The Journey to PAX West
I got the opportunity to go to PAX West this year and I had a great time. I was able to see and play a lot of games. Here is a brief summary of some of the stuff I saw.
I got a chance to fight through a few lines and play Link’s Awakening coming out very soon. The game captured everything I remember playing back in the day on GameBoy. This game will appeal to old and new fans alike.I also played Luigi's Mansion 3 and it was good, the graphics and controls are fantastic. Fans of the series will enjoy the game.
I got to play Predator at Sony’s booth, it's the new 4 vs multiplayer game. I unfortunately didn't get to play as the Predator but it was fun to work as a squad and try to hunt down the Predator. People could get their picture taken with a Predator after the demo, I of course has to get this done. Iron Man VR was one of the games I used my early access pass for, and it is fantastic. The game is going to be a lot of fun.
Let’s move onto the Indies I spent time on the 6th floor and amongst PAX Rising. I got a chance to go by Dotemu and play Streets of Rage 4, and Windjammers. Both games are a lot of fun, I was ready to buy Streets of Rage 4. The new character Candy is great, and Axel plays like Axel from Streets of Rage 2. Players can combo off attacks from one another and the co-op is a blast. The new content to Dead Cells also tweaks some of the difficulty which may make it friendly to newer players.
I swung by Megacat studios and got some time with Bite the Bullet, a fun retro inspired platformer where players can eat everything. Rez Plz was another good game featuring two wizard brothers that resurrect each other to get through puzzles and combat. I really like the ideas behind Rez Plz it reminds me of the Lost Vikings.
I checked out Jamestown + from Final Form Games which is a Shump which an interesting steampunk theme that is coming to Switch. It's a lot of fun and gets very crazy with 4 players. I checked out two interesting RPGs Project Witchstone from Spearhead Games and Solasta, both are CRPGs that check a lot of boxes for fans of such games as Baldur’s Gate and Divinity Original Sin II.
Blowfish Studios showcased a fun retro inspired platformer known as Whipsey. Obeyme was another interesting top down action game from Blowfish. There was also Kung-Fu kickball a simple game where players have to ring a bell while dealing with fun physics.
Yacht Club games were showing up a few things, Shovel Knight Dig, Shovel Knight Showdown and Cyber Ninja. I spent time with the later two. Showdown is fun smash like brawler and Cyber Ninja is near shinobi inspired platformer.
One of the stops I found myself returning to was PAX Rising were there were several Indie games on the rise and were in their own area away from the Indie Megabooth which was packed with people. I played Elsie from Knight Shift Games which is coming next year and reminds me of a 16 bit Megaman. Faeland was another interesting platformer with a fantasy theme. I also enjoyed a bit of time with Collapsed which is a nice roguelike from Glaive Games.
Aqualungers is a nice 4 player treasure collecting game. Grab the treasure and don't get eaten. I also spent some time with Collapsed which is a retro 26 bit platformer with roguelike elements. Forgone was another retro like platformer with some fun abilities. I think any of the last few games mentioned are well worth gamers time.
That’s it for PAX West 2019, it important to try to have a plan for each day to maximize your schedule. I did get a chance to attend two panels and see some Gearbox 3 news. Unfortunately the closet thing this year to seeing a celebrity was chatting with Bob Mackey of Retronauts and Talking Simpsons fame in line to play Nintendo Switch games and seeing part of the Metal Jesus Rocks crew.