{"id":16890,"date":"2017-09-07T00:01:36","date_gmt":"2017-09-07T00:01:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=16890"},"modified":"2017-09-06T16:06:08","modified_gmt":"2017-09-06T16:06:08","slug":"pax-west-2017-part-2-runner-ing-around-like-a-blue-hedgehog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2017\/09\/07\/pax-west-2017-part-2-runner-ing-around-like-a-blue-hedgehog\/","title":{"rendered":"PAX West 2017 Part 2: Runner-ing Around Like a Blue Hedgehog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Like I said in my previous PAX article, I had more meetings at this PAX than any other.\u00a0 You could say I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.\u00a0 In gaming terms, I was running around the show like a speedy blue hedgehog to attend all those meetings.\u00a0 Speaking of which, I did meet with SEGA and played a new Sonic game.\u00a0 Not to mention a bunch of awesome upcoming titles from Square-Enix and even Atari!\u00a0 And many more, too, so we\u2019d better get started!<\/p>\n

Humble Bundle<\/strong><\/p>\n

This company with the name that\u2019s hard to say three times fast started out by selling a group of games at discounted prices, but now they publish games, too!\u00a0 Most of my meetings at PAX were on the show floor, but some of them were in hotel suites, and even apartment rooms!\u00a0 That was the case with Humble Bundle.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I was a little late to this meeting because of misinformation given to me by the reception desk, so I didn\u2019t get to see the game I came to check out there: A Hat in Time.\u00a0 It\u2019s a 3-D collect-a-thon platformer that hearkens back to when these kinds of games were popular in the mid to late 90\u2019s.\u00a0 It\u2019s also Humble Bundle\u2019s first console outing.\u00a0 Even though I didn\u2019t get to check it out at the show, I hope I can review it when it comes out later this year.<\/p>\n

Atari<\/strong><\/p>\n

Another hotel meeting I had was with Atari.\u00a0 Old school gamers like me may remember when Atari was king of video games in the 70\u2019s and early 80\u2019s.\u00a0 Now they\u2019re remaking one of their most famous titles with Tempest 4000.\u00a0 Tempest was an arcade shooter hit featuring vector graphics.\u00a0 It\u2019s been updated a few times before, with Tempest 2000 and 3000.\u00a0 But with 4000, Jeff Minter (Tempest 2000 creator) is back on board.\u00a0 Tempest 4000 seems to have all the features of the past two games, like hypnotic backgrounds and a thumping techno soundtrack.\u00a0 There are also power-ups that help boost your score and shoot enemies.\u00a0 You can also use a jump feature to avoid enemies, but be careful because when you do this, your score won\u2019t be counted.\u00a0 Classic arcade game fans should look for this downloadable title on consoles and PC later this year or the next.<\/p>\n

Square-Enix<\/strong><\/p>\n

When I was in high school I loved playing Square\u2019s games in the 16-bit days.\u00a0 So I was thrilled to find out that many of their showings at PAX were remakes of classic RPGs I loved, or new RPGs with classic sensibilities.\u00a0 Note that while the pictures posted here were at their booth on the show floor, I was lucky enough to play their games privately in a hotel meeting room across the street.\u00a0 I\u2019ve been able to do this with them for several years, and I\u2019ve enjoyed it every time.\u00a0 In fact, Square-Enix\u2019s games were probably my favorites that I played at this show!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Secret of Mana<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the games I played to death back in the 16-bit days was Secret of Mana.\u00a0 This new game is a 3-D remake of that original classic.\u00a0 It features 3-D graphics and voice acting, but still stays true to the original.\u00a0 It\u2019s still played in a top down fashion and everything seems as I remembered it, so I was able to jump right in!\u00a0 The fact sheet says it has a newly arranged soundtrack, but the music in the game sounded exactly like the SNES game to me.\u00a0 One addition I did notice was a map screen on the top right corner.\u00a0 The map screen looked like the graphics from the SNES game, but since everything is in HD now, the higher resolution allowed that screen to be really small!\u00a0 One other change I noticed was that once you level up your sword and can hold down the button for a charge attack, the new move was a jump slash move that was harder to hit enemies with than in the SNES version.\u00a0 But this was just a preview version so I\u2019m sure things can change.\u00a0 Unfortunately, I could only play until I almost got to the first boss before they made me stop and move onto the next game.\u00a0 Aww, I had just started!\u00a0 Oh well, that\u2019s how you know I\u2019ll enjoy this game because I didn\u2019t want to stop playing it!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Lost Sphear<\/strong><\/p>\n

