Pax South Day 2 Recap

By Jaime Skelton (MissyS) and Andy Skelton

 

Saturday was the big day for PAX South, sold out well in advance of the convention. It certainly showed on the convention floor and every theatre was constantly full as some epic panels were underway – starting with the real header, ArenaNet’s presentation for Guild Wars 2.

 

Guild Wars 2

The big news ArenaNet hit us with is a brand new expansion for Guild Wars 2, Heart of Thorns.  Each of the 40 Living Story episodes has built up to precisely this moment, and the company is looking to remain strong.  Some might be shocked to learn there is no level cap increase and associated gear grind, but with all new systems in place such as Masteries, Specializations, and a brand new character class, there’s no shortage of progression available for everyone.

We’ll provide much more information on the expansion soon, and continuing coverage as more and more news comes out for Heart of Thorns.

 

Nova Blitz

We spent some time at the booth for Nova Blitz, a cross-platform collectible card game currently on Kickstarter. Nova Blitz is a “real time” card game, in which both players take their turns simultaneously. This means that games are shorter since you don’t have to wait on your opponent, but it also means more intense matches, and even in our practice battle against the AI, we couldn’t afford to take our eyes off the screen for more than a second.

There are five deck types available in Nova Blitz, each specializing in a different tactical advantage. Otherwise the game is a bit like Hearthstone and Magic: The Gathering. Matches consist of two repeating phases, a tactical phase in which players can earn mana and play tactical cards, and a combat phase in which they can attack with their units. These phases last under 30 seconds each. Each card has a base cost so it is important for players to manage their resources and spend them wisely.

Perhaps it’s the game’s pacing, but we were already hooked after one practice match. With incredibly short turn phases, there’s almost no room for error. Players must be familiar with their decks and play with no hesitation. If you love CCGs, this game definitely deserves your attention.

 

 

Life is Feudal

We made a quick drop in the Life is Feudal fort, which did a great job in making itself known by having two cosplayers in full medieval knight regalia happily posing with con-goers. Currently in early alpha on Steam, the game is a realistic historic-style multiplayer sandbox (with an MMO goal for the future). The gameplay is a mix of Minecraft and DayZ with a little bit of Ultima Online nostalgia thrown in. It’s a serious game for serious craft-and-survive gamers, but it has evolved a loyal following already. Though what was at the show was mostly what we’d seen of gameplay already, Bitbox has recently released a roadmap for the game’s development that has them pushing for a release in September 2015.

 

 

Swap Drop Poker

The PAX South floors are stuffed with a diverse range of small indie studios, and it’s easy to get sucked in to demoing games you didn’t even know you wanted to exist. For instance, I was mesmerized watching Bitfinity’s Tadpole Treble, a musical 2D side scroller where you dodge notes on a musical stave that looks like an interactive version of Mario Paint. In that same booth, though, I was ambushed by a mobile game worth mentioning: Swap Drop Poker.

Swap Drop Poker is a puzzle poker game with match 3 type elements. Instead of consisting of colored bubbles or symbols, the board is filled with playing cards. You tap on screen to swap two cards anywhere on the board, and try to make the best poker hands you can in a line to earn points. You can have friends join in and compete with you to see who can earn the most and trophies too. While it’s not the most ground-breaking mobile experience, it’s a fun combination that poker fans might certainly enjoy.

 

Vainglory

The Twitch booth was a constant hub of activity on the floor. While con-goers lined up to play HearthStone or watch Twitch’s stream as it was broadcast live, we slipped into a VIP meeting with Super Evil Megacorp, developers of Vainglory. For some of us, this was our first experience with the game, so we got a hands-on introduction to the game and its newest champion, Ardan. After learning about the character’s skill set and general gameplay, we sat down and talked with the company about Vainglory’s business model, game design, and its eSports future. We’ll have a full break down of this new information in the coming week.

 

 

Steam Bandits Outpost & Bierzerkers

In between meetings, we paid a surprise visit to two indie booths that seemed to be drawing some attention: Steam Bandits Outpost and Bierzerkers.

