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Our Favorite Games of Pax West - PAX Part 2 (The Indies) - Add to Party 09.12.23
5 Plays1 year ago
We have several episodes to release, so instead of making a 2 and half hour podcast, we broke them up into 3 parts.
This episode covers the many indies we saw and played at PAX West
Studio Bravarda - Extremely Powerful Capybaras
Marvelous - Silent Hope
Scalisco - A Corgi's Cozy Hike
Label This - The Gap
Dexai Arts - Techno Banter
The Mix Games - Rugrats Adventures in Gameland
Inti Creates - Yohane the Parhelion: Blaze in the Deep
BlueDrattzy Games - Alterium Shift
Brace Yourself Games - Rift of the Necrodancer
Rocket Rat Games - Cobalt Core
Soupmasters - BigBoyBoxing
Silver Lining Studio - A Star Named EOS
Necrosoft Games - Demonschool
Soft Not Weak - Spirit Swap
Studio Kumiho - Cricket: Jae's Really Peculiar Game
The Wild Gentlemen - Chicken Police: Into the Hive
Jyamma Games - Enotria: The Last Song
Recommended
Transcript
Exploring Indie Game Gems
00:00:06
Speaker
Welcome back to Indies. Welcome back to Indies. Here's a question for you that I fucked up. Do we want to do Capybar's Laster first?
00:00:29
Speaker
Which one was Cappy Bars? Oh, yeah, let's just start with it then. OK, so I think one of the standouts probably of PAX West and a lot of people. So this is the thing we got media page, which means we got in the media list. I hope the studio doesn't hear what I'm about to say, but they probably will. Maybe they will. Who cares? And so we got a lot of emails and I remember getting the email for extremely powerful Cappy Bars and I went, that's a dumb fucking game.
00:00:57
Speaker
I'm never gonna go see this stupid, what a dumb, what a dumb fucking idea. And so we were walking around the convention floor, and it was like, oh hey, it's that game. And a lot of times some people are walking away. It was so fun. Oh my god, that's such a great time. And I'm like, ah shit.
00:01:14
Speaker
And we ate Crow. Um, so extremely powerful Cappy bars, uh, is a, you know, and I hate, we hate doing this to any developers because I know they always want to be like, our games are different, but it is very much a vampire survivors like game where you are, you know, auto attacking, moving around a map.
00:01:34
Speaker
where waves and waves of enemies are attacking you. What makes this game special, and actually was a big change from their last demo at PAX East previous this year, was they had added four-player co-op. And I think that's really what set this game apart.
00:01:53
Speaker
Now you might say to me, James, vampire survivors also has four player co-op now. Yes. We played that ourselves. Uh, cause we were like, we couldn't play Cappy bars one day. Uh, so we were like, Oh, let's say fan first bar was out and it was a fucking shit show.
00:02:09
Speaker
We're like, this is this is not this is a little too much and it's not that much fun. I don't know if necessarily it's because we're playing on my super overpowered account for vampire survivors. But it was just like it was hard to follow because of the scale of the game. And I think Cabbie Barra actually fixes that because it kind of grows everything up a little bit and is they built it more for four player co-op. We got a special demo from the media pass.
00:02:39
Speaker
where we only got to play kind of single on a little tiny laptop. But we also saw a lot of people play. And I mean, I'm kind of impressed with it and I'm looking forward to it. I don't know. How did you guys feel about it?
00:02:53
Speaker
Andy I was gonna say I died right away. Yeah, you did die, right? I didn't know what was going on I did set you up for failure. That was on me too. I was like, I'm about to die and you take over You guys are the vampire survival people, you know you this is your thing I just I got it after everybody else and then I just played it and died immediately It looked cute, but I couldn't tell you anything about the gameplay or anything. I
00:03:22
Speaker
Yeah, I played it. And I thought it was fun. The one thing that's different for me is I had not played Vampire Survivors until that weekend, mostly because I've just been watching other people play it. And I was like, OK.
00:03:42
Speaker
I just didn't have an urge to play it myself. But I understood the concept and everything else. And it works very well. I don't think there's going to be any problems with it. And I do think that if we were able to play that couch co-op version of extremely powerful copy bars, that we would have had a great time too.
00:04:02
Speaker
I definitely think aesthetic is a major factor in being able to play multiplayer. And I think Capybaras probably has the better UI at the very least, compared to Vampire Survivors. It's just stylistic choices, really. We also, I asked the most important question. I was like, why Capybaras? The developers are from Brazil.
00:04:29
Speaker
where capybar is run wild. And I was like, fair enough.
Silent Hope: Dungeon Crawling Meets Farming?
00:04:32
Speaker
Fair enough. That's very cool. Yeah. Andy, tell me about Silent Hope. Yeah. So during, so this,
00:04:46
Speaker
Hmm, let me restart that sentence. Way back when, or rather a couple weeks ago, there was that Nintendo Direct with a bunch of trailers. And I believe both of you were kind of non-plus about the whole show, but I liked a bunch of the stuff in it. And one of the things that got me excited was Silent Hope.
00:05:05
Speaker
It's a game from Marvelous, the Storia Seasons or slash Harvest Moon people, except this one is a dungeon crawler. And I got really excited about the trailer because there was a cow in the style of Harvest Moon. And so it sounded like if I can dungeon crawl and farm at the same time, this sounds like the perfect game. And I know Rune Factory is that, but Rune Factory doesn't have Harvest Moon cows, so it's different.
00:05:34
Speaker
And I got to play a demo and I got to talk a bunch of the person running the demo there. And essentially, it's like you get to choose like maybe one of I'm making up this number goes like five or six different characters, which are different classes, and you dive further and further down into this abyss.
00:05:53
Speaker
And as you go down, you collect gear and you collect like recipes and you collect seeds and then you come back up and then like you plant your seeds and you craft new gear and then you unlock new skills and you do all this. And it's all in like this fun, cute art style. It's lighthearted. It's I think we even like talking with him. He's like this game. This game is just about vibes. OK, it's just about having fun and chilling out. But it's only single player.
00:06:22
Speaker
And that broke my heart because it looks like it would be so much fun being multiplayer. But he was like, hey, we're all excited about this game. Can you please all just buy it so we can make a sequel with multiplayer? So before the game is even out, this is my plea. Please let's all buy this so we can get a sequel to a game I've never played.
00:06:42
Speaker
Um, but I'll say that it looked like fun. It looks like something I might actually play. And one thing I thought was really cool was as I was waiting in line to play it, one of the, one of the booths, a little girl who was maybe like nine years old was playing it. And she was getting so into it. She loved her character, which I believe was like a fighter, like that had like two hammers or something. I don't remember.
00:07:07
Speaker
Um, but it was cool, like seeing a game that was accessible to a kid that was getting the kid excited, like her and her mom were like excited to see the new monsters and fight them and everything. And I don't know. It just reminded me, number one, that like I it's interesting to see games like this accessible to kids. And then also I just want to
Corgi's Cozy Hike: A Therapeutic Adventure
00:07:28
Speaker
play it. So I guess I want games at a skill level for children because I'm just.
