“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – July 2024
16 min read
A monthly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
Of all the months so far in 2024, July was definitely the *gestures wildly* month of the year. It’s a month most of us would likely want to gloss over. However, life goes on and so do the fabulous writers here at The Pixels. And as the dog days of summer approach (as well as the beginning of a new school year for some), our team of talented wordsmiths kept things going with articles most excellent.
Starting things off, Matt Lotti sat down and had a chat with John Riggs, a veritable legend within the retro-gaming community. It’s a great read for those interested in both retro gaming and retro game development. Mr. Sommerfeldt provided a deep dive into Final Fantasy Dimensions, a mobile gaming title that’s surprisingly one of the most original Final Fantasy games in recent memory. With him saying “It’s the best Final Fantasy game you’ve never heard of,” it behooves fans of the venerable JRPG series to take a look at this critique. You might be surprised!
Next, Maggie Maxwell alchemized a review of The Last Alchemist for PC. Despite its humble crafting structure, Maggie reveals that there are some underlying complexities under the hood. Fans of the life sim genre should read her insights. Rounding things off this month is a big one: a critique of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree by the one and only Mystraker. If you enjoyed Elden Ring’s main campaign, then Shadow of the Erdtree will definitely be worth the runes needed to pick up this highly anticipated DLC. And sneaking in at the very last moment is Bookwarm Games with a review of the third book of the Legends of Localization series by Clyde Mandelin. Those interested in how the nuances between Japanese and English change how a game is understood should look into this review ASAP.
With the month wrapped up, let’s check in with the crew and see what they’ve been up to:
Hello, my fellow gaming enthusiasts! July was a very eclectic month for me regarding my gaming habits. Normally I find myself playing a JRPG and something else. I don’t usually tackle a lot of games at the same time but this month I have found myself bouncing between PS5, PS4, PS3 and Vita (apparently, I was a mega PlayStation head in July).
My friend got me hooked on the WB Smash Brothers look-alike game, MultiVersus and let me tell you… this game is surprisingly fun. I’ll be the first to tell you I don’t generally like fighting games. Mortal Kombat, Street Fighter, Smash Brothers, etc., they just are not generally my cup of tea, but MultiVersus has somehow managed to get its hooks in me. For those wondering, I’ve been playing as Banana Guard from Adventure Time and Wonder Woman mainly. I’ve dabbled a little bit into the newly released Samurai Jack character (he’s a little overpowered at the moment in my opinion). With so many Warner Bros. characters, a slew of different costumes and other unlockables this game has had me playing at least once a day and is keeping me engaged. I’d say any fans of Smash Bros. may want to check it out (it’s free) and see if it also strikes their fancy.
I dusted off the old Vita a couple months ago and have been playing my way through Rainbow Moon, an isometric tactics RPG from 2012. It’s been great to turn on for 30 minutes here and there and knock out a couple battles and slowly (very slowly) make my way through the game’s story. I’m hoping to see the end of the main story in August and then start tackling the post-game dungeons and side quests. I’ve seen monsters behind locked doors that are level 900 and there is a trophy for playing for 100 hours which leads me to believe I will not be running out of content for a long while. My Vita thanks Rainbow Moon for keeping it alive and in use.
I have a self-imposed challenge to obtain any platinum trophy in any games my close friends have platted themselves. Two games I tackled in July were Where the Wild Things Are (PS3) and Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PS4). I finished Where the Wild Things Are and popped the platinum early in the month. Not necessarily a game I would suggest anyone needs to play unless they either love everything Wild Things related or are just doing some trophy hunting and want a quick and easy 10ish hour platinum. I just finished my first playthrough of Diablo 3 with the Crusader class. Solid main story with a good deal of interesting side stories you can get sucked into if you aren’t just into hacking and smashing the devils face. I really wish I would have played this run on Hardcore Mode since I never died, and I don’t think I was anywhere near death my entire playthrough. To pop the platinum in this game I need to get six different characters to level 70 so I have ample time to fit in a Hardcore run with another class but it would have been nice to just get it out of the way. I’m going to dabble in the newly unlocked Adventure Mode and Rifts until I get my crusader to level 70 and possibly take a little break from killing demons before taking on another class.
