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What is XGP?

FTL - You usually want to explore a sector as well as you can but be out of there before the army catches up with you. If you get caught by the red wave then they will likely take you out. Difficulty ramps up fairly quickly so if you’re not getting as much scrap, crew and modules out of events and shops as you can you will quickly get outmatched.

Dead Cells - Is there a lady talking to you at the start? You just hold B to skip the respawn process and you should be out the door in 5s flat. Though maybe new user experience is different.

Crosscode is pretty much a singleplayer MMO, a game I’ve been wanting to get myself for some time now. Though I doubt it’s going to be worth much if you can’t take your time to get well into it. I’ll be interested to hear what you think about it though.

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Xbox Game Pass.

Yeah, I was probably bum-rushing it a bit too much.

Actually, you might be right on that. I already uninstalled to move on so I can’t verify currently.

Will probably be tomorrow when I push the next four. I’ve got until the 23rd to push through the last 13 games. Unless they add a couple more I wish to try.

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I can vouch for Book of Demons - I played it right out the gate the second it popped on Steam because I was kicking myself for missing their kickstarter, but I loved the original Diablo feel (not D2 or D3 or any copycat, OG simplistic Diablo). And it has some time saving innovations like dungeon floor size that I love, since time management as an adult is responsible. Plus the card system felt unique but familiar with each class setting itself apart enough to make 3 runs through the content fun.

Children of Morta I want to play so much! Let us know what you think please. :poop:

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I love Children of Morta!

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Agree, I like that until… Every single enemy on the ground wants to poison you at the same time. Plus! you have to break shields before you can kill them. It can get crazy, but yea, I played the very generous sized demo to a point and I own the game now too. I love the PaperVerse and the card system. ^^

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Mega Man 11 - I’ve played all of the classic series except for 9, and this game does fix up a lot of problems of the previous games. The overall level design is pretty good, which is true of a lot of the previous games except that they always found some way to throw in some really unfair obstacles which aren’t so present in this one. It’s also nice for people who aren’t so skilled that there are two difficulty settings lower than normal. The item shop has some good stuff to assist you, I appreciated being able to go into levels with more than just 3 lives, and I really liked the upgrade that automatically charges your shots, allowing me to take my finger off the shoot button. I’m also really happy that you can finally save after beating a stage in the “Wily’s Castle” segment.

Sonic Forces - I beat the whole game over the weekend thanks to Xbox Gold Free Play Days. It wasn’t really good or bad. It’s really short and the level design is kind of bland, but I was still never completely bored or frustrated and was kind of just left to enjoy the fact that I was getting Gamerscore.

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Next batch of XGP games:

Crosscode - I got a little bit past the second boss on this one. I thought it was pretty decent and had some good mechanics. The only complaint I would have is the melee to ranged transition zone. It would be something I would want to actually turn off (to avoid melee when you need to range because IDK where my mouse cursor is). Something I would definitely consider continuing to play.

Creature in the Well - It has an interesting “combat” mechanic of hitting balls of…energy? However, I’m not entirely sure I like this game. I would say it’s mostly due to that energy ball bouncing and requiring a bit more precision than I care to need.

Children of Morta - So I had to write this one last to attempt to dredge up any thoughts about it…One of the few things I could think of is it might be interesting to play with multiple people. I may actually have to try this again to try and get a better opinion. I really didn’t see anything special or problematic with the story, combat, or anything. The best way I could describe it just about neutral. And that’s…weird…

Book of Demons - Not particularly a fan of this one, but I definitely can see the appeal. I am someone that prefers the exploration of say Diablo or Path of Exile. The combat seems a bit…simplistic of spamming the mouse button and pulling a Monty Python every now and again (RUN AWAAAAAY!). I probably won’t get this tbh. The art style is definitely something I’ve never seen before.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night - So… if this is a successor to Castlevania, then I unfortunately am disappointed in both. I couldn’t really get into it. I was trying this one with a XB1 controller and… i dunno, I wouldn’t say it felt clunky at all. I just couldn’t get into the control scheme. I think this is the same issue I’m having with many of these 2D platformers, where the git gud is more than I currently care to deal with. The main gripe that I have that continues to stick in my mind is the god-awful animation to run speed. It’s very possible that the other games that I played on XGP ruined this but I felt there was a massive disconnect between the expected speed and the actual speed of the character. And I feel like it’s just enough to cause issues.

Bad North - I played four islands of this, and I was pleasantly surprised at how enjoyable it was. It’s a simple premise with multiple different ways of play. It’s definitely something I would consider picking up on sale sometime down the road.

