Hellblade 2 is a Regressive Disappointment
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- Опубліковано 31 лип 2024
- Hellblade 2 was my most anticipated title of 2024. Despite getting many things right - it takes too many steps backward from the first game (mainly combat) making the game feel more like a tech demo than a game.
Senua's Saga: Hellblade II is a 2024 action-adventure game developed by Ninja Theory and published by Xbox Game Studios. The game serves as the sequel to Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice and is set in 9th century Iceland, drawing inspiration from Norse mythology and culture.
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0:00 Intro
2:56 Hellblade 2 - The Good
8:07 Hellblade - The Bad
8:56 Hellblade 2 Combat is Bad
9:18 Hellblade 1 vs Hellblade 2 combat
15:36 Hellblade 2 30fps
16:11 Hellblade 2 - The Conclusion
#hellblade2 #xbox #gamepass
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!['Hellblade II' is bafflingly disappointing… [REVIEW]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/x2PAhL9UCyg/mqdefault.jpg)
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The free god of war dlc is longer than this
ok a roguelike is longer than a immersive singleplayer experience? wow
@@lynxyu11 it has a better story hands down
It felt like a cinematic walking simulator
Some games don't need a sequel.
6 years development time for 5 hours of gameplay? That is impressive... in all the wrong ways.
I agree, you’d expect 20 hours at least
Game take 5 or 6 hours is fine. Just don't take 5 years to make it.
@@yanayana5408 Especially when some of those 5-6 hours of gameplay even is padding like just walking around a lot.
The magic touch of Microsoft...
Gotta love em
Going 3rd party is saving their ass
At this point they’re cursed. Everything they touch under the Xbox umbrella dies.
So true....so true
Now when it come to PlayStation I don’t want to hear bout no damn shadows, keep that same energy
I don't get why the motion capture would have to restrict player agency at all. Just look at the norse God of War games or TLOU2.
This is not a game, it's a tech demo.
There should be questions over how it achieved a 80 score, when titles with much more engaging gameplay, more interesting narratives and bigger scope and length are overly scrutinized, and often fail to break into the 80s score? How did so many websites grant it 10s and 9s? Is this their way of consoling MS, in a sense, and avoiding adding salt to injury? Are those people fanboys of the brand? Truly baffling...This glorified demo should have been, just like The Order 1886, which has more gameplay segments, was just as impressive visually when it came out...and ended up getting 64 on MC...And this one, which came out 10 years later, is somehow immune from the same criticism...? 😮
And then the Xbox folks have the audacity to push for this narrative of a "Xbox Tax.",
Mental illness bonus I guess? Probably resonates with your average, self-diagnosed, suffering-from-twitter-induced-ptsd games journalist.
Also helps it basically plays itself.
Especially when another walking sim with more gameplay like The Order got trashed by the media@@pixeljauntvr7774
Yeah it has shown how paid off the industry is. Never has there been a bigger difference between the publics opinions and the ''reviewers''.
The game is being shielded by its themes of mental illness. Very convenient In an age where the average "games journalist" suffers from at least one self-diagnosed psychological issue as well.
Even a $10 DLC has more to offer than this, this $50 paid technical demo
This is karma for what they did to DMC
I know many people hated DMC, but I loved it. I never really cared for the original game's story. So I liked the new themes. After this though, I think Ninja Theory's days are numbered..
It's bizarre that they would railroad combat and take away player agency like that given that the first game's finale is all about the player making the decision to stop fighting.
5-6 hours? That’s crazy
Ikr, I wonder how long the game is if you skip the cutscenes lol
So are the graphics & gameplay
It took me 9 hours to beat it.
@@MrWar2050then you must be dumb even if you take your time it takes 5hours and 35 to 40 minutes
@@MrWar2050 you're spose to pause on bathroom breaks. Looking around in awe doesn't count. Game looks good though
They over did the "voices" this time. Now they're used as a sort of narrator, which takes away from their effect.
100%. Now the voices are just straight up hand holding you the whole way and serving you as a "hub" for the player.
It became annoying. They literally tell you how to solve the puzzle. This game is eye candy made for journalists that don't like playing video games.
Yeah, it's nothing like psychosis. It's a glorified hint system and narrator and I turned it off and improved my experience greatly.
