Pursuing Pixels

052: I‘m Not Taking Any Chances with My Autosaves

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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051: Maybe You‘re Smarter Than Us...

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
 
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050: You Watch that Cutscene!

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
 
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049: It‘s a Great Five Minutes

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  John & Randall are still chipping away at Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and go into more depth on the game's pros & cons.  Kevin polished off the rest of Wilmot's Warehouse & was also able to play through the entirety of Pikuniku, which was recently added to Xbox Game Pass.  John & Kevin also talk about their SNES Stream from a couple weeks back—we checked out Kirby's Dream Land 3 primarily, but also dipped our toes into Puyo Puyo 2 & Pop'n TwinBee, neither of which were released in America prior to their arrival on Nintendo Switch.  We close things out with a discussion about Okami HD, which evolves into a conversation about when it's time to throw in the towel.
 
Timestamps:
Animal Crossing: New Horizons  -  00:01:08
Wilmot's Warehouse  -  00:17:53
Pikuniku  -  00:22:38
Super Nintendo Streaming  -  00:27:17
↳  (Kirby's Dream Land 3, Puyo Puyo 2, & Pop'n TwinBee)
 Okami HD - 00:39:47
 
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048: Why is Nobody Washing Dishes?

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're still locked down in quarantine mode and hope you're all staying healthy and safe.  Thankfully video games have been keeping us nice and distracted in these trying times—so distracted that we completely forgot to say the name of our first game of the week, Children of Morta, which we've got widely differing opinions on.  Kevin's also still chipping away at Caveblazers, and briefly talks about some of his recent runs and streams on our Twitch channel.  He also finally gets around to playing Wilmot's Warehouse, which John recommended a while back on the podcast.  We wrap things up with a sale discussion, kicked off by a brief chat about Conduct Together!, which we all picked up for the criminally low price of a penny on the Nintendo Switch eshop. 
 
Timestamps:
Children of Morta  -  00:01:43
Caveblazers  -  00:21:57
Wilmot's Warehouse  -  00:27:19
Conduct Together!  -  00:35:08
↳  Brief discussion on MEGA sales  -  00:40:51
 
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047: Nintendo‘s Still Trying to Figure Out the Internet

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, John plows through Forager and is ready to get that cartridge back over to Kevin so he can finally dip his toes into the dungeons.  From there, Randall & John are living that island life in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.  Kevin & Randall both check out The Watcher, the latest addition to the roster of playable characters in Slay the Spire.  Kevin wraps things up with one of his most anticipated sequel-of-sorts, Exit the Gungeon.
 
Timestamps:
Forager  -  00:01:37
Animal Crossing: New Horizons  -  00:07:11
Slay the Spire (The Watcher Update)  -  00:23:44
Exit the Gungeon  -  00:32:32
 
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046: It‘s Time for You to Disappoint Me

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're all over the map this week, with DJ & Kevin kicking things off by finally getting around to playing Mark of the Ninja: Remastered.  Randall throws in the towel on Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and goes back to his previous JRPG love, Dragon Quest XI.  John dusts off his GameCube and attempts to break Metroid Prime for the umpteenth time.  Randall & Kevin wrap things up with some retro talk, with Randall zigzagging back and forth across the field in Tecmo Bowl, and Kevin reminiscing about an old favorite, Super Mario World—both of which are available on Nintendo Switch via the Nintendo Switch Online service!
 
Timestamps:
Mark of the Ninja: Remastered  -  00:01:12
Xenoblade Chronicles 2  -  00:18:28
Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age  -  00:26:13
Metroid Prime  -  00:27:57
Tecmo Bowl  -  00:42:00
Super Mario World  -  00:48:27
 
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045: Mario Didn‘t Even Make That Game

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're all back this week and talking some video games—and doing our best to keep ourselves distracted.  Kevin is still hooked on Forager...to the point where he's pawned the cartridge off on John in order to move onto to something new next week.  John is in a similar boat, and gets into the minutia of Rune Factory 4: Special, which was recently re-released on Switch.  DJ gets into a couple of horror games, with SOMA & Resident Evil &: Biohazard—and Kevin invites John & DJ over to do some horror game streaming in the (hopefully near) future.  Randall closes us out with another, much needed, NBA2K20 fix, in lieu of the remainder of the 2020 season.
 
Timestamps:
Forager  -  00:06:08
Rune Factory 4: Special  -  00:13:25
SOMA  -  00:25:46
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard  -  00:34:48
NBA2K20  -  00:40:16
 
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044: You Don‘t Have to Worry About Having a Social Life

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, Randall's keeping the retro train rolling once again with the (somewhat) recent re-release of Disney Classic Games: Aladdin & The Lion King.  Kevin is completely obsessed with Forager, and has already dumped 12+ hours into making those numbers go up.  DJ & John test the limits of their rhythmic sensibilities with TERRORHYTHM (TRRT), a solid music-based brawler of sorts.  Kevin & John wrap things up with Lazy Galaxy: Rebel Story, a charming-as-heck bullethell shmup with loads of character and various difficulty settings for all types of players.
 
