These were my favourite games from PAX West 2024

This past weekend, I had the opportunity to attend PAX West in Seattle. While I was primarily there for previews of The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and Super Mario Party Jamboree (more on that in the coming days), I did make sure to squeeze some time in for other games in between my abbreviated two-day stay. After all, it’s not every day I’m at PAX (I’d only been to one, as a fan, in 2017), not to mention Canada itself has very little in the way of public gaming conventions.

Overall, I had a great time at the show, checking out close to 20 games (many hands-on, some just from afar while someone else played). Here are my favourites.

All Systems Dance

Image credit: Mighty Yell

The Big Con was one of my favourite games of 2021 due to its delightful sense of style, humour and heart, and Toronto-based Mighty Yell seems to be serving up a different flavour of all of that with this follow-up. First, it’s got a wonderfully quirky premise in which your character must rebel in a futuristic dystopia through the power of dance. It’s both a refreshingly combat-free gameplay approach and a tonally unique take on a revolution against an automaton-filled corporate state.

I was also pleasantly surprised to see how fluid and free-flowing the actual dance mechanics are as I played the demo. As you navigate a little “battle arena,” you can do all kinds of smooth twirls, tumbles, and cartwheels while avoiding robots. All the while, a funky soundtrack and colourful aesthetic give the game a wonderful Jet Set Radio-esque vibe. Your impressive repertoire of moves can also be used outside of combat in little platforming sections which offer nice breaks in between the dance battles. Dave Proctor, the creative director, even told me I made a de facto platforming shortcut as I grooved around, which he says is something the team aims to allow in multiple areas.

Overall, I adored what I played, and I’m confident the talented folks at Mighty Yell will stick the landing. (I also asked Proctor if All Systems Dance will have a gloriously catchy and nostalgia-fuelled theme in the vein of Rockapella’s song for The Big Con. While he couldn’t confirm anything yet, he said the team is in talks with a few different artists, so hopefully that pans out!)

All Systems Dance doesn’t yet have a release date but is set to come to PC (Steam).

Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake

Image credit: Square Enix

My profound love for Final Fantasy is no secret, but I’ll confess that I’ve actually never played any of Square Enix’s other iconic JRPG series, Dragon Quest. Thankfully, the Japanese gaming giant had people like me in mind when it announced remakes of the original three Dragon Quest games. Best of all, they’re all in the drop-dead gorgeous sprite-based HD-2D visual style of Octopath Traveler and the criminally underrated Live A Live. The first of these trio of DQ remakes to be released is III, as it’s chronologically set before the other two games, making it the perfect entry point for newcomers like me.

That’s great, but actually getting to play DQIII was even better. First, I was surprised to see that the game has quite a bit of humour, which I didn’t necessarily expect from the series. Expanded from the original game is an introductory personality quiz in which you’re asked a variety of questions (i.e. your preferences on physical activity and cats vs. dogs, do you have a pessimistic or optimistic view on life, etc). Amusingly, the person questioning you will then roast you a bit, depending on your answers, with the guy noting I’m “deeply sentimental” and even a bit of a “crybaby.” (Honestly? Fair.)

In the second part of the demo, I got to run around the overworld a bit and hear Koichi Sugiyama’s majestic score, which I recognized from my many hours of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. And speaking of Smash, I was impressed to see many of Hero’s familiar moves, like Kaclang (turn to metal), Acceleratle (speed increase) and Kamikaze (sacrifice the user to kill all enemies). As someone who’s played a lot of JRPGs, I love how Dragon Quest has these more unique abilities on top of your usual elemental-based spells. While I do wish you got to see your character actually perform them (as in the original, the character sprites vanish and you enter first-person as you attack), it’s a small gripe.

Throw in new customization options, grand new musical arrangements and a new vocation (Monster Wrangler) on top of the masterfully overhauled visuals and you have a remake that has a lot to offer for both veterans and newcomers alike. I can’t wait to finally play this classic in full when the remake launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC on November 14th, 2024.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Image credit: Nintendo

Shoutout to Nintendo for following up last year’s behemoth The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom with something completely different. In many ways, Echoes of Wisdom is a throwback to classic Zelda games, replete with intricate dungeon design and a sizeable yet not overly large overworld. At the same time, Echoes of Wisdom makes some clever changes to that tried-and-true formula.

