Last Call: Breaking down Forsaken's opening mission

Between getting bogged down with stepping on plates and defeating waves of enemies, Destiny manages to get quite a few memorable missions into its campaign and post-games.  Sometimes they range from really deep and esoteric secrets involving an ARG.  Other times, they're just really solidly designed combat sequences that are fun to run through.  Last Call, the opening mission in Forsaken, and final fight of Cayde-6, falls into the latter.  It presents an excellent way to kick-off an entire expansion's breadth of content.  It's worth breaking down all the elements that come together in order to make this sequence as explosive as it is.

The Forsaken Pre-patch

Season 4 of Destiny and it’s Forsaken expansion is a mere few hours from being ready for Guardians to adventure and explore through. This time around however, Bungie has decided to present the community with a pre-patch, exposing the player base to new systems and features that have been teased for months now. While not everything in the pre-patch was perfect experience, the good far outweighs the bad.

Nintendo Labo: What it is, how it works, and why it's good.

Teased by Nintendo as a "new interactive experience" that is "specially crafted for kids and those who are kids at heart," Nintendo Labo seems at first to be a very strange meshing of papercraft and DIY robot building.  Utilizing unique features of the Nintendo Switch console with custom cardboard cradles and housings, you'll be able to transform the video game console into a myriad of devices with new functionality, creating new gameplay experiences in the process.  It's kind of the reverse end of what the public thought Nintendo might do with custom switch joy-cons for certain games, instead adapting the unique functionality of the joy-cons themselves.

Best game music of 2017

With an outstanding year for games, it's only natural for a bunch of awesome soundtracks to follow suite.  I've sorted 65 of the best tracks in roughly chronological order from games I played over past year into the playlist above.  Extra thoughts at the break bellow.

Kevin's top 10 games of 2017 - 1

#1: Nier Automata

If there is one thing that I am all about in media, especially video games, it's metatext.  I'm talking hardcore, fourth-wall breaking, mechanically inclusive, narratively focused, freak-you-out commentary on everything from the broad meaning of life down to the minute as the importance of a few megabytes of save data on your hard drive.  While in my mind this realm has been dominated by Kojima and Metal Gear for the past decade or two, it's encouraging to see more games take a stab at engaging a player directly.  Hell, this year we got both some excellent meta-narratives ranging from the art piece of What Remains of Edith Finch, to the genre-shaking in Doki Doki Literature Club.  But the complete package for me would be Square Enix  and Platinum's diamond in the rough.

Kevin's top 10 games of 2017 - 2

#2: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

It's hard to know what to say about this monolith of a title that hasn't already been covered.  For many, including myself, this was THE reason to buy a Nintendo Switch.  Judging by the discourse around the game, everybody seems to be more than satisfied with this generation-ender / launch title.  At face value, it's like delivering on all the promises that Bethesda-style open world games welch on:  You CAN actually go to that mountain in the distance and climb it.  The game DOES just manage to work.  And all the more surprisingly inside of a Zelda game, a series that has always touted an open-ish world with a deceptively linear through line.  But now we are really choosing what we want to do, weather it's head to the four corners of the world, tame horses, solve riddles, or just speed-run for the final boss.

Kevin's top 10 games of 2017 - 4 & 3

#4: Divinity: Original Sin 2

(Author's note: I backed this game on Kickstarter when it was announced)

The infinity engine style RPG is really experiencing a sort of second Renaissance at the time of writing.  From Wasteland to Pillar's of Exile, it's been super cool to see what this sort of classical take on the tabletop RPG has become with better game making tools, and Larian Studio's adventure into the genre has really clicked with me in every instance.  In just about every respect I can think of, the sequel manages to be a superior upgrade to the original (sin).  There's a more approachable plot, deeper and more complex combat, better multiplayer options, and even custom scenario support.

Kevin's top 10 games of 2017 - 6 & 5

#6: Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus 

I don’t often have to judge a game on two somewhat wildly disparate elements often. Gameplay for the Wolfenstein sequel is much like the first: fast, frenetic and arcadey. More often than not, the solution to your 1960’s Nazi problem is to run in, guns akimbo, and slay while constantly on the move. In its best moments, the game can feel like a sort of bullet ballet, circle-strafing and swapping guns while trying to manage a dwindling supply of health, armor and ammo.  Admittedly, this is a bit easier on PC than console, where a lack of precision could easily get you killed on the harder difficulties.  This is one experience that I've heard from multiple sources that dropping the difficulty to the easiest may be recommended to some regulars just to take in the story at a better clip.  It's a standard but enjoyable time.  Not quite the rip and tear revolution of Doom 2016, but no slouch either.

Kevin's top 10 games of 2017 - 8 & 7

#8: Prey

Worth it for one of the best and most intriguing openings in video games, bar-none. Seriously, if you haven’t spoiled yourself on how this game starts, you should stop reading this, go download the demo or even watch the sequence play out on youtube if you have no alternative. We’re talking Black Mirror levels of staging and set-up here.

Kevin's top 10 games of 2017 - 10 & 9

#10:  Destiny 2

My feelings on Destiny 2 are complex, probably borderlining on apologist for some people. This is the sixth purchasable chapter of Bungie’s sci-fi space-opera shooter, but the rampant issues present as each month passes make it feel like a last wave of polish was sorely missing in development. Off the top of my head, the community has had to contest with a lack of endgame for hardcore players, loot boxes, obfuscated gearing mechanics, XP throttling and inaccurate user interface, a mediocre expansion, dlc locking previous content, grossly imbalanced weapons, and just to top off the year, broken consumables. If you’re wrapped up in the daily Destiny community, it’s easy to bag on the devs as each issue arises, especially if it’s one that should have been learned from one of the franchise’s five previous entries.