After years of dodging, ducking, dipping, diving and dodging, burnout had finally struck and scored a critical hit, leaving me on the floor praying for a Phoenix Down to get me back up again. Okay, I may be waxing on the dramatic here, but still, it finally happened to me. I was likely due for a sort of reset after continually going hard with work, writing and gaming almost non-stop for four years straight. So, this month was all about playing comfort games and not doing much else. In this case, it was Zelda II, some Super Mario 64 with the kiddos and, of course, Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
I would’ve played some Final Fantasy VII to round out the Golden Trinity of Games That Define Me, but that one and its Remake contributed slightly to the burnout, so I’m avoiding it for the moment. That’s not to say that I haven’t played any Final Fantasy as I’m still gunning through the Pixel Remasters. I’m currently three quarters of the way through Final Fantasy V.
I also finished the Octo Expansion DLC for Splatoon 2 and my goodness, it was amazing! I liked the puzzle-centric approach to each level. Some were tough and nearly exhausted my CQ Points, but the majority of the levels were straight-forward once I applied a little brain power to them. I then played a few matches online, where I smoked the competition with my Octo-Girl and the various Dualie setups. Splatoon 3 is likely going to enter my library sooner rather than later thanks to that major confidence boost.
It’s been a busy few months for me, there hasn’t been a lot of gaming for me, but I have a LOT to write about. Bear with me, some of my tidbits here might blend with the tail end of June because my sense of time has been lost here…
First off, I’ve been continuing Stella Glow, a very promising tactical JRPG on the Nintendo 3DS. I’ve made it to the part ‘where it gets good’ and, I’ll tell you, it gets good. There seems to be a jump in quality of dialogue and plot, but it’s very much welcomed. From what I’ve been playing lately, my opinion of the game has definitely heightened a little bit. There’s a lot of things about this story that is special to me, so far. Very much looking forward to completing this game finally as I’ve been playing it pretty much all year.
Secondly, Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster, a game that shadow dropped mid-June. Holy cow, am I so happy that this game is on PC. I can’t imagine playing this game in any other way than with the English dub. This remaster is only dubbed in Japanese outside of the opening movie, but patchers were VERY quick with getting this working in English. I enjoy this game every time I play it, so I’m for sure enjoying playing it with updated graphics, UI, and quality-of-life improvements. One of those games, probably one of the only JRPGs that I can play without getting tired of too much. I’ll probably be picking this up off and on.
I completed an archipelago Randomizer of Hollow Knight this month. Archipelago randomizers are multi-world randomizers played with a group of people. Items are randomized across games so that each player will find items for other players in their own game, helping each other to progress and eventually complete their goal in their respective game. This round didn’t take too long for me, but playing Hollow Knight is always enjoyable to me. Randomizers bring out new challenges, being limited to certain strategies depending on where you are and what’s in your inventory. I’ve acquired the ‘true ending’ in this run.
I’ve played a romhack called… Super Juegar Monkey, A Super Monkey Ball 2 romhack. Super Monkey Ball 2 brings a lot of enjoyment to me so I’ve been adventuring community-made versions of the game. This one was funny, not very difficult. I don’t have a lot to say on it. I can also add that I beat the expert extra levels at some point this month on the base game of Super Monkey Ball 2. This is an achievement that I’m very proud of.
I’ve played a Super Mario 64 rom-hack called Peach’s Fury, which I highly recommend. It’s a very short and sweet game, but it’s very well-designed. It’s a single open stage with 25 stars in the game. Definitely check this out.
And finally, on my trip to Virginia, I played multiplayer Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble. I have a very positive first impression of this game, I think it’s the best feeling Monkey Ball since probably the Gamecube games. We’ve mainly played the main game co-op, it’s pretty well done, players advance as long as the goal is cleared. There’s also different mini objectives in each level that offer an extra challenge. I’m all for the spin-dash mechanic they added, it’s a lot better than the jump, and the first portion of the game doesn’t really require the use of it. I can probably do a first impressions piece on this once I actually obtain the game, and I will, but that will have to wait for later.
Yeah, it’s probably the longest Watcha Playin’ Pixels post I’ve made. I’ve been a bit more active lately and very happy to try different things. Gonna try to keep momentum with some things as August rolls in, even with the changes in my life. Hard to believe it’s August already.
