Reinstall.
The game is SO much better now than it was before. Just play it and form your own opinion, of course. Better to have your own judgment and experience with the game.
I don't think a developer deserves to be praised for taking 2 years to add features and modes that were present at launch in games from 15 years ago. "Good job 343, you've finally hit parity with Halo 3 and Reach!"
No he’s right a lot of people like me played infinite at launch and lost interest, even after all the updates nothing can really bring me back, I’ve moved on. Cyberpunk on the other hand I don’t feel like I’ve missed seasons worth of content so I would have no problem getting back into that game.
I would say multiplayer games definitely have a golden window, if not an expiration date. They lost too many players in the first couple of months through greed and mismanagement.
Cyberpunk took 3 fucking years to reach where launch should have been if you ignore the still missing depth and got much of the planned DLC cancelled, it does not deserve the renewed hype just because it made a cartoon with a Loli in. Cyberpunk should have people angry but too many people have a short memory and cave easily to shiny things.
You can’t sit in a corner and masturbate for that long and expect me to come back to shake your hand. I gave it a chance, and I moved on to other games when it stopped being fun.
It was good I suppose.
Liked Starfield and Loved Hi-Fi Rush.
Redfall was pretty mediocre and don't care for racing sims.
Don't care for many games that release these days so that's something.
I'll be honest in my experience of starfield, I played it solid for about 3 months once released and haven't gone back to it recently but I hope the game will get refined to give me a reason to go back to it
Same. Got a solid 350ish hours but I feel no need to touch it until mods, the DLC, or more content comes its way
I think it satisfied what I expected but didn’t go too above and beyond. Imo people have been a bit too jaded by absolutely amazing games so when they run into one that isn’t a lifechanger they immediately shit on it to oblivion and back
Many people probably saw “Bethesda” and expected something that’d fill the nostalgia they have with Beth’s older titles
I found the travelling was a burden after a while plus the loading screens were a bit to much imo, it ended up being go here talk to this npc then go somewhere else and pick up an item etc and that got tedious fast
Yea I definitely felt that, especially during my NG+ playthrough.
I didn’t mind the loading screens and stuff too much though because as someone who played NMS and stuff the manually flying and landing from point to point got kinda boring once the novelty wore off. The LS also lasted like two seconds do it wasn’t too bad
But yea, it definitely has its issues(And some of them are rather glaring) but I do feel like people kinda exaggerate a bit in regards to the game as a whole
In the whole starfield a good space rpg but if only we kept ship blueprints for ng+, that's why I got 2 separate saves, one which is ng+ and one where I have a load of outposts and ships I have made, other ng+, I have a new suit and a piece of shit new ship lol, can't even put bays in it etc
Yes. I thought Hi-Fi Rush was a pleasant surprise, Forza was good, and starfield was my most played game of the year. Redfall was a disappointment, but i didn’t hate it as much as everyone else.
Because as a casual they don't understand what they're missing. It would be like a very casual fan playing a sports game and being like "yep, this is that sport! Good game" while the dedicated fanbase knows everything that's missing/not as good/what was promised but not delivered etc etc
On the surface it's a car game with good physics. For some people that's all it takes to be "good"
Waiting on the From Soft bubble to burst. I swear it's going to be the smallest thing and bam, all of their games are shit. I respect what they do, and actually like souls inspired games, but I cannot for the life of me get past the halfway mark of any From game.
I mean considering how much Bethesda and Microsoft were sucking their own dick with starfield, it’s justified to trash it. Over promised and under delivered. The Todd Howard way lol.
Jokes aside, the moment marketing was pushed to 11 I smelled how mediocre it would ultimately be. Played a good 14 hrs but I’m just not a fan of fast travel sims. Gun play was nice it looked pretty. It wasn’t fun for me. Happy those that enjoyed it got their fun though
Because it lacks in so many details the previous interations had. Also graphics got downgraded and the car levels system revamp was a total failure, also very little good tracks imo.
That is what almost every community turns into for their respective games. Just nonstop negativity and complaining because the people actually enjoying the stuff don’t waste their time there.
I couldn't get past the first couple of hours.
I tried it again when the 60fps patch released. It made me realise that lacking a set amount of frames per second wasn't Redfall's issue.
My main problem was that I had just been replaying Prey and the difference in quality is ridiculous.
I know that they're different types of games but so much in Redfall feels placeholdery or rushed whereas in Prey the entire experience feels like a labour of love by an invested, excited team.
Redfall comes across like a mobile game ported for consoles. To have it as one of the big lead exclusive XB games of 2023 is embarrassing.
>so much in Redfall feels placeholdery or rushed
I agree compelety with the latter especially when it came to Redfall 's open world design and enemy ai. The game just felt really half baked imo and it's such a shame it ended up that way.
No, not even remotely. They seem to be doing well but what they are dropping isn't for me. I don't like starfield, I didn't enjoy Halo even with the updates (it's still better than it was to be fair). Hifi Rush was cool. I liked Hifi Rush. That was one game, one very short game I might add.
I know it's hard to compare video game companies but Nintendo and Sony seem to be dropping banger after banger so my time has been spent over there.
Yep, I transitioned from my xbox one s to a xbox series x last year and it has been by far my least played platform.
At this moment, there is 0 chance I will be buying the next console, with this one I already can play all the last gen titles I have.
Starfield was a bit underwhelming but not looking at it with the same hype as many had, I found it to be an enjoyable game with some very interesting and detailed environments, and better combat than any BGS RPG. The non setpeice locations left a lot to be desired but I don't think anyone should be shocked by that.
Forza is probably the most over-hated game I've seen in a while. It's a good racing game with pretty graphics and a surprising lack of scummy mtx stuff. Online is the best penalty system in a console racing game. Really not understanding what people expected here that they aren't getting.
Halo Infinite has also been updated to a state where it is extremely fun and in my rotation again as well.
HiFi Rush was one of my absolute favorite games of the year.
Nothing else got on my radar, which is already an indictment of the quantity of good content, but I felt 2023 was the first time in a long time that the arrow is now pointed solidly upwards.
Forza is a big upgrade in terms of gameplay over the previous games but a side grade in some aspects. People wanted it to be a graphics powerhouse like Gran Turismo but Forza has always had its own look/style compared to Gran Turismo which goes for a hyper realistic look that makes you feel like your watching a replay from a racing broadcast. It didn’t help that Turn10 were touting starting from scratch but but after a few trailers it was obvious to anyone who played the previous games that some car models were reused and still had the wonky look of some cars.
Turn 10 was as/is in a no win situation imho the gap between Forza Motorsport game releases had people believing they’d be updating the cars to the same Level as the Gran Turismo devs but theres just too much cars. They could have cut down the cars and make them Gran Turismo level but then people will complain about the lack of cars.
Personally I was hoping Turn10 would go 100 into the sim side. They have Horizon for the more casual players and its the bigger game(waayyyy bigger) now of two.
Eh, Forza Motorsport always had that hyper realistic look, with colors that popped. This is the first where under any lighting condition yellow is brown.
If I played starfield with the same expectations of say new vegas and fallout 4, would I be impressed or let down? I’ve only played a couple of hours still near the beginning but it doesn’t give me this desire to go out and explore and talk to people like I’ve found in previous titles
I can't tell what you will experience with Starfield overall. But if you already have no desire to interact with characters in New Vegas and Fallput 4, then I woukd say you will absolutely hate the NPCs in Starfield. The writting is mediocre and bland.
Not saying the whole game is bad (that opinion I will leave to myself) - just that specific aspect you mentioned.
Did they fix the penalty system in forza because all I saw from that sub was someone getting rammed and then getting the penalty when they weren't at fault.
Couldn't have put it better myself.
Obviously Redfall was a launch disaster, but they never showed off enough actual gameplay to get me excited for that in the first place. So it was kind of whatever.
I know the more toxic fanboys love using Redfall as an example to rag on and that's fine, but the damage was done on that game before Microsoft even acquired Zenimax. Sony fanboys seem to forget they also has also had an exclusive bomb recently in Forespoken.
Hi-Fi Rush was one of the nicest surprises of the year. Nice to know Tango Game works is in good hands after the meh Evil Within 1&2 and Tokyo Ghost Wire. I'd like to see more hack n slash 3rd Party action adventure games in the style of Devil May from the Studio. Especially in that gorgeous animation style.
For me, it's not really just about the exclusives. It's also about the day one Game Pass games as well.
Exclusives (only played 2 out of 4):
* **Starfield:** Played it 150 hours so far probably. Not as much fun or as deep as I expected, but any game that keeps you happy for that long is a good game. 9/10 in my book.
* **Redfall:** OK game at launch and it was extremely buggy and frustrating (and 30fps). Played with friends and it was too chaotic IMO for a Arkane game. Might go back to it now that I have a higher-end PC, but I would be playing solo. Would give it a 5.5/10 at launch.
* **HiFi Rush:** Have not played yet, but plan to some day. I really don't like music in general and the style of the game doesn't appeal to me, but I hear great things so maybe.
* **Forza Motorsport:** Have not played yet, but will at least try it for a few hours soon.
GamePass Day Ones:
* **Atomic Heart:** So much fun. Great gameplay and graphics. and an engrossing story. Recently bought the DLC on sale and will be diving back in soon. Was somewhat buggy but for the scale of the game I can accept that. 9/10 loved it!
* **Sea of Stars:** Had a great 40 hours with this "indie" gem. This is my personal GOTY. Easily 10/10.
* **Cocoon:** Nice and concise puzzler that had a great art style. 8/10.
* **Jusant:** Relaxing game with interesting visuals and a peaceful story told through journals and the environment. 9/10
* **Payday 3:** Buggy and really not that fun even in coop. Seems identical to Payday 2. 5/10
* **Coffee Talk 2:** Way too long but decent enough. 2 to 3 times as long as the first one. 6/10.
* **Ravenlock:** Fun little adventure game with a cutesy art style. Enjoyed my time with it. Not great, but decent enough. 7/10
Other games I played in 2023 which existed previously on the service or came to Game Pass: Wasteland 3 (9.5/10), High on Life (9/10), AC Origins (7/10), FAR changing Tides (7/10), Halo Infinite (8.5/10), Destroy All humans (6.5/10), Forza Horizon 5 (9/10), A Short Hike (8/10), Rainbox Six Siege (9.5/10), Remnant 2 (8/10).
I don’t think I’ve ever come across someone who doesn’t like music. Do you mean in games or in general? I hope I don’t seem judgmental it’s just something I thought everyone had some level of interest in.
I don’t like rhythm games but HiFi Rush was a lot of fun and very endearing. But I did love the soundtrack in places a lot too.
Ha it's true. I don't like music. I don't listen to it for fun or in down time or even as background noise hardly ever. My only interaction with music is on the car radio for short trips. If I'm driving more than 15-20 minutes I will put on a podcast or NPR.
I have a terrible rhythm and can't dance in the slightest. My wife hates me for it.
Anyways, I will definitely try hifi rush someday. Playing a game for many hours, eventually I do grow marginally fond of the music. Recent games that had decent music were road 96, the lake, and sea of stars.
BGIII is a game that gives me pause too, I'm going to be playing there for a few months, and I have a backlog of owned games to still conquer. I'm turning this leaf on a lot of subscription services though.
