“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – #020
6 min read
A weekly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
It’s June and summer is already here with spicy game reveals! Whether it’s the all-new, all-different Pokémon games featuring an adorably chonky piggie, the hyper-exciting reveal of Resident Evil IV Remake, the stunning trailer for Final Fantasy XVI… or the lacklustre response to the Sonic Frontiers exploration trailer, we at The Pixels hope you all are psyched about the summer release season! Now, without further ado, here’s what our writers have been up to this week!
With a week off work, I took the time to dive back into the world of Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla and the brand new Dawn of Ragnarok expansion. First of all, I loved that it brought us back to more adventures with Havi in the realms of the Norse gods. As much as I enjoyed Eivor’s travels in Ireland and Paris during the previous expansions, this really felt more substantial.
As well as a large new map came new godly powers to add to Havi’s skillset. My favourite of these offered a teleport-assassination, where firing an arrow at an enemy immediately sprang Havi to their location for him to silently attack. This was a lot of fun to use and added a whole new dimension to some of the stealth gameplay.
The only downside was… it was way too easy. I was already fully powered up from the base game and using Excalibur made my Havi an invincible force of nature. Maybe if this had been stand-alone (or integrated into a brand new AC title) then it could’ve been more balanced. As it stands, it was a great excuse to head back into such a fantastic game.
After a fun week of car and phone repairs, there is nothing better to do than hop on that tractor and harrow out a field to get it ready for planting. Not only did I do that in real life as a farmer, but I figured I would try out a simulation of the exact same activity. So, I started playing Farming Simulator 22 on the Game Pass Cloud and was surprisingly hooked. Like most simulation games, it allows you to use real machinery to do the big jobs, and all of the machinery used is pretty accurate to the real thing. Instead of using a crappy 30-year-old John Deer to ride around the field, I can use a frigg’n Massy Ferguson open-top to plot around a small town and hold up traffic like a real farmer! Let’s just say it’s fun, and it doesn’t require the dredge work of fixing breakdowns or broken disks when your implement runs over a rock.
On the flip side, my daughter has picked up the legendary Toby Fox “cute but dark” title, Undertale. She is already very emotional as an 11-year-old, and this game certainly does not help, considering it is designed to be an emotional roller coaster. She has made it through most of the game and is already doubting most of the choices she has made. We can both agree on one thing, though…we hate Flowey!
This week I have continued my adventures in Mafia 3, helping Lincoln Clay get his revenge on that slimy gangster Sal Marcano! It’s a slow burner but the story makes it very worthwhile!
I also have continued playing Wreckfest with my dad and brother, the old man is steadily improving and is rarely in last anymore, which is impressive considering the last racing game he played was Rage Racer on the PlayStation…
After a busy week off, it feels good to be back on schedule. I did a short stream of Phantasy Star IV on Sunday, wherein Chaz and the gang explored a climate control centre on Dezolis to solve the planet’s continuous snowstorm issue. To their (and by extension, my) surprise, the climate control centre investigation turned out to be a red herring. The true cause may be found in a tower our ornery Dezolian friend, Raja, mentioned over and over (and over) again.
Tuesday’s plan to finish Oracle of Ages was cut short due to work commitments. However, I was able to solve the Black Tower Turret puzzles so that I can breeze through to Veran for the final showdown on Thursday. And what a showdown that was!
With Labrynna saved and the Secret to Holodrum obtained, I then booted up The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons to continue my adventures. After the Gerudo Witches, Twinrova, finished their rant about the Flames of Sorrow, I found myself in Holodrum under the care of Din, the Oracle of Seasons. Things were great until (as always with pretty, oracle ladies), the General of Darkness, Onox, kidnapped Din, trapped her in a large crystal (or as I call it, the Giant Rupee Cage) and sunk the Temple of Seasons. Oh well, another day, another land to save and more forces of darkness to vanquish!
Off-stream, I’ve continued my playthrough of The World Ends With You. I’m nearly done with the main story and I’m a bit surprised at how much I’m enjoying it. There are themes about the meaning of individuality, how to grow and expand beyond your personal self and how people are complex and chaotic individuals all moving towards one thing – to be happy. I remember having strong feelings for this game back in 2008 when it was released and those same feelings persist today, which I’m pretty happy about. If you haven’t had a chance to play it, then go check out the Final Remix version of the game. I’ve not played it, but I hear it has the same story plus some extra stuff in it leading to the sequel.
Whilst Minecraft really has yet to click with me–what do you do in this game, just mine and craft?–I’m spending time with a few others. Super Dungeon Maker comes to mind. Look forward to a review soon for the press key I received. In short, it’s essentially a Zelda Maker indie! It looks, sounds, and plays great, so far.
The other brick wall I’m running myself into is Bloodborne. Hoo boy is this harder than Elden Ring by a mile, at least for me. I’m finding I have less freedom, have to be quicker, and must rely on brute strength with my Kirkhammer or stagger enemies with my Blunderbuss before I can get anywhere. I’m dying to randos quite a bit and bosses have been cruel so far. It’s a blast but I have to take it in smaller doses than the latest FromSoft title.
~Red
So, what were you 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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