Steam Bandits Outpost is game that has a little bit of everything for the RPG fan. It draws inspiration from many titles including Final Fantasy, Recettear, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon. Despite drawing on some of the most classic RPGs gamers know, SBO has a pretty unique approach to the RPG experience. A free version of the game will be available on mobile, offering farming, deep crafting, player-run shops, and other multiplayer aspects. This portion of the game connects to a single player RPG experience where players battle in that classic JRPG style while exploring a 2.5D dungeon. If the game sounds up your alley, it’s now available on Steam Early Access.

Bierzerkers on the other hand is all about PvP. Created by Shield Break, a developer with several veterans in its crew, the game is a multiplayer class-based melee brawl  with a slightly drunken twist (and no, it doesn’t come with free beer – a question asked by a visiting Deadpool.) Stylistically, the game looks a little like Loadout or Team Fortress 2, but make no mistake, this game isn’t simply copying the shooter franchise. The game is also in alpha for those who want to get a drunken brawl on.

 

 

tinyBuild

The tinyBuild booth was big in spirit, and a busy place as every game in their growing roster was on demo, including the classic SpeedRunners and the upcoming Check In, Knock Out. We talked with the team about both titles and we’ll be following up this week and sharing our discussions about SpeedRunner’s take-off success and launch plans, and CIKO’s simple but fun multiplayer.

 

Iron Cosplay Challenge

Four teams of four people each creating a Borderlands character costume doesn’t seem terribly hard, does it?  Now throw in a strict one hour time limit, and the fact they’ve no idea what materials they’ll have until the competition starts, and you’ve the makings of an exciting competition dubbed the Iron Cosplay challenge.

The teams decided to recreate Salvador, CL4PTRP, Mordecai, and Gaige, doing their best with what they had.  Most impressive was the way they quickly came to task, having only five minutes to brainstorm how they were going to approach the task.  While each was impressive, the team that recreated Salvador (complete with shiny blue tiara “mohawk”) took the impressive grand prize of a Borderlands loot chest signed by all the developers.  CL4PTRP stole the announcer’s heart, as well, with the team winning an EVGA NVIDIA GTX 970 for their recreation.

 

 

Day two has come to a close but the final day of PAX is about to begin and includes some important meetings! Look forward to a major break down tomorrow, which will include Dreadnought, Grey Box’s newest title that – if the live shoutcasting has demonstrated on the floor here already – is going to be an epic multiplayer experience you won’t want to miss.

By Jaime Skelton (MissyS) and Andrew Skelton

 

The first day of a convention is always exciting, but the first day of a first time convention is even more so. Even though PAX has been going on strong for many years now, this is the first year for PAX South, held in downtown San Antonio, Texas. Though the day was blustery outside, the halls were packed with gamers, geeks, and fans eager to help the convention kick off. While we took the first day a little light to make connections and scout the floor, we did have the opportunity to sit with the representatives for Gigantic, Cabal II, and PoxNora.

 

Gigantic

While it may seem like the illegitimate love child of SMITE and Shadow of the Colossus, the best way to understand Gigantic is to see it in action.  Motiga brought several staff members, and even special coaches selected from alpha testers flown in especially for the event.  Since everyone on hand was familiar with the game, we then started the hands on experience, where the coaches gave us individual advice about most of the fourteen available characters, detailing their strengths, weaknesses, and abilities.  Both teams faced off in the 5v5 format, and along the way, spent time learning about summoning creatures, holding strategic locations, and the best ways, times, and uses for pushing with your Ancient.

We picked up a ranged class and got great coaching before heading into battle, and adapted quickly to the gameplay. While we managed to die a few times by accident (who knew cliffs were so dangerous?) we were able to help pick off the opposing team’s healers a few times. Even though our team was stacked against a more traditional build of tank, support, and stealth, we managed to win in an epic battle where the defending team guarded the weak area of its titan from attackers.

