“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – #031

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

That’s the 30-week hurdle leaped over like a dragoon! Thanks for joining us along the ride, folks. I’m the Well-Red Mage, standing in this week for Games with Coffee since he is happily enjoying vacay in sunny Costa Del Sol. This has been one of the most exciting creative years of my life so let’s take a break, dive in, and talk about what we played this week!

This wonderful week I got to go out and do some retro hunting! I undertook this adventure with focus: I wanted to hunt down some SNES games, while being careful not to overspend. I got home later that day with a copy of The 7th Saga, Lagoon, and Inindo: Way of the Ninja. Some folk, including myself, have never even heard of that last one until recently. Are we looking at a true SNES hidden gem? I can’t wait to try it out. These RPGs, and others, are part of an upcoming mysteeeeriousss projeeeect ooooh~

I’m also on my way through Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars with my son. He can read now and is playing the game himself while I provide a few pointers and a bit of assistance should he ask for it. It’s a real joy to re-experience a game you love through fresh eyes like this.

This week has mostly been dedicated to Psychonauts 2. I ran the credits yesterday and am going around doing collectathon stuff now because I am a sucker for “number go up.” All in all, I’m very happy with the story. Great twists, some I saw coming, some I didn’t. They greatly improved gameplay and controls over the original (count me in with the PS2 players who couldn’t beat it because of that stupid Meat Circus. Vertical levels are the worst. I beat the Steam release with its improved QOL last year.) They might have gone a little too far in the other direction on challenge, as it ultimately felt a bit too easy, but I won’t complain about it. I’m just here for a good story and sorting emotional baggage.

I’ve grabbed a few demos from the Gamescom showcase on Steam, but haven’t had the chance to give them a go yet because, well, Psychonauts, world in danger, all that jazz. But next week, I’ll have a rundown of any of the demos that stood out to me!

Continuing my journey through Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition has been my mission for the past week. Having seen the credits roll on the main game last night, I can honestly say that I now see what all the hype is about regarding this series. I stand by my initial thoughts from last week: fast-travel is good but the areas are so huge, the walking speed is so slow and fetchy-fetchy quests are too common. Thankfully the combat system never got old and level-grinding wasn’t as tedious a task as it could have been.

I’ve put about thirty minutes into the Future Connected epilogue so far and, while I’m missing my preferred team from the main game (Sharla the rifle-wielding medic was easily my favourite character!) it looks so far to be an interesting addendum to the main game. I definitely have questions about what happened in the year that passed between the main game and this segment, but I’m sure it will explain all in time. Then onto Xenoblade Chronicles 2, perhaps!

Last week I began my playthrough of Edge of Eternity and subsequently halted that playthrough because of what is commonly known as “extreme boredom.” As is the case with many games that I have played over the years, I took that one and added it to my ever-increasing backlog. I did, however, take a game out of my backlog as an exchange, and not only did I play it, I also beat it! The game is Infernax, the indie love letter to NES masterpieces like Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest and The Battle of Olympus.  

I quit playing Infernax about two months ago because I began getting busy with preparing for summer farming events. Now that all of those things are over (for now), I was able to pick up the game and cut through it. What first felt like a retro gaming experience with very little depth, revealed itself to be far richer than first impressions warranted. As more of the map is slowly laid open to exploration, the events within the story and side quests begin to get darker and more menacing. Having completed one playthrough, I found that I missed a TON of content, including enemies, dungeons, and even bosses! I’ll have to revisit this for sure, but there is a game I want to take care of first.

Having finished my 8-Bit review for The Outer Worlds, I got a sudden appetite for interstellar exploration. Starfield is still little ways away from release, so the next best thing (some say it’s actually better) is No Man’s Sky. The survival-adventure game took no time in dropping me off on an alien planet and forcing me to navigate the robust crafting and survival systems with minimum guidance. After getting all of it figured out, repairing my ship, and taking off into space, I discovered the appeal of this game. I could make interstellar travel between countless procedurally generated planets that each had their own unique characteristics and creatures. Playing No Man’s Sky is like stepping into a massive buffet featuring the world’s best food and knowing that I will only be able to experience less than 1% of it. This is maddening to completionists, but I am not one of those, so I gladly soar into the unknown! 

