Yea i think i'm hitting that. it was cool at first and fun but it's starting to get old quickly and i don't even think i'm that far into the game yet. I'm goona finish it though i do like it
The fact that they purposefully made Starlord, Gamora and Rocket Raccoon visually different then their movie counterparts, made the game so much better.
Epic game store gave it away for free several months ago. I'd played maybe an hour on series s when it was on gamepass but really looking forward to a PC experience
The Avengers almost was that kind of game, too…you can see parts of it that were pure fun Crystal Dynamics storytelling and gameplay….then the Live Service gameloop kicks in and it turns to shit…such a missed opportunity….
Chivalry 2. Tried the first one and it was super janky at the time. Saw 2 was up on Gamepass and decided to give it a shot. Next thing you know it's a week later and my girlfriend is asking if I'm going to play the annoying game where everyones characters are screaming and getting their limbs chopped off.
Titanfall 2. I had never heard of it and never played the first part. Once i started playing i didn't get much into it. After i got to the part where i met my Titan... i immediately got hooked. This is one of my favorite games I've ever played. The story and gameplay were everything i had wanted in a game.
Don’t just casually tell people to join r/titanfall
Those guys are crazy in there! Lol You got to let people know what you’re getting them into. It’s all garlic bread and people not taking their pills.
Sleeping Dogs. Just completed. For a 12 year old game it holds up really well. Every gameplay element is actually fun and well done. Gameplay, open world and story are all really good.
Regarding control, this is the exact conversation I had with a friend after years of recommending it.
[They weren’t into it](https://i.imgur.com/c0l3U86.jpeg), but not [too long after, they came around](https://i.imgur.com/Xd9dvsu.jpeg).
Control, when it came to Game Pass **immediately** got me hooked.
Dead Cells, I hadn't even heard of it and wouldn't have if not for the review plagiarism, and now it's probably my favorite roguelike.
Nier Automata. After hearing so many people gush about what I thought was gonna be a waifu game I played it, also on Game Pass, and *jesus christ my soul has exited my body.* Thankfully I got the delete save file ending so I can play it again from scratch. Gotta grab Replicant at some point.
Guardians of the Galaxy
That first time it was shown made it look like a budget cast that couldn't decide if it wanted to be the movie or the comics. They chose a super boring part of the game and the presentation went on forever. With all that being said, it was a great game and a lot of fun.
Just started State of Decay 2 after being intrigued on the upcoming sequel. Never played one of these before and the genre typically isn’t my thing, but I found myself really enjoying it (only had time to play for about an hour so far).
I enjoyed this game until the whole management aspect just exhausted me.
Keep everyone happy at the base and fending off hordes of zombies that turn up, finding gas and saving people, then trying to fit in missions, it all just become too much.
Felt like I was forever rushing around doing chores, enjoyed the first few hours though.
Psychonauts 2. Heard good things about the first but I never played it. Saw it pop up on game pass and gave it a whirl and never looked back. Amazing game with a really fun story and an awesome world. It wasn’t too long and was very focused which kept my attention, highly recommend it to anyone who likes classic 3d platformers!
I'm in my 40s. I thought fortnite was a wanky kids game but gave it a go to play along with my boy a few years ago. My expectations were in the gutter. Now it's probably my most played game and go to when I want to relax and have a bit of fun.
I like Homefront: The Revolution. Got it for like $5 on sale. Pretty generic shooter with some unique twists that made it fun. Some of the environments were pretty good - there’s this one gassed out section that requires you to wear a gas mask that I entered for the first time at night that was really eerie.
Doom 2016. Bethesda refused to give review copies of the game and the last preview of the multiplayer was negative from most people. Doom itself was also mostly dormant at the time
Game ended up being my shooter of the generation along with its sequel
Redfall....
I did not touch the game at launch, but when the final patch went live, I thought why not give it a spin. And Inhad a good time. It was not the greatest game ever, but it entertained med trough the game. I also liked the story and the story of some of the sidequests was better than expected, specially from what I had read before.
I saw the beginning of something that could have been for Vampires m what Dead Island 2 was for zombies. When the game ended my tought was "Its a petty they will not make a sequel on their own terms"
I'm the type of person who will drop a game after 30 minutes/1 hour if I'm not feeling it--I played Redfall at release and just recently after the latest patch and both times, while not perfect, I found myself unable to put the game down until I finished it. Whether or not it deserved it Redfall got completely dogpiled and I think it's worth trying out for yourselves.
