PixlBit

The greatest JRPG of all time?

In today's daily ephemera of new releases and dazzling technologies and breakthroughs, it's easy to forget about the Golden Age of the PSONE -- or, as we knew it at the time, the PlayStation. This is especially true of the JRPG's of the system, which today still have no parallel. While many consider the SNES as the glory days of the JRPG, to me, that has always been just a prologue to what we saw on the PlayStation. It is true that many of us cut our teeth on Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, but the explosion of the genre catalyzed by Final Fantasy VII is a whole different matter. Not only were we treated to Square's trilogy of FF VII, VIII, and IX, but we also had Xenogears, Grandia, Wild Arms, Chrono Cross, Suikoden, among others. This was when the JRPG truly matured into an art form, and while we have had great games since, the depth and variety of them has never eclipsed what we saw on the PSONE. 

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Keep it positive, San Diego.

Boy, 2014 was a rough year to be in this gaming thing, hasn’t it? Disappointing games, crushing release date delays, and more scandal than you can shake a stick at have all detracted from why we are all here. In the current stormy waters it can become easy to lose sight of why video games are so great, as well as the fact that every person behind one of these online avatars is an honest to goodness person that also happens to love this hobby. PixlBit is here as an island of calm and hope in a sea of turmoil, and we can think of no better way to remember why we still love games than by putting together a massive feature that involves our passionate staff and our incredibly talented bloggers. We are gamers. We are writers. And this is why we game.

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Puzzles spiked with emotions.

Valiant Hearts is about one of the more horrendous moments in 20th century history, a moment seldom portrayed in movies, TV, games, or other media -- probably because it is not pleasant to relive.  While World War II can be fun, despite its carnage, in pretending to do battle against a true, villainous evil – the first World War lacks such black and white delineations, and for lack of a better word, was simply insane. 

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The staff of PixlBit commemorates five years of the site.

It’s absolutely dumbfounding to think that PixlBit has existed in this world for five years now. I can’t even begin to tell you all how many times Chessa and I considered hanging it up and just moving on with life. But we never did and I’m not sure why that is. The early days were grim at times; visitation was extremely low, the hours invested were high, and my day job was absolutely soul crushing. I guess we always felt there was a light at the end of the tunnel – a point at which it would all pay off. And boy has it.

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You never forget your first.

It seems like there’s a fairly big movement to get back to the roots of first person shooters lately, with games like Toxikk, Xibalba, and even the Doom franchise returning to the mechanics and sensibilities that started it all. Wrack began this journey six long years ago and has almost reached its full release. If you have great memories of those early “Doom clone” days, share one with us in the comments and you can win a copy of Wrack on Steam! To get things started, some of the staff has shared their own. Just add your memory from those early corridor-stomping days in the comments, no matter how brief, before August 19^th at noon Eastern time and you’re entered to win one of five Steam codes for Wrack!* 

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