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Kotaku Game DiaryThe last thoughts of a Kotaku staff member on a game we are playing.Throughout my time with Undermine“Which has been in early access on PC since 2019, but received a full release last month for PC and Xbox, where it’s part of the Game Pass library,” I’ve seen a lot of good mine soldiers die.
Bryeb was trampled by a fool, a large primate that indiscriminately attacks everything in its path. Luphie fell into a well. Cassman was killed by spiders. Tybylor didn’t see it coming; He was impaled by something called a stalker, a spiked snake-like creature that hides underground and appears in another part of the room without warning. Caran stepped on a trap switch and was shot by an arrow. Quincher was also impaled by a stalker. Sades too. (Marauders are the worst.) Oliby was immolated. Emley was invaded by glomps, basically ChuChus from Zelda. Maddy stepped on some spikes. Josella was killed by acid spitting bats. I could go on.
Like many of his peers, Undermine features beautiful pixel art and compelling top-down dungeon crawling, and if the fun sticks, I wouldn’t be surprised if Undermine secures a place in my personal roguelite pantheon.
Undermine it’s just the latest gem I found on Xbox Game Pass. Yes, Microsoft’s games-on-demand service is ideal for trying out big box office hits, I like it Gears 5, Halo 5and other games that don’t end in “5“(Ex: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt). But I’ve taken much more of the service, and enjoyed it, using it to test various smaller games. Sometimes, I have come across a new favorite.
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Annex B: Wizard of legend, a game that I would have otherwise overlooked. Wizard of legend it’s, broadly speaking, a top-down roguelite crawling through dungeons. Before each execution, you customize a charge of four spells. The more you play, the bigger your spellbook grows and you quickly reach a point where your possible charge combinations add up to, by my calculations, 900 million. It’s great, but the real draw is the perfect local co-op, giving both players access to the full set of unlocked spells.
To date, I have logged more than 50 hours.
Finally I have also given Enter the dungeon one shot. (Yes, yes, I am four years late to the party. I know). everyone was right: It’s a fantastic game. My only complaint is that the co-op relegates the second player to a less powerful character. Otherwise, there are no notes. Shooting animated bullets with bullets is a blast.
However, I haven’t just used Game Pass to sink hours into various roguelites. After my colleague Mike Fahey sang the praises of CrossCode (and I sang them again for this year’s console release), I gave it a twist. There is a lot to like: puzzle platforms, complicated ones 2D-but-not-really verticality, delicious art, but it wasn’t for me. (Don’t tell Mike). Still, I’m glad I tried it.
And then there is the bright star: Spiritfarer, a “cozy management game about death”. Unlike other management games, let’s say, Frostpunk, also on Game Pass, and also something I only tried for the service:Spiritfarer it’s as relaxed as possible. Yes, you must satisfy the whims of anthropomorphic animals as they approach the great beyond, but you can do it on your own terms, without having to worry about ruining and killing your animal friends. They are already dead! In the midst of all the happy killing games of summer, Spiritfarer It is a delightful and welcome treat.
Pushing Lambos at 200 mph in Forza Horizon 4 it is undoubtedly impressive. Playing cowboy in Red Dead Redemption 2, when it was available briefly, it was too. But it’s the smaller Game Pass gems that sing. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go see what happens to the next miner on my tail.