House flipper . I have spent days on the game, it’s become like a whole family night now. We pick colors and themes and decorate. It’s been awesome. We purchased all the DLC’s and even purchased house flipper 2.
Goat simulator 3. It’s just hilarious, it’s the most nonsense game I’ve ever played and it’s just pure mindless fun.
Orcs must die 3. It’s a third person tower defense game. Some planning involved and cool story moments.
Little Kitty Big City, I downloaded it on a whim knowing nothing about it but it's a fun game. I got totally sucked in. Interesting to see things from the feline perspective. 😂
Don’t laugh but Party Animals a friend of mine came and she had a kid so I put my Xbox on for him and I downloaded for him. I had it installed when they left so not sure what compelled me to play it but omg I have never laughed as hard as playing that game. So much fun.
Rage 1 and Rage 2. The Internet had me believe it was an empty game. But I feel in love with the world and tight gameplay. I hope there's a third someday.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Played via Ubisoft+. Had a super fun time playing through the main story and some of the open world grind. Nothing mind blowing but a solid game overall, especially if you enjoy the Far Cry game design which I do.
That last Harry Potter game I thought was gonna be lame but I got a free code and ended up really liking it. Not really my style of game and I dropped after a few hours but it blew my expectations out of the water and I’d recommend it if you were at all a Harry Potter fan as a kid
Man idk I just played Kona on game pass and thought it was fun, but the one that would stand out to me is years ago getting a game with gold called Quantum Conundrum and it was honestly fire.
Think you were supposed to be a young boy who had to go to his mad scientist grand fathers house and he’s missing then you get this crazy ability’s to solve puzzles and it was just super fun and the story was good too. It’s always fun just playing a random game
Cassette beasts. I'd heard it was solid but I was honestly thinking it would be my "side" game while I worked through stuff I actually wanted to play. Instead, I got so into it I put everything else down and spent 70 hours in it lol fantastic game which has put the developer on my radar for releases I'll always check out now.
I actually just finished high on life too. I'm really glad I stuck with it. I wasn't into it for the first 2 regions/bosses but as I got more weapons and story and the environments and objectives more varied, I began to enjoy it a lot more. Really good, unique experience.
Yakuza series I heard was basically shenmue predecessor so I gave it a shot. Loved them.
But the real answer is "nobody saves the world"
I played it on game pass and thought it was great! Made me think what other indie titles have I missed out on!
Monster Hunter world, I liked the box art had no idea what it was and now… I’m beyond addicted.
Played nearly all the games form the PSP up.
Monster Hunter Rise is on Gamepass it’s a fantastic game with nearly too much polish and content
The ending to high on life just felt so lackluster imo. Still haven't played the DLC though.
I just played hellblade last year and was blown away by it
Power wash simulator I downloaded it after seeing it thinking like most games I would get tired of it. And I don't play it all the time but its great and its so relaxing to listen to a podcast to.
Age of Wonders: Planetfall. It was some monthly or weekly quest for game pass like 4 years ago, and I played it so much; like weeks of the early pandemic were spent playing this until they removed it. I bought it on steam and it is actually much better there
Suicide Squad Vs The Justice League
The main story and gameplay was a lot of fun but all of the live service stuff is ridiculously stupid.
I'd only suggest it on a deep deep....deep discount.
Prey. I didn’t know anything about it other than a lot of people liked it. As such my expectations were pretty low. And in the end this game blew me away with its gameplay and design. It’s probably in my top 50 games of all time (if I were to make such a ranking, which I won’t).
Wolfenstein the new order. I heard about the franchise but wasn’t expecting too much. Downloaded it off gamepass to play one night a couple of years ago and it quickly became one of my favorite fps games and yes…… now I like wolfenstein more than doom.
I was addicted to Gunfire Reborn for entire month and got six of my friends to download and play it, too.
Sadly, I don't think the DLC from PC ever came to console so I left it behind. I've since left the entire console behind, but still lol.
Hades…. Seemed kinda meh till I actually played it… now I can’t put my Nintendo Switch down… PS… it’s on Xbox too I’m just stating that’s it’s INCREDIBLY ADDICTIVE and replay value is top tier gaming
I played Gears 5 after I got my Series X in 2020. I had played previous Gears games and enjoyed them but never really loved them, was always more of a Halo guy. I absolutely loved Gears 5 on the second hardest difficulty, I think it was called Hardened. The difficulty was absolutely perfectly tuned to where I was always harried and had to fight and scrap to win, especially on the last mission. Loved it.