Imagine getting a chip implanted in your brain and you turn on game hints. That. That's what gaming has become for the casuals.
@@metpach A 5 hour game is perfect for a journalist who needs to churn out a review.
Hellblade was never going to sell like a mainstream Triple A title. They were too ambitious.
i feel you too many cons and not really allot of pros just finished the game yesterday and honestly wish the sequel just didn't exist if i knew that this is what we were gonna get
Xbox's first game of 2024 and they gave us a movie
The game is very short, it's like three hours of cinematics and the critics finished it in 6, that is, it's 3 hours of gameplay and most of it is walking in a hallway until the next cinematic or fight that looks like a quick time event 😐 it will look very nice but It's almost not even a game and the combat is basic: hit or dodge and there's nothing else, you don't do anything else in the entire game. Mechanically, it's walking and touching two buttons for three hours of gameplay.
Ridiculous. Ninja Theory is talented but they are wannabe filmmakers pretending to be game designers.
The combat is basic, and realistic. This is something like if YOU were in a mutual combat swordbattle, and the enemy wounds are very realistic, not just in graphics but in how your opponent would.....what would happen to them.
@@TheArtman2023Well they are trash game designers and as far as movie making, they still have to make one to judge.
Hopefully they finally stop trying to scam people with their wannabe movies and exit the industry for good after this nonsense
@@Alien_isolationistIf you want "realistic" combat and wounds then join the military. People want to PLAY GAMES not merely WATCH them which is why this wannabe movie garbage is getting trashed
Many larger outlets give Hellblade 2 a perfect score, but smaller reviewers are more critical. It reminds me of the reaction to Starfield. I feel like journalists have lost touch with what gamers want.
6'. Years for that they got 😊
@ 12:25 that moment is absolutely unforgivable, Ninja Theory, we played the first game and felt we could even destroy gods and too often in this game Senua is at the mercy of humans who let her live because they play with her.
That took much of my love for Senua out, she was inferior to almost everyone in this game and truthfully without plot armor had lost in the first 1 hr.
This was a fair review. I loved the 1st game as well. I have this one installed already for this weekend. Let's see how it goes. I shared the same concerns when they started releasing promo material.
Imagine 7 years to make this 😢
How did that happened?
Funny how none of the xbox fanboy reviews didn't call Hell Blade 2 a movie game like they love to call games like Spiderman and GOW.
Of course they won't. They're too busy drooling over "gwaffics" to acknowledge that Hellblade II's idea of gameplay is picking up rocks and starring at bubbles with the occasional on rails fight sequence.
Not even in the same stratosphere as Spider-Man or God Of War which blend their cinematics and proper gameplay mechanics.
Why do we keep putting up with such "safe" subpar games? We're also forced to wait a handful of yrs for each game now. We're lucky if 2 decent games are released on consoles each year. Why are most games lacking quality, depth & creativity to the games overall fun factor? Games from the late 90's early 00's possessed more depth to their gameplay mechanics and they were dealing with hardware limitations.. Even tho games take a handful of years nowadays to come out; We are genuinely seeing the most paper thin quality to overall game quality..? Also these paper thin games are costing ABSURD amounts of money. Taking up stupid amounts of memory storage space. For What? It's so messed up we are dealing with this depressing chapter in modern gaming.. It's very demotivating.. Why can't we just embrace the approach and design we had during the PS2 era or the 360 era? I took so much for granted.. I was a dumb teenager tho and had no clue.. I just loved gaming and never could have guessed gaming would have gotten to this point even tho technology and hardware capabilities have advanced so far...
Easy to answer. Money. Everything's been corporatized and framed in a way that's basically no different than gambling. Budgets are constantly increasing and making anything new is a risk. If it fails, then everyone involved suffers.
Easy answer its not just money its political being a liberal. Games should be about your feelings instead of being creative.
Just completed it I’d be very upset if I paid £50 for this after waiting several years!
I see a lot of people whinging about the £50 price tag, but you can get it on gamepass for £12.99, then cancel it before the month is up. There, a £13 game. The £50 price tag is just a marketing strat by XBOX in order to push more Gamepass Subscriptions. Unfortunately, the lame console war bozos are at war with each other again, because its an exclusive.
Why is that?
@@Calm_Chaos Because it’s not a bad game neither is it a good game it’s just worthy of a blast via gamepass!
