“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – August 2023
17 min read
A monthly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
Aloha kakou! It’s ya [insert expletive] here, the Well-Red Mage. I’m taking over for Coffee as he’s on vacation. The month of August was a hot one, and not only because of the weather and my discovery of bean bag chairs, but because the games were (as the 20-year-old kids say) lit! Looking for some recommendations? Check out what we’ve been playing through August at The Pixels.
Recently I’ve been playing back through the Metro trilogy, having picked up the Redux bundle for a good price. With 2033 and Last Light, and well into the first open area of Exodus, I’m reminded of just how amazing these games are at being immersive and delivering a post-apocalyptic tale with a real Eastern European flavour!
I’ve also been drawn back into Cyberpunk 2077, thanks to the anime series, and I have to say that I still really love this flawed masterpiece of a game! Again, it has a great level of immersiveness and a great story following the adventures of a punk for hire, and the angry Keanu Reeves that lives in her head!
Salutations from cottage country! I’m on vacation this week, so Red will handle putting this post together. Mahalo, brudda! That doesn’t mean I’m completely off the clock. I’m currently writing this out on my phone using a portable Bluetooth keyboard in a small cottage with a wonderful sunset riverside view and a glass of rose (instead of coffee?! Egads!) in hand. But, you’re not here to hear about my vacation digs, you’re here for what I’ve been up to all August! So, let’s-a-go!
After three months, I’ve finally finished the main story of Tears of the Kingdom. What an emotional ending. It’s been a long, long time since I’ve felt this emotionally invested in a Zelda game. The last Zelda title that made me feel all the feelings was Twilight Princess, with Skyward Sword coming in at a close second. With Tears finished and Link’s main mission accomplished, I could finally close this chapter off for now and move onto playing the Pixel Remaster games that I’ve been waiting to try for a long time.
I started off from the beginning: Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster. Having played the OG not too long ago, I wasn’t surprised that much has changed in terms of locations, treasures and items. Square-Enix retranslated the dialogue for the game, making it easier to understand Garland’s intentions. The battle system was completely revamped and I liked that your characters automatically target the next living enemy after one has been defeated. I also love how the Auto-Battle function makes grinding for EXP and Gil so much easier. But my favourite new feature is the inclusion of Boosts. Not only could you remove encounters entirely (saved for forced ones), but you can also adjust how much EXP and Gil you earn per battle, up to four times! With the Boosts enabled, I breezed through the first title in less than 6 hours – a far cry from the 30+ I spent on the original. I’ve since moved on to Final Fantasy II Pixel Remaster, which has gone by much easier than my first time playing it through the Final Fantasy Origins entry on the PS1. I’m near the end, however, a new game has taken my attention by storm. And that is Vampire Survivors!
I’ve played it for four days and I am HOOKED on it! The weapons, the combinations and evolutions, the various characters, stages and enemy types and the thrill of opening a treasure chest in the heat of battle… It’s all so addicting! I’m sure that I’ll return to Final Fantasy II shortly. But maybe after one more round.
Streaming wise, I’ve performed speed runs for Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for the Game Gear, Zelda II and Super Metroid all for annual Stand Up To Cancer #Up2Us campaign. I’ve raised over $155 for the charity this year, all of that which will go to valuable cancer research.
And finally, Friday Family Game Nights will never be the same thanks to Kid Espresso picking up Mario Party Superstars as his half-birthday present! Featuring boards from the first three Mario Party games and over a hundred different minigames from the series, Superstars has been a heck of a riot in the Coffee Household!
This has been the busiest I’ve been with games in a good few months. I’ve played Super Monkey Ball Gaiden, a rom hack of Super Monkey Ball 2 quite a bit this month. I’ve ran myself through the story mode once again, it’s always a pleasure with how different it is from normal Monkey Ball. I’ve spent like 5 or 6 hours playing the master mode and made it to stage 5. Playing this while having friends watch me play is a joy, and usually a good laugh, but it’s very difficult. My goal is to complete the master mode of this soon.
I’ve replayed The Messenger but in a very unique way. Me and a group of friends started an “Archipelago” game. Archipelago is essentially a tool that connects everyone’s games and randomizes the items throughout the games. Players receive items which can belong to anyone’s game and they’re said to said player’s game. The goal is for everyone to complete their respective randomizers. Once I turned on The Messenger most of the people had found my main progression items (music notes). This was a different experience albeit it was kind of buggy, I think there are probably better games to do this with due to the limited number of items in The Messenger. It didn’t take me too long to finish my game.