-Zerinus
July 2024. The month my existence unlocked Nightmare Mode difficulty. You know what? Screw hurricanes.
Handhelds became the platform of choice and necessity while I dealt with the survival horror of life. I spent some time meddling with the Game Boy Mega Man titles, and I was generously gifted the Final Fantasy Legend trilogy and Final Fantasy Adventure for the little OG brick. Nintendo Switch kept up its battery life for the sake of my return to the world of Terraria. This was a comfort blanket game for me when I had my first child and was thrust into a whole new lifestyle. Now the “not quite but almost 2D Minecraft” game feels reassuring all over again. Maybe this time I’ll actually beat it!
Hi everyone! It’s been a busy few months of not much gaming for me, so it’s been a while since I really had anything to contribute to the monthly update. I’m back in action, though, and happy to be at it. I did indulge a bit in the Steam Summer Sale, as usual, and most of my recent plays have been from that. First off, I finished Outpath, an addictive crafting game that’s a mix of Minecraft and idle games. It’s a simple premise of gradually improving an island and collecting loot in order to upgrade it and eventually unlock the next area. Real easy to sink a lot of time into without really noticing. I also finished An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs. It’s just as silly as the title makes it sound. The apocalypse has happened, most of humanity is wiped out, and a new spacefaring society has formed out of stock photos of dogs. Specifically stock photos. They are aware they’re flat images and they’re fine with that. I’m fine with that too, they’re cute as heck. The comedy is great as well. My one major complaint is that some of the airports get a little too big and hard to navigate, but at least they’re filled with dogs.
I’ve also been trying to clear out a few games from my Gamepass collection, focusing mostly on the quick and easy ones. I got through Firework, a Chinese horror game based on folklore, kinda similar in vibes to Detention, and Open Roads, a visual novel with exploration elements about discovering family secrets and yourself. I actually rather liked the twists in both, and neither game outstayed their welcome at only a few hours each. Neither of them are games I would have picked up on my own on Steam, but I don’t regret trying them with Gamepass.
On top of working on that backlog, I’ve been building up a collection of free steam games that I’ve stumbled on or been recommended. Some are short, some are longer, but the quality has been surprisingly good so far. My favorite thus far has to be The Werecleaner, a stealth game about a werewolf forced to work the night shift during a very long full moon. The style is super cute, the game isn’t too complicated but does provide some challenge, and it just feels good to play. I don’t normally like stealth games or challenge-based games where your time and skill determine your ranking, but I was hooked enough to 100% this one.
Hello, awesome people! July saw yet another entry in my “Games I’ve Never Heard of” collection, whereby I walk into a local game store and drop $5 for a title I’ve zero familiarity with. This month, I found a dusty copy of Rebelstar: Tactical Command for the Game Boy Advance for only three bucks. Whenever someone mentions tactical strategy, my mind immediately goes to Final Fantasy Tactics, a nostalgic favorite. Could this sci-fi take on the genre ascend to similar levels of glory?
Rebelstar sees Earth under the rule of an alien race. All children have a tracking implant installed upon birth, allowing the invaders to keep track of our numbers and location. Once a human hits 30, they’re taken away and never seen again. Our young protagonist has a mental resistance to the implant, making him the perfect renegade to fight back. But he’s not yet a soldier, and so our story begins at a hidden rebel boot camp.
Gameplay flows much how you’d expect from a tactical RPG, with a grid-based mapping system dictating where you can move and what sort of attacks are available. You take your turn, the enemy takes theirs. Rinse and repeat until one side is toast. Futuristic firearms are the weapon of choice, so attack options involve shot variety. Do you trade accuracy for potential damage output, knowing there’s a higher risk of missing your target? What forms of cover or distance could further influence this? These are questions you’ll be asking with each enemy encounter, and they only scratch the surface.
Further adding to the complexity are Action Points, which you’ll have to keep a laser-focus on in order to survive. You receive a set number of points each turn, and every action taken uses up at least a few. And I mean every action. Want to pick up loot from a fallen enemy? It’ll cost ya action points. Want to move that grenade from your inventory to your hand? Action points. You’ll need to be stingy with these, as you go through them quickly. Weighing all these options slows down the pace of the game, what with the myriad of menus to navigate. Fortunately, as the game progresses and you pick up additional troops, your ability to plan and respond to enemy maneuvers becomes more flexible. Character skills and strategic stat allocation allows you to specialize roles among your heroes, much like you would in a fantasy RPG.
