Pax West: Day 2 Recap

By: ScarletteChecking in with another daily recap! Pax hosts and impressive list of studios and video game demos, as much as we would love to play everything, we cant! But we can definitely provide you with some amazing highlights from one the busiest days at Pax West.The day kicked off on the 6th floor checking out the treasure trove of indie game that are stashed away. While everything is gorgeous some of our favorite picks is The Warlock on Firetop Mountain and Earthlock.Dungeon masters will automatically recognize The Warlock on Firetop Mountain as its a book theyve all used at some point to create campaigns--well, now its a video game, and a very fun one at that. What the game does is take the campaign and throws it into a single player adventure game. What makes it so very interesting though, is that it doesn't forget its roots.  Warlock on Firetop Mountain knows it started as a table top game, so the video game actually plays as a table top. You control certain characters with different stories, you move around on a map, are given choices of going left or right-- definitely picking your own adventures and consequnces. The combat is tactical and strategizing, turn based, and your chasing around goblins on squares. Its so much fun. Fire Mountain speeds up the table top process, makes it playable for a single person without the hassle of throwing together a campaign group, and wonderfully throws together an RPGs, table top, game for the player the enjoy. If you find yourself on the 6th floor and itching to throw it down with some goblins, or crawl a dungeon, and roll some dice you need to head over and demo The Warlock on Firetop Mountain Wandering a little more we had a quick intro into the world of Earthlock. Our world has suddenly stopped turning, half the planet is a perpetual desert or icecle, and nobody can't seem to understand why or how this happened. It is a classic JRPG, with strong female leads, and unique combat relationship perks. Think social links in the Persona series, but only active when you have certain party members equipped. Earthlock is a colorful game, filled with an engaging cast, and beautiful art direction. The Earthlock booth is tucked into the very last aisle of the 6th floor, so be sure to wander all the way down and play the demo for this JRPG gem.The Pax 10-- some of Pax's favorite indie titles--is also located on the 6th floor. All of these titles are a lot of fun and range in genre. You have shooters, collectors, open world, side scrollers, puzzles and multiplayer games present but the games that caught our attention was Crashlanders and Fossil Echo.You can check out our in-depth review of Crashlanders, but (spoilers) we absolutely enjoyed the game.As for Fossil Echo--talk about immersive. This is another game where there are no texts, no voices, everything is communicated to the player through visuals, and the communication is done so well. Your main character is a young boy at a mysterious tower--you dont know why you are there or how you got there, but the only way to find out is to climb the tower. Fossil Echo has no combat system--its a rouge like, puzzle solving, platformer game, and it provides gorgeous art work and fun in aces. The levels in the game consist of dodging bad guys, stealthing through the level--going unseen as much as possible, or platforming your way through. If you're a run and gun type of gamer, this may not be for you, but we do honestly recommend the title. It stops the player to think instead of using brute force, and how to be use their surroundings. Also, who doesn't love a good platformer?I need to take a breather and gather myself here before I talk about my favorite game of the day...Dropzone.I had the great pleasure of sitting down with Sparky Pants and Gameforces game devs and talk about their latest RTS, DropZone, and guys...it is so much fun. If you're an RTS player or MOBA player, you'll feel right at home with this game. Its amazingly easy to pick up, and get a grasp of the game. You control a team of three on a resource map, you are  pitted against another team of three, both team are fighting over objectives, resources, and map domination.  DropZone is the addicting blend of Starcraft and League of Legends and it does it so well with seamless gameplay, crisp in game art and graphics, while tapping into the gamer's desire of competitive play. Matches are 15 min long, winner is whoever has the largest score, but there is a multitude of ways to score or counter against your opposing team. If the team you're playing against is heavily dominating nests for resources, your team can counter by going for map objectives and bonuses. You can create your own unique team of three; go balanced with one of each class, or go all damage or tank with three of the same class, you can combine and work with whatever champion classes you like. Best part is that your champions are dual class, a single champ can be full support or long range dmg, it all depends on the skills you equip.I can go on all day about DropZone, but I wont spoil all the fun (we also have a more in depth interview scheduled for later date!). But if you had to play one demo at Pax West....this would be it.All in all, a great second day of PAX West 2016, and I'm definitely looking forward to a fun-filled day 3![robo-gallery id="38808"]