I imagine any that exist would be knocked out by the integrated graphics criteria.
Really enjoying octopath traveler at the moment, if you have any interest in JRPGs might be one to look into.
Cloud streaming can be a good option for games that you may want to play but are too demanding for your intel graphics. Last time I tried the quality wasn’t as good as GeForce Now, but it’s been 6 months since I checked.
Hollow Knight, Subnautica and Prey would be my picks.
Hidden Gems:
Lonely Mountains: Downhill, Outer Wilds, Psychonauts 2, Quake, Supraland, The Artful Escape, The Outer Worlds, Wasteland 3 would be my picks off the top of my head.
The simultaneous release of Outer Wilds and The Outer Worlds created an anomaly in my brain that will be with me until I die.
Star Wars Battlefront 2.
Still looks fantastic, is a shooter without being a cover shooter (really) competent enough AI you can skirmish for hundreds of hours, fun and colorful settings (not grimdark RealMilSim shooter), get to be a fairly balanced Jedi.
I probably played it a bit every day for a year. There’s something less harsh to me to play a shooter in a Star Wars environment. But really the AI helps out a ton - of course you’re still the best player on your team but the power spikes from heroes and vehicles the AI gets often causes it to beat you despite your best efforts.
I’ve been playing (and enjoying) NORCO on game pass. Plus both the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy games are there (not necessarily hidden gems but still good games to check out).
Not hidden but Phoenix Point and Sniper Elite… States of Decay… Rages…
Rages?
Edit: Oh Rage 1 and 2? Good call, I came to the original Rage late, after finished Doom 2016, and was in the mood for more id shooter. And it was much better than I remembered when trying it originally. I guess maybe Doom 2016 put me in the right mood to ignore all the story and just concentrate on the shooting. And I still need to check out Rage 2.
Edit2: Oh yeah, that reminds me, Doom (2016) is on game pass. It’s aces!
As is Eternal, but I love how anytime, anywhere anybody asks for “hidden gems,” it very quickly turns into people brining up the most talked about games from the last five or ten years.
I don’t think I’m ready to call it a gem, but Nongunz is interesting. @Rock8man brought it up once in some other thread. It explains itself not at all, and it’s hard as hell, but I think there might be something there.
I’ll echo these two, perhaps not really hidden, but both very good at what they do, and small enough you can get through them in a few sittings.
This one on the other hand! Would never hit my radar if not for you, so thanks! Downloading now. Also the full title is a real mouthful
I also would not expect any game that didn’t fully support console controllers to be cloud-ified. That’d cause way too many support calls from confused console-only players.
In response to a question upthread, my XGP recommendations:
Prey 2016 (be sure to avoid conflict until you get a shotgun and plenty of ammo)
Power Wash Simulator (don’t knock it until you’ve at least washed a van)
Bug Fables (especially for fans of Paper Mario)
Crown Trick
Dicey Dungeons
Donut County
Going Under
Hades (hardly a dark horse, but quite good)
Man Eater
New Super Lucky’s Tale (not just a kiddy game, there’s some good platforming to be done)
Turnip Boy
Yakuza Kiwami
(I’ve played these on PC, so not positive if all of them are on XBox, but I assume most are:)
Unpacking
Spiritfarer
Tunic
The Forgotten City
Octopath Traveler
Dragon Quest Builders 2
Forager
Gorogoa
Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth
Artful Escape
Two Point Campus / Hospital
Aliens Fireteam
Sniper Elite 5
Total Warhammer III
Total War Three Kingdoms
Outriders
Dragons Quest XI
Dragon Quest Builders II
Final Fantasy XIII, XIII-2
Octopath Traveler
Gears Tactics
Solasta
Injustice 2
Thats just the games I usually would have bought…Gamepass for the past two years has far exceeded my expectations, and thats before the onsaught of MS 1st party titles (which have all been pushed back to 2023 it seems).
ALot of these games aren’t secrets, but theres always big budget games that get passed on by alot of people… so maybe kind of secret!
This question and its replies on Game Pass hidden gems is a great reminder to me, that I should get to my Game Pass backlog already. Sheesh.
Forgotten City
Citizen Sleeper
Unsighted
Octopath Traveler
Hollow Knight <---- stuck on a boss
Subnautica <---- got lost, I should start over and use beacons this time
Prey
Psychonauts 2
Wasteland 3 <---- Need to return to that Reagan faction area
NORCO
Phoenix Point
Sniper Elite 4 and 5
State of Decay 2
Rage 2
Doom Eternal
Halo Infinite
Power Wash Simulator
Hades
Man Eater
New Super Lucky’s Tale
Yakuza: Like a Dragon
SpiritFarer
Tunic
Outriders
Dragons Quest XI <---- I was exploring using a ship
Gears Tactics
Ok, I’d better stop now.
A Plague Tale: Innocence
Snow Runner
Hitman Trilogy
Escape Academy
Next month on Game Pass.
Always tough to tell with these 2D games whether I’ll end up enjoying the mechanics or not. My assumption is always no with 2D games and yes with 3d games. But every once in a while I’m wrong!
Anyone tried this out yet? Any good? It looks fun, from the point of view of a guy who could burn water.
I gave it like ten minutes and got scared off by the complexity of the gamepad controls.
It dropped me in a big, modern-looking kitchen with a fairly complex starter recipe and I had to add the right amounts of chicken broth, salt, etc. It was fiddly and I was not in the mood. Plus I had trouble with the 3D rotating and placing of objects (like pots) in the environment. Then it hinted that there was about to be some time pressure when orders started coming in. CHECK, PLEASE! I quit out of the game and, thanks to the low-stakes magic of Game Pass, I may never go back.
I think some of these sim games just serve as reminders that I don’t like certain activities in real life so why would I like them simulated?? Screw cooking, give me activities I love like lawn mowing or power washing!