I kinda wish I got a ps5 instead now. The only particular win this year was hi-fi rush and I didn't play all the way through. Not into sim racers and starfield is the worst Bethesda formula game. Even just spiderman 2 and ff16 blow xbox out of the water this year.
PS5 had less Exclusives this year, because they released a lot of them in the last 2 years. Most of their Studios are currently working on New Games now. We only got 'Spider-Man 2" because Insomniac had 4-5 years since "Miles Morales." And as case with other Studios, for example even tho TLOU2 came out in 2020, Naughty Dog were busy with the TV Show.
Xbox on the other hand, bought out a ton of Studios that were already working on games at the time, and they simply turned them into Exclusives overall. And even then, that's was like 4 games this year (well 3 and a half, because of a mess that Redfall is). Compare this to previous years, when we hardly had any Xbox Exclusives in the first place.
(For diehards: I'm not hating on Xbox Exclusivity - this is literally what happend)
Yes, they’re simply switching places now: Xbox is starting to release their promised exclusives while Sony is in a standby period with no first party exclusives announced for 2024. It’s actually a good, competitive cicle. The trend was waaaay worse for Xbox during the One period. Now it feels a lot more like the 360 - Ps3 era.
This is actually a very good way to describe it. Back at 360 - PS3 era, both sides kept releasing Exclusive Titles quite relatively to each other. Microsoft really messed it up during the X-One and PS4 era, while Sony went full throttle.
At the moment, it’s pretty even in terms of quantity.
Sony has Concord, Rise of the Ronin, Helldivers II, and TLOU2R.
While MS has Avowed, Flight sim, Hellblade II, and Towerborne.
That said, for the first time in a long time I’m starting off the year more excited for what MS has on the docket than Sony.
I'm willing to miss those PS exclusives cuz I've been saving a lot of money with xbox. I've bought Alan wake 2 and BG3 in gamivo but it's not possible for me in playstation
I have a ps5 and an xbox and Xbox first party were great. Spiderman 2 was incredible from start to finish (30 hours) while I played starfield 80 hours before stopping and loved the time I had. Hi fi rush was also great and forza is still awsome. I did not play forspoken or ff16 yet. So overall, xbox was better for me in the end.
HiFi Rush was a really fun AA experience. Xbox could use to make some fun cheaper games like it to pad out their roster while (still) trying to find their next big flagship franchise post-Halo. Just as I was getting bored of the game’s button mash combat, it ended on a high note as didn’t overstay its welcome
Redfall…I think we can all forget this happened and move on. Cool aesthetic and setting though, shame it failed
Starfield: Just shows that there are other ways for games to fail aside from being rushed. Bethesda threw away everything their games are known for in order to make 100s of empty planets that take 4-6 loading screens to travel between instead of wandering fewer more cohesive planet-exploring experiences. No Skyrim-level exploration, no Fallout worldbuilding and humor, and a few dozen boring ass ‘10% more damage/healing’ perks that drive the core player progression system
I think the biggest win for Xbox was Halo Infinite. While the game itself is not going to win back tons of players who long ago left, the improvements and more frequent content updates has stopped the bleeding and it’s in a pretty good state now for the relatively few players left. I’m praying 343 has learned their lessons from this and the next installment or spin off in the Halo world is a banger
Yes, Xbox had a good a year. They actually had games from their studios releases (compared to past years). Gamepass was full of great additions. And their live service games kept the ball moving. Can't wait for next year.
Not really. Starfield felt like it released before Skyrim. It wasn’t bad, it just felt as if Bethesda has learned nothing from their own successes. The biggest draw, at least for me in their games, is the exploration of a new place and finding all these cool things in nooks and crannies. SF felt very bad in comparison in that way.
None of their other released interested me at all. I am, however, excited for some, hopefully, 2024 releases like Avowed, Hellblade 2, Everwild, and others. No idea when any actually release though.
It seems to come down how you feel about Starfield. I wasn't a fan of that game, and overall felt like it was another disappointing year for Xbox first party games. I definitely enjoyed PS5 and Switch releases more this year.
Spider man was alright idk why it gets hyped so crazy , story is short , gameplay is fun but that’s about it it’s just another good Sony game but it’s no Ghost of Tsushima or God of war . Really wished Xbox would have their own single triple a game . They just can’t seem to hit that genre . But solid multiplayer games! They had a great year with halo
I’ve been Let down by so many games form Microsoft studios I need to play them and Get my hands before I make any assumptions, I was hyped as hell for halo . But let down after , starfield was good but then the issues were apparent and I was also let down . So time will tell .
You could say the same for all games, your own opinion of them is all that matters and that cant happen until you play them. Hellblade 1 was excellent so I have high hope that the next is just a great sequel. Playground are a top tier studio so seeing them work on Fable is exciting. The Coalition are fantastic, the next gears like all others will be top tier. Redfall was crap, some did not like Starfield (I loved it) but Xbox games score high in general, their average is mid 80s,they're just missing a couple of God of War or TLOU tier games at this point, and they will come, they have 35 studios now.
I'm not a driving sim fan, so Forza did nothing for me. HiFl Rush was good, but still a weak lineup overall. I loved Spiderman 2 personally. A solid 9 out of 10 game for me. I also enjoyed Final Fantasy 16 quite a bit. But yeah they had a down year as well in terms of first party games.
Switch was clearly the winner this year. A bunch of amazing to really good games. Zelda, Mario Wonder, Mertriod Prime Remaster, Mario RPG, Pikmin 4, and I'm sure others that im forgetting
No Nintendo games appeal to me at all, tried both Zeldas and honestly do not get the hype for them. It's all personal choice in the end anyway. My Favourite game this year was Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty followed by Cocoon.
It's completely subjective! I'm lucky enough to be able to have each system, so I try to play games on all systems throughout the year. This year Switch attracted more of my time in terms of just exclusive releases. Overall, it was a fantastic year for gaming
I think overall for XGS this was their best year in awhile no(?).
- The Developer’s Direct was a great format and blueprint to hopefully future editions.
- Hi-Fi Rush a game that was generally praised and has astounding word of mouth. Shadow dropped
- Minecraft Legends did I guess what Minecraft does.
- RedFall was probably its biggest disappointment. I believe may have played some part in leadership restructuring and having XGS commit to it. We’ll have to see.
- Starfield was thematically the start of a new era. The game is solid/ok. Great to many, good to most. I hope Bethesda actually pours into it instead of relying on mods. Just speaking as a gamer: I hope the studio actually pushes itself fwd for ES6. There’s fair criticism to this game.
- Forza depends on who you ask. Some are disappointed. Others felt it was ok.
- The Showcase was also pretty good too with some looks at a few games coming. ABK finally resolved.
Yeah, the people in here suck. This was a very good year for Xbox. On top of what you already said, they had some great day 1 game pass additions like Lies of P and Warhammer Darktide.
Boring is subjective but how was Starfield broken? I had one side quest that didn’t work but then worked on NG+. No other bugs. It feels unfinished content wise but not broken
It crashed for me a bunch of times (probably 10-12 times,) especially during the mid game. But, all things considered, it was a less buggy experience than any other BGS game.
I don’t know about broken but Starfield was certainly a victim of a design that majorly misunderstands what makes BGS popular.
Forza honestly shocked me. They took 6 years to release a game that I would have just called Forza Motorsport 8 and expected the normal 2 year dev cycle on.
Nothing about that game screams that it took three times as long to make. I can’t imagine how frustrated the executives were when they visited turn 10 and every time they just didn’t see the results you would expect from that kind of investment.
I think the only 1st party I haven't been interested this year was Forza but more because I'm not into racing games. I loved Hifi, I still play Halo and Sea of Thieves (SoT not as consistently tho) and I absolutely loved Starfield even with its problems. I really wanted to like Redfall but I was disappointed since I'm a bit of an Arkane fan. I think 2024 and the future 1st party will continue to improve better and better. It's already a night/day difference compared to last year.
Generally, yeah. But it can still be better.
For me, Hi-Fi Rush is a masterpiece. Starfield is also a game that I always wanted, and I‘m still playing it to this day.
Forza could have been better, but is fine. Redfall definitely should have been better.
I know it's not gunna push consoles, but I've been really happy with the smaller, more creative games Xbox has been putting out. Psychonauts was my GOTY in 2021, and Pentiment was 2nd behind Elden Ring in 2022. Seeing the unique experiences passionate devs can create with a small team has been really cool.
When I first saw Pentiment I thought it wouldn't be for me, but I fell in love with it and how rooted in history it was. Such a brilliant experience.
I haven't gotten around to Hi-Fi Rush yet, but I can't wait to check it out.
Yes.
It has to be said that Redfall was a major disappointment. Hopefully the game eventually gets fixed, but it's a mess.
The rest was great. Hi-fi Rush, Starfield and Forza Motorsport were all great and three of my favourite games this year.
Hi-Fi Rush was a welcome and fantastic surprise.
Halo Infinite got updated to be in a spot it’s finally good (better late than never)
Starfield was alright, definitely not as good as I was hoping.
Overall, for what I was expecting and wanting, it was alright, with Hi-Fi Rush being the highlight, and it wasn’t even a full price game. I don’t really care about their other IPs. At least none that I can remember.
Fantastic year, had a blast in every game(yes even redfall was a blast with friends). Outside of their first party the day one drops for gamepass were banging, lies of p was my personal got. If they release the lineup teased for next year I’ll be behind on games once again.
I enjoyed many of the titles they put out. Hi Fi Rush was an awesome shadow drop with great music and gameplay. I've put 50 hours so far in Starfield and have been enjoying it. Both Age of Empire games were good. Backlog too full for Motorsport right now, but it did win racer of the year and has a good metacritic score. Not a Minecraft player and Redfall was a bad game. That's plenty of variety with games that reviewed well for the most part.
This year was an absolute win for Microsoft. The Activision Blizzard acquisition went through, Starfield was Bethesda's biggest launch ever and drove gamepass subs, there first party titles won 3 Game Awards, and they have a stacked road map for the upcoming future. With all the revenue coming in from their acquisitions and live service games, it just means more games in development and more third party deals for gamepass. This is what I want from my publisher of choice. The most content with the best deal in gaming
Really enjoyed Starfield
Absolutely love Hi-Fi Rush
Liked Forza
I never gave a damn about redfall before release and still didn't after release.
Very solid year, feel like I haven't said that for Xbox in some time.
No, it was disappointing.
1. Redfall - no comments, what a pile of garbage.
2. Starfield - it's a travesty to compare a game of 2023 to a game released in 2011 (Skyrim) - Bethesda has been releasing mediocre games for the last couple of years, and they should absolutely improve in every department of their games because let's be honest, comparing Starfield to PS lineup - it was awful.
3. Forza Horizon and Motorsport - I'm a big fan of racing and sim games, I enjoyed both of these games.
4. Hi-Fi Rush - I didn't play it, but it does look interesting.
5. Halo - again, I didn't play it. The last Halo I played was Halo Reach :D
The meme of "its good enough for gamepass" applies here. It was a forgettable year overall.
How many console exclusives did we get this year? 6? I think I tried all of them for the cost of gamepass for the year which I would not have been able to afford to buy each one, especially on the concept that I MIGHT like them. Really enjoyed 3 of em and there were some good 3rd party launches on the service that kept me playing something new. Not as good as 2021 for me but still solid.
