Xbox Game Pass - GUIDE TO BEST DEAL IN FIRST POST

[sofasurfer]

I'm really enjoying Omno in between playing through chapters of Last Stop. It really is a nice chilled out game in the Journey mode but I do have a couple of criticisms of it. The platforming on some jumps can be a bit hit and miss, but nothing too annoying. Also, I was playing through each level to 100% it and the game does tell you if you try to leave an area without seeing and grabbing every collectable. However, midway through the game I solved a puzzle and was instantly transported to the ext level with no warning. Nothing gamebreaking though.

 

I love Journey so this is right up my street.

[gossi the dog]

13 hours ago, womble9 said:

Anyone know if there’s a set time (and if so when) at which games that are leaving game pass actually disappear / stop being playable? 
 

I’m 59% of the way through the very enjoyable The Touryst which is down as leaving on the 31st (tomorrow) and I’ve got 2-3h free early in the evening that it’d be nice to use to finish it off. 

 

You used to be able to get around this by disconnecting from the internet. So that’s what I’d do.

[denisb]

Probably a dumb question but if I download the ascent or any game on pc and Xbox series S will I be able to play on either using the same save?

[monkeydog]

1 minute ago, denisb said:

Probably a dumb question but if I download the ascent or any game on pc and Xbox series S will I be able to play on either using the same save?

 

Not all games support cloud sync, so not sure about The Ascent. Plenty do though (and sync to xCloud as well).

 

[Popo]

Yes (although The Ascent glitched for me and reverted my Series X save to an earlier one when I streamed it in my MacBook - but that’s most probably an issue with the game).

 

I have Yakuza LaD on disk for Xbox, and the Game Pass streaming version accepted my save and let me just get on with the game. Seamless. 

[jonamok]

Just finished Omno. Loved it. Very sweet, pretty worlds, great music, excellent traversal skills that you unlock as you go, and a very chill, light puzzling vibe. The story is nice too. A very happy 5-6 hours playing through it. Only criticism is the jumping is too floaty, and one of the later traversal unlocks leads to some frustrating puzzles if you’re a completionist. Otherwise it’s a brilliant bit of work from basically one designer. Give it a go and give it a few worlds to win you over.

[Harsin]

Latest Game Pass experiences.

 

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus: After really enjoying revisiting The New Order and having a good time with The Old Blood for the first time, got around to the end of the trilogy. I was surprised how much I remembered The New Order when I replayed it, with this I had hardly any memory apart from a couple of really goody plot point and a vague recollection of disappointment. I know why now, it feels like such a step down from its predecessors. New Order was full of memorable locales and set pieces, this not so much. If you read out the new messages of the levels you'd go wow they sound fun. But in reality nearly all the levels boil down to identikit sci-fi grey metal bases and generic bombed out ruins. Then to pad things put they try and encourage you to replay them all for not particularly compelling rewards. The stealth seems to have broken since the last games. The last game was hardly a laugh riot in terms of tone, which was fitting for the subject matter, but this was has a weird leering edgelord tone throughout. Doubt I'll bother with Youngblood, which I believe is a co-op looter shooter, since I've heard nothing but bad things about it.

The Ascent: Absolutely gorgeous looking but bored me to tears quickly. Possibly the worst UI I've seen in a game to boot.

 

Omno: Sweet little puzzle platformer which is quite reminiscent of Jouney, as plenty of others have noted. Nothing mind blowing, but worth an hour or two of your time.

 

Up next I may revisit either Batman: Arkham Knight or Prey. Probably Prey as I've heard Batman doesn't run so great and there to seem to be persistent rumours it’s getting a next-gen patch soon.

[Lovelyman]

Did prey get a series update?

[Stanley]

9 minutes ago, Lovelyman said:

Did prey get a series update?

It got an FPS boost.

