Titntin

Final Fantasy rebirth still, 70 hours in and loving it.
Tried the Steller Blade demo too and Im now looking forward to it.

Im resolved to breaking out the fighting stick today, and playing some selections from my shoot em up collection. I gotta scratch that itch sometimes!

Happy easter to you all - whatever you are playing, I hope you are having fun!

I'm not a big fan of the current featureless Series X, but this thing literally looks like a fridge. It unbelievably ugly, but agree with everyone that this should have been the original offering, at this point its dead in the water, I predict sales will be awful. What a shame.
I hope the rumoured new controller finally surfaces though, my wife won't even touch the Xbox because of its controller, so a new one might help me turn that around..
Whilst the handheld rumours seem to be gathering pace, I'm finding that even harder to believe. No doubt a hardcore fan would buy one, but you are directly pitching against the fantastic Steam Deck and the undisputed champ of handhelds, the Switch and Switch 2. No analyst alive could give them a hope in hell of shifting many such units, and I'd much rather have the other two options for handheld needs, as I'm sure would most of the gaming public.

I dunno guys, I'd rather not be fatalistic, but it seems to me Xbox has lost the plot. Sony could release a turd on a stick and it would probably sell more than this fridge.... Where is the design, where is the inspiration, where are the ideas?

Cant moan at these additions
If I were not so full of unplayed games elsewhere, I'd resub to GP for these, but I simply wouldn't have the time to play them. Hopefully I'll get to try when I resub for Avowed, in the meantime I know many GP subscribers will be very happy with these!

As others have pointed out, every decision made is to bolster the profits of shareholders, even if that means killing the Xbox brand which is the only reason I'm here.
Xbox used to be able to operate with a fair amount of autonomy from MS corp, which is why I could love Xbox's but hate MS corp. The amount of funds used by the Activision buyout means this is no longer the case and now the shareholders will control the reigns - the results are unfolding. All those who cheered that buyout failed to see it was the end of Xbox as we have known it.
My Xbox series X is already very dusty, I'm not sure it will be used much from here on, but I'm still hopeful for Avowed.

My only need for gaming is at home, so unless it's like the portal and gives me full range games from my machine in my hand, then it wont appeal to me. I also buy all my PC games on steam, so it would need to be extremely good to be more worth than Steam deck...
However, its an interesting development, and I look forward to seeing what it can offer even if I suspect it won't be for me.

I've often used up my series x storage with so many GP games on offer, but I've not bought an upgrade as I feel they are too expensive on this system.
I wish they would have allowed non propriety expansion - I just put 2TB one in my main PS5 for £115 and moved my 1TB ssd to the 2nd PS5 and both have 4TB discs for PS4 games.
Ideally I'd like a 2TB expansion for the Series X but, according to google 'The best price for Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X/S 2TB right now is £269.40.' That's just a rip off.

I had such a nostalgic feeling when they showed Simon the Sorcerer!

Whilst I'm sure there are some interesting ideas and work in the titles, for some reason there was little for me to be genuinely excited for. Can't work out if that was me, the format, or the games, but something seemed 'off'.

It was a long show for the presenters so I can't be too harsh, but some of their script was pretty cringe for me - and whomever choose their matching colours got it very wrong

I hope it enthused others!

@BBB Thanks mate, very helpful. Ill definitely give it a go again once Ive finally finished Rebirth.
There's always someone on the net who believes the ultimate truth belongs to them and anyone with differing tastes is stupid, its the price we all pay for connecting as we do 😁

Played evil west on the other service... Its worth a look, but it didnt excite me and i dropped it after level 2.
I gave ff14 a go recently too. I dont really understand why I didnt have to pay on PS, but would on Xbox? I hope everyone enjoys it, but after several hours getting stuck in what is the most cumbersome and obtuse UI I've ever used, I gave up! If anyone has links to a resource that might help me better use the UI, Id be really grateful, as Id still want to play....

Both of these are good additions for GP, Im just drowning in unfinished games elsewhere atm or Id resub in an instant!

No need for a new xbox, theres nothing on the current one that uses its full potential, and given the huge number of xbox studios, thats what they should be trying to address.
Sony are doing what Sony always do, handheld add ons, vr add ons, drive add ons for the slim, and now a more powerfull addition. MS are a software firm and need to get that right, they wont compete with Sony on hardware and would be stupid to try imo.

