This past weekend, Xbox and Bethesda put on their joint showcase to give players a glimpse into games coming to Xbox platforms. Previously, Xbox has stated they would like to release a first party title every quarter, but have yet to deliver on that promise. Starting in 2023, it seems we may see that ambition start to come to fruition.
Xbox has come under recent fire for their lack of first party games coming in 2022 after officially announcing the delays of both Redfall and Starfield into 2023. With this showcase, Xbox has attempted to comfort its player base by declaring that “every game seen here today will be playable in the next 12 months.” This is a bold claim as the majority of games shown during the event listed simply a year, not an actual date, or even a month in some cases.
Whether or not every game releases in that 12 month window, the showcase itself was well-paced with back-to-back-to-back gameplay trailers for what seemed like an endless sea of games. Let’s jump in and discuss the best of Xbox + Bethesda Showcase 2022.
Starfield Extended Gameplay
Arguably Xbox Game Studios’ most anticipated launch is Bethesda’s Starfield. During the showcase we were shown an in-depth extended gameplay demo narrated by Todd Howard himself. We were given footage of several environments, a pretty extended look at the combat and gunplay, a tease of several of the game’s factions, and more. Let’s dive in!
We got looks at two major environments: Kreet, a moon of the planet Anselon, and the capital city of New Atlantis on the planet Jemison. Both locations are in stark contrast of one another, with Kreet being very gray and desolate, while New Atlantis is much more colorful and populated. We also got a glimpse at two factions that seem to be at odds: Constellation, the last group of space explorers in this version of humanity’s future, and the Crimson Fleet, a group of what seem to be ruthless pace pirates.
The combat shown, while looking a little rough around the edges, seems to be a marked improvement over combat in previous Fallout titles. The gunplay looks good enough to account for the absence of VATS seen in Fallout. The addition of a jetpack will make traversal, both in and out of combat, more dynamic. Ship-to-ship space combat was also revealed.
Crafting, mods, and base building make their return from previous Bethesda games, including resource harvesting, crafting weapon mods, and being able to customize your own outpost to act as a base of operations. Players will also be able to customize their ship in a plethora of ways to fit their playstyle.
Todd’s final big reveal was the enormity of the game itself. Outside of the main planets you’ll traverse through the main story path, there are thousands of planets littered throughout hundreds of solar systems. Most of these will most likely be desolate planets meant only for resource harvesting, but he was also clear that there are “goldilocks” planets sprinkled throughout that will be teeming with life.
For a deeper dive into everything revealed about Starfield during the event, check out our coverage here!
Redfall is Indeed an Arkane Game
Another big ticket items fans were looking forward to more info on is Redfall, specifically the gameplay. This was delivered right at the start of the showcase with a meaty gameplay trailer detailing many aspects of the games that players had questions about.
The first thing that comes to mind is how much the game looks like an Arkane game. The set pieces, character models, and animations look like they could have come straight out of Deathloop or Dishonored, and that’s a good thing. Arkane has a distinct feel to its games, and one of the worries was that they would lost that feel in trying to do a cooperative shooter.
We get our first glimpse at combat when the player comes across a room full of vampires. Blasting blood suckers with a shotgun and finishing them off with a stake-bayonet to the heart looks like it’s going to never get old. There seems to be your standard set of weapons: shotguns, ARs, snipers, along with some unique ones like a flare gun that seems to do massive damage to the vampires.
Later in the demo the player is joined by others and we get a glimpse at the characters of Redfall and their individual playstyles. There’s Jacob, the stealthy sniper who can turn invisible; Remi, an engineer who has a robot companion; Devinder, the resident cryptozoologist who seems to use electric poles to trap vampires; and Layla, who can use telekinetic powers to aid her teammates. The cast seems to have a zany feel and the banter between them hopefully won’t get stale after a while.
During a sizzle reel of content toward the end of the trailer we get a glimpse at the inventory and skill tree of a character. You can see the weapons are tiered by color, like most other looter shooters. The skills tree seems varied enough with multiple branches to keep players interested in testing out multiple builds.
