Guys, we have made it. It’s finally the end of what seems to have been the longest month ever. Looking forward, we have some awesome looking titles due for release in February, but for now – we want to know what you are playing this weekend. Will you be dabbling in the controversial Highguard? Or sticking to an old favourite? Let us know in the poll at the bottom of this article. First up – let’s see what the XboxEra team have been up to this week.
Jesse (DonCabesa):
“I gave Code Vein II a go this week, after missing out on the review period. I cannot say that I’m sad to not review this one as the first few hours were so dull that I doubt I’ll ever come back to it.
The combat is stiff, with poor hitboxes and questionable choices throughout the UI had me reeling almost immediately.
The main screen alone has at least four different font types. Graphically the character models look alright but the world itself was PS3-era. A strange release all around, that while the story itself seemed a little interesting, nothing else did.“
Gyozo (FairyEmpire):
“On top of various reviews I’m working on, and my continued sessions of Black Ops 7 and Yakuza 0, I’ve been having a surprising amount of fun with an unexpected candidate.
Pokémon Legends Z-A. The flat urban open world has its issues, and the presentation is lacking in many ways. Yet, this real-time combat and streamlined progression is something I’m finding quite enjoyable, more so than I imagined.”
Jon (Sikamikanico):
“This week I’ve been playing plenty of a game that’s out next week but that I can’t really speak about just yet, and interestingly, lots of my playtime has been using my ROG Xbox Ally X. Honestly, while I have plenty of criticisms towards the UI and ohter software hiccups on the ASUS handheld, I can’t deny that it really has changed the way I play video games. As such, I’ve also been playing lots of older things this week. I’ve jumped back into Mexico with Forza Horizon 5, and checked out the Rally Adventure DLC that I seemingly never touched back when it came out (I also picked up the Deloreon because the big kid in me really wanted it).
I’ve jumped back into Hitman World of Assassination, which is a wonderful game that runs superbly on the handheld, full of content and a wonderful sandbox to explore and fool around in as I try and assassinate various targets across plenty of different missions. Lastly, I ended up downloading Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag thanks to Ubisoft+, and holy crap. My little handheld PC can run that with all the settings mostly maxed out, and it’s still gorgeous. The faces and animations are a bit wonky, but that game is so addictive, it makes me want to play through it all over again…but I must refrain, right? With the remake surely on the horizon, to start playing it again may ruin the potential joy of playing through it all over again. With several games coming in early February that I plan on checking out – Carmageddon: Rogue Shift, REANIMAL and High on Life 2 – I don’t think I’ll be staying with my backlog or playing older games for long.“
Kat (MortonToe):
“It’s official. Forza Horizon 5 has me addicted. I have spent what time I can cruising the streets of Mexico, and trying not to let my need for speed spill over into my real-world driving. My aim is to ‘get good’ ready for May so I can jump straight into Forza Horizon 6, when it comes out.”
You should check out our ‘Everything We Know About Forza Horizon 6’ article here.
Poll:
It is time for our usual Saturday poll. We want to know what you’ll be playing over this weekend. We are, as always, reaally grateful for feedback.
Thanks for taking part! If you want to chat more about games, head on over to the XboxEra Forums or make some noise in the lively XboxEra Community Discord Server. If you’re looking to be a bigger part of an amazing community, then either choice is a good one!
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