XboxEra's Reviews
Finding the Soul Orb is a boring game that plays poorly. The storytelling is amateurish, and the overall plot makes no sense. It does have some nice store-bought musical tracks, even though they don’t match each other well in style or tone. Even at $7 avoid this one at all costs, unless you want to get really drunk and play something bad for kicks.
The Callisto Protocol is a gorgeous mess. I cannot recommend it at the full launch price. The combat is miserable, and the story is simply not interesting. If you are a massive fan of survival horror it lets you down by not being scary either, instead relying on jump scares the entire time. It is highly competent technically though, and I hope the team at Striking Distance gets more time for their next title, which very well could be a sequel to this one.
Hilarious banter, ridiculous fights, a great mission structure, and satisfying progression show that Fatshark is only getting better. Being available day one on Game Pass for PC means no one, either alone or with friends should pass on giving this one a go.
Intrepid Izzy takes aim at both those nostalgic for games of 30 years ago and a younger crowd. It’s not that long and no part of it is truly terrible. If you’re in the mood for a light and easy action platformer, then this one might be up your alley.
WRC Generations upgrades the general feel of Nacon’s yearly rally experience, tweaking the physics, handling, and smartly recreating the new challenges of the hybrid cars that are racing in the real-life series this season.
In conclusion, without a doubt, this is the best Dark Anthology game so far and a true climax to season one. Not only fans of the series but fans of the genre will love playing this. The acting, visual detail, sound design and writing could not be bettered here. Series mechanics have not only been improved but also extended delivering an extra level of depth to a fantastic experience. In short developer, Supermassive Games has delivered a horror classic that will keep players on the edge of their seats for hours. Who Lives and who dies? You can try to decide!
Gungrave G.O.R.E. is a game with few strengths and many flaws.
Poor writing and some technical issues are not enough to hold back what is otherwise a blast to play. Solo or co-op if a turn-your-brain-off type of kill-a-thon sounds appealing I think this one is worth it.
Syberia: The World Before is a remarkable adventure game that keeps its legacy adventure charm and is a worthy continuation of Ms. Walker’s story. It is a game that all of Microids and B. Sokal can, and should be, proud of.
Pentiment is not going to be popular. I do think however that it will become a cult classic. I can’t think of another game from a 1st party publisher to tackle a subject like this. Nothing about it feels forced to try and earn the most money, instead, it is a labor of devotion to telling a brilliant story at a specific period and place in our past. Life may rarely go the way we want, but there is power in our choices and I’m glad that Xbox allowed this game to be made. It’s a unique, dazzling work of art that will stand the test of time for as long as we remember it.
Somerville feels like great ambition being stretched a little thin, and fundamentally, the way it feels to actually play makes me wish it spent a little longer in the oven, refining and polishing the best parts. Fans of the genre, and sci-fi fans in particular will absolutely find a lot to love in this 5 hour or so adventure, but once the credits roll, you may be left feeling more than a little underwhelmed.
Police Simulator: Patrol Officers has zero redeeming qualities. It takes a serious position, which has had a lot of public issues since its inception in America and makes a truly awful game out of it. If you love the idea of playing hall monitor and giving people tickets for jaywalking, find something else. There is no fun to be had here in this ugly broken mess of a game.
Ultimately, Sonic Frontiers struggles with creating interesting levels and challenges in its large maps filled to the brim with padding. But if you can look past that, there is fun to be had within its frustrating confines.
Return to Monkey Island is great. It takes the adventure game to new heights of hilarity with a clever narrative, fantastic stylized graphics, wonderful music, and a huge amount of heart.
If you are a fan of manga or manhwa and are curious about Asian stories (and in particular, those about countries under Japanese rule during the late 1800s), I can easily recommend this game.
If you like puzzle games with brilliant stories, deviously clever puzzles, an incredible atmosphere, and an emotionally charged soundtrack buy this game. The Entropy Centre came out of nowhere and floored me with its brilliance; the less you know before you go in, the better of an experience it will be.
Resident Evil Village’s Gold Edition is a solid way to experience the full campaign and all its extra content for newcomers. It’s $50 for the whole thing, or $20 if you already own Village and want the new expansions. RE:Verse is a huge miss, but the third-person camera, expansion, and Mercenaries content more than make up for it.
This is a competent, satisfying and, while admittedly not ground-breaking, a very comprehensive package that will keep ARPG gamers and Warhammer fans happy for a long time – especially with some fellow Inquisitors to play with in co-op. Warhammer 40,000 Inquisitor: Martyr – Ultimate Edition is a game I’d happily recommend to anyone into fans of both of those things.
It isn’t the prettiest nor does it feature the best translation, but Gunfire Reborn is stupidly fun to play. The controls feel fantastic, the character and build variety is top-tier, and as someone who adores roguelikes/lites, it had everything I was looking for.
In the end, Signalis is a rather fascinating adventure with gorgeous retro visuals and excellent audio colluding with an exciting story and lore and great story to offer a world absolutely worth exploring.