£50 for a five hour game is a scandal on its own graphics do not make a game and after a while the voices and fury’s in her head become increasing annoying!
It’s a game that should be enjoyed once and once only and that I’ve achieved it was fun while it lasted but I have no reason to ever go back to it!
That's a problem 50 with no replayability is nuts. A one and done and can get much better experience with 50 and more engaging.
@@EmissaryTheMessenger Yea like it came out and everyone that played it did it in that one visit on gamepass I meen wtaf!
FightinCowboy review was pretty bang on. Great tech but very limited gameplay. Never played the first game, probably should.
Good to see you're still going strong my man. You helped me with King's Fall raid many moons ago. Appreciate you, brother.
And people were expecting a kind of female God of war combat and action 🤣
The expectations was too because the first game was amazing. It seems most devs these days just prioritize pretty Graphics and visuals now, and it's not good for the gaming industry. I've seen games with mind blowing graphics already. This is not new.
They did a great job with the video, but forgot to add the game on it. The game looks so stunning and impressive. They did such a great job with sound design and the visual, but everything else is just so mediocre.
For me this is a straight up a tech demo. This is just a showcase for the Xbox console. This should've been a launch title
After all these damn years....
Ninja Theory watched God of War Ragnarok, but they make an on rails QTE game l instead...
Man i was really hoping these video reviews were wrong but i have to admit that's been my experience so far. I Absolutely loved the first game but this one regressed bad in terms off gameplay. The one thing about the first one that i was hoping to see improved was the combat and this new addition sadly regressed pretty damn bad. How the hell do you think its a good idea to take away the ability to face multiple enemies at once.
The animations are atrocious
When is it time to fire Phil Spencer?
Fire Phil ? For what, he's literally doing his job to perfection.
Perhaps you don't understand Phils actual job. The job is to destroy Xbox and the hardware side of business so "Microsoft Gaming" can fall in line with rest of the business in the Cloud.
It's been the plan all along and as Dr.Strange once said "we're in the endgame now"
That will not fix Xbox problems.... imo Phil is the last person defending gaming at Microsoft..
Gameplay is basically QTEs without the button prompt. Goodbye, Ninja Theory.
That's not true lol I was playing on hard mode last night..felt like a great combat game to me
@@armyofray8096You can play with one hand...
Ninja theory’s best game was dmc, don’t care let the capcom nerds hate the reboot, but I loved it. They at least made an interesting fun game with good mechanics. It’s bad enough the 90s capgod is long gone. I am not surprised about hellblade 2, anything ms touches is crap. Wait until that new Indiana jones game hits, and it’s awful 1st person perspective.
Devs forgot this is still supposed to be... a game. Not simply just eye candy.
Feel like a game to me
It was a walking simulation the first time dummy
"combat wasn't a big focus of the first game"
The Fenrir boss in the first game was my favorite. Dodge his claws, hit his face, screen goes black and red while he charges you from the shadows. Absolutely insane.
These people that are saying the first game had "no emphasis on combat", what game did you play fam, cuz it wasn't Senua's Sacrifice.
Combat wasn't the primary focus though. You can spam dodge and timing wasn't nearly as crucial in the first. Killing both gods to gain access to the death god were extremely easy in terms strategy. The emphasis was on progression as the narrative was and is the focal point of the game
I seriously think the biggest thing holding back 2's gameplay is the lack of proper boss fights. The sequence of freeing Ingunn was cool, but the next giant is a reskin of the exact same thing, and the final boss is functionally identical to every other enemy in the game. It all feels so anticlimactic.
Lol the same with people disliking Calisto Protocol combat. People want to play Dynasty Warrior
@@jimmymac2292 combat doesn't have to be the primary focus of the gameplay to still warrent its role in the game. You could say the same for Survival horror games whose main focus is the story like Silent Hill 2 for example. HB1's combat isn't the primary focus, but it was still a big part of the game.
@@raychii7361 chaining punches and quickshots in Calisto really got the blood pumping for me.
Thanks for your honest opinion. I was extremely disappointed with this game. I want to play a game, not watch a walking simulator. This was just as unimpressive as the Matrix.
remember that first game pretty much got the same criticism as this new one did. Just watch a couple years, this game will be praised.