00:07:33
Speaker
That's what I realize it all these other boots. I'm just bad at games. Hey, don't tell yourself sure everybody loves Animal Crossing. There we go. Thank you. Well, this is this is the graduation from Animal Crossing. Hopefully it kind of made sense that description, just a cutesy dungeon crawler that you get to level up and crawl to the bottom. And then it's all focused around new game plus two. So it seems really fun. It seemed really fun. And playing the demo is really exciting.
00:08:02
Speaker
And then I bought a pin of the dog from Harvest Moon. So that was my takeaway from that. But that's on my radar. That might be one of the top games I played at PAX. Not my top, but it's up there. It got me pretty excited. Silent hope, you guys.
00:08:21
Speaker
Well, how did it compare to a Corgi's cozy hike, Andy? Oh, so that one I went to. So a Corgi's cozy hike. It's not released yet. It's actually on Kickstarter now to be backed. But essentially, it's have you ever played like a short hike? It's a it's a game. I'm familiar with it, but I've never played it.
00:08:42
Speaker
Yeah, so essentially this is only meant to be one comparison, but it takes place on like, we'll just call like a small little map, right? And I think there was like a mountain that you can climb up. So it creates like different biomes that you can explore. But talking with him, he was talking about like how it was inspired by Banjo-Kazooie and a short hike where you just explore this small little world and you get to talk to all the cutesy little animals there and you get to do cutesy little side quests. And it's not meant to be long. It's meant to be like an hour or two.
00:09:10
Speaker
Um, but what I thought was really interesting is, uh, and you play a Corgi, by the way, you can play a Corgi that can fly and like you get stamina by collecting Corgi butts. They're just little butts where those little buttholes just an X. So you're collecting buttholes to get stamina. Um, it's all very cute, but he described it as like a therapeutic game, like our therapeutic adventure. I think the terminology used was.
00:09:38
Speaker
And the way he wanted to represent that was you explore this small world you start you know there's there's different little areas but he what he wanted to create areas where that you could go to and then just set down the controller and just enjoy the world right.
00:09:56
Speaker
And it reminded me of in Life is Strange when you can like sit at different benches and stuff and then like the music you up in the camera would circle just to kind of take in the environment. And he actually he said that was kind of part of the inspiration was that it's all about just finding places in the world to put down the controller and just relax. And I was like, so what are you supposed to do when you're relaxing? He's like, you could journal, you could meditate.
00:10:22
Speaker
just reflect, just enjoy, just pause, be silent. And I thought that was so cool. A game designed around putting down the controller. The only problem is the game never tells you to do that. And so I didn't I didn't know it was supposed to inspire me to do that. He said one of the side quests does it, but
00:10:44
Speaker
Because I guess I never would have thought to do that in a game. But if a game like explains that intention and then brings in that world, I thought it was such a cool thing. It was such a cool experience. And it was something it was something pretty cute to play around in. A therapeutic adventure. I've never seen that before. So good on them. I'm wishing them success.
00:11:05
Speaker
Well, that was my therapeutic adventure. James, James, you might be. Oh, I was. Yeah, I was muted. Oh, I need my fearless host. I'm sorry. Action. Sorry. There's a barking dog that I was trying to keep out. That's fair. That's a way for me, James.
The Gap: Navigating Memory Puzzles
00:11:22
Speaker
Yeah. Take it away. Charles, you and I played the gap, which is definitely somebody working out some feelings. Oh.
00:11:31
Speaker
What is it? I think you played a little more than I did. Why don't you start? Why don't you take it off and maybe I'll give some color on it. I was when I when I was getting up to leave, the developer told me I was literally two minutes away from the ending of the demo, any of the demo. I did not play the full game, but I'm.
00:11:50
Speaker
Hmm, how best do I say this? The gap is basically a puzzle game where you find yourself in a bunch of different rooms. However, what you're actually doing is that you are a person exploring your own memories and
00:12:06
Speaker
You know, you will go in and you'll see like this, like a laptop with a password you need to find. And you're just like, crap, I don't know the password. Why don't I look around for some items to help trigger a specific memory? And then I get sucked into that memory.
00:12:23
Speaker
So like one of the triggers was like you find a picture of your old college or something. And when you look at that picture, you get sucked into your old college dorm when you first got the laptop. And then you could find some clues about what you ended up making the password for the laptop.
00:12:40
Speaker
Um, it was very interesting because, uh, uh, the story is a little bit more dire than that, uh, than all this. Uh, mostly, you know, um, you're missing your family. You're trying to connect the dots and try to figure out what's going on with them. What happened to you? You know, you as a player are trying to understand anything that's going on. Uh, cause this is like all in media res just a little bit, um, at least for the demo.
00:13:06
Speaker
And along the way, you're just running around trying to find memories and try to understand how to move forward through the story and when the world and progress. I thought it was interesting. There was definitely also the possibility of delving too deep into different memories. So you could be like two layers too far deep, and you have to go out up a couple of layers to a different memory that you were previously in. So I thought that was all really fun.
00:13:35
Speaker
No, I know it was all interesting to me, but that's for me because I just like I like piecing puzzles like that, like coming up with my own story with environmental storytelling and do all this other stuff. James, how about you? I well, hearing you describe it, it it almost makes me like it a little more. But I remember when I was playing it, and this could also be just because it was a demo. It was just a bit too
00:14:02
Speaker
obscure, like it didn't hold your hand, which is fair, right? All games don't have to hold your hand. But I was just very much like, I'm not sure what I'm accomplishing by playing this. I kind of described a lot of it's not a horror game. This the gap is not a horror game, but it very much did remind me of playing layers of fear and how you're kind of like moving through these almost ethereal planes to learn things. So it
00:14:31
Speaker
It's interesting. I I don't know how I feel about it. I'm not sure I liked it or maybe we'll play it, but I do think it's probably a good game for a certain type of person. I might not be that person. Yeah, definitely. Definitely not for everybody. Yeah, I guess I'm not. Maybe I didn't pick up on it. What is polarizing about it in terms of someone might enjoy it or might not. It's.
00:14:59
Speaker
I think, like I said for me, and like you said, I don't know because it could just be because it's a demo. It's very obscure in what you're trying to do. I was just walking around looking at pictures, trying to get to the next memory, but I didn't necessarily understand what I was doing to get into those memories. Like, Charles was talking about, oh, I have to find the password for the laptop. I never found that kind of experience.
00:15:26
Speaker
Which is like, Oh, that makes me like it more because I understand like the, uh, the gameplay element of it. But when I was doing it, I was just kind of like fumbling around these memories and I didn't really get the connective tissue of it yet. So I think the connective tissue of the game might be a bit too obscure forever. Like if you don't want to really like take an outside look at the game and try to piece together on your own, it might be a little tough for you. Um, yeah.
