“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – #010
9 min read
A weekly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
Today’s the launch day for Kirby and the Forgotten Land! Are you picking it up this weekend? I know that quite a few of our writers will talk about this title for next week’s post, but let’s see what they were up to in the week leading up to it:
As Springtime has officially sprung, so has the hard work around the farm. Gardens need planting, new chicks need rearing, and heavy gaming goes on hold. Of course, it is hard to do any of that at night, so that is when my gaming (and streaming) take place. I am continuing my live playthrough of Final Fantasy VI: Pixel Remastered on Twitch, slowly making my way to the penultimate battle on the Floating Continent. Indies are also a part of my regular schedule, and Arctico is the next one on my list. It is an open-world, arctic exploration game where you travel by dog sled and work out your survival in the frigid north!
This last week I drank the kool-aid of gaming trends and signed up for Xbox Gamepass on my PC. Boy, I’m glad that I did! Hundreds of games instantly appeared at my fingertips, including Halo Infinite and its Campaign Mode. I never thought an open-world Halo game would work, but this one proves otherwise. On top of a very engaging single-player experience, Halo Infinite’s multiplayer has a stellar, reward-based system that minimizes MTX (microtransactions), and maximizes fun. If you are reading this and want to jump into the Reach with me, plug in my gamer tag, Rabbitree83, and we’ll join a fireteam together!
I had a fun Sunday night with some Gunstar Heroes for the Sega Genesis. I didn’t beat the game, but I was really close! It’s a shame that this IP wasn’t turned into a full series, it had so much potential behind it. For next Sunday, I think it’s about time I sunk my teeth into a deep RPG, so I’ll be playing Phantasy Star IV. It’s arguably one of the best RPGs for the system.
Tuesday and Thursday mornings were dedicated to streaming more Tunic and I cannot stress how much I adore this game! I realized that I missed so many things on my second playthrough that would have been extremely beneficial for my first. Even my best friend, who’s been religiously watching my morning streams, has been inspired to set up Steam for the first time ever and play Tunic for himself! That’s how good this game is. (Seriously, go play it!)
Apart from that, I’ve attained Super Saiyan God form for both Goku and Vegeta in Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot. The next logical step would be to grind all the way up to level 250 (!!) and take on the God of Destruction himself, Beerus. Instead, I’ve decided to take a break from fighting super-powered gods and settle into the MMO world of CrossCode for the Nintendo Switch. You play as an avatar who has lost her memory (and her ability to speak). As you progress through the game, you reveal the memories of who you used to be. I won’t lie, I’m getting a lot of .hack//Sign vibes from playing the game, which is an anime that I enjoyed watching as a teen.
CrossCode also follows the time-honoured tradition of multiple fetch quests, but it feels oddly satisfying to get each done. The world so far feels very vast, despite me being in the initial stages of the game. There are lots of secrets and hidden paths to discover and I’m having a great time hunting all those down. This is very much my kind of jam and I’m eager to see what lies ahead.
Oh, and to round things off, I downloaded a TON of Star Wars games for Steam, many of which I used to play in high school. The list includes Dark Forces, Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast and Star Wars Jedi Knight III: Jedi Academy. Much fun, I will have.
Only a small update on Super Robot Wars 30 this week: switching to hard mode was so worth it! The game difficulty has dragged me on for a bit and I needed more of a challenge as normal wasn’t cutting it. Thanks, difficulty settings (controversial)!
After taking last week off from this feature, I have several updates in my video game world. First of all, I would like to apologize for being a lying liar who lied. I totally 100%’d Spider-Man. I couldn’t help it, I had a lot of fun playing it. The DLC added just enough more–and more of the same–to keep me going with the gameplay. The three-part DLC also included a whole entire storyline that basically felt like getting an immediate sequel.
After finishing a fairly new and long (because I did everything) game, I decided to go back and beat a game I’ve played but never finished. Sonic The Hedgehog. It’s a game. I didn’t love it. It was okay. I don’t know if I will ever play it again, though, honestly. The soundtrack is by far the best thing about it.
For the last couple of days, I have spent most of my time playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, since adding the new course pack reminded me that I never got around to finishing 150cc, Mirror, and 200cc. After this morning, I only have Mirror and 200cc left. In addition to that, a recent Twitter poll decided I would be playing the first God of War for the first time. As I leave Athens for the desert, in search of Pandora’s Box, I am so far enjoying the journey of Kratos. I look forward to finding out what happens and what has happened, as well as what other mythological creatures and gods I will get to fight.
