nicely done, looks great and conveys the information quickly
Good list.
I have a similar list but exclude dlc, remasters and mobile. I also use Open Critic because their reviews aren’t weighted as far as I know and there’s just one score. I’m not a fan of the platform separation on Meta Critic.
Anyone have a similar one for Playstation and Nintendo?
Should absolutely have a 2025 and beyond with all announced things.
I have the same format/setup for Sony published games. Don’t have one for Nintendo. May do one when Switch 2 releases.
Thanks.
It’s very interesting to look at the genre column on both, Xbox have clearly been more diverse however it would be good to see more 3rd person action/adventure games from Xbox.
This said Indiana Jones has been fantastic and being 1st person (with 3rd person elements) hasn’t detracted from that at all.
One thing I hope we do see less off are these sort of second party exclusivity deals. I don’t mind it when they are paying these developers to work on their own IP’s, but locking down games as ‘first party games’ when they don’t own the IP or studio sucks IMO. If Sony hadn’t done this with Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin they would have had a very weak 2024, so I understand why but it still sucks.
Microsoft has definitely had more variety in regards to the genres of games that they’ve released and we’ll be getting a few third person games in 2025 and afterwards. South of Midnight is a third person action adventure game, Fable is the third person action RPG ala The Witcher 3, Gears of War: E-Day is the third person cover based shooter, State of Decay 3 will be the third person action survival game and of course, The Elder Scrolls VI like Starfield and their games before them, will be playable in third person even though I do feel like it’s meant to be played in first person.
I’m a third person guy but Starfield didn’t feel as good to play in third person as it did in first person so on foot, I played exclusively in first person. I will do the same with Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2 because I believe that while third person is an option, the game was made and built with first person in mind which is very easy to see because when in third person, the animations simply aren’t there and the leg movement always looks weird and quirky, at least to me anyway.
Indiana Jones is perfect for first person because it’s not a fast paced or action oriented game. It’s more built around the puzzles, stealth, disguises and platforming than pure action melee combat. I want them to stay with the first person perspective but im hoping that for the next game, they just make the combat a little more action oriented and less focused on being a stealth driven immersive sim because as someone who prefers combat/gameplay over all the other aspects, I didn’t enjoy the hand to hand combat at all. They nailed the feel of it but it’s not for me and the shooting felt off which im assuming was done intentionally. Either way, keep the first person view but just make the combat more action oriented is what im hoping for.
The exclusivity deals don’t bother me at all because both companies do it and if anything, more times than not, the game wouldn’t exist without that upfront payment for exclusivity. Ronin was in development for almost eight years I think so that deal was made a long time ago. Stellar Blade was originally a multi-console game but was also for last generation and I would much rather have an exclusive for PS5/XSX instead of it being multi-console but it’s a last generation or even cross-generation game. Start taking advantage of the current generation hardware because both consoles are more than capable.
Don’t feed the obvious trolls people. Ignore, flag, and move on.
Yeah you’re right, there’s lots of 3rd person stuff coming.
I agree with Indiana’s shooting, it doesn’t feel very satisfying at all. I wasn’t keen on the melee combat early on either but now I’ve got used to the system I really enjoy it. I do hope they make the gunplay more enjoyable which MachineGames definitely can with their pedigree.
With regards to the exclusivity, I don’t think there was any chance of Stellar Blade being released as a last gen only game, it was always coming to XSX/PS5, Sony just locked it up to make it a ‘first party’ (cough second party) game. Team Ninja may have been a slightly different scenario, however I still refuse to accept that it was only achievable because Sony locked it down.
Either way I still hope we see less of that going forward, Xbox and PS now have so many dormant IP’s that they could easily get one of these studios to work on their own IP’s without locking down new content.
Great list. Xbox is killing it.
I liked hitting enemies with weapons, brooms and shovels in Indiana Jones but didn’t enjoy the hand to hand combat at all. We’ll see what happens if/when Machine Games develops a second Indiana Jones game.
Stellar Blade was announced in two trailers as PS4/XBO which by the time the game released in April 2024, I would have been very disappointed with that. I agree with you in regards to the exclusivity but all I can say is that none of it bothers me.
I know what Sony does and have done since Tomb Raider on PlayStation. Microsoft paid for exclusivity for a few games this generation, paid for exclusivity during the Xbox 360/Xbox One generations and Nintendo did even worse shit during NES/SNES generations. They all do the same shit in my opinion. It’s why I always own both an Xbox and PlayStation because I know that im not going to be able to play EVERY game that I want to play day one on one console.
It is what it is though at this point. All I really care about is if the games (exclusive or not) are of any interest to me and if so, are they good or better and will I enjoy them? Whatever all three of them do, they do. lol 
I was the same initially, however once I started using the parry, push and dodge mechanics more it become quite enjoyable, this said the pacing still seemed off. One moment it felt sluggish and then it felt spammy when in a pinch.
90% of the time I still used melee weapons and it was always much quicker to take out a group of individuals with melee weapons rather than guns.
That’s fair, I don’t think we should support it though (whether it’s Xbox or the others). I still think the only time that permanent exclusivity is ‘ok’ is when the IP/studio is in-house.
Okay but it also depends on the situation. For example, Bayonetta 2 and 3 never would have existed if it wasn’t for Nintendo funding and publishing the games. Even if it’s games that I have zero interest in like Bayonetta, I still want it to happen because then there’s a chance that I get a game that I want that wouldn’t exist otherwise.
Not supporting the moneyhats isn’t going to prevent or even lessen them because if you’re getting an upfront payday that lessens the cost of the game or evens it out along with marketing that you don’t have to pay for, why wouldn’t you do it? Especially if it’s for a game that you don’t believe would sell well and make back the development/marketing cost.
The main reason why I purchase games that are exclusive and moneyhatted isn’t just because I want to play the game but also because I don’t want to wait to see if/when the game goes on the other platform. For example, so many Xbox fans want Final Fantasy and I get it but at the same time, if they really and truly want to play it, there’s nothing stopping them from doing so except themselves.
Then there’s the issue of IF/WHEN the game even gets ported to Xbox in this case. If FF XVI doesn’t get ported in 2025, then I don’t believe that it will ever get ported to Xbox and for the FF 7 trilogy, even when all three are done, I still don’t believe that they’ll get ported to Xbox. So my thing is, am I really going to wait years to play a game that I really want to play? Not only that but by the time the game gets ported, I may not even care anymore about it because it’s been so long and my interest is no longer there. Add in the fact that chances are, there would be other new games releasing that I would want to play.
It sucks and all that but as someone who’s been a gamer since 1989 or so from what I remember as a kid growing up, I missed out on so many games because they were on a console I didn’t have and as a kid, I didn’t have the money to do anything about it but as an adult since turning 21 and working, if I want something, I buy it. I’m now 46 and I just can’t see myself ever restricting or limiting myself just because I don’t like a certain business practice or whatever. It’s just not worth it when instead, I could be playing the game and hopefully enjoying it.