00:15:54
Speaker
Also, a show floor is the most uncomfortable way. Even those types of games, but any game. Yeah, to try to like tap in and and and.
00:16:06
Speaker
or to step away from those puzzles and kind of look at it that way. There's all like, I don't know, I feel like performance anxiety. Everybody's watching you. There's a countdown. You feel silly. I don't know. Maybe that's what it was, James. I mean, I don't know. Sometimes I'm dumb. You know, it happens.
00:16:28
Speaker
I'm saying no, but thanks for explaining that. OK, because it does sound like an interesting game, but if you're a nebulous like I'm not going to do. Listen, the gap is coming out in October last I saw on the Steam page. And, you know, we'll find out then if people end up liking it. But the big brain is. Yeah. Yep. Yeah. October 19th, according to the PlayStation Store. Yeah. And I would say, you know, it's not for everybody.
00:16:57
Speaker
uh take a look at the trailer see if it might be interesting if it's not then you know you don't have to get it yeah again i don't think it's a bad game i think it's a very well presented game and i think the conceit of the game is actually very interesting i just in that experience in the demo it didn't hook me maybe in a different time it could did you did you have to pass the uh your fall exam
00:17:21
Speaker
No, I didn't get there. Oh, dude, let me tell you, I I had to pop into another book and take a look at fucking was like, what is it? What type of brainwave is this? And I like went into a textbook, started reading. I was like, I'm going to fucking ace this exam. This guy's this guy's going to be listening to you, listening to you describe it. I'm like, I might. This game actually sounds more interesting than my experience with it, which is like, that's the thing where I'm like, oh,
00:17:48
Speaker
I wonder if I tried this again, I might like it more, but it's just like that's why I'm worried that it might not be for everyone, because it might take just a little more energy than people are used to to get to that leap.
Techno Banter: Cyberpunk Bouncer Role
00:18:00
Speaker
But again, like anything, also Shofo is a terrible place to play this type of game. So who knows? Yeah, again, I'm not giving it a bad grade or anything like that. I was just like, hmm.
00:18:12
Speaker
Charles, you also at the same booth, you played techno banter, which I didn't get to play and I wanted to. I watched you play it. Yeah. Let's say so this is part of their marketing materials as well. But I believe it's like best described as papers, please. But you are a bouncer in a cyberpunk setting. Like so the basic loop that was presented to us in the game, the demo was
00:18:42
Speaker
You know, you get up from your, you know, from your apartment, you walk out to your job as a bouncer. The bouncer tells you, hey, tonight we need X type of people. You better select those people and you and you sort out the riffraff and keep people that we don't want out. And basically the people in line come up to you and you decide based on looking at them and doing some observation actions, whether or not they should be allowed into the club.
00:19:10
Speaker
And it's pretty fun. It has one of those type of minigames where you have to try to accurately insult them sometimes to make sure to make them leave if they get belligerent. There was a mode where I believe I basically failed the interaction and then it suddenly became a bullet hell game.
00:19:29
Speaker
Hmm. I think James was watching and then that that's what I think got James really excited if that was true. Yeah, it was basically like it became Undertale for a second. I was like, oh, this is they're really playing with the formula. And I was like, oh, if they do this a lot, this this game could have some legs. Yeah. And I thought that was really interesting. It was definitely this fun mechanic of being like, OK, you know, who do we think will be fun at the club tonight? And, you know, trying to get that sorted out, making the right decisions.
00:19:59
Speaker
and fighting really hard if you make the wrong ones. That was really fun. And then at the end of the night, going to your boss and your boss can tell you how good or bad of a job you did. And in my case, I did an awful job. I let too many squares in, as he would say. Well, as it would say, because it was a non-human boss. I don't know. I couldn't tell what they were.
00:20:21
Speaker
Um, and, uh, let's say I also, I think I let a murderer in, uh, it was really rough. Let me tell you, I'm not good at being a bouncer. I'll tell you that. Get in here, you scamp.
00:20:35
Speaker
I mean, I think I tried to tell him no and then he beat me at the bullet hell. So what am I supposed to do? Bouncer client code says if you beat me at bullet hell games that I have to let you in. It also it also I like it, too. It has that weird kind of 90s pixel art style, too.
00:20:56
Speaker
Yeah, yeah James anything you want to say that you saw I mean, I mean just I think you covered most of it But I like papers, please is such a fun idea that I don't think people have really bind like as liked as a genre This is maybe like one of the first like copycats that I've seen. Sorry. Take them banter but I mean it
00:21:18
Speaker
They did certainly. Yeah. No, they're doing, it seems like a really good job. And like papers, please is also kind of depressing. Um, this seems like it could be a lot more fun. Sounds super interesting.
00:21:34
Speaker
Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. Is the demo out? Actually, no, I look at it. Hold on. No demo out, but it is coming hopefully in Q1 of 2024. I lost the thing.
Nostalgia in Gaming: Rugrats NES Platformer
00:21:51
Speaker
Charles, tell us about that new Rugrats game. Oh, well, honestly, this is one of my favorite interviews. I went up to the site, scheduled some time with the people of limited run, which people don't know. There are a company that tends to take digital only releases and makes a physical release for it, which is great. Like there's a lot of digital only games that don't get a chance to have a physical release in people.
00:22:20
Speaker
and limited run takes a selection and makes it into reality, which is cool, really cool. One of the other things they do, however, is they also do some really cool. I wouldn't say risky, but I guess I would say it's a lot. A lot of things are really risky at the moment. For instance, this Rugrats game. So basically I got to talk with the developer for this and.
00:22:46
Speaker
It is a original Nintendo style Rugrats platforming game made for the Nintendo. There is going to be a Nintendo cartridge you could get for this game. Charles, which Nintendo? That's it. I said original Nintendo. Oh, OK, like Nintendo Entertainment System. Oh, yes.
00:23:09
Speaker
The oldness. I'm not a, listen, I don't call everything Nintendo. Call it a Famicom. They haven't a bit of a boomer moment, Charles. Call it a Famicom. Really, really stunt on them. Yeah. Nintendo. Yeah.
00:23:23
Speaker
But so it plays exactly like an old Nintendo game. And honestly, I was kind of sucked in. I actually stopped asking questions for a bit because I was too busy. I was too busy messing around because I was like, OK, so you're telling me this is just like, you know, if we played Mario back then, he was like, yeah. So if I were to suddenly try to wait to go left instead of right, they'll do that. And there's going to be something there. He's like, maybe. And I just climbed over. I was like, this is sweet. I did find a secret.
00:23:53
Speaker
Also, you get to play as one of the four titular Rugrats. So there's Tommy, that's Phil, Lil, and Chucky. I did not ask about if you get to play as Angelica, but all things to their own. If you don't know what Rugrats is, I'm not explaining it. Listen, it's an old cartoon. You can do the work.
