Pursuing Pixels

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We've finally got the usual trifecta back together, just in time to get into our most recent online session with Risk of Rain 2.  Before we get into that though, Randall follows up with his thoughts on Bot Vice after Kevin's high praise last week.
The GMTK Game Jam 2020 wrapped up this weekend and Kevin checked out a small sampling of the whopping 5,000+ submissions.  Rotational Shift & Pongeon are a pair of single-screen arcade games; You Are Now Possessed & Pink River earned the #1 & #3 spots, respectively, on the overall charts.
John is exploring an alien ocean and cataloguing his discoveries with In Other Waters; a gorgeous, entirely UI-based, narrative adventure.  Randall wraps things up with a retro deep cut, The Immortal, an NES title none of us were familiar with prior to its recent addition to the Nintendo Switch Online service.
 
Timestamps:
Bot Vice  -  00:01:17
Risk of Rain 2  -  00:08:05
GMTK Game Jam 2020  -  00:19:50
↳   Rotational Shift  -  00:20:55
↳   Pongeon  -  00:22:34
↳   You Are Now Possessed  -  00:24:28
↳   Pink River  -  00:26:14
In Other Waters  -  00:29:56
The Immortal (NES on Switch)  -  00:37:29
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  You're stuck with Randall and Kevin again this week.  We kick things off with a quick Animal Crossing correction after a scolding from John in our Discord chat.
Kevin's still poking around on itch.io and stumbles across a couple of gems from developer, rxi.  SCANLINE is a roguelike run 'n' gun & Shuriken is a Game Boy-inspired mini metroidvania—both developed during game jams.
Randall & Kevin check out Dogurai from HungryBear, another Game Boy-inspired platformer.  This one is of the hack 'n' slash variety, and was also included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality.
Randall 'smoothly' transitions into The Last of Us: Part II from there.  He's still not entirely gripped by the game's narrative, but there are some new gameplay twists that are keeping him involved, and coming back for more!
Kevin closes things out with a couple of titles from DYA Games that he's been playing on Nintendo Switch.  Super Star Path is an arcade shoot 'em up mixed with a match three puzzler, and Bot Vice is a gallery shooter akin to Wild Guns that, like its inspirations, doesn't shy away from a healthy challenge.
 
Timestamps:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (*quick correction*)  -  00:00:55
rxi games  -  00:04:06
↳   SCANLINE  -  00:04:17
↳   Shuriken  -  00:09:08
Dogurai  -  00:12:39
The Last of Us: Part II  -  00:20:29
DYA Games  -  00:28:58
↳   Super Star Force  -  00:29:17
↳   Bot Vice  -  00:36:09
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're a duo once again, with Randall tagging in for John this week.  Kevin wastes no time before correcting his failure to mention BREAKER from Daniel Linssen last week, yet another game included in the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality.  Randall literally dips his toes into the latest Animal Crossing: New Horizons update, which introduces swimming into the mix.  He also finally gets into some Risk of Rain 2 after our incessant begging—and a massive new update that has the game running fantastic on Nintendo Switch!
Kevin talks about a few games from Matt Glanville, starting off with a couple of games that just came out on Switch.  Singled Out seems to be 'Guess Who?' in video game form...with a sniper rifle.  Ghost Grab 3000 is an insanely addictive arcade experience (with a grappling hook!?!) that is beyond difficult to put down.  And the same goes for Switch 'N' Shoot, a single-button shmup where 'one more run' never means 'one more run.'  All three games are available for Nintendo Switch and will only set you back $5 each!
Randall's been sinking most of his time into The Last of Us: Part II, which he's been enjoying on the whole, in spite of some hiccups in the story line along the way.  There's no need to worry about *spoilers* either, as Randall primarily highlights his main interest in the series...the gameplay.
Kevin wraps up the episode with a couple of bullet hell shooters form the itch.io bundle that he teased on least week's episode—Task Force Kampas & Risk System.  The former being a single credit, arcade experience, while the latter is a story-driven, 32-bit pixel art extravaganza; each one baking the concept of risk/reward straight into their core.
 