I beat a baby game! Yoshi’s Story is one I’ve always wanted to kind of get my head around after trying a failing to properly emulate it back in the day when emulation couldn’t even make the N64 look good. It’s a short little ditty of a game that in many ways pales in comparison to Yoshi’s Island before it, although you have to admire the creativity on display. The storybook motif replaces the crayons of its predecessor and the multiple routes through the game are interesting. It’s just that the gameplay itself isn’t all that compelling. Thanks, NSO, for the opportunity.
In other news, holy crap I think I’m actually almost done with Final Fantasy V! Who knew that playing a JRPG, even an ancient one, once a week would drag the whole experience out? It’s been an enjoyable ride. I appreciate the dedicated humor, comedy, and levity of FFV, particularly compared to the gloomier, dour experiences of the later FFs. It’s the last numerical retro Final Fantasy I need to finish, so after this, it’ll be the end of an era.
~Red
It’s been a pretty busy week for me, so gaming hasn’t been directly on the forefront aside from the stuff I do on my phone, but I have been gradually working through Lego: The Incredibles. I used to be 100% all-in for the LEGO franchise games, but I’ve been gradually finding less appeal in them as the series goes harder and harder into silly dialogue over the silent pantomime and physical comedy that dominated the early games. I still enjoy the gameplay (even with the inevitable glitches) but I feel like they’re just not as good as they used to be when they had to tell a familiar story without using words.
However, once that’s done, I’ll be cracking open an early birthday present some friends gave me this last weekend: Pokemon Legends: Arceus. When it came out, I was determined that this was not a game for me, I was not interested. Saw some early gameplay and the Hisuian forms, not interested. Then I started to see images and clips from people playing the game further in, and I saw a charm and vibrancy that I hadn’t seen before. I also saw Spheals. I’m weak, I gave in and added it to the wishlist. And as soon as LEGO Incredibles is done in the next day or two, I guess I’m gonna start my own Hisui adventure.
I’ve wrapped up Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin, and it was everything I hoped it would be. Jack Garland, Professional Angry Man, punches the ever-loving poop out of every monster that stands in his way. He proceeds to find more monsters and punch those as well. Upon punching all the monsters you’re able to take the game from the top in Chaos difficulty, which offers an immense amount of additional content. Sadly, the endless procession of new games is what it is…
…so I’ve moved on to Ghostwire: Tokyo. This is an open-world FPS sort of affair about battling spooky ghosts in Japan. It’s got real Yu Yu Hakusho vibes as your character is essentially a paranormal detective who battles foes with magical hand signs and the like. Ghostwire’s combat feels fantastic, with solid impact behind your attacks, and there are plenty of cool ghostbusting setpieces. On top of this, I found myself really impressed with the amount of flavor text and love put into the game, teaching players about Japanese history, culture and mythology.
When legendary Belgian comic artist and storyteller Benoit Sokal passed away last year, I was shocked and saddened, especially since I am a huge fan of his Syberia series of adventure games. Since the first game was released back on the PlayStation 2 way back in 2002, I’ve been an ardent follower of protagonist Kate Walker’s adventure and the further works of Mr. Sokal. Now twenty years after that initial release the fourth game in the series, Syberia: The World Before, seems to have stealth-dropped its way onto PC with a console release promised later this year. Fearing my aging Alienware machine would struggle to play it, but desperate to discover the next steps in Kate’s journey, I took the plunge and bought the game on Steam right away. Thankfully not only does the gameplay incredibly smoothly, but it’s an absolute joy! After the bizarre, meandering misstep that was Syberia 3, this new entry has brought the series right back on track with some outstanding new (and returning) characters, along with a parallel narrative running in the 1930s with new secondary protagonist Dana Roze acting in a Day Of The Tentacle style, offering some ingenious time-hopping to solve certain puzzles. I believe I’m at around the halfway mark through the game now, and I am loving every moment I spend back in this world. Mr. Sokal would be very proud of this 20th anniversary celebration of his beloved series.
I’m also continuing my quest through Elden Ring, where I’ve reached the northern mountain regions. It’s continuing to prove a challenge, even at a sturdy Level 118, though I am very much enjoying pacing myself, leveling up a while and taking down a boss or two each night. It’s still more fun than it is frustrating, which to me is the right balance for a From Software title.
Don’t forget to let us know what you’ve been playing this week!
Ryan Cheddi – our friendly, neighbourhood caffeine addict – is a man of many talents: an engineer, a gaming historian, a fiction writer and a streamer. He is also a self-avowed Sonic the Hedgehog fan. You can check out his cool beans at his site – Games with Coffee – or find him on Twitter as @GameswCoffee, and Instagram as @games_with_coffee. He streams on Twitch, also as GamesWithCoffee.
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