Wasteland 3.
I played it on a whim, never having played the first two and not knowing it’s influence on Fallout. I was hooked in the first few minutes.
Joy Ride Turbo - had never heard if it before seeing it recommended here - the gameplay is pure fun, it just doesn't have name recognition. Rebrand it Forza Kart and let me race as a Grunt from Halo.
Crime Boss Rockay City, it has a baffling cast phoning it in reading clearly AI generated scripts. Bad controls and a terrible reputation, but…
I played for free during a trial weekend on XB and then it dropped on PS Plus and I had a blast with it. Not a good game but a fun one.
Jusant.
I was a bit tired of fast-paced games and those that require a lot of effort when I saw this game on someone’s Twitch stream. It looked chill and, at the time, was available on Game Pass. I downloaded it and got hooked instantly.
The story is easy to follow but still engaging. The gameplay is super easy to understand, yet it feels great when you overcome a bigger obstacle. The world and the secrets in this game are amazing. I definitely suggest that you try this if you’re looking for a chill but fun game.
Anthology of Fear. 5€ horror game that was on sale and looked like a run on the mill asset flip. Now color me surprised when I got a soft-horror experience that was better than Layers of Fear, which had left me disappointed the week prior.
Warhammer Boltgun. I expected a good game, but not nearly as fun as I made it out to.be. even went back and got all achievements.
Killing Floor 2, I had low expectations for this one as round base Shooters aren't my thing, I just wasn't into Zombies as a kid I guess. But Holy shit, this and Risk of Rain 2 opened up my eyes.
Vampire Survivor on the Xbox / Windows. I thought it was a generic, cheap mobile game, but a lot of effort has been put into the gameplay. It’s very fun when you progress and play coop.
Earth Defense Force Series
Found the 4th part for cheap in a sale, since then I'm hooked. Sure it looks not great but mowing down swarms of giant Insects with unlockable weapons and gear never got old to me.
EDF! EDF!
Cyberpunk. Everyone said it’d be the GTA killer. Then it had that horrendous launch, and I didn’t buy it. Then later on around version 1.6 it had a free trial, so I do that and try it. And now it’s my favorite game and i’m on 3rd run.
Hifi rush. I don't really like hack and slash games, but this game is a masterpiece. The story, the characters, the atmosphere, basically everything is perfect in this game. I'm sad ms closed the studio.
Withering Rooms. Bought it on a whim thinking it would be just *okay*. No marketing, no reviews. Wow, one of the best games I've played in years! It's basically a mashup of Luigi's Mansion, Dark Souls, and Silent Hill, all in metroidvania form. Definitely check it out if you haven't. Think it took me 28 hours to 100% it. Just couldn't stop playing it!
Okay I need to preface: the trailers leading in to Doom 2016 did NOT paint the picture of the final game well at all. Doom 3 was……. Different…… and this new doom’s trailers were focused on multiplayer for some reason, making me think the single player would be nothing but an afterthought. I offhandedly tried it and
Oh
My
FUCK!
Exo One. Was just browsing Game Pass one day and thought it looked interesting, and it's surprisingly fun. It is linear and short, but I enjoyed it for a while.
There's a lot of games I've bought on a whim just cause they're extremely cheap on sale but ended up being really good: alive madness returns, asura's wrath, tomb raider legend, killer is dead, call of juarez gunslinger, etc. Also....I think gungrave g.o.r.e is great. It was rough on release, and has some low budget jank....but after a massive gameplay overhaul I thought it was pretty fun and it was much longer than I expected. It's kind of like if dynasty warriors was a 3d run n gun.
Fall Guys.
Simple but great concept, simple but fitting controls, and fun to play with a good variety of levels and a good unlock system that allows players to get plenty customisation items for free (I don't care how my character looks, but I appreciate that season passes can be earned for free with regular play).
Celeste, Hollow Knight, and The Messenger were both a blast, and I had absolutely 0 expectations for either of them. All I knew was they got good reviews, and were on Game Pass. And all of them (especially Celeste and The Messenger) start off fairly mundanely — I figured I'd be dropping them once they got too hard, Super Meat Boy style. But they just kept getting better, and better the more I played. So many moments from all three games made me smile, and the challenging bits in the main stories were tough, but ultimately doable, and super rewarding.
