For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rhythm Heaven Groove.
I came away from this demo disappointed. the music and art style are still great, but this felt like a game designed for fans rather than something for newer or more casual players. Basic things like auto playing the computer talking wasn't here and i felt that the game did very little to help the player get good or just even better.
this demo only has 4 unique stages and a 5th which is a remix of all 4 together. But before all that, there's a calibration with the game and the TV it's being played on. but even here i wasn't completely sure i was doing it right, clicking the button on the sound rather than the video, and no feedback was provided.
There's a lack of feedback in Rhythm Heaven Groove. there were stages i could see i wasn't performing well on, but the game offers no solutions on how to improve or even goes into much detail just how bad i was. i don't know if i was pressing buttons early or late. the game just offers a simple word appraisal at the end.
So with poor onboarding for new players and a lack of feedback overall, i came away from this demo not wanting to get the game nor even Wishlist it. but as a demo i do think it works well as it seems to give a fair impression of the game, and it's one i don't want to play.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.
Another new Act and another new location, this time a Wild West kinda place. In previous parts i was getting a little frustrated with the platforming in the game as it's not quite great. there was less of that here as we were introduced to some new powers, some new mechanics with those powers, and a particularly fun top down racing sequence that took me longer than i'm proud of to fully grasp how to play. the style of boss fight in this part was similar to that in Part 4, but the final boss fight and QTE finish was interesting.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Gitaroo Man via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
In Part 1 of playing Gitaroo Man it became clear that this was going to be tough to play in the Cloud and in Part 2 i was unable to make more progress. i did get better with more practice, but it still wasn't enough to complete the level and move on to the next one. with no training and no option to practice, all i could do in this part was try and try again to beat it. there were a couple of times where i got close, but the game's mechanics meant i would have to play long stretches without making a single mistake, even if the enemy seemingly had no health. it's a combination, with the lag in the controls seen in Part 1, that just make it too difficult to play in the Cloud.
There is a chance with practice that you could get better, but then there are other problems with playing this game in the cloud. for example, we saw across two parts of Gitaroo Man and Runner 2 that there are occasional stutters on top of controller lag. but this often presented itself in the audio or video not being clear so i would miss the button prompt completely.
Unfortunately, there's another issue which is related to the game's aspect ratio. it's a 4:3 designed game that, when it comes to the button prompts, doesn't take full use of it. with Runner 2, as it's a 16:9 Widescreen game, you can see the enemies, gold, and platforming sections coming so even if there is a stutter of visual issue like macro blocking, there's time to react. but with Gitaroo Man, the action happens in a small area in the middle so there's much less time to react to the prompts without the issues mentioned above.
As much fun as the art and music was, i wouldn't recommend playing this game in the cloud. i can only recommend downloading Gitaroo Man.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Bounce Defense: Brick Breaker, from #cookapps, on my iPhone 14 Pro.
The game's App Store page listed it as a Roguelite Pinball Defense game, but from the screenshots i wasn't so sure as it reminded me more of Monster Strike. either way, i did like the art style and i was curious about it so i decided to give it a go.
Bounce Defense: Brick Breaker isn't a pinball game, but i can understand why the developers might have picked that as it's hard to describe what genre of game this is. there are elements of Puzzle Bobble, for example, too. it's an auto shooter where our character could just as easily be a turret. waves of enemies are approaching us and we have to fight back with balls.
we start with normal balls. when we defeat an enemy we get experience and after a certain amount we level up. this grants us access to a power-up which is either an active skill like different balls to attack with or something passive. there is a limit of to each at first but there are other upgrades which enable us to fuse balls together into something new, but critically that free's up a space for a new ball to be used.
It's easy to play and i did most of this video with one hand. the only tricky part is that the game expects you to touch where you want the ball to go. but there's also the ability to touch and drag for more accurate aiming. but that initial press on the screen could be wildly off if you're not careful.
the rogue element of Bounce Defense: Brick Breaker is very generous. in a run we collect money and ball scrolls. with enough of each you can upgrade your balls. by the end of the video i was approaching the point where i would need to grind a little to get the resources needed to level up, so i could make progress.
