Another week, another showcase! This time round it was Microsoft showing off all its upcoming Xbox goodies. This included a 45-minute dive into Starfield, which was a thing in and of itself. This game remains one of my most-anticipated, and that hasn’t changed. (My birthday is right around the time it releases, so happy birthday to me!) As it went, the Xbox showcase featured a cavalcade of new games/hardware(?), which is the focus of my rundown here. So, no Starfield or Fable (great to finally see more of that, too, but…huh?) or Avowed (looks fantastic, Obsidian!). Rather, these announcements were all new to me, and they were the ones that elicited my strongest “ehs” and “ohs!” of the show.

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Reaction: Eh.

Star Wars Outlaws

My Star Wars fandom has long ebbed and flowed, and I continue to keep a small flame going for its universe. The various, recent Star Wars television shows helped fan the flame, but I can’t say the same for any of the games. The last Star Wars game I played was from its LEGO series; no recent game offerings have captured my attention. Same went with the announcement of Star Wars Outlaws. Sure, it looks slick and all, but eh, I don’t know. If I can make myself play the Cal Kestis games someday, maybe Outlaws would appeal. Until then, I’ll just stick to the Star Wars games’ sidelines.

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Jusant

While Jusant looks like a very sweet game, it didn’t rouse much sentiment beyond “boy climbs stuff with his cute companion.” Maybe that was the pitch, and that’s fine. Maybe there’s a lot more to it. Maybe it’s just because I’m in the middle of playing a game with plenty of vertical exploration (Tears of the Kingdom) that Jusant didn’t leave a lasting impression. The game’s style is beautiful. And it does look like players will have plenty in it to explore/climb. Well, I wish them all the best when they are able to do just that.

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1TB SSD Xbox Series S

The announcement of this new Xbox Series S “plus,” with a larger hard drive, in black, at a $349.00 price point, was just disappointing. Who the heck was clamoring for this? I know I’ve not been unhappy with my plain ol’ 512gb XSS, but I have had my eye on getting one of its expansion cards, which remain pretty expensive. Why not just reduce their costs and skip the production of this mid-range console? I’m no business major, but I just don’t get it.

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Reaction: Oh!

South of Midnight

I wanted to play Compulsion Games’ We Happy Few when it first released – watching a Let’s Play of it later proved enough. It wasn’t really a game for me, but I remained very impressed at what Compulsion accomplished within it. Upon seeing its new offering, South of Midnight, I felt those same feeling I had with We Happy Few; namely “I must try this!” Well, we’ll see what happens with that sentiment when it comes out, but its trailer is compelling. Between its gorgeous stylings and that outspoken main(?) character, we just might have a winner here.

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Sea of Thieves: The Legend of Monkey Island

Look, I’ve already outed myself as a not-fan of Sea of Thieves, generally. BUT! I had a truly grand time playing through its “A Pirate’s Life” adventures featuring Jack Sparrow. It was a brilliant collaboration, and if that type of gameplay was what Sea of Thieves was all about, I’d probably still be playing it. The announcement of Sea of Thieves enmeshing with the Monkey Island franchise had me smiling! It looked like as perfect a marriage as the one between the game and Pirates of the Caribbean, if not more so. If this new expansion plays like “A Pirate’s Life,” I may just have to sail the seas once again!

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Clockwork Revolution

Bioshock and Dishonored were the first two franchises that came to my mind when watching the reveal of Clockwork Revolution. But neither 2K Games nor Arkane had anything to do with this steampunk-y romp. It’s from inXile Entertainment – the folks of which created The Bard’s Tale and Wasteland series. Taking both into consideration, Clockwork Revolution appeared to be a veritable departure as an FPS with time-control mechanics. Somewhat hilarious is that the game’s release window is “in due time.” Ha! It sure looks intriguing, and I’ll just have to wait with the masses to see more.

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Lede image © Microsoft, Xbox.