People seem to be impressed by the 'eye shot', and it is a great image.
But to put it in context, UE5 offers loads of amazing tools and shaders for eyes that can produce such results in UE5. An example: https://images.app.goo.gl/M5efc63WjQNp7dGe9

Im not knocking the work shown here, its excellent. But in the context of current gen engines, its not pushing the boundaries any more than other in development titles imo.

Really interested in seeing this tech and engine hopefully pushing series x hardware, it looks great.

But I didn't enjoy the first game much, and am not convinced an 8 hour interactive movie is good value for the investment MS has made, so I hope it turns out to be substantially more than it seems to be..
My big hope for 1st party this year remains Avowed and Indy, but Id be genuinely delighted if this game surprises me.

I'm not sure there's much that could tempt me back, I think the game would need to be fundamentally altered to tempt me back in.
It's a shame, but I'd rather go and play Skyrim or Fallout 3 again than this game - it just hasn't got 'it' for me, and there are so few playing it now, it seems it didnt click with many others either..

Great to these coming to all players soon. Xbox doesn't get enough love from jrpg makers and it's nice to see this being turned around

Pretty decent list and I can see why most of them are there. Have not played the Stanley Parable, so that's one to check out for me.

Only one I would definitely not include in my top ten is persona 5 (though I'll admit I did not play the Royal edition) I've played lots of JRPG's I much prefer, and which respected my time better than this achingly slow crawl through some bland teen beats. Great style and good systems though.

Just a balance to old men moaning in here ('oh, its not the same as it was in my day, blah blah blah'), I'm older than all of them and was an adult by the time video games were a 'thing'. Played everything since the Atari VCS on all systems. There has never been such a great choice of superb games across all genres as there is right now - almost anyone who has been a long time gamer has a 'to play' list that's longer than it has ever been, and the various disparate publishing models now mean that you are not stuck pitching the same rubbish constantly to get it approved by the marketing of a large publisher.
Old men muttering into their pints about how it was better in the past deserve to be ignored, they are clearly losing perspective and becoming the butt of their own jokes. The rest of us can enjoy some great games..

Thanks for this review. It was as well written and informative as I've come to expect from you now, and I see you as the best reviewer across Pure and Push, someone who opinion I can truly take notice of.
Hats off to the dev for what must be a labour of love. I tend not to play anything where you shoot humans in a 'realish' context, so I'll be avoiding this one, but I really hope many others pick this up and it does well..

@Sifi
If you really only care about playing first party titles you must have had a very barren first few years of Series X.
An exclusive game is just that - it can be first or third party and I couldn't care less about the opening logo - if its a decent game I just wanna play it. There's several such titles on both PS5 and Switch, but not so much on Xbox. I think that's a shame and I hope Xbox keeps its exclusives, but it's a truth, no matter how much you are in denial.

Thanks for the review Fraser.
What a shame about the AI traffic issues. I think I could really enjoy this game, but the issues you describe with the driver AI would frustrate me too much. I'll keep my eyes on future updates and hope they fix this

Nice write up, thank you!
I was convinced these would be too old and a bit of a mess, but I can see that these are actually a good way into the franchise whilst we wait for a new one..

@ZuneTattooGuy
"I'm not getting upset, but you honestly have no Playstation upcoming exclusives you can name."

As someone playing Helldivers 2 and FF rebirth atm, and loving both, I feel I do need to correct you.
There's also Rise of the Ronin and Stellar Blade in the next two months.
This is not to mention all the PS4 titles which do not see an Xbox release. There plenty of titles exclusive to that platform, no point trying to pretend otherwise.
There are also some great exclusives coming to Xbox and I eagerly await them, particularly Avowed which I'm very hopeful for. Until anything is announced for other machines I regard all Xbox's coming releases as exclusive releases.
Both machines have exclusives- which is the beauty of being multi platform, you get to play it all.

Eiyuden is the only title that appeals and I only finished the first title a couple of weeks back!

There is a bunch of great titles waiting for me on GP, as I let mine lapse early October last year, but I've had so many games to play (and still do) that I'm not in any hurry to resub yet and my poor series X hasn't been turned on since (my wife is not keen on the controllers). I'll definitely be jumping in again as soon as we get avowed, but right now there's simply not enough hours in the day for me to get proper use from it.