Ape Out - So I enjoyed this, but anyone that is not fond of excessive violence will NOT like this. The combat controls are exceedingly simple with a grand total of 4 buttons plus the mouse (incl L/R click). However, there is some strategy involved with how you go through the level, because bum-rushing it could very well get you killed.

Age of Empires Definitive Edition - Yup, I suck at this. I played a custom game and placed in last although I was the second empire to fall. Similar to various other RTS games I have played before but with single combat units. TBH, how long I lasted and the number of units I took down of a FAR superior empire was actually pretty good. I think the reason I got screwed was A. because I played a custom game and B. I was learning on the fly. So i ended up way behind. The graphics overall is decent and I think it’s one of your standard RTS games.

Next up:
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Super Lucky’s Tale
Sea of Thieves
Torment: Tides of Numenara

That’ll actually complete everything, but I will do one last pass on the games to see if anything else is there I want to try out and maybe give Children of Morta a second shot at an impression.

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Oh, that’s a bunch of nice games you have coming up. Had my eye on Torment and Plague Tale for a while now.

Very same here, i keep on failing to understand what people see in that game because it was really boring at best and seriously infuriating at worst.

As for me i have been playing Battle Chasers : Nightwar for the last couple of days. Its a strange game to say the least. It’s mostly JRPG ( which i probably have played 1 or two in my life ) but it also have smashed a lot of different aspects from other genres too in to some sort of frankenstein;s monster of the game which at first seemed a bit amateurish and messy to me but i must say i’m slowly getting into it and starting to appreciate it.

Also still playing Hitman 2 , working on all the crazy achievements and kills of targets. Still fun. It seriously is one of the strongest sandbox games around because i’m not into ‘make your own fun’ games at all but i still enjoy this one immensely.

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Thank you so much! :sunflower: that’s such a sweet offer! :3 I will keep it in mind. Whats your name in game? I’ll add you as a friend (if free players can?) or you can add me (its AcornAvenger there too)

I started playing it a few days after the sale T_T

Thank you for the links! My boyfriend told me he’d grab the ultimate edition for me when its on sale so I can grab the living world seasons I don’t have :blush: how sweet is he? (he’s the one that got me addicted though so hmm :eyes: :joy: )

I haven’t played a ton of MMOs but I completely agree with you - the community in the game is absolutely amazing :’) I’ve experienced the revivals and helping with jumping puzzles. There was a puzzle I couldn’t figure out and someone noticed and got my attention to lead me to the secret door. People even offer dyes to other players if they already have it, and they’re just always willing to help. I love it! :3

I’ve been playing sea of thieves now though while I wait for a sale :laughing:

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Where? I love the art style. I’ve seen similar in say, Epistory: Typing Chronicles, can’t think where esle though.

I get the infuriating part, and I do prefer the free roam of the little I played of Diablo online. For me, it’s a 15 minutes of casual play. I wasn’t going to get it at full price, but on the bundle split split - worth it. Spam clicking the more isn’t fun for long intervals, but for short bursts when you want to briefly interrupt tasks you’re dong on the computer, it’s fine.

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This game is really great, glad you liked it.

Children and Morta and Book of Demons I really enjoyed, but clearly not everyone will enjoy them. I think Children of Morta gets better with time. Book of Demons has a decent amount of depth as well that’s hard to appreciate without spending enough time with it. The description of a simplistic+spamming click combat and the period running away is just like in Diablo though, isn’t it? I feel like all of my recollections of playing Diablo involved that basic strategy.

I haven’t played the new version, but I did spend many hours when I was younger (I played a lot between 1998 and 2000). The campaigns serve as a good way to get into the game, learn the mechanics, units, upgrades, etc. And once you are good with that, taking on 1 AI, then multiple AI, with increasing difficulty, with a variety of maps just makes for endless replayability. I think it’s hard for me to think about sinking that kind of time into this game now though. It’s one of those I would like to play, but am afraid of playing it.

Good choices. I hope you will have enough time to play through A Plague Tale, since this game is mostly story-based and it would be hard to make a full judgement until you are all of the way through. It’s definitely been on my watch list for a long time.

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If anyone is interested to try, there’s a HTML5 demo available: CrossCode

I’m pretty sure they intended to have the same feel as Alucard’s movement in SotN, where if you wanted to move faster, you had to cancel backdash, or use other methods available later in the game. There are indeed a couple techniques for movement, like you said git gud to do it properly, and various items and shards for movement as you progress in the game. I didn’t really feel the same way as you did, and honestly I really enjoyed the game as is, my favorite from last year. The main character animations to me are perfect, only the cutscene animations that feels bad, but if doesn’t affect the gameplay I’m ok with it.