Timestamps:
BREAKER  -  00:01:25
Animal Crossing: New Horizons (update)  -  00:04:02
Risk of Rain 2 (update)  - 00:08:01
Matt Glanville games  -  00:14:03
↳   Singled Out  -  00:14:19
↳   Ghost Grab 3000  -  00:15:22
↳   Switch 'N' Shoot  -  00:19:41
The Last of Us: Part II  -  00:23:00
Task Force Kampas  -  00:30:58
Risk System  -  00:34:54
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  John & Kevin warm up the mics by talking about their resolution games from our 2019 holiday episode.  John is actually digging into Transistor from Supergiant Games, while Kevin can't believe that Undertale is not available on Xbox One.
Kevin is still poking around on itch.io and stumbles across a unique developer named Daniel Linssen.  There's a fast-paced puzzler called Adrena-Line, along with a couple of unique 2D platformers—Outline & Birdsong.
John wraps us up by scratching the Final Fantasy Tactics itch with a new game on Switch, Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark.  We springboard into a conversation about visual juxtaposition & cohesiveness from there, before calling it a night.
 
Timestamps:
Transistor  -  00:01:38
Undertale / Deltarune  -  00:05:55
Daniel Linssen  -  00:14:54
↳   Adrena-Line  -  00:15:19
↳   Outline  -  00:18:15
↳  Birdsong  -  00:20:05
Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark  -  00:24:02
↳  Visual Juxtaposition & Coherence  -  00:37:00
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  John's still exploring the world of modular synthesizers, and finds a new use for his Wii Nunchucks in the process.  Kevin & John have both hyped up Lazy Galaxy: Rebel Story in the past—another game included in the itch.io bundle—but Randall isn't quite as impressed.
Speaking of the bundle, Kevin is still plugging away!  First, it's WitchWay, a deceptively cute puzzle-platformer about rescuing bunnies...yeah, it's that cute!  After that, it's Blitz Breaker, an arcade, action-platformer where running is not an option.
We wrap things up with a discussion on Firewatch, which John finally gets around to and can't wait to dig in with Randall, who's also played through the majority of the game.  We do get into some story spoilers towards the very end of the episode, but there's very ample warning, along with a timestamp below.
 
Timestamps:
Modular Synthesizers (w/ Wii Nunchuck)  -  00:00:59
Lazy Galaxy: Rebel Story  -  00:05:01
WitchWay  -  00:12:31
Blitz Breaker  -  00:18:12
Firewatch  -  00:24:34
↳  *Spoilers*  -  00:30:41
 
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Welcome back to Pursing Pixels.  We're back to the usual trifecta, as John is back with us this week—and we're burning through a bunch of games in record time!
First, we debate the greatness of Diablo III, as we've all been dipping our toes into the multiplayer experience recently.  Kevin also figures out (some of) the mechanics he was missing in Six Match, and features a couple more games from the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality, which we get to a bit later.
Before that, John & Randall talk some more Timespinner, as John points out a couple of KEY elements to the game we neglected to mention the first time around. 
Kevin wraps things up, bringing us back to the aforementioned itch.io bundle with a couple of deceptively simple roguelike experiences.  Gun Rounds offers some incredibly engaging turn-based combat mechanics, reminiscent of the early Paper Mario games.  10S, one the other hand, is pure arcade action in the form of a tennis-bullethell hybrid.
 
Timestamps:
Diablo III  -  00:01:06
Six Match  -  00:07:21
Timespinner  -  00:11:05
Gun Rounds  -  00:22:30
10S  -  00:25:53
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  First things first, we want to give a huge shoutout to anyone involved with the itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality (link to the bundle below).  Whether you helped organize the fundraiser, donated a project as a developer, or contributed to the cause as a gamer, it's been truly amazing to see the indie gaming community come together to raise nearly $7 million at the time of writing this episode description—and there's still a little over 24 hours left to go!
With that said, it's just Kevin & Randall this week as John wraps up the extended tax season at work.  Kevin is spotlighting a bunch of titles that were included within the bundle this week, and even recorded some supplemental videos for a handful of them (links to some of those below, as well).  He kicks things off with Spring Falls, a delightful, yet deceptively tricky, puzzle game that can induce a Zen-like state.  After that, it's onto the difficult but forgiving physics-based precision platformer, The Floor is Jelly. 
Kevin passes the torch over to Randall who briefly talks a little Bug Fables in anticipation of bouncing some thoughts off of John when he returns, who has also started up the game.  Then, it's onto Randall's retro gaming specialty, as he digs into the Castlevania Anniversary Collection, specifically to talk about Kid Dracula from the NES-era, which had never seen a release before this here in North America. 
Before we wrap things up, Kevin's reaching back to the itch.io bundle for a couple more games.  First, it's a match-three puzzler—which you know we can never get enough of—called Six Match that Kevin fumbles his way though explaining (and setting up).  Lastly, he's breaking out the gushers again, as it's nothing but praises for the wonderful, arcade dot-gobbler, Eat Girl.
 