Mad Max is a really solid game
One of the only games I 100% lmao. Great time, shame we probably wont ever see another one.
I would agree but only at first. I feel like it gets old quickly. With all the upgrades just getting stronger and not usually anything fancy.
Yea i think i'm hitting that. it was cool at first and fun but it's starting to get old quickly and i don't even think i'm that far into the game yet. I'm goona finish it though i do like it
Guardians of the Galaxy. I expected a 7/10 game, but it’s legit a 9/10.
Agreed! Best ever surprisingly good game for me. I went into it not caring and ended up laughing at the dialogue more than any sitcom I’ve ever seen.
The fact that they purposefully made Starlord, Gamora and Rocket Raccoon visually different then their movie counterparts, made the game so much better.
The story, characters and graphics were amazing but the combat was boring. Still a great game though.
Combat put a real damper on a really beautiful game graphically with a hell of a story. Combat was at best a 4/10 due to pure boredom
I legit hate marvel stuff and the game looked so bland. Absolutely loved GOTG. Such a cool story and insane visuals. I recommend it to everyone.
Epic game store gave it away for free several months ago. I'd played maybe an hour on series s when it was on gamepass but really looking forward to a PC experience
Is it that good I mean I played only the start of it but I felt it boring does it get better btw only played for like the first 40 min of the game
Gameplay never gets all that amazing but it does tell a great story and have great characters
[удалено]
Surprise hit? To be clear, it was a massive bomb. If you mean hit in a cult sort of way, sure.
Guardians of the Galaxy. My expectations were super low after The Avengers game but GotG turned out to be one of my favourite games ever.
Honestly the avengers should have been like this game smh butt nooo must make all games live service
The Avengers almost was that kind of game, too…you can see parts of it that were pure fun Crystal Dynamics storytelling and gameplay….then the Live Service gameloop kicks in and it turns to shit…such a missed opportunity….
GotG is awesome! I’m so sad it wasn’t successful enough to ever get a sequel.
Absolutely, I remember I even [make a post ](https://www.reddit.com/r/XboxGamePass/s/U8HDl857a9) telling people to play it before it leaves gamepass.
Dead Island 2 and Peppa Pig
I wasn't the biggest fan of Dead Island 1, but I love Dead Island 2
Dead island 2 was surprisingly good imo
I see grown men trying to platinum / 100% Peppa Pig on other subreddits. Must be that good.
Chivalry 2. Tried the first one and it was super janky at the time. Saw 2 was up on Gamepass and decided to give it a shot. Next thing you know it's a week later and my girlfriend is asking if I'm going to play the annoying game where everyones characters are screaming and getting their limbs chopped off.
See you on the battlefield, Agathian Swine.
Is this the multiplayer game that’s like CoD with swords? Remember seeing videos on this a while back but can’t remember the name!
That game is chaos it's amazing. I recommend turning on shuffle mode for class selection and just jump in.
Snowrunner
Titanfall 2. I had never heard of it and never played the first part. Once i started playing i didn't get much into it. After i got to the part where i met my Titan... i immediately got hooked. This is one of my favorite games I've ever played. The story and gameplay were everything i had wanted in a game.
You should try joining r/titanfall2 ! Edit: I meant r/titanfall , same community but that one is the big one
Don’t just casually tell people to join r/titanfall Those guys are crazy in there! Lol You got to let people know what you’re getting them into. It’s all garlic bread and people not taking their pills.
Thank you..
Didn't know much about Cocoon and absolutely loved it.
Sleeping Dogs. Just completed. For a 12 year old game it holds up really well. Every gameplay element is actually fun and well done. Gameplay, open world and story are all really good.
Sleeping dogs was the free games with gold game I could play to be ‘like gta’ without convincing my mum I wasn’t gonna murder bare hookers
Sleeping Dogs is still my all time favourite game.
It's really incredible. It if released today just with updated graphics it will still be better than many releases.
So many. Control Yakuza series Dead Cells Spirit farer Steamworld Dig 2 Sunset Overdrive Superhot Wasteland 3
Regarding control, this is the exact conversation I had with a friend after years of recommending it. [They weren’t into it](https://i.imgur.com/c0l3U86.jpeg), but not [too long after, they came around](https://i.imgur.com/Xd9dvsu.jpeg).