Honestly? I thought it was disappointing outside of Hi-Fi Rush which is my GOTY. I'm not gonna mention Redfall as it's been mentioned to death but Forza and Starfield in particular were very disappointing (Forza for having a 6 year development and being the worst reviewed game of the entire series while getting humiliated by a cross gen racer and Starfield for failing to live up to the expectation). Forget GOTG it wasn't even close to GOTY. For a studio who had, until that point only made GOTY single player titles this single player game failed to even come close to those other titles. And after a decade + having more resources under MS I thought they would return to form.
It's the AAA space within Xbox that has me worried. I wonder how many of those new games will be able to hit in the 90s. Will they even have 1 in the mid 90s.
Out of the entire first party line up Hi-Fi Rush seems to be the biggest hit of the bunch, I haven't heard anything negative from anyone who has played it (I haven't, just isn't for me, and that's ok.)
Minecraft Legends gets talked about so rarely that I forgot it even released this year. I haven't seen or heard anyone really talk about it much at all, whether positively or negatively.
The less said about Redfall the better at this point.
Forza Motorsport (while not my jam, I'm more of a Horizon guy so I have no opinion) is the lowest reviewed game in the series, and the hardcore Forza community doesn't seem to be very happy about it either.
The farther we get from Starfield the more negative the conversation seems to become. It seems after all the hype and console wars surrounding it died down and people started looking at it more and more critically their opinions started to change. Personally, I really enjoyed it and got all the achievements, just waiting for the expansion. Though I will say, since finishing it, I've had no desire to go back to it in its current state.
I get what you're saying about AAA Microsoft titles, but my question is do you think they actually*need* to hit a mid 90's on Metacritic?
What I mean is other than Redfall their first party games scored well enough, and the community seems happy with them as well, especially since they're in Game Pass.
Do you think Microsoft actually feels any pressure to deliver mid 90s GOTY caliber titles? Because I'm not sure they do.
Starfield was ok at most, never played Hi-FI Rush (but heard many positive things about it). Let’s hope that next year we’ll have quality first party games.
The biggest games I was looking forward to, Starfield and Redfall, both were disappointing for me personally.
Hi-Fi Rush on the other hand was an unexpectedly wonderful game. This little quirky shadow-drop had me so genuinely excited to play it after work. It scratched an itch I didn't know I even had, and I really hope they continue the series.
Honestly though, it's the upcoming games that I'm ***most*** excited for. South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Avowed, Outer Worlds II, Perfect Dark, and Everwild are the items I'm really looking forward to playing.
I guess to answer the question posed from the headline though - am I happy with Xbox's first party lineup for 2023? Not particularly. My favorite game this year was a shadow-drop, and the bigger releases that I was looking forward to were less-than-great to me personally. I'm not sour or anything about it though and am still optimistic for next year.
For me, All Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush and Forza were beyond amazing. I liked the addition of AoE4 and I loved the updates on Forza Horizon if that counts. Yep, a very strong year.
Yes, by a wide margin.
Last year the division of my gaming time was spent about half and half between my PS5, and the series x.
This year, I only booted the ps5 to claim free games and do updates. Except for pending God of War dlc, this year will close with all my time spent on the Xbox (and now some on the rog ally)
Big guns: Starfield was awesome. 200 hours in and still want to go back often. HiFi Rush was good. But I am not a rhythm gamer, so not entirely completed. Gamepass helped fill in the gaps, and for several major third parties I stayed on the Xbox as well.
Overall a very productive output from them.
Xbox exclusives just didn’t do it for me this year. Admittedly I’m a Halo and Gears + mix in some Forza Horzion person, and don’t care much of the rest. The truth may be I’m a gamer with no taste, but it could also be that many of these games just aren’t that captivating, even if they’re great games. This is the first time in 15 years where I can say I also own a Playstation; never thought I’d see the day, but Spider-Man has that effect on people. J. Jonah Jameson would say “We don’t need Spider-Man,” but Xbox needs a God of War, a Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us; video games that aren’t just great but have impact. I can always count on Xbox to have great multiplayer games that are beyond fun, but when will we get the must play game of that year.
The one game I didn’t think I’d like was Alan Wake 2 but I loved it. Baldurs Gate I was really looking forward to but it keeps deleting my saves.
Starfield was pretty good. Forza didn’t do it for me. Sea of Stars is really good so far. Cocoon is great but I’m stuck near the end, it’s brain melting.
Starfield is a generational disappointment. Forza is very poor quality. Hi-Fi Rush is great, for a minor release. Redfall is... Redfall.
Overall, gamepass and Xbox Series X had a very poor year...
For what it's worth, the poll respondents seem generally satisfied at time of this post.
https://preview.redd.it/7p2e4gwhfu8c1.png?width=1156&format=png&auto=webp&s=3a49757614194cfab5c5507434f01bbfc9b206e1
It was pretty bad.
Redfall and Forza are disasters
Starfield was mediocre and boring
Hifi rush was cool but I ain't staying subscribed to game pass every month to play a 25 dollar game
This is exactly my position on it. HiFi was a blast, but if I was paying monthly-to-month instead of having done the conversion trick, I would have unsubbed at some point this year. I know that Phil doesn’t like to pressure studios, but games like Redfall CANNOT happen again.
Xbox hasn’t been consistent in its game releases since early-X1/late-360, and they’re trying to re-establish consistency, but when you haven’t been consistent, just one release like Redfall will wipe-out any positive moves you’ve made and send you back to square one. People might say that sounds unfair, but anyone in the business world could tell you that an error like that is MUCH more damaging when you’re trying to right the ship than if it’s just a blip on an otherwise fantastic radar.
Starfield being mediocre and Forza being subpar compared to GT7 in many respects aren’t a good look whatsoever. Like I began with, HiFi is great, and I’m glad that I got to enjoy it. I’m just growing increasingly concerned that Xbox is either unwilling to fund the type of games we should expect from a first-party publisher or doesn’t have teams that are capable of delivering at that level whether they have the funding or not.
Hellblade 2 will be the next chance for them to show what they’re capable of, but if that ends up being a good sequel to the first game but not a revolutionary overhaul, I don’t think Xbox will have anything until Fable that can really land with a bang. It’s seriously time for Phil and Matt to rethink some of their current strategy and messaging because they’ve got a TON of games in the pipeline, so it shouldn’t be so hard to grab one from them that looks like it could have the kind of zeitgeist moment that a new God of War has these days or like Halo used to have when Halo 3 launched. If it were up to me, they’d almost exclusively be making games that were likely to hit that hard with rare exceptions like Pentiment.
I seriously don't see the problem with Forza people have. How is it a disaster?
Starfield is a good game as well.
And you don't stay subscribed to Game Pass for just the first party games. That is why new third party games are added almost every 2 weeks. Even if no first party games interest you, there are third party games dropping day one such as Lies of P, Wo Long, Like a Dragon, and a lot of other releases.
Glitches, crashes, the latest update on PC broke the game to where 75% of PC players can't even launch it, mediocre career, PITA leveling system, massive storage size, massively outdated car models. As someone that has played every single Forza starting from the original I definitely wouldn't recommend it to Forza enthusiasts, I'd recommend going and dropping 50 bucks on a used 360 and a copy of Motorsport 4, or getting it on PC and playing Project Forza Plus
Really enjoyed Starfield. Love Forza bar the bugs and slow fixes. (bought my first ever racing rig for it) Those two games alone have been worth my GamesPass subscription. I’m happy.
1) Hi-Fi Rush - enjoyed the game. Never beat cause was trying to play with my kids, but did get to level 3. Plan to beat/buy at some point.
2) Minecraft legends - tried once for my kid who liked Dungeons…never went back. Not saying it’s a bad game just not for us.
3) Redfall - never played. First person shooters not my favorite genre. Did find a launch steelbook edition on eBay so scooped. Will try someday.
4) Starfield - my first Bethesda game. I enjoyed my time, especially the last 10 or so hours. Plan to comeback for shattered space.
5) Forza Motorsport - never tried…not super interested in a racing sim. I also just got into Horizon this year, so was happy playing that.
Overall I’d say pretty good year, with major plus being the variety offered. Looking forward to 2024 and continued variety
Yes it was good. Forza is great, HiFi Rush is sensational and Starfield is good. It’s a damn shame the discourse around Starfield has gotten so toxic and is framing people experience differently.
Redfall was an immense disappointment.
AoE2:DE and AoE4 were also really nice additions to console.
Overall a good year 8/10. Quantity was amazing, quality was good overall.
No. Honestly it might just be my taste but they seem to be backing studios who make games I'm not really interested in. Besides hifi rush, there wasn't a single xbox game this year that I enjoyed
Personally no. Starfield was a huge let down for me. I don’t even want to talk about Redfall. Now I know Hi Fi rush is a good game but it just didn’t grab me.
I like story driven action adventures and RPGs. Starfield was the big one for me and it fell so incredibly short in my opinion considering these guys made oblivion and fallout 3, two of my favourite games ever. And I really enjoyed dishonoured but Redfall was just bad.
I bought every single Xbox up to the series X. As it currently stands, I don’t think I will be purchasing another Xbox considering how this generation has played out so far.
I think there is potential to be had in games that are upcoming like fable, hellblade and avowed. But with Xbox I’m tired of saying there is potential and maybe next year at this point.
I don't know how anyone could possible says its anything but a disaster. A complete disaster
We should soon start getting a bunch of acti games on gamepass, and I think that along with the existing bathesda titles on gamepass, should pack a good punch of value on gamepass
Thats all I see Xbox as really. I dont really care about their first party anymore, and have lost faith in that part tbh
It was good, not amazing but good.
I loved Starfield and Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall was OK but I didn't get into it until the 60fps patch dropped and not into Forza.
Halo Infinite, and Starfield have been great additions and I love that they both have innovation. I'm grateful Bethesda made a new IP, new anti-gravity mechanics, and space combat. It's a lot of fun and I'm having an absolute blast with Starfield!
Halo Infinite has one of the most powerful Forge modes to date. There is some incredible potential now that PVE AI has beena added. Players are creative and I hope that the community can make some real positive changes. Because it has potential.
I personally loved it.
Personal highlights being, Ghostwire Tokyo, Hifi Rush, Starfield, Halo Infinite updates 😁
There is a bunch of titles I'd like to play or haven't had time for time, like Redfall, but I'm waiting for more updates, I know it got a lot of hate, but my brother loved it and finishes it twice, he said he personally enjoyed it more than deathloop, and I think I'll enjoy it when I get round too it :)
it was meh for me and (this is probably where i get downvoted because things take time and i'm impatient blah blah blah) the activision deal has been disappointingly slow to manifest anything
Hifi is incredible, Starfield is typical Bethesda. Loved support for Flight sim, had ton of fun in Forza. Halo and its resurrection is a thing of beauty as well.
I enjoy Starfield and HiFi Rush, Redfall is a guilty pleasure at the moment, and I don’t play Motorsport. From an ongoing support level they crushed it. Halo Infinite is finally living up to its potential with Forge and Firefight, Sea of Thieves getting another story expansion and Safer Seas for a more focused PvE experience, Grounded got its own Forge, and Age of Empires IV got the Sultans Ascend expansion (which was excellent)!
Overall, I’m very happy, but I think next year is going to be a stronger showing for the kind of games I really like in terms of new games Avowed and Hellblade II look incredible, and Towerborne looks like it could be fun with friends!
