XBox Pass for PC

[alias_sqbr]

A while ago flamebyrd mentioned that XBox Pass is available for PC with a $1 free trial for the first month, and since today has been UNEXPECTEDLY STRESSFUL I decided to check it out.

Basically you pay a set price per month (Usually $11 AU) for access to a library of games you can only play while subscribed, and also it's 10% off to buy them outright if you don't mind only ever playing them via the Microsoft Store.

I don't see myself using the service long term but there's a fair few games I have been curious to try, and I can see myself getting a month's enjoyment out of the trial. List below the cut!

So for some reason the official list on the Xbox website never works for me but this list roughly matches what I saw in the 'app' (ugh to PC programs being called apps, I spent a while very confused).

If I haven't played the game my understanding of the genre may be way off.

Games I think I might like:
Farming Simulator 17
No Man's Sky: space exploration and gathering/crafting etc
Pillars of Eternity: RPG
Spiritfarer: gentle, pretty base building
Tetris Effect: Tetris

Games I probably won't like but might try out anyway:
Hollow Knight: Pretty platformer
Gris (about to leave the store): Pretty platformer
Two Point Hospital: Simulation
Slay The Spire: Card based RPG
Yakuza (not sure which one to try): Action

And now games I won't play but will mention in case it's useful to youse:

Games I have already played and enjoyed:
My Time At Portia: Cute farming/exploration/crafting/gathering with romances/plot
Grim Fandango Remastered: Point and click adventure game
The Gardens Between: Puzzles with time travel
Starbound: Cute pixel exploration/gathering/a little combat in SPACE
Subnautica: Underwater exploration/gathering/crafting
Final Fantasy 7, 8, 9: JRPG

Games I already own and think I'll like but haven't got around to playing:
Night in the Woods: Narrative game with a little platforming
Oxenfree: Narrative game
Forager: Cute pixel exploration/gathering/a little combat
The Outer Worlds: Plotty RPG in space
Day of the Tentacle: Point and click adventure game
Astrologaster: Narrative game

Games I have already played and didn't really enjoy but they seem good for what they are:
Machinarium: Puzzles
My Friend Pedro: Bittersweet puzzles, metaphorically about a boy with an alcoholic father
Don't Starve: Survival/gathering/crafting
Wilmot's Warehouse: Timed organisation puzzle
Celeste: Platformer

Thus far I have only tried a few minutes of Spiritfarer, which is a sort of gentle, pretty base building game about being a psychopomp. It's cute so far but started with PLATFORMING, so if that continues to be a thing I will be glad to have not paid real money for it.

Other recs welcome!

Comments

[flamebyrd]

Spiritfarer definitely requires frantic platforming for several of the resource gathering phases. If you get past the jellyfish and don't hate it then I'd say continue, but if you DO hate it I'd say stop after Gwen's storyline is done. That will give you a good idea of the shape of it.

[alias_sqbr]

HMMM. I didn't hate it, but only because I just found a spot on the roof where I could catch enough fairly passively. If I had to actually chase them down it would be impossible. Does it get much harder?

Thank you, either way, this is very useful!

[flamebyrd]

Oh! And there's lightning gathering in the first section too - have you hit that yet? Some of the later resources are like the jellyfish only faster and at multiple different heights, and like the lightning if it moved as well. It's pretty awful, but on the bright side the only negative outcome is that you get less of the resource, and in general you don't actually need that much of each resource in order to progress.

[alias_sqbr]

HMMM. That is good to know.

[scytale]

Slay the Spire is really popular with my friends.

I tried Pillar of Eternity twice but couldn't get into it. I think the story may have started out too slow for me, or the combat was too D&Dish? Either way it didn't draw me in.

[alias_sqbr]

Ha that's two people saying Slay the Spire is popular with their friends, and it was a friend who told me I should try it.

I have a sneaking suspicion it's actually Pillars of Eternity 2 I've been recced, which they don't have.

[got_quiet]

Yakuza is a ton of fun but it can get a little difficult, and it has a very specific sense of humor. I love it and depending which episode it is you can just go in the game and play a virtual crane game all day long! I love crane games but am too cheap to play them for real so I actually had a lot of fun with it.

My friends are super into Slay the Spire, but it's a too slow paced for me. If you like deckbuilders you might like it though.

I hear No Man's Sky is pretty good now. It seems like there are some very chill modes you can play in.

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah I get the feeling that at best I'll have fun with some of the Yakuza sidequests/minigames but not progress far in the actual game.

And yeah I hear No Man's Sky is pretty good these days too, I've been really curious to try it.