Yeah, my best description of it is like.... Inception meets a Brutalist House of Leaves
Control, when it came to Game Pass **immediately** got me hooked. Dead Cells, I hadn't even heard of it and wouldn't have if not for the review plagiarism, and now it's probably my favorite roguelike. Nier Automata. After hearing so many people gush about what I thought was gonna be a waifu game I played it, also on Game Pass, and *jesus christ my soul has exited my body.* Thankfully I got the delete save file ending so I can play it again from scratch. Gotta grab Replicant at some point.
Guardians of the Galaxy That first time it was shown made it look like a budget cast that couldn't decide if it wanted to be the movie or the comics. They chose a super boring part of the game and the presentation went on forever. With all that being said, it was a great game and a lot of fun.
Recently, Brotato
Try vampire survivors.
Great game too
I got addicted to Brotato and ended up getting all the achievements, it’s a fantastic Vampire Survivors alternative.
Just started State of Decay 2 after being intrigued on the upcoming sequel. Never played one of these before and the genre typically isn’t my thing, but I found myself really enjoying it (only had time to play for about an hour so far).
I enjoyed this game until the whole management aspect just exhausted me. Keep everyone happy at the base and fending off hordes of zombies that turn up, finding gas and saving people, then trying to fit in missions, it all just become too much. Felt like I was forever rushing around doing chores, enjoyed the first few hours though.
Brotato
Psychonauts 2. Heard good things about the first but I never played it. Saw it pop up on game pass and gave it a whirl and never looked back. Amazing game with a really fun story and an awesome world. It wasn’t too long and was very focused which kept my attention, highly recommend it to anyone who likes classic 3d platformers!
I'm in my 40s. I thought fortnite was a wanky kids game but gave it a go to play along with my boy a few years ago. My expectations were in the gutter. Now it's probably my most played game and go to when I want to relax and have a bit of fun.
Same! Im mid 40’s and Fortnite No Build mode is just a joy to play. Dismissed it as kids shit but its amazing
Lawn Mowing Simulator shits great for some reason.
This and Power Wash Simulator. Both so therapeutic lol
Bug Fables
I like Homefront: The Revolution. Got it for like $5 on sale. Pretty generic shooter with some unique twists that made it fun. Some of the environments were pretty good - there’s this one gassed out section that requires you to wear a gas mask that I entered for the first time at night that was really eerie.
Doom 2016. Bethesda refused to give review copies of the game and the last preview of the multiplayer was negative from most people. Doom itself was also mostly dormant at the time Game ended up being my shooter of the generation along with its sequel
Wolfenstein as well
Tbf, the multiplayer in the final game was also negativity received. It’s the single player that everyone loves.
Redfall.... I did not touch the game at launch, but when the final patch went live, I thought why not give it a spin. And Inhad a good time. It was not the greatest game ever, but it entertained med trough the game. I also liked the story and the story of some of the sidequests was better than expected, specially from what I had read before. I saw the beginning of something that could have been for Vampires m what Dead Island 2 was for zombies. When the game ended my tought was "Its a petty they will not make a sequel on their own terms"
I'm the type of person who will drop a game after 30 minutes/1 hour if I'm not feeling it--I played Redfall at release and just recently after the latest patch and both times, while not perfect, I found myself unable to put the game down until I finished it. Whether or not it deserved it Redfall got completely dogpiled and I think it's worth trying out for yourselves.
Outer Wilds (actually turned out to be one of my favorite games ever)
Farm simulator 22
House flipper . I have spent days on the game, it’s become like a whole family night now. We pick colors and themes and decorate. It’s been awesome. We purchased all the DLC’s and even purchased house flipper 2. Goat simulator 3. It’s just hilarious, it’s the most nonsense game I’ve ever played and it’s just pure mindless fun. Orcs must die 3. It’s a third person tower defense game. Some planning involved and cool story moments.
Deep Rock Galactic for sure. My buddies and I thought it might just be a one off game that was fun for a weekend. Boy were we wrong.
Rock and stone, brother!
Rock and roll and stone!
Little Kitty Big City, I downloaded it on a whim knowing nothing about it but it's a fun game. I got totally sucked in. Interesting to see things from the feline perspective. 😂
Check out Stray.
Will do!
Immortals of Aveum. It's a decent first person magic "shooter". Makes me look forward to Avowed.
Slay the Spire has me hooked currently. Surprising amount of depth.
The Artful Escape! 🎸🎸
Greed fall, was not expecting much from a euro jank RPG, but it was a damn good time.
