It's that year again! PAX East 2024 came and went. It is a lull year. a number of the "big name" companies are not there. Though oddly, Nintendo is there, but it felt more like a formality. Would've thought they'll be concentrating on their next system. But all of this won't stop me from trying out a number of games. Which...despite hearing how people complained about having less games, I've played 20 games this time around as oppose to 16 last year. Showing how it's very "your milage will vary".
I'm listing the games in the order I've played it, and marked the games that I know are coming to Switch.
Thursday:
Gunvolt Records: Cychronicle [trailer] Switch-bound
A rhythm game spinoff of the Gunvolt series. It plays pretty similar to Groove Coaster, feel a bit more involved too.
Phantom Fury [trailer] Switch-bound
I've enjoyed the Ion Fury a fair bit, and Phantom Fury felt like home, kinda like Half Life. Or if I joke about its history, it's as if Duke Nukem Forever was released on time and if actually good.
Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord [trailer]
The game that inspired a lot of your favorite RPGs, especially jRPGs. There's only so I can try out in a short five-minute playthrough. What I like about this after talking to the dev. That little recreation of the original game in the corner of the screen? You can make that the main screen if you want for that original experience.
The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest [trailer] Switch-bound
The demo had two modes, adventure or action. Basically play a bit of the story, or play an action stage. I chose the latter, since I want to get to know the feel of the game. It feel just like the NES Castlevania titles. So it's not just an unabashed parody of Castlevania, but an affectionate one too.
Kamikaze Lassplanes [trailer] <Contains some fanservice> Switch-bound
Visual novels, mixed with a horizontal shooter. Okay. It's pretty decent. One of the things that got to me was that, this is not a Japanese game, it's from Poland. Don't know why that intrigued me, maybe it's how far they went to basically get the look and feel of an anime game while making it their own thing. VAs from Japan, the artist is from Thailand, I think. Felt like a worldwide collaborative effort. Also talked with the devs about various other shooters as well. Especially their main inspiration, Sine Mora.
Kind Words 2 [trailer]
This is an intriguing game. Just write nice message and let people see them. That's it. It's a relaxing game, pretty much. Also, I know devs through a local game dev group. Thought I'd mention this disclaimer.
Shot One Fighters
These guys want to bring back the old PSone fighting game days. The demo they've shown was done in two months, and it's pretty cool to see they work they've done with it in that that amount of time.
Friday:
World of Grimm [trailer]
A card battle game where you claim land. Get two out of three lands to win the game. It'a alright.
AFK Journey [trailer]
Might need to play this a bit more on my own. It's an idle game, but it looks like there is more of a focus on story and all that.
Saturday:
The Touhou Empire [trailer]
An base-building RTS with Touhou characters. It's still in mid-development
Tohou Genso Wanderer: Foresight [trailer]
Don't think I've played the original. But I do like a good rougelike. Not sure if this Switch-bound like the original, but it would be nice to see.
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered [trailer] Switch-bound
I've never gotten a chance to play this back in the day. It kinda felt like Resident Evil 4 in a way, with Suda 51's style. He also had a meet and greet, and managed to meet him on Sunday. I also recounted to him the time I bumped into him at the Nintendo booth back in 2018 and how it was my #1 PAXEast moment of that year, he was humbled by the fact.
Interesting, when I told him, I never played the original, since I only owned a Wii at the time, but since I got a beefy PC, I got the opportunity now. He mentioned, "you want to get it on Switch?" That I didn't know, maybe he mentioned it, because of how we met at the Nintendo booth. "Yeah, I'll get it on Switch." Now I know.
A Corgi's Cozy Hike [trailer]
CORGIS. Just corgis. This is a really cute game, where for five minutes, I just ran around the hub world or stage. Corgis.
Sunday:
Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore [trailer] Switch-bound
They got the CDi controller hooked up to this game. It's pretty amazing. Dumb, but amazing. May need to buy this controller on their site and play it this way.
Rose & Camellia Collection [trailer] Switch-bound
SLAPSLAPSLAPSLAPSLAP
I've played the original Flash version way back in the day, and it's still as silly as it was before. Now with English voice acting, and they sound really good here. The motion controls is a good fit there. SLAP
Alien Hominid Invasion [trailer] Switch-bound
Pretty much the same as it last year, with some extra polish. I liked the original, and this was good.
Renaine [trailer]
I was recommended this game by Tom Fulp after talking about Newgrounds, reminiscing on it, and how there are some former Newgrounds showing their games there. It is a really smooth 8-bit action platformer.
Yohane the Parhelion: Blaze in the Deepblue [trailer] Switch-bound
Okay, I loved Love Live back in the day. Muse and Aqours were my mains. So I already like this Metroidvania game. Why didn't I play this earlier? Already played the demo at home when it first launched. I was curious on what was different in this build.
Umbra Claw [trailer] Switch-bound
This one is kinda confusing. Mainly from a mechanics standpoint. You gain a new ability every time you lose a life. Playing into that whole "cat has nine lives" thing. But once you lose enough lives, you can gain a powerful humanoid form. Looks like there's a whole "stay as a cat, or lose yourself" vibe. May need to play this some more if there is an actual demo.
And that's it for the year! Did attend some panels. MatPat had a nice talk that you can actually catch on Twitch, since it was streamed from the main theater. There were video game themed cocktails, a Zelda TotK retrospective of sorts, and my friends has been doing Nintendo-themed Family Feud and a Pokemon choose-your-own-adventure. See ya next year...in MAY?!
Throwing out there.... I know Mario Day is 3/10.... Mario theme for Saturday night (3/9)?
How would anything involving Peach for her game later in the month sound? --At worst just Peach play for 15m or at best female Mario characters like Daisy, Peach, and Rosalina for an hour or 30m.
I'll try to take a nap shortly before Smackdown starts but it's looking like I'll likely be available to play.
Here's Part 2 of Uno!
@alienboyva It's weird how your example pics used the same font for the part number as mine. I don't remember what the font was. I do thank you always for these thumbnail overlays.
@alienboyva When I was making the thumbnail I tested putting the Game Night logo in the corner since there was a lot of empty space. It looked fine on the planned Just Dance Uno background but too bright on the one you see for classic. Did try a drop shadow. It would need plenty of them to not look bright as just one wouldn't help because of how narrow everything is.
Was thinking of asking you for a brick wall background for it but this looks even better. I'll have to experiment more when I get home.
About playing something Friday, I'll see since tomorrow is my long day.
@TKrazyO Now that I see the Party Game Night logo used in a thumbnail, I'm not sure if it works that well (maybe it just needs some drop shadow?). 🤔 I thought maybe a template (similar to the MK8D TNT one) might work better, so I came up with this... Feel free to use it... Or not.