I thought about creating a thread like this a while back but I weren't sure how much traction it would get. I guess we will see!
There's been a few times where a game on Game Pass has been listed as "Leaving Soon" and along with Pure Xbox's really handy articles that give us a definitive date, it's meant that I've dropped whatever I'm playing to try a game out in the 15 day window we usually get before it gets dropped from the service.
I think the time sensitivity creates a different dynamic as you play. Maybe you won't go for every collectible, maybe you'll skip the campaign mode, maybe you'll just check out the multiplayer.
If this has happened to you then post your thoughts/reviews on these games here. What you think of the game, how much time you had to play it, did you go for 100%, did you just play the campaign or the multiplayer. How was your experience of the game affected by the limited time frame?
I've got a few like this over the last year so I may post some quick thoughts on older titles that I played during the "leaving game pass" window at a later date.
Most recently though, I played
Night In The Woods - I honestly had no idea what this game was about. It was one of our game club games when it first joined the service but I was unable to join in back then. I knew it could end up being a fairly long game so I wanted to leave good time to play it and I managed to finish it in about 4 days (not constant playing as I had other things to do).
It's a decent game. Its a bit weird though, I absolutely loved all the characters, the music, the story, the setting, the aesthetic and the backstory of both the characters and the town it's set in but I found the gameplay itself to be a bit arduous. It was hard to motivate myself to play it because there was a lot of just backtracking over the same areas in order to trigger events, side stories and fetch quests.
I was thinking it's quite weird that I've played so many of these "coming of age" style games over the last couple of years, mainly due to game pass. Stuff like Oxenfree, Donut County and Tell Me Why. I think there's been a couple more but I struggle to remember right now. Not sure if it's a new thing in games really. Psychonauts 1 is a bit of a coming of age story but it's wrapped around a platformer whereas in the other games I mentioned, the story comes first with light platforming/puzzles to make the experience more interactive.
Anyway, decent game. I think it's probably the best of these kind of interactive coming of age stories that I've played even if I did struggle to motivate myself to play it. I sort of wish I had the fortitude to play it again to see the alternate side stories and ending but I don't, especially not in the next 3 days before it leaves. It's also good a couple of extra modes in the main menu that I played. One is like a constellation finder where you draw lines between stars and find constellations. The other is like a short game that's more similar to the main game with a few differences.
@ralphdibny Excellent idea for a thread! While I don't have anything to contribute as of this moment, I can definitely see myself writing here in the future to encourage people to play certain games that are leaving.
Fortunately, I bought Night in the Woods on the Switch so I won't have to worry about missing out on that game. I'm glad to hear that you enjoyed it though! I'll definitely be playing it in the near future, but as you mentioned, it's hard to motivate yourself to play it as I've tried to start it up multiple times but it's just not that gripping. It does seem like a unique experience though.
@LtSarge cheers, I think it's comparable to how I play the PS Plus games as well because they have a time limit on them if I'm not planning to renew the sub.
I thought you had played Night in the Woods for game club already to be honest, maybe it was someone else! I don't think I'd buy it for myself but I probably would buy it as a gift for a friend or 2 that I think would enjoy it. They don't really play console games but I can see them getting into this one.
It's certainly a slow burner and it's glacial pace is a bit of a detriment to it, especially for players with short attention spans, like myself currently 😅. I think you can whip through it fairly quickly if you just go straight to the objectives but I think you'd miss quite a few of the little character beats if you did that. The fact that multiple playthroughs are required to see everything but the bulk of it remains the same is a negative for me too.
