Xbox Game Pass has added Disco Elysium – The Final Cut to its Ultimate, Premium, and PC tiers. The game has a Metacritic rating of 91 and won four awards at The Game Awards 2019, including Best Role-Playing Game and Best Narrative. It offers approximately 20 to 25 hours of main storyline gameplay, with an additional 10 hours of side quests, and around 50 hours for completionists. The version available is The Final Cut, released in 2021, featuring new content and full voice acting. Disco Elysium has an 88% approval rating on Steam and a near-perfect score on the Xbox Store. Subscribers can access the game without purchasing it, and a 20% discount is available for outright purchases while it remains part of the subscription service.
Fanatical has launched its Spring Sale, featuring discounts on various PC games. Resident Evil Requiem is discounted by 18%, priced at .39, while the Resident Evil Remake Trilogy is available at a 65% discount for .49. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the 2025 Game of the Year winner, is marked down by 28% to .99. DOOM: The Dark Ages is offered at a 70% discount. Monster Hunter Wilds and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II have price drops exceeding 50%. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is priced at .74. Discounts are time-sensitive, and the Amazon Big Spring Sale will launch soon.
Xbox has added several titles to its Game Pass lineup for February, including:
- Available Now:
- Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora on Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass across multiple platforms.
- Avowed in the Game Pass Premium library.
- Aerial_Knight’s DropShot, a single-player skydiving first-person shooter.
- Upcoming Releases:
- On February 24: TCG Card Shop Simulator in Game Preview.
- On February 25: Dice A Million, a roguelike deckbuilder.
- On February 26: Towerborne, a co-op action RPG transitioning from game preview and early access.
- Notable Titles Coming on March 3:
- Final Fantasy III and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, which received multiple nominations at The Game Awards.
4Loop is a new co-op shooter developed by Bad Robot Games, led by Mike Booth, known for Left 4 Dead. The game features a roguelite structure with tactical maps made up of interconnected nodes for missions, which require at least one player to survive to advance. Players can vote on objectives, and missions include tasks like rescuing hostages or harvesting resources. The game encourages creative tactics against AI opponents, utilizing features like portals and invisibility. A notable boss encounter involves navigating a dynamic obstacle course of lasers. The game is currently in pre-beta, with upcoming playtests planned, and will launch on PC and PS5. Specific release dates have not been announced.
Highguard is a high fantasy extraction FPS that has garnered attention but has a subdued post-reveal marketing strategy. It received mixed reviews, with only 37% of players on Steam leaving positive feedback, which increases to 78% among those who played for over five hours. The game sparked polarized discussions on social media, with both defenders and detractors voicing their opinions. Larian Studios’ co-founder, Swen Vincke, criticized the negativity towards new titles, advocating for respect towards creators and suggesting that critics should be evaluated on the impact of their reviews. He acknowledged the financial pressures on players regarding game purchases and emphasized the importance of constructive criticism without personal attacks. Vincke also expressed concern about the sensitivity of creative individuals and the potential loss to the industry if they withdraw due to harsh criticism.
The anime gacha game market is becoming increasingly similar, with Genshin Impact as a dominant influence. New titles often struggle to differentiate themselves, leading to a saturation of open-world action RPGs with collectible anime characters. Arknights: Endfield introduces a unique factory-building mechanic, allowing players to mine materials and manage conveyor belt systems, which sets it apart from typical gacha games. Honkai: Star Rail is noted for its turn-based gameplay and humor, while other titles like Zenless Zone Zero and Genshin Impact feature vibrant character designs but face challenges with monetization strategies that can detract from gameplay enjoyment. Despite the innovations in Endfield, it still caters to the Genshin Impact audience, highlighting a desire for more engaging gameplay without the complexities of traditional action RPGs.
Highguard was unveiled at The Game Awards and faced significant controversy, including skepticism and comparisons to the failed game Concord. At launch, it attracted nearly 100,000 concurrent players on Steam but currently holds a 33% rating, categorized as 'mostly negative' reviews. Despite this, the developers believe the game does not need large player counts to succeed. There is hope that Highguard can improve its performance, introduce new content, and make significant gameplay changes in the future. The trend of review-bombing is seen as harmful to the game's potential for growth.
The latest update for the game Ball x Pit introduces two new characters, The Carouser and The Falconer, along with eight new balls, enhancing its Breakout-style gameplay. The update, named the Regal Update, will be available for free on January 26. Ball x Pit has been recognized as the Best New York Game at the New York Game Awards and is one of Valve's top-played Steam Deck titles. The game is well-suited for the Steam Deck due to its short rounds and minimal system requirements.
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided is currently available for free to select users through Prime Gaming, requiring an Amazon Prime subscription. The offer is limited to PC users and will be available until February 2. The game, released a decade ago, is the fourth installment in the Deus Ex series and typically retails for .99. It has a Metacritic score of 83 and players can expect to spend around 30 hours to complete the main storyline or about 50 hours for full exploration.