Even in an alpha stage, the game felt very polished and quite engaging.  While quite easy to get into and play, there are levels of strategy that go far beyond most games in the genre.  Motiga has definitely put the focus on teamwork here, and even the same character on the team can be completely different with the branching skill paths the characters all have.  While not everything was available to test out in the limited time available, Gigantic is already shaping up to be highly anticipated and well worth waiting for

 

 

Cabal 2

There’s been a lot of anticipation for Cabal II, ESTSoft’s follow up to its hit classic MMORPG. After our play session with the game we’re seeing why so many of you are hyped. So far, we’re pretty sure you won’t be disappointed.

We sat down with the team and hopped in game as a Warrior, one of Cabal II’s six classes. The Warrior straddles the line between damage and defense, and has a selection of damage, AoE, knockdown, and buff skills. The game’s combat system is action-based, putting a heavy emphasis on the knowledge and use of skill combos. Some skills act as chain combos, where the same skill can be used multiple times to do an increasingly stronger amount of damage. Other skills are reactionary, such as our warrior’s powerful damaging ability useable after an enemy had been knocked down. This makes every fight engaging, and we were told that knowing these combos are essential for success in later levels, especially dungeons.

In fact, we got our own taste of one of the dungeons in Cabal II, the Heavenly Citadel. This dungeon is a collection of platforms, each of which acts as a home to a different boss. Players destroy a pillar to summon a boss, which spawns a portal on its defeat. This portal will lead to a random boss each time, making every run of this dungeon random and unpredictable. These fights are intense, requiring each player to use their skills and combos efficiently. While combat is not as dodge-heavy as some MMOs (here’s looking at you, Guild Wars 2), movement is still important and players are equipped with a dash skill on a short cooldown to aid them in slipping in and out of battle.

It’s also important to note that while Cabal II has six classes, all six are key members of a party. Each class brings something different to the encounter, making a balanced group highly desirable. For instance, Force Archers are the only class capable of reducing the rage boost that bosses gain which makes them incrementally more difficult as a fight goes on. However, we’re also reassured that groups won’t simply want to take along four archers along with their tank and healer, as stacking one class too heavily causes the group to lose out on the valuable abilities that other classes bring. This should make all classes equally desirable, a problem that many group-based MMOs face.

Heavenly Dungeon is not the only end-game dungeon. There are also instance portals that spawn in the game’s open areas. Some of these will teleport the player into a small mini-instance to do battle, while others will spawn the enemies in the open world when activated. We also briefly talked about crafting, being told that there is a crafting island where players can work their trades (primary plus a related gathering skill), somewhat similar to Star Wars: The Old Republic except that players will do their own work rather than hiring lackeys.

Though we were on a guided tour and saw only a tiny portion of the world plus Heavenly Citadel, we were very impressed by what we saw. The game is certainly polished and tested, and it’s clear that the wait we’ve had while the team has worked on optimizing the game for the West is going to make this title very worth checking out when it hits beta.

 

Pox Nora

For a game that’s been around almost nine years, Pox Nora is still somewhat a black sheep amongst MMOs.  As the CEO explained (and we happen to agree with), there’s nothing else quite like it.  The mix of strategy, CCG, and miniature collection is still hard to categorize.  It’s also strange to realize many of the innovations and designs in MMOs we see now, PoxNora has been doing since 2006, leading the way in tactical, free to play MMOs, card gaming, and even direct customer support and outreach.

Pox Nora released their latest expansion on January 20, and we got a chance to learn what it was all about.  Foremost is the new tutorial system designed with new players in mind.  Pox Nora is, by design, a difficult game, so adding a tutorial was a great step to aid people new to the game.  New runes and abilities were also added, and as with every other expansion that has been released, everything available is useable with all other aspects of the game.  The team believes strongly in their community as well, with all of them involved in answering questions, allaying concerns, and fostering a relationship that’s increasingly important to players these days – and they’ve been doing this from the beginning.

 

What’s Coming Next

Day two’s event line-up for the team includes a mega Guild Wars 2 panel, Vainglory, and a visit with tinyBuild, but there will certainly be many surprises in store. Stay tuned for more news straight from the heart of Texas!