As per usual though, those who have just the one platform are well served by GP..

It's always about games for me. 360 had a shed load of good titles that you could not play anywhere else and that's what made it a fantastic platform.

Maybe those who tried 'Skull and Bones' want to play a real game with some polish? It's hard to see what's driving this desire for me, as I didnt get it when I tried it a few years back - maybe it's in a much better place now?
I've seen a lot of people on Push suggesting they will all buy it so it MS publishes more titles on the platform, but I wouldn't expect it to reach these numbers.

I was kinda hoping these titles wouldn't shift much and open the door to more, simply because I value my games machines having some uniqueness and would prefer to see Xbox hardware around for a long long time. It's like going abroad on hols and the first things you see when you get there are Star Bucks and McD. I value the difference and would prefer Xbox to keep its own identity.

I guess those who support MS corp and are keen to see the suits get more millions and the shareholders extract profits at the cost of Dev's jobs will be happy - this is clearly going to put more money in the pockets of those who certainly don't need it.

At the least the devs get a bigger audience, and that's never a bad thing...

@OldGamer999
100% agree. Those of us who game at home have no need for this 'vision'.
Even when you do connect, you play the series S version of the game.
To me, this is exactly the same BS as when we were all told single player games were dead, 20 years ago. If you are in this industry for long enough you learn that these over paid suits in the top seats have absolutely no idea at all, they simply want to jump onto any bandwagon that may be profitable. NFTs, Live Service games, everyone on the cloud, its all wishfull thinking. While the cloud may be a real mainstream in 2 decades, this is a global industry and any move to this could only happen once the majority of the world has the infrastructure.
I imagine in large swathes of the world their will always be a desire for local machines where authorities cannot control what and how much you consume.... cloud lets others control your content.

@OldGamer999
Opinions will vary of course, but seeing as how you mention 'all formats', both Hell Divers 2 and FF Rebirth have blown me away and are some of the best games I've ever played in their respective genres.
As far as I'm concerned you are very wrong and simply pushing a tired narrative you started ages ago.

I do like the format, though the voice over sounded like AI.

I didnt think the show was that good, but the format is surely a winner!

I really felt this was a bit dissapointing... There was precious little there that didnt look at least a gen old.
Its good that GP is getting many of these titles..

Am I being harsh? I loved the creatures game from Terry Pratchets daughter, but really didnt get excited for anything else.

Im amazed how many arm chair commentators think they know better than the devs who craft the games? Sign of the times I guess.
Its a huge shame if it doent come to xbox. Its a fantastic game if you like jrpgs heavy on exploration and variety and I hope everyone who wants to gets a chance to experience it.

@HonestHick
Hi mate. Yeah I get you with the comfy chair, I bought a Herman Miller lg gaming chair @ '£silly price' for just such a purpose. Its great, but I like to sit on the Sofa with my misses, so I use it most during the day for my work.
If you use an oled, then I get why 60hz is essential to you - the pixels turn off instantly meaning you can get a sense of 'flicker' with a 30 fps output. I'm happy enough to play a game at 30fps on my main LCD if I need to, cause it doesn't suffer from this. But I can't play the same game at the back of the room on the oled as its effect is clear.
I too would buy the pro consoles in a heartbeat. I might not need 60fps on my larger TV, but its always very welcome!

@themightyant I also have all the consoles, but also have a high end PC (£4k 3090), plugged into a 48 inch LG c1 oled. I can't think of a single game Ive completed on PC.
Im a couch player and it simply doesnt suit PCs. Specs are almost irrelevent, nothing beats pressing a button on your controller and just playing the same as everyone else.
I am experimenting with moonlight streaming to my 65 inch couch tv, but its still a faff when windows bugs out or it needs a driver.. I only use it for a forza hit since I dropped GP.

I guess what Im saying is, for anyone considering it, is make sure you definitely want it before dropping a lot of money on it. For me, the grass is definitely not greener on the PC side!

Its bad enough that they ruined rocksteady.... But theres muppets that simp for that game, so I guess we get what we deserve. Smh.

