As PeterN says, doing that on a red single color 8x8-LED-Matrix will be a challenge and I too am amazed at his ability to not only remember past posts but also find and link to them. I can't do that even with my own. Maybe 30 years ago I could
If whatever you end up using can use a 'font', then there are plenty available including 7-seg and dot-matrix.
Again, I've posted a few already but they were aimed at TFT displays. They are not hard to do. I usually start with a simple font and adjust to suit.
I could do one for you if you decide to take that route.
It has already been suggested to break your project down into manageable chunks and you have already explored the potential of splitting functions between devices. Using ESPnow is a quick and easy method but it does have a 255 character limit. That is probably enough for what you want to do but there are other options such as UDP and even hard-wire if they are in the same box.
From experience, the key to larger projects is to keep focussed on one element with other elements as a background mental task but don't allow them to distract or you end up actually acheiving little and just dreaming about it while it continues to grow in your mind.
Above all, have fun and remember, there's plenty of help here if/when you need it.
Don't forget to post it in the projects section for others to admire and gain inspiration.