Pixel Loadout Plays: Until Dawn

It's our first Live Stream!  In the spirit of the season, we're playing through Supermassive's Until Dawn, and seeing just how many teenagers can make it through to the end!

Join us on Youtube tonight at 5PM EST if you'd like to hang out in the chat!  Hope to see you there!

Pixel Loadout Podcast - Episode 014

Great Scott! It's Oct 21st!  Payday 2's new micro transactions continue to develop, Destiny's origins get a closer look, EVE ships are blowing up and Youtube wants to offer you a premium feature.  The future is heavy, man!

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Quick Time Events (10/21/2015)

Overkill's micro-transactions are being lambasted by players, Glitches in Destiny are pushing back events, and Valve's Steam Machines and controller are getting some first impressions...

First Impressions: Star Wars Battlefront Beta

Give yourself to the Dark Side. 

    My first impressions of the Star Wars: Battlefront Beta were surprisingly pleasant. Immediately after jumping into the game I had the familiar Star Wars: Battlefront feeling of being in the middle of a chaotic battle between the rebels and the empire. The game aesthetically feels like SWB but how the does game play hold up? Overall I'd say the game play holds up very well albeit a bit stripped down from previous games. I went into this experience thinking it was going to be a Battlefield game with a Star Wars paint job. Luckily I didn't experience that during my four hours of playing the beta. 

Pixel Loadout Podcast - Episode 013

Jason Voorhees returns for some asymmetrical multiplayer action, Overwatch gets a beta date, and game sales are up all around.  What could possibly go wrong?

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The Pixel Forecast (Week of 10/19/2015)

There are some pretty big names coming out this week.

Assassin's Creed: Syndicate takes place in industrial-era London with a pair of siblings. Gameplay seems to be the next iteration of the common Assassin's Creed formula.

Legend of Zelda: Triforce Heroes is the new 3DS exclusive Zelda game. The new  Hero gets split up into three versions of himself to overcome the new challenges. This installment has multiplayer features similar to Four Swords Adventures. One of the interesting challenges is that all players share the same Heart Meter.

Follow the link for some other titles coming out this week on all the current platforms!

Youtube gaming app on Android now supports mobile streaming

Google's relatively young gaming-focused streaming playfor is rolling out a new features named "Mobile Capture" which allows local screen recording and screencasting.

Mobile capture supports 480p SD and 720 HD resolutions and also allows for integration of a front facing camera and the phone mic to record the player as well.

While the technology itself is not new, the true significance comes in the streamlining of the feature allowing content creator's a simple avenue to capture their mobile screen without the need of multiple apps or peripherals.

This technology is becoming ever more relevant as the mobile gaming continues to grow, as well as the integration with mobile apps as supporting technology onto main games (such as for Destiny).

The app also includes a simple video editor when uploading recorded content.

Destiny: The Taken King's New Player Experience Sucks

The new player experience is an aspect of design that serves to not only explain the features of a game, but it also facilitates the enjoyment of the game. There is a minor spoiler in order to clarify some examples.

Bungie's 'The Taken King' expansion for Destiny has injected a wealth of content, streamlining, and intrigue to the game. The Legendary Edition of the game was released as a bundle that packages the base game along with all three DLC's for newer players to jump right in on the action. While the practice of bundling games with post-release content is typical enough with other similarly structured games (such as MMO's), Bungie has yet again neglected to learn from mistakes and wisdom of other titles. In this case the lesson not learned is that of how to maintain a New Player Experience after the base game has been iterated on with several updates.

The Pixel Forecast: New Game Releases (week of 10/12/2015)

(The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Hearts of Stone)

        The first major expansion for CD Project Red's The Witcher 3 is out this week. This expansion adds more of almost everything; quests, enemies, equipment, gwent cards, and more. This is the first expansion created for the game and is expected to give players at least 10 hours worth of gameplay. 

 (Dragon Quest: Heroes)

Dragon Quest: Heroes is a spin off to the Dragon Quest franchise which takes famous characters from the series and pits them in an open-field action combat, similar to the likes of Dynasty Warriors. Many of these games have been coming out such as the recent Hyrule Warriors and One Piece: Pirate Warriors. This game is an exclusive to the PlayStation platforms.

Tuesday, Oct 13
Back to the Future: The Game (30th Anniversary Edition)(PS4, XB1, 360, PC)
Corpse Party: Blood Drive (Everafter Edition)(PSVita)
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below (PS4, PS3)
Jackbox Party Pack 2, The (PS4, PC, XB1)
Legend of Legacy, The (3DS)
Minecraft: Story Mode - Episode 1: The Order of the Stone(PC, PS4, XB1, PSVita, WiiU, 3DS, PS3, 360)
Talos Principle, The (Deluxe Edition)(PS4, PC)
Wasteland 2: Director's Cut (PS4, XB1)
Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, The - Heats of Stone (PC, PS4, XB1)

Wednesday, Oct 14
Goosebumps: The Game (XB1, 360)

Friday, Oct 16
Warhammer 40,0000: Deathwatch - Enhanced Edition (PC)

Pixel Loadout Podcast-012

The saga of pre-orders continues, Colbert is interviewing  a lot of game personalities, Destiny is getting micro-transactions, and Apple's iOS updates are breaking games permanently.
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