Timestamps:
itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice & Equality  -  00:01:20
↳  Spring Falls  -  00:05:44
↳  The Floor is Jelly  -  00:13:11
Bug Fables  -  00:17:38
Castlevania Anniversary Collection  -  00:20:23
↳  Kid Dracula
Six Match  -  00:30:54
Eat Girl  -  00:34:21
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  If you hear a faint humming in the background...no, you're not crazy!  It was super hot the night we recorded and John's computer was overheating, so the discerning listener may hear a little extra background noise from the fan on this week's episode.
That said, before we get into games this week, John takes us on a journey through the wonderful world of Modular Synthesizers.  While on the subject of music, Kevin shares a few more thoughts on Ape Out after finishing off the game over the weekend (*link to closing credits tune below*).  Randall convinces himself to pick up the recently announced physical copies of the Blaster Master Zero series on Switch, after checking out the opening chunk of the first game. 
Randall's also the only one of us playing anything new this week, Bug Fables, a turn-based RPG that pulls heavily from the early entries in the Paper Mario franchise.  John continues on the retro bent from last week and fires up his Wii U Virtual Console to talk The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask.  We wrap things up with a fairly general Mega Man discussion, inspired by Kevin's recent endeavor into The Blue Bomber's latest adventure, Mega Man 11.
 
Timestamps:
Modular Synthesizers  -  00:01:30
Ape Out  -  00:12:25
Blaster Master Zero  -  00:17:04
Bug Fables  -  00:22:21
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask  -  00:31:04
Mega Man 11 (+ entire series)  -  00:43:07
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, we're talking the state of retro gaming today from all angles in the back half of the episode.  We actually had to cut ourselves off due to time constraints, so there will surely be more retro material to come in the future!
But before we get to the general convo, Kevin follows up on the Yoshi talk from last week, and gets into some Yoshi's Island with Randall, transitioning perfectly into the most recent Super Famicom export on Switch, Panel de Pon (aka Tetris Attack! here in the states).  John is starting to find his footing in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen.  We're back to Randall & Kevin after that, who've both been playing some Timespinner, and is giving us both some Chasm vibes, which can never be a bad thing.  Finally, transitioning us into the retro conversation, Kevin beat another entry in the Shovel Knight franchise, Specter of Torment.
 
Timestamps:
Yoshi's Island  -  00:01:21
Panel de Pon / Tetris Attack  -  00:06:24
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen  -  00:12:46
Timespinner  -  00:18:42
Shovel Knight: Specter of Torment  -  00:25:01
↳  Retro Gaming Nowadays  -  00:30:43
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, we kick the ball around for a bit before we get into the bulk of the episode.  John gives some first impressions on Lonely Mountains: Downhill, as Kevin is having a tough time putting it down.  Randall & John are still living the island life, keeping up their daily routines in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.  Randall also dips his toe into the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy.
Kevin checks out yet another Xbox Game Pass title, Creature in the Well, a pinball-dungeon-crawler hybrid.  John imports a European copy of Luigi's Mansion 3 for himself as a personal birthday treat, and Randall polishes off another floor of the hotel.  Kevin also dusts off his Wii U and finally gets around to Yoshi's Woolly World, unearthing a multitude of Yoshi feelings we never knew we had.
 
