Xbox One | Series: The editorial staff’s favorites in 2024

My experience with car games basically boils down to Carmageddon and Death Rally, which the oldest of you are no doubt familiar with. If the Forza Horizon saga has always caught my eye, it’s impossible for me to spend more than half an hour on the game without getting bored. The Game Pass gave me a chance to try a Forza again and Episode 5 totally charmed me. For its playground, for the intelligence of certain tracks, for its slightly too much side and its totally improbable scenario, it is a real treat to rush through Mexico at the wheel of the most beautiful cars. So of course, the arcade aspect suits me very well and I do not put my hands in the grease to modify my cars, but I am having enough fun there that I regularly want to go back there for a while. ‘a run or two. Well done Playground.

Forza Horizon 5 isn’t just a racing game. Of course, you are asked to rush through heavenly settings behind the wheel of dream cars to win. But the software developed by Playground Games goes further. It is an ode to travel thanks to its finely reconstructed Mexico, magnificent from one end of the map to the other. He favors experiences to be done alone or accompanied in his shared world filled with fun challenges, ranging from radar to blast to pinatas to explode. Thanks to its unprecedented expeditions and new rallying events, Microsoft’s title delivers thrills with every centiliter of fuel burned. Both designed for aesthetes who like to take pretty photographs and for budding creators thanks to the multiple creation / customization tools, Forza Horizon 5 is a little bomb accessible to Game Pass subscribers. Although it uses a particularly well-known formula, it manages to make us forget a slight lack of originality by improving everything that could be. Now that the little server bugs are globally fixed, it would be criminal not to sneak into the cabin of an AMG One speeding toward the quaint town of Guanajuato. If Forza Horizon 5 was to be just an arcade-oriented racing game, then it would be the best.

So yeah, we talked a lot about 12 Minutes, the interactive time-loop-based thriller, when it was released in August 2019. As you know, some people liked it, some not, mostly because of some of the footage to. carry out to access the rest of the story. For my part, I had a very special experience because I was discovering the game with the other members of the editorial staff. In the end, it was more of a social experience than anything else. As we progressed, we exchanged on the moments that we had encountered, the possibilities that we had triggered, often surprised to learn that such a thing was possible. Especially since we can find objects and information at very different times. I found myself more or less in the middle of the game without having an item that the characters evoked from the start, seeking to obtain information from other players without being spoiled. All of this until the final climax, not necessarily stunning, but which did not leave me indifferent. In short, aside from its faults, 12 Minutes is a game that tries things out, and which turns out to be more of an experience than a video game. But a very good experience despite everything. If you like storytelling experiences, go ahead without hesitation, trust me.

Generous, talkative, crazy, delusional… There is no shortage of adjectives to describe Psychonauts 2. This sequel to the very first Double Fine game released at the dawn of the 2000s is thus an undeniable success, managing to capitalize on the qualities of the first episode while correcting its (many) flaws. Psychonauts first of the name was indeed a very funny and artistically astonishing game, but also an often very rough 3D platformer. Its sequel is just as pleasing in terms of universe and writing (although we end up getting lost in the main plot), but is also a solid and inventive platform game. The title even has the luxury of offering often exhilarating fights, especially against bosses with a very inventive staging.

A year of video games wouldn’t be the same without the release of a new, never-before-seen episode of my saga of the heart. Of course, I want to talk about the Yakuza franchise published by Sega. In 2024, the spin-off series starring private investigator Takayuki Yagami was back in a brand new case that will take the former lawyer from Tokyo to Yokohama. Lost Judgment is the direct sequel to Judgment. The title of Ryu ga Gotoku studios here retains all the strengths of the previous episode including the narration and cinematographic impulses. The playful dimension also gains in depth with a refined combat system and gameplay mechanics linked to more successful investigations. If these arguments are not enough to convince you, know that the lifespan is substantial (50 hours) and that the adventure is subtitled in French (VOSTFR).

If time loops have been a particularly popular concept this year, it is those of The Forgotten City that have captivated me the most. Formerly a Skyrim mod, this investigative game imagined by Modern Storyteller takes us to the heart of a cursed Roman city where a golden rule reigns: its inhabitants will all turn into stone statues if one of them commits the slightest sin. Engaged as an emissary, the player must investigate this mysterious principle. Encouraged by this quite intriguing synopsis, I discovered a management of the time loop carried out brilliantly and without frustration (a feeling on the contrary felt in 12 Minutes). The rhythm is captivating and the story is fascinating to follow from start to finish. Your investigation is resolved over a range of quests to be completed with really relevant characters. A game so captivating that you quickly forget its technical backwardness.

Announced during an Inside Xbox in 2024, Scarlet Nexus was the other great J-RPG of 2024 for Bandai Namco. Developed by the team behind Tales of Vesperia, the title takes the form of an Action-RPG which places particular emphasis on its action side with nervous and impressive fights thanks to neat animations. In addition, thanks to the powers of other characters that can be activated simultaneously, it quickly becomes particularly exhilarating to make very effective combos to overcome the Others, the monsters of the game. And then, the telekinetic powers also give a real sensation of power which is only accentuated throughout the game. Beyond its well-established gameplay, the title also offers a rather nice science-fiction universe with a scenario a little complicated to follow at times, but which does not remain less nice thanks to these many twists. We especially hope that this first title will serve as the basis for an even more ambitious second episode to deepen the game mechanics and, why not, offer a more open dimension than the corridors of this first test.