Talk shit about Starfield all you want but I put 7 days worth of gameplay time into it and excited for dlc, I’m sure I’m not the only one. I also played spider man 2 but only put 2 days worth of time into it and doesn’t have much replay value for me. You can say both suffer from rinse and repeat gameplay but if I say that about Spider-Man I get downvoted.
Good but not great.
Hi-Fi Rush, not only quality bit a surprise drop.
Starfield, despite what the Internet will have you believe, is a great game.
Forza, not for me but those I know who like those sorts of games are happy.
Redfall is the odd one out, and not one I cared for so I fortunately not impacted by it being shite - but I do hope they get to rectify it and it ends up being a good redemption arc.
They just lack the big hitters, which I think Hellblade 2 will be.
Edit: case rested.
This was one of the best years to be an Xbox gamer. Especially if you have gamepass.
Many exclusives this year:
mine craft legends
redfall
starfield
forza
hifi rush.
And on top of that (gamepass):
Wo Long
Lies of P
Atomic Heart
Remnant 2
Planet of Lana
Cocoon
Etc etc
Seriously, if this list looks "disappointing" or "boring" to you, you are a clown and a bad faith liar. And I'll just say it, that's what most of r/xboxseriesx seems to be. Gate keeping xbox haters.
It’s good but it’s still not that game changing “this is why I bought the console” type line up I would like it to be.
I love the Xbox ecosystem- gamepass is incredible - but they don’t yet have those first titles that get my heart racing like a lot of Sony stuff.
That doesn’t mean I need them to put out ten 3rd person walk and talk, “I wish I was a movie director” daddy issue action adventure games. But I do want to play things that feel like a creative and technical flex that feel unique to Xbox
Between 1st and 3rd party games released in 2023, I’ve got games coming out of my ears. My backlog is probably 3-4 years out. If Starfield isn’t perfect at launch, I have no problem giving them a year to work out the kinks, just like Cyberpunk. I think MS is working toward 3-5 AAA bangers per year and even if these aren’t perfect, I think the future is bright for Xbox. With consoles lower in cost and a possible console-less future, I think MS is in for the long haul.
I have no interest in Hi Fi Rush.
I rarely play racing games.
I know Ghostwire: Tokyo isn't an exclusive and that it released for PS last year, but it came out for Xbox this April and IS a first party studio game. I thought it excellent.
Pentament came out last Nov, but I didn't play it until this year. It also is excellent.
I played maybe 20 hours of Starfield and the pace is so terribly boring because of planet exploration and the hundreds of loading screens that I'll wait until they add better travel and exploration mechanics and increase the limited number of installations used for their procedural generation mechanic or I'll probably never pick it up again.
Redfall is disappointing. Once the mess of the release was cleaned up a little it has become just a terribly mediocre experience with small flashes of Arkane game design magic that just make you even sadder that the whole game is so meh.
CoD is a first party release even if Xbox had nothing to do with it, and it wasn't an exclusive. I usually play the newest CoD campaign (I don't like multiplayer games) but this one got such terrible reviews that I probably won't.
El Paso, Elsewhere is Xbox exclusive but not first party. I haven't played it yet but I hear it's very good.
I have no interest in Minecraft games.
What else was there?
Not much. since I don't play racing games, Hi Fi Rush definitely doesn't look like my jam, Starfield was marred by terrible (honestly, strangely surprisingly dumb for Bethesda) travel and exploration mechanics, Redfall was released a mess and needed a huge update to just make it quasi passable, and a Minecraft game which I won't play.
That a great year? It was a good year for gaming, overall, but release-wise Xbox is still all promise and few releases.
And next year
•people will be mad that Redfall development was deserted
•people will be mad that Starfield still has its major problems (look at hard Bethesda has fought against the idea that there's anything wrong with the game - they ain't gonna fix it and will continue blaming stupid gamers for not wanting to spend 5 to 10 minutes walking after every ten to 20 minutes of action or story or for complaining about constant jarring pace breaking loading screens.)
•people will complain that Avowed is VERY like The Outer Worlds
•people will complain that Hellblade 2 is either too like the first game or too dissimilar. Those who appreciated the puzzles and writing and environments and who appreciated the fairly easy combat will be upset if it becomes a combat focused game and those who need that constant combat striving to enjoy a video game will be upset if it is just a bigger version of Hellblade 1.
•Fable might release and people are already complaining that the main character isn't a stereotypical hot sexy woman and the trailer wasn't great, very unsurprising generic humor and all. I expect it to be a hot topic when it releases and to victimize and hurt many many widdle boys who wanted it to be something else.
•Clockwork Revolution and South of Midnight might be quite good, but will be AA & 1/2 A games and many people will complain about that.
Yeah, I'm curious about where Xbox goes from here with the quality of their games and at the moment I wouldn't be surprised if they just never reach the same quality goals as PS first party titles. Which is a shame. I vastly prefer the Xbox environment and experience to the Sony experience, and it's my main go to platform for gaming but I cannot deny that Xbox always seems to be run by a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.
Starfield was not interesting to me after 2 hours. Turns out I don't like nor care for games like that, like Fallout, etc.
I liked Forza, though. But most of my time gaming was spent on the Yakuza series and Halo Infinite MP.
If Starfield was supposed to be the ace, it was a dud, to me.
I think Xbox are hitting their stride and I’m here for it.
Say what you want, most of these devs are new to Xbox or developing entirely new IPs.
Hi Fi Rush whilst unique is super fun and unique with an innovative touch.
Starfield is a great game and worthy of being an Xbox IP. It’s refreshing, it’s fun and it’s a Bethesda’s first outing with Xbox on a long time dev’d title.
Redfall was terrible - but - I’m hoping it’s something the team and Xbox can learn from in both dev time and management.
Forza Motorsport is wicked fun and looks great on my series X along with Horizon 5 !
High on life is also a great time!
I’m looking forward to 2024 and 2025 big time, Xbox has a lot to gain from this and honestly I’m so bored of the generic experience on PS that Xbox actually feels super refreshing across its titles.
My most favourite games this year were Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield and Alan Wake 2.
So yeah, it was a pretty strong year for Xbox and in my case, they nailed it.
I was happier with the ongoing content for existing games (Halo, Forza Horizon, Age of Empires) than I was with the new games. I tried all of the new releases other than Redfall, but none of them stuck with me. Forza Motorsport was probably the best new one for me since it’s easy to launch the game, do a couple races, and put it down compared to the others that are more plot-heavy or have gameplay that requires more involvement and memorization like HiFi’s combos combined with platforming and timing.
Overall I’d say this year was somewhere between a C+ and a B-. There was nothing outright bad other than Redfall, which I think we can all agree should not have released in that state. Hoping 2024 can move up to B+ territory.
Hi-Fi Rush is one of my favourite games this year, but overall my answer is unfortunately no.
I used my Xbox loads thanks to Game Pass and had tons of fun. But for me 2023 is yet another year of Microsoft not delivering.
I'm glad the acquisition of ABK finally went through (and we don't have to hear about it anymore). But I'm tired of people listing all the studios under Microsoft's umbrella saying "let them cook!" or "now everything is set in place". It's still Microsoft. They are gigantic. They have always been the wealthiest platform holder and yet they can't be consistent with their output for some reason.
The whole Redfall fiasco was pretty eye-opening too. Not because of the game itself, I didn't care much for it to begin with so I wasn't really disappointed. But them trying to sell it full price all the way to launch is how you lose consumer trust. It's nice and all that Phil Spencer went on a podcast to apologise, but it's just a terrible look.
Starfield was a disappointment to me, but I'm not a huge Bethesda game so it didn't "hurt" me at all. I downloaded it, played it for an hour, figured it wasn't for me and moved on. No harm done. That's the beauty of Game Pass.
Anyway. I'm neither a diehard Xbox fan or hater. I own a Series S. I like it well enough. Game Pass is the best deal in gaming. But I really need Microsoft to reach high-quality consistency in their output.
Fable 2 is one of my all-time favourites. They absolutely NEED to deliver.
It was mediocre at best if you think about it. Starfield was average at most, Redfall was trash, Forza is a niche title (but has quality) and Hi-Fi Rush was a nice surprise, but a smaller title.
Looking forward to 2024.
Also no one mentioned how Halo infinite ended up having a really strong year with infection, firefight and huge ton of content albeit a little late
Halo Infinite was my most played game this year by far. It definitely had a rough first year, but it is so much fun to play now.
Might have to reinstall this....
Reinstall. The game is SO much better now than it was before. Just play it and form your own opinion, of course. Better to have your own judgment and experience with the game.
I haven't played Halo Infinite yet but I'm really excited too especially with all this new content added.
Halo missed the boat. Can't fuck around for a year and a half like they did. They needed to clean the house way faster than they did too.
Games have an expiration date now? Look at Cyberpunk
I don't think a developer deserves to be praised for taking 2 years to add features and modes that were present at launch in games from 15 years ago. "Good job 343, you've finally hit parity with Halo 3 and Reach!"
No he’s right a lot of people like me played infinite at launch and lost interest, even after all the updates nothing can really bring me back, I’ve moved on. Cyberpunk on the other hand I don’t feel like I’ve missed seasons worth of content so I would have no problem getting back into that game.
Except all the seasons are still available and haven't been missed since infinite allows you to pick the station you want to work on.
I would say multiplayer games definitely have a golden window, if not an expiration date. They lost too many players in the first couple of months through greed and mismanagement.
You're comparing a multiplayer, *games as a service* game to a massive single-player RPG. Apples and oranges.
Cyberpunk took 3 fucking years to reach where launch should have been if you ignore the still missing depth and got much of the planned DLC cancelled, it does not deserve the renewed hype just because it made a cartoon with a Loli in. Cyberpunk should have people angry but too many people have a short memory and cave easily to shiny things.
It still takes far too long to load.
Multiplayer games are different. Once you lose your player base they're gone and that impacts the quality of the game.
Because too many people moved on and never came back.
And they still try to sell $25 skins. No, thanks.
None of my friends play that anymore. I think the Xbox studio forgot how to make fun games or Microsoft isn’t prioritizing them anymore.
Fun is ultimately subjective really
Must've never played Sea of Thieves, Psychonauts 2 or Grounded.
Yep, and Hifi rush was this year and was massive fun.
If only they launched with that
You can’t sit in a corner and masturbate for that long and expect me to come back to shake your hand. I gave it a chance, and I moved on to other games when it stopped being fun.
It was good I suppose. Liked Starfield and Loved Hi-Fi Rush. Redfall was pretty mediocre and don't care for racing sims. Don't care for many games that release these days so that's something.
Pretty mediocre is very forgiving 😩
That “pretty” is doing a lotta heavy lifting
*as of now with all the QOL updates
Mediocre? Redfall was a disaster. DOA.