00:24:18
Speaker
One of the cooler things about it was I was asking, I was like, you're making an Nintendo game. How are you going to port this over? Because they were also mentioning there's going to be an HD mode that you could play because you'll also be able to get it on PC, of course. So you can remove the old Nintendo style looking of the graphics and make it into a more cleaner or smoother experience.
00:24:41
Speaker
But we were playing on an original Nintendo with a Nintendo controller, so I was just having a nice little blast in the past moment with them. But basically, what was going on was, I was like, how did you get the license for this? It's Rugrats. It's a pretty big thing. But apparently, it's not that hard to get.
00:25:06
Speaker
And I was just like, and you're printing on a Nintendo cartridge. And they're like, listen, those pens have run out. Let's say Nintendo can't just renew them. We're good. I was like, sweet. This is great. And I actually went on to Twitter to take a look at their previous, like some of their titles and announcements. And it looked like there was actually a lot of excitement about this coming out, as well as like,
00:25:34
Speaker
you know, asking like, can this really be on the old Nintendo cartridge? And they're like, yes. And they're like, and people were just happy to hear about it. And to be honest with you, I think I'll pick it up as well, just because
00:25:47
Speaker
I died. Okay. I did not finish the level and I need to finish it and I, it was just a good time being able to play. It's got big, um, DuckTales energy. You know what I mean? Yup. Yup. Yup. Yeah. So, and you know, like DuckTales, uh, the remaster came and took the world by storm. So I think this has a good opportunity to maybe pick up where it left off too. So.
00:26:10
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, the NES graphics look fantastic. Like I I mean, you know, legally distinct, but I'm seeing a lot of Mega Man. I'm seeing a lot of Mario two. You know, it's like it is very much an homage game. So yeah. And honestly, talking with the dev there, he was really nice, very informative. And you could just tell that
00:26:33
Speaker
you know, they love making games. And I'm always really excited to see other people that love making games and are also just jumping into this. It's just it's always great to see and seeing it be done well. That was nice. Yeah, I mean, it looks it looks super smooth. Andy, tell me about Yohane, the Parthelion lays in the deep blue. Dude, I put this game on here because I hate it.
00:26:59
Speaker
Well, Andy, don't do that. Oh, we don't want to be those type of review. Maybe the better word is conflicted. So Johan, the Parhelian Blaze and the Deep Blue. Let me get this trailer. It's so there's an anime based on a mobile game, as I understand, called Love Live.
00:27:26
Speaker
And I guess this game is a the part. Yohane, whatever, is a spinoff of Love Live. And it's like the I think it's the Love Live characters in a fantasy world. I literally. I'm aware of Love Live. I so I know Love Live only in passing, but yeah. So I guess this game was originally revealed as an April Fool's joke. Oh, and then.
00:27:55
Speaker
And then they like made it a real game. I don't know, but I saw it on the floor. It looked anime as all get out. So I was like, I want to try this. And it's like, I guess it's like a 2D kind of action game.
00:28:11
Speaker
maybe like a Mega Man. I don't know if I'd really say that, but essentially it's 2D action. And the gimmick is that you're playing, I'm assuming, a Love Live character and you can summon other Love Live characters that do different like abilities. And so, oh god, oh, oh, I hated this. But each time you summon, you have to like rotate through them and they all have voice clips.
00:28:36
Speaker
And they're saying something from the the show or the game. I don't know, but they're just screaming it at you. And then every time you use the ability, there's like this delay. So it just feels bad. Like everything feels so bad in the game.
00:28:54
Speaker
And all it looked like was, I don't know, when I was playing it, it reminded me of like a licensed Super Nintendo game, like where, like, you know, mom buys it from the store because they recognize the name on it or the characters, and it's just a cash grab. Like, it's just, you recognize it so you want it. And that was the vibe it gave me, and I haven't had that in a long time. And it also made me wonder,
00:29:23
Speaker
What kind of game would I buy, like a licensed shill kind of game? Like, I don't know what I would buy if it's bad, but it still has a license on
Community-Driven JRPGs: Altarium Shift
00:29:34
Speaker
it. So that guy. It has Cozmos. There we go. If it had Cozmos on it, I'm buying it. I would buy a mediocre 2D action game.
00:29:42
Speaker
I don't know, guys, maybe it's good, but I'll tell you what. I saw multiple people walk up, play it and then walk away. Oh, so. So watching it just to maybe give some context, watching the trailer, I get big Symphony of the Night vibes from it. So.
00:30:01
Speaker
That might be what it's aiming. And like Symphony of the Night is also like one of the best 2D games of all time. So it is kind of hard to emulate it and do a better job of it. Like, what is it? Bloodstained, I think, is probably the closest to that. And even that's more Castlevania than Symphony of the Night.
00:30:20
Speaker
This was I don't know, I think it's just rely it started as a joke, it's relying on its license, or at least it's spin off and it just felt so bad to play. It felt so bad. Hopefully they make it good. I don't know. But if you're a love life fan, it's there for you. I want you to enjoy this.
00:30:41
Speaker
And you know, and God bless him for making it, right? Like, give me the goofy garbage, right? It's there for someone. Just don't put a delay when you're summoning things to attack. Like, that just feels bad. Honestly, if they removed that delay, it probably would have been a bunch more fun. Like, I don't get all the references. I don't know what they're saying. I don't. None of it means anything to me. But don't put a delay. Jesus Christ, is that terrible? So that's why I wanted to bring it up.
00:31:09
Speaker
That's why Andy, did you like Altarium Shift? Which one? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. So this one was pretty. Oh, so you don't hate this one? OK, good. No. You know, I'll take whatever that one, Yohane one. That was probably the there was another one followed by it. I won't bring them out to dunk on them. But this one, it started as an April Fool's joke, so I'm allowed to call it bad. Move on. Yeah. So Altarium Shift.
00:31:37
Speaker
This
Rift of the Necrodancer: Rhythm Meets Art
00:31:38
Speaker
was a it was a game that was in the what is Square call it what they did with to the HD to the HD like it was in that same style and they like pull it off like it looks pretty decent. But I learned they told me they can't call it to the HD because Square trademarked it. Oh, I'm sure they did. Yeah.
00:32:02
Speaker
So they had to call it like 2.5D or something. But I like I literally I was walking around the floor and I was stopped just by how it looked. And like the sprite animations and stuff gave like huge like secret Amana vibes. And I just love that art style. I just it was really, really striking. And in terms of a game, they're they're going for that art J or PG feel.
00:32:27
Speaker
in that 2D HD type of style. And I didn't get to play it, but I got to talk with a developer kind of on their intention and what they're doing with it. And what was really interesting is, so they were just inspired by just JRPGs wanting to make their own. They made like a little bit of a thing and they put it out there and got encouragement to build on it. And so they released it in early access. And I guess initially a bunch of people just started dunking on the combat because it was like very basic.