It's shorter, less interesting and systemically worse than the first game. Which, let us remember, released at half the cost.
This is the modern day “dragons lair” from back in the day
Great breakdown, hopefully they learn from this and are about to come in strong for the next entry.
Assuming they survive the incoming fallout over this. Look what happened to Tango Gameworks. And they made a game that was generally liked.
@shawnbenjamin9636 that's true, over at Xbox putting out a game that reviews well and wins awards isn't enough to guarantee another shot making more games.
I equally was hoping for a bigger and more expanded upon game but I still enjoyed it for what it is. I love realistically brutal games. Although nothing tops Ellie the serial killer from TLOU2 though. Love that shit. You know what man. This is my first time on the channel. I follow a couple others that…..how should say… call you a Shill for Sony but I thought this was a very good explanation and overview of this game. I thought you were very fair and your opinions pretty much aligned with mine on HellBlade 1 and 2. I came here to possibly make some smart ass remark and instead watched, listened, and subscribed!
The gamepass effect
Yup
@TheArtman2023 if you fell down the stairs you guys would blame gamepass😅
@@sidneyhenderson6859 Of the stairs were off angle and dangerous so numerous people kept falling down them. Sure. Probably a Microsoft product.
@@pixeljauntvr7774 🤣
Microsoft’s gonna Microsoft.
But, they said 2024 is year of Xbox. I'm so confused.
I disagree with the combat. I love the combat in hellblade 2. The combat in HB2 felt like work. The finishers were a nice touch
Just like Ive been saying. I held up no hope with Microsoft at the helm.
100% Agree. Combat is a huge downgrade, only has 3 combat buttons now, no kick, dodge is nerfed, responsiveness=non existent.
This has to be the best review I have seen for this title
I appreciate that - though I hated having to say most of it lol
@@ReforgeGaming I'm sorry. I still want to play it though. But I think maybe I should wait for a sale. I don't do Gamepass
They had a gem of a game with so much potential…
Getting tired of such potential wasted in gaming. These flops are flooding the market.
Hellblade 2 is an acquired taste like Guinness Beer. Its not supposed to appeal to everyone. But for those of us that like that kind of flavor, it checks all the boxes. After playing Rebirth, this is just what the doctor ordered.
Guinness tastes beautiful don't lie to the people
@@lennieleng9679 Sorry I'm not a part of the hive-mind that inhabit this channel. Hell Blade 2 is phenomenonal.
@@SK_Falchion "I'm not part of this hive-mind, but I am a part of another."
Basically sums that up. Just agree to disagree. No reason to try and throw shade in the other direction. If you like the game, more power to you.
@SK_Falchion I agree 100% for me the story takes center-stage. The immersion is some of the best I have experience.
Hellblade was an acquired taste, nobody had heard about it and it came out close to Horizon and God of War which didn't do it any favours, but I personally loved it. Hellblade 2 doesn't feel as tight, hope Ninja Theory get another stab at this one with a third title in the series.
I played an 1 and a half as well because that was how long it took to realize that nothing new and interesting had been introduced and in fact more had been taken away. The new characters are not good and they dont add to the story. Senuas interactions with other people is really awful. She snarls and screams when the other actors are just talking normally with her. Its so off putting and i fully comprehend shes a nutjob but its poorly explored now compared to the first games setting. Her only interactions then were the darkness and her ever present jeering voices in her head. The voices in 2 are more like commentators instead of inner insecurities manefesting into her psychosis they sound like john madden play by play announcers. Its just really bad.
Did you noise and rain sounds like it would a better experience when or if it comes to ps5 also if you’re play on there you should probably get the pulse elite or explorer for the better experience
I think of it like the matrix demo for graphics. It’s definitely not a game. Now I only played a hour and twenty minutes but I determined it would be better to just watch it like a show on UA-cam. The future for graphics for games does look good if they can add gameplay to this type of graphics
"But the beautiful graphics and seamless transition..." you mean something that's been a thing for several years, already?
😅😅😅
So disappointing. Since Microsoft is dropping games on ps5, not gonna lie I was so excited for this game. I’ll still play it for the easy platinum- when the price drops of course
Do you know how I knew the game would be bad?
"The definition of insanity is -- doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result." - Einstein
Because I'm not insane. We are talking about MS here. Of course, they always cut corners and release their games too early.