Timestamps:
Lonely Mountains: Downhill  -  00:02:25
Animal Crossing: New Horizons  -  00:03:47
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney Trilogy  -  00:09:09
Creature in the Well  -  00:13:10
Luigi's Mansion 3  -  00:23:15
Yoshi's Woolly World  -  00:34:10
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  Randall finally signs up for Xbox Game Pass, as he just couldn't wait for his physical copy of Streets of Rage 4 to arrive.  He & Kevin blazed through some levels online and—yeah, this is how you modernize a retro franchise/genre!  Kevin also checks out Lonely Mountains: Downhill after seeing nothing but rave reviews.  He's in the same boat, and is borderline obsessed.  John sings the praises of Keita Takahashi after picking up Katamari Damacy: Reroll on Nintendo Switch.  Kevin & Randall also both polished off SteamWorld Dig 2 and still highly recommend checking it out, if you somehow managed to miss this one (like we did).
 
Timestamps:
Street of Rage 4  -  00:02:16
Lonely Mountains: Downhill  -  00:17:06  &  00:32:06
Katamari Damacy: Reroll  -  00:24:54
SteamWorld Dig 2  -  00:34:21
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, we're celebrating our first year of the podcast with a few drinks, and a few of our favorite games that (somehow) we have yet to discuss.  Kevin kicks things off with Downwell, a nearly perfect arcade action game wrapped up in a slick, criminally cheap, roguelike package.  Randall let's us know where how far back his obsession with sports games goes, and throws it all the back to NHL '94 on Sega CD—because, where else would Randall be playing it?  John reminisces about another retro game that filled a much-needed JRPG void for Nintendo fans in the GameCube era, with Tales of Symphonia.
We wrap things up by looking back at our first year of the show, and also looking forward to what the future holds for both ourselves, and for the podcast.
 
Discussed:
Downwell  -  00:02:41
NHL '94  -  00:13:48
Tales of Symphonia  -  00:24:42
↳  Wrap up discussion  -  00:32:23
↳  Star Wars  (w/ a little Trek) chatter  -  00:43:49
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're merely a duo this week, but we've got a bunch of games to gab about!  Randall kicks us off with his daily quarantine routine, as he's still plugging away at Animal Crossing: New Horizons.  Kevin is still taking advantage of his Game Pass subscription, moving along to Journey from the Savage Planet, which was on his radar thanks to John.  The two of us bust out the gushers after that, and heap some more praise on top of Sayonara Wild Hearts & Ape Out.  We tease a little Risk of Rain 2 for the next time that John is able to join us, before wrapping things up by taking one small step for man, and one giant step for...this podcast? 
That's right!  We're entering the future (aka the present) and have a brand new Discord channel all set up and ready to go!  Come hang & chat about what you're playing with us as we wrap up our first your of podcasting and move into the next!
 
Timestamps:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons  -  00:02:12
Journey to the Savage Planet  -  00:11:20
Sayonara Wild Hearts  -  00:22:28
Ape Out  -  00:36:34
Risk of Rain 2  -  00:44:55
We're on Discord now!  -  00:46:22
↳  Euchre 3D (online tournament)
 
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  Our dreams have finally come true, as Nintendo has finally added in the ability to make your very own worlds in Super Mario Maker 2.  We finally get around to talking a little Minit after the challenge was issued to Randall a couple of months back. After that, we all talk some SteamWorld Dig 2—yeah, this game is awesome!  Kevin wraps us up with some games that he's been playing online with friends and family lately—20XX (a Pursuing Pixels favorite) and Kirby's Dream Land 3.
 
Timestamps:
Super Mario Maker 2 (Update 3.0)  -  00:01:44
Minit  -  00:14:07
SteamWorld Dig 2  -  00:23:21
20XX  -  00:39:20
Kirby's Dream Land 3  -  00:42:29
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen!  If you'd like to find us elsewhere on the internet, you can find us at:
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Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, we're throwing some D's on that...actually, let's just all forget that song ever existed.  That said, the letter 'D' is the theme of the week, with Kevin & John virtually reconnecting with the rest of their bandmates for a little Diablo III online.  Randall keeps the temperature running hot, as we hang around in Hell for a little while longer with DOOM 64.  Then we all talk through the early stages of Day and Night, a block-matching puzzler with some solid mechanics, and some iffy aesthetic choices.  John closes us out with a nostalgia trip from the Nintendo Wii era, the seemingly everlasting de Blob.
 
Timestamps:
Diablo III: Eternal Collection  -  00:02:03
DOOM 64  -  00:10:17
Day and Night  -  00:16:45
de Blob  -  00:27:16
 
Thanks so much for taking the time to listen!  If you'd like to find us elsewhere on the internet, you can find us at:
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