XboxEra's Reviews
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.
As a big fan of cinema and storytelling, I enjoyed the attempt at a mostly well told, if somewhat predictable yarn, full of plot twists and surprises, particularly with friends in tow. For those of us out there that like a little more traditional gameplay in our games, you may find yourselves wanting, but as it releases straight on to Xbox Game Pass at launch, I expect As Dusk Falls to surprise and delight more than few naysayers out there – myself included.
there are just way too many technical issues, inconsistencies, AI woes, and design flaws. It’s already a relatively low-budget racer with a quite inviting price point too, but that can’t become an excuse for the launch of a product that simply appears to be unfinished.
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.
It’s definitely not the best story you will read, but I always find the journey through visual novel games to be the best part of the genre. At a brief 2 hours or less of gameplay, it won’t be a major time sink. Just jump into the forest and let the Mothmen converge!
The frequent crashes I encountered on Xbox Series X, the increasingly bullet sponge nature of enemies, a fairly unsatisfying platforming and with simple level designs relying on cheap tricks such as traps every few steps and endlessly respawning enemies to keep the stakes high.
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.
Gamers who have been craving more mascot platformers should definitely give the Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series a shot. It’s a great little time capsule to a period where this was one of the dominant genres in gaming, in a franchise that I feel never got the recognition it truly deserved.
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.
Arcadegeddon might just secretly become my go-to co-op shooter for some time, and I sincerely hope that the muted Early Access launch last year won't end up hurting the game's long-term plans. Because even with its lack of originality and limited variety, Arcadegeddon offers a surprisingly satisfying and addictive gameplay loop, one that deserves to be built upon for months or years.
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.
All in all, F1 22 sets out to achieve various noble objectives, but not everything performs quite as well as intended. The revolutionized cars feel like they should, the new broadcast options and extra accessibility settings allow for a more approachable presentation, and the sheer amount of game modes and content that we'd expect from a Codemasters Formula 1 racer makes this an easy-to-recommend buy for Formula 1 fans.
In short, Broken Mind can sometimes be a fascinating experience with some interesting story beats and curious playable segments, but it's sadly hampered by formulaic puzzles, clunky combat and uneven technical polish. The game is still worth a shot for those looking for peculiar horror games.
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.