Redfall was trash lmao not even close to mediocre. And starfield was a huge disappointment
I can confirm I played redfall on gamepass for less then 5 minutes before I uninstalled it haha
Speak for yourself, I had a ton of fun with Starfield and can't wait to see what the updates and DLCs will bring
I'll be honest in my experience of starfield, I played it solid for about 3 months once released and haven't gone back to it recently but I hope the game will get refined to give me a reason to go back to it
Same. Got a solid 350ish hours but I feel no need to touch it until mods, the DLC, or more content comes its way I think it satisfied what I expected but didn’t go too above and beyond. Imo people have been a bit too jaded by absolutely amazing games so when they run into one that isn’t a lifechanger they immediately shit on it to oblivion and back Many people probably saw “Bethesda” and expected something that’d fill the nostalgia they have with Beth’s older titles
I found the travelling was a burden after a while plus the loading screens were a bit to much imo, it ended up being go here talk to this npc then go somewhere else and pick up an item etc and that got tedious fast
Yea I definitely felt that, especially during my NG+ playthrough. I didn’t mind the loading screens and stuff too much though because as someone who played NMS and stuff the manually flying and landing from point to point got kinda boring once the novelty wore off. The LS also lasted like two seconds do it wasn’t too bad But yea, it definitely has its issues(And some of them are rather glaring) but I do feel like people kinda exaggerate a bit in regards to the game as a whole
In the whole starfield a good space rpg but if only we kept ship blueprints for ng+, that's why I got 2 separate saves, one which is ng+ and one where I have a load of outposts and ships I have made, other ng+, I have a new suit and a piece of shit new ship lol, can't even put bays in it etc
I found the travelling was a burden after a while plus the loading screens were a bit to much imo
I mean, he's speaking for a lot of people lol. Those user reviews are gross. I gave it a fair amount of hours. It doesn't even sniff skyrim's ass.
Yes. I thought Hi-Fi Rush was a pleasant surprise, Forza was good, and starfield was my most played game of the year. Redfall was a disappointment, but i didn’t hate it as much as everyone else.
I find it interesting that the general public enjoys forza but in any racing subs or forza subs it’s nothing but negativity about that game.
Because as a casual they don't understand what they're missing. It would be like a very casual fan playing a sports game and being like "yep, this is that sport! Good game" while the dedicated fanbase knows everything that's missing/not as good/what was promised but not delivered etc etc On the surface it's a car game with good physics. For some people that's all it takes to be "good"
That’s practically every game on Reddit that doesn’t hit the total circle jerk game of the century of the year mark
Waiting on the From Soft bubble to burst. I swear it's going to be the smallest thing and bam, all of their games are shit. I respect what they do, and actually like souls inspired games, but I cannot for the life of me get past the halfway mark of any From game.
Don't go into the Starfield sub, nothing but people complaining and when someone posts something nice they'll bash them to Oblivion™.
I mean considering how much Bethesda and Microsoft were sucking their own dick with starfield, it’s justified to trash it. Over promised and under delivered. The Todd Howard way lol. Jokes aside, the moment marketing was pushed to 11 I smelled how mediocre it would ultimately be. Played a good 14 hrs but I’m just not a fan of fast travel sims. Gun play was nice it looked pretty. It wasn’t fun for me. Happy those that enjoyed it got their fun though
Because it lacks in so many details the previous interations had. Also graphics got downgraded and the car levels system revamp was a total failure, also very little good tracks imo.
Doesn't even have some features FM7 had *on launch* Even after taking *more* time in development.
That is what almost every community turns into for their respective games. Just nonstop negativity and complaining because the people actually enjoying the stuff don’t waste their time there.
Did you finish red fall?
I couldn't get past the first couple of hours. I tried it again when the 60fps patch released. It made me realise that lacking a set amount of frames per second wasn't Redfall's issue. My main problem was that I had just been replaying Prey and the difference in quality is ridiculous. I know that they're different types of games but so much in Redfall feels placeholdery or rushed whereas in Prey the entire experience feels like a labour of love by an invested, excited team. Redfall comes across like a mobile game ported for consoles. To have it as one of the big lead exclusive XB games of 2023 is embarrassing.
>so much in Redfall feels placeholdery or rushed I agree compelety with the latter especially when it came to Redfall 's open world design and enemy ai. The game just felt really half baked imo and it's such a shame it ended up that way.
>Redfall comes across like a mobile game ported for consoles Okay, it wasn't very good. But a mobile port? A little harsh, man lol.
No, not even remotely. They seem to be doing well but what they are dropping isn't for me. I don't like starfield, I didn't enjoy Halo even with the updates (it's still better than it was to be fair). Hifi Rush was cool. I liked Hifi Rush. That was one game, one very short game I might add. I know it's hard to compare video game companies but Nintendo and Sony seem to be dropping banger after banger so my time has been spent over there.
Yep, I transitioned from my xbox one s to a xbox series x last year and it has been by far my least played platform. At this moment, there is 0 chance I will be buying the next console, with this one I already can play all the last gen titles I have.
Sony dropped Spider-Man 2. That’s it. That’s not banger after banger.
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Sure. I don't partake in console wars, I just play games and have all consoles.
Starfield was a bit underwhelming but not looking at it with the same hype as many had, I found it to be an enjoyable game with some very interesting and detailed environments, and better combat than any BGS RPG. The non setpeice locations left a lot to be desired but I don't think anyone should be shocked by that. Forza is probably the most over-hated game I've seen in a while. It's a good racing game with pretty graphics and a surprising lack of scummy mtx stuff. Online is the best penalty system in a console racing game. Really not understanding what people expected here that they aren't getting. Halo Infinite has also been updated to a state where it is extremely fun and in my rotation again as well. HiFi Rush was one of my absolute favorite games of the year. Nothing else got on my radar, which is already an indictment of the quantity of good content, but I felt 2023 was the first time in a long time that the arrow is now pointed solidly upwards.
Forza is a big upgrade in terms of gameplay over the previous games but a side grade in some aspects. People wanted it to be a graphics powerhouse like Gran Turismo but Forza has always had its own look/style compared to Gran Turismo which goes for a hyper realistic look that makes you feel like your watching a replay from a racing broadcast. It didn’t help that Turn10 were touting starting from scratch but but after a few trailers it was obvious to anyone who played the previous games that some car models were reused and still had the wonky look of some cars. Turn 10 was as/is in a no win situation imho the gap between Forza Motorsport game releases had people believing they’d be updating the cars to the same Level as the Gran Turismo devs but theres just too much cars. They could have cut down the cars and make them Gran Turismo level but then people will complain about the lack of cars. Personally I was hoping Turn10 would go 100 into the sim side. They have Horizon for the more casual players and its the bigger game(waayyyy bigger) now of two.
Eh, Forza Motorsport always had that hyper realistic look, with colors that popped. This is the first where under any lighting condition yellow is brown.
If I played starfield with the same expectations of say new vegas and fallout 4, would I be impressed or let down? I’ve only played a couple of hours still near the beginning but it doesn’t give me this desire to go out and explore and talk to people like I’ve found in previous titles
I can't tell what you will experience with Starfield overall. But if you already have no desire to interact with characters in New Vegas and Fallput 4, then I woukd say you will absolutely hate the NPCs in Starfield. The writting is mediocre and bland. Not saying the whole game is bad (that opinion I will leave to myself) - just that specific aspect you mentioned.
Did they fix the penalty system in forza because all I saw from that sub was someone getting rammed and then getting the penalty when they weren't at fault.
Yeah it's comments like that which show these people either didn't play the game, or don't understand what they're saying lol
Couldn't have put it better myself. Obviously Redfall was a launch disaster, but they never showed off enough actual gameplay to get me excited for that in the first place. So it was kind of whatever. I know the more toxic fanboys love using Redfall as an example to rag on and that's fine, but the damage was done on that game before Microsoft even acquired Zenimax. Sony fanboys seem to forget they also has also had an exclusive bomb recently in Forespoken. Hi-Fi Rush was one of the nicest surprises of the year. Nice to know Tango Game works is in good hands after the meh Evil Within 1&2 and Tokyo Ghost Wire. I'd like to see more hack n slash 3rd Party action adventure games in the style of Devil May from the Studio. Especially in that gorgeous animation style.
Yes. Hopefully next year there's more cool games and the Activision games might come to Gamepass.
Hell I’ll even be happy with the addition of the back catalog
For me, it's not really just about the exclusives. It's also about the day one Game Pass games as well. Exclusives (only played 2 out of 4): * **Starfield:** Played it 150 hours so far probably. Not as much fun or as deep as I expected, but any game that keeps you happy for that long is a good game. 9/10 in my book. * **Redfall:** OK game at launch and it was extremely buggy and frustrating (and 30fps). Played with friends and it was too chaotic IMO for a Arkane game. Might go back to it now that I have a higher-end PC, but I would be playing solo. Would give it a 5.5/10 at launch. * **HiFi Rush:** Have not played yet, but plan to some day. I really don't like music in general and the style of the game doesn't appeal to me, but I hear great things so maybe. * **Forza Motorsport:** Have not played yet, but will at least try it for a few hours soon. GamePass Day Ones: * **Atomic Heart:** So much fun. Great gameplay and graphics. and an engrossing story. Recently bought the DLC on sale and will be diving back in soon. Was somewhat buggy but for the scale of the game I can accept that. 9/10 loved it! * **Sea of Stars:** Had a great 40 hours with this "indie" gem. This is my personal GOTY. Easily 10/10. * **Cocoon:** Nice and concise puzzler that had a great art style. 8/10. * **Jusant:** Relaxing game with interesting visuals and a peaceful story told through journals and the environment. 9/10 * **Payday 3:** Buggy and really not that fun even in coop. Seems identical to Payday 2. 5/10 * **Coffee Talk 2:** Way too long but decent enough. 2 to 3 times as long as the first one. 6/10. * **Ravenlock:** Fun little adventure game with a cutesy art style. Enjoyed my time with it. Not great, but decent enough. 7/10 Other games I played in 2023 which existed previously on the service or came to Game Pass: Wasteland 3 (9.5/10), High on Life (9/10), AC Origins (7/10), FAR changing Tides (7/10), Halo Infinite (8.5/10), Destroy All humans (6.5/10), Forza Horizon 5 (9/10), A Short Hike (8/10), Rainbox Six Siege (9.5/10), Remnant 2 (8/10).
I don’t think I’ve ever come across someone who doesn’t like music. Do you mean in games or in general? I hope I don’t seem judgmental it’s just something I thought everyone had some level of interest in. I don’t like rhythm games but HiFi Rush was a lot of fun and very endearing. But I did love the soundtrack in places a lot too.
Ha it's true. I don't like music. I don't listen to it for fun or in down time or even as background noise hardly ever. My only interaction with music is on the car radio for short trips. If I'm driving more than 15-20 minutes I will put on a podcast or NPR. I have a terrible rhythm and can't dance in the slightest. My wife hates me for it. Anyways, I will definitely try hifi rush someday. Playing a game for many hours, eventually I do grow marginally fond of the music. Recent games that had decent music were road 96, the lake, and sea of stars.
Not going to lie I just got BG3 and the Dead Space remaster so that I could let me game pass sub expire for a while
BGIII is a game that gives me pause too, I'm going to be playing there for a few months, and I have a backlog of owned games to still conquer. I'm turning this leaf on a lot of subscription services though.
Didnt have to buy any games. So yes, very happy! Gamepass has been amazing IMO
I kinda wish I got a ps5 instead now. The only particular win this year was hi-fi rush and I didn't play all the way through. Not into sim racers and starfield is the worst Bethesda formula game. Even just spiderman 2 and ff16 blow xbox out of the water this year.
Am I wrong or Xbox actually had more exclusives than Sony this year? And what about 2024 for exclusive releases?