Also, I remember this here way back in the development process:

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Well, if someone likes the Hack n slash games, i’ll recomend you this masterpiece

I really like the pixel art and the RPG style and play together feature is really good to play with friends also is very cheap :sweat_smile:

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Yup. I never got good at this kind of game. The cut scenes aren’t that bad, to me, at least. It’s a really beautiful game and I love all the customization for Miriam. It’s one if not on my WL, doesn’t need to be there, because :heart: the visuals. Favourite character is Bloodless though, and yea, the villain rather the hero as usual, lol. Also big :heart: to Dominique - so much style. ^^

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A Plague Tale: Innocence: I have a few things on this one. The voice acting reminds me of Ass Creed II. The stealth bits are a bit…well…stupid. Again reminds me of ACII. Yeah the “guards” are dumb… Furthermore, I was not enthused by noise signifying the brother was having an attack. The graphics are actually pretty good, however, I’m not sure if I like the character models. That could just be me though. Probably the biggest thing that really kind of turned me off for this was the fact this looks like it’s going to be a giant freaking escort quest turned into a game. Nooo thank you.

Spoiler (within 15 minutes of the start)

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No Keanu is not in it.

Torment: Tides of Numenara: Holy shit that’s a metric ton of reading. I’m not a super big fan of turn-based gameplay either. I’m not sure I could get into this one. Like…it’s a lot of reading. I could probably deal with the turn-based combat. There is also what appears to be a “choices matter” component as well. I honestly thought this was older than it was, but no, it said it was running off the Pillars of Eternity game engine I believe. But yeah, if you are good with turn-based combat, reading a book for gameplay, and enjoy having plenty of choices to choose from, then I think this would be your game.

On the to play list:
Super Lucky’s Tale
Sea of Thieves
Age of Wonders: Planetfall
Surviving Mars
We Happy Few
For The King
MudRunner
My Friend Pedro

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No choices have as far as I’ve managed to get not mattered much in Torment, not more so than in any half decent CRPG. It’s just a whole shitload of reading and it’s pretty bad reading at that. I wondered how far into it you’d get. Seems not far enough to really realize the extent of how awful the game actually is as you seem to have some reservations thinking that someone might enjoy it.

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Well if you dont enjoy reading i guess it’s just not for you then? Reading in crpg is same as grind in jrpg, it’s just a core part of the experience.

Now i cant comment on quality of writing as i havent played the game but it cant be that bad , can it?

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I can because I have and yes it is.
Listen I am a great fan of CRPGs, they’re my fucking jam. I kickstarted this mess because at the time this was the promised revival of a genre I had mourned as dead for a decade or more. I waited patiently, with great hope and eyes full of anime sparkles for this game to drop. Got into it with the greatest of expectations really wanting to enjoy all the reading it boasts about offering. They failed to realize that quality is far more important factor in writing than volume, and voluminous was this word vomit indeed and absolute shite.

See they’ve created a pretty interesting world I really WANT to know more about this place, how it works and what’s going on in it but they utterly fail to give the player any sort of anchoring. The world is utterly weird, alien and wondrous but it’s just fucking Tuesday to everyone who lives there so you can’t find an appreciation for the weird as no one thinks anything IS weird. Your character is amnesiac and they ask NO relevant questions, they’re not the least bit confused about any of the goings on they just go along with everything as if it all makes sense.

Now this is my gripe after a good handful of years and having spent 25h really REALLY trying to find something to like and it just wasn’t happening. I was bored every minute of those hours, though I kept going because it always felt like something was bound to happen any minute now and it just never does.

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I got to the decision point of going to the worshippers or order. I didn’t feel like making the choice and decided that was a good stop point.

I do agree that the writing wasn’t that good. I had trouble staying engaged with the dialog. I’m generally okay with reading things.

I added the maybe for someone bit because I thought that some people would be interested in the genre, but do not have experience in cRPGs to compare to.

The game said the choices did something… Whether it actually did is another story.

So I looked into this a little bit more because I wanted an answer on that “spoiler” I posted. It appears this game partially classifies as a horror game. Which, unfortunately, @yqmaoski , means it’s a no-go. I don’t really do horror anything. (Hellblade may be an exception)

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Well… it’s a shame then. Even though i did not have THAT much anticipation for this game i sure do enjoy a good crpg or whereabout. Pillars of Eternity was a great experience, Tyranny while on a shorter side was still really enjoyable return to a formula. Divinity Original Sin while not exactly a classic crpg is still a great game and i have POE and Original sin parts 2 wishlisted waiting for a better sale so it’s an okay time to be into classic crpg genre.

Steam reviews though seems to be quite favorable for this game. ‘Very positive’ is the overall rating. I wonder is it nostalgia or what.

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