00:32:57
Speaker
Um, and it was interesting to talk with them because right now it's still in early access and they're trying to build up a combat system that's like enjoyable for everyone. And it's, I dunno, it, it, it was a highlight to me to kind of hear about how community feedback can build up something from like a basic JRPG system to what they're going for now. And so the system it's kind of turning into is like, they're playing with like,
00:33:22
Speaker
manipulating turn order and like special attacks and like how do you use a basic attack like you like how do you not just spam a basic attack how do you make it useful to build something up to use something later right listen I got ideas
00:33:39
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. It's and that. Hey, join the discord because they're working on it. They were super grateful to their community. It sounds like they're trying to build something pretty special and just it looks striking. So I wanted to bring that up. It's cool. Like they're just.
00:33:56
Speaker
Seeing early access actually helped shape a game. I know it's for a lot, but sometimes I think of early access as just a way to get it out there and start getting money. But here, it seemed like they were really using it to build a better game. So that was that. Get it in early access.
00:34:16
Speaker
And it also made me think about, too, like, I don't think we can like the older games that we go back and revisit with those super basic combat systems, you just can't do it anymore. Like, it's just no, you just can't. That stays back there. And then it's just endearing to go back to, but you can't build a new one. No, no, no.
00:34:34
Speaker
But Andy, what I bet you know, a game I bet you hated. Rift of the Necrodancer. Oh, my God. Talking about low points of the evening. Well, the ohana rift was probably my pick of the show. I loved this game. So Rift of the Necrodancer sequel to Crypt of the Necrodancer, which if you're not familiar, it was like a roguelike with randomly generated stages or stage or floor plans where you navigate it to the rhythm of a beat.
00:35:04
Speaker
And then the enemies have their own patterns that syncs up to the music, and then you have to use your movement and their patterns to navigate through and beat them. And Rift is the sequel to that. And instead of like moving along a floor plan, it's like Guitar Hero style, you could call it.
Cobalt Core: Strategic Space Combat
00:35:22
Speaker
and where notes are coming down a track, except now the notes are enemies, and those enemies have their own patterns, where it might start to get closer, closer, closer, and then right before it will shift to the right. Or it will take two hits to defeat. Or it'll go off and show off on the other side. And it was so gosh darn fun. I loved it so gosh darn much. Ugh!
00:35:48
Speaker
And like, even when I started playing, too, like I played it on medium and like I beat crypto, the knuckle dancer. And I'll tell you, not easy, like genuinely not easy. So I walked into this and I was like, oh, I'm so good at this game. Like medium is going to be too easy for me. And it was really easy. And I even like tried flagging down someone, but I couldn't get their attention because I wanted to turn up the difficulty because I'm such an elite gamer.
00:36:12
Speaker
And then I got to the last stage and it destroyed me. So it still keeps the vibe. It still keeps the difficulty. It keeps the feel. And then another thing it does is it kind of like intersperses if you've ever played Rhythm Heaven, which are just kind of like rhythm based mini games. And so it intersperses the Guitar Hero sections with like Rhythm Heaven mini games.
00:36:33
Speaker
And it's just, I love the art. I love the music. I loved everything. I loved this game. I cannot wait for it. It's coming out next year. Just, oh, it was so much fun. God, I love acting. And then, oh, we'll go ahead.
00:36:49
Speaker
I was going to say, and I had it on my fantasy draft and then they moved it out of twenty twenty three. Yeah, I I'd I was depressed, but they also had Danny B there, who was the composer of both krift and ripped or rift. And but he was just hanging out. So I went over to go talk to him and I just thanked him for being him.
00:37:11
Speaker
and being great, and I just wanted to let him know I appreciated him. And so, like, I wasn't asking for anything signed or what everything, and I think it kind of threw him off. And then he asked, like, the most, or like, and then, like, I think he was trying to make conversation, so he was just like, so what's your name? And I was like, Andy. And he was like, I have a brother named Andy. And then I just felt real bad.
00:37:35
Speaker
because I felt like I was like forcing conversation out of him because you only bring up that you have family like that. No, no, I felt real bad. But then I asked him if I looked like an Andy and he said, yeah. So just so you know, guys, I look like an Andy. Yeah, you do. Yeah, I do. And that was my experience with Danny. He was a sweet guy. I just felt I just I just God, when he asked me or told me he had a brother named Andy, I just felt so bad.
00:38:04
Speaker
But that was Rift. God, that game was good. Oh, I'm so excited for it. I didn't play Rift, but at the same booth, there was a game I did play, and that's Cobalt Core.
Big Boy Boxing: Punch-Out Spirit
00:38:19
Speaker
Cobalt Core is kind of a deck builder play on the FTL formula. If you're not familiar with FTL, it is a... God, how do you describe FTL?
00:38:29
Speaker
I don't know. It's a big man. Yeah, it's FTL is a hard game to describe. FTL is a you basically it's a rogue like no. Yes, it is a rogue like where you are a spaceship when you're trying to get parts and weapons as you move through a kind of expanding map and you're having fights and all that in FTL. There's a lot of crew management and energy management.
00:38:55
Speaker
and a lot of other things like it is a very actions per minute kind of game. Like it can get very intense. Cobalt core kind of takes that back a little bit. So instead of having that crew management and energy management section, they've actually changed it into being a deck builder game. So all your actions are based on cards. And instead of kind of having auto targeting weapons,
00:39:21
Speaker
you and the enemy you're facing fire in these straight lines and it's up to you to strafe your your ship left and right to try to avoid or take less damage but at the same time also line up your gun so that you're hitting the enemy.
00:39:34
Speaker
It was very fun. Like it, I had a great time playing it. Um, I was, I really mean, I was like, just demo out. Cause I want to play this one. Not yet. Not yet. Uh, I think they said the demo might be coming, uh, next month in October with potentially the game launching in November, which I'm very much looking forward to. Uh, Hey, if you want a dark horse game for, uh, your, your fantasy critic, this might be one.
00:39:58
Speaker
Um, because I think the, the, uh, variety of the enemy ships that I faced were very good. Like they, they presented different challenges and the way I could build my deck that controlled my ship. I saw a lot of variance in the cards. Like I could build kind of these discard decks where the more I discard certain things, like the abilities get stronger or they were like, you know, other ones that literally focus on giving you a lot of movement to shift left and right while firing at the same time.
00:40:28
Speaker
It seems like a very well thought out game and I was very impressed by it. Were you a big FTL stand then? I played. Yeah, I played a lot of FTL actually. I think I've only beaten it like twice. FTL is hard. Only beaten it twice.
00:40:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's yeah, that's just like I got perfect runs, basically. Oh, yeah. FFTL is a very harsh. And then probably my game of the show is big boy boxing.
00:41:06
Speaker
Oh, I saw you playing that. Yeah. So big boy boxing is a new game in the style of Punch-Out Super and Mike Tyson's where, again, you are fighting, you know, you are in a boxing ring fighting these different, you know, funny characters. I will say to their credit, less stereotypes than Super Punch-Out. Sure.
