BitPunch September Recap!
The Outer Worlds (Game Pass Version) | Rich
Prey (Game Pass Version) | Rich
Halo: Infinite Technical Preview 2 (Steam) | Rich
Sable (Game Pass Version) | Rich
Final Fantasy III & IV Pixel Remaster | Michael
Yakuza 4 Remastered | Michael
October is going to be a full fun month for us. Rich will continue his Prey playthrough that started this month, along with more Halo Technical Previews. Michael will shoot to wrap up Yakuza 4 Remastered and move onto Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster, which doesn’t have a release date yet. Diablo II: Resurrected will be played together, along with Back 4 Blood, and whatever else gaming throws our way.
My Thoughts On The Outer Worlds and What A Second Game Can Improve On
By: Rich Matney
The Outer Worlds is one of my favorite games I have played this year. It showed that the open-world RPG formula could benefit greatly from being more focused and smaller. After playing a game like Assassins Creed: Valhalla, which is an enormous game with a repetitive story and combat, The Outer Worlds was a welcome change.
The largest benefit to this focus is the great writing and quests in The Outer Worlds. There are so many different ways a quest can play out depending on which speech check's you do or don't take and which decisions you make along the way. At the end of my play-through, an optional objective in the main story to save two people ended up affecting my game numerous times during the rest of my play-through. This was both awesome and frustrating, as it made me want to go back and see how that would have changed the outcome. I am planning on checking out some of the DLC and maybe even some of the side quests that I missed in my first play-through.
My biggest frustration with the original game is there is almost too much dialog. Conversations with NPC's can go on for several minutes, and while I think the dialog writing and content are great, there is just too much of it. I would also like to see more variety in the quests. Most of the main story quests have you play "middle man" between two factions that don't like each other. Most of these quests have several endings, with one of them usually ending with you making everyone agree. I did like how much agency Obsidian gave the player. Early in the game, I killed a pretty important NPC. The game, however, did not react at all to this, which is a bit of a bummer.
The Outer Worlds 2, the next installment of the franchise, is scheduled to come out holiday 2022. Obsidian has already stated that it will take place in a new star system outside of Halcyon and will feature a new crew. The Outer Worlds 2 will also launch on Xbox Games Pass which continues to be a service without rivals.
Game Pass is Great But Continues to be Frustrating on PC
by: Michael Perry
Game Pass is something Rich and I talk about all the time. It’s an incredible value of games for $15 per month and keeps getting better and better. I have always been a console gamer but have had an older PC to play various older games. Game Pass has challenged the idea of a console so much that I’ve completely switched to playing games on my PC. Not only is it easier to stream from my machine, but most games I really want to play are either on Steam or Game Pass. I miss the occasional Sony exclusive and am holding out hope that they continue to invest in PC.
Game Pass on PC is almost a carbon copy of what is available on Xbox, which is great. The frustrations come in heavily once you really start using the service. Game crashing is getting frequent enough that I’m surprised to be able to play a game for more than an hour at a time. Skyrim crashes every thirty minutes, almost on the dot. The only reason I keep going back to this game is the fact that it autosaves so frequently. User reviews details settings you can change that improve this, but it still continues to be a nuisance.
The Ascent, Fallout 76, Skyrim, and more games that Rich and I have played throughout the year have had random issues with Game Pass. Games failing to stay up to date, although my machine is on most of the day. The Windows Store is a nightmare to work within and download speeds are a joke. Microsoft has announced some major improvements with Windows 11 but the experience has been abysmal for so long I’m not holding out hope. Buyer beware that the service is good on PC, but beware your game may have issues running smoothly. User Reviews can be helpful but PC gaming is so diverse not every user suggestion will work for you.
September Episodes of BitPunch Radio
029 - Splitgate, Sony Showcase, Too Much Final Fantasy
This week, Rich and Michael discuss all the Final Fantasy, Splitgate thoughts, Streaming updates, and the Sony Showcase.
030 - 2021 Streaming Plans, Apple and Microsoft Talk
Michael and Rich discuss our streaming plans, Apple and Microsoft updates, Prey, and loads more.
News
The creators of Heavy Rain and Detroit: Become Human are shifting gears into the Star Wars universe. This seems like a good fit, especially with Disney trying to expand the extended universe with projects like the The High Republic.
Xbox Game Pass continues to impress with new offerings in September. At this point, there are so many interesting games released on the service every month, it is getting hard to keep up.
Xbox Game Pass September 2021 game list updates: Sable, SkateBird - Polygon
News came out that Marvel Avengers, a game that everyone knew would come to Game Pass at some point, would release September 30th with all the first year content included. Xbox Game Pass Members Assemble! Marvel’s Avengers Coming September 30 - Xbox Wire
The internet had a hay day when Nintendo announced the voice cast of the animated Mario Bros. movie during their September Direct event. If you somehow missed this, check this CNET article on the breakdown of this movie. A Super Mario movie starring Chris Pratt is coming in December 2022 - CNET