Even though this is a new RPG, it has a lot in common with the classic ones I used to play in the 16-bit days.\u00a0 It\u2019s made by the same folks who did I am Setsuna, which I loved and reviewed earlier this year on the Switch.\u00a0 Lost Sphear is a lot like that game, except with less snow.\u00a0 In the game you play as a boy named Kanata and his friend Lumina and their younger pal Locke.\u00a0 Their job in the town they live in is to ring the bell to warn others of approaching monsters.\u00a0 One day when they were away from town for a bit to catch fish for dinner, they hear the bell ring.\u00a0 Rushing back, they find the whole town has disappeared into a nothingness of white, as well as patches of the world map (I guess that\u2019s how they keep you from exploring places you\u2019re not supposed to go too early).\u00a0 So now they set out on an adventure to find out what\u2019s happening to their disappearing world.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve played RPGs like I am Setsuna, or even older ones like Chrono Trigger, you\u2019ll be able to jump right into Lost Sphear.\u00a0 Tromping around the world map and battle encounters are exactly the same.\u00a0 One new thing they added to this game is that when it\u2019s your turn to attack in battle, you can freely move around to try and find the best way to fight.\u00a0 Each character has a range that their weapon can reach.\u00a0 Kanata uses a sword and strong Lumina punches things with her iron gauntlets, so their weapons have short range.\u00a0 But Locke shoots a crossbow and you can try to line up his shots by looking at a red line so he can hit multiple enemies at once.\u00a0 Later on in the game you\u2019ll supposedly be able to don powerful mech armor for stronger attacks.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if this is supposed to be a sequel or spinoff to I am Setsuna, but there is one move where if you hit the square button at the right time, you can do more damage in battle, similar to what you could do in the other game.\u00a0 In fact, in Lost Sphear, they even call it the \u201cSetsuna System.\u201d\u00a0 Also, the enemies I fought look exactly like those in the first game.\u00a0 Anyway, this looks like something I can really sink my teeth into when it comes out next year.<\/p>\n

At the main Square Enix booth, they even had a man and a lady dressed up as Kanata and Lumina.\u00a0 They were probably the best cosplayers at the show.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if they were Square Enix employees or just professional cosplayers, but they were both very nice and friendly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dissidia Final Fantasy NT<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of my favorite games on the PSP was Dissidia Final Fantasy, a fighting game featuring characters from the Final Fantasy series.\u00a0 Ever since then I\u2019ve always wanted a version of it to play on big consoles, and now we can early next year with Dissidia Final Fantasy NT.\u00a0 It has a bit more of an arcade-y feel to it, as you battle in teams of three this time, but mostly it feels that way because I believe it\u2019s based on a 2015 Dissidia arcade game.\u00a0 Plus Team Ninja helped make it, and while I\u2019m not a big fan of Team Ninja, they are experienced in making 3-D fighters.\u00a0 Because of the more arcade style nature of this game, I\u2019m a little worried the single player experience may not be as robust as it was on the PSP, but we\u2019ll just have to wait and see.<\/p>\n

King\u2019s Knight: Wrath of the Dark Dragon<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last game I played at Square Enix was actually at their main booth.\u00a0 Guess there wasn\u2019t as long of a line to play it.\u00a0 Anyway, in Final Fantasy XV, the characters play a game called King\u2019s Knight.\u00a0 And this is a game that\u2019s based on what they\u2019re playing.\u00a0 King\u2019s Knight was actually originally a game on the NES, and it was a 2-D shooter featuring a fantasy theme and graphics that look like they were lifted out of an 8-bit RPG.\u00a0 It also wasn\u2019t a very good game either.\u00a0 The new King\u2019s Knight game hopes to improve on that with much better graphics and hopefully better gameplay.\u00a0 I had a little trouble controlling the game on the touch screen, as it\u2019s a mobile game.\u00a0 But then, I didn\u2019t know what I was doing either.\u00a0 But it\u2019ll be interesting to try this free-to-play classic update when it comes out on mobile devices later this year.<\/p>\n

Brawlhalla<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve seen Brawlhalla at PAX before and you might\u2019ve heard of it already.\u00a0 It\u2019s a free-to-play Smash Bros. type game on PC.\u00a0 The characters are cartoony and many resemble Vikings and characters from Norse mythology, with a few werewolves and minotaurs mixed in for good measure.\u00a0 But the reason why I met with them this time is because they\u2019re bringing the game to PS4.\u00a0 It\u2019ll still be free-to-play, and you can play online with other versions of the game on PC and whatnot.\u00a0 While the game isn\u2019t quite as good as Smash Bros., it\u2019s still simple fun with light controls and I liked how you could climb up walls like Mega Man X.\u00a0 I\u2019ll definitely be on the lookout later for this one and maybe even review it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Arrow Heads<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is a single screen, overhead viewed multiplayer battle game.\u00a0 You play as one of four cartoony multicolored bird men armed with bows and arrows.\u00a0 You move around with the left stick and try to shoot other players with arrows.\u00a0 You aim with the right stick and the longer you move it forward, the farther you\u2019ll shoot your arrows.\u00a0 So it\u2019s tricky to hit other players, but good simple fun.\u00a0 Even when you die, you can make your body flop around to stun other players.<\/p>\n

