“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – #024
9 min read
A weekly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
Happy July! We’re getting so close to resuming normal operations here at The Pixels, we can bear-ly contain our excitement! From recent and upcoming critiques, to brand new conversations through MAGE CAST and the Gamelogica video series, there’s never been a better time to get excited about discussions about the games themselves! With that said, our writers are not only hard at work creating content for your eyes to feast on, they’ve been gaming hard too! Here’s what they were up to this week:
It’s been a busy few weeks for me, but somehow I still managed to make even more slow progress through Elden Ring. I have Volcano manor almost fully explored, but I keep getting sidetracked with other sidequests I want to do before I forget them. I also got to try out the brand new Cuphead DLC that I’ve been waiting YEARS for! After playing through the base game on expert and getting half of them S ranked, I thought I was ready for it. I wasn’t ready. I only managed to defeat one boss so far, but I’ll be spending a lot more time this coming three-day weekend.
I’ve also put in a bit more time with Fuga: Melodies of Steel. I’m having a great time with it and it’s a lot less depressing than what the introductory chapter made it seem. There’s this interesting mechanic where you can choose to use a weapon that can kill any enemy or boss with a single hit. The cost? One of the characters has to be sacrificed in order to power the soul cannon. It is my goal to go through the entire game without needing to use it. Wish me luck!
I beat two games today (Max that number beat; dang indies)! In preparation for the upcoming episode of MAGE CAST podcast, I finished Super Castlevania IV for the first time on OG hardware (the first time I beat it was earlier this year on Switch using save states). Great game and oh that music will continue to haunt me. I’ll let it.
The second game was Zero Wing, freshly launched on Nintendo Switch Online. Putting aside for a moment the sheer ludicrousness of playing a Sega Genesis game on a Nintendo console, this game’s not too shabby, so far as 16-bit console shmups go. There’s the usual suspects: red, blue, and green power-ups, satellite ships, gigantic alien monstrosities, slappin’ music (fortunately light on the twang), and the tired memes. Yes, this is that one game where the “All your base are belong to us comes from”. Turns out that’s not a huge deal in the gameplay but then again, the gameplay itself isn’t much to write home about.
Beyond that, I started up a co-op run through Elden Ring with my kid brother (cosplaying as Gandalf and Saruman) and I’m convinced that Elden Ring is GOTY material… when played single-player. Trying to muddle with co-op? Forget it. Between constant invasions right at the start of the game, navigating oddly named items and consumables to start co-op, sitting through load screens each time you summon, writing in the sand not appearing right away… it’s a notably clunky and seemingly antiquated approach to co-op that apparently “has always been this way so just accept it”, according to fans. I refuse. Here’s hoping co-op is a little easier to set up and maintain in the next FromSoft outing!
And finally… I have an announcement. I was talked into playing Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter by someone who actually had kind things to say about it. I thought it was such a rare occasion that it was time to give it a shot for myself! Can’t wait, though I’ll do my best not to hold it to the brightly burning standard of its predecessors.
~Red
It’s been a week of dabbling for me, getting my hands dirty in a whole mess of different games. Four games beaten, two in progress. Feels good to be back at it. I might’ve spent a bit too much on the Steam sale, but generally, no regrets.
For the beaten games, the first one was Here Comes Niko!, a cute 3D platformer about becoming a professional friend that was fun but I wished had more variety. You end up helping the same people in each stage aside from one or two unique quests. Definitely wanted more from it. The second was Milo and the Magpies, a sweet little point and click with hand-painted backgrounds telling the story of helping a cat get home through the harassment of a flock of magpies. Third, Hidden Office, a simple hidden object game finding office supplies and cats across various scenes. Twelve scenes and nine challenges like “find matching objects in the scene” or “find these based on the silhouettes” made for plenty to hunt through while still not taking much time. Finally, my primary purchases on the Steam Sale were DLC for games I’ve beaten, so game four was the “Hop’s Iconic Hat” DLC for Frog Fractions. It’s just as strange and zany as the free main game, though it felt lacking a little of the original’s charm.
