gerrythedon

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Members Will Now Get Free DLC and More

As of today, March 18, Ultimate members can redeem the following four perks:

• Phantasy Star Online 2: "Enter the world of one of Japan’s biggest online RPGs with a special content bundle, which includes unique emotes, in-game cosmetics including an Xbox jacket, a gold ticket Mission Pass and in-game currency with a Meseta Crystal. Available to members in the US and Canada only."
• World of Tanks: Mercenaries: "A global multiplayer free-to-play game dedicated to tank warfare in the mid-20th century. Start your journey with three powerful tanks and more!"
• Sea of Thieves: "The essential pirate experience, from sailing and fighting to exploring and looting – everything you need to live the pirate life and become a legend in your own right. With Perks, you get a free Ori-inspired Ancestral Sails, Figurehead, Hull, and Flag to adorn your ship."
• Smite: "Become divine in the #1 MOBA on Xbox, with a bundle that unlocks five Gods, special character skins and voice packs so you can ride into the battle of the Gods in style. With Smite, join a community of 30 million players and defend your portal in showdowns in the Collesium."

New perks will be added alongside additions to the Game Pass catalog. You can find them within the Xbox Game Pass tab, in the new Xbox app on Windows 10 PC, or within the Xbox Game Pass mobile app.




The announcement comes alongside a raft of upcoming additions to and removals from Game Pass for console and PC:

Joining Console

• Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
• Kona
• The Surge 2 – Xbox One X Enhanced
• Bleeding Edge – Xbox One X Enhanced / Xbox Play Anywhere
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid

Joining PC

• Astrologaster
• Bleeding Edge
• Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
• The Surge 2

Leaving Console

• Borderlands: The Handsome Collection
• Cities: Skylines
• The Golf Club 2
• LEGO Worlds
• Operencia: The Stolen Sun
• Vampyr

Leaving PC

• Battle Chef Brigade
• Cities: Skylines
• Kingsway
• Operencia: The Stolen Sun
• Orwell: Keeping an Eye on You
• Vampyr

https://www.ign.com/articles/xbox-ga...perks-free-dlc

gerrythedon

To ensure we adhere to CDC-recommended social distancing guidelines, we will be selling DOOM Eternal a day early on Thursday, 3/19 as a safety precaution for our customers and associates. Animal Crossing will release on Friday 3/20 to further help separate the crowds.

— GameStop (@GameStop) March 19, 2020

EinCB

Dan

^ damn good game. I did three playthroughs on PS4 (there's technically 26 endings, right?)... not sure I'd want to start over on XO, though...

tonyc3742

Downloading now! (45GB, I'm going to turn the XBone on early today.)
I'm still playing Slay the Spire - I unlocked a fourth character the other day.
I'm almost done with the first quest path for Lord of the Rings Adventure Card Game. The tutorial quest is quite well done to teach you the game. I've played ACGs in meatspace but not this one, it does a couple things differently from Pathfinder and Apocrypha.

That's a real phone number in the tweet...

EinCB

The BECOME AS GODS edition plays at 4K 60fps and, according to Digital Foundry, it's a bit better than the PS4 Pro version. I played it on the PS4 Pro and there were a lot of frame drops.

OldBoy

Is this Nier game just a button masher throughout? I got to level 2, my index finger hurts from constant use of Rb button to fire. It was excruciating. And then when you die, you go all way back to beginning, opening story and all? C’mon. Got to be a better way. I know the game says to learn in the game how to save, but when does that happen? I don’t think I can endure too much Rb button...

OldBoy

I can’t play this at all. It’s fluid and looks and plays great but I cannot do it with index finger and no save. Reminds of Ikagura or something I got once on Gamecube. Played a bit. This much more refined of course, but unless I can remap that fire button, I can’t go on...

nickdawgy

I played it on PS4 awhile back. Finished it once but couldn't imagine going through it again once let alone 26 times.

Dan

can't you just hold your finger down on the trigger? It is that what's hurting you?
You only have to play about 45 min before you hit the first main save point, and I think it's nearly impossible to die before that.

Three is the bare minimum, as the story is expanded significantly on #2 and #3.
The 26 ending thing is a bit misleading. There's one for each letter, but only a few really 'matter' for anyone but completionists.

Adam Tyner

And none of them actually require replaying the entire game again. Of the two most essential, one is more of a “meanwhile...” with completely different gameplay, and the other is “more game” rather than “same game”. Another worthwhile one requires replaying the final chapter a different way. A lot of those alternate endings literally require minutes of effort (and maybe not even that?) and are super-jokey.

Dan

Well, despite saying I wouldn't bother, I replayed about 3 hours of Nier: Automata. Looks and plays great on Xbox One X, but still has some framerate stuttering on my system. It's not terrible by any means, though.

This game is great. I looked up the other games in the series (Nier or "Nier: Gestalt" or "Nier: Replicant" depending on where/when you bought it, but also the three Drakengard games... and novellas... and who knows what else...) and I probably won't play any of them other than the re-release of Replicant, which seems like it'll be excellent.

Dan

Game Pass Ultimate deal. Comes to $6.66/month for 6 months. Can be added to you existing membership, but you may not be able to redeem each code until/unless you have <33 or <30 months remaining, since they typically cap you at 3 years.

Deftones

Red Dead Redemption 2 on Game Pass next month.

Spiderbite

I saw that. But they are pulling GTA off to put in RDR2. Glad I never started GTA. I play games to dang slow nowadays. I am lucky if I even finish 3 games in a year.

I saw that you can get GTA thru gamepass for $24. Is that a decent deal or has it been cheaper on other sales before?

Decker

It has been cheaper many times before. I got it for essentially free - Amazon sold a digital copy for $14.99 and gave you a $15 store credit with purchase.

Dan

Yeah I got in on that Amazon deal, too. That was excellent.

I'll give RDR2 a shot, but I ended up bailing on RDR (like so many other games, because I'm a filthy causal), so it may not last.

However, I have put in ~50 hours into Nier: Automata in the last two weeks thanks to Game Pass. I have 25/26 endings completed. Just need Y but it requires so much grinding to find the necessary materials... I'm not sure I can do it.

Decker

I bailed on RDR2 after like 10 hours as I was still in the tutorial and just got fed up with the slow pace.

Dan

^ 10 hours in the tutorial?? My goodness...

Decker

Maybe I exaggerate a bit, but it has a long, slow start.

tonyc3742

Wow...I may not start it with that.
I got GTA5 Premium Edition for 20 bucks a month ago from Amazon, but it looks like regular price now is 30.
If you buy it through GP, make sure to get the Premium for the same price.

Anyone check out Journey to the Savage Planet?
it's got a bit of Outer Worlds social satire feel, but a little less subtle and a lot less shooting; No Mans Sky with actual stuff to see. It's supposed to be "Metroidvania" but I haven't gotten that far yet. If it's very MV I may end up quitting it because I'm not into those (ie, suck at them) but we'll see.

Barth

I did the same. I stuck with it longer than I even wanted to, thinking I would start liking it. I loved the first red dead so much and almost felt guilty giving up on it. Game Pass will probably gain a large amount of subscribers with this though.

EinCB

Streets Of Rage 4 is now available.

EinCB

OldBoy

Is Nier: Automata leaving soon? Why do games have to leave at all? If we pay for game pass, why limited time on most games, especially some big ones? GTA V was like a blink and you missed it.