Can't wait for the Angry Joe review. "5 HOOOOURRRSSS!!?!"
This is not on Microsoft. Ninja Theory are obviously wannabe movie makers and not talented game devs
The first entry wasn't that great either as a video game
It's a shame gameplay couldn't live upto the graphics
Well when you realize the graphics were achieved by strategic swap outs of higher poly models when they do camera spins and also the minimal draw distance that was hidden by the "fog". It does match the gameplay in terms of being shallow.
Yup, just like The Order 1886 and Ryse Son of Rome.
@@FlameHAZE2010yup, there is a reason those two titles dont get sequels
@@FlameHAZE2010 Order & Ryse are real games and better than Hellblah 2 though.
Play it for yourself. Dont base your decision on another. Dont be sheep
The voices are probably the most annoying thing I’ve ever experienced in a game. Well this entire game… I mean graphical walking tech demo is annoying and so incredibly boring. I was shocked this was actually a real game
I know you were really looking forward to this game sorry to hear that they really fumbled the ball on this one great video though man I imagine this wasn't an easy video to make
If they made this more like the last of us part 2 then probably it would have gotten better reviews
smoking that microsoft pack 😂🔥
I loved the first game and so far love this one it isnt for everyone and i can understand why people dont like it.
Like Arkane, Phil had no presence in Redfall development, looks like the fate of HellBlade 2 was the same. Looks like they wanted to release it soon, and with all the other great companies being axed, Ninja Theory must have been given the itch to better be good or else notion. Sad.
Sad to hear you don't like the game. i know you loved the first one and were looking forward to more Hellblade, 😔
I played for another hour and a half off stream... and it's just bad.
@@NordicMeatShield lol
It's because it's under the Xbox umbrella, why don't you like it.
@@eternityeyevisions836because it’s bad lol 😂
@@eternityeyevisions836 Maybe, maybe not. Though Microsoft does keep putting out bad games. At some point we need to stop looking at it as a coincidence.
I saw this comment and it fits so perfectly for Ninja Theory post acquisition = “double the production cost with half the dev effort”. Get acquired by msft or funding and then proceed to give a half baked effort . Unbelievable
Here comes that word again... Masterpiece, verything is a masterpiece. How the F us the first game a masterpiece? I think we played different games, or maybe I just played the real game- Masterpiece... 🤔🙄
Shhhh... These people are not gamer, they just want think themselves are smart because they are into "story driven games"
i played the hellblade 1and seeing some gameplays and comparisons i still see the combat as better than the hellblade 1 and i'm ready to play hellblade 2
Rip ninja theory
Remember The order 1886? Best looking game at that time but still felt to much movie and less action.
Here's the difference: The Order had way more gameplay.
@@shawnbenjamin9636lmao true and it had potential if they added online 5v5 just like gears of war. Throw it in and let people make it big.
And a much better setting...What a squandered opportunity that was. Knights of the roundtable fighting against werewolves and vampires in steam-punk victorian London, helped by Tesla...
What could have been...😢@@shawnbenjamin9636
Admits to not finishing the game and puts out a "review" anyway. Classy.
this isn't a review, learn to read, i know it is hard when grinding an axe, but reading will help you in life.
@@ReforgeGamingWether or not you call it that, it effectively is one. People treat it as one. Look through the comments. You criticise a thing that you didn't finish. I'm not even talking about me disagreeing with some of your takes, we could have a discussion there, but when the well is already poisoned there's no point.
This review was put together great
I hear what you mean when you rolled when combat starts . Its horrible compared to the first one .
I'm on the last section off hellblade 2 and it so disappointing 😕
Stinks. We know you’re all in on this franchise. Always disappointing when the product doesn’t meet expectations. I had high hopes as well.
Another POS game one after another from Xbone...Really show s that the guy in charge doesn't know a gud game from a stick in the mud...
another great vid Lono
Much appreciated
After playing an hour and a half I'd say you are exactly right.
I love the first game. played it 4 times. combat was great. the second is just a techdemo. and the ending is so bad and boring...
Good Morning Everyone
good morning
let this be an example that Graphics dont mean everything
Did you beat H2?
How can you not it's ONLY 6 hrs
I loved the game but wished if it was longer
I wonder how much ninja theory co founder leaving affected the game
The game makes you feel like you’re playing a video game and that’s bad?
