Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic
- February 6, 2015
- The Bitfather
- 90h median play time
Ultimately, the bland, dreary combat sinks the entirety of the experience and it’s with a heavy heart that I must warn you to avoid this title if you have any choice in the matter. Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic is a swing and a woeful miss.
Get on Steam"Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic" is a humorous RPG/Roguelike game with procedurally generated content, ensuring a unique experience each playthrough. Choose three heroes from 30 unique classes, and embark on a journey to defeat evil forces and save the town of Pixton. The game features randomly generated dungeons, events, and loot, providing endless replayability.
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Reviews
- The game features charming pixel graphics and a humorous writing style that includes many pop culture references.
- It offers high replay value with a variety of character classes and randomized loot, making each playthrough feel unique.
- The turn-based combat is engaging, and the game encourages strategic thinking and preparation for dungeon encounters.
- The gameplay can feel unbalanced and frustrating, especially with the high difficulty level and permadeath mechanics that force players to restart after losing a party.
- Inventory management is cumbersome, with limited slots leading to tedious sorting and decision-making about what to keep or discard.
- Combat can become repetitive and lacks depth, with many encounters feeling similar and reliant on trial and error rather than strategic planning.
- humor47 mentions
- 98 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 2 % negative mentions
The humor in the game is widely praised for its charm and cleverness, featuring a mix of cheeky jokes, pop culture references, and engaging dialogue that keeps the experience light-hearted and entertaining. Many players find the humor to be a significant highlight, contributing to the game's addictive nature, although some note that it can become repetitive over time. Overall, the game's witty writing and amusing encounters enhance its appeal, making it enjoyable for fans of retro-style RPGs.
“A cool retro style RPG with a bit of difficulty and cheeky humor!”
“The humor in this game is spot on.”
“It's charming, with biting humor and just the right amount of strategic depth.”
“Shallow, unfunny humor.”
- gameplay41 mentions
- 12 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 20 % negative mentions
The gameplay has received mixed reviews, with some players finding it unbalanced, repetitive, and lacking depth, particularly in combat mechanics and quest structure. While the interface is user-friendly and the game offers a variety of characters and unlockable content, many feel that the core gameplay is tedious and marred by clunky mechanics and a frustrating permadeath system. However, others appreciate the casual, quirky nature of the game, highlighting its humor and nostalgic feel, making it enjoyable for fans of the genre despite its flaws.
“I found the interface easy to use, the mechanics complex enough for interest, but simple enough for casual play, and the random quest structure looks replayable for some time.”
“But the gameplay is focused on drops, managing inventory and equipment, combat, and gradually discovering the specificities of each dungeon to manage them better in the next party.”
“I really like the old school feel and solid gameplay delivered here.”
“Alas, as with most games of this type, the gameplay becomes repetitive after a while.”
“Overall, while the game is nicely polished, the gameplay itself is severely lacking.”
“The battles - the core gameplay - are terrible and where the tedium sets in.”
- story36 mentions
- 17 % positive mentions
- 75 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is largely criticized for its lack of depth and engagement, with many players noting that there is no substantial narrative or character development. Quests are described as random, forgettable, and repetitive, often lacking humor or a compelling hook. While some players appreciate the humorous atmosphere and character backgrounds, the overall consensus is that the story is minimal and fails to enhance the gameplay experience.
“I love reading the character background story at the beginning; I love the traveling mechanism that is like Oregon Trail. I love everything about this game.”
“This is the story of Hacky, Samira, and Jamal, three legendary adventurers. They vanquished foe after foe, completed quest after quest, with none of them succumbing to death's touch.”
“Pixel Heroes is an engaging, humor-filled story that is fun for people of all ages.”
“Inventory is clunky, there is no story, and the battles are a bit boring.”
“The quests are instantly forgettable as they are fantasy 'parody' quests with no hook and little humor.”
“It's tagged as an adventure but it has a trite and forgettable story.”
- music27 mentions
- 33 % positive mentions
- 56 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The music in the game receives mixed reviews, with many praising its nostalgic and retro feel, as well as its ability to enhance the gameplay experience. However, several players find the soundtrack repetitive and annoying over time, leading some to turn it off entirely. Overall, while the music has its charm, it may not hold up for extended play sessions.
“So many pros to this game, nice pixel graphics, nice combat arrangements, plenty of cool items with special abilities, nice soundtrack, nice humor and references to pop culture and a lot more fun and cool things to discover.”
“I can't get the awesome pixel music out of my head.”
“Blown away by this game after an hour I know I'm hooked, immersive, hilarious, and a frackin awesome soundtrack!”
“Also for my taste, the music is repetitive and forgettable; I played with it turned off.”