I think you can save anywhere though (at least every time you enter a new screen) so could be good to play on Switch! Just need to stick it out though. If it helps then there are 4 parts and an Epilogue. I think Parts 2 and 3 have 4 days in them (so like an event happens at the end of the day and then you go to sleep). Can't remember how many days were in Part 1. Part 4 and the epilogue is just the end of the game so they progress fairly quickly
@JohannVanDerSmut I can't say I've played Vermintide 2 unfortunately. Hopefully someone else can pipe up about it
I'm playing Night in the woods at the moment, i believe im on day 9 now and there's just 12? I'm not going for the 1,000GS but I am going all over the place so I should get a decent amount of GS? Overall i like the game, it's odd and yeah a walking simulator i guess bit but love these weird story telling games. Gotta crunch a bit to get it done before it's gone on Thursday.
I usually play one or two of the leaving soon games as it's usually something interesting that just never made it to the forefront of the ever growing backlog.
@Krzzystuff I ended up with 420GS at the end of my playthrough and I would say that I explored the available areas fully on each day except for a couple where I unknowingly triggered the final event for the day. In part 3 you seem to have a choice of 3 final events of the day and I ended up doing 2 of them before it triggered part 4. I don't think 1000GS can be done in one playthrough unfortunately
I had to crunch when I was playing it even though I left a bit more time for it. I could just never work out how far I was until the end! I think on one day, I unlocked a bunch of achievements in quick succession, I assume because I finished a bunch of side stories which made me think I was actually making some progress for once!
Just FYI, in the extras menu on the main menu. The two minigames are quite short. The first one can be done in less than 20 mins and the second one is probably about an hour or so
@ralphdibny well then never mind about getting a lot of GS lol. I finished day 9 i think, did the historical society with Greg so I'll see if I can finish the game tonight. It's definitely not a Gabe for everyone but I'm enjoying it. Just another game i never would have gotten to experience without gamepass.
So i did the responsible thing that a working father of two should do....and played until 4am to finish the game. I skipped seeing a few people at the very end just cuz i needed to go to sleep but a fantastic game. It does take a big detour to WTF ville at the end but i really enjoyed it.
@clankylad yeah you did miss a good portion of stories up on the power lines.
The music on the star gazing with the Russian dude gave me FFVII vibes when REDXIII goes back to his village...was that just me?
I just finished Night in the Woods on Switch after about 7-8 hours of playtime I believe and it was honestly quite good. It's definitely a slow burn in the beginning but after a couple of hours, the story becomes really engrossing. I think my only issue is that the ending doesn't really wrap things up that well, which I guess is why you need to play through it multiple times. But honestly, I don't feel like playing through it again due to how slow it was in the beginning. Not to mention that I didn't like the writing that much. It just feels too casual sometimes, like not much effort has been put into making the dialogues compelling to read. Also, the protagonist felt very out of character sometimes. For example, when she's talking with people in town, she behaves normally. But when she's out with her friend Bea, she becomes a complete a**hole for some reason. On top of this, the dialogue options during these sections are one-sided, like I don't get to choose to either act nice or mean. It just felt so out of character, like the writers forced this side of her solely for plot convenience. But besides these parts, the story was really good and I ended up really liking the four main characters.
Also, how convenient that one of the games that is leaving Game Pass is one that I finished just the other week. I can finally contribute to this thread! So here's my review of Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (which is taken from another thread):
Just finished Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition on Switch after roughly 47 hours of playtime. For the first 15 hours, the game was so unappealing to me due to numerous things but over time it became better and in the end, I really enjoyed my time with the game so I'm glad that I stuck with it. I wouldn't say that it's one of the best JRPGs ever made, but it's still a good one that's worth experiencing (as long as it's not your first JRPG that is).
When it comes to the story, I thought it was interesting once you got past the first 20 hours or so because of the characters. The protagonist Yuri is actually quite dark, which surprised me as JRPGs tend to have "good guys" as the protagonists. Once I realised that, the story and the characters started becoming more appealing to me. But it honestly shouldn't have taken that long for that to happen. I think my main issue with the story is that they use all these made-up terms like blastia, aer crene, apatheia and so on, and it's really hard to follow along, not to mention be interested when it gets so heavy on the exposition. Furthermore, the story is all over the place for the first 20 hours and that makes it even more difficult to follow along. Like in one moment you have this objective, but then you run into another objective, and then another one, and you keep getting side-tracked. This is less of an issue during the second half of the game as you always have one clear goal at a given time, which is good.
