roll!
If you fancy moonlighting as a budding scientist battling for survival against other-worldly forces and scientific experiments gone wrong, you’re going to love Abiotic Factor. It’s a refreshing and charming take on the survival genre, full of great mechanics and systems, an engaging story and world and importantly it’s an absolute blast to play with friends. Go in as blind as you can, because like with all scientific endeavours, the joy is in the discovery.
WUCHANG: Fallen Feathers is an amazing title, one of the best the genre has to offer.
BAD END THEATER is an enjoyable stint of being able to choose the dilemmas your cast of characters face and then watching them die a bloody death. It’s an amusing choose-your-adventure sort of game with a bit more than that once you explore what this theatre has to offer, even if it isn’t quite subtle about certain aspects of its venue. Perfect for the sadist in you and even the hopeful. ∎
RoboCop: Rogue City - Unfinished Business is a solid step-up from the original, though performance on Xbox is a bit rough.
Shadow Labyrinth is a solid 2D Metroidvania and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Its edginess has a lot of spunk and charm, level design is solid, platforming is varied, and progression is paced well. If you dig the idea of PAC-MAN eating people as you explore a world purveyed in turmoil, this one’s worth checking out. ∎
Eriksholm is a tough game to fully review, as giving away the gameplay mechanics and plot elements that made me enjoy it should be experienced without spoilers. If you have the time, in this never-ending deluge of excellent games, consider adding this one to the backlog. It’s fun and not frustrating stealth and shockingly high production values make this one of my favorite surprises of the year.
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 is a brilliant package only marred by a loss of 4's story mode charm.
How I feel about Missile Command Delta is messy, because there are neat ideas here, mostly to be found within in the actual missile-commanding part of the game. The rest becomes more than a little tedious and while I admire the approach of doing something a little different, I can’t help but feel the whole package feels burdened by the narrative additions, and sadly those parts are not a lot of fun to play through. Unless you’re a massive lapsed Missile Command/Atari fan, I’d maybe let another cadet take your place.
Yearly sports titles tend to be small upgrades. College Football 26 is different, as CF25 set the groundwork after over a decade away. ’26 takes a more-is-better approach and smashes it. This is one of the best-playing and most realistic-feeling college sports titles I have ever played.
System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Edition is a solid upgrade for an all-time classic. While I didn’t personally get to test it, the thought of playing the title with friends in co-op sounds amazing, and the full mod support built into the game on PC should lead to some crazy scenarios.
Ruffy’s adventure has enough spins on the formula to stand out, especially the creative swap mechanic and some ideas beyond the opening levels, but I feel like there’s a lot of unforced errors in this title, which made me not enjoy myself as much as I hoped I would.
I can’t help but thoroughly recommend I Am Your Beast. It’s a neatly designed, satisfying game that combines the addiction of great ‘one-more-go’ titles with some solid, satisfying gunplay, all wrapped up with a surprisingly engaging narrative to help keep you invested. If you’ve ever had the urge to indulge in a secret-agent-revenge-fantasy, consider that itch thoroughly scratched.
Soulstone Survivors was already great in its first Early Access version in 2022, and its 1.0 launch in 2025 is an unmissable bullet heaven experience today; one that anyone with even a passing interest in the genre should check out, and one that already reserves itself a high spot in my yearly top 10 games of the year, surely.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate is a decent game. The Casey Jones & the Junkyard Jam DLC is worth it if you’re interested in the base title, though I’d only give it a full recommendation if you have a friend or three to play with.