With the simple mechanics, controls, and a fairly decent tutorial, Bounce Defense: Brick Breaker is a very approachable mobile game. the graphics are nice, the music is a bit repetitive, but overall i enjoyed it and will be keeping it on my phone.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Unrailed 2: Back on Track, from developer Indoor Astronaut.
This game looked easy from the screenshots, but after reading the #eShop page it was clear that this was more than just a track laying game. the tutorial is helpful until it isn't. it tells us the controls and some of the basics, but in this demo you'll see that i fail a couple of times because i kept being blocked. i also found that the tutorial didn't quite cover the ai of my companion that great and i mostly found out by trying.
By the end of this video, i got a basic understanding of how to play Unrailed 2: Back on Track, how to manage access, and how to progress through a level. But by this point i wasn't having too much fun. it felt like i had solved a problem and was waiting for the next thing that didn't quite come.
There are rogue elements to the game where if you fail you carry over some progress into the next attempt. for example, you no longer have to start right at the beginning if you accessed a new biome and some of the currency you obtained can be spent before your next run.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.
The location in this part was fun and unique. playing on a ship has been done before, but not quite like this. the same with inside a whale, under the sea, and on an island. the bosses in this part were different to what has come before, too. instead of one and done, they were a persistent threat throughout. the only thing holding back the game is how the platforming isn't quite as good as i'd want. but so far it's been a lot of fun.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS4 version of Gitaroo Man via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
Gitaroo Man is a different style of rhythm game to Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien, that i previously checked out for Cloud Monday. Runner 2 lets you finish the level as long as you cross the finish line. but with Gitaroo Man, it's more of a "traditional" rhythm game where you finish when you beat set conditions. In this game that means beating an enemy.
I found Gitaroo Man to be a lot harder than expected. one of the disadvantages of the game is that there is nothing else to do but replay levels you have completed. but because it's soo tough to get the timing right, i could only replay the tutorial and first boss.
the timing of button presses in Gitaroo Man is very tight. i'd go so far as to say that it's tighter than in #Theatrhythm: Final Bar Line, a game i've lived streamed on this site. there is no easy mode to increase it, there's no calibration mode in the options to help with the timing. Gitaroo Man feels old in how bare bones it is.
If it was easier and that i could make progress and see more of the characters and story, it wouldn't be much of an issue. but streaming it from the cloud, in this part at least but we'll see in Part 2 for sure, seems to be introducing additional delay/lag in the controls which means i can't rely on when the the prompts are on target. i have to judge it slightly earlier. Gitaroo Man is one of the very few games where i've not only noticed the lag in the controls from playing the game in the cloud but couldn't compensate for it. if the game had a practice mode where i could do levels over and over i feel like i could get close.
But there's another downside that did hit Runner 2 and that's the odd stuttering. every now and then, the game would stutter and i'd completely loose any rhythm i had. you can see at the end that i had a great internet connection, but of course i'm unable to check for bandwidth.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Pokémon Champions, from The Pokémon Works, on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I had downloaded this on Switch but i haven't played it yet because my favorite Pokémon wasn't in the game. But now it's out on phones, i decided to give it a try, even if Jumpluff still isn't in the game. Honestly, i do think that is a negative for Pokémon Champions. there are over 1,000 thousand Pokémon now, so there are over 1,000 possible favorites. it's an unenviable task to try and get all of them in the game from the start. so they're always going to make someone unhappy with their choices.
I had heard a little of this game from PokéYouTubers but i was surprised to discover that this game tries to do a story. it's something i had heard nothing about and after trying it i can understand why. logically, even in a Pokémon world, it makes no sense. you could pretty much cut it out of the game and the game would continue as normal.
It could be argued that the story is there as an introduction for newcomers to Pokémon, unfortunately the game's tutorial makes it clear that this game isn't for them. very early on the tutorial says my Pokémon is faster than the opposition. but there's nothing in-game for me to see that information. the tutorial kinda makes it clear that to play this game you need an extra device with Pokémon stats on because this game won't provide them.
