Topics Discussed:
- Bel Can’t Read
- Goodbye Volcano High
- PAX West 2023
- So Many New Games
- Starfield First Impressions
- Rolling the Credits on Armored Core 6
AggroChat #448 – NASApunk Adventures
pax
On PAX West 2018, Part 1
As you may be aware, PAX West happened last weekend at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle. A good time was had, and many indie games were played. Here are some of my favorites:
Risk of Rain 2
I had no idea this game was in development, although it was announced last year. The original Risk of Rain is possibly my favorite roguelike game. Permadeath doesn’t feel nearly as bad when your run was at most 40-ish minutes (and at that point you’re either dead or nearly immortal). Risk of Rain 2 is a faithful recreation of that experience in 3D. PAX West was the first public demo for the game, and it was one of the most crowded indie booths at the show. I got to try it out, but in two tries I died within the first two minutes on attempt #1 and died to the first boss on attempt #2, so it feels a lot like Risk of Rain.
Dragon Marked for Death
IntiCreates is calling this a “Dark Fantasy-Style Action RPG”, and that seems like a bit much. The developers largely responsible for a number of good 2D pixel art games lately (including the last few Mega Man games) are making a side-scrolling Action-RPG with co-op, where each playable character has different tools to navigate through the levels. Playable on the show floor were the warrior and the empress; the former focused on using his big axe and guarding, while the latter had a variety of melee and ranged attacks and a grappling hook. The final game will also have a shinobi and witch.
Spin Rhythm
As someone who is a sucker for Rhythm games, this one definitely caught my eye. In some ways it’s to DJ Hero what Rocksmith is to Guitar Hero, since they were demoing it on an actual DJ controller. Motion controls were also mentioned at the show for anyone who doesn’t want to buy a $100+ piece of hardware for use with a single (admittedly cool looking) game.* I hear the initial demo was for a mobile game, so who knows what control options will be supported by the time the game comes out, but I’ll be patiently awaiting more info about this one.
*Yes, I know people did this with dance pads and Rock Band. I’m just saying it’s not likely.
More to come later!
AggroChat #123 – Purposeful Piddling
This week Ashgar, Belghast, Grace, Kodra and Tam talk Pax West 2016, Guild Wars 2 Heart of Thorns, and World of Warcraft Legion
This week we have a bizarre show that somehow covers a lot of content without us actually realizing it. Since Tam and Kodra attended Pax West last week we went into a discussion about all of the stuff they saw there. From there we branch out into a discussion about Guild Wars 2 and Tam recently picking the game up after talking to a friend about it. We largely discuss how the game has improved since launch and that Tam, Ash and Kodra are enjoying in it. Finally we wrap up the evening talking about World of Warcraft Legion and some of the experiences Grace and Belghast have after hitting the new level cap and experiencing World Quests.
Things We Discussed – Pax West 2016 – Dishonored 2 – Prey – 20XX – Open Sorcery – Thornwatch – Star Wars Destiny CCG – Hacknet – Elder Scrolls: Legends – Raging River Card – Elder Scrolls as MTG Colors – Duelyst – Speedrunners – Ultimate Chicken Horse – Pax Dev – Pax Panels – Guild Wars 2 – Heart of Thorns – World of Warcraft – Legion – World Quests
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On San Antonio, Redux
Relatively recently (okay, not that recently anymore), I spent some time in San Antonio, at PAX South, where I hung out with some awesome people and saw some interesting things. PAX South seems to be at a bit of an awkward time of year for game studios, and the only major video game publisher that was there was Capcom. As a result, there was a lot of opportunity to see indie games. This is a few weeks late, so I’ll skip mentioning Ultimate Chicken Horse, which you should buy. Here are some of the others:
Stories: The Path of Destinies
First, the name of this game makes me really sad, because it’s very generic and unmemorable. The game itself looks like it will be quite good. It’s an isometric action-RPG that is not really in the Diablo-style, although it looks like it at first. The story involves a fox named Reynardo, with choose-your-own-adventure storybook segments between levels. Combat is kind of reminiscent of Assassin’s Creed (the first one) or the Arkham series; countering enemy attacks is the most important element. It feels good to get a hang of the combat, and you’re graded at the end of every combat based on how well you strung together your attacks (more is better) and how much damage you took (less is better). This was announced for PC and PS4, and looks like it has a release date of April 12.
Just Shapes And Beats
Exactly what it says on the tin. This bullet hell-esque game involves shapes dodging other shapes to music. There is local multiplayer, and players can (if they’re quick) revive others. It sounds simple, and in a lot of ways it’s like a bullet hell shooter where you can’t shoot, but the PAX demo was quite difficult. I’m a bit concerned that this one would only be fun in multiplayer, and with a lack of online (citing latency concerns), my personal future with this one is undetermined. Release date and platforms are TBA (it was demoed with a 360 controller).
Pixel: RU Squared
I actually saw this for the first time at PAX South 2015, and I thought it looked kind of uninteresting, although it had some neat ideas. It’s come quite a way in the year between shows, and now I think its worth a mention. It’s a little unfair to call this VVVVVV with some additional mechanics, but that’s what it really reminds me of. It’s even more abstract (you play as a square) and the player has the ability to jump and eventually shoot. Color also plays a role in the puzzles in the game, and the level can rotate around at times. It’s shaping up to be an interesting puzzle-platformer, and it’s on Early Access on Steam.