[WEEKEND GAMING] Just a Whole Lotta Game Pass Options!

Happy Friday, folks! It’s been a doozy of a week here for me, but the weekend is upon us and it’s time to forget about the outside world for a while. I don’t actually have any time-consuming gaming plans this weekend and more of a goal to check out a “few” things from my backlog and Game Pass to see what I want to keep on my Series X hard drive.

It’s a long list, so I’ll keep the descriptions brief.

First up for me this week is the brand new pixel-drenched cyberpunk point-and-click adventure, VirtuaVerse. I know very little of what this game is actually about, given the store page’s description is just a list of things the story delves into (hackers, technomancers, VR debauchery) but the music in the trailer was awesome, I love the art style, and point-and-clicks are one of my favorites.

Next up is A Juggler’s Tale, which is a 3D adventure game where you control the string puppet Abby through a creepy-looking fairytale world. I wouldn’t say it’s “horror” or anything, just darker in its themes. The store page says I’ll be evading traps and pursuers while solving puzzles, so I’m getting strong Little Nightmares vibes.

Mighty Goose is basically Metal Slug with animal heroes and a weapon upgrade system. It looks neat, has a great soundtrack, and I enjoyed the first level and its accompanied boss battle.

Moonglow Bay is an RPG about fishing and those two things together are extremely my shit.

Echo Generation looks like a modernized voxel take on Earthbound and I am here for it.

Backbone is a 2D adventure game about a bipedal animal detective solving a mystery. The art style rules and I love point-and-clicky kinda stuff.

Boyfriend Dungeon is a dungeon crawler RPG with real-time action combat. Also, your weapons are also humanoid-shaped datable folks. It’s wild.

Dodgeball Academia is a Cartoon Network-looking tactical RPG about… dodgeball.

The Forgotten City began life as a fleshed-out Skyrim mod and now it’s a whole-ass game. You travel back in time to discover why the citizens of an entire city have been turned to gold after the sin of just one of them. Sounds neat and I’ve heard great things.

Into the Pit is considered one of those retro-FPS revival games, kind of like Project Warlock. Imagine Hexen or Heretic got a modern remake but cranked the speed up to 11. Instead of guns, you use magic. This also has roguelike elements, which I’m not a fan of, but the style is drawing me in.

Kill it With Fire is a silly little game about amassing weapons to search houses for hidden spiders and murdering them. I watched Jacksepticeye play it earlier this year and it seems like a fun way to kill an hour or two.

Nongunz is a rad looking 2D shooter/platformer with roguelike elements and horror visuals. I usually hate roguelikes but the style is so cool that I need to see it for myself.

Sable looks like a super chill open-world exploration game that’s more about cruising around in your awesome vehicle than partaking in any sort of action. The art style is very unique and it has an almost Ghibli vibe to the animation.

Skatebird is literally what it says on the box. It’s a skateboarding game like Tony Hawk but with a literal bird. Heard mixed things, but hey. It’s a skateboarding game with a bird.

UNSIGHTED is yet another pixely action adventure game, but that’s not a bad thing. It gives me strong Hyper Light Drifter and CrossCode vibes, and seems to have upgrade systems and crafting. This is high on my list.

The Riftbreaker is a combination of base building and (I think?) twin-stick action. Just going by the trailer, you pilot a mech and combat MASSIVE hordes of monsters while building up a base and surviving the night. Survival games never interest me but the combat looks cool as hell.

And finally, The Artful Escape looks like a 2D acid trip where you play a guitar prodigy struggling to create his stage persona. Lots of fantastical creatures and backdrops, a rad soundtrack, and lots of mid-air guitar shredding.

Game Pass has a LOT of games, I tell ya. Play any of these?

And with that finished, what are YOUR weekend plans?