The tutorial also feels old, it's more that it tells us what to do rather than telling and showing before letting us try. having a wall of text with still pictures is something not done much nowadays, something that even console games have started moving away from, so it felt kinda old getting it in Pokémon Champions' tutorial.
This is a menu based game, though the language used in the story did make me think that i would be navigating a 3D world, going from place to place to do each thing. so when we get a menu, that's the end of the main tutorial and nothing about that screen is explained. i also found it odd that the game's language doesn't quite match that of the mainline Pokémon games. for example, i don't think i ever saw an attack be supper effective, mostly likely being extremely effective, and yet the text on the move said it was super effective.
The battles themselves are fine. the stage is fairly lifeless and the Pokémon models aren't too detailed, but some of the moves did look cool. but to get to the information you need, you have to go into menus and all of this happens within a timer. it feels like they're not taking full advantage of the screen and should give us more customisation options. Oh, i couldn't find any accessibility options for this game. not even an auto play on the story.
The start to Pokémon Champions just isn't very welcoming to new players or more experienced players. there's a lot of fluff around the main fighting and i don't know who it's for. it feels tact on and not fully realized.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker, from developer Gentle Troll.
the only other one of these style of games i've played before is Coffee Talk, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyEBkNKW1vypuMv71F7pUPRIiSjqdAmDV, and whilst that was an interesting experience there were aspects of it's gameplay i wasn't fond off. having a demo for Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker is useful for me because i get a chance to see how it's gameplay compares with what i've experienced before.
Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker starts off by saying that this is a demo, but at no point during it is there any mention as to whether or not the save file, if there is one, will carry over to the retail game. but the start and end of the demo does make it clear that this is a demo and it does have a somewhat personalised touch that was nice. but that extra information at the start or even a trailer at the end would've been nice.
i enjoyed playing Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker. it seems to be a demo of the first day. we have an optional tutorial for the 2 main gameplay mechanics we came across. the first one shows how the drinks are made. in Coffee Talk i kept on forgetting how to make the drinks, but in Tavern Talk Stories: Dreamwalker you're able to not only bring up the list of drinks you know, you also have an assistant that'll let you know what you've made or if it's correct. if you make a mistake it's fine to discard it and start again. this calm approach to the drink making was greatly appreciated. But there was a point where i misunderstood what i was required to do and the game didn't seem to notice what i was doing so offered no reminders or additional help.
The second tutorial we got is for a game mechanic that sets this apart from Coffee Talk, but it's also one i never really got to fully experience. when we chat with customers we hear rumours. at the end of the day we're able to combine related rumours into a quest. but as the day ending ended the demo, i never saw how this worked out. but it seems like customers would be able to take on these quests. only the correct rumours would combine into a quest and for the rumours we didn't use we can still keep, as i imagine they might combine with others later on.
the only aspect of gameplay that wasn't explained was our HUD. for me, it was quite obvious what does what. but seeing as the two other mechanics had optional tutorials, it felt a little strange that this aspect of the game had nothing. i tried the pause menu and could see any save options so i don't know if or when the save system works. my guess is that it saves at the end of the day, but i don't know if there's an auto save as we go. that, too, wasn't explained at all.
This first day was nice. we were introduced to several characters. they seemed well written and even the final two who came across as a bit of a stereotype were nicely written that it was still fun. i don't know what the overall story is for this game, though i did have a guess in the video. but so far it's all quite pleasant and i wishlisted the game when i was done with it.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.
the first two parts cover the first act of the game. in this part i decided to see how long a video would be if i did the whole of an act so this is Act 2. as ever, it was just fun to watch the story unfold. i did find some of the platforming a little awkward. it's not quite as satisfying as i would like. thankfully, the combat and puzzle element to the game is good. the boss fights here are all very different from each other and just as fun. they're not overly complicated but still quite epic to be part of.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS3 version of Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
I lost the original Part 2 recording, so i had to do another recording. that's why more progress has been made since part 1. this was the first Cloud Monday video to be recorded via my replacement laptop so hopefully things like volume will become more consistent now.
