Madden 21 (Xbox Series X via Game Pass)

I hadn't played a Madden game in a few years, the last time I did was 2018 and I had a pretty good time with the story mode and played it through.  With Madden 21 I did the same, and again, I enjoyed my time with the game.  This years story mode differs in that it spans an entire career rather than just a couple seasons.  I made the hall of fame and while the bulk of my career was spent in Miami, I demanded a trade to the Detroit Lions and managed to take that team to the Super Bowl and actually won one!  It was much more difficult in Detroit with the players surrounding me.  As for the game, yup, that's Madden.   Feels like little has changed, but for what it's worth, I had a good time with the game.  Recommend for a Game Pass romp.

Ape Out (PC via Game Pass)

What a game.  Scrolling through endless game pass games this one caught my eye.  Ape out has a very unique minimal art style, two button gameplay, and a jazz soundtrack?  Sounds weird.  Let's see.  I loved it.  I loved every moment of it's short duration.  I'd guess I had 2-3 hours in before I saw credits, but it felt much shorter.  You're an ape escaping a facility that can grab and throw the humans trying to stop you, or just push them across the map.  Strategy comes into play when there are a lot of enemies on screen.  It reminded me of  Pac Man crossed with Robotron.  You can't kill everyone and expect to pass the level, so you need to plan your routes carefully.  All of this crazy gameplay is to what I believe to be an improv jazz soundtrack which matches the gameplay surprisingly well.  I completed the bonus level and look forward to trying the hard mode.  Absolutely worth your time.  Recommend.

Rage 2 (Xbox Series X via Game Pass)

When a whole bunch of Bethesda games dropped on Xbox Game Pass, the first one that caught my eye was Rage 2.  It looked like an amazing open world action game with the gunplay of Doom, a series I'm very fond of.  Playing it initially, I was impressed, but once the world opens up, it gets quite repetitive and dull.  You spend a lot of time searching for loot crates, which rewards are usually not worth it.  I decided to mainline the story when I started getting bored and finished the game with only half of my abilities in tow.  I could go back and mop up, but I don't really see much point in it.  I had a decent time, at times it looks amazing and other times it can look like and original Xbox game.  Gotta say pass on this one.  Too bad.  It has potential.

Hyper Dot (PC/Xbox Series X via Game Pass)

I had intentions to, but never did finish Hyper Dot.  Now seeing it's leaving game pass, I likely won't play it again.  This is a fun, simple, frustrating, "one more try" time sink.  I had a good time with it and would recommend it for short bursts of gaming.  Recommend.

Gears Tactics (PC via Xbox Game Pass)

I'm quite new to tactics games, the only other I've played is Mario + Rabids which was actually an excellent introduction to the genre.  I had a great time with Gears Tactics although I'm certain I must have set a record for time taken between turns.  I'm not very quick at these games, I feel like I'm not very good at them, but for some reason I enjoy the methodical movement and strategy.  I started this on my Xbox Series X but switched to PC as I think it's best played with a keyboard and mouse.  It's a good game to have on the laptop as you can play for literally 5 minutes, make some progress and move on.  Usually I wound up playing for a couple hours once I started.  Great game with a good Gears story.  Highly recommend.

Bowsers Fury (Switch)

When our internet went down I went to Nintendo to help us cope with our issue.  We picked up Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury.  Having played 3D world extensively over the years I jumped into Bowsers Fury.  It's a neat idea, essentially an open world Mario Game.  I really enjoyed my time with it except the post boss-battle.  Bowsers comes around to mess you with you on occasion which really messes with your grind for shines.  I thought that if I beat Bowser for good I would be free to explore, but nope, that pesky Bowser keeps coming at  you.  I did obtain all 100 shines and unlocked the final suit, the fact that I was willing to do that will tell you that I enjoyed this game.  It's great and has me hopeful for a future, bigger, open world Mario game.  Recommend.

Doom Eternal (PC via Game Pass)

Last November I got my shiny new Xbox Series X and one of the first games I tried on it was Doom Eternal.  I criticized it's "systems" and eventually put it down.  Fast forward a few months and I got a gaming laptop.  Wanting something to play on it, I thought I'd give this another go.  I think the first time I fell off was partly because of it's complexity, but also because I didn't want to commit to one game.  Now I did.  I'm a keyboard and mouse n00b when it comes to gaming and I thought that if I can get decent at this fast paced twitch game with 1000 buttons, I could probably get decent at anything.  Turns out, once I got the hang of things., I loved this game!  Is it better than Doom 2016?  I'm not sure, I might have to go back and try it again, but as of this moment, absolutely yes!  Turns out I (mostly) loved the platforming segments.  The combat feels really good, it runs extremely well on a gaming laptop and the classic Doom soundtrack is still there.  Recommend 100%.