XboxEra's Reviews
This game is great for families to complete with their children and experience together, anyone who enjoys a quirky story with an interesting gameplay hook or fans of the Metroidvania genre.
If you love the sport and want the best looking and playing a version of it of all-time along with a staggering number of modes and options, then I think NHL 22 is going to make you quite happy.
It is such a wild mix of incredibly deep base building with light tower defense, and excellent twin-stick shooting. The type of game idea that you smack your head and go “of course, this is brilliant”.
In conclusion, due to its origin and the number of words constantly displayed on screen Disco Elysium – The Final Cut sometimes comes across more as a visual novel than anything else. It is rare for a game to have such historical depth and deeply complex narrative and therefore it is very impressive, although it should be stated this is not a game for the faint hearted or something that non-fans of this genre will probably want to take on. Some of the subject matter is fairly grim and destructive behaviour is contained within the story but it is not glorified as there are penalties to be paid for activities such as drug use. I cannot think of another game quite like this and can see why the game has been lauded since its original release. If this particular style of game appeals to you it is not one to be missed.
It's a no-brainer to at least check out as it's on Game Pass, but poor controls on console serve as a great detriment to what otherwise can be a really fun time.
When we're speeding through the game's colourful and exciting locations, the Sonic Colours formula still manages to shine, and to this date, it's arguably one of the highest points in the modern era of the famous blue hedgehog. Every new addition and change to this remaster feels poorly implemented, however, with even a handful of new bugs and palette issues, often making the core gameplay less optimal than the now-dated Wii version. It's a disappointing port of a great game, and Sonic Colours is good enough to be worth the experience even with the aforementioned shortcomings. But we would have expected a better job overall.
It’s been a long, and sometimes difficult road to get here, but 6 is a triumph for those of us who like the classic “Ubisoft game”. The map is enormous, but the game is tightly paced. The action is over the top like always but running at 60fps on a Series X it feels incredible. The writing is just as over the top, yet the emotional beats and comedy hit this time. The mission structure is never overly punishing, and it still feels rewarding.
Stardew Valley is a rare experience that has a complex and effective reward system that keeps you saying to yourself “just one more day”. You can easily find yourself losing hours and hours that feel like minutes. You may develop an overwhelming urge to create spreadsheets and fill notebooks with observations, recipes, product values, and villagers’ favorite gifts. And it very well may be just what you didn’t know you needed.
At the start of the review, I asked myself if this was the horror game to finally click with me. And long story short, the answer is yes. In Sound Mind does a good job in juggling both horror and mystery, even if it leans more towards the latter at the end. Although the story conclusion was a little lackluster, the phenomenal voice acting, the great level design and the creepy atmosphere make In Sound Mind a game worth playing. And yes, even for those who aren’t horror game fans.
Banana Mania offers so many playable modes and levels that I was instantly in love. For its initial asking price, the game is a steal. Although ultimately how this game appeals to someone will vary on whether or not the gameplay clicks with them. It can be fun, and there are tools to help you get through the toughest parts of the game, but if you do not like monkey maze pinball this game can be a hard sell. Check out some streams and see if it is for you; because if it is, this collection is going to be your dream game.
In conclusion, A Juggler’s Tale is a compact but perfectly formed cinematic experience. It is beautiful to look at and has an immersive atmosphere with a level of detail that pulls the player into its world. The focus here is on story with the game being pretty relaxing to play for the most part. It also offers a unique gameplay mechanic in the form of a puppets strings limiting traversal options within a puzzle platformer environment. At only £12.99 this tale of empowerment and hope is well worth investigating.
In my opinion, it's about the crazy and fun vehicles that would never be given a chance to exist except in our heads - but just as importantly, it's the road of our own imaginations that they drive on. Milestone concentrated on both here, and it has paid off in spades.
Embr is a good game, on PC. The console port for Xbox, even on a Series X, isn’t up to snuff. I would keep an eye on this though in case it ever gets a performance-enhancing patch, as the core gameplay loop can be seriously fun. It’s a shame that it is launching in this state on Xbox, but if you have even a mediocre PC and a few friends then you’ll have a good time.
If a true voyage of discovery appeals to you, you will be in your element exploring Midden and it’s many mysteries, and with Day One Availablity on Xbox Game Pass, it should probably be at the top of your download queue. I ended up as a Trader by the way – which Mask will you choose at your journeys end?
This is a game that came close to greatness for me, but in the end the combat held it back. I still quite enjoyed my time with it thanks to the story, and I am very interested to see what developer Zoink is working on next. As it is not a full-priced title I think it’s worth taking a chance on if what you’ve seen here sounds interesting to you.
I know I sound like a broken record here, but I can’t say enough how refreshing The Artful Escape is. In a sea of third-person open-world collect-a-thons, first-person shooters, and free-to-play action games, it’s nice to be able to just rock out and chill to something that doesn’t require lightning reflexes or demand intense attention from you.
Madden NFL 22 definitely tries to get things right, but the lack of competition turns it into its own worst enemy. The rush to release a new game every year during a period in which game development takes more time than ever results in an incomplete and bug-filled launch. EA Vancouver skipped a next-gen version of NHL 20 to try to knock things out of the park with NHL 21 — maybe EA Tiburon should have done the same with Madden. If they do not learn from their mistakes, they might stumble into the same fate they have with their own NBA Live series.
because SkyDrift excels at being a fun flying-themed arcade racer, I am happy to have it in my collection of co-op racers on my Xbox. What was once a genre with so many kinds of racers has died off in the years of the Xbox One, so even if SkyDrift Infinity is a remaster of a ten-year-old game, I think it is worth flying for.
Golf Club: Wasteland is visually arresting with a simple control style that suits it very well. The game is challenging and has some difficulty spikes, but you can avoid unnecessary frustration. The soundtrack is amazing and there are lots of nice touches that give the game a far deeper meaning if you choose to read the signs. This is a round of Golf that will be hard to forget.
The general presentation remains fairly dated, however, and the lack of depth and event variety don't allow it to compete with titles such as the DIRT franchise, which offers even derivates of rally such as rallycross or gymkhana. It's a fun and respectful title that deserves to hold the WRC license, but there are still things to iron out.