My Opinion: Xbox Developer Direct!
After an unsuccessful year for Xbox 2022, gamers were waiting for some positive progress. And when Microsoft announced its presentation of Developer Direct, people began to fantasize about what they would show there. But insiders and Aaron Greenberg himself immediately cooled expectations from the presentation. As part of Developer Direct, we were shown 5 games from 5 studios. The format was chosen as follows: One studio talks about its game and shows the gameplay in parallel, then the next, etc. In fact, this presentation format is excellent and I hope Microsoft will hold such presentations several times a year. During the day I watched the reaction to the presentation on social networks and in most cases it is very positive. The most important thing is that it showed the gameplay and release dates of some games. Of course, the most important surprise of the presentation was the release of the Hi-Fi Rush game immediately on Xbox, Xbox Game Pass and PC. Surprised!
My Opinion: TES Online: Necrom!
I'll start with the Necrom add-on for The Elder Scrolls Online. This is another addition to the popular MMO franchise The Elder Scrolls. The main game and all add-ons are paid, but with an Xbox Game Pass subscription, the main game is free, but DLC still needs to be purchased separately! Wow effect this part of the presentation certainly did not have because this is another DLC for the game. I play it on Xbox and I liked it in principle, but it's an MMO, which means it takes a lot of personal time. I don't have that much time, so I don't play it on a regular basis. I rarely go to plunge into this incredible and beloved world! The game feels good and largely due to the fact that it is available on an Xbox Game Pass subscription!
My Opinion: Minecraft Legends!
A new game in the Minecraft series. This is a very popular franchise that helped its creator earn very well and spend very well on buying Microsoft's Mojang Studio. Before that, there was the main Minecraft game and an offshoot of Minecraft Dungeons. By the way, both of these games are also available on the PlayStation console. What can I say about Minecraft Legends? This is Minecraft, which means that the game will definitely be successful and at the start it will definitely show excellent results. Only this time it will be released only on Xbox, Xbox Game Pass and PC. At least some Minecraft has become an Xbox console exclusive! I'm not waiting for the game, and Minecraft fans are definitely waiting!
My Opinion: Forza Motorsport!
This part of the series is not a direct continuation with a number in the title, but rather a restart. By rejecting the number in the name, the developers want to emphasize the number and importance of changes that the new game will receive! They just say that this is an next-gen game with a bunch of changes and improvements. At the moment, the games of the Forza series are their best representatives. Forza Motorsport is the best car racing simulator, and Forza Horizon is the best arcade race. In 2022, the racing simulator Gran Turismo 7 was released on PlayStation and in my opinion this is a bad game with microtransactions... It did not have such an effect at the start as for example Forza Horizon 5.
If you love racing and racing simulators in particular, then Forza Motorsport is a must-buy or launch with an Xbox Game Pass subscription! All the previous parts of Forza Motorsport were great and this one is likely to be the same. Studio Turn10 well done!
My Opinion: Redfall!
This game was announced after the purchase of the publisher Bethesda by Microsoft. It so happened that Bethesda, under contract to Sony, had to release two Deathloop and Ghostwire: Tokyo games exclusively for one year. And Redfall was supposed to be the first game from Bethesda as part of Microsoft. The game is an adventure first-person shooter in an open world with an accessible cooperative mode. The main enemies in the game are vampires and human cultists. I know that many people in the West like this game and they are waiting for it. But there are a lot of questions about the game in Russia. Arkane Studios has released some great games and after that we get Deathloop and Redfall? Unfortunately, yes. These two games began to be developed even before the purchase of Bethesda when the company began to have financial problems.
Therefore, Deathloop and Redfall are so much alike. That is why some of us accuse that Redfall is made using Deathloop game assets. There are also a lot of claims to the gameplay itself and to monsters that don't look very good and are not remembered at all. Will Redfall be successful or will it just be a filler for the Xbox Game Pass, we will find out soon! The game is released on May 2, 2023.
My Opinion: Hi-Fi Rush!
The surprise that we received at the presentation of Developers Direct is a new game from the Japanese studio Tango Gameworks. These are the creators of The Evil Within1-2 and Ghostwire: Tokyo. And then they announce Hi-Fi Rush... A game in a completely different genre and a different style. The first opinion when I saw the game: Is this a cheap copy of Sunset Overdrive? It turned out to be a rhythm-action game. The developers crossed Sunset Overdrive with Metal: Hellsinger and got Hi-Fi Rush. It turned out to be a pleasant surprise that the game will already be available for purchase and downloading a few hours after the announcement on Developer Direct! But unfortunately the game is only available on the new Xbox Series and PC consoles, as well as in the Xbox Game Pass subscription. The game looks cheap as if it was made by a small team of 15 people and it was created specifically to fill the Xbox Game Pass and that players would not say "Microsoft does not release games!"... Many people like this approach with the release of small and cheap games, but of different genres and mechanics very much. This is not Sony where all the games are slick adventures in the open world of the AAA level.
Hi-Fi Rush is a game of the Pentiment level. Only if they forgot about the second one almost immediately, then Hi-Fi Rush is now discussing the entire Internet and it is in the top of Steam with excellent ratings. Great move Phil Spencer!