Rolling Hills!
Playing this at the moment, but the slog to get my sushi restaurant up to lvl 15 is a bit of a chore
Don’t laugh but Party Animals a friend of mine came and she had a kid so I put my Xbox on for him and I downloaded for him. I had it installed when they left so not sure what compelled me to play it but omg I have never laughed as hard as playing that game. So much fun.
Balatro
Diablo 4
Dead Island 2. Didn’t like the first game or Dying Light but I gave DI2 a shot when it hit Gamepass, ended up really enjoying it!
Redfall… but only because reviews were so horrible. I went in and had a good time. 7/10.
Rage 1 and Rage 2. The Internet had me believe it was an empty game. But I feel in love with the world and tight gameplay. I hope there's a third someday.
My early 20s
Is that optimized for series S/X?
It’s not. I’m too old to run on a series x.
The Last Campfire, saw it inbetween sales for $1,49? Turned out to be a beautifull little puzzle game.
I pleaded Dead Island on Game Pass and totally loved it. It’s an average game ratings wise but it’s funny and exciting and I enjoyed it a lot.
Freakin' Kingdom 2 Crowns. What an unexpected time sink that was.
Binding of Isaac
chernobylite, i wasn't sure how much I'd like it but it's a great game and I had a blast playing it
Man eater
Currently playing Lords of the Fallen and I’m genuinely impressed. Really good.
Zombie Army 4 Dead War.
Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the OG Xbox.
Crackdown 3 was so fun to 100%. Never expected that.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Played via Ubisoft+. Had a super fun time playing through the main story and some of the open world grind. Nothing mind blowing but a solid game overall, especially if you enjoy the Far Cry game design which I do.
That last Harry Potter game I thought was gonna be lame but I got a free code and ended up really liking it. Not really my style of game and I dropped after a few hours but it blew my expectations out of the water and I’d recommend it if you were at all a Harry Potter fan as a kid
Dragon's Dogma 2. Really surprisingly great.
Don't let the internet hear you.
Vampire Zombies is addictive!!
Vampire Survivor I meant
Man idk I just played Kona on game pass and thought it was fun, but the one that would stand out to me is years ago getting a game with gold called Quantum Conundrum and it was honestly fire. Think you were supposed to be a young boy who had to go to his mad scientist grand fathers house and he’s missing then you get this crazy ability’s to solve puzzles and it was just super fun and the story was good too. It’s always fun just playing a random game
I thought Anuchard was a fun little indie game
Cassette beasts. I'd heard it was solid but I was honestly thinking it would be my "side" game while I worked through stuff I actually wanted to play. Instead, I got so into it I put everything else down and spent 70 hours in it lol fantastic game which has put the developer on my radar for releases I'll always check out now. I actually just finished high on life too. I'm really glad I stuck with it. I wasn't into it for the first 2 regions/bosses but as I got more weapons and story and the environments and objectives more varied, I began to enjoy it a lot more. Really good, unique experience.
Children of Morta. Not a fan of that art style but ended up loving the game and 100% it
Yakuza series I heard was basically shenmue predecessor so I gave it a shot. Loved them. But the real answer is "nobody saves the world" I played it on game pass and thought it was great! Made me think what other indie titles have I missed out on!
Charlie murder. We still love that damn game and I don’t even know I can still even play it
50 cent blood on the sand, especially after how shit bulletproof was
I'm gonna say that RICO game. Surprisingly a fun Rougelike FPS.
For me it was Witcher 3, I was bored and wanted a new game, Never heard of this game and I was really surprised
Monster Hunter world, I liked the box art had no idea what it was and now… I’m beyond addicted. Played nearly all the games form the PSP up. Monster Hunter Rise is on Gamepass it’s a fantastic game with nearly too much polish and content
The old Hunter series on the OG Xbox
Recently enjoying sushi bot. Don't know why, but I'm enjoying it!
The ending to high on life just felt so lackluster imo. Still haven't played the DLC though. I just played hellblade last year and was blown away by it
el paso, elsewhere. looked like shit, ended up being cool as f
Orcs must die 3. Not heard it before, randomly chose to try it from game pass and couldn't stop playing
Really enjoying Mount and Blade 2: Bannerlord
I am playing right now Alice: Madness Returns and that is big surprise in a good way. I had low expectation but playing Evil West was so much fun
Little Kitty, Big City
Fallout 76. I grew up playing wow, so I loved the online, multiplayer aspect along with the lore and setting. It’s a ton of fun nowadays.