00:41:29
Speaker
There's a lot of problematic stereotypes in those games Now it's a little at one point like one of the characters you're fighting is basically three children to the trench coat I Really appreciate that
00:41:45
Speaker
Yeah, it's it was real fun. I mean, it played almost literally like punch out in terms of like, you know, dodging left and right. I will say a lot of the interesting thing was they play with like the fast load times of their games because literally there was one boxer I was fighting. He swings at you from the second it comes from black. So you have to be ready to dodge him the second the fight starts. So like they're they're they're
00:42:13
Speaker
playing with the formula and they're making sure that you stay on there. I play. I thought about like three of the boxers, I think. And I had just a fucking great time with it. They had this huge booth, too. And this is their first game. And there's, I think, two developers from Sweden. I was like, man, this is great. I love this so much. Is it self-published, too? It is self-published. Good on them. Yeah.
00:42:38
Speaker
Um, and not to, I don't want to drag too long about this, but I did actually have this weird revelation while playing this game is that super punch out has this weird DNA that I think may cross into Dark Souls territory.
00:42:54
Speaker
Which is, if you think about it, all super punch-out is, is boss pattern recognition. And that's a lot of Dark Souls boss fighting. So it's, it's always interesting to me. It's like, Oh, I was training for Dark Souls, even when I was playing on the Super NES. You know what I mean? Yeah.
00:43:10
Speaker
So it's funny, too, to come back and play a new punch out and be like, I have all these new brain pathways from doing like Dark Souls and things like that, where it's like, oh, I'm much better at like figuring this out much faster now. So were you good at the demo then? Yeah, I think I think I got three out of four bosses. So yeah. I mean, I probably could have gone longer, but it's like I didn't want to sit there and just grind. Yeah.
00:43:36
Speaker
Um, but yeah, I had a great time playing this game and I think that is my game of the show, the very least India of the show.
Narrative Puzzles: Exploring Family Relations
00:43:44
Speaker
Uh, Charles, tell me about a star named Eos. Ah, uh, so I would say a star named Eos is kind of, it's a, it's a little interesting in terms of like.
00:44:00
Speaker
there are walking simulators that people used to play that were all like what remains of Edith Finch, gone home, where a person is coming to learn more about their family, basically. And as they interact with the environment around them, they might get some hints about their family members and learn more about them. And they just kind of sell puzzles along the way.
00:44:27
Speaker
Um, with the star named, the star named Eos, it's very similar to that. Um, it's exploring this relationship between a child and their mother. I don't think they ever tell you what, uh, who you are, uh, necessarily, but, um, I don't know the, I can't really tell, but, uh, the demo I played was pretty nice. They, they gave me some pretty good noise canceling headphones. I didn't have to hear other people around me.
00:44:51
Speaker
But basically, I was in my childhood room, and I get a letter from my mom telling me that, you know, like, Oh, you know, took a picture of this place thought it was really pretty. But I think you could do a better job. And
00:45:08
Speaker
So in the level, what you're really doing is you're solving puzzles all around the room in order to get pieces to recreate the photo that your mom took. And when you take that photo, you switch perspectives into the mom wherever she took that photo, and then you play as the mom for a bit. And that's where my demo ended.
00:45:30
Speaker
But it was really interesting just because it's one, you know, it's those things where you look around the room, you piece it together, you know, a little bit about their history and how their relationship is while solving puzzles. And, you know, I was excited that when you recreated the photo, you got to see the mom's perspective. I was like, Oh, cool. That's the one difference really from the other games where
00:45:53
Speaker
It was mostly just reading and hearing about another person's perspective, and this one you get to actually be that person, which is fun. Although I'll say what the remains of either Finch, you do get to play the other relatives a little bit in some of the sections, not all the time. But yeah, I really like Star Name Deos. I definitely added it to my wish list because I'm planning to play it when it comes out.
Demon School: Social Elements with Combat
00:46:17
Speaker
So it has a lot of it looks like to like a lot of there's a lot of different puzzles in there. Like it really it varies it up. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's it. Let me tell you that fucking directional puzzle is really. Yeah. But which one is north? What do you consider north? But yeah. What and then how did that compare to demon school? Demon school is.
00:46:45
Speaker
So when I got done playing demon school, I tried to ask other people first, have you ever played the game into the breach? Which is the, is the follow-up game to FTL. Yes, yes. The creator FTL made into the breach.
00:47:04
Speaker
But basically demon school is kind of like a pixel version of persona Where if you and a bunch of people are transported to a mysterious island and on the island, there's a school And you know you spend your days building relationships with your students fellow students and try to piece together what's going on with the people and
00:47:31
Speaker
They're not necessarily worried that there's demons all over the place. They're all just really capable students that happen to go around. One thing that was really interesting was I was talking with the creative director. You'll notice, you know, in this trailer and sorry, audio listeners, but the game tends to lean towards a pixel like flat design and then turns into during some of the boss battles into full 3D.
00:48:00
Speaker
which is really fun. And what the creative director was trying to explain to me was just that demon world sequences are 3D, human world sequences are in this more flatter pixel style. And then when you are in the in between worlds, you get like a 2.5D like art style.
00:48:22
Speaker
Which I thought was fun. That's a really cool thing for other players But basically it is a is an RPG run around you have certain days you get to do quest during those days Sometimes you miss the window, but you build relationships with your other players
00:48:37
Speaker
And, um, the combat is fun. It is basically a grid and you plan out your entire move with your party. So like, you're going to say, all right, I have this one character. I'm going to move over him over here. I'm going to move the other person over there and they're going to attack and they'll push them and do all, you know, it'll push the enemy and do all this other stuff. And then you press execute and then you'll see all your, your characters, uh, do their moves all at once.
00:49:03
Speaker
Which is really fun for a certain group of people. I'm sure it's not for everybody.
Spirit Swap: Colorful Match-Three Fun
00:49:08
Speaker
But I will say the animations are really smooth. When you see your character run up and kick somebody and do stuff, it looks really fun. It looks really good. I think my only reservation so far is that I haven't decided who my waifu is in this game.
00:49:29
Speaker
Yeah. Some of the designs are, uh, are a little bit more old school in their characters. And I, you know, I kind of like some of the newer stuff, but we'll see the personalities are great. I do like them all, uh, the characters so far. I just wish listed the game. I was, I always love when people do that 2d 3d thing with to make like, when it's like 3d to represent how these are like Eldritch creatures to you. I'm like, Oh, it's always such a cool idea. Hmm.
00:49:59
Speaker
Yeah, no, I agree. It's a good selling point. Andy, how did you feel about Spirit Swap? Oh, I loved it. Spirit Swap was so cool. So it's a like like a match three type puzzle game. But the art and the the style and the gameplay. That's some horny art. Well, actually, I asked him about that.
00:50:30
Speaker
So it's just bright, colorful and fun. And it's just it's such a joy. And talking with them, they said intentionally, of course, looking at they're like, yeah, we wanted it to be fun and horny. They actually were inspired by one of the inspirations is that so America got a game called Tetris Attack that was essentially it was like a reskin of a game in Japan called I think like Ponyo Pop or something.
