Microsoft's Direct was pretty cool! (thoughts on Microsoft Developer Direct 1/23/25)

 Hey friends! Did you see any of the Microsoft event the other day? Honestly I don't think anyone really remembered that it was going to happen, and really this company in particular has probably the worst presentation design out of the big 3. It's really more about the style than the substance, especially since they only focused on 4 games (with a 5th one being shadowdropped). Of the 4 games that they talked about, I guess it's pretty worth getting into, with two of them being some that I'm interested in, and the other two being at least curious about. I have to say once again that Xbox Game Pass is a really great deal, even though Microsoft have been doing some more shady things with the pricing recently, such as getting rid of the Xbox Gold Membership to make everyone have to be subscribed to Game Pass in some capacity, which really just seems like a numbers game for them. That's beside the point, of course. Today I'm going to discuss the 4 games that were discussed at length as part of the presentation, and touch on the 5th game, which is already out!

I'm Always Happy for a Presentation!

    It should come as no surprise to you that I'm not a huge Microsoft fan, despite having a few of their consoles. They just have some of the shadiest business practices out of the entire industry. With that being said, some great games were shown off here. The presentation started off with Team Ninja announcing a collaboration with Platinum Games to make Ninja Gaiden 4, a new 3D game following Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge, which came out well over 10 years ago. This series is known for being pretty tough, though in a very different way from the "Soulsborne" genre that has become so popular, since both you and your enemies are really quick, and your success relies on different combos and abilities that you learn as you go. This time around, they're adding a new ninja master to serve as a protagonist alongside Ryu, who has to come back of course. I don't have a ton to say, since 3D Ninja Gaiden kind of speaks for itself. I've never owned one of those games, but I do remember when I got my Xbox 360, I played the demo for Ninja Gaiden II a ton, and I loved the challenging but satisfying fast combat of that game. Speaking of that game, right after Ninja Gaiden 4 was announced, they shadowdropped a remake of that one, called Ninja Gaiden II Black. It's very fun based on what I've played of it so far. Here's hoping that I'll be able to finish it and be ready for the 4th one when it comes out in Fall 2025.

    Next they talked about South of Midnight, which is a new Action RPG from the developers of We Happy Few. For some reason this game reminded of Forspoken. I think the main reason why is that it's trying to combine real world issues with fantasy, when the main character gets pulled into a magical realm. The actions that you can take in this game are based around the concept of weaving, so her main weapons are inspired by knitting needles and the action of using a spinning wheel. It's a cool concept, considering how often we discuss the "loom of fate," it could be an interesting addition in a combat setting. The game is built around many myths of the deep south, especially around the New Orleans area I think. It has an interesting artstyle, inspired visually by stop motion animation, which means that we can expect the characters to be a bit jerky in their movements, also leading me to believe that this could look something like a Tim Burton-esque world. There are a lot of cool ideas leading into it, but I hope the story/dialogue isn't quite as clumsy or edgy as Forspoken was. I'm definitely keeping my eye on this one, and I'm excited to try it out some time in the near future, since it's coming out in April.

    The Third project that was discussed is called Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is a turn based RPG set in a mythical version of France. It looks pretty cool, with a darker sort of gloomy landscape inspired by steampunk designs, and gameplay inspired by some classic JRPGs, in terms of quick time events relating to the combat actions. Not only is it tied to evading or getting a critical hit, like in Super Mario RPG, but certain actions have to be taken to make sure that the attack follows through properly. It looks impressive based on the trailers and what the developers had to say about it. The story seems intriguing enough to check it out as well, with lots of mythology built around their original idea. A giant painter comes out and paints 33 on a giant easel, and everyone older than 33 suddenly dies. It's such a strange concept, and it makes sense that someone needs to investigate it. Especially for a game made by such a small team, I think this is one to keep your eye on, though turn based RPGs aren't exactly my jam typically, so we'll see.

    The big showing of this event was definitely Doom: The Dark Ages, which was the only one I knew I'd be excited to see here. I was never crazy about the original Doom games, but Doom (2016) and Doom Eternal which released back in 2020 were some of the best first person shooters that I've ever played, and I'm very excited to see what this new one has in store. This is going to be a prequel to Doom (2016), and they're going to explain what happened leading up to the beginning of that game, when you wake up in a sarcophagus of sorts, which I'm really interested in, though the story of Doom games is not really why people play them. You play them for the wild weapons that you get to use, which this one features more medieval weaponry, such as a flail, a flaming arrow launcher, and many others. They also announced two additional melee attacks to the flail, being a mace and an electric gauntlet. The Slayer is also getting a "Chain Shield," which is a shield with a chainsaw around the edge, allowing for a more defensive game of parries, as opposed to some of the other games where you were always running and jumping to avoid enemy attacks. You'll be piloting the giant mech suit that was in the Hub area in Doom Eternal, as well as a dragon that you can fly around. It looks super cool, I just hope the controls will work well for  both of those. I know when you throw in a bunch of different playstyles, it can muddy the waters of what is otherwise a really solid and well designed game. I just really want this game to be fun, since it has been a few years since we last got to step into the boots of the Doom Slayer, and I'm very excited for what's to come on May 15.

    That's all the information that we got last week, friends, and I hope that you saw something from the Developer Direct that you liked. It's a pretty wide variety that was shown off, spanning all different genres and artstyles, and I really hope that all of the games shown will be pretty good. I hope you're all doing alright and thank you so much for reading this post. I really appreciate all of the support and I'll talk to you again soon! Until next time, I'm Jonathan, a Self-Proclaimed games journalist, and stay safe out there, friends.