In all, Rebelstar: Tactical Command really stood out as a hidden gem for the GBA. The complex options and pace of gameplay may not be for everyone, but if the more methodical side of tactical strategy appeals to you, then this game is right up your alley.
Given the track record of… well, most of the year up until this point, one might reasonably come to the conclusion that I pretty much just play old CRPGs.
Which… okay, that’s somewhat true, but look at what I played this month as a counterpoint! See, see, I can play modern JRPGs too!
The start of my month was spent running through Dawntrail, the latest expansion for memetically-acclaimed-MMO Final Fantasy XIV. Shotgunned my way through the main story as I am wont to do, leveled a few extra jobs to see some side stories, overall had a good time with it. Had some qualms with some parts of the storytelling, but on the whole still thought it enjoyable, and a fun direction to take post-Endwalker.
…look, what more do you want me to say that some corner of the internet hasn’t spent hours upon hours scrutinizing already? This is FFXIV we’re talking about, after all.
From there I proceeded to another recent release from across the Pacific that I’d been eagerly awaiting, namely, the Western release of Trails through Daybreak. I’ve mentioned before in this column that I’ve grown to be rather a fan of the Trails series, and Daybreak proved no exception. I had some trepidations beforehand, as I’d seen it described as “grittier” and “more mature” and “darker” than previous entries, but while not entirely inaccurate descriptors, it wasn’t in the overly-edgy, we’re-for-the-PROPER-ADULTS-NOW sense such things tend to bring to mind. Instead, it was a natural development of the series that chose a more jaded twenty-something as its protagonist rather than the optimistic and/or hopeful teenagers of past arcs – the same general feel and tone I’ve come to know and love about the games, just a little older and wiser, so to speak. Really enjoyed how the combat mechanics evolved, too, adding a real-time action element to it that makes many fights feel like a fluid dance between styles that’s very satisfying once it starts making sense.
Dang it’s long, though. Not that I haven’t come to expect that, but it took me most of the month to hit credits. I suppose that’s that a bit less time I have to spend waiting for Daybreak II to come out in this part of the world, though?
Well, I haven’t been playing many new games at all recently, in fact I’m back to Cyberpunk 2077 again (wait, don’t run away! Hear me out!) My third playthrough features a V inspired by David from the Edgerunners anime, that is to say that she can slow down time, fire explosive projectiles from her arms and slashes the baddies to rather small pieces with a bloody katana! I thought I’d miss my hacking netrunner go-to build, but this is super fun!
I’m also giving a shooter called Enlisted a try on the side (my brother is to blame for this one!) it’s a WWII shooter in which each player also has an accompanying squad of AI bots… it’s chaotic, fun and actually enjoyable by gamers who just can’t “git gud” like me, as taking down AI baddies is far more accessible and still plays a good part in earning your team that victory!
July was a quieter month with everything going. My son and I dove into Shin Megami Tensei V-Vengeance. A game neither of us loved. Some writing missteps and the approach to storytelling left us with a disjointed feeling. We enjoyed elements of the game but in the end we had to force ourselves to finish it.
We were then met with a surprise announcement with Jeanne D’Arc being re-released on the PlayStation store. As someone who never owned a PSP, I was very excited to experience this. We’re currently about halfway in and there’s a lot I agree with the hype train on, and some gripes I think could have been addressed. All told though I’m really glad we had a chance to experience it.
Now we’re playing some Sword of Convallaria and next month we dive into the backlog a bit more. With our newly acquired PS2 we are able to get some of the classics my son never got to play.
And so ends July (finally). What have you been playing recently? What did you finish? And what’s next on your backlog? Let us know in the comments below.
Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you all again next month! Same(ish) Pixel Time! Same Pixel Channel!
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 Bluesky as @GameswCoffee, and Instagram as @games_with_coffee. He streams on Twitch, also as GamesWithCoffee.
Danganronpa! Spoilers: I’m left with lots of thoughts and questions going into the sequels – http://videogameacademia.org/2024/08/06/losing-two-whole-years/