Although the game is marketed as a co-op, looter style shooter, Arkane have said on record that the story is very much at the forefront of Redfall, and you can enjoy the entirety of it in single player if you prefer, much like their previous titles. This is really good news as the stories of their past entries are one of the highlights of an Arkane game. After this demonstration, I can say that I’m more excited to see what Redfall has in store for us this coming first half of 2023.
Xbox Goes Hard in Japan
Another major criticism Xbox has received over the years is their lack of presence in the Japanese market. They haven’t had very much success in breaking into the Japanese market until recently, and a lot of the major titles from Japanese developers end up not coming to the platform, like the recently announced Final Fantasy XVI and its exclusivity to PlayStation. Players who are into Japanese Role Playing Games (JRPGs) have found the Xbox platform lacking.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, took the stage after a trailer for Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, a Team Ninja original coming day 1 to Game Pass, to personally address this issue. After the announcement of Team Ninja’s game, Phil dropped a bombshell that Xbox gamers have been praying comes to fruiting for years: the Persona franchise is coming to Xbox! Not only did he announce that Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Persona 5 Royal are all coming to Xbox platforms, but he announced that they will be coming to Game Pass on day 1 as well, starting with Persona 5 Royal on October 21st of 2022.
With fans still mind blown from the Persona announcement, Phil went on to introduce a partnership with one of the gaming industry’s most prestigious developers, Hideo Kojima. This has long been rumored to be happening, but it is now confirmed that Hideo Kojima and Kojima Productions will be partnering with Xbox Games Studios to create an exclusive game “that no one has ever experienced before.” Kojima-san has long been associated with the PlayStation brand, and will undoubtedly still be making games for the Sony platform, but this is the first time Xbox fans get to be excited about an exclusive game from one of the greatest minds in the industry.
Xbox has needed to address its lack of presence in Japan for a long time, and with this showcase they have done just that. They have secured one of the biggest JRPG franchises to the platform, and have gained a partnership with one of Japan’s greatest game developers of all time. This was a major moment for Xbox as a brand.
Game Pass is the Best Deal in Gaming
Xbox has championed their subscription service, Game Pass, for years now. It has been and will remain their #1 focus for the foreseeable future, and after the delay of Starfield and Redfall, Xbox needed to give players a reason to stick with the service. They did just that throughout the entirety of the showcase, showing off a plethora of games coming to the service throughout the second half of this year and into the first half of 2023. 31 of the games shown at the Xbox + Bethesda Showcase will be new titles coming to Game Pass on day 1 of their launch.
These titles include incredible looking indies, as well as big budget blockbusters. Here are just a few of the many titles coming to Game Pass over the next 12 months:
2022:
- Naraka: Bladepoint
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Valheim
- Warhammer 40K: Darktide
- High On Life
- Persona 5 Royal
- Scorn
- Grounded 1.0 Release
- Somerville
2023 (First Half):
- Starfield
- Redfall
- Forza Motorsport
- Minecraft Legends
- Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty
- S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2
- All Riot PC games to PC Game Pass
- Persona 4 Golden and Persona 3 Portable
- Replaced
These are only a small number of the games coming to Xbox Game Pass over the next 12 months.
Verdict
The pacing for the show was excellent with very little talking from Xbox representatives or developers and an endless back-to-back display of gameplay trailers. As the showcase came to a close, it felt weird not to see so many titles we know are in the works: Fable, Avowed, Hellblade 2, etc. However, the concern right now is the games coming to Xbox platforms in the near term, not what is coming on the horizon.
Xbox needed to address its lack of first party titles in the near future, as well as give players a reason to remain subscribed to Game Pass. I believe they accomplished that with this showcase and players have a lot to look forward to with Xbox as a platform.
How did you feel about the Xbox + Bethesda Showcase 2022? What do you think they could have improved upon, or can implement in the next one?
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