Lastly, I’ve been playing Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. This game so far has been a blast. I’ve never played any games from this series but I’m already enthralled by this game within a few hours. I love the customization and the mobility, this is probably the smoothest mech piloting that could be found. I’m very glad that this game runs really well on Steam Deck because it gives me many more opportunities to play this as I travel a lot.
With the upcoming Super Mario Bros. Wonder on the horizon I figured it would be a perfect time to play one of the few Mario games I haven’t played through: New Super Mario Bros. U! I actually own it on the Wii U and attempted to play it with my brother, but never could get our schedules to work. I got the Switch Port a few months ago and decided to finally have a crack at it solo. I went through the game in a couple of sittings and rolled credits. I had some fun with it and as far as the ‘New’ series of 2D Mario platformers go it does some cool new things I hadn’t seen before. Usually, I would go back and collect all the star coins in each level, especially since they unlock extra levels, but I have so many other games that I decided to leave it as is for now. There’s also the New Super Luigi U mode included which was DLC for the Wii U version that I might be willing to try soon.
Another game I finished this month is Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2, the second 8-bit styled spinoff title from Castlevania creator Koji Igarashi and developed by Inti Creates. It’s a tough game very reminiscent of the classically difficult games of the NES. I tried to play as much as I could on the traditional difficulty but the last few levels just got insane. Luckily, I was able to switch the difficulty where the enemies don’t knock you back when you get hit which made things more manageable. If I had more time to keep retrying I’m sure I could have gotten through it, but having accessibility features like this is awesome.
What a month! Two birthdays in my house meant a lot of gaming. I got my eldest son (8) into Magic: The Gathering and Arena is making eyes at me right now, but I have to stay strong. There’s so much work to be done.
Speaking of, this month saw the worst disaster to strike Hawaii in its recorded history in the form of devastating wildfires that seared countrysides, demolished homes, slew over 100 people, and razed Lahaina. We put together an effort for disaster relief and were able to raise $3,000 through Twitch for the Hawaii Community Foundation – Maui Strong Fund! I’m so proud of our online friends who coming together to show support for a cause that is near and dear to my heart.
On Twitch we watched through the entirety of Final Fantasy X’s cutscenes and also those for Final Fantasy X-2. The former is an old favorite of mine but I will never touch X-2 again. Lol I’m sure it’s more enjoyable to play than do nothing but watch its cringey cutscenes.
In the middle of those games, I defeated Quest 64, which was one of our stretch goals for the charity event. Not as bad a game as some modern reception would have you believe, but I realized when I finished it that it is a sadly unfinished one. Review forthcoming! I’m glad my Nintendo 64 was a trooper and stayed powered on for a full week without a memory card/controller pak… even through a thunderstorm!
Besides that, I’m tackling The Messenger, Sea of Stars, and Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon. It’s rare for me to tackle TWO new games in one month, but I couldn’t resist these two. In their own ways, they represent a bygone era that serves as my anchor for why I still love this hobby.
This month has been all about the long games for me. I did finish three small games (including Milk Inside a Bag of Milk Inside a Bag of Milk, which many of my friends had hyped up as an excellent 15 minute psychological horror visual novel. It lived up to the experience.) Mostly though, I’ve been head down in Baldur’s Gate 3 and Halls of Torment, which I mentioned last time. While last time I had only slightly touched on HoT, now, I’m almost done with what’s currently available. Like many other horde survival roguelikes, it’s in early access and still growing, so I know there will be more to come eventually, but I like to get ahead of the curve and be all set to focus on the new content when it’s released.
Following my adventures in Ys IX: Monstrum Nox, which I loved almost as much as its predecessor, I took a drastic change of genre. In anticipation of the upcoming Sea of Stars, I took a look at the same developer’s take on classic platformers and devoted some time to The Messenger. Apparently set in the same universe as the upcoming Chrono-like RPG, The Messenger was a clear ode to wall-jumpy NES classics like Ninja Gaiden and Batman. However it did come with some wonderful mid-game twists that I’ll try not to spoil other than to say if you are a fan of Metroidvania games, don’t miss this one! It might not top the mighty Timespinner in the grand rankings of time-travel Metroidvanias, but the humour was on-point and the platforming itself was spot-on. Just… don’t play the DLC. That was infuriating more than it was fun!
After that, I couldn’t resist diving headfirst into nostalgia by downloading Quake II. The original PC release was my favourite FPS for many years and I am pleased to see Nightdive have done what they do best and remastered the whole experience perfectly. Some of the missions in Quake II have always been a little confusing, but by adding a Compass feature to guide you to objectives if you get stuck was a masterstroke on their part. The whole package contains the base game, the expansion packs, some brand new levels (which are great fun!) and the N64 version of the game, too. Definitely value for money if you like a good old fashioned fast-paced shooty game!