In terms of the characters, what is fundamentally there is good but the problem is the awful execution of these characters through poor voice acting as well as poor writing. Whenever something serious happened, it was hard for me to sympathise because these moments weren't executed well at all. On top of that, the game has very stiff animations and so it makes it even harder to care about the characters when they're not expressed in the best way possible. However, I'll admit that when you play a game for almost 50 hours, you can't help but grow attached to these characters. There were even some moments towards the end of the game that genuinely made me smile (Flynn is definitely best boy! Gotta love his relationship with Yuri).
With regards to gameplay, it was hard for me to find it enjoyable due to the stiff movement in battles. The battles take place in real time on a 3D area but you only move in a 2D plane and while there is an option to move in 3D, you can't attack while doing so. My problem is that whenever you attack and finish a combo, the character just stands there for a whole second and it leaves you open for attacks. There's also no dodge button (there is guarding however), and overall the combat just feels incredibly clunky and not smooth at all. Moreover, there are a lot of difficulty spikes with the boss battles and after a certain point, I had to lower the difficulty from normal to easy just because I wasn't enjoying the game anymore. But once I did that, the combat became more fun because the stiff movement was a non-issue when you barely took any damage from normal enemies at that difficulty level (boss fights were still challenging though).
Now that I've talked about most of the stuff that I didn't like about the game, I'm going to mention the things that I did like. For starters, the soundtrack for this game is phenomenal. There are so many different tracks for each area and whenever you explore a new dungeon, there will always be a new tune to listen to and they were all fitting for that place. Not to mention that as you progress through the game, the battle theme will actually change over time to a completely new one and I thought that was really cool, I don't think I've ever seen a JRPG do that before. And the battle themes were great as well!
Secondly, I absolutely loved the variety in dungeons. There are so many different environments that these dungeons take place in, such as castles, ruins, sewers, forests, deserts, snowy places, cavern, crystallised caverns and so on. It was a sheer joy to arrive to a new area and explore the new environment there. Consequently, I loved that the dungeons weren't too long. Typically when you play a JRPG, dungeons tend to last for a long time and are confusing to navigate. However, in this game the dungeons are very brief and are mostly linear except for a few instances. Because the dungeons were short, there are tons of them in this game and I like that. As some already know this about me, I just love variety in all kinds of things and this game had a huge amount of that. That's something that I'll definitely commend the developers for.
So all in all, this game was an enjoyable experience once you get past a certain point (which I'm sure will differ from person to person) and I'm glad that I played through it. This was my first Tales of game and honestly, I think this title was a good starting point for me since it's on the Switch and it felt easy to pick up and play. I don't recommend it to people who are new to JRPGs since there are much better alternatives, but if you haven't played this series before and you're curious about it, then I'd recommend Tales of Vesperia.
Sooo, not a proper review but I've been playing Sable over the last few days as it's leaving Game Pass soon.
All the talk about Immortals Fenyx Rising being a BotW clone, welll Sable is definitely a BotW clone. But it's good. The story and world is fairly unique even if the atmosphere and mechanics are lifted from BotW. The music definitely takes some inspiration from it too.
As much as I like the game, there's something to be said about performance, even on the Series X. If you travel quickly between different areas on it's fairly large map, the game struggles to load and the frame rate tanks. The frame rate also drops when you go into "busy" areas where there are a lot of buildings. Some assets have failed to load at times as well as a couple freezes have left me having to close the game and restart it.
There seems to be 6 main areas (as well as a prologue/epilogue area) to explore on the open world map. I think I have more of less completed a couple of the areas and I've gone to every cartographer to fill out the details of the map/get the fast travel points.