As for what I’m currently playing, I’m back into island-keeping in Cozy Grove, also due to the DLC. Four new bears to help, new butterflies to catch, and a little backlog of food to cook gives me an excuse to poke around a few minutes a day again. I’m also playing Super Squidlet, a GBC-style game that’s part platformer, part DOOM-like depending on your character. Unfortunately, you can’t swap between them, it’s entirely story-based, but it’s still fun to have the variety.
I’ve been enjoying a late-90s throwback with Blade Runner: Enhanced Edition on PS4 this week. Whilst the lords of remasters at Nightdive might have hit a few bumps in the road with this one, they have done a superb job in allowing more people to experience this point-n-click classic. After all, since my original Windows 98 disc of the game is now about as much use as a coaster, a remaster – and on modern consoles – is the most perfect form of preservation in my opinion.
Sure, in comparison with the stunning backdrops, the characters look an absolute mess. Granted, there’s very little in the way of guidance… I can’t imagine how difficult this game would be to someone who didn’t play the original. Of course, there are bugs here and there: I have absolutely no idea why McCoy’s gun decides it won’t fire at random intervals in the police station’s shooting gallery.
But am I having fun with it? Absolutely! The nostalgia I have for this game, and the love I have for Blade Runner as a whole, are pushing me past any issues I have with it. Considering the amount of legal red-tape and technical woe Nightdive had to struggle through for this release, I’m just thankful it exists at all. It may be a product of its time, but I feel that makes it all the more charming.
I was absolutely surrounded by video games this past week, all of which I did not get to play. You see, I had the unique privilege of leading a week of Church Camp, and it wasn’t just any week of camp, it was Gamer Week! The local church camp where I live started something new last year; they designed a camp experience where kids could connect their love for gaming with their Christian faith. Though it might seem a little unusual on the surface, it allowed me to teach the kids about such disciplines as good sportsmanship, patience, and moderation. We also got to have an incredible Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament on the last evening of camp, and I quickly learned that, no matter how good I think I am, I stand no chance of winning against a kid who has no job and spends every waking moment of their free time playing games. That’s ok, though, the kids all had a good time and some friends were made along the way.
When I got home from camp, I dove head first into a title I have been waiting to play, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge! The game is absolutely everything I hoped that I would be. Borrowing material from pretty much every TMNT game created thus far, Shredder’s Revenge provides an almost perfect execution of a video game title with a heaping helping of nostalgic flair. If you are a fan of any of the retro TMNT titles, then you owe it to yourself to at least try this game. COWABUNGA!
I’ve been on some new games of late (shock!) Namely Jurassic World Evolution 2 and Star Wars: Fallen Order, the latter of which I got onto after enjoying the Obi-Wan Kenobi series so much that I needed more intergalactic action! Fallen Order is a Soulslike game, so naturally, I’m finding it hard going, but the story is kinda cool and it references all sorts of things from the expanded universe, which is cool!
Jurassic World is cool too, you can carry dinosaurs about in helicopters!
Sunday streaming was a no-go for me, so I did a makeup session on Monday afternoon. I would have continued my journey through Phantasy Star IV, but I spent the time building up my character’s levels and gathering stronger equipment for the upcoming Air Castle dungeon. I get the feeling this next dungeon is not gonna be an easy one to conquer.
The next day, I booted up Oracle of Seasons. I finished up the Dancing Dragon Dungeon (an awesome dungeon name) and began the search for the next Essence of Nature. Following a pattern of seasons gathering (Dungeon 2 needed Winter, dungeon 3 needed Summer and dungeon 4 needed Spring), I set out to the Temple of Seasons to gather Autumn and thus, fully powering up the Rod of Seasons. Now, I have to head to the next dungeon.
Off-stream, I completed the story mode for Sonic Origins. The new music for Carnival Night, Ice Cap and Launch Base Zones in Sonic 3 threw me for a loop, but I got used to them eventually. Of the three, I enjoyed Ice Cap the most.
I also got back into playing CrossCode. I began the DLC, A New Home, which explores what happens to Lea after the main game ends. The DLC focuses on tying up some loose ends along with completing the final challenges of the CrossWorlds MMO game itself. In between the time I spent playing Sonic Origins and CrossCode, I fit in a bit of The World Ends With You and some Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse – the latter of which I should have a full review of within the next two weeks!
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.