00:50:59
Speaker
I'm essentially that so this was way back on the SNES and one of the people working on it said like one of their their biggest bombers was they wanted to play this match three type style but in a fun colorful now upon your pop was like very like
00:51:15
Speaker
like girly, like it was like fairies and pink and all this stuff blasting everywhere. Whereas this is much more stylized, but they wanted to kind of bring that vibe, bring that spirit.
00:51:30
Speaker
And it was a ton of fun to play and the people working on it really cared about it. I played against one of them and I asked them to go full in, go all in. I want to see what it's like to play against one of the designers. And at first they went easy, which made me wonder, they can't be this bad.
00:51:48
Speaker
And then I asked them to go actual full harm mode and then it was, it was, it was unreal. It was unreal. I, it's, I don't even know what they did, but my side of the screen just became solid blocks like innocent. So there's, um.
00:52:03
Speaker
There's a lot to it. And I usually don't actually care about math three games. They just generally because all I think about is like bejeweled and stuff like that. Like, hey, hey, looks interesting. You fucking don't you fucking denigrate bejeweled on in this house? You know, I'm so sorry, but it just looks so boring.
Cricket: Earthbound-Inspired JRPG for Kids
00:52:22
Speaker
But this looks fun. And I enjoyed playing it. And I had even like seen it before seeing their booth.
00:52:30
Speaker
But and it always been interesting me. So this is actually a match three that I think I'm going to check out. Just this is so fun. It was just so fun. Also, it looks like it's a queer forward, too, because it says cast spells, be queer and crash the biggest concert of the year. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
00:52:49
Speaker
Yeah, it's great. It's great. I highly recommend it. It was a ton of fun to play. I always loved me a match through game. Do this one, not some boomer bejeweled over here. No, I played honey pop. Oh, okay. Well, all right.
00:53:04
Speaker
That's a good one. Well, spirit swaps entering the scene now. So there you go. I'll probably play it. I do love mystery. Andy, how did that compare to cricket? Jay's really peculiar game. Oh, much different. I'm much clearer at all that game with two hands, he says.
00:53:30
Speaker
Yeah, cricket. Still, it was still a very good or fun game to play. So cricket is Earthbound inspired. Oh, yeah. So it literally almost looks like it. I would say it's all 2D hand art animated, which is really cool.
00:53:49
Speaker
It's a story about children on an adventure, heavily inspired by the director's life. You know, he had gone through some stuff as a kid, you know, had gone through a loss and talking with him. He said he kind of wanted to create a game to kind of tell that story, or at least those experiences, but frame it in a way that children could play it.
00:54:17
Speaker
And I thought that was super interesting because he's creating an Earthbound like that is meant for younger people to play, meant for people to play at the same age like I played Earthbound, if that makes sense.
Chicken Police: Noir Adventure
00:54:31
Speaker
It's it's I just I don't really connect like to DJ RPGs being something that like a younger generation would play. Actually, the full title of cricket J's really peculiar game stands for JRPG.
00:54:45
Speaker
didn't make that connection until it was explained. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it it was something that they cared so much about. And you could absolutely tell viewers at home. You can see the trailer right now. The art is beautiful. And like the character designs are so fun. I got to play. There was like part of a mission was like you're delivering flowers to your mother.
00:55:09
Speaker
Um, but then you find out all the flowers are gone because the flowers had revolted against the flower shop person or whatever. Cause technically the flower shop guy is a murderer. The flowers were kind of over it. So you go on this adventure and then you fight like the flower general and he signs in like this big flower dude, bro. And it's just, God, it was fun. And just the art and like the,
00:55:37
Speaker
the character dialogue and everything. It's definitely geared towards a younger audience. Another thing I want to call out was the battle system was modeled after like Super Mario RPG, meaning that it's timing based where as you're making your hits, if you press a button at the correct point, you can do extra damage. The same applies to blocking. And what I thought was really cool, though, is that they actually reward you for
00:56:03
Speaker
hitting the button at the right time. You build up a meter every time you correctly do it, that then you can expend to like boost attacks and different stuff. And I like never got it right. I kept losing. And I kept asking him, is it just hard? And he said, No, you're just bad. So I'm just bad at games, you guys. I'm so bad. Are you bad at chicken police into the hive? Um, yes, actually.
00:56:32
Speaker
All right, then. By the way, crickets coming out next year. I think it's something also I'm going to be checking out. Just very cute, just very just beautiful artwork, just a lot of fun. So I genuinely do recommend it. The chicken police into the hive. So this is a point and click adventure where all of the characters are just like anthropomorphized animals, but
00:57:01
Speaker
Uh, how do you describe the art style? But like, it's just like a human with just like a realistic head of an animal on it. And it's just, I don't know, but I was drawn immediately to it. It's in a black and white noir style. And when I was talking with the person who worked on it, I was like, I love point and clicks. Like I'm super excited to play this.
00:57:24
Speaker
And I was like, how long is the demo? And he was like 40 minutes. I'm like, oof. And he's like, but for you, it's going to be 20. You're good at this stuff. And then I sat down and played it and I couldn't get past the first screen. I just didn't know what I was doing. And then they had a hint card that tells you what to do. And I still couldn't figure it out.
00:57:43
Speaker
So I'm bad at everything again. But essentially, it's a story where you are a chicken detective. And in this, it's Into the Hive. It's a sequel to a previous game, but you're going into the hive, which is like a dangerous part of the neighborhood to I think something to do with like avenging, I don't know, like one of your past partners or something.
00:58:08
Speaker
I don't quite remember, but once I got the hang of it, it's just point and click puzzles, dialogue navigation. And the writing was great. The voice acting was great. And it was interesting, they were talking about how this is a sequel, and the previous one was all black and white. And one of the biggest complaints they got was that people wanted it to be in color. So they added a color mode to the sequel. And then when they actually started having people play it, no one uses the color mode.
00:58:38
Speaker
Like no one uses a thing that I guess everybody complained about. So again, you know, stick to your stick to your gut. Okay.
Inotria: Souls-like Renaissance Adventure
00:58:47
Speaker
Stick to your stylistic intent because that confidence pulls through and people admire it. A different message than what we got about early access and listening to feedback about battle systems. I would call them a little bit different.
00:59:01
Speaker
but I thought it was, I thought it was, or I had fun with it. Maybe I'll check out the initial one. I was, I wasn't good. I wasn't good at it, but the production value on it was great and it was fun from what I played.
00:59:17
Speaker
It's just, again, it's one of those like on the floor performance anxiety. Navigating dialogue trees when there's a bunch of people watching you and standing around is very stressful. So that kind of factored into it. But yeah, that was chicken police. And finally, but not but not but not unfortunately, I played Inotria the last song.
