Week of 18 Jan 2026
“Moving on is not forgetting.”
Achievements Earned In:
- Eternal Strands
- Delta Squad
- Minecraft
- Shady Part of Me
When I started Eternal Strands last week, I really didn’t know anything about it. But, now that I’ve completed it, I have to say it’s probably one of the coolest and best hidden gems on Game Pass! Taking down massive arkons and creatures is endlessly fun, though some of the mechanics can be frustrating. Completion-wise, the game continued to be pretty straightforward, and you can do everything without a guide. The recipes are already on the map once you’ve grabbed some of the codex entries for each area, and collectibles become the final “quest” post-game so you can get led right to them using the tracker (doesn’t compare to Banishers’ though). The only thing one should keep in mind is to break, pickup, and kill everything in each area for a good while so you have all the materials you’ll need later on. The most difficult part of the game is harvesting the various giant “bosses”, which usually involves injuring or removing something on them to expose an opportunity to grab their strands. I was kinda worried about doing so on the final boss, but quickly found that Molten Barrage (courtesy of the Ark of the Forge) was a great way to take down just about any boss or enemy. Spam it around what you need dead and that happens fairly quickly! I’m not sure where the completion estimate of 40-50 hours on TA came from, but I managed this in about 24 hours. A very fun and focused experience!
Achievements unlocked: 44 (+33) | Completed
You just… hold still a sec. Let me remove that pesky strand.
Jumped into Delta Squad quickly on Friday to continue my streak so I could go see a movie (Return to Silent Hill!), and it took a few minutes. Still not ready to knock this one out quite yet.
Achievements unlocked: 9 (+1) | Completion: 75%
Well, Delta Squad wasn’t the only game I tried to get an achievement in quickly before going to the movies. I had originally loaded up the Windows version of Minecraft to get the new spear achievement, but… the method I’d used on the Xbox version wasn’t working! Dejected, I got the achievement in the other game and moved on with my evening. But when I came back from the movie and booted up my laptop… the achievement popped. Not sure how or why, but there it was.
Achievements unlocked: 132 (+1) | Completed
Well, I finished my “wasn’t actually leaving Game Pass” game, so now it was time to get to the actual list of titles exiting the service. The one I’m for sure doing is Shady Part of Me, a “sad child in a dark platformer” indie puzzle game that is exactly what I expected. It’s also fairly short, with collectibles to grab throughout so a guide is necessary (though I suppose most are not hard to find) and helps things move even quicker. Not a bad time, and a healthy message!
Achievements unlocked: 16 (+16) | Completed
I… don’t like this sign.
Rarest Achievement:
Mob Kabob in Minecraft [10.59]
Most Common Achievement:
What pushed me forward? in Shady Part of Me [1.00]
