Sebastion Mauldin

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Xbox Series S Review

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In life there is a saying… you get what you pay for. We see examples of this all the time in our everyday lives. Hotels, Tech, Flights…You get what you pay. Buying an economy ticket for Spirit is going to be a massively different experience than first class or flying on a private jet. You’ll probably dislocate your jaw try to eat a two-dollar steak. In Life you get what you pay for.

The Xbox Series S is the exception to the rule. At $299, this is the cheapest Next gen console on the market, but you can make the argument that it’s best when it comes to bang for your buck. This console is the value champion and because of that you can say that this is the best console for the casual gamer.

Here is why you should get an Xbox Series S.

The GOOD:Let’s Start with the good:

Design: Damn I love the design of the Xbox Series S. The console has a modern sleekness to it. It’s attractive enough that no one will feel embarrassed displaying it on your tv stand. It’s also the smallest Xbox ever and it shows. It’s also a tiny console. You can easily fit this in small spaces.

The Series S controller is only slightly different than the Xbox one controller. This controller now has a share button. The share button is such a quick way to take a screenshot or record gameplay.  A huge shout out to Xbox for allowing Xbox one controllers work on the Series S.

Just like it’s big brother the Series S has quick resume. Quick resume is one of the best modern-day innovation in games…ever.  The ability to jump from game to game and pick back up exactly where you left off is impressive and convenient. Playing a match on Halo then swapping back to a single player experience seconds later never gets old. This is a feature that should be in every game console going forward.

Gamepass: If you have a Series S…get Gamepass. It is ridiculously awesome on the Series S. Gamepass is Xbox’s version of Netflix and it’s an understatement to say that is loaded with games. You can try games you never thought about playing and if you don’t like you move on and try another. You don’t have to gamble and pay money to try out a game that you might not like. It’s all included in the Gamepass membership. That’s huge savings. The Series S plays every game on gamepass and Gamepass ultimate members can even stream a sizeable list of games without having to download them at all. To use the streaming function, you have to have a solid internet connection though.

The Bad:It does come with its downsides though.

The Series S is an all-digital console. It doesn’t come with a disc drive. So, if you’re the type of person that likes physical media then this isn’t the console for you. I primarily use the Series S as a gamepassbox, and I have a Series X so this doesn’t bother me. However, be aware of the lack of a disc drive.

Another negative is the You will be playing everything in 1080p or at most at 1440P. The Series S can display some games in upscaled 4k. In those cases, it’s not true 4k though. If you’re someone that wants the best visuals and wants to play games in true 4k this isn’t the console for you…Get the Xbox series X if that a priority for you. I will say though, games still look really good one the Series S. Realistically you can expect to play most third-party games at 1080 with 60 frames for second. Which I think works for most people.

The final negative is the storage. The storage is terrible for a console that is all digital. The Series S sports a 512 SSD but with the operating system you are left with 364 GBs available for games. If you are playing smaller titles that doesn’t have much of an affect on you. For people like to play AAA games like NBA 2k, Call of Duty and Halo that’s a huge deal because you will only be able to fit around 4 games on the console. You can plug in an external hard drive or the Seagate SSD for additional storage. If you don’t get those add ons and you are a person that wants a lot of huge games on your console this isn’t the console for you.

The Score:

The Xbox Series S is a dope console that punches above its weight.At $299.00 it’s the lowest entry point for next gen gaming. Combine that with gamepass and you have the best value in gaming today. Even though the resolution is lower, and the storage is smaller this the console that I’d recommend to anyone.

Score: 7/10

Sebastion Mauldin

Xbox Series S Review

TYPE OF GAME

Malleable narrative adventure

LIKED

Gorgeous art, excellent writing, narrative structuring.

DISLIKED

Lack of information on storybook tree.

DEVELOPER

Hiding Spot Games

PLATFORMS

Switch, Xbox, PC

RELEASE DATE

September 22, 2022

Overall Rating:

7/10