12 Minutes is a game that has an interesting concept from a narrative and game play perspective. Being stick in a time loop while trying to unravel a mystery is an idea that almost anyone who likes the mystery genre can get behind. But a compelling narrative and concept is not all you need to make a fun game. You have to execute on the gameplay and the story concepts need to conclude in a satisfying way and that is were 12 Minutes is up for debate on if it sticks the landing.

This episode contains spoilers in the second half. You have been warned.

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Curse of the Dead Gods is a roguelike that has some twists and turns along the way that makes it stand out in the now very prominent run based roguelike genre. You would think a game that curses you every time traverse to a new area would be one that would turn off many people. But due to strong design it ends up being a pivotal part of the experience. Filled with tons of upgrades and different weapon types, is there enough content to make Curse of the Dead Gods stand up with some of the bigger hitters on Game Pass like Hades?

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The Ascent looks to mix up Twin Stick action with RPG mechanics in a Cyberpunk world that is far more realized than a certain other now infamous game with the name Cyberpunk in the title. Combing elements of long time favorite action RPG franchises like Diablo with these elements is a risky venture. The Ascent takes place is a world that feels like it was carefully crafted to fit into the Cyberpunk aesthetic but perhaps spent a bit too much time looking pretty rather than playing well.

Also tune in to discuss some thing review comments left by our listeners.

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Steep is a Ubisoft game through and through. That means that the vomiting of icons and activities all over a map screen is here with all of pros and cons. But in a game like Steep, which tasks the player with conquering a mountain on snowboards skis and other extreme winter sports activities, it actually makes sense to give the players hundreds of activities to keep them engaged. The problem then becomes if the missions at play are engaging enough to keep the player going as they level. Does Steep conquer the climb or fall flat on its face?

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The Evil Within 2 was a title that is just as divisive as the original Evil Within. The original launched with a ton of issues and bugs combined with a weird aspect ratio that was originally rectified. But the original game felt like a Miakmi game through and through. The Evil Within 2 shares the name with the original but is a more focused action game with horror roots. With very different mechanics and design philosophy, does the Evil Within 2 have enough to make it a recommendation on Xbox Game Pass.

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