Looking forward to finishing it over the next couple of days.
@Clankylad all of them I suppose! I don't really know what to choose at the end though. Not sure what happens or if there's much difference as it will be the end of the game for me.
I think my favourite looking mask is probably the Ibexi with the horns. I have a soft spot for the shade mask but I'm not sure if that can be picked. I think I feel most like a climber and I do like that mask too - although I've only just discovered the Chum Queen so my stamina just shot through the roof after I delivered her 80 eggs in one go! 😅
I've got one more main area (bottom right of the map) to go and then I have to do a mop up of what's left which I may have to use a guide for. Still got some time before I choose my mask! Not sure if I will go for all of the Chum eggs (which I'll defo need a map for) and also buying all the clothes and bike parts. I'll see how I feel as I come to the end of it
Ok I am nearly finished now. I think I have absolutely every collectible even though there isn't a clear and defined list. Got a few last ones by cross referencing the Sable wiki, some Reddit posts and some Steam posts. Pretty sure I'm done. Going to wait for my partner to come home and show her the filled up Chums lair before I go and claim my mask.
Im not sure if it's possible but I think I'll choose the Chum mask if I can. The whole outfit is my favourite in the game!
It is nice the way you write about Sable "going home". It is very much a coming of age story wrapped around the BotW style exploration/collectathon. I'm trying to not let it get to me too much as real life circumstances are so up in the air for me right now that I feel like I live inside a horoscope 😂. Last thing I need to do is decide where my life goes next based on the game I'm playing 😆
I suspect my indecision on which mask to choose is probably reflective of my real personality though. I don't really like to be tied down to anything and I like to do a bit of everything I suppose
Well, this one's a great idea for a thread, @ralphdibny! I will sure come and write here often in the future.
On the topic, I think the last game "leaving soon" I beat was The Artful Escape.
It was a nice one. In fact, it was the first (and, so far, only one) I played and finished mostly via XCloud.
As for the game itself, it was a fun (albeit short) ride. It's a little short on the "gameplay" side, with little platforming and some "shredding" on the guitar. The visual style is outstanding, like a psychedelic dream. The message of the story is nice, too, and can be very touching if one's in the mood for it.
I didn't get all the achievements on my only playthrough. I am glad I tried it and I certainly enjoyed my time with it.
Being in GP save me some money as I was planning on getting it for my backlog. But now that I am done, there's not much else to do to justify coming back to the game.
@Clankylad I finished it last night. Went with the Ibexi mask in the end. I couldn't help but think about it in terms of my real life and I read all the descriptions after selecting each mask in turn (pressing yes once to each mask gives you more description before you confirm)
I think in real life, I always wanted to be an entertainer but never had much luck going mainstream though I think I do have some success entertaining the people close to me 😂😀. I thought the masks description of that lifestyle was probably quite spot on. You'd have to leave your clan because they don't have need for it. Probably what a lot of famous people do in real life if they make it mega big.
Fulfillment wise, I could have gone for either climber or cartographer. I like seeing amazing things and I like cataloguing stuff. But again, it's lonely and spending the rest of your life alone isn't an attractive prospect. I think I prefer having company.
I did initially go for the Chum mask but the description put me off... I'd already found all the Chum eggs so I couldn't dedicate my life to finding more. (interestingly I counted all the Chums in the Chum lair after I'd collected them all and there actually was 165 of them which is how many eggs there are!)
The whale mask sounded cool too and a secret history sounded appealing but again, I think I'd rather stay with my clan. So I did!
@HarmanSmith cheers! I had the idea for it when I was trying to try out all the PS Plus games I had before my sub lapsed a few years ago. I wrote a load of mini reviews on the Push Square forums back then. A similar feeling kind of came over to Xbox every now and then when some games were leaving soon on GP so I thought I'd get something similar going on over here.
