For me personally, I prefer Sony’s first party exclusives over Microsoft’s and it’s not even close. Microsoft needs to give ME what I want and they simply haven’t thus far and even if/when they do, they need to make sure that their games are of equal or better quality than Sony’s and until they prove me wrong, that will be my primary concern when it comes to Microsoft and Xbox.
My favorite games to play are the third person single player story driven focused action adventure games that have excellent combat and gameplay, an amazing story and characters, gorgeous visuals (that Microsoft better start surpassing) and great music and voice acting. Despite Ubisoft being my #1 publisher and developer, Sony has been kicking their ass and everyone else’s too giving me my 2017, 2018 and 2019 game of the year. 5 of my top 6 games of the generation are Sony’s exclusives.
Sony simply hits. People mention diversity and different genres but why would they do that when what they’re doing has been extremely successful, sells 10m+ easily with nearly every title, are critically acclaimed the vast majority of the time and more gamers/consumers jump into the PlayStation eco-system because of it.
I personally don’t want Sony changing at all simply because they give me the games I want the most. Playing through and completing Miles Morales and vast majority of Sony games, you can see and feel that you’re in for a special ride. Haven’t had that feeling from a Microsoft game since Xbox 360.
So yeah, Sony will lack in having different genres but at the same time, they don’t need to change what they’re doing because like Nintendo, they have a massive hardcore loyal fanbase that will keep buying and playing the games that they release because they know that they’re getting an experience that no one outside of Rockstar can deliver.
With all of that said, im looking forward to around 12 games from Microsoft’s first party studios. However, games like an Avowed or Starfield are just 50/50 for me. There’s no guarantee that I will even like/enjoy the game to where I play it to completion. Because of Game Pass, I will give these games a chance but if they were not on Game Pass, in no way, shape or form would I buy them because im not buying 50/50 games.
There’s a reason why I want to see Fable with realistic visuals and not a cartoon art style because you have the best technical console and this is what you’re going to give me? Sorry and people can love that art style but I don’t. I can’t take you seriously if this is what you’re going to give me on a consistent basis while the competitor has the inferior console yet is blowing me away with their visuals while the company that should be doing this isn’t.
There’s a reason why I own both a Series X and PlayStation 5. With Sony’s exclusives, I have literally no worries or concerns. I know exactly what im getting and that is an easy 9/10+ with every exclusive that I end up completing and here’s the main difference - like them or not, I don’t need to see gameplay of God of War Ragnarok to know that it will be amazing because I have 100% confidence and trust in Sony’s first party studios.
Microsoft on the other hand needs to earn my confidence and trust. They will only do this by giving me amazing exclusives. If they’re giving me the Crackdown 3’s, Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2’s of the world, they’re not going to be getting that trust and confidence from me.
Nintendo has proven their shit for 30 freaking years. Sony has proven their since PS3. Microsoft had proven their shit with Xbox 360 and over the last decade, fell off a cliff and now need to earn it all back.
On the positive side, I do like and believe in Phil Spencer as he seems to be the only person capable of knowing what to do since Peter Moore. So as this generation progresses, im hoping that Microsoft can win back my trust and confidence in regards to their first party games because that’s all they really need to do for me. I have no other issues or complaints whatsoever and if I do, they’re so insignificant that it doesn’t even matter.
Halo Infinite looks like what it should have looked like last July but okay, the delay was necessary and warranted. If Microsoft can kick off their run with Halo Infinite to where im looking at a 9/10 for me personally and a game of the year contender, then they will definitely be heading in the right direction for me.