For the last three months, Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom has held a monopoly over my gaming time. Gaming fatigue exists, my friends, especially when it concerns a massive game like TotK. I had to take a break, and so I went to the one place that I knew I could find new and unique titles, The Pixels’ “press keys” forum on Discord! Thanks to generous developers and publishers, us writers at The Pixels have plenty of game keys to choose from in return for a critique or review. The two games I chose for this month are Velocity Noodle and Warhammer 40,000: Gunbolt.
I already have a little experience with Velocity Noodle through playing it on stream nearly a year ago (don’t worry kids, Sommerfeldting on Twitch will return). The game is a 2D precision platformer that is designed to test the limits of speed and dexterity. You play as a noodle delivery ninja in the not-so-distant dystopian cyberpunk future, where delivering noodles is illegal. With a storyline like that, it is hard not to give it a try, especially if you are up for a speedy challenge.
Having finished with that game, as well as its critique, I decided to jump into a title that I have been eying for quite some time. I am no stranger to Warhammer 40K (glory to the Emperor!), and playing as an Ultramarine in a boomer shooter the style of Quake and Unreal is too good to pass up. Warhammer 40,000: Gunbolt has you ripping and tearing through heretics and xenos in beautiful pixelated gory goodness. For fans of the boomer shooter FPS genre, it really doesn’t matter if this game is a part of the 40K Universe, it is definitely worth a try!
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a game I’ve been playing a lot these past few weeks and really enjoying! I recently tried to play through Jet Set Radio but didn’t find it enjoyable. I’m happy to say that Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is my ‘jam.’ Not only can you rollerblade, you can also ride a skateboard and bike. Even though the tricks aren’t as intricate as Tony Hawk Pro Skater, all three ways of traversal are unique and fun to use. The sound track is really great too, I definitely have my headphones turned up for this game. Bomb Rush Cyberfunk still has that vibe of a Sega Genesis game but it has a modern flare that improves on the game that inspired it.
I have also been playing a game called God Hand recently, which is a third-person beat ‘em up. It’s an over-the-top experience like no other. The game was originally released on the PlayStation 2 but the physical copies of it are pretty expensive. Luckily, the PlayStation 3 store is still up and you can get it on there via the classics catalog. You play as the God Hand beating up thugs, clowns, demons, robots, and anything else you can think of. The wild takedowns, rapid button pressing combos, and hectic special moves give this game tons of flare. There are aspects of the game that haven’t aged all too well like the controls, the over sexualisation of women, and a few jokes that don’t land. Taking all this into account, the game is still an exciting and crazy experience that I can’t even begin to describe.
Finally, I want to talk about Fort Solis. This game has impressive graphics, excellent voice acting, a thick atmosphere, and an interesting story. The character animations are excellent and the sound design is fantastic. All of these positives but, unfortunately, I cannot recommend the game. Why? The gameplay is the most mundane and slow I have ever experienced. I was really hoping that more would happen with Fort Solis but it never mixed things up. You start out slowly walking around a facility on Mars and at the end of the story you are also walking slowly in a facility on Mars. It is riddled with quick time events that don’t seem to affect the outcome of a cutscene and are visually uninteresting. While I was playing the game soft-locked me in an airlock which made me restart the entire game. I love a lot of what this game is doing because there are some really good ideas sprinkled in this experience. However, a large part of Fort Solis really needed retooling.
After playing Final Fantasy XVI start to finish on normal and FF modes very thoroughly, I basically did the most dramatic change of pace (gameplay-wise, anyway) possible: diving headfirst into Baldur’s Gate 3. I’m enjoying the nuances of combat and loving the deeply rooted D&D foundation of the game, as well as the potential for incredibly sudden and dramatic sequences of disastrous annihilation. Watch out for poison clouds hiding exploding flowers, guys.
The NES is infamous for nail-bitingly difficult titles. Folks still use the phrase “NES Hard” when games amp the challenge factor to eleven. Classics like Ninja Gaiden, Battletoads, and Contra are as famous for their gauntlet of hardships as they are gameplay, but they’re only the tip of the controlling-throwing iceberg. Today I’d like to give some love to another tough title that deserves more praise: Sky Shark.
