ID@Xbox show highlights 11 neat indies coming to Xbox Game Pass

By Tomas Franzese September 14, 2022

On September 14, Microsoft held another ID@Xbox stream to highlight many titles in the works for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S by independent developers. While not every game shown is coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one, quite a few of them are, and they paint a promising picture for the subscription service’s future before you even consider Microsoft’s impending first-party lineup.

The ID@Xbox Fall Showcase highlighted that this month alone we’re getting rhythm shooter Metal Hellsinger, wacky racing game You Suck at Parking, mythological sim management game Amazing Cultivation Simulator, and intense 2D action game Moonscars on the service. More games are poised to hit the service in 2023, with the highlights being the social deduction game Eville and Turnip Boy Robs a Bank, a sequel to the hilarious 2021 game Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion (Turnip Boy has a gun now).

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This is the full list of games shown that are already on or are coming soon to Xbox Game Pass over the course of the next year:

Amazing Cultivation Simulator
The Big Con
Eville
Homestead Arcana
Metal: Hellsinger
Moonscars
Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan
Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
Valheim
Telltale’s The Walking Dead: The Final Season
You Suck at Parking

Even if you don’t have Xbox Game Pass, some other games soon might pique your interest. Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleashed continues to show potential ahead of its launch next month, Call of the Wild: The Angler and Cities: Skylines‘ Plaza & Prominades DLC should appeal to simulation fans, and titles like Born of Bread, Let’s Cook Together 2, Shoulders of Giants, Song of Iron 2, Spiderheck, and Ynglet left good first impressions.

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Gaming

The best video games of March 2023: Resident Evil 4, Tchia, and more

Leon and Ashley in the Resident Evil 4 remake.

It's not October, but we just had a very good month for horror games. From the indie scene to AAA and from VR to a traditional gaming experience, fans of scary games had a lot to enjoy in March 2023. Of course, there was the highly anticipated remake of Resident Evil 4, one of the best horror games of all time, and it didn't disappoint. Keeping up the scares were experimental horror games like Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo and Dredge, while The Dark Pictures: Switchback VR affirmed why virtual reality is a good fit for horror. Even Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty will also be a scary experience for some because of its difficulty.
We also recommend trying the environmentally conscious reverse city-builder Terra Nil, exploring islands inspired by New Caledonia in Tchia, or taking in the beautiful art of Bayonetta Origins: Cereza and the Lost Demon. While horror fans were treated particularly well this month, it was a good one for gaming all the way around. As such, we recommend checking one of the following eight games if you're looking for something new to play.
Resident Evil 4 remake

Capcom's comprehensive remake of Resident Evil 4 is by far the most notable release of March 2022. Remaking a game that is so beloved and highly influential was a major risk, but Capcom was able to pull it off. It not only lovingly recreates iconic moments from the original, but actively improves the experience by enhancing the gameplay with features like a knife parry and recontextualizing some of its classic plot beats and set pieces.
"It’s a truly transformative remake that isn’t afraid to throw out what didn’t work and put its own creative spin on everything from story to level design to its wildly improved combat," Digital Trends' Giovanni Colantonio wrote in a four-and-a-half star review of Resident Evil 4's remake. "That makes for a refreshingly confident project that excels both as a look back to the past and a bold step forward for the series’ future."
The remake of Resident Evil 4 is available now for PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty

Gaming

Homeseek offers a joyful mix of postapocalyptic strategy and role-playing

Key art for Homeseek.

Walking through the show floor at PAX East was an overwhelming experience, but it also allowed me to be swept into an entirely new obsession. By chance, I decided to sit down at The Iterative Collective's bright yellow booth, and it's there where I would be introduced to Homeseek. This real-time strategy game channels postapocalyptic tropes to create a tense fight for survival where any seemingly innocent decision can make or break the longevity of my newfound society of survivors.

I'm a longtime fan of the Fallout series, including the isometric originals, which is why I've always wondered why there haven't been any breakout postapocalyptic real-time strategy games with a similar goal as Fallout 1's Vault Dweller. Frostpunk and RimWorld have come pretty close in concept, but they're a bit different in scope. Homeseek transposes all the best story threads and ideas from games like Fallout, Metro 2033, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, mixes them with elements from stories like The Road and The Last of Us, and puts me in the shoes of the executive decision-maker of my very own desert outpost, whose denizens are now relying on me to lead them to clean sources of water and food under an unforgiving sun.

Gaming

Resident Evil 4 lock codes: how to solve the Village Chief’s Manor combination lock puzzles

Leon Kennedy walking in the Resident Evil 4 remake.

In the world of Resident Evil 4, it isn't just the existence of viruses and parasites that turn normal people into crazed zombies that differentiates it from our own reality. In this ream, most homes and buildings don't just simply lock their doors, but secure them using obscure puzzles, such as the one you will find early on when you reach the Village Chief's Manor. This small home has two major roadblocks preventing you from moving on and pursuing your goal of finding the president's daughter. While there is a clue to the first puzzle, it is still somewhat cryptic and easy to miss, while the second is much less clear on what you're even being asked to do. Don't let these early puzzles stump you for too long -- use our help in solving the Village Chief's Manor puzzles in Resident Evil 4.
How to solve the cabinet lock puzzle

After entering the manor and dealing with a lone enemy in the bathroom, the first puzzle you need to solve is on the ground floor. Around the back of the house, down the hall with a Red Herb, is a large cabinet. The lock has three symbols you need to correctly align to open, and those symbols include things such as wheat, animals, babies, and birds. You won't be able to guess this one, so instead, you need to go up to the second floor and examine a book on a table in the hallway. This document, called "Illuminados 4:3, spells out the solution. The important part is the middle paragraph with the highlighted text that reads: "The old farmer, his finest crop./ The Slight swineherd, his stoutest pig./ The beggarly grandam, her own beloved babe."