First, there’s Zelda herself being the lead playable character in a mainline game in the series, which is pretty novel in and of itself. But Nintendo, to its immense credit, uses the princess to offer a suite of new mechanics that involve summoning all kinds of objects and enemies. It’s a fascinating system that completely changes how you approach both combat and exploration, and it even leads to a fair amount of satisfying experimentation.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom launches exclusively on the Nintendo Switch on September 26th. Our full PAX preview can be read here.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

Image credit: Square Enix

I have a lot of fond memories playing the original Life is Strange, especially during my angsty university years. Therefore, seeing that protagonist Max Caulfield would return as the playable character in the series’ latest game had me genuinely shocked. But developer Deck Nine (2021’s incredible Life is Strange: True Colors) is so far using Max to great effect, exploring how our lovably witty and intelligent lead has changed in the years since. Getting to age with a character is always compelling, and seeing an older Max mirror my own maturation was surprisingly affecting.

That growth also extends to Max’s supernatural abilities. This time around, she can manipulate the very fabric of space and time to jump between two timelines. It’s a fascinating premise that lends itself well to a new murder mystery — in this case, one centred around Max’s friend, Safi — as you can still see one reality in which the victim is alive. At the same time, the dual-timeline setup leads to some engaging environmental puzzles, which manifested in my demo as finding ways to avoid a prying police detective while searching for Safi’s camera with the last photos she took alive. Those are the sort of emotional stakes that define the series for me, and I’m eager to see how it all plays out.

Life is Strange: Double Exposure launches on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and PC (Steam) on October 29th, 2024. A Nintendo Switch port is also set for release on a yet-to-be-confirmed date.

Rooster

Image credit: Sticky Brain

As I get older and busier with other commitments, I find myself less interested in overly challenging games. Truthfully, I just don’t like the feeling of being “stuck” on — or “stressed” about — something I’m playing.

With that in mind, I love what Toronto-based Sticky Brain is doing with Rooster. As the team told me earlier this year, the point-and-click puzzle adventure game aims to tell an authentic and approachable story about Chinese culture. Rooster follows our titular naughty bird as he’s sent back to ancient China to learn some important lessons. Through that approach, Sticky Brain is able to impart upon the player some lessons of their own, with my demo offering all sorts of insightful explanations on Chinese dishes, folklore, artwork and household objects.

These are best conveyed through simple mini-games, like one for cooking that had me engage in a little scavenger hunt to locate the right ingredients. Honestly, it was quite relaxing to just sift through the environment and learn a bit about all these food items. Likewise, a similar mini-game saw me helping an elderly man locate things in his house, like an old-school umbrella, books and bamboo instruments. Knowing that Sticky Brain is offering 12 different levels inspired by the Chinese Zodiac (each with their own unique mini-games) has me interested to see what else is in store.

I’m looking forward to early 2025 when Rooster launches on PC (Steam).

Honourable mention — Fantasian Neo Dimension

Image credit: Square Enix

Truthfully, I felt like this would be cheating as a full entry here, given that I’ve already played the original Apple Arcade release, but I still have to give it a shoutout since it’s a great Final Fantasy-esque RPG from that series’ creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi, and main composer, Nobuo Uematsu. Ostensibly, this Square Enix-backed port doesn’t change much, but when it’s graciously opening up this overlooked gem to significantly more people, that’s not a bad thing at all. At the same time, it is making some welcome tweaks, including a new difficulty mode (the original game had an overly challenging latter half) and, in a great bit of fan service, some phenomenal (but optional) Final Fantasy music from the likes of the Pixel Remaster series, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth and XIV: Shadowbringers and Dawntrail. Keep this one on your radar when it comes to PS4/PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch and PC this winter.

For more on Fantasian, check out our 2021 interview with Sakaguchi.

Image credit: Square Enix/Nintendo/Mighty Yell