[Majora]

Prey looks and runs great on the Series consoles now. I don't know if they fixed it but when I played it there was some kind of issue where if you left it running in the background the in-game menus could get really laggy when you resumed the game. Was fixed by hard quitting and restarting the game though.

[Isaac]

Prey is one of my favourite games of the last five years, it's an absolute classic. You're in for a treat.

 

For some reason it doesn't click with everyone but if it clicks you will love it.

[womble9]

On 30/07/2021 at 20:15, womble9 said:

Anyone know if there’s a set time (and if so when) at which games that are leaving game pass actually disappear / stop being playable? 
 

I’m 59% of the way through the very enjoyable The Touryst which is down as leaving on the 31st (tomorrow) and I’ve got 2-3h free early in the evening that it’d be nice to use to finish it off. 

 

For anyone who's interested it stayed all day yesterday (the 31st) and actually finally went to being unplayable (fortunately I finished it yesterday, great game too!) today at 12:00 lunchtime .

[AlexM]

Drat, I just started playing The Touryst, didn't realise it was leaving soon. 

[deerokus]

FPS Boost massively improved Prey, one of the biggest benefits I've seen because it fixes the dodgy, laggy controls it has otherwise on console (and it keeps the One X enhanced mode so still looks superb).

 

[Simmy]

Decent, never played Prey. Will download that tonight.

[Kevvy Metal]

3 hours ago, AlexM said:

Drat, I just started playing The Touryst, didn't realise it was leaving soon. 

It’s very short! Around 5 hours I’d say. 

[Majora]

I absolutely loved Virginia but The Last Stop isn't quite doing it for me thus far. Whether through budgetary constraints or creative decisions, the way Virginia played out entirely in first person without dialogue felt much more unique and clever. The Last Stop is a lot more conventional with its spoken dialogue and QTE interactions but suffers by comparison with similar games that do the same thing with a bigger budget and more polish. I'm going to stick with it, and I really enjoy its depiction of London which feels authentic in a way something like Watch Dogs Legion for all its budget never achieved, but it's not grabbed me yet. It's very on the nose (eg the dialogue from the child about their swimming accomplishments) where Virginia was more subtle.

[Pob]

6 hours ago, deerokus said:

FPS Boost massively improved Prey, one of the biggest benefits I've seen because it fixes the dodgy, laggy controls it has otherwise on console (and it keeps the One X enhanced mode so still looks superb).

 

Also Prey is beleaguered by loading screens more than most, but the new consoles obviously make them way less painful. I may have given up on the Mooncrash DLC if I’d played it last gen. 

[Rayn]

10 hours ago, Majora said:

I absolutely loved Virginia but The Last Stop isn't quite doing it for me thus far. Whether through budgetary constraints or creative decisions, the way Virginia played out entirely in first person without dialogue felt much more unique and clever. The Last Stop is a lot more conventional with its spoken dialogue and QTE interactions but suffers by comparison with similar games that do the same thing with a bigger budget and more polish. I'm going to stick with it, and I really enjoy its depiction of London which feels authentic in a way something like Watch Dogs Legion for all its budget never achieved, but it's not grabbed me yet. It's very on the nose (eg the dialogue from the child about their swimming accomplishments) where Virginia was more subtle.

 

I actually loved both Virginia and The Last Stop. You're right about Virginia being more subtle, and actually better for it, but The Last Stop grabbed me with the three story archs that in no way seem related but you just know they're going to merge at one point. It all reminded me of a cross between a Black Mirror episode and a Doctor Who episode, written by someone inspired by Stephen King's short stories. 

You're also on point about the depiction of London, even though the visual style is very minimalistic there's just something about the way they've nailed the atmosphere of the city, way better than Watch Dogs Legion. 

I'm afraid that you won't end up liking the game very much if it hasn't hooked you by now as it doesn't change much as a game throughout, it's all about the story. 