I personally have not played the game but my gf played the first one and absolutely loved it so we were both super hyped for this one because of how insane the graphics looked. She played for about an hour or so last night and she LOVES it. She’s not a gamer, she likes linear Story driven games that don’t frustrate her. This is exactly what we wanted out of this game. A great story with great graphics. I’ve heard the story is meh so we’ll see. But my point is we bought the game for the story and it being non-gamer friendly, just like the first one. I’m sure there’s others that agree.
It’s not for sweats with no life and wanna play dark souls in UE 5. That’s not the target audience
Here comes the PS5 port. Just lol @ Microsoft.
Uncharted 4 looks better and that’s a dam ps4 game 🤣
Making Hellblade II appear worse than it is seems to be a win win for reviewers. On one hand you got the playstation crowd frothing at the mouth ready to agree. And on the other hand you have people like me who actually played the game and really enjoyed it ready willing to defend it. Technically isn't clickbait.
I wouldnt play this game personally, but it does indeed have the best visuals probably to date
their focus were mostly the graphics. Idk how to describe it since english isnt my first language, but its actually kinda annoying somehow how good it looks since everything else is kinda shit
Edit : The sound design is obviously not shitty^^
THEY WILL ADD SO MANY DLC JUST WAIT
People came into this game with the wrong expectation. If you were expecting something different than the first game that's on you. Yes, this is an improvement on the first game in every aspect, it has a great purposeful combat, tells a good story, and we finally have a game that shows the true potential of the Unreal 5. If you did not like the game, that's fine, but people telling that it's a bad game because their expectation was not met, well that's on them. The game is still a piece of art.
would be the case if this wasnt just outright worse than the first game
Game is sheit because it's not actually a game.
It's entire focus is on graphics and making AI seem human, this is a movie, and you play as the main character, it is 100% a movie considering it has about 5 hours of play time with 0 replay value.
BTW first game was the same, too short with silly puzzles, and extreme focus on graphics/setting/voice acting, but nothing else.
It's a god damn movie bro :D
Naked Senua mod WHEN
This is just sad. I guess I’ll stick to Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice then. Ninja Theory can do so much better. 😔
Meh, play it yourself. It's a great experience, I didn't play the first game for the sword fight.
I didn't enjoy the changes to Horizon: Forbidden West compared to Zero Dawn. So I understand people being disappointed.
I agree with you about the game, but you can't make comparisons between the console version and the PC version with a 2080, because the 2080 can use dlss, the consoles can't. Try disabling dlss and see if it works for you at 60...
I feel like Sony fans will always derail any game title on Microsoft Xbox. I know for a fact if the majority of these same game was available for Playstation the verdict would be a great game. This is the gain for Sony & hate for the Xbox which is unfair bro.
Such a bad take, hell Xbox fans shit all over the first game when it was a PS exclusive but now the "walking sim" game type is "goty" now that it's M$ exclusive? The game is getting the same score as the first, some people just don't like it and for what it's worth reviews mean fuckall these days.
@kendalekyle7527 please dont be delusional. Even Xbox fans did in fact not like the first game, but the second game (which is again in fact worse than part 1) is suddenly the greatest game of all time. Even tho Xbox fans told everyone God of War for example is just a movie game and thats why its terribble. I wonder why they like Hellblade 2 now...
Sony fanboys are cringe af, Pc fanboys are cringe af aswell, but Xbox fanboys are the weirdest species Ive ever seen. They praise every game for absolutely everything and call basic features everybody knows absolutely groundbreaking.
But to your point : Starfield is in fact just mid (maybe with future updates kinda enjoyable) - Redfall is... ah whatever lets not talk about it - Halo Infinite was actually a shitfest and Ive played every Halo before + liked them ngl - Forza wasnt bad but if you even ask Forza fans about Horizons, most of them tell you its nowhere as good as titles before. I cant even remember other games. I just remember Hifi Rush which was actually really really good, but except Hifi Rush Xbox´s lineup since Gamepass exists is actually just not that good.
If this one had come out on the PS5 intstead, it would have scored.in the high 60s, low 70s on it. There is a Xbox scores subsidy, and not taxe, like fanboys of the brand parrot: Starfield, Halo 5...were overrated, alongside a few others.