Timestamps:
Disney Classic Games  -  00:01:57
↳  Aladdin & The Lion King
Forager  -  00:17:24
TERRORHYTHM (TRRT)  -  00:32:46
Lazy Galaxy: Rebel Story  -  00:48:06
 
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043: The Cloud Seas of Scotland

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, we're back in JRPG mode, as Randall gets pretty deep into Xenoblade Chronicles 2, while Kevin plays a bit of catch up—also rekindling John's love for this game.  DJ is still chipping away at Baba is You, and is getting well into the meta late game—yes, he's seen the credits roll, but what does that even mean?  John dusts off his copy of Advance Wars: Dual Strike on Nintendo DS after our WarGroove conversation a couple of weeks back, and we talk a bit about the pros & cons of each game's approach.  Kevin wraps things up with some more Titanfall 2 and kicks DJ's initial game challenge back over to Randall (and the rest of the gang), who will be playing Minit in the (somewhat) near future.
 
Timestamps:
Xenoblade Chronicles 2  -  00:01:15
Baba is You  -  00:28:15
Advance Wars: Dual Strike & WarGroove  -  00:42:23
Titanfall 2  -  00:52:12
 
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042: You Always Speak in Hyperbole

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  The whole gang is here again and we're going back to our roots, squeezing in a little chaos mode (aka 4v4) in Rocket League before recording today's episode.  John also talks a bunch about the newly released console edition of Kentucky Route Zero—we also get into a bit of a lengthy chat about story-driven games in general, each of us coming at the genre from a pretty diverse set of angles.  Kevin gripes a bit about Rogue Singularity, but is having a pretty good time with it overall, in spite of its considerable levels of jank.  And everyone but Randall is still playing Wizard of Legend...and it's still getting the best of us (even DJ?!?).
 
Timestamps:
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition  -  00:01:39
Rogue Singularity  -  00:28:06
Wizard of Legend  -  00:34:58
Rocket League  -  00:42:21
 
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041: Don‘t Put the Blame on Me

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, Kevin finally puts his money where his mouth is and heads over to the Krytpon VR Lounge with DJ & John, per DJ's suggestion.  We play a little Super Hot, Beat Saber, Spider-Man, and a few other various virtual reality experiences.  From there, it's back to the strategical battlefield—Kevin, Randall, & John are heading into the trenches with WarGroove, while DJ is hunkering down at his desk with the newly remastered Warcraft III: Reforged.
 
Timestamps:
Virtual Reality  -  00:01:23
↳  (Beat Saber, Super Hot, Spider-Man, etc.)
WarGroove  -  00:25:17
Warcraft III: Reforged  -  00:47:24
 
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040: Kirby Gets Tired, Unless You Give Him Some Cash

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're missing Randall once again, but we'll be back to full-strength next week!  In the meantime, John (and his wife Lauren) are getting into shape with Ring Fit Adventure—and we get a second wholehearted endorsement for Nintendo's exercise-JRPG hybrid.  DJ's hitting the rails with some sort of two-wheeled unicycle (also known as a bike?) in FutureGrind.  Kevin keeps the retro train rolling in Randall's absence once again, this time going with Kirby Super Star.  We talk a little more about everyone's favorite pink puffball after that, as DJ & John resist digging into their wallets while playing through Super Kirby Clash, a free-to-play incarnation of the franchise on Nintendo Switch.  We wrap things up with Super Time Force Ultra, which incorporates the concept of time travel into gameplay in some incredibly clever (and insane) ways.
 
Timestamps:
Ring Fit Adventure  -  00:01:15
FutureGrind  -  00:13:46
Kirby Super Star  -  00:23:55
Super Kirby Clash  -  00:32:24
Super Time Force Ultra  -  00:40:34
 
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039: It is Difficult, I Just Don‘t Understand Why

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  We're rolling without Randall for a couple of weeks while he prepares for finals, but Kevin is keeping the retro torch lit in his stead, following up on our Metroidvania discussion from a few weeks ago with a little Super Metroid.  DJ kicks us off with a recap of his time on Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea, a wrestling-themed cruise (as the name would imply), and even finds himself roped into a small poker tournament.  John is still playing Risk of Rain 2, and there are a bunch of new updates since the last time we talked about it!  We also check out the new, free Thundering Keep DLC for Wizard of Legend, yet another roguelike action game.  Kevin & John also dip their toes into Titanfall 2, taking DJ up on his challenge from a few weeks back—we'll definitely be getting more to this game in the near(-ish) future.
 
Timestamps:
Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea - 00:01:23
↳  (DJ discusses his recent voyage, including: AEW Wrestling, his time at the casino, and a poker tournament that he got himself roped into...)
Risk of Rain 2  -  00:15:53
Wizard of Legend (Thundering Keep Update)  -  00:23:15
Super Metroid  -  00:32:40
Titanfall 2 (tease)  -  00:45:35
 
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038: Split Those Joy-Cons Up, Baby!

Welcome back to Pursuing Pixels.  This week, Randall is back on the retro train, taking full advantage of the SNES games available via the Nintendo Switch Online service—this time, he's discovered a newfound fondness for Super Punch-Out!!, primarily having experience with the NES original.  He follows that up with another title from the immaculately-preserved Sega Ages lineup, Virtua Racing.  We kick things off with a follow-up from John on Ashen, discussing some more of the dungeon mechanics—and he's getting awfully close to the end of the game.  Kevin talks a bit about Gris, an absolutely stunning work of art, that happens to have a clever little puzzle-platformer attached to it.  DJ wraps things up with an old favorite pastime of ours, Catan, though this time he's playing on the Nintendo Switch and we discuss the (mostly) pros & (a few small) cons of digital board games.
 
Timestamps:
Ashen  -  00:01:35
Gris  -  00:11:56
Super Punch-Out!!  -  00:18:15
Sega Ages: Virtua Racing  -  00:27:54
Catan  -  00:31:50
 
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