In Part 1, the experience was good when conditions were perfect but on the whole it wasn't a great streaming experience. things were better in this Part but it seemed to highlight a different problem. i don't actually own the game to do the comparison, but i thought that the game seemed to suffer from stutters more in this part. this meant that my timing was off more than i would like but also that the audio wasn't as good as it could've been. this means that, across both parts, it's difficult to recommend streaming Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien for those who have a PS3 as you can buy the game from the PSN store. But if you'd rather not pay or don't have a PS3, streaming it is perhaps fine at best and not really worth it if your streaming conditions aren't great. the game is built around timing and audio, and when things are perfect it feels amazing to pull it off. but when things begin to stutter or when the audio isn't quite as good, it does eat into the overall experience. Runner 3 isn't available to stream, but if it's available to download, i'd recommend doing that more than this.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Cosmic Royale from Eden Games on my iPhone 14 Pro.
My search for another good racing game on iOS continues, with EigenGauge https://youtu.be/AeqoQvM7STs still probably the best i've played, as Cosmic Royale has little about it worth recommending. It's a Fall Guys style game but in karts, so it's not even a true racing game.
The only tutorial the game has are skippable pictures that barely cover the controls and what to expect from the game. each stage, as you enter, gives a basic hint as to what will happen, but ultimately the game fails to tell us how to play the game and expects us to find out as we play. but playing the game wasn't that great.
with no tutorial at the start, we're dumped on the home screen where nothing is explained. i went to start hoping that a tutorial will be there but instead i ended up on an empty track with another countdown starting and then i was whisked away to another track, this time with other riders on it, and expected to race.
Once the track was finished i noticed something strange. as soon as i crossed the finish line, the game immediately stopped the race and moved onto the next one. the top 16 would progress to the next round but i didn't finish 16th so i began to think that it stopped because i was the only human player to in the race. this was confirmed later when i tried Rank mode and did 1 race. the points i got for it were enough to take me top of the leaderboard...of one...just me.
The game hasn't been updated in 4 months and with my experience i'm guessing that the player count has dropped significantly or is non existent. I'd like to say i found a hidden gem, but the only positive i could think of were the tracks themselves. i was surprised by how bland the karts and characters were. it started to feel like that maybe they were ai designed because of how generic and simple they looked. I didn't enjoy how the karts controlled either. i tried changing the controls in the options, but the handling characteristics of the karts just didn't work for me. i found them too twitchy and hard to control, and when you pair this with track hazards that move quite quickly, it started to become easier to just bang the kart against the wall and wait for it to go rather than try to dodge it.
I can't recommend Cosmic Royale and i can say for sure that it won't be replacing Squad Busters, a game that's not longer being supported by it's developers, as the Friday live stream game on #iPhone.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Judero, from developer Talha and Jack.
one of the most striking things about Judero when you first see it is the art style. everything in game was originally hand made and animated using stop motion. this was then put into the game and used as assets. so it certainly has a unique feel about it, when compared to the vast majority of games released. the thing that didn't quite work for me were how the characters looked. the enemies being as they are was fine, but for most of the characters we saw it just didn't work for me.
Whilst i'm talking about things that didn't work, i found that a lot of the conversations we had were people felt needlessly wordy. i genuinely questioned in this demo whether we were getting story stuff, philosophy stuff, or just crazy stuff. Even though i'm from England, some of the English used wasn't too familiar so i would've appreciated somewhere there being a quest list to help me better keep track of what's what. in the town i visited in the demo i was chatting with one guy and i'm not sure if they gave me a quest to do or if it's banter. again, even if it's an optional thing, i would've liked something telling me if it's a quest or not just to help me keep better track of things.