[Eighthours]

I like the style of the visuals in Last Stop, it’s just that it’s so technically wonky in its character animation. I love the cuts and the virtual cinematography in each scene (particularly the tracking shots while walking), it’s all very movie-like. I wish the characters and animations were slightly better grade - the game could have been a stunner with a bit of a bigger budget, methinks. Characters climbing stairs look painful in their execution, unfortunately, and the lack of quality in the movement really takes me out of the experience.  I’m enjoying the story, though! Am only an hour in and on the second person, but it’s been fun so far even in these early stages. And yes, the depiction of London is great.

 

I’ll definitely carry on with the game and it’s definitely perfect for Game Pass… overall it’s a shame that it’s not quite as good as it could (and arguably should) have been. 

[Rayn]

6 minutes ago, Eighthours said:

I like the style of the visuals in Last Stop, it’s just that it’s so technically wonky in its character animation.

 

When I started playing this I went in totally blind not knowing anything about it and the first thing I noticed was the very bad animation, my first thought was that I was playing a really bad, low budget game and was thinking about quitting and uninstalling immediately. 

I'm glad I didn't as I managed to complete it in two nights and I was quite pleased with it at the end. 

[spanx]

Last Stop has been great as something g me and my fiancé can “play” together. And yeah, it really nails London. Played through to the end of chapter three for all three characters and really enjoying it (aside from the really bad animation)

[Hodge]

Might have to give last stop a try after positive impressions on here. After my Yakuza LAD marathon and not liking the Ascent, could so with a short game to cleanse the palette. 

 

Any other decent 5-6 hour games worth trying on game pass?

[Dudley]

9 hours ago, Pob said:

Also Prey is beleaguered by loading screens more than most, but the new consoles obviously make them way less painful. I may have given up on the Mooncrash DLC if I’d played it last gen. 

 

And that's a little strange because Dishonored, by the same people, loads incredibly quickly.

[gossi the dog]

15 minutes ago, Hodge said:

Might have to give last stop a try after positive impressions on here. After my Yakuza LAD marathon and not liking the Ascent, could so with a short game to cleanse the palette. 

 

Any other decent 5-6 hour games worth trying on game pass?

 

Touhou Luna Nights if you fancy a Metroidvania

[Nosejam]

17 minutes ago, Hodge said:

Might have to give last stop a try after positive impressions on here. After my Yakuza LAD marathon and not liking the Ascent, could so with a short game to cleanse the palette. 

 

Any other decent 5-6 hour games worth trying on game pass?

Knights and Bikes

Night in the Woods

Donut County

Rain on your Parade

The Wild at Heart

[Fry Crayola]

21 minutes ago, Dudley said:

 

And that's a little strange because Dishonored, by the same people, loads incredibly quickly.

 

Likely down to the different engines used - Dishonored was Unreal 3 (first game) and a customised id Tech 6 (second game), while Prey uses CryEngine.

[Pob]

18 minutes ago, Fry Crayola said:

 

Likely down to the different engines used - Dishonored was Unreal 3 (first game) and a customised id Tech 6 (second game), while Prey uses CryEngine.

Yeah. Maybe this explains why Prey was able to get a 60fps boost without a hit to resolution, but Dishonored 2 hasn't yet appeared in the FPS boost list, and Death of the Outside uses the lower-resolution XB1S settings when you boost the framerate.

[Ry]

Diablo 3 Eternal Collection is free right now for Gold or game Pass Ultimate Subs (although not on actual gamepass) get it quick as it might be an error. 

 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/diablo-3-ultimate-evil-edition-free-for-xbox-live-subscribers-3772488

[Rayn]

7 minutes ago, Ry said:

Diablo 3 Eternal Collection is free right now for Gold or game Pass Ultimate Subs (although not on actual gamepass) get it quick as it might be an error. 

 

https://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/diablo-3-ultimate-evil-edition-free-for-xbox-live-subscribers-3772488

Doesn't work with the app. Hopefully I can redeem this straight from the console when I get home from work.