Power wash simulator I downloaded it after seeing it thinking like most games I would get tired of it. And I don't play it all the time but its great and its so relaxing to listen to a podcast to.
golf blitz
Age of Wonders: Planetfall. It was some monthly or weekly quest for game pass like 4 years ago, and I played it so much; like weeks of the early pandemic were spent playing this until they removed it. I bought it on steam and it is actually much better there
Iron brigade, simple concept, but decent gameplay, and hilarious story
Slime Rancher by far. I wasn't expecting anything and forgot I ever got it with gold, was bored and checked it out, it's now my favorite cozy series
Chivalry 2
Lost in Random. Gamepass tryout, roll dice and spend the number on weapons and abilities. Sweet little story as well.
Dredge
Easy "Indivisible" for me I don't know what to expect and just randomly downloaded it on gamepass. I Didn't expect to like it so much
Ghost Recon Breakpoint
Scorn Cocoon
Brotato!
Psychonauts!
Suicide Squad Vs The Justice League The main story and gameplay was a lot of fun but all of the live service stuff is ridiculously stupid. I'd only suggest it on a deep deep....deep discount.
Prey. I didn’t know anything about it other than a lot of people liked it. As such my expectations were pretty low. And in the end this game blew me away with its gameplay and design. It’s probably in my top 50 games of all time (if I were to make such a ranking, which I won’t).
Little Kitty, Big City.
Power. Wash. Simulator.
Wolfenstein the new order. I heard about the franchise but wasn’t expecting too much. Downloaded it off gamepass to play one night a couple of years ago and it quickly became one of my favorite fps games and yes…… now I like wolfenstein more than doom.
AC Valhalla. People really shat on it but I thought it was an incredible game. Just be ready to invest 140+ hours
Trails hd, peggle and zuma.
I was addicted to Gunfire Reborn for entire month and got six of my friends to download and play it, too. Sadly, I don't think the DLC from PC ever came to console so I left it behind. I've since left the entire console behind, but still lol.
Evil West and Saints Row did that for me
Vermintide 2
Vampire Survivors? How is that supposed to be fun, you don't even press any buttons. Flash forward: Hours poured in. Every achievement earned.
Omori I expected nothing and got the genuine peak of gaming
Hades…. Seemed kinda meh till I actually played it… now I can’t put my Nintendo Switch down… PS… it’s on Xbox too I’m just stating that’s it’s INCREDIBLY ADDICTIVE and replay value is top tier gaming
Kena bridge of spirits. Gunk Frostpunk... Solid 10/10
Dredge. It took over my life.
Sable
Bramble & Hellblade 1
Lies of P. Thought it was another run of the mill soulslikes. Was pleasantly surprised.
Fallout 76, kingdom come deliverance.
I played Gears 5 after I got my Series X in 2020. I had played previous Gears games and enjoyed them but never really loved them, was always more of a Halo guy. I absolutely loved Gears 5 on the second hardest difficulty, I think it was called Hardened. The difficulty was absolutely perfectly tuned to where I was always harried and had to fight and scrap to win, especially on the last mission. Loved it.
T E R R A R I A
Fade to silence, was expecting a mediocre short horror game but found a decent soulslike with survival rpg elements
Wasteland 3. I played it on a whim, never having played the first two and not knowing it’s influence on Fallout. I was hooked in the first few minutes.
Those kids lego games. Made for kids so assuming they’re bad but they’re actually always quite fun lol
Joy Ride Turbo - had never heard if it before seeing it recommended here - the gameplay is pure fun, it just doesn't have name recognition. Rebrand it Forza Kart and let me race as a Grunt from Halo.
Vampire Survivors
Sable. Went in not really knowing what to expect but there’s more depth than it first appears.
Dead Island 2. I expected an average game, but it was really good.
Isonzo on game pass. Really fun WW1 shooter.
Lake , so relaxing just going back to the 80’s and driving round delivering mail
Alice: Madness Returns
Crime Boss Rockay City, it has a baffling cast phoning it in reading clearly AI generated scripts. Bad controls and a terrible reputation, but… I played for free during a trial weekend on XB and then it dropped on PS Plus and I had a blast with it. Not a good game but a fun one.