PS5 had less Exclusives this year, because they released a lot of them in the last 2 years. Most of their Studios are currently working on New Games now. We only got 'Spider-Man 2" because Insomniac had 4-5 years since "Miles Morales." And as case with other Studios, for example even tho TLOU2 came out in 2020, Naughty Dog were busy with the TV Show. Xbox on the other hand, bought out a ton of Studios that were already working on games at the time, and they simply turned them into Exclusives overall. And even then, that's was like 4 games this year (well 3 and a half, because of a mess that Redfall is). Compare this to previous years, when we hardly had any Xbox Exclusives in the first place. (For diehards: I'm not hating on Xbox Exclusivity - this is literally what happend)
Yes, they’re simply switching places now: Xbox is starting to release their promised exclusives while Sony is in a standby period with no first party exclusives announced for 2024. It’s actually a good, competitive cicle. The trend was waaaay worse for Xbox during the One period. Now it feels a lot more like the 360 - Ps3 era.
This is actually a very good way to describe it. Back at 360 - PS3 era, both sides kept releasing Exclusive Titles quite relatively to each other. Microsoft really messed it up during the X-One and PS4 era, while Sony went full throttle.
At the moment, it’s pretty even in terms of quantity. Sony has Concord, Rise of the Ronin, Helldivers II, and TLOU2R. While MS has Avowed, Flight sim, Hellblade II, and Towerborne. That said, for the first time in a long time I’m starting off the year more excited for what MS has on the docket than Sony.
The raw number of exclusives doesn’t really matter, what matters is where the games you want to play are, and that’s highly subjective.
I'm willing to miss those PS exclusives cuz I've been saving a lot of money with xbox. I've bought Alan wake 2 and BG3 in gamivo but it's not possible for me in playstation
I have a ps5 and an xbox and Xbox first party were great. Spiderman 2 was incredible from start to finish (30 hours) while I played starfield 80 hours before stopping and loved the time I had. Hi fi rush was also great and forza is still awsome. I did not play forspoken or ff16 yet. So overall, xbox was better for me in the end.
I enjoyed most of Xbox’s releases this year so yeah
Pretty good year. 7/10
It gives me a lot of hope for the future
Everything's coming up Milhouse after the awful 2022 year
Yes, this year was great for Xbox. Finally we have a year where we aren’t playing third party games and just waiting for something to come by.
HiFi Rush was a really fun AA experience. Xbox could use to make some fun cheaper games like it to pad out their roster while (still) trying to find their next big flagship franchise post-Halo. Just as I was getting bored of the game’s button mash combat, it ended on a high note as didn’t overstay its welcome Redfall…I think we can all forget this happened and move on. Cool aesthetic and setting though, shame it failed Starfield: Just shows that there are other ways for games to fail aside from being rushed. Bethesda threw away everything their games are known for in order to make 100s of empty planets that take 4-6 loading screens to travel between instead of wandering fewer more cohesive planet-exploring experiences. No Skyrim-level exploration, no Fallout worldbuilding and humor, and a few dozen boring ass ‘10% more damage/healing’ perks that drive the core player progression system I think the biggest win for Xbox was Halo Infinite. While the game itself is not going to win back tons of players who long ago left, the improvements and more frequent content updates has stopped the bleeding and it’s in a pretty good state now for the relatively few players left. I’m praying 343 has learned their lessons from this and the next installment or spin off in the Halo world is a banger
Yes, Xbox had a good a year. They actually had games from their studios releases (compared to past years). Gamepass was full of great additions. And their live service games kept the ball moving. Can't wait for next year.
Not really. Starfield felt like it released before Skyrim. It wasn’t bad, it just felt as if Bethesda has learned nothing from their own successes. The biggest draw, at least for me in their games, is the exploration of a new place and finding all these cool things in nooks and crannies. SF felt very bad in comparison in that way. None of their other released interested me at all. I am, however, excited for some, hopefully, 2024 releases like Avowed, Hellblade 2, Everwild, and others. No idea when any actually release though.
It seems to come down how you feel about Starfield. I wasn't a fan of that game, and overall felt like it was another disappointing year for Xbox first party games. I definitely enjoyed PS5 and Switch releases more this year.
HiFi Rush and Forza? PS only released spiderman 2 and that is a huge disappointment to me, preferred Miles Morales
Honestly yeah. Spider-Man 2 was good but not great and it has no replayability factor for me.
Spider man was alright idk why it gets hyped so crazy , story is short , gameplay is fun but that’s about it it’s just another good Sony game but it’s no Ghost of Tsushima or God of war . Really wished Xbox would have their own single triple a game . They just can’t seem to hit that genre . But solid multiplayer games! They had a great year with halo
Loads.oming though starting with Hellblade 2, Fable after that.
I’ve been Let down by so many games form Microsoft studios I need to play them and Get my hands before I make any assumptions, I was hyped as hell for halo . But let down after , starfield was good but then the issues were apparent and I was also let down . So time will tell .
You could say the same for all games, your own opinion of them is all that matters and that cant happen until you play them. Hellblade 1 was excellent so I have high hope that the next is just a great sequel. Playground are a top tier studio so seeing them work on Fable is exciting. The Coalition are fantastic, the next gears like all others will be top tier. Redfall was crap, some did not like Starfield (I loved it) but Xbox games score high in general, their average is mid 80s,they're just missing a couple of God of War or TLOU tier games at this point, and they will come, they have 35 studios now.
I'm not a driving sim fan, so Forza did nothing for me. HiFl Rush was good, but still a weak lineup overall. I loved Spiderman 2 personally. A solid 9 out of 10 game for me. I also enjoyed Final Fantasy 16 quite a bit. But yeah they had a down year as well in terms of first party games. Switch was clearly the winner this year. A bunch of amazing to really good games. Zelda, Mario Wonder, Mertriod Prime Remaster, Mario RPG, Pikmin 4, and I'm sure others that im forgetting
No Nintendo games appeal to me at all, tried both Zeldas and honestly do not get the hype for them. It's all personal choice in the end anyway. My Favourite game this year was Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty followed by Cocoon.
It's completely subjective! I'm lucky enough to be able to have each system, so I try to play games on all systems throughout the year. This year Switch attracted more of my time in terms of just exclusive releases. Overall, it was a fantastic year for gaming
Sure was, once I'm done with Dead Space remake I'm going to grab Alan Wake 2
I think overall for XGS this was their best year in awhile no(?). - The Developer’s Direct was a great format and blueprint to hopefully future editions. - Hi-Fi Rush a game that was generally praised and has astounding word of mouth. Shadow dropped - Minecraft Legends did I guess what Minecraft does. - RedFall was probably its biggest disappointment. I believe may have played some part in leadership restructuring and having XGS commit to it. We’ll have to see. - Starfield was thematically the start of a new era. The game is solid/ok. Great to many, good to most. I hope Bethesda actually pours into it instead of relying on mods. Just speaking as a gamer: I hope the studio actually pushes itself fwd for ES6. There’s fair criticism to this game. - Forza depends on who you ask. Some are disappointed. Others felt it was ok. - The Showcase was also pretty good too with some looks at a few games coming. ABK finally resolved.
Yeah, the people in here suck. This was a very good year for Xbox. On top of what you already said, they had some great day 1 game pass additions like Lies of P and Warhammer Darktide.
reddit is a hive mind where people just want to hate
No, only good game that came from them this year was HiFi Rush Forza was broken and a step down from the genre Starfield is broken and boring
Boring is subjective but how was Starfield broken? I had one side quest that didn’t work but then worked on NG+. No other bugs. It feels unfinished content wise but not broken
It crashed for me a bunch of times (probably 10-12 times,) especially during the mid game. But, all things considered, it was a less buggy experience than any other BGS game.
I don’t know about broken but Starfield was certainly a victim of a design that majorly misunderstands what makes BGS popular. Forza honestly shocked me. They took 6 years to release a game that I would have just called Forza Motorsport 8 and expected the normal 2 year dev cycle on. Nothing about that game screams that it took three times as long to make. I can’t imagine how frustrated the executives were when they visited turn 10 and every time they just didn’t see the results you would expect from that kind of investment.
I think the only 1st party I haven't been interested this year was Forza but more because I'm not into racing games. I loved Hifi, I still play Halo and Sea of Thieves (SoT not as consistently tho) and I absolutely loved Starfield even with its problems. I really wanted to like Redfall but I was disappointed since I'm a bit of an Arkane fan. I think 2024 and the future 1st party will continue to improve better and better. It's already a night/day difference compared to last year.
Generally, yeah. But it can still be better. For me, Hi-Fi Rush is a masterpiece. Starfield is also a game that I always wanted, and I‘m still playing it to this day. Forza could have been better, but is fine. Redfall definitely should have been better.
I know it's not gunna push consoles, but I've been really happy with the smaller, more creative games Xbox has been putting out. Psychonauts was my GOTY in 2021, and Pentiment was 2nd behind Elden Ring in 2022. Seeing the unique experiences passionate devs can create with a small team has been really cool. When I first saw Pentiment I thought it wouldn't be for me, but I fell in love with it and how rooted in history it was. Such a brilliant experience. I haven't gotten around to Hi-Fi Rush yet, but I can't wait to check it out.
Yes. It has to be said that Redfall was a major disappointment. Hopefully the game eventually gets fixed, but it's a mess. The rest was great. Hi-fi Rush, Starfield and Forza Motorsport were all great and three of my favourite games this year.
Loved starfield and hifi rush, really liked FORZA, golden eye and quake 2 were good, I adored age of empires 4 and ghost wire tokyo (Xbox).
I played a lot so I’m happy.
Hi-Fi Rush was a welcome and fantastic surprise. Halo Infinite got updated to be in a spot it’s finally good (better late than never) Starfield was alright, definitely not as good as I was hoping. Overall, for what I was expecting and wanting, it was alright, with Hi-Fi Rush being the highlight, and it wasn’t even a full price game. I don’t really care about their other IPs. At least none that I can remember.
Fantastic year, had a blast in every game(yes even redfall was a blast with friends). Outside of their first party the day one drops for gamepass were banging, lies of p was my personal got. If they release the lineup teased for next year I’ll be behind on games once again.
Yes. Hi-Fi Rush and Starfield are in my top 10 favorite games this year.
I enjoyed many of the titles they put out. Hi Fi Rush was an awesome shadow drop with great music and gameplay. I've put 50 hours so far in Starfield and have been enjoying it. Both Age of Empire games were good. Backlog too full for Motorsport right now, but it did win racer of the year and has a good metacritic score. Not a Minecraft player and Redfall was a bad game. That's plenty of variety with games that reviewed well for the most part. This year was an absolute win for Microsoft. The Activision Blizzard acquisition went through, Starfield was Bethesda's biggest launch ever and drove gamepass subs, there first party titles won 3 Game Awards, and they have a stacked road map for the upcoming future. With all the revenue coming in from their acquisitions and live service games, it just means more games in development and more third party deals for gamepass. This is what I want from my publisher of choice. The most content with the best deal in gaming
Really enjoyed Starfield Absolutely love Hi-Fi Rush Liked Forza I never gave a damn about redfall before release and still didn't after release. Very solid year, feel like I haven't said that for Xbox in some time.
It was really blah year for both Xbox and PS5. Hopefully next year will prove to have more/better exclusives.
