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You'd be forgiven for missing it, but yes, The Last Case of Benedict Fox is now available on Xbox Game Pass, and has been so for the last few days. While the indie metroidvania was quite hyped up before release, it arrived just as Star Wars Jedi: Survivor was launching, which certainly hasn't helped with visibility for the new Game Pass title.
Reviews and impressions have been light so far too, but we've done a little bit of browsing to see what folks are saying about the game. The few early critic reviews available are very positive, but fan feedback has been mixed, with players disappointed with bugs, glitches and performance issues on Xbox at launch.
Here's what a couple of early reviews say about The Last Case of Benedict Fox:
NoobFeed (9/10)
"The Last Case of Benedict Fox's beautiful visuals will keep you hooked from the get-go. The mechanics are simple enough that even novice players won't have trouble getting the hang of the gaming. Both the story and the level of challenge are excellent, preventing the game from ever seeming stale. Anyone who enjoys platformers should give The Last Case of Benedict Fox one a try. It is a fantastic showcase of what can be done in the platforming genre, with stunning visuals, engaging gameplay, and a memorable cast of characters."
Try Hard Guides (8.5/10)
"Throughout your time in The Last Case of Benedict Fox, players will be confused, intrigued, frustrated, and rewarded for the effort that they put in. While the combat isn’t the best in the show, the exploration and mystery-solving aspects will likely be enough to keep players coming back for more. It will be really exciting to see the theories and community that build around what has the makings to be a cult classic."
As mentioned earlier, fan feedback so far is less positive. While the game has an early "mostly positive" rating on Steam, players have noted severe bugs and performance issues on Xbox Game Pass so far.
We'll be keeping an eye out in the coming weeks to see how feedback on this one changes and evolves, but right now, it might be worth tempering your expectations for this Xbox metroidvania. The Last Case of Benedict Fox is on Game Pass though, so if you're interested, why not give it a go yourself?
If you have tried this one out, what score would you give it so far? Vote in our poll and let us know!
What Score Would You Give 'The Last Case Of Benedict Fox'? (188 votes)
- 10/10 (Outstanding)
- 9/10 (Excellent)
- 8/10 (Great)
- 7/10 (Good)
- 6/10 (Not Bad)
- 5/10 (Average)
- 4/10 (Poor)
- 3/10 (Bad)
- 2/10 (Terrible)
- 1/10 (Abysmal)
Comments 22
Where is the Pure Xbox review?
I'm enjoying it so far. I really like that it doesn't hold your hand and you have to figure out some things. It's definitely not a game for everyone, it isn't 'just another Metroidvania' like I thought, there are genuine puzzles to solve. There's a cipher for example that is needed to solve several of those puzzles... a game that helps to play with a notebook. I personally like all that, but many won't.
And the lack of hand holding is double edged sword. A couple of times already I was literally going in circles for 30 mins or so trying to figure out what I had missed. It leads to great 'Eureka!' moments if and when you figure out the next clue or find the hidden passage you missed, but it can be frustrating too. If I was less patient, or didn't figure out a puzzle quickly then I could understand people giving up. A bit of a Marmite game.
I've also had a couple of bugs where the controls freeze up and I've had to quit out and restart. And the combat is pretty meh, but I like what it brings to the genre, both in tone and puzzles, both of which feel fresh. Too early to score though.
While I agree it could use some patching due to glitches and stuttering, the issues in no way made this unplayable as some have mentioned.
My wife and I absolutely loved playing through this one and highly recommend it. I finished yesterday evening with one missing achievement which appears to be broken as I have found all the anchor points. I gave it a 9/10.
Visually impressive, wonderful atmosphere, distractingly flawed writing and voice acting, and too glitchy at present to keep me immersed. Sigh.
@Texel Considering that some claim 30fps is 'unplayable' and any minor glitches/bugs completely ruin the ENTIRE experience, its not surprising that some will be making it seem a LOT worse than it really is.
These are often the same people that will 'rave' about Dark Souls or Elden Ring, games that can't hold a consistently frame paced 30fps and/or don't hold a locked 60fps on Consoles.
At least with Game Pass, you can 'try' games and decide whether they are 'playable' or better to wait for inevitable patches. I expect to be playing Redfall, so I can 'wait' to try LCoBF if it needs a patch or two.
