So, today was the Xbox Partner Preview showcase, where the latest in third-party games coming to Xbox were shown and to be perfectly honest? Outside of a few select titles, there really wasn’t much noteworthy here to really get excited about, which is a shame as, usually, I find a good bit of games that look fun, but not this time, sadly. That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t anything good on the show, just that nothing really screamed MUST GET, for me at least.
One game that got my attention was Mouse P.I, a FPS from Fumi Games that is made to look like a cartoon from the 1930’s. Think Cuphead but in first person and with blood. From what I gathered from the various trailers, as I’ve been following this game for a while, you play as a detective named P.I Pepper and you’re blasting away at various gangsters and hoodlums in a 1930’s-esque cartoon world, complete with the rubbery animations and white gloves on all characters. The trailer showcased today showed a new swamp and sewer level and an alligator boss using a gatling gun of sorts in what appears to be one of the game’s boss fights, along with a scene that shows the ability to use your tail as a sorta grappling hook to swing across a chasm. Still, scant info aside, I’ve been digging what I’ve seen of this game and I can’t wait to get my paws on it when it releases on PC and Xbox next year.
Another stand-out game was, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii. I said that because I never could get into the Yakuza series. I tried playing them a few times and, everytime, they just never clicked for me. This one, though? Something about it just screams ‘I must play this’ and I don’t know if it’s the wacky setting, the character of Majima looking like he’s having the time of his life, or the over-the-top combat which looks far more fun than the main Yakuza games (reminds me a bit of the Dynasty Warriors games). Add in the ship-to-ship combat of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and this looks like a fun entry into this long running franchise. Due out on February 21st, 2025, players, and myself, won’t have long to wait before we’re sailing the seas with Majima and company.
But what about the games for the furry gamers? Well, outside of Mouse P.I, there were a few that stood out. Legend Of Baboo (seriously, I almost came close to calling it Legend Of Baboon) looks to be a decent hack-n-slash with a cute fluffy samoyed dog as your buddy. There’s also the long-awaited console release of Animal Well and, while I do think it has a cool premise, the trailer didn’t really help sell me the game. In fact, I was slightly annoyed by the trailer, with its constant repeating of shadows this and shadows that. Otherwise, the game does look fun and if you haven’t played it yet, the game is available right now on Xbox and PC as one of the two shadow drops from the show, the other being this unique early access FPS called Blindfire. The trailer didn’t really do a good job of explaining what it is - heck, I thought, at first, it was Ghostrunner II dlc - but after looking into it, here’s what I gathered: Blindfire is a multiplayer FPS set in pitch-black neon arenas where the light can either be your friend or enemy. You know, that concept, alone, reminds me of the original plan for Resident Evil 5, where the light was going to play a huge part in the game; If Chris stood out in the sun for too long, he could start hallucinating, for example. While I don’t think Blindfire is going to go that in-depth with the mechanic, it’s cool seeing a game use light for something other than a basic source of light. But, seriously, I really thought it was a Ghostrunner II expansion as the masks really reminded me of that game.
The last game I want to mention is FBC Firebreak, a spin off of Control and the first multiplayer game from Remedy Entertainment, who also released a new trailer for Alan Wake 2’s upcoming DLC ‘Lake House’. From what the trailer showed off, it’s a 3-player co-op experience where you and two other players go into the facility from Control and fight off these otherworldly creatures using a variety of tools and makeship weapons. Now, I never played Control so a lot of what was going on in the trailer was lost on me, but the game does look fun. I like these styles of co-op where it’s more action based and less trying to have group reactions to frights and such and FBC Firebreak looks to be more of the former then the usual fare. I also like these makeshift looking weapons they showed off, like this barrel launcher and a double barrel shotgun-looking thing that reminded me a bit of the weapon from the original Quake. While it doesn’t launch until sometime next year, I’ll be keeping a close eye on it. As for ‘Lake House’? It does look creepy and I like the atmosphere presented, but, having never played Alan Wake II, I was pretty much confused as to what was going on. Still, looks like a spooky time and the perfect game for Halloween, as it comes out October 22nd.
Rest of the games showcased were hit or miss, to say the least. We had an 2025 early access announcement trailer for Subnautica 2 that really didn’t tell us much of anything, a couple soulslikes with Mistfall Hunter and Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, and two hack-n-slashes with Eternal Strands and Edens Zero. We also got a new game from Blooper Team, who just recently released the Silent Hill 2 Remake - which I heard is REALLY good - called Cronos: The New Dawn and this one had a interesting trailer, seemingly revolving around a chess game between an older woman and an armored being of sorts, which tied in with the being killing these, I wanna say, demons of some type, ending with the armored being, I guess, killing the woman using this spider-like device. What caught my eye was the protagonist’s weapon, which was this multi-purpose device that changed from a heavy-hitting pistol to a type of melee weapon, allowing the protag to layeth the smackdown on the demon. Though we only got a 2025 release date, this is one to keep an eye on as it seems to be wanting to scratch that itch many Dead Space players have been wanting scratched again. Lastly, and probably the biggest announcement for many, we finally got a release date for the PC Indie ghost hunting hit Phasmophobia: October 29th, 2025.
Overall, the Xbox Partner Preview was OK. While some of the games shown weren’t anything I’d personally play, I know there are gamers out there who are excited for them and you know something? That’s fine! Not everyone has to like the same things I do. If we all liked the same things, this world would be pretty boring, to say the least, and we wouldn’t have the creativity we have right now.
Games Shown:
- Alan Wake II: The Lake House (October 22nd, 2024) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ry5-KASs5qY
- Cronos: The New Dawn (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jh3aaacT0Q
- Blindfire (Available Now in Early Access) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f879e7-u_20
- Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii (February 21st, 2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qMnoSSCKlX4
- Mouse P.I (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fH2jy-yRnk
- Subnautica 2 (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTSOS90ZCoo
- Animal Well (Available Now) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMXekttKP_M
- Edens Zero (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyfaZfGd0aI
- Eternal Strands (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESJWCOL8mA4
- Mistfall Hunter (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnZtFtzMctY
- Wheel World (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Jx-PeNzlyc
- Phasmophobia (October 29th, 2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlQXuZm9fWU
- Legend Of Baboo (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-zVC2Jg9xM
- Wuchang: Fallen Feathers (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUrz2JzPuwk
- FBC Firebreak (2025) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smiwSDUtFqI
