It is currently 11:48 PM on the 27th of January and PAX South 2017 Day 1 ends officially in twelve minutes. With the first day in the bag there are many amazing things that have happened, from an unexpected appearance to the meeting of many familiar faces, and some good panels. Many things have already happened at PAX South while there remain many more experiences to come over the next two days.
The two panels that I have attended, it was the first one was the best. GeekNights, who has spoken at 21 PAX conventions around the world, presented a panel on The Grind Mechanic. In this panel they discussed the purpose of the grind mechanic, how it was used, and what games used this mechanic. To my surprise, this mechanic is used in more games than we realised. For example, Chess and Backgammon used the grind mechanic, although Chess no longer uses it. Chess was a surprise because it’s a fast paced strategy game, but when it was first invented pawns could only move one space at a time, and moving the pawns out of the way in the beginning was actually a grind mechanic.
The second that I attended was the Friday the 13th panel. This panel was an okay experience; those who are really into the game would have probably enjoyed it more so. This panel showed what the team has done to improve the game since the close of the beta and the audience got a never before seen skin of Jason.The panels weren’t the only surprises of the day; remember in my article before the convention and how I mentioned that we don’t expect to see any “major” announcements? Well, I am happy to say that I was wrong.
Nintendo Switch has made an appearance! PAX South attendees are the first people to actually test and play the Switch before it is to be released in March. I got to play Mariokart 8 Deluxe, and I am couldn’t be happier. The Switch is not only aesthetically beautiful, but it honestly fits comfortably in my hands. I look forward to the release of this system and I am excited to be playing more of the Nintendo Switch tomorrow. I am truly excited to play Bomber Man, Splatoon 2, and Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Seeing the Switch was the big surprise and honestly a fantastic opportunity.
A few Indie games made themselves noticed, tinyBuild was here with Hello Neighbor, Mr. Shifty, and Punch Club on the 3DS. BlackSea Odyssey was a pleasant sight and playing it with an Xbox controller is a little more comfortable than a Mouse and Keyboard. I’m also not one for Tabletop games, but I did find Dice Throne to be a very enjoyable, a tabletop game that met their KickStarter goal and is now achieving their extra goals for additional characters. The game is a 1v1 or 2v2 tactical dice rolling fighting game. It is quite easy to catch onto and once you understand how to play, it’s actually really fun.
Tomorrow we take a glance at Resident Evil VII, Breath of the Wild, Splatoon 2, Bomber Man, and many more Indie games, with a hope to an after party or two. Three or four panels are planned to be reviewed tomorrow as well, but we’ll see how the Expo goes, you make sacrifices at conventions always, Expo Hall or Panels. But there is a good line up of Panels tomorrow. Until then, readers keep up to date by following twitter (nodbledan_13) and Instagram (lesmisphan13) for on the spot updates! As a final note, you can now progress to Day 2 of PAX South.
Featured photo credit: Dabe Alan.