00:59:46
Speaker
Um, and this is a souls like game, uh, set in Renaissance Italy, where you play a jester. Uh, let's see here. I'll just read the description, you know, Sri it, the last song is a souls like set in the beautiful sunlit war world inspired by Italian folklore where the brightest sun cast the dark shadows.
01:00:07
Speaker
So you play as kind of like, you know, an Italian jester. And really, it's it was pretty damn fun. Like I would describe it as how we've been saying lies of peace, very much bloodborne. Inotria is very much Dark Souls one or even Demon Souls to a certain extent, like it's a much slower game and like it had the right feel to it. And the thing that actually really stood out to me
01:00:33
Speaker
Um, and I think we talk about this a lot with from software games and their imitators is like the level design was actually very good. Like there was a lot of like verticality to it. Um, you went into a city at one point and in that city, there was a lot of different paths and it was very well designed. Um, is, this is very much a vertical slice of their game. I think it's very still early that I don't think they even have a release date yet.
01:00:57
Speaker
Um, like enemy AI was mostly just one attack, um, for the most part, but like watching it and seeing like just how they're building their world. Like I'm very excited for this game. And I think it's one to keep an eye on. I would maybe expect it to come late 2024 or even 2025 based on the fact that there's no release date.
01:01:16
Speaker
But just even playing it early, it had a lot of bones to it. There. Another thing that was separated, too, is you can actually switch your masks because, you know, like gestures wear masks. And based on that, you actually get like special combo or abilities. So there's actually a little variability in your play style just beyond weapons, too. It was it was a fun time. I had a great one of our friends played it, too, and gave a lot of feedback to the developers, apparently. I wasn't there for that one. Yeah.
01:01:46
Speaker
Now he said he gave feedback and they actually asked him to play another one of their games because they were really appreciative of it. I would show up and not know anything. But James, you're a big super punch out Dark Souls expert. I guess then how do you think it stacks up?
01:02:04
Speaker
I mean, obviously, like I said, this is a vertical slice of their game. So it's very hard to say what the final is going to be until they get further. But right, if this is what they're aiming for, I think it has a lot of promise to it.
PAX Experience Reflection: Indie and AAA Games
01:02:22
Speaker
Cool. I don't know if you could see the trailer, but they're doing a lot of work in terms of level design. And that's, I think, like I said, where most from software imitators fail. Sure.
01:02:33
Speaker
The question will be, can they get very interesting bosses and boss fights? I didn't get to a boss fight in the demo that I played, but yeah. That was a lot of games. That was a lot of games. There are so many games. There are so many games. It was a game convention. It was.
01:02:55
Speaker
How did, so we went to PAX, uh, actually I have the thing right here. We went to the PAX in 2021, I believe. Yes. PAX West 2021. And this is the first time, at least as a group, we've been back.
01:03:10
Speaker
Since 2021, 2021 was very small because it was still we were deep within COVID. Yeah, I would say like right now it's it's very much building back up. It was much is much closer to how the packs of was the year we went before that was like 2017 2018 16 no 16 was packs east that we went to.
01:03:33
Speaker
Oh, okay. Then it had to be 2018 or something. Yeah. But it's certainly like, I, I, I did not feel like.
01:03:42
Speaker
We were kind of, we were kind of like, uh, struggling for things to do. Like it, it was very much that convention was very full. I liked the, I liked the new convention center in Seattle. Like that was, it's a beautiful convention center. Um, and I think it's well-designed just for the needs. Like obviously we had a lot of easier time with media badges, kind of skipping around through things, but even without those, I think still we went through like the main entrances and it was pretty good.
01:04:10
Speaker
Agreed. It's definitely building back up. I mean, there wasn't Sony or Nintendo or Microsoft or Nintendo was there. True, but it wasn't. Yeah, I know. It wasn't in the same Pax vibe either. It was it was its own thing. But yeah. And I don't know if it'll ever get back to that, to be fair.
01:04:29
Speaker
Um, but you had the big names and you had the small names. It was a nice mix. And even with weight, we were able to structure this breakdown. You had the triple A's and the indies and a lot of strong showings from everyone. Yeah. Yeah. And that's it. I think I got a tweet from the organizer of the, um, for packs. And it was just saying that it was the largest packs they've had ever.
01:04:53
Speaker
Really? Yeah. And I think the reason why is because it was split to convention centers. Yeah, I think it probably they probably were able to sell more badges this time. Yeah, there's a lot of people. So I alluded to it earlier, but the expo hall is actually split between the old convention center and the new convention center. And a lot of people have been like, I hate that.
01:05:15
Speaker
I don't necessarily love it, but I think it went a long way for controlling the crowds.
Managing Crowds and Growth at PAX
01:05:22
Speaker
Just by the nature of having two and two separate buildings, you couldn't get the incredible mass of humanity in one building. So it kept lines a little low and it kept wait times a little lower because people would shift back and forth.
01:05:36
Speaker
Yeah, it didn't feel suffocating. Like that 2018 one was just a pile of. Yeah, massive bodies. And like, I think what also helps is like the between the two conventions halls, it felt fairly well balanced. Like there was stuff to go to in both of them. And, you know, so it's not like everyone favored going to one hall more than the other.
01:06:01
Speaker
Yeah, you know, yeah, there was not like a triple A hall and an indie hall. It was very much slower as like there are some triple A's in this one. There are some in that one. And that's also why Andy went to one expo hall and Charles and I went to a different one because we looked at what booths were there and we're like, they'll probably be more interesting stuff for this one for us to use for our media hour. So good on them for having the highest selling. Uh, when I was in line with one, one guy was trying to tell us from, he's like,
01:06:29
Speaker
Listen, man, Pax is going to be better next year, I promise. I was like, oh, no. You didn't go to 2021. Yeah, yeah. I was just wondering, I was like, what does he want it to be?
01:06:41
Speaker
I don't know. I don't think it's ever going to be what it was before. That's gone. But I thought it was a good showing. We were very fortunate to be journalists and get some benefits. We put in the work, Andy. We put in
Episode Wrap-Up and Reflections
01:06:59
Speaker
the work. We put a podcast out almost every week, mostly. Almost every week, mostly. That's right.
01:07:07
Speaker
We're delivering that hard-hitting news. I think we're probably in top 25% of podcasts at this point. Ooh. I support it. Well, I have to support it. I'm on it. Well, it was a lot of fun. We'll have a normal sized episode on the next episode.
01:07:27
Speaker
of ads to party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I've been your host, James. My voice is starting to give out Hartwell and I've been joined by Charles, a media journalist, Shemont. And I've been joined by Andy. I was going to say my throat is well lubricated, but Jesus Christ. And then I wanted to make a comparison, but then I didn't feel right.
01:07:52
Speaker
No, no, it doesn't. Well, lubricated. OK. Well, we were created from your monster hunter wineskin. Oh, and I got a party. Oh, man. Fun. Oh, I can't wait to drink one of that wineskin. I didn't know what to do with it, but thanks, everyone. Have a good night. Have a good night.