![]() Psychonauts 2 is an excellent platformer that’s every bit as good as the original cult classic - if not better. If it could live up to the hype of its predecessor, that would be a defining game for the service ahead of Microsoft’s major holiday push. As such, it launched day one on Xbox Game Pass, making it one of the Series X’s most enticing year one releases. Microsoft owns developer Double Fine, so it’s technically a first-party game. Despite the fact that the game was set to launch on PC and PlayStation, Microsoft positioned it as an Xbox exclusive. Psychonauts 2 was an important test for Microsoft. It’s a vibrant, funny game that playfully uses Greek mythology to create an entertaining open-world experience that gives Breath of the Wild fans something new to try. That means that the game is less about following a checklist of map activities and more about seeking out and discovering the world’s secrets. ![]() Building on Zelda’s free-roaming mobility, the game is all about offering players more fluid and rewarding exploration. Immortals Fenyx Rising is Assassin’s Creed meets The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While its name isn’t as well-known as some of the studio’s more established games, the new IP could be the company’s most exciting new franchise in years. While there is no shortage of options to choose from when it comes to Ubisoft’s vast catalog, Immortals Fenyx Rising shouldn’t be overlooked. Franchises like Assassin’s Creed continually set the bar higher and higher for the genre with gigantic worlds chock-full of content. Ubisoft has become synonymous with “open-world games” over the past decade. The joy of Scarlet Nexus is seeing how all of those little abilities can come together and interact to create a ballet of colorful action. One ally may add electric powers to your moveset, while another can temporarily slow down time. Players can bring along allies, each of which has a different elemental power that augments the standard moveset. That goes hand in hand with fast-paced slashing, which allows players to rack up some astonishing combos. The main hook of Scarlet Nexus is that players can use telekinesis to hurl objects at enemies, not unlike Control. The game actually comes from developer Bandai Namco, which has delivered a stylish hidden gem with a wild, twisting narrative and intense fights to match. The game’s futuristic police force setting also makes it feel like a long-lost cousin to Astral Chain. The action RPG features the kind of fast, complex combat that you’d expect from something like Bayonetta or Vanquish. No one would blame you if you mistook Scarlet Nexus for a PlatinumGames project. As far as new IPs go, it’s a franchise with a bright future ahead of it. Three-player co-op also turns it into one of the better multiplayer experiences available on Series X right now. There are tons of ways to tweak and build characters thanks to multiple character classes and a deep perk system that augments every piece of gear. It’s a high-octane action game where players control a superpowered hero who can shoot and launch space magic at once. It’s not just good because there was nothing else to play, though. It helped that it launched on Xbox Game Pass too, giving Xbox Series X owners something to do. When 2021’s launch schedule slowed down due to mass delays, Outriders quickly became one of spring’s most exciting games. The third-person shooter from Bulletstorm developer People Can Fly was a new IP that could have had trouble standing out amidst a sea of high-profile shooters. In another year and under different circumstances, Outriders may have flown under the radar. ![]() Hitman 3 essentially acts as a house for all three games as players can import progress and levels from Hitman and Hitman 2, making it a must-own “complete edition” of the series. The game’s murder mystery Dartmoor level is especially noteworthy, bringing a classic whodunnit movie setup to the game. The levels are better than ever, offering sprawling sandboxes filled with challenges and surprises. Hitman 3 doesn’t shake the formula up in many ways, instead opting to double down on what’s made the previous games so enjoyable. The series has only stayed consistent since, and now Hitman 3 offers a perfect capper to the trilogy. Hitman introduced an ingenious puzzle element to the long-running series, allowing players to find creative and outrageous ways to take out targets. The stealth action game got a huge boost of adrenaline in 2016 with the first game in a sort of rebooted trilogy called World of Assassination. Over the past few years, IO Interactive has been knocking it out of the park with its Hitman series.
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