We reviewed (nearly) every game out now for the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X
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It’s been a long and strange November for the hobby of gaming, as both Sony and Microsoft launched big, fancy, expensive new consoles directly into the middle of both a global pandemic and a (somehow still ongoing) U.S. national election. The dust is still settling on the arrival of the Xbox Series X/S and the PlayStation 5, but regardless of which one ends up “winning” this latest bout of the console wars, early November 2020 will likely go down as a landmark fortnight (and also Fortnite) in the timeline of gaming. We’ve previously talked our way through the bizarre nature of this recent slate of games as a launch lineup, with the absence of almost any true exclusive system-seller title for either console being a notable feature, or lack thereof. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t also engage with these games as games, whether you’re playing them on a new console, or—as many of them still perfectly function—as major releases for the latter days of the existing Xbox One or PlayStation 4.
We’ll be the first to admit that this runthrough of launch titles isn’t 100-percent complete; specifically, we’ve left off a number of older games like Borderlands 3, Sea Of Thieves, and other titles that merely had a graphical update to go on the new devices. (We’ve also skipped a few games that didn’t technically launch on the PS5 or Series X, period, like Harmonix’s fascinating new music toy FUSER.) But as a run-down of the new (or, in some cases, new-ish) slate of titles that came out in the last 14 days, this list will hopefully help you get a grasp on what to play on your new hardware—or how to abate your FOMO by still playing many of the hottest new games on your perfectly serviceable PS4 or Xbox One.
11 Comments
Good list. It looks like a decent year to jump in at the start, especially since there’s a much greater push for backwards compatibility (to varying degrees). Had I not bought my PS4 last year, I might have taken the plunge on the 5.
I got my foot in the door with a Series X, kind of just because I found an opportunity where I *could*, and figured I’d buy it eventually anyways.I have a very capable gaming PC, so the graphical flourishes don’t blow me away (there’s few games where I really crave it, usually I’m happier to crank down the graphics and maximize my frame rate), but I adore how much FASTER and snappier everything is. The main attraction of console gaming over PC gaming, to me, is that’s easier to casually dive into something, versus on PC where playing on M&K anchors me in one specific spot, in which my cat is attacking my hands, biting my feet, and/or plopping his butt onto my keyboard. But when the console is slow to boot up, slow loading into games, and then slow loading within games, it kind of crushes the breezy casual vibe. SSD speeds are so valuable to console gaming, it’s absolutely ridiculous that it took this long. Which is to say: the fact that the launch library consists almost exclusively of backward compatible titles with trivial graphical improvements is not a deal breaker, because the real breakthrough with these consoles is the SSD.
Yeah my hope this gen is that the usage of SSDs dramatically changes the fundamental designs of games because we no longer have to account for the R/W speed limitations in mechanical drives. Consoles largely drive development philosophy in the industry, so even PC games will benefit.Maybe next year I’ll pick one of these systems up (or, like a madman, both). The casual jump-in-jump-out nature of consoles is still nicer than PC at this point.
Anybody else confused by the prompt to “FINISH HIM” *after* dude had already been launched into the stratosphere and blown up with a grenade-arrow?Kind of a hat on a hat at that point.
I mean, I guess at some point we’re just going to have to come to grips that not everything in a Mortal Kombat game is entirely grounded in reality.
That said, there were a number of things about that sequence that didn’t entirely make sense to me either.
I have no idea what you’re talking about.[Blasts machine gun at phone to turn off]
And a sensible response that is!
[Sets explosives, coolly walks away as random buildings blow up in the background without any visible reaction]
whoa. whoa. wait. back up. I 100% expect my otherworldly tournament fighting games with undead ninjas, four armed monsters, soul stealing sorcerers, and lizard people to be grounded in reality. otherwise what’s the point?
[The Falconeer is] essentially an aerial dogfighting game like classic Xbox favorite Crimson Skies, but instead of riding in an airplane, you’re on a giant bird.
That does sound pretty goddamn amazing.
Already played through and beat Bugsnax. It’s a well made game with great characters and story, I just wish the puzzles were a bit better. It was worth playing but could have been much better with more challenge.Started The Pathless recently and it is pretty awesome. The controls are simple and fluid, it’s a ton of fun running, sliding, and soaring across the vast lands. And the map has a lot of cool small puzzles to find. I will say though I enjoy the game much more when I’ve dispelled with the evil spirits and can just explore the amazing looking landscape for new temples and puzzles.Both are indie games and worthy of support IMO.
Oh, and if you get sick of swinging? the webslinging in those games is high quality. who got sick of that?