PAX East 2020

Video Game Conventions and Culture

When you love video games the way I do, there’s nothing quite like these gigantic conventions. People are scattered everywhere who just love games and other things labeled to be “nerdy”. You are truly able to be among your people at these things. My entire life I experienced various negative interactions from people when they heard how much I loved video games, playing them, reading about them, watching them, or going to a convention based around them! Not at a convention like PAX though, everyone is there for the same reason and no one cares what you look like or which game is your favorite, and it is great.

AAA Titles

Now, going into PAX, I knew what I was most interested in seeing there specifically, but what I love most is discovering new games I didn’t know about before. I love stumbling upon a random independent developer making a game that really catches my eye that I’ve never heard of before. Some of the larger AAA titles piquing my interest heading into PAX were Doom Eternal, which I’d already demoed at E3 over the summer, but my love of Doom knows no bounds.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons for Switch, which I didn’t really feel compelled to play a demo for, as it is another Animal Crossing game and I’ll play it endlessly, but I know what to expect at this point. I’ve been playing Animal Crossing games since the first release in 2001. Other big ones were Cyberpunk 2077 and anything Sony-related (*cough* The Last of Us 2 *cough*); but sadly CD Projekt Red and Sony were both forced to back out of the convention because of travel complications with COVID-19, so attendees were unable to get their hands on those.

Games I Discovered at PAX East 2020

As I mentioned already though, my favorite games are ones I’ve never heard of that I just enjoy to no end. Just seeing the gameplay makes me think it looks like something I’d enjoy, then I end up being right. There’s nothing like that feeling, so I’m going to review a few games that I’d never (and you may have never) heard of before I played them at PAX East 2020.

Panzer Paladin

This was one of the first games I noticed while walking the floor for no reason other than it was a game I’d never heard of, but they had a big booth? These booths cost money, so seeing a smaller company I’ve never heard of with a larger-sized fancy booth makes me think they must be doing something right! But it wasn’t just big, it was beautiful. Colorful, badass art was displayed on a large wall that hovered over a few setups with chairs to be played while the developers watched.

I took my first chance to get hands-on with the game and try it out for myself. Panzer Paladin is a 2D action-adventure-platformer from developer Tribute Games. They’ve been making and publishing their own games since 2010, but I’d never heard of them before now! Panzer Paladin is their newest game in development with a release set for Spring 2020. It’s an 8-bit sidescroller where the player is a pilot who can either run solo along the ground or hop into his Paladin which he pilots making him faster, stronger, and gain more abilities.

There are a plethora of weapons available to the player from a whip similar to that of Simon from the Castlevania series, all the way to a hockey stick you can swing at enemies! The game features plenty of enemies to fight and a few puzzling platforming sections to cover while tying in big boss battles. It reminded me a lot of a Mega Man game with definite influence from the Castlevania series. I added this one to my Steam wishlist from the convention center!

MisBits

I noticed the next game for the same reason as Panzer Paladin, it had a huge booth! Another game and developer I’d never heard of before who had a large booth surrounded by setups for players to try the game out. They even had a larger screen with a few employees commentating some gameplay, as well as a store set up to sell their merchandise. They were giving away prizes to players who finished with the highest score, as well as codes to activate the game on Steam for free! I’m not one to say no to free. I thought the game looked interesting and I gave it a try. Though it is a multiplayer game and I only got the chance to play two short matches, I saw the potential instantly.

In MisBits, players roll around the map in a ball or navigate it in third person the way you would in any other third-person shooter. Players get random abilities and toys from off the map to use for defeating your opponents. Developer Purple Lamp Studios describe the game as a “riotous multiplayer, action-driven sandbox for warriors, builders, and creators alike.” continuing on to say that a player will be able to create and edit games to play their own way. So not only can players get ridiculous power-ups and slam themselves into each other to get a kill, they can apparently customize the power-ups and maps (?) to their liking, or even the game modes to play the way they want. This game could unlock a whole new level of over-the-top ridiculous fun for an online multiplayer arena game. MisBits is currently available in Early Access on Steam.

Foregone

The final game I discovered at PAX East was Foregone. This super speedy action 2D platformer instantly reminded me of Motion Twin’s Dead Cells, which I cannot say enough good things about. The combat is so fast and fun, that even though it is frustratingly difficult, you just keep going back for more. Foregone is clearly inspired by Dead Cells. The combat and movement look just as fast and fluid, combining a large arsenal of weapons with this speed make for quite the adventure in taking out baddies.

Developer Big Blue Bubble allowed players to demo their game, and handed out business cards, assuring everyone that their exclusivity with the Epic Games Store would run out after a full calendar year, then they’d be available on Steam. The game is available on the Epic Games Store, Xbox One, and Playstation 4 and has some of the most beautiful pixel art I’ve seen in quite some time.

Wrap Up

All-in-all, a great trip, and experience. I’d love to return every year if I had the funds, but traveling is quite expensive! PAX East 2020 was a fun one and getting to try new games and see things no one else has seen is unlike anything else, and I just can’t get enough!

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