“Whatcha Playin’, Pixels?” – September 2024
8 min read
A monthly roundup of games enjoyed by the writers of The Pixels
Rejoice! It’s the end of September! As the weather up here cools and the leaves start to fall, we here at The Pixels are donning comfy sweaters, imbibing a warm, pumpkin-spiced drink, and are basking in the crisp, autumn air. Actually, no, that’s not true; we’re crazy busy with taking names and playing games! Here’s the recap for this month:
We start things off with Bibbz sharing a critique of La Pucelle: Tactics for the PS2. While it doesn’t break any new ground in the Tactical RPG landscape, Bibbz expressed that it was nevertheless an entertaining experience. Sounds perfect for a palette cleanser! Continuing on the subject of tactical games, Derek reviewed Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess for the PS5. It’s an RTS game that, in our reviewer’s words, almost convinced him to stop playing it multiple times. Despite some frustrating moments, Derek notes that there are lots of elements the game did right. If you have an itch to play an RTS, go check this one out.
We flashback to the ’90s in a review of the classic PS1 title 2Xtreme by Tiger Castle. Now playable on PS4 with trophy support, 2Xtreme is an alternative racing game featuring some Xtreme sports – skateboarding, rollerblading, snowboarding and mountain biking. Though it contains some stiff controls reminiscent of an age gone by, the rebellious spirit of 2Xtreme continues to endure. Those wishing to indulge in either nostalgia or curiosity of the olden days should give this a read. Next, we jump 40,000 years to Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II for the PS5. Red delves into the depths of this grimdark title, welcoming the customizable options and lore-accurate presentation while criticizing the short main campaign and online issues. Fans of the first game and those yearning to don the iconic Space Marine armour should give this a look.
Rounding out this month is a review of the comically named Squirrel with a Gun by none other than Maggie, our resident Indie connoisseur. Equal parts absurd and hilarious, you play as a squirrel with a gun causing problems only a squirrel with a gun can cause! An entertaining read, this one. September then ends with another critique from Red, this time for The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria. Despite the overly dark visuals of the game and the gratuitous fanservice, fans will be pleased to know that Tolkien’s spirit shines through songs and attention to lore details.
That’s all from the front end, let’s peel back the curtains and see what our writers have been up to this month:
This month, the only game I’ve played has been The Messenger. This is definitely a game I really enjoy going back to, especially for randomizers. After playing this game a few times, it’s pretty much the same deal, even with randomizers, as there aren’t that many progression items. Nonetheless, I’m close to fifty hours on it.
I’m currently balancing Dragon Quest XI, Stray, and Rayman Legends. Quite a spread.
This month we rolled out NEW review cards! The goal was to create more manageable, concise, digestible reviews drawing from our deconstructive, elemental approach to games criticism in a format that can easily be shared across social media. It’s also difficult to write and publish epic essays, so the shorter fare is something you can plan to see in the coming months at The Pixels. I produced a handful of reviews in this format, particularly for Return to Moria and Space Marine II which I completed in September.
Here are a handful of them:
It’s been a busy month over here at the metaphorical dragon’s lair, but not so busy there wasn’t time for games! (Ending the month with some vacation time probably helped on that front.) It was the puzzle-y, adventure-y type that appealed to me this month – first up was The Excavation of Hob’s Barrow, a point-and-click pixel-style horror/adventure game around an archaeological dig set in Victorian London. I’m a big fan of its publisher, Wadjet Eye Games, and while it had its stumbling blocks here and there (had a bad case of “things don’t exist until proper flag way on the other side of map is set”), on the whole I enjoyed the story, even if one particular moment toward the end of the game went a little too into the cosmic-body-horror bit for my taste.
From there it was the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection, which released this month to no small amount of excitement on my part. They were the only Ace Attorney games I hadn’t played, so finally getting the chance at both (Investigations 2 hasn’t even been released in the West before now) was exciting. Dragged on a bit more than I would have liked in several places, but on the whole it was exactly what I’ve come to love and enjoy about the series. Rather liked some of the themes it covered, too, took a slightly more serious tone than many other entries, though not lacking for the silliness it’s prone to, either. Suppose that’s fitting, considering its protagonist.
I finished out the month with some straight-up puzzle games, bouncing between Patrick’s Parabox and Layton’s Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaire’s Conspiracy as whim led me. The former is a fun little block-pushing puzzler where some of the blocks may also be block-pushing puzzles and may or may not potentially contain themselves (yes that’s confusing, yes it’s glorious, and yes it still manages to make it feel approachable), while the latter is a spin-off of the Professor Layton series that had all the puzzley goodness though was lacking a little in the actual framing plot department. Both fun ways to keep the ol’ grey matter in shape!
But now that September’s over, I’m a bit eager to jump back into the depths of RPGs – I’ve a few Ultimas to finish before the year closes out yet, after all!
Warhammer 40K tops the list here. The game is so fun with friends, it’s kind of ridiculous. On top of that I get to play Barbie Dress Up with all the customization options.
Tetris Effect will always be a go to for me. The music on some of the levels is so nice to chill to. Even though I’ve never made it to 150 lines to beat any marathon level.
A blast from the past, Blood Omen 2. Kain is one of my favorite vampire characters of all time, and the Legacy of Kain series is so underrated it’s ridiculous. I’m glad they’re doing the Soul Reaver remasters, but the Blood Omen series absolutely needs one.
I started playing Like A Dragon recently as well. Picked it up on sale on Steam and I love the turn-based combat. It’s super fun to get the positioning and honestly, I like more than other Yakuza games.
Lighter month for us, gaming-wise. Travelling to family made it hard. September was filled early on with Astro Bot. A delightful platformer that absolutely consumed the first third of the month. After that I was blessed to get a copy of Legend of Legaia, one of my long time favorite games thought lost to time. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to get too far into it but so far my son is loving the gameplay. Again, it’s a blast to watch my son experience these classic games. The last half of the month was dominated by family travel and Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom. We’re reaching what I believe to be the later part of the game and thus far it’s a fantastic, if flawed, entry into the legendary franchise.
The Summer of Final Fantasy is finally over. I finished up Final Fantasy VI Pixel Remaster at the beginning of the month. Even after all of these years, it’s still such a wonderful game. Surprisingly, the EXP/AP/Gil boosts didn’t make the game any easier compared to the other five remastered entries. It’s something I really appreciated, since Final Fantasy VI gets easier as you invest more time into its intricacies, at least in my opinion.
September is a month I detest for a lot of reasons which I won’t disclose here. This year though, I decided to do something different to counteract my loathing of this month: I leaned heavily into my nostalgia and indulged in everything Pokémon! Between watching the anime with the kids and playing the classic titles on my own, Pokémon has reminded me of the unbridled optimism that existed in the late 90s. It’s made handling this month much more bearable, so I might make this a yearly tradition? Currently, I’m helping my son, Kid Espresso, with Pokémon Quest – a neat little mobile title that he can play on his own (with a little help from dad now and then). I’m also trekking through the Johto region in Pokémon Crystal for the GBC.
Beyond that, I tried out an amazing romhack of Zelda II that remasters the entire game. The hack adds a lot of QoL stuff to make it more in line with traditional Zelda games, while still retaining the feel of the original game. There’s also a harder second quest that features a secret final boss!
And so ends September. 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 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.