One thing Judero did well was the tutorial. when we start the demo we have a companion and because of how it's written it feels like we've been together for a while. our companion helps out as our tutorial guide and for the most part they're good. but when the tutorial is over, the game uses the in-game world and a bit of story telling to make this change feel natural in a way i greatly appreciated.
Combat was mostly fine and it felt quite fluid. but every now and then i'd get caught up in trees and it became less clear what was happening, or it was difficult to spot the spawning bugs in dark areas. the boss fights were a little challenging at first but i managed to defeat all of them in the demo in a satisfying way.
For me, the demo could be better as i don't have an idea what the overall story is, if there is one. for a game being based on folk tales, i didn't learn if this is a game where i deal with individual stories with no overarching story or if this has one overarching story and the folk tales are used to tell it. so whilst the combat was fun and the enemies were cool, because i don't know how long it is or what the story is i come away from this demo with it being on a wishlist rather than an immediate buy for me.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.
In this part i finished the first act. it seems like each act is broken into 3 parts. in Part 1 i finished the first part of the act so in this part is completed the Act. Puppeteer is very watchable. it's so easy to watch, the characters are easy to hear, i'm really having a great time with the story. we got a lot more of the story in this video revealing that maybe one of our goals is to save 4 individuals.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS3 version of Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation4.
This was recorded whilst i didn't have a computer. This was made on my iPhone 14 Pro using it’s microphone, iMovie, and the video I recorded on to SD Card.
This is a game i have previously played before when the service was PlayStation Now. personally, i really enjoyed playing this before so i was happy to show it off in this, and part 2. this rhythm game doesn't have you repeat a beat or press on a beat, instead the music is created by how well you're doing in the game. the levels are not long and typically can be completed in a couple of minutes. there is a checkpoint around half way which you'll restart to once you cross it, you'll restart at the beginning until you do. all this happens without any loading.
But there's no manual saving whilst playing these levels. the game auto saves when you leave a level, so in the best case scenario that's every few minutes. As the video quality degraded, it did get more difficult to play. whilst our character is big, and so are the enemies, as this is a platformer of sorts it's judging our jumps or blocks or attacks that becomes the biggest issues. But even tho this wasn't the best showcase of the game, i would still recommend checking it out.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried MONGIL: STAR DIVE from NetEase on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I would've played this game sooner if it wasn't for my previous laptop breaking. i had always been curious about how the game would combine character summons with monster collecting and using. Whilst there is an additional data download at the start, there's little to complain about with the opening to MONGIL: STAR DIVE.
The tutorial is perhaps where things could be improved, but even here i thought that it went at a good pace and the initial tutorial about moving characters was tied very well into the story and world. as things unlocked through this playthrough, there were additional tutorials for each new thing including showing us an on screen button that previously had a red dot on it but i hadn't checked out as yet. combined with the relaxing, but not slow, pace of the game i would say the opening to MONGIL: STAR DIVE is very approachable as even though it's a big game it never felt overwhelming. as i played, it was easy to keep going.
I was genuinely surprised by how funny i found this game. i'm not say it's like watching a comedian, but the way the characters interacted with each other when the spoke was funny, some of their facial expressions matched perfectly the tone of the voice acting, and for the two main characters i started with it really came across that these are people who have been working together for a while.
In some respects, i feel that the game's combat has been undersold on the app store page and even with the in-game tutorial. the combat is fluid without feeling too fast, there's spectacle and restraint in some of the larger attacks, but what i really enjoyed was the teamwork on display. switching character to character didn't mean only 1 character on screen at a time, it meant that initial character i picked could continue for a little bit whilst this new one jumped in and attacked or i could bring in the healer to heal the first character i was before that character jumped away. i never noticed the combat stuttering because it was too much for my phone.
The overall performance of MONGIL: STAR DIVE was great. i was surprised by how fast the loading was at times. it really made it pleasant to play and keep on playing. the game has struck a good balance between visuals and performance. i've played some games that focused on great looking characters or great look world with a compromise on either the other or performance. with MONGIL: STAR DIVE, i never felt wowed by anything looking stunning, but everything looked like it had the same level of detail and the world felt cohesive.
