The 10 Best Games at PAX West 2017
Another Labor Day has come and gone, which means one more PAX West is in the books. For over a decade the original PAX has turned the holiday into a four day stretch that many in the games media and community celebrate by playing videogames. This year, Paste Games writer Dante Douglas and assistant editor Holly Green sampled a little bit of everything from PAX West’s massive and diverse line-up, selecting the games they thought were the best and look forward to the most in the coming year. Here are their 10 favorites from the show, in alphabetical order.
Ape Out
I generally hesitate to put a game on one of my “best of show” lists more than once but Ape Out is worthy of continued praise. For this PAX, a new build with additional levels was showcased, illustrating how designer Gabe Cuzzillo has improved on the formula. Players are a gorilla on a rampage, grappling and punching their way through a randomly generated level, trying to find the exit while avoiding and/or mauling the guards. In the new demo, the game introduced a wider variety of enemies, including guards with flamethrowers, and flashlight-wielding guards that lurk in the dark, among other obstacles and environmental hazards. While previously I’d been concerned about how Ape Out will offer an escalating challenge with such a simple premise, I am worried no more. And of course, the bright minimalist cut out graphics and jazzy drum beat soundtrack are still the icing on the cake.
Confidentially, Devolver Digital PR head Stephanie Tinsley Fitzwilliam tells me that an extra special level has recently been added to the game, featuring a certain orange, poorly coiffed manchild who happens to have a…building…in a cosmopolitan American city… somewhere cough. So stay tuned for that barrel of monkeys. —Holly Green
Celeste
Celeste, from the creators of Towerfall (and with the help of a couple other collaborators), is a tightly-paced, hardcore platformer with a surprising amount of heart. Often, games that push for mechanical perfection in the platforming genre skimp on the story and setting, but not so for Celeste. Building on a rich, character-driven background and sparse, but enticing, setting, Celeste shows that there’s still room to grow in a genre space that feels confined to the same conventions. It doesn’t hurt that the pixel art used is lush and vibrant, and the soundtrack atmospheric and grand. Celeste stands out both artistically and mechanically. It releases January 2018, for Steam, itch.io, PS4, Nintendo Switch and Xbox One.—Dante Douglas
Cuphead
If we as critics should disclose potential sources of bias, then I should be upfront and say I always knew I would love Cuphead. There is something so comfortingly nostalgic about the many vintage cartoons that inspired it. Not only has Studio MDHR absolutely nailed those faded animation and swinging music styles, the recent overhaul to the gameplay (which previously was limited to boss battles) is also superb: the traditional sidescrolling levels feature controls that allow you to duck, dodge and dash with a fast paced fluidity that is as responsive as it is satisfying. The end result will be worth the wait.—Holly Green
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Out of sheer nostalgia I checked out Dragon Ball FighterZ, and came away supremely impressed. This is the Dragon Ball Z fighting game I always wanted as a kid—it perfectly retains the cheesy ‘80s rock feel of the original (in every detail, from its soundtrack all the way to its garish menu), while offering a moveset full of satisfying explosions and over-the-top attacks. My opponent after the match informed me, with a mixture of disbelief and sadness, that the controls are “exactly” like Guilty Gear—and to that, I cannot attest. I do know, however, as a casual fighting game player, that it was fun and adequately captured the series’s spirit, which is what really counts to me. —Holly Green