Just play it on PC or buy a ps5 if you are desperate to play it. I cant see any situation where Sony would want to green light this, and I believe they have full rights. More chance of seeing Halo on PS, but I highly doubt that too. I wish it were otherwise, as its a fantastic game and I wish everyone could play it.

Helldivers 2 and FF Rebirth are monopolising my time atm, and Im loving both titles! Im unlikely to make any dents in my backlog fir a while!

Whatever your playing, I hope you have fun!

I was sick to read this studio was being closed by MS with just a few devs being absorbed to the larger collective. This news then, is really welcome and Im delighted they will get their chance to shine without being held hostage to the growth demands of shareholders.
I hope and wish them every success for the future.

Thank you PJ. Ive learnt I can rely on your take, and being a big fan of the previous titles, Im definitely in for this one!
I'll have to get it on the other platform though, as my wife loved the previous games too, but wont use the xbox contoller without continually moaning about it 🤣

We really do have a delluge of titles worth our time this year dont we? Ive no idea where Ill find the time to play this one, but Im determined to do so anyway...

Control was a fantastic game, and its great we will get more.
Remedy are a great developer, so its heartening to see them take 'control' of this IP..

Awful news no matter who is doing the lay offs.
The writting was on the wall once those profit margins were analysed, but i might have hoped they found another way
My s8ncere hope is 5hat the affected workers are ok, but the market is flooded with redundant devs right now - it must be a hard jobs market.

Ive kinda been waiting to play this title so the addition is great, even though its timing is clearly to help mitigate the fellings of some of those who were upset by titles released on another platform. Im not upset in the slightest, but I appreciate any treats they wish to give us as a counterbalance and intend to resub to gp later in the month as a result - if I can clear some of the other games cluttering my 'to play list'.
Gp continues to feed its fans pretty good!

Helldivers 2. What a blast...

Whatever you are playing, have fun!

What an excellent review - really well written and giving me the insight I need to know I'll enjoy this game. You have to be my fave reviewer across the sites, and I know if you enjoy it, theres a great chance I will too.
This dev is on a roll and producing some really polished games that deserve success. I'll be picking this up if I can ever burn through my backlog!

Theres no way Sony will bring an IP to Xbox without being contractually obliged imo. They have little to gain and much to lose.

I'm actually pretty impressed with those numbers if they are accurate - its higher than I thought it might be.
Like others here, I've had poor performance when I last tried it, but my internet speeds are still from the stone age, so it's not a fair test. The only streaming I don't seem to have an issue with is is the PSN streams, which is strange I'm always told they are cr@p, but if I want a quick play of a title before I decide to download, its always been fine..
I'm still not keen on cloud access over local machine access, but maybe as the tech grows evermore reliable I'll get into it.

@Isoph0451 Good point - pentiment in the hands might be a good fit.
I'm now considering picking this up for play on the PS portal because I can imagine that will work well for this title...

I prefer to play PS5 when given a choice, and my misses wont play the Series X at all unless she has to (she hates the controller with a passion), so I might play sea of thieves with her on PS5.
I played before and didnt get hooked, but that was some time ago now. Given how awful skull and bones is, and the fact that we have 2 ps5's and two tellies in our main room, I feel we could have fun teaming up in SOT and seeing how its evolved since my last try!
Such a game should benefit from the influx of new players.

The other games I've already tried on Xbox, no need to play them anywhere else for me.

Dead Island 2 is a great addition!
Looking like I need to resub soon!

Tough remease date given how many good titles are coming out on ps in the next few months.
Its a great game though, so Id exoect it to sell well regardless..

Thoroughly enjoyed Tales of Arise despite what others here have posted - its one of my fave tales games.
It's a good addition for GP imo.

Everyone wants something different.
This line-up is very unappealing to me and wont make me consider a resub - I think the other sub is actually doing it better this month.
However, it's clear that many are perfectly happy with this and I wish them fun.

I havent even resubbed to gp since October, and thats fantastic value. Certainly not interested in ubi, skull and bones is awful from the 2.5 hours I wasted on it.
If it were £4 a month more, I can see some people going for it. Just not me 😁

This is so funny it hurts...
These are the same people that threw their toys of the pram when they thought MS might release Starfield on PS......

I bet they think irony is is like brassy but made of iron..

Sony has no incentive at all to bring anything to Xbox.