I had a great time with MONGIL: STAR DIVE and i would highly recommend it.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Night Swarm, from developer Fubu Games.
When you start the demo, it doesn't actually say you're playing the demo! when we get access to the Map, we get the first mention of this being a demo and we can make a guess as to what we can do in it. but as this doesn't say that it's a demo, nor give us any indication if this is from the final build of the game or something earlier, it's difficult to come away from this demo satisfied. i have other questions like does our save carry over to the retail release, if it saves at all.
In this video i experienced the start of the game and it sets up the story well enough but it doesn't really tie in some of the mechanics to it, for example when our run ends we re-spawn back at home and no reason is given for this. There is a tutorial at the start but it mostly focuses on what some of the controls do rather than also explaining how to play the game. it's frustrating, but i am able to make some educated guesses when it comes to the roguelike mechanics.
In Night Swarm, a surprising amount of stuff is carried over from run to run. in this demo, the only thing that wasn't carried over, of note, was the money earned in each run. the loop of the game seems to be that we head out into the world, we progress, we do tasks, maybe we stumble across someone we know, and we earn stuff along the way. when we inevitably fail, we re-spawn back at base and can then take the stuff we earned and improve our stats, abilities, and equipment so we can go further next and earn more.
I quite liked the game's art style and the music worked well with it. but it did lack feedback to the player when it came to the enemies. i didn't find it too satisfying taking out enemies. there was no rumble in the controller and not much sound to indicate when an enemy has been defeated. there wasn't much feedback when we were attacked either. so i could see the action taking place but i wasn't get much back from the controls or audio. so whilst the combat and action was fine, it was noticeably lacking.
Whilst, as a demo, it's not great the game itself does come across as a solid one of these games, a Hades-Survivor-like style game. the story seemed interesting but whilst there's not too much shown in the demo there was enough for it to get it's hook into me. i'd recommend giving the demo a try or wishlisting it if you're a fan of this type of game.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.
This Part is perhaps a little shorter than what the other parts will be. this video focuses on the first part of the first act of the game, basically it reveals the story and gives us a tutorial. it makes a fantastic first impression. it may not be 1080p, but the art style and the presentation with the stage are fantastic. it's all go at the start of the game so for quite a lot i'm quiet as i'm also trying to take it all in. i've never played this game before and after this fun first part, i'm interested to see where it goes next.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS3 version of Space Ace via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
This was recorded whilst i didn't have a computer. This was made on my iPhone 14 Pro using it’s microphone, iMovie, and the video I recorded on to SD Card.
In Part 1, https://youtu.be/_16gd4HBGaw, i questioned if there was a manual save. at the time i couldn't find one, but in fairness Space Ace is quite intense when you first start it and it's possible i missed it then 'cause in this part i did find that there is a manual save option. this will be great if there is a disconnection warning but also if you're trying to get all the achievements.
I turned on infinity lives and completed the game's story, or so i thought. after i recorded this video i went back and and watched the whole movie and it turns out the story i got was maybe as little as 3/4 of the whole story. i imagine playing the game at the hardest difficulty unlocks all of the story, and that's how such high scores were recorded for this game.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG from 5minlab on my iPhone 14 Pro.
Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG is a combination of a few different popular mobile games into one. it has the limited item spot mechanic tied, there's a merge mechanic, there are RPG mechanics, and there's a strategy mechanic. what also caught my attention about Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG is that it was available for pre-order here in Japan. that's not too common so i had the presumption that this wouldn't be just any old Ai made game, that this had the possibility of being something different.
It starts strong with a tutorial that details some of the game's basic mechanics but i feel that it fails as a complete package. there are aspects of the gameplay that it doesn't quite cover and Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG suffers from the home screen problem that soo many games do in that not all aspects of it are detailed. at least it's not all unlocked at once and when something is unlocked we're pointed towards it. but this does feel a little ruder than the early tutorial in that we're told what to do but not really why. Something that this game did well was tell us what to do when we lost, that we should level up and get stronger.
