Still holding out hope for the Konami IP buyout rumor lol

Been playing a bunch of Game Pass recently. Some "early" impressions:

Gears Tactics (Act 2 Chapter 6): Very good. Not a big fan of the side missions though. Doing them once or twice is alright (of each kind) but being forced to play multiple of them every couple of main missions? Not a good decision. Why can't you skip them? The loot mostly isn't worth it and you get barely any XP. The trick seems to be recruiting a single Gear and sending that one on the mission only to kill yourself with a grenade...

Dragon Quest XI (3-4 hours): Very good. The world looks great and the game plays very well. Still a little too early to judge the story but there's a good mix of cutscenes and gameplay. So far the only downside is (once more) the side quests. You get no XP from them and only one item that I probably won't need. What's the point?

SuperHot: Mind Control Delete (about 500G earned): Good. Game offers more variety due to the addition of hacks but they also make the game much easier than the first one. So far it's not really challenging, I've been hit only twice so far whereas I remember dying quite a few times in the first SuperHot.

Untitled Goose Game (completed): Average - good. The idea is nice but the execution is a little meh. Camera is way too close on the goose. The zoom out feature should be the standard camera view as NPCs have a much bigger viewing range. Also the controls are a little wonky, especially when you're colliding with objects.

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair (tutorial + one level played): Good. I know, really really early impression but I'm a bit disappointed and hope that it improves later one. So far it seems like a standard 2D (or 2.5D) platformer but nothing that would justify a 80+ Metascore. I'd say it's not even close to the Rayman games and also not as fun as the 2D levels in Super Lucky's Tale. But I know that there's still plenty of content left so maybe it will surprise me after all.

River City Girls (finished School). Average - good. Not really a fan of the genre and this game doesn't change it. I guess it's more fun if you play it co-op but as a SP game it's pretty boring. Multiple foes ganging up on you, taking plenty of hits etc. Not my definition of fun.

Assetto Corsa (~200G achieved). Poor. Awful controls, worst projection of a racing line I've ever seen. Awful presentation (game immediately stops when you cross the finish line). Awful menus. Graphics are decent though and car models can look fine even.

I don’t think PD is a franchise that needs a new game every 4-5 years. I do hope they’ll work on a new IP afterwards. 

MS do need another pillar IP though (excluding Bethesda IP because we still don't know wtf is going on there). Sad as it is, eventually Forza, Gears and god for bid... Halo will have run their course.

If PD is an amazing game, they could have another team specifically for PD.

I don't understand this obsession with games being "new IPs"

1st) Some of the best-acclaimed games out there are not "new IP" (BoTW, FH4, RDR2, Witcher 3, God of War, GTA V, MK8, Halo 3, TLoU2, just to name a few examples)

2nd) There have been plenty of examples of new IPs not that well received (ReCore, Ryse, Days Gone, Order 1886, etc, etc, etc)

3rd) There are plenty of games out there that are "new IP" just in name, but when you look at their gameplay, they are blatant copies of other IPs.

Sony 1st party only really created 3 new IP this last gen that actually have a future and that’s Horizon, Ghost of Tsushima and Days Gone, the others either bombed Knack, Gravity Rush, The Order or were one offs Bloodborne, The Last Guardian.

With MS we are getting two IP that were created last gen that are getting sequels Hellblade and The Outer Worlds and both are exclusive, We are also getting Everwild by Rare and Avowed by Obsidian (technically not new but it might as well be), Inxile’s AAA game is likely a new IP and we know that Compulsions next game is. This also doesn’t include the AAA XGP game that was leaked by a job listing and the New IP from Bethesda studios.

People need to be more patient because good things are coming.

Good IPs last forever. They just need to make sure they’re consistently trying to put out their best work. This is why Nintendo IPs have lasted so long, there’s always a debate if the latest entry is the best yet. I blame insiders and MS themselves for hinting that the Initiative is working on a new IP, that being said we know little about the new PD, it could be the next big thing, it could have sequels. We’ll just have to see lol Or at least revisit this when we see gameplay. 

WTF...... EA just countered Take-Two’s offer for Codemasters and just bought them for 1.2 Billion dollars.

If MS want to get more studios they need to act quickly, with Embracer, Take-Two and now EA all entering the Acquisition wars thing could get very ugly fast.

The streaming wars are going to begin this gen, EA knows that they need more content for EA Play and that’s why they are expanding and bringing back the EA Originals program. It going to all be about content and how much own, I believe that Embracer Group knows this as well since they have enough studios and games to launch their own Gamepass-Like service.

I just hope that some Publishers team up to make a streaming bundle like Disney does with Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. At least we are already seeing something similar with Gamepass + EA Play.

Absolutely, Over 1 Billion for one Company that only makes racing games is not worth it in my eyes. Them being a Public company 100% blew up the price, It doesn't makes sense for EA imo they literally just gutted EA Gothenburg to make em a support studio and gave the Need for Speed franchise back to Criterion who should have never been taken off development in the 1st place and are now adding like what? 3 more racing IP on top of it when Burnout has been neglected for years.