Children of Morta is a rogue-like action-RPG that has players take members of the Bergson family through dangerous dungeons, battling monsters, leveling up, and earning things for their home. The game has a great sense of progression and a lot of forward momentum, so even in failure, players always feel like they’re making a difference. Playing through Children of Morta with a friend in couch co-op makes the game that much more fun, and with each Bergson family member being distinctly different from each other, the game caters to a lot of different play-styles and preferen
Lionhead Studio’s Fable was the Xbox’s flagship RPG franchise. While infamous for Peter Molyneux’s grand unfulfilled technological promises, it still managed to please legions of Microsoft fans for years throughout the company’s first two consoles. Sadly, the company closed in 2016 , leaving an upcoming title in the series canceled. The franchise’s future is currently up in the air, though Phil Spencer has hinted at a possible comeback several times in recent years. Whatever happens, it probably won’t involve Molyn
Technically, Mortal Kombat never really died, it held on by a thread during the PS2 generation. Titles like Deadly Alliance, Deception, and Armageddon made several changes to the formula, making the series unrecognizable from its roots except for the trademark aesthetic. After Midway closed its doors and the studio was picked up by Warner Bros., Ed Boon and his team became NetherRealm Studios and got to work on a return to form. 2011’s Mortal Kombat brought the battles back to a two-dimensional plane and added a story mode where bouts were divided up by detailed cutscenes showing the game’s soap opera-esque narrat
One of the big selling points for the Xbox Game Pass service is the fact that it has all of Microsoft’s first-party games, Rhythm-Based brawler and this includes the entire Gears of War franchise. Every Gears of War game offers local co-op for the campaign, and Gears of War 2 onward also features Horde Mode as well. Players can play through the entire Gears of War saga from the beginning on Xbox Game Pass, all the way up to the most recent main series game, Gears 5 . The games have all aged well for the most part, offering players intense, action-packed campaigns that are a blast to play through in local co
In particular, these eight horror games stood out as the most impressive of E3 2019 . These games were either featured in a press conference, pre-recorded presentation, or during the special E3 Coliseum showca
However, perhaps the most interesting portrayal of morality – one that Fable should take notes from – is that found in The Witcher 3. Choices in The Witcher 3 have real weight, in part thanks to how well the game portrays its world as being “lived-in.” That manifests itself in many different ways, and on a surface level may not even look like a morality system. Geralt is, after all, a hero, but with his decisions determining who lives, who dies, and, in some cases, the well-being of entire cities, it’s hard to deny the state of the world at the end of the game as a sort of morality system for Ger
What was possible for open-world RPGs in 2004 versus what can be achieved now is drastically different. There are some exceptions, Morrowind managed to bring a well-realized open world to the Xbox, but Fable, visually, was a far superior game, obviously leading to restrictions in other areas. The core elements of RPGs have remained the same, but morality systems are an exception. For the past few decades, what gamers want out of a morality system has shifted dramatically, and with it, the way that gamers think about a narrative as a wh
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service has been a huge hit for the company so far, and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Xbox Game Pass gives subscribers over 100 games to play representing all kinds of genres, including plenty of local co-op ga
With the arrival of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X right around the corner, thousands of fans are incredibly excited to see what major new games will be hitting both consoles when they finally make their way to shelves later this year. Geoff Keighley’s heavily-hyped Summer Game Fest seems to be the catalyst for both Sony and Microsoft to show off exactly what early-adopters will be able to play on next-generation hardware too, with Xbox announcing it will have a first-party heavy showcase in July and rumors claiming PlayStation will follow suit. And when Xbox takes the stage, Fable 4 needs to lead the