The gameplay loop in Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG isn't too complicated. you pay, earn money, use it to level up, go further next time and earn more money, level up, and go further next time. but there are some nice ideas here. when you level your character up 10 levels, their rank changes, their base stats increase and reset to that new higher level, and you level them up again another 10 ranks. Later in the video we unlocked the gear mechanic which further makes us stronger, and near the end we unlock the pet mechanic which also makes us stronger but the pets themselves have their own stats, levels, and abilities. all these aspects are simple but i think they've been woven together in such a way that they compliment each other and don't feel overwhelming.
With the randomness of what weapons appear, there's the chance that Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG could feel unfair and purely luck based. but there are some cool ideas here to help mitigate that. you're able to re-roll the store or even use a power-up to make better items appear. you can fill your inventory but you still have a separate inventory that doesn't interact with the gameplay. so you're able to be more defensive or more attacking when needs be. items can be combined or you can lock an item to prevent this. Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG feels like a game that's easy to play but tough to master.
In all, i had a great time with Overgeared Hero: Merge RPG and will be keeping it on my phone. i feel like it's one of the better games i've played this year and would highly recommend people check it out.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rune Dice, from developer Smart Raven Studio.
Rune Dice initially comes across as a great demo. we're greeted with a warning about it being early in development, we're told that the save file won't carry over, we're even teased by what the full game will have and that there's a bonus in the full game for those who play the demo. that's the best approach to take to a demo and i really do appreciate it.
The demo starts with the tutorial. but quite quickly it becomes clear that it's not so much telling us what buttons do what, and rather just telling us how it plays. quite quickly after the tutorial we're faced with dice and options we've not seen before. whilst it's not that difficult to work out what to do, the fact this happens so quickly after the tutorial really puts how poor the tutorial was into context.
In this video i played until i lost. i don't know how much longer the demo goes on for, but i guessed that the level i was playing on might've been the only one in the demo. the dice aspect of the game is simple to understand but i'm not too sure it's possible to really master it as we don't seem to have any control of them after our initial launch. there were times when the slight miss made sense and felt fun. but there were other times when it looked wrong and made it feel a little unfair. ultimately, i did have fun with the dice merging mechanics, but throughout the video i kept on thinking of ways that it could be done better, hoping that these ideas were in the game and were unlockable.
On the more positive side, i did enjoy the art style and i thought the music was good, too. even though it wasn't explained, i did enjoy the reveal when my run ended of how the game's unlock system worked. by doing things in a run a certain number of times, you're able to unlock all sorts of items to help the next run. it gave a reason for why you'd want to go back and try again.
overall, it starts out as a good demo but when it switches the game itself, there are aspects of the game that are lacking. i do think the game is fun, but maybe not in long play sessions. i could've tried again in the demo, but by the time my run was over i had had enough for today.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PlayStation Classic version of James Pond 2: Codename: RoboCod played on PlayStation 3.
I think 2 parts is enough for me to have an opinion about this game. i said it in the video that if i had this on Mega Drive there's a good chance i would sit and play it because we had few other games. but nowadays there are plenty of other games i could play. i wasn't really enjoying the graphics, music, art style and level design! basically, there was very little about this game i was actually enjoying. i will keep it installed and keep the save file, so never say never, but for now i'm done.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS3 version of Space Ace via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
This was recorded whilst i didn't have a computer. This was made on my iPhone 14 Pro using it’s microphone, iMovie, and the video I recorded on to SD Card.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Card Crawl 2 from Tinytouchtales on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I've played a couple of games from Tinytouchtales, like Miracle Mart https://youtu.be/kpCxEvBWk4w and Geo Gods https://youtu.be/SeqUTw1sL_o, and i've always enjoyed the art style and characters in the games. with those two, the gameplay has always been solid but perhaps felt like it maybe lacked a little depth. But with Card Crawl 2 i feel like this has it all, it has the art, the music, the gameplay, the tutorials, and the depth that makes it a card game that's easy to play but hard to master.
Firstly whilst i did