Once again it is GamePass time. With Outer Worlds2 coming in October, and games I want to play piling up in gamepass I figured it's a good time to resubscribe and tick few of those off. So here is a list so far:
1) FTC: Firebreak - Remedy's Left4Dead-like. Ehhhh. It's not terrible, but also not particularly interesting. Gameplay is very basic, missions get old very quickly, and matches are either fairly dull (if everyone know what they are doing) or frustrating (if one or two people don't fulfill their roles). It's an ok time waster with a friend, but I think I had enough of it in a solo que. I might jump back again later after few updates, but I wouldn't recommend paying money for it. Sorry, Remedy.
2) I gave new Commandos: Origins game a go. Eh, didn't play much so far, but my impression isn't much different than from a demo - it seems like a clunkier, far less polished version of Mimimi's take on the genre. They just haven't presented any interesting challenges so far, and character kits seem basic.
3) South of Midnight - again not very deep so far. Look beautiful, and I like the vibe. Initial impression of gameplay is that it will likely not amount to much. Feels like a very basic action platformer thing
3) Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 - that's been my main thing for the last two weeks. It's great! Fairly contained jRPG, with all that I like about genre but none of the tedium. Combat is straightforward but engaging. Vibe and story is the highlight - great soundtrack, compelling character writing, I am yet to decide on plot - it is shaping to be a bit more straightforward than I was hoping for, but we will see - I am confident a big twist is just ahead of me. Perhaps not a groundbreaking game, but with a lot of heart and passion.
[edit. Ok, I like the plot now. Twist was good, in a thematically meaty kind of way.]
4) The Rogue Prince of Persia - it's really good. Sharp artstyle, and really enjoyable gameplay. They are also doing some smart story thing - not quite copying Supergiant's work in Hades, but still managing to naturally weave story into it's rogue-lite structure.