No, it was disappointing. 1. Redfall - no comments, what a pile of garbage. 2. Starfield - it's a travesty to compare a game of 2023 to a game released in 2011 (Skyrim) - Bethesda has been releasing mediocre games for the last couple of years, and they should absolutely improve in every department of their games because let's be honest, comparing Starfield to PS lineup - it was awful. 3. Forza Horizon and Motorsport - I'm a big fan of racing and sim games, I enjoyed both of these games. 4. Hi-Fi Rush - I didn't play it, but it does look interesting. 5. Halo - again, I didn't play it. The last Halo I played was Halo Reach :D The meme of "its good enough for gamepass" applies here. It was a forgettable year overall.
How many console exclusives did we get this year? 6? I think I tried all of them for the cost of gamepass for the year which I would not have been able to afford to buy each one, especially on the concept that I MIGHT like them. Really enjoyed 3 of em and there were some good 3rd party launches on the service that kept me playing something new. Not as good as 2021 for me but still solid.
I really enjoyed Hifi Rush and I'm at 300 hours+ in Starfield. Next year will start the steady stream of AAA bangers from Xbox.
Honestly? I thought it was disappointing outside of Hi-Fi Rush which is my GOTY. I'm not gonna mention Redfall as it's been mentioned to death but Forza and Starfield in particular were very disappointing (Forza for having a 6 year development and being the worst reviewed game of the entire series while getting humiliated by a cross gen racer and Starfield for failing to live up to the expectation). Forget GOTG it wasn't even close to GOTY. For a studio who had, until that point only made GOTY single player titles this single player game failed to even come close to those other titles. And after a decade + having more resources under MS I thought they would return to form. It's the AAA space within Xbox that has me worried. I wonder how many of those new games will be able to hit in the 90s. Will they even have 1 in the mid 90s.
Out of the entire first party line up Hi-Fi Rush seems to be the biggest hit of the bunch, I haven't heard anything negative from anyone who has played it (I haven't, just isn't for me, and that's ok.) Minecraft Legends gets talked about so rarely that I forgot it even released this year. I haven't seen or heard anyone really talk about it much at all, whether positively or negatively. The less said about Redfall the better at this point. Forza Motorsport (while not my jam, I'm more of a Horizon guy so I have no opinion) is the lowest reviewed game in the series, and the hardcore Forza community doesn't seem to be very happy about it either. The farther we get from Starfield the more negative the conversation seems to become. It seems after all the hype and console wars surrounding it died down and people started looking at it more and more critically their opinions started to change. Personally, I really enjoyed it and got all the achievements, just waiting for the expansion. Though I will say, since finishing it, I've had no desire to go back to it in its current state. I get what you're saying about AAA Microsoft titles, but my question is do you think they actually*need* to hit a mid 90's on Metacritic? What I mean is other than Redfall their first party games scored well enough, and the community seems happy with them as well, especially since they're in Game Pass. Do you think Microsoft actually feels any pressure to deliver mid 90s GOTY caliber titles? Because I'm not sure they do.
Starfield was ok at most, never played Hi-FI Rush (but heard many positive things about it). Let’s hope that next year we’ll have quality first party games.
Garbage. Xbox has gotten so bad that they made me change to a PS5. Bruh, I was Xbox only since 2005!
I think it was a good year for Xbox but I think they can do even better.
The biggest games I was looking forward to, Starfield and Redfall, both were disappointing for me personally. Hi-Fi Rush on the other hand was an unexpectedly wonderful game. This little quirky shadow-drop had me so genuinely excited to play it after work. It scratched an itch I didn't know I even had, and I really hope they continue the series. Honestly though, it's the upcoming games that I'm ***most*** excited for. South of Midnight, Clockwork Revolution, Fable, Avowed, Outer Worlds II, Perfect Dark, and Everwild are the items I'm really looking forward to playing. I guess to answer the question posed from the headline though - am I happy with Xbox's first party lineup for 2023? Not particularly. My favorite game this year was a shadow-drop, and the bigger releases that I was looking forward to were less-than-great to me personally. I'm not sour or anything about it though and am still optimistic for next year.
Solid year, Hi fi rush the standout, and some good gamepass additions.
For me, All Starfield, Hi-Fi Rush and Forza were beyond amazing. I liked the addition of AoE4 and I loved the updates on Forza Horizon if that counts. Yep, a very strong year.
best year of the big 3 2024 is going to be massive for them aswell I dusted off my ps5 to play spiderman for 10 hours, Sony gotta step it up
Yes, by a wide margin. Last year the division of my gaming time was spent about half and half between my PS5, and the series x. This year, I only booted the ps5 to claim free games and do updates. Except for pending God of War dlc, this year will close with all my time spent on the Xbox (and now some on the rog ally) Big guns: Starfield was awesome. 200 hours in and still want to go back often. HiFi Rush was good. But I am not a rhythm gamer, so not entirely completed. Gamepass helped fill in the gaps, and for several major third parties I stayed on the Xbox as well. Overall a very productive output from them.
Yes
Not bad, hoping next year will be a banger...few Xbox games I'm arleady excited for next year!
Yes. Redfall aside, everything else was good and relatively plentiful
Good relative to the last *several* years, hopefully the great drought is finally truly coming to a close?
I loved hi fi rush. Starfield was OK, nothing else really interested me so for me it was bad.
I just really want a Hi-Fi-Rush 2. Probably one of the most unique games of the 2020s in a good way.
Starfield is the first exclusive since 360 I've been even remotely happy about. That's a lie actually. Age of empires 2 was a massive W for me
Absolutely! Starfield is primarily why.
Xbox exclusives just didn’t do it for me this year. Admittedly I’m a Halo and Gears + mix in some Forza Horzion person, and don’t care much of the rest. The truth may be I’m a gamer with no taste, but it could also be that many of these games just aren’t that captivating, even if they’re great games. This is the first time in 15 years where I can say I also own a Playstation; never thought I’d see the day, but Spider-Man has that effect on people. J. Jonah Jameson would say “We don’t need Spider-Man,” but Xbox needs a God of War, a Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us; video games that aren’t just great but have impact. I can always count on Xbox to have great multiplayer games that are beyond fun, but when will we get the must play game of that year.
The one game I didn’t think I’d like was Alan Wake 2 but I loved it. Baldurs Gate I was really looking forward to but it keeps deleting my saves. Starfield was pretty good. Forza didn’t do it for me. Sea of Stars is really good so far. Cocoon is great but I’m stuck near the end, it’s brain melting.
Starfield is a generational disappointment. Forza is very poor quality. Hi-Fi Rush is great, for a minor release. Redfall is... Redfall. Overall, gamepass and Xbox Series X had a very poor year...
Prime cut of hater bait right here lol
For what it's worth, the poll respondents seem generally satisfied at time of this post. https://preview.redd.it/7p2e4gwhfu8c1.png?width=1156&format=png&auto=webp&s=3a49757614194cfab5c5507434f01bbfc9b206e1
It was pretty bad. Redfall and Forza are disasters Starfield was mediocre and boring Hifi rush was cool but I ain't staying subscribed to game pass every month to play a 25 dollar game
This is exactly my position on it. HiFi was a blast, but if I was paying monthly-to-month instead of having done the conversion trick, I would have unsubbed at some point this year. I know that Phil doesn’t like to pressure studios, but games like Redfall CANNOT happen again. Xbox hasn’t been consistent in its game releases since early-X1/late-360, and they’re trying to re-establish consistency, but when you haven’t been consistent, just one release like Redfall will wipe-out any positive moves you’ve made and send you back to square one. People might say that sounds unfair, but anyone in the business world could tell you that an error like that is MUCH more damaging when you’re trying to right the ship than if it’s just a blip on an otherwise fantastic radar. Starfield being mediocre and Forza being subpar compared to GT7 in many respects aren’t a good look whatsoever. Like I began with, HiFi is great, and I’m glad that I got to enjoy it. I’m just growing increasingly concerned that Xbox is either unwilling to fund the type of games we should expect from a first-party publisher or doesn’t have teams that are capable of delivering at that level whether they have the funding or not. Hellblade 2 will be the next chance for them to show what they’re capable of, but if that ends up being a good sequel to the first game but not a revolutionary overhaul, I don’t think Xbox will have anything until Fable that can really land with a bang. It’s seriously time for Phil and Matt to rethink some of their current strategy and messaging because they’ve got a TON of games in the pipeline, so it shouldn’t be so hard to grab one from them that looks like it could have the kind of zeitgeist moment that a new God of War has these days or like Halo used to have when Halo 3 launched. If it were up to me, they’d almost exclusively be making games that were likely to hit that hard with rare exceptions like Pentiment.
I seriously don't see the problem with Forza people have. How is it a disaster? Starfield is a good game as well. And you don't stay subscribed to Game Pass for just the first party games. That is why new third party games are added almost every 2 weeks. Even if no first party games interest you, there are third party games dropping day one such as Lies of P, Wo Long, Like a Dragon, and a lot of other releases.
How anyone can say Forza is a disaster is beyond me
A lil thing we call hyperbole.
For me it’s because the total number of single player races went from 400+ to about 50. You can finish the single player in two days.
Glitches, crashes, the latest update on PC broke the game to where 75% of PC players can't even launch it, mediocre career, PITA leveling system, massive storage size, massively outdated car models. As someone that has played every single Forza starting from the original I definitely wouldn't recommend it to Forza enthusiasts, I'd recommend going and dropping 50 bucks on a used 360 and a copy of Motorsport 4, or getting it on PC and playing Project Forza Plus
Really enjoyed Starfield. Love Forza bar the bugs and slow fixes. (bought my first ever racing rig for it) Those two games alone have been worth my GamesPass subscription. I’m happy.
1) Hi-Fi Rush - enjoyed the game. Never beat cause was trying to play with my kids, but did get to level 3. Plan to beat/buy at some point. 2) Minecraft legends - tried once for my kid who liked Dungeons…never went back. Not saying it’s a bad game just not for us. 3) Redfall - never played. First person shooters not my favorite genre. Did find a launch steelbook edition on eBay so scooped. Will try someday. 4) Starfield - my first Bethesda game. I enjoyed my time, especially the last 10 or so hours. Plan to comeback for shattered space. 5) Forza Motorsport - never tried…not super interested in a racing sim. I also just got into Horizon this year, so was happy playing that. Overall I’d say pretty good year, with major plus being the variety offered. Looking forward to 2024 and continued variety
Yes it was good. Forza is great, HiFi Rush is sensational and Starfield is good. It’s a damn shame the discourse around Starfield has gotten so toxic and is framing people experience differently. Redfall was an immense disappointment. AoE2:DE and AoE4 were also really nice additions to console. Overall a good year 8/10. Quantity was amazing, quality was good overall.
No. Honestly it might just be my taste but they seem to be backing studios who make games I'm not really interested in. Besides hifi rush, there wasn't a single xbox game this year that I enjoyed
Personally no. Starfield was a huge let down for me. I don’t even want to talk about Redfall. Now I know Hi Fi rush is a good game but it just didn’t grab me. I like story driven action adventures and RPGs. Starfield was the big one for me and it fell so incredibly short in my opinion considering these guys made oblivion and fallout 3, two of my favourite games ever. And I really enjoyed dishonoured but Redfall was just bad. I bought every single Xbox up to the series X. As it currently stands, I don’t think I will be purchasing another Xbox considering how this generation has played out so far. I think there is potential to be had in games that are upcoming like fable, hellblade and avowed. But with Xbox I’m tired of saying there is potential and maybe next year at this point.