The game is unfinished. Its probably the most disappointing game pass addition this year. I had very high hopes. The controls are broken, the animations has problems, the story is disjointed at best, the combat so many flaws. It's honestly very disappointing.
I haven’t tried it yet, but that’s for lack of time. The lack of proper reviews for it too, is an odd thing. This is the biggest Xbox exclusive since Hi-Fi Rush, so you’d think that Xbox would want to capitalize on the game in some capacity and generate word of mouth, even with Redfall on the horizon. That said, I hope Redfall has reviews in some capacity (we’ll find out soon, eh?)… Anyway, the release of Benedict Fox is reminding me of Somerville’s launch so far, which is a bad look for a big indie release, in my opinion.
Honestly, I can understand the lack of reviews, as I have tried out the game and am not sure what to think of it. Setting and mechanics should be tailor-made for me, but there are performance issues and odd delay in controls.. it just feels off. Doesn't help that introduction to the world has been basically skipped.
Anyway, I found it hard to connect and immerse into the experience and everything else is irrelevant at that point. I might give it another go after few patches and tweaks
It crashed and i lost 4 hours of progress. Im not going back to it
Where's the Redfall review??
Played for a couple hours before I uninstalled it, bad controls, poor combat, stiff animation, I was stuck in a place where 3 enemies waited for me to fall of a cliff then they attacked me at the same time removing 3 of my health, then next attack I was bannished.
I like it so far. The combat is mediocre but the puzzles and exploration are top. If you're having problems with stuttering close it completely and restart.
My progress is too limited to judge the game. It is still too early. The performance is less than would be expected. I switched to performance mode fairly soon after starting play. Even then, it is not as smooth as I would like. The devs need to optimize the game and push out a patch.
Was very intrigued by it when it was first showed off. But the reports of performance issues and bugs made it an easy decision to put it on the backburner with so many big games coming out.
Feel like a broken record saying this, but it sounds like it could have done with a couple more months polishing.
@Bmartin001 Probably embargoed until 5/2. The game releases on Game Pass tonight at 8pm EST.
I have been enjoying The Last Case of Benedict Fox.
Yes, the voice acting is pretty lackluster and the stuttering is a touch distracting, but it's not "unplayable". I too encountered the bug where the D-pad controls seem to just stop working and it requires a full game reboot.
Combat is the weakest point. Sometimes it feels like the encounters are harder than they need to be. I probably should use Smoke Bombs more than I do.
I don't like that once you get a new ability, there is no video clip or screen prompt on how to do it. Yes, all you have to do is go to the Journal to find out what button to press, but a little "demonstration video" along with how to use the ability when you are selecting abilities to unlock would be a nice QoL improvement.
I love the puzzle solving here. Some of it feels very Myst-like in complexity and requires actual problem-solving skills. It makes this stand out against other Metroidvania-style games.
Since this is an indie game, I am willing to cut the developers a little slack (plus...Unity engine) - the game has a great vibe and I like environmental storytelling. I do think this is a patch or two away from being a 7/10 game - really just fix the performance and the D-pad control glitches.
There were also couple of dialog issues where Benedict spoke before another character finished during gameplay, but those are minor issues to address (or maybe they aren't issues and that's just how it's supposed to go, but it did seem like he was "early" given what was being said).
I've been saying the game feels a little janky and clunky. Combat is way to slow and methodical. And I don't know if it's intentional or not. I'll still continue on because the exploration and visuals are grade A top notch.
I want to add also that it plays better on quality mode, way snappier than performance.
"critics are on board" is a very rich statement, considering that the game only has literally two reviews from very random unknown sources.
It just didn't hold my interest at all. The framerate was all over the place on my Series S in parts, and the jump animation felt really janky. Maybe patches will sort that out, but I won't be returning.
If you played on a series x, changing a system resolution to 1440p improved the stuttering problem in many scenes.
After playing it some more over the weekend my views are slightly more negative than above. A few things
1) the combat just isn’t good. There are many occasions where you get hit once and you never get a chance to move/escape and that’s it, you are dead. As the game goes on there is more and more combat against more annoying enemies, making this worse.
2) quick resume failed and I lost around 1-2 hours of progress somehow, it took me back to a much earlier save. More worryingly a friend on my gaming Discord lost even more of their save in similar circumstances.
It still has just enough to keep me engaged, not least I want to see how the story resolves, but it’s around a 6 for me right now. A shame as what it does right is really great, but it’s very uneven.
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