Sounds like you had a good time with The Artful Escape! The short games are always easiest to do in the "leaving soon" time span. I rarely do anything that's over 10, maybe even 20 hours unless I really wanted to and was actually able to clear my schedule completely.
Having said that, checking the Xbox app now. It puts my total Sable play time at just under 30 hours. But that includes time where I've left it paused or on the menu and gone and done something else though.
I've been playing Sniper Elite 4 today. About half way through it now. I almost put it down during the first level because it was so overwhelming but I'm glad I didn't. It's like Splinter Cell but set in WW2. Also Italy so it looks really nice everywhere. There are 9 levels and it takes about 1-2 hours to do a level. Is really good though
Transformers Battlegrounds - I played this one all the way through. It's a bit bland but it's not awful. It's a tactics game like Gears tactics but seems a bit simpler. Or rather you don't really have to delve into the game mechanics that far because Medium difficulty isn't very hard at all.
Aliens Fireteam Elite - really not my cup of tea at all. You just move through levels and shoot aliens and robots. There's not a lot else to it that I have found interest in. I'm almost half way through it but it's gotten a bit too hard and I can't really be bothered to waste any more time with it
A couple weird things I noted when I first played it. Why was this touted as an awesome PS5 exclusive at launch? It doesn't feel like a very "next gen" (at the time) game. Graphics are good but hardly the best, I don't think it runs at 60fps and there are load screens between self contained areas.
Secondly, from the marketing and game art, I kind of thought this would be a kids game. I was so wrong. I booted it up and the game is absolutely horrifying. The people are addicted to these snacks that turn their body parts into a facsimile of the snack they've eaten. Like it's proper body horror.
Ok with those initial preconceptions/misconceptions out of the way...
This is a really cool game. The characters are really really relatable. Lots of food (or snax) for thought. Realistic relationships, nobody's perfect etc etc. Deals with lots of mental health stuff, depression, anxiety, paranoia, addiction, inferiority complexes, writers block, relationship issues, stubbornness etc. Does it all quite well too. The characters aren't defined by these traits as well which is the most important thing. Like they have good days and bad days.
One bit that made me really stop and self reflect was when I watched the video diaries 1 and 2 in quick succession. Very relatable change in mood from one day to the next.
The horror carries on into the end game which is great, it has a real alien 3/star trek fist contact vibe to it. I can't really pinpoint the exact feeling I get from it.
Overall the gameplay is quite good. It's the sort of game where you are given tools to proceed and while there is a lot of using tools as intended, there's also a lot of player imagination involved in terms of combining tools to catch certain Bugsnax.
Also, the characters are very likeable and very funny which is always a plus!
After finishing this game, I found out it was developed by the same people who made Octodad: Dadliest Catch which shouldn't surprise me really. Both are very excellent and very funny games!
Soooo I'm playing Metal: Hellsinger as I leaves game pass on Friday but I think I might be ready to pack it in.
There's a lot I like about this game. I like it's depiction of hell and it's scenery and atmosphere. I like the music too.
But I am just finding it too difficult. I've done the tutorial and the first 3 hells but it's main hook which is shooting in time with the beat is just a bit too hard for me.
Sometimes, I get it, sometimes I am shooting on the rhythm exactly and it feels good. But a lot of the time it's really hard to do at the same time as moving, dashing and aiming.
It's just a bit too rigid in its premise for me to find it enjoyable. Comparable would be Doom '16 and Doom Eternal but in those games you kind of find your own rhythm and it's cool when it matches up to the music but your not beholden to it which makes those experiences much more enjoyable.
I guess Doom is more freestyle rhythm, you can play along to any part of the music and you aren't punished for being off beat, whereas Hellsinger forces you to play along to each beat in each bar with no ability to gain score for playing along to quavers and semi quavers.
It's tough and it may be too tough for me to play at that level consistently enough to actually finish the game
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Topic: Last Minute Thoughts/Reviews Thread (Leaving Game Pass Soon)
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