“The only glaring issue I had was that the music became obnoxious quickly, and I had to turn my own on.”
“But with no volume control, and loops of songs under a minute or two long, the harsh tones of the classic songs quickly drill into your ear until exhaustion.”
- graphics22 mentions
- 41 % positive mentions
- 45 % neutral mentions
- 14 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game are primarily described as charming pixel art that evokes nostalgia, with many players appreciating the attention to detail and whimsical style. While some critics find the visuals simplistic and lacking in variety, the overall consensus is that the graphics complement the game's fun mechanics and humor, making it a worthwhile experience for fans of retro aesthetics and indie titles. Despite some reservations about the graphics' simplicity, they are generally seen as a strong point that enhances the game's appeal.
“I mean, the game is clearly a labor of love, the graphics are very nice and there are plenty of little details showing the authors' care.”
“Graphics: fantastic pixel graphics make this game a lot of fun.”
“Graphics are well done in the 'classic' style with enough modern touches to not be distracting.”
“Yet another low budget indie title that tries to mix nostalgic graphics with random pop culture references and memes, and foregoes actually putting them in a game that's worth your time to spend it on.”
“However, in my opinion, I found that the visuals lean from being nostalgic to being too simplistic and boring for my tastes, with no updated sprites for different weapon and armor equips; the visuals never update themselves and it will look the same throughout the game.”
“Graphics are pixelated.”
- replayability10 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 20 % neutral mentions
- 30 % negative mentions
The game boasts high replayability due to its diverse character classes, randomized quests, and engaging combat system, encouraging players to return for unique experiences with each playthrough. Users appreciate the balance of complexity and accessibility, making it enjoyable for both casual and dedicated gamers. Overall, the combination of varied gameplay options and a well-designed interface contributes to its strong replay value.
“Lots of fun with crazy replay value; I find myself coming back to this game often.”
“Replayability: there are a lot of different types of characters to choose from, and each new time you play offers a unique experience.”
“Overall, it's a fun game with problems certainly, but redeemable by a relatively good replay value through randomized quests and encounters, and multiple party makeups and loot options.”
“The game manages plenty of depth and replayability without bogging you down with hour upon hour of camping or questing.”
“Replayability: there are a lot of different types of characters to choose from and each new time you play offers a unique experience.”
“I found the interface easy to use, the mechanics complex enough for interest, but simple enough for casual play, and the random quest structure looks replayable for some time.”
- grinding10 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players frequently describe the grinding aspect of the game as tedious and repetitive, with many noting that combat becomes boring due to minimal strategy and lengthy dungeon runs filled with uninteresting encounters. Inventory management adds to the grind, as players must sift through excessive loot and junk before progressing. Overall, the experience is often seen as a time-waster with little enjoyment in the long run.
“Besides that, the strategy is minimal and the fights are boring and grindy; combat mechanics feel lazily slapped together.”
“Dungeons feel a bit too long—you have to get through about six packs of trash on average to get to the boss encounter, all the while your inventory will fill up with junk and you're faced with the tedious task of picking through it before you can advance any further.”
“After you have completed the hardest difficulty level, Pixel Heroes can start to feel like a very repetitive, tedious, and pointless experience.”
- atmosphere1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The atmosphere of the game is characterized by a humorous tone, with quests that often elicit laughter and create an enjoyable experience for players.
“The game creates a wonderfully immersive atmosphere that draws you in from the very start.”
“The environment is rich with detail, making every location feel alive and full of character.”
“There's a unique charm to the atmosphere that keeps you engaged and wanting to explore more.”
- character development1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Character development in this game is lacking, as many NPCs communicate in gibberish, detracting from the overall storytelling experience. Players seeking rich narratives and well-developed characters may find this game unsatisfactory.
Critic Reviews
Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic Review
Overall Pixel Heroes: Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic is an interesting game. It brings a very familiar concept to the table and then randomises its attributes until it becomes something different, a less generic RPG with significantly increased difficulty. Its sense of humour, and fun systems and visuals make it well worth picking up for anyone in the market for a turn based RPG, or those who enjoy a bit of traditional tabletop dungeon crawling. For most, the jokes will mostly hit and will stave off the boredom factor, but for those that don't like referential humour, maybe steer clear of this title.
60%Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic Review
Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic seeks to ape Rogue and other randomly generated dungeon-crawlers. But it omits the elements that makes those games so appealing and falls flat as a result.
30%Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic Review
Ultimately, the bland, dreary combat sinks the entirety of the experience and it’s with a heavy heart that I must warn you to avoid this title if you have any choice in the matter. Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic is a swing and a woeful miss.
35%
