Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic Preview

Do you like D&D (Dungeons and Dragons)? Or Pixel games like Organ Trail? Do you enjoy point and click adventures? Well Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic is the game for you! Created by The Bitfather and published by Headup Games. It’ll satisfy that retro RPG scratch you’ve been having!

Good old pixel graphics in Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic
Introduction

Enter the world of Pixel Heroes and prepare yourself for a thrilling RPG/Roguelike experience! Pixel Heroes is an indie adventure game with pixel graphics. And you'll find it on Steam for ten dollars. It's created by The Bitfather and published by Headup Games who are also responsible for Bridge Constructor, Future Wars, and Trapped Dead.

This game has a very Organ Trail feel to it. They share similar graphics and art, but they do have different styles of gameplay. Pixel Heroes feels more like a point and click where Organ Trail was more like a click and drag game.

Story

"Listen! The end is nigh!! Hear my words and prepare! An ancient cult has set foot in our lands! They call themselves -The Sons of Dawn- and pray to some dark elder god. They have started recruiting people for their cause all over the country. I fear that they want to try to awaken something which should be left sleeping. Something dangerous and sinister! Something that might destroy us all. Spend your last of days wisely…“

This is shouted at me by a crazy old guy wearing, I'm pretty sure, ONLY a sign at the beginning of the game. You start in a tavern and there are multiple characters and classes to choose from. You need to form a party to deal with this cult and other quests. Choose wisely.

Peace!

CharactersThere are thirty different characters you might get to choose from at the beginning of the game, some are unlockable, each with a different class and some a different race. Depending on who you get there will be five people in the tavern to choose from and from there you make a party of three. You can re-roll to change some of their stats, plus change their names. But here are the heroes:

Bradley a human adventurer, Tarkus the human alchemist, Luigi the human assassin, Cronan the human barbarian, Twickenham the human bard, Fastolph the halfling bowman,Albert the dwarf brewmaster, Tanthalos the human Demi-Lich, Banu the human enchantress, Cutty the dwarf fighter, Albert the dwarf gadgeteer, Dusty the dwarf geomancer, Jin'kix the xinix hammerguard, Jomo the dwarf herbalist, HobinRoot the human huntsman, Arr the human pirate, Beriberi the human plaguebringer, Soloman the human priest, Esmeralda the human psionic, Calcitethe skyborn rogue, Jonquel the skyborn ronin, Bilwis the human shadowmancer, Axely the randoom shapeshifter, Onyx the skyborn skyweaver, Oliver the human templar, Thurion the human fallen one, Salandra the human warrioress, Eridanusthe human warmage, Abigail the human witch, and Cappi the halfling wolfrider.

For a better list go here. The names and stats will change from time to time. It all depends on a metaphorical roll of the dice what you'll get. Some of this may seem familiar, or at least for Dungeons and Dragons players it might. The stats, classes, and items will be very familiar to D&D players. If you like that this is a nice pixelated version of D&D that's a lot easier than playing a campaign. And if you are not satisfied with some of the characters you can customize them and change their gear out. You'll have to buy the new gear though.

This is how combat looks like in Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic
Features

My favorite thing about Pixel Heroes is the comedy and references. Not to spoil anything but some of the backgrounds for the heroes are hilarious. Battles are pretty simple too, but they do get more intricate and difficult the farther you get in the game.

There are lots of randomly generated axes, spears, maces, swords, shields, bows, crossbows, spells and prayers. Thirteen different dungeons to explore. Three campaigns to unlock, each with its own final dungeon and boss. A neat graveyard where you can mourn your dead heroes, compare their statistics and see which of their choices led to their tragic death. Crazy NPCs, each one of them with a significant storyline that you can follow to unlock stuff. Lots of random events that you will encounter on your way, expecting you to make important choices. Along with plenty of achievements and unlockables.

With the menu settings, you are able to turn off music. You are able to turn off the sound. You can only use the English or the German language. You can play this game in fullscreen or windowed mode. And you can't change your resolution size. But the resolution in of itself is pretty good, the music and pixel style graphics all feel retro and are very smooth, they work together nicely.

As long as your computer is decent this game runs very well, although I myself had issues, it was only due to a poor computer and trying to run a taxing recording program together. When I went to play it again without recording it, it worked very well. But even when it had some issues loading the next area, the controls were always perfect!

As with all RPGs, there’s some grinding to be done, and it can be a bit tedious, but isn’t grinding almost always that way? The missions and quests are varied, which is nice, makes things feel a little less dull. But, as I’ve said before, the added comedy with pop culture references and easter eggs make even the grind worth it!

Traveling to Goblin Outpost

Conclusion

Overall, Pixel Heroes is an awesome fantasy adventure game with some hilarious moments. It has plenty to offer and is a nice game through and through. If you like this style of the game, you'll probably love it too! It’s simplistic but not too overly simple. The references keep things entertaining, but there’s still grinding, so it can get boring and take time. But you can’t be a great hero without some sacrifice and witty commentary!

I’ve always believed that one of the most important things about a game be that it’s fun! This one definitely is. Another important thing is that the game itself works as a game. The settings and gameplay work nicely, but even better, everything fits and works well together. The retro music goes with the retro style gameplay and the certain retro classic setting. I’ve always loved fantasy RPG games, and while this one is no AAA title, it certainly kept me entertained and gave me a fun retro experience.

Pros Cons
 + Nice smooth gameplay  – It can get a bit too simple sometimes
 + Simplistic in style but full of interesting possibilities and diverse choices  – The grinding can be tedious
 + Funny, with great references  – The dungeons could be a little more diverse
 + A refreshing classic/retro feel

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