TA Team Picks (September 29th)

Xbox sales this week are offering plenty of deals across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows PC. As such, the TrueAchievements news team has had a look to see what they think is worth your time and money.

We’re back! After a slight break last week, we have returned to give you our top choices from this week’s Xbox sales. We’ve dived head-first into the rather large list of Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows PC games to find the titles we think you should add to your collection. These are, of course, our opinions, so we invite you to pop your recommendations in the comments section below the article.

While Luke is off galivanting with his new TemTem friends this week, Heidi, Sean, and Tom have stepped up to offer you their top picks. We got lucky, though, as Heidi felt guilty for not partaking over the last couple of weeks and has offered up two games! So, friends, we welcome you on an adventure that spans a millennium, travels across continents, and aids numerous creatures large and small — all while reminding us that a single minute can sometimes hold a lifetime’s-worth of experiences.

Bargains from the latest Xbox sales

I have been absent from the last few team sales picks, so I will be greedy in this one and choose two games — the first of which is the wonderfully charming Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, which takes us to the island of Pinar del Mar to visit Alba’s grandparents. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure feels like a game packed full of sunshine. There’s all the optimism of a childhood adventure, but Alba’s holiday also becomes a mission to clean up the island, find, identify, and document all of its wildlife, and save the nature reserve. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure emphasises the message that even one person can make a world of difference, as Alba and her friend Ines work to get the island’s inhabitants on their side with a petition for the nature reserve, and buoys up that message with sunny optimism. It’s a beautiful game, and the atmosphere it creates by combining its lovely music together with the peaceful sounds of nature elevates that beauty still further. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure would make for a great Xbox Game Pass addition, but there’s been no whisper of such a thing. It is a game very much on the shorter side — without stopping to take in the atmosphere, you’ll likely easily finish it within a few hours — and it doesn’t aim to be at all challenging, since it’s aimed at a younger audience too, so recommending Alba: A Wildlife Adventure, while it’s discounted, feels like a good compromise.

Now, if you’ve read the bit above, please forgive me for talking about Alba’s wholesome message of conservation and kindness and then descending into the carnivorous anarchy of Jurassic World Evolution. Let us put Alba safely out of our minds before unleashing dinosaur chaos. I am a fan of both Jurassic World Evolution games, but I’ve got to say, I think the first is my favourite. The addition of managing scientists in the second game didn’t add too much in my opinion, and overall I preferred the core gameplay loop of the first. I know we were all hoping (well, I was) for something along the lines of Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis, and Jurassic World Evolution didn’t really start off on the strongest footing, but after a couple of updates adding more terrain and scenery options, the game felt more fleshed-out. I think that “dun dun dunnn!” moment of releasing a T.Rex for the first time has the best effect in the first Jurassic World Evolution game, and it offers hours of enjoyment; whether that means creating a dinosaur sanctuary, building a dinosaur fighting colosseum, or just unleashing them to see how many guests they’ll go chasing after. Yep, Alba would not approve of this sort of conservation, but I had a lot of fun with Jurassic World Evolution regardless, so it’s going on as my second pick, especially as it’s 75% off.

If you haven’t played MINIT, just stop what you’re doing and buy it right now. Go on, you can trust me. When have I ever steered you wrong, my friends? Minit is a charming top-down Zelda-esque adventure game that has an intriguing and unique gameplay system where you can only play for a minute before your character folds up into a heap on the floor and dies. While that quite intense restriction may sound like a nightmare to some, it’s the reason why I love Minit. You have absolutely no time to waste in Minit, and from the moment you spawn, you need to explore every nook and cranny and talk to as many characters as you can to find out why this strange 60-second loop keeps occurring. Thankfully, the knowledge you gain and any items/shortcuts you find carry across to your next 60-second life, so providing you’re on the right track, the game never feels unfair or harsh as you’re always progressing. Minit is truly a unique experience, and for just $3.99/£3.19/€3.99, you’re getting quite the bargain — it’s also a quick and easy completion that can be finished in under three hours.

I can already hear you screaming “not again” at the screen, but hear me out, because there is a reason I’m back with The Elder Scrolls Online as my sales pick. This evening ZeniMax is revealing this year’s final DLC zone, which will close the High Isle Chapter’s story — which also happens to be the best expansion we’ve had so far! This game offers you complete freedom, and no matter what level you are, all of the solo content is available to you, so you’re free to experience the game in whatever order you wish. There aren’t many games out there that give you that. If you have an Xbox Game Pass subscription, I recommend giving the game a little play to see what you think, and if you like it, grab that sweet High Isle Collection upgrade for 50% off! It’s only a slightly longer completion than Sean’s pick above, and can be finished in under 3,000 hours. See you in Tamriel!

Have we managed to tempt you with your choices, or do you have some recommendations of your own? Drop a comment down below and let us know!