Everyone has made a purchase that they regret, some things we can’t see coming while others are pretty obvious. For me this week my biggest regret was purchasing a Steam copy of Madden 23. It should be obvious at this point that, as a yearly franchise, Madden hasn’t lived up to expectations since the fumble that was Madden 13. Even recently Madden 19 was almost on the same level, receiving criticism from even die-hard fans. The pigskin simulator still isn’t up to the quality of older versions and fails in areas where it should excel. Have they made some improvements? Sure, I will say that the tackling mechanics are better in this version and the Franchise Mode has seen a lot of improvement. Specifically, team A.I. and scouting have been redesigned to be more realistic and engaging. It’s unfortunate that this is where the positives end. Player A.I. on the field is still at an all-time low, a defender will constantly get around an opposing player as soon as you are near them. This makes choosing the screen pass or a running option worthless. You’ll run a few yards and get tackled even though you have blockers in front of you. These things are what make this SIMULATION football video game inferior to the others before it. The small improvements are not enough to look past the game-breaking bugs, horrible optimization, and overall lifeless feel of the only NFL Football video game series out there. I’m also very disappointed that the Steam version is linked with Origin\EA Play, this means having to start a third-party app in order to boot up Madden 23. Save your money, especially if you want to purchase the game on PC because you will not get the ‘next-gen’ improvements. Fool me once, shame on you…Fool me 23 times…I’m just stupid.

Now for something positive but also could be a bit controversial seeing how most review sites are rating this game. I’ve been playing and enjoying my time with the Saints Row reboot. Like Madden 23, I took a gamble after seeing some gameplay, and this time I don’t regret my purchase. Is it the funniest, most entertaining, and most interesting game this year? No, but I am finding enjoyment in the gameplay and open world. I am a veteran of the Saints Row franchise and there are things that I do wish they changed about the reboot but it does have the feel and writing we’ve come to know (and love?) from the franchise.  I’d like to focus on some of the positives. First off, the dialogue and events of the game are as gritty and swear-laced as usual. Secondly, the driving has a nice arcade feel to it. It’s been simplified but I really enjoy stealing a ride to drive across the map, drifting and going off of ramps are the highlights. Finally, there is plenty of fun level design and side content to keep you occupied but not enough to overwhelm you. A problem with many open-world games is that there is too much to do, if you want a nice 30~ hour game you’ll be in for a good time. Building your new empire is the point of Saints Row but it isn’t filled with overly complicated systems and acquiring the money to buy stuff is very easy. One of my favorite missions so far has been one where you help your friend with a LARP (Live Action Role Play) section. This level changed the entire game, you no longer had weapons that kill people but each enemy would cry out in over-exaggerating ways to signify that they had been defeated. It was quite the change in gameplay while also still feeling like Saints Row. There are probably other things I could talk about but I’ll leave you with this. If you like the color purple, there’s plenty of it.

In other news, I was able to satisfy my inner child by collecting all the RC cars in Re-volt and am working on the time trials currently. I forgot how much fun the stunt arena was and that there is a special reward for collecting all the stars (collectibles) in it. Perfecting my driving on the tougher courses for time trials added a lot of replayability and was very satisfying when I finally got over the finish line under par. I’m happy to say that my time with Re-Volt has not been wasted. Younger me would be proud of all the things I can do in the game now. From beating the time trials to building crazy custom tracks, who knew that 20+ years later I’d still be playing this game?  As I’ve stated before, the game was rereleased recently on Steam in its original form and with a few tweaks, it plays perfectly. If you are looking for an entertaining arcade racer with a good amount of content, Re-Volt will be your next obsession. 

What did you play this week?

Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, director of content, lead writer, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves. It can be done, even in the midst of a culture obsessed with the latest controversy, scandal, and news cycle about harassment, toxicity, and negativity. Pick out his feathered cap on Twitter @thewellredmage or Mage Cast.