Redfall, 2 Years Later
Taking a break from card games for the moment, I want to talk about my recent experience with Redfall. Redfall came out in 2023 and was immediately released on Game Pass. At the time, it faced heavy criticism, and people were lining up to beat the game up. Because of the negative reviews, it was not a game that I was able to cover as part of my gaming journalism job at the time. For a myriad of mostly Google-related reasons, games that do not do well initially were not covered by us, as they would usually result in low performance.
However, now that I’m out here on my own, I found myself wanting to give the game a chance.
Playing Redfall In 2025
Image from Redfall’s Official Steam Page (2025).
As far as Arkane games go, I liked the Dishonored games, and I played Deathloop for a fair amount of time. I wasn’t the best at any of them, as things can easily get out of control if you make a mistake. However, once I got in the groove, my performance did improve. I thought I would really like Redfall when it released, but as I had other games to cover, I mostly ignored it.
Then a friend wanted to play a game we could team up in, and given that we were mostly restricted to Game Pass games and that we both liked the idea of fighting vampires, we decided to give Redfall a shot. I knew the game had been glitchy on release, but so had other now-popular titles, so I was not overly concerned.
And, to be fair, the game doesn’t seem bad now.
We are having a good time running about and chasing down vampires. It’s got a decent loot system, the game feels a little easier with two players, and even if the progress doesn’t transfer to anyone but the host, you can at least see how the story missions play out. I’m playing Layla, and she’s playing Remi. The robot companion is very cute, and I like Layla’s psychic powers so far. It took me a little while to figure out how to use the umbrella to my advantage, but now I quite like it.
I think the one downside of co-op is the fact that it doesn’t save any progress. But that isn’t enough for me to hate the game, and even though I have played it solo a little, it works out that I can do a bunch of side quests on my own while joining my friend on the main story. The game has crashed on us, but we discovered that that was an Internet issue on our end, and it wasn’t the game’s fault. And, since it is on Game Pass, we didn’t have to pay for it separately.
My Opinion On Redfall
Image from Redfall’s Official Steam Page (2025).
Will I continue playing it? Yes. Is it my Game of the Year two years late? Probably not. It would have to beat out Borderlands 4 and Two Point Museum, and I don’t see that happening. I am still having an absolute blast on the latter, and I haven’t played a Borderlands game that was a miss for me yet. (More on that in a different post).
It has the same kind of gritty feel that Arkane is known for, and I do enjoy the art style quite a bit. In a different style, I might actually like the game a little less. I did find it more frustrating to play solo, and I’m having too much fun playing it with my friend to want to play it on my own.
I don’t think it’s a bad game. I definitely have qualms with some games, and there have been a few that I haven’t felt too good about playing. This one hit the right spot for me, between being something I can enjoy playing with a friend and something I can occasionally roam around on my own, picking up collectibles. Layla is not quite as strong in solo, which makes it challenging at times. I played as Jacob for a short while solo, and I think he’s a much stronger choice for it.
All in all, a game is meant to be fun, and I am having fun playing it. If I had played more on release and it had more glitches, I might not be having as much fun. As it is, I’m having a good time and think you should give it a try if you have Game Pass and are interested in fighting vampires. I mean, what’s not to like about that?