A WW2-era shmup (Shoot em’ up), Sky Shark sounds simple enough on the surface. Five levels, an endless supply of machine gun ammo, and a swarm of enemy aircraft eager for your skull. Nothing you haven’t seen a hundred times before, right? Then the first few enemies appear, and they move faster than you do. Tanks are slower, but require two hits to destroy. No big deal, until they start hiding under trees and become barely visible. Enemy bullets are not only quick, but tricky to spot as they barrel towards you. And they’ll come in multiples. Bursts of planes and tanks give way to entire fleets of battleships and skyscraper-sized warplanes. Vanquish a boss, and you’re still not out of the woods, as normal enemies continue their onslaught until you reach the end of the stage. And naturally, one hit = death. Taito originally released Sky Shark for the arcade, so it’s no surprise its quarter-munching intensity would carry over to the port. Needless to say, you’re in for a thumb-blistering time.
So with all this frustration, why do I love the game so much? Part of it has to do with nostalgia, as this was one the first NES games I played as a kid. Remove the rose-colored glasses, and there’s still a lot to be admired. Sky Shark’s soundtrack is fantastic, pumping you up with an energetic riff right from the title screen. Each of the five levels is long, so combined with the challenge-factor, the game’s length is anything but brief. Copious checkpoints help curve the difficulty, along with a very generous supply of continues. With each life lost, it feels like you make it a little further into the game, pushing you to press on. And the feeling of hitting that level-ending runway and its jaunty victory tune is enough to wash away all the frustration.
I still play Sky Shark to this day, and I recommend you do, too.
Something (relatively) old, something new, and something in-between – that’s been my August on the gaming front. The “something old” was (and is, as it’s the one I’m still poking at) Oracle of Seasons. When I was in high school and devouring every Zelda I could get my hands on, I could only find a cartridge for Oracle of Ages, but luckily enough my cousins had Seasons, so once we’d had our fill we swapped for some linked-game fun. Their recent release on the Switch’s online services inspired me to give them a revisit, in the reverse order I did the first time around. I’m still not entirely sure how wise that was, considering how many times I’ve game-overed, but at least I’m enjoying myself. It’s good to be back in Holodrum!
The “something new” was Stray Gods, an attempt to cross a Telltale-esque visual novel with, of all things, musical theater. Being a “not a theater kid but at least theater-adjacent” sort, I was intrigued by the concept at least, and the Greek-pantheon-in-urban-fantasy setup was also a draw (I toyed with something along those lines once for a NaNoWriMo project, right down to centering around the Muses!) Suffice it to say I’m not sure how well the experiment to blend the two styles worked, but it was at least interesting – it’s one of those that I’m not sure I’d call excellent, but I’m happy to see someone at least take a shot at, just to see what might come of it. I don’t think the musical aspect of it quite landed, the animation style felt too static and the songs not quite punchy enough to evoke the musical vibe (there’s only one or two snippets that have stuck in my head afterward), but it was a fun story to explore in an enjoyable setting. Mixed feelings on the whole, but I’m glad I had the experience.
The “something in-between” was Ghost Trick, which I’d missed in its original DS release but had the chance to play via Switch remake. Normally timed puzzles in games stress me out, and Ghost Trick is practically built around them, but for some reason I felt it worked here. Maybe it’s because it was quick enough to reset things, maybe it was because it was clear when I’d missed timing windows, maybe it was just because it was the clear main mechanic of it in the first place, but on the whole I had a good time. I tended to play it in small doses, just a scene or two at a time, but it was a unique little puzzler with a neat conceit. All in all an eclectic mix for me, and fun times all around!
It was time to finally experience Chrono Trigger for the first time, so we’ve been working through that in preparation for this year’s most anticipated indie: Sea of Stars! I’ve also returned to Elden Ring after spending 45 hours trying to figure out if I was enjoying it or not, and I’m going to continue that quest. Lastly, I have nothing but good things to say about Bomb Rush Cyberfunk and Trails in the Sky!
Though it’s only been released at the tail-end of the month, I’ve been playing Armored Core VI on PC since the 24th. I’m a long-standing fan of the franchise, and it has been really nice to see it come back. It isn’t 100 percent what I’d wanted it to be, but I’m still happy about it. Besides that, I’ve been playing through Final Fantasy VII Remake (since the new game is coming up), and trying my hand at Soul Hackers 2. It has been a slow month, but still keeping at it.
Red formerly ran The Well-Red Mage and now serves The Pixels as founder, writer, editor, streamer, and podcaster. He has undertaken a seemingly endless crusade to talk about the games themselves 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 MageCast X podcast, on Twitter @thewellredmage, or on Twitch at /thewellredmage.