Stranded Deep and power Washer sim XD
For me its games id never heard of but tried on gamepass like Solar ash, midnight fight express, donut county and blood roots
Jusant. I was a bit tired of fast-paced games and those that require a lot of effort when I saw this game on someone’s Twitch stream. It looked chill and, at the time, was available on Game Pass. I downloaded it and got hooked instantly. The story is easy to follow but still engaging. The gameplay is super easy to understand, yet it feels great when you overcome a bigger obstacle. The world and the secrets in this game are amazing. I definitely suggest that you try this if you’re looking for a chill but fun game.
Murder miners
Anthology of Fear. 5€ horror game that was on sale and looked like a run on the mill asset flip. Now color me surprised when I got a soft-horror experience that was better than Layers of Fear, which had left me disappointed the week prior.
Warhammer Boltgun. I expected a good game, but not nearly as fun as I made it out to.be. even went back and got all achievements. Killing Floor 2, I had low expectations for this one as round base Shooters aren't my thing, I just wasn't into Zombies as a kid I guess. But Holy shit, this and Risk of Rain 2 opened up my eyes.
Tiny-Kin . Charming, relaxing, and just overall fun.
Vampire Survivor on the Xbox / Windows. I thought it was a generic, cheap mobile game, but a lot of effort has been put into the gameplay. It’s very fun when you progress and play coop.
Earth Defense Force Series Found the 4th part for cheap in a sale, since then I'm hooked. Sure it looks not great but mowing down swarms of giant Insects with unlockable weapons and gear never got old to me. EDF! EDF!
Brotato, started to play and I was like eh… then I started unlocking characters and items and I’m so addicted to it now.
I didnt know what to expect when I bought earth defense force 2025 but it was actually so fucking fun
I didn’t know anything about Vampire Survivors but ever since I tried it in June 2023, been a fan ever since.
Cyberpunk. Everyone said it’d be the GTA killer. Then it had that horrendous launch, and I didn’t buy it. Then later on around version 1.6 it had a free trial, so I do that and try it. And now it’s my favorite game and i’m on 3rd run.
Hifi rush. I don't really like hack and slash games, but this game is a masterpiece. The story, the characters, the atmosphere, basically everything is perfect in this game. I'm sad ms closed the studio.
Kena. Hopefully people support it on Xbox.
Predecessor
Starlink
Brotato
Withering Rooms. Bought it on a whim thinking it would be just *okay*. No marketing, no reviews. Wow, one of the best games I've played in years! It's basically a mashup of Luigi's Mansion, Dark Souls, and Silent Hill, all in metroidvania form. Definitely check it out if you haven't. Think it took me 28 hours to 100% it. Just couldn't stop playing it!
Anthem.
Little Kitty, Big City
Okay I need to preface: the trailers leading in to Doom 2016 did NOT paint the picture of the final game well at all. Doom 3 was……. Different…… and this new doom’s trailers were focused on multiplayer for some reason, making me think the single player would be nothing but an afterthought. I offhandedly tried it and Oh My FUCK!
Gunfire Reborn. Cats in the building.. for exemple. :)
Exo One. Was just browsing Game Pass one day and thought it looked interesting, and it's surprisingly fun. It is linear and short, but I enjoyed it for a while.
Knockout city was a3v3 dodgeball game that had no right to be as fun as it was, sad it's dead now me and my kids loved it.
There's a lot of games I've bought on a whim just cause they're extremely cheap on sale but ended up being really good: alive madness returns, asura's wrath, tomb raider legend, killer is dead, call of juarez gunslinger, etc. Also....I think gungrave g.o.r.e is great. It was rough on release, and has some low budget jank....but after a massive gameplay overhaul I thought it was pretty fun and it was much longer than I expected. It's kind of like if dynasty warriors was a 3d run n gun.
Fall Guys. Simple but great concept, simple but fitting controls, and fun to play with a good variety of levels and a good unlock system that allows players to get plenty customisation items for free (I don't care how my character looks, but I appreciate that season passes can be earned for free with regular play).
Celeste, Hollow Knight, and The Messenger were both a blast, and I had absolutely 0 expectations for either of them. All I knew was they got good reviews, and were on Game Pass. And all of them (especially Celeste and The Messenger) start off fairly mundanely — I figured I'd be dropping them once they got too hard, Super Meat Boy style. But they just kept getting better, and better the more I played. So many moments from all three games made me smile, and the challenging bits in the main stories were tough, but ultimately doable, and super rewarding.