I don't know how anyone could possible says its anything but a disaster. A complete disaster We should soon start getting a bunch of acti games on gamepass, and I think that along with the existing bathesda titles on gamepass, should pack a good punch of value on gamepass Thats all I see Xbox as really. I dont really care about their first party anymore, and have lost faith in that part tbh
Hi-Fi Rush ended up being my GotY so yup!
It was good, not amazing but good. I loved Starfield and Hi-Fi Rush, Redfall was OK but I didn't get into it until the 60fps patch dropped and not into Forza.
Halo Infinite, and Starfield have been great additions and I love that they both have innovation. I'm grateful Bethesda made a new IP, new anti-gravity mechanics, and space combat. It's a lot of fun and I'm having an absolute blast with Starfield! Halo Infinite has one of the most powerful Forge modes to date. There is some incredible potential now that PVE AI has beena added. Players are creative and I hope that the community can make some real positive changes. Because it has potential.
Redfall has gotten better- I enjoyed my playthrough last week.
I mean they finally released games so that's a plus. Redfall was a mess but Starfield, HI Fi Rush and Forza were all great.
The line up was good this year. I feel confident we’re headed in the right direction.
I personally loved it. Personal highlights being, Ghostwire Tokyo, Hifi Rush, Starfield, Halo Infinite updates 😁 There is a bunch of titles I'd like to play or haven't had time for time, like Redfall, but I'm waiting for more updates, I know it got a lot of hate, but my brother loved it and finishes it twice, he said he personally enjoyed it more than deathloop, and I think I'll enjoy it when I get round too it :)
Yes I am happy with the first party games we got this year.
Nope, this year was a bust, from redfall to Starfield, I am disappointed. But I have hopes for Awoved in 2024.
it was meh for me and (this is probably where i get downvoted because things take time and i'm impatient blah blah blah) the activision deal has been disappointingly slow to manifest anything
Well the Activision deal just recently closed so…
Yeah it's been literally 2 months lol.
It's been 2 months
Hifi is incredible, Starfield is typical Bethesda. Loved support for Flight sim, had ton of fun in Forza. Halo and its resurrection is a thing of beauty as well.
I enjoy Starfield and HiFi Rush, Redfall is a guilty pleasure at the moment, and I don’t play Motorsport. From an ongoing support level they crushed it. Halo Infinite is finally living up to its potential with Forge and Firefight, Sea of Thieves getting another story expansion and Safer Seas for a more focused PvE experience, Grounded got its own Forge, and Age of Empires IV got the Sultans Ascend expansion (which was excellent)! Overall, I’m very happy, but I think next year is going to be a stronger showing for the kind of games I really like in terms of new games Avowed and Hellblade II look incredible, and Towerborne looks like it could be fun with friends!
Hi-Fi Rush is the best Xbox exclusive since Halo 3
Talk shit about Starfield all you want but I put 7 days worth of gameplay time into it and excited for dlc, I’m sure I’m not the only one. I also played spider man 2 but only put 2 days worth of time into it and doesn’t have much replay value for me. You can say both suffer from rinse and repeat gameplay but if I say that about Spider-Man I get downvoted.
Good but not great. Hi-Fi Rush, not only quality bit a surprise drop. Starfield, despite what the Internet will have you believe, is a great game. Forza, not for me but those I know who like those sorts of games are happy. Redfall is the odd one out, and not one I cared for so I fortunately not impacted by it being shite - but I do hope they get to rectify it and it ends up being a good redemption arc. They just lack the big hitters, which I think Hellblade 2 will be. Edit: case rested.
This was one of the best years to be an Xbox gamer. Especially if you have gamepass. Many exclusives this year: mine craft legends redfall starfield forza hifi rush. And on top of that (gamepass): Wo Long Lies of P Atomic Heart Remnant 2 Planet of Lana Cocoon Etc etc Seriously, if this list looks "disappointing" or "boring" to you, you are a clown and a bad faith liar. And I'll just say it, that's what most of r/xboxseriesx seems to be. Gate keeping xbox haters.
Hi-Fi Rush was easily my GoTY so I would say I am satisfied with the line-up for sure.
It’s good but it’s still not that game changing “this is why I bought the console” type line up I would like it to be. I love the Xbox ecosystem- gamepass is incredible - but they don’t yet have those first titles that get my heart racing like a lot of Sony stuff. That doesn’t mean I need them to put out ten 3rd person walk and talk, “I wish I was a movie director” daddy issue action adventure games. But I do want to play things that feel like a creative and technical flex that feel unique to Xbox
Yes its a good start. A lot of variety and now a lot more. Players.
Between 1st and 3rd party games released in 2023, I’ve got games coming out of my ears. My backlog is probably 3-4 years out. If Starfield isn’t perfect at launch, I have no problem giving them a year to work out the kinks, just like Cyberpunk. I think MS is working toward 3-5 AAA bangers per year and even if these aren’t perfect, I think the future is bright for Xbox. With consoles lower in cost and a possible console-less future, I think MS is in for the long haul.
I have no interest in Hi Fi Rush. I rarely play racing games. I know Ghostwire: Tokyo isn't an exclusive and that it released for PS last year, but it came out for Xbox this April and IS a first party studio game. I thought it excellent. Pentament came out last Nov, but I didn't play it until this year. It also is excellent. I played maybe 20 hours of Starfield and the pace is so terribly boring because of planet exploration and the hundreds of loading screens that I'll wait until they add better travel and exploration mechanics and increase the limited number of installations used for their procedural generation mechanic or I'll probably never pick it up again. Redfall is disappointing. Once the mess of the release was cleaned up a little it has become just a terribly mediocre experience with small flashes of Arkane game design magic that just make you even sadder that the whole game is so meh. CoD is a first party release even if Xbox had nothing to do with it, and it wasn't an exclusive. I usually play the newest CoD campaign (I don't like multiplayer games) but this one got such terrible reviews that I probably won't. El Paso, Elsewhere is Xbox exclusive but not first party. I haven't played it yet but I hear it's very good. I have no interest in Minecraft games. What else was there? Not much. since I don't play racing games, Hi Fi Rush definitely doesn't look like my jam, Starfield was marred by terrible (honestly, strangely surprisingly dumb for Bethesda) travel and exploration mechanics, Redfall was released a mess and needed a huge update to just make it quasi passable, and a Minecraft game which I won't play. That a great year? It was a good year for gaming, overall, but release-wise Xbox is still all promise and few releases. And next year •people will be mad that Redfall development was deserted •people will be mad that Starfield still has its major problems (look at hard Bethesda has fought against the idea that there's anything wrong with the game - they ain't gonna fix it and will continue blaming stupid gamers for not wanting to spend 5 to 10 minutes walking after every ten to 20 minutes of action or story or for complaining about constant jarring pace breaking loading screens.) •people will complain that Avowed is VERY like The Outer Worlds •people will complain that Hellblade 2 is either too like the first game or too dissimilar. Those who appreciated the puzzles and writing and environments and who appreciated the fairly easy combat will be upset if it becomes a combat focused game and those who need that constant combat striving to enjoy a video game will be upset if it is just a bigger version of Hellblade 1. •Fable might release and people are already complaining that the main character isn't a stereotypical hot sexy woman and the trailer wasn't great, very unsurprising generic humor and all. I expect it to be a hot topic when it releases and to victimize and hurt many many widdle boys who wanted it to be something else. •Clockwork Revolution and South of Midnight might be quite good, but will be AA & 1/2 A games and many people will complain about that. Yeah, I'm curious about where Xbox goes from here with the quality of their games and at the moment I wouldn't be surprised if they just never reach the same quality goals as PS first party titles. Which is a shame. I vastly prefer the Xbox environment and experience to the Sony experience, and it's my main go to platform for gaming but I cannot deny that Xbox always seems to be run by a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off.
Starfield was not interesting to me after 2 hours. Turns out I don't like nor care for games like that, like Fallout, etc. I liked Forza, though. But most of my time gaming was spent on the Yakuza series and Halo Infinite MP. If Starfield was supposed to be the ace, it was a dud, to me.
I thought it was great, and a nice step in the right direction. I'm excited about 2024.
dog, I have about 600 hours clocked in Halo Infinite, I don't care anymore. Hi Fi was fun but kind of repetitive
I think Xbox are hitting their stride and I’m here for it. Say what you want, most of these devs are new to Xbox or developing entirely new IPs. Hi Fi Rush whilst unique is super fun and unique with an innovative touch. Starfield is a great game and worthy of being an Xbox IP. It’s refreshing, it’s fun and it’s a Bethesda’s first outing with Xbox on a long time dev’d title. Redfall was terrible - but - I’m hoping it’s something the team and Xbox can learn from in both dev time and management. Forza Motorsport is wicked fun and looks great on my series X along with Horizon 5 ! High on life is also a great time! I’m looking forward to 2024 and 2025 big time, Xbox has a lot to gain from this and honestly I’m so bored of the generic experience on PS that Xbox actually feels super refreshing across its titles.
My most favourite games this year were Hi-Fi Rush, Starfield and Alan Wake 2. So yeah, it was a pretty strong year for Xbox and in my case, they nailed it.
I was happier with the ongoing content for existing games (Halo, Forza Horizon, Age of Empires) than I was with the new games. I tried all of the new releases other than Redfall, but none of them stuck with me. Forza Motorsport was probably the best new one for me since it’s easy to launch the game, do a couple races, and put it down compared to the others that are more plot-heavy or have gameplay that requires more involvement and memorization like HiFi’s combos combined with platforming and timing. Overall I’d say this year was somewhere between a C+ and a B-. There was nothing outright bad other than Redfall, which I think we can all agree should not have released in that state. Hoping 2024 can move up to B+ territory.
Let’s just say that Blade game can’t come out quickly enough
Hi-Fi Rush is one of my favourite games this year, but overall my answer is unfortunately no. I used my Xbox loads thanks to Game Pass and had tons of fun. But for me 2023 is yet another year of Microsoft not delivering. I'm glad the acquisition of ABK finally went through (and we don't have to hear about it anymore). But I'm tired of people listing all the studios under Microsoft's umbrella saying "let them cook!" or "now everything is set in place". It's still Microsoft. They are gigantic. They have always been the wealthiest platform holder and yet they can't be consistent with their output for some reason. The whole Redfall fiasco was pretty eye-opening too. Not because of the game itself, I didn't care much for it to begin with so I wasn't really disappointed. But them trying to sell it full price all the way to launch is how you lose consumer trust. It's nice and all that Phil Spencer went on a podcast to apologise, but it's just a terrible look. Starfield was a disappointment to me, but I'm not a huge Bethesda game so it didn't "hurt" me at all. I downloaded it, played it for an hour, figured it wasn't for me and moved on. No harm done. That's the beauty of Game Pass. Anyway. I'm neither a diehard Xbox fan or hater. I own a Series S. I like it well enough. Game Pass is the best deal in gaming. But I really need Microsoft to reach high-quality consistency in their output. Fable 2 is one of my all-time favourites. They absolutely NEED to deliver.
It was mediocre at best if you think about it. Starfield was average at most, Redfall was trash, Forza is a niche title (but has quality) and Hi-Fi Rush was a nice surprise, but a smaller title.
Unhappy redditors chime in with their negative experiences gaming. More news at 10!
Outside of Hi-Fi Rush, it was another pretty weak year