“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – #015

A weekly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels

May is upon us, which means warmer months are ahead and more games are to be released! As we close out this busy month, let’s see what our Pixel writers have been up to!

More Lost Judgment this week for me, as I checked out the Kaito Files story DLC. Honestly, this is the kind of thing I always wanted from the Yakuza series: a more focused experience that doesn’t force you into mini-games every five paces! I know the mini-games are a huge draw to these games for a lot of people but.. when the main storylines are this good, I feel it’s a massive shame to distract from them with forced karaoke and drone-races. Just me?

Kaito Files gets it just right for me, offering a reasonably lengthy yet streamlined Lost Judgment escapade. Kaito himself is a likeable protagonist and manages to hold his own in the absence of usual frontman Yagami-san. In fact, considering the current back-and-forth regarding Yagami’s actor, this DLC felt like a good test-run to see if Kaito could work as a suitable replacement. Truthfully, as much as I enjoy Yagami’s character, playing as his sidekick made for a brilliant change of pace and focus. I’d happily play a third Judgment game with either Kaito or Sugiura in the lead role.

~TeeBee

This week was payday, so I treated myself to a new game… Elden Ring!

I never really got into the Souls games, but this maybe feels like the perfect time to jump in and give it a whirl! My barbarian-looking lady smashed the tutorial boss in one hit so this could be a good sign… maybe?

I also kept up with playthrough deux of Cyberpunk, which is still an amazing narrative in a somewhat janky world!

~Bizarro

It’s been a week of changes and fun things! On Saturday night, I did a bit of off-stream grinding in Phantasy Star IV to prepare for Sunday. I also fit in a little bit of classic Sonic the Hedgehog and I was surprised at how fast (haha) I was going this time around! It might finally be time for me to start speedrunning this one, along with Sonic 2. 

On the Sunday stream, I held a giveaway to celebrate hitting the 150-follower mark on Twitch, all while playing Phantasy Star IV. Man, we got wrecked by Zio and now we have to find a way to cure Alys of whatever curse that dark magician cast on her… Honestly, this has been such a stellar RPG and I’m eager to find out what happens next! As for the giveaways, I haven’t had time this week to send out the prizes due to work, but I’ll definitely have time next week to do so!

One of the biggest changes I made was switching my early morning Tuesday and Thursday streams to noon. So far, it’s been a successful transition! I’m still deep in a playthrough of Oracle of Ages and I’m just over halfway through the game.

Away from streaming, I’m still chipping away at CrossCode. It’s sometimes hard to believe that I’m playing a game within a game – the lore surrounding the Track of the Ancients within the MMO side is pretty interesting. That, along with the theoretical quantum mechanics and physics behind the actual game’s story, makes me wonder what kinds of technological advancements we may see 4000 years from now? It’s interesting to think about…

~Ryan C

Super Robot Wars continues. Another expansion pack came out this week that included another like 50 missions and a couple more units (which probably equates to like another 20 hours to an already ~140-hour hame). Getter Robo Devolution has a great design and also what kind of caught my interest in Getter Robo. I read the original Getter Robo manga this week. It can be tough for this game to add anything new since this game is so dense in content and I’m trying to do all the missions. I can say the humor and character interactions are very enjoyable and the TJRPG aspect is pretty fun too.

I also got into another Tony Hawk schtick. I’m currently replaying Tony Hawk’s Underground 2 again. A game I’ve beaten more times than I can count. I made a pretty funny custom skater.

~Zernius

I finished two games this week and started a new one. First, I completed Donkey Kong Country 3. That game has a strange difficulty curve but overall was not too hard. Finding all the secrets was much easier than in the first two games. The levels finally start to get interesting about halfway into the game, but it never comes close to the greatness of DKC2.

The other game I beat was Streets of Rage 4 which I played on stream with Red. It was fun playing some co-op multiplayer beat ‘em up action for the first time in a long time. And that soundtrack sure is groovy.

Lastly, I finally started Triangle Strategy. And, well, I am really struggling to get into it. I am 2.5 hours in, and so far, it has been one 15-minute battle, a 5-minute exploration of a town, and 2 hours and 10 minutes of dialogue. Dialogue is written in a stupid dialect that is presented via abysmal voice acting. I’ve heard a lot of positive rantings about this game, so I really hope it gets good soon. So far, it’s just been like a boring movie, and that’s not what I signed up for.

~ABXY Reviews

As the skeletal one mentioned, we beat Streets of Rage 4 this week which is about as stylish as it gets aurally and visually, though I would’ve given my kingdom for a real dash mechanic. It felt kinda slow-paced but there’s a lot of game to chew through as well. Full review coming?

In other news, I’ve gained another hopeless addiction: Dragon Quest Builders 2. Thanks to the limited trial for the game on Switch, and subsequently thanks to the Jumbo Demo that covers a ton of the game, I’ve built a massive treehouse farm with automated villagers. Not even the ugly (imo) 3D Minecraft blocks aesthetic could keep me from enjoying the ride so far. It’s got everything I get hooked on easily: RPG progression, farming simulation, auto-systems, building and crafting, and exploration.

~Red

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.