PixlBit

Due to a schedule change, I was off today, so I gamed at my buddy's place. I started off with a new randomly rolled game 'cause I wasn't in the mood for more Red Dead Redemption. Then I tackled Game Pass weekly and monthly rewards points games. And then I squeezed in I am Fish. 

Tetris Effect Connected: I randomly rolled a console and got Dreamcast. Then I rolled a 93 on the Metacritic top 100 Dreamcast games and got Next Tetris Online Edition. I never knew this game even existed for the Dreamcast. Instead of going and getting a Dreamcast again, I downloaded Tetris Effect on Xbox since it's part of Game Pass right now. Free is for me. 

I have to say, I'm not a huge Tetris fan. I love the Super Puzzle Fighter variant but regular Tetris doesn't excite me that much. That being said, this Tetris Effect game is pretty darn good. I played some of the Journey mode. It's single-player. You just have to clear a certain number of rows to advance. Each new board has a different art style and music. I guess I'm just not very good at this game because I stopped after only three boards not wanting to just repeat the same board over and over. 

I then played a round in all four multiplayer modes. The first mode is the most interesting because you team up with two other players against an AI "boss". You play until a certain score triggers a merger off all three player's screens and you can help each other out. Really cool mode. I was always the least contributing member, however. I guess I just need to practice if only I was keener on the gameplay. 

Terraria - 2D Minecraft really isn't my thing and neither is having to discover how to do everything with little instruction. It seems more attuned to the PC gaming crowd in its design, so I just brute-forced getting the 200 resources I needed for the Game Pass rewards points and moved on. Give me a keyboard and mouse and I might get into this more. 

I Am Fish - While waiting for downloads, I tried this on Game Pass. I really liked it but didn't finish it. You are a fish in a fishbowl that attains intelligence through some magic bread (is this developer the same that did I Am Bread?). Your fish learns that it can tip over the fishbowl and roll it around to help it escape to the ocean. So it plays a bit like Marble Madness. You navigate the world rolling around and trying not to break your bowl. Sometimes you get out of the bowl and into a pool of water and swim through pipes. There are other fish types too. I played the regular goldfish and the pufferfish. The pufferfish can puff up to roll around on dry ground for a limited time. Really cool, fun game. I stopped because I got stuck on a level. 

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction - Played this before for rewards points. Don't enjoy it much. I only had to boot it for the points and so that's all I did. Bye-bye. 

GreedFall - I played this for monthly reward points on Game Pass. I'd done so before but didn't get very far, for whatever reason. This time I really got into it. I did all the quests in the first town, beat the first boss, and sailed to the next land. I kept going too. I may keep on playing it. 

It's a third-person adventure game with good fighting mechanics. Reminds me of the Risen series but less complex and unforgiving. I like how you can complete the quests in multiple ways - try stealth, brute force, diplomacy, or craft things. The dialog is pretty good. There is a ton of voice work in this game. It looks great too. It's has a 17th-century setting: sailing ships, old-fashioned pistols - like The Three Musketeers period. There's some magic too but I didn't see much of it yet because I chose a fighter character.

My only annoyance with the game is that it forces you down a very "nice" path in the dialog and choice of outcomes. I mean, I agree with those ethically sound choices but today I was feeling a total bastard and wanted to just be that way in the game. Everyone in the game is so nice. Everyone asks sensitive questions of each other and seeks to help out and find the best ethical path. This is no GTA, that's for sure. Well, I got to clobber enemies with my hammer at least even if I do have to ask my compatriots how they're feeling and what hardships they've gone through. Sheesh, I feel like I'm everyone's counselor in this game. 

Otherwise, I am enjoying it a lot. I hope I can stay with it to the end.