Runner 3<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve reviewed all the Bit.Trip and Runner games so far, and I hope to review this one, too, when it comes out later next year. \u00a0Commander Video is back, running continuously left to right, collecting gold and other score boosting goodies.\u00a0 Like Runner 2, the graphics are in 3-D, but you still move in 2-D space.\u00a0 In this game, you can choose branching pathways in 2.5D fashion, similar to games like Klonoa.\u00a0 In Runner 2, there were secret classic levels that looked like an old video game.\u00a0 But in this game, the classic levels look like an old 1930\u2019s cartoon!<\/p>\n

SEGA<\/strong><\/p>\n

I met with SEGA to play Sonic Forces, but the majority of their booth was dedicated to a new Warhammer game.\u00a0 I\u2019m not into Warhammer, so I didn\u2019t check that one out.\u00a0 But I did win a set of Warhammer pins there for my brother by playing a Sonic trivia game!\u00a0 But the entrance to the Warhammer area was pretty cool, so I took a picture of it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Even the sides of the booth were cool, with these waterfall things sticking out.\u00a0 They had to always have someone around to tell people not to touch the waterfalls, though.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t want people to touch them, then why put them there in the first place?\u00a0 And maybe put a \u2018don\u2019t touch\u2019 sign there, too, I dunno.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sonic Forces<\/strong><\/p>\n

But the game I was there to play was Sonic Forces. It\u2019s a 3-D Sonic game that lets you play as modern Sonic and Classic Sonic, like Generations, but you can also create your own character, too.\u00a0 A lot of people have scoffed at this idea for various reasons, but I think it\u2019s a good idea because kids love Sonic, and they also love making their own characters, so it makes sense to do that here.\u00a0 Sonic games are for kids, too, not just older Sonic fans!<\/p>\n

Anyway, I played a short 3-D level with modern Sonic.\u00a0 It played like any other 3-D Sonic game, but I did like the graphics, especially the neat water puddle effects on the ground.\u00a0 Then I saw a boss battle with Classic Sonic.\u00a0 You fight Dr. Robotnik like the first boss from Sonic 1 with the ball and chain, but then he transforms into a giant mech robot for you to battle.\u00a0 Then I saw a 2-D level with a created character.\u00a0 It seemed to play mostly like Sonic, but the created character had a grappling hook and a flamethrower weapon.\u00a0 Another character I saw had a lightning gun.\u00a0 Created characters can have special perks, too, like pulling rings toward them or keeping one ring after getting hit.\u00a0 Finally I played a 3-D level where Sonic and the created character teamed up!\u00a0 You could dash around with Sonic but take out surrounding enemies with the created character\u2019s weapon.\u00a0 We\u2019ll just have to see if Sonic fans take to Forces the way they did Mania, but I hope to review it when it comes out later this year.<\/p>\n

Also at SEGA\u2019s booth, they had a presentation area where they could show off games and have contests.\u00a0 I like how they had a sense of humor because at the end of one of their presentations, they said they were branching out into other departments and showed off a concept for \u201cKnux Enchilada Body Spray.\u201d\u00a0 I thought that was silly so I took a picture of the screen.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Hamsterdam<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last meeting I had was in an apartment building.\u00a0 I had never had a meeting like that before!\u00a0 Anyway, Muse Games is a New York City based game developer and one of their titles is an upcoming mobile game called Hamsterdam.\u00a0 If you want to get my attention and play your game, just put cute hamsters in it!\u00a0 Even though you play as a cute little hamster, he\u2019s a tough kung-fu hamster who beats up bad guys!\u00a0 The controls for this game are really unique.\u00a0 When an enemy is about to hit you, they\u2019ll flash yellow for a second.\u00a0 Tap them quickly and your hamster will attack them instead.\u00a0 If he brings them in closer, you can continue to tap for extra hits.\u00a0 As you do that, a KO meter will fill up at the bottom of the screen.\u00a0 When it\u2019s full, you can drag and drop it over to the bad guy you want to defeat.\u00a0 Sometimes you may have to swipe the screen in a direction to avoid ambushes, too.\u00a0 Anyway, it looked like a silly little cartoony game and I hope to review it when it comes out later on.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s all for now!\u00a0 Check back later for Part 3 of my PAX West 2017 article, where I\u2019ll talk about what I saw at PAX with three of my favorite video game companies: Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Nintendo!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Like I said in my previous PAX article, I had more meetings at this PAX than any other.\u00a0 You could say I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off.\u00a0 In gaming terms, I was running around the show like a speedy blue hedgehog to attend all those meetings.\u00a0 Speaking of which, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":16884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16890","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-miscellaneous"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16890","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16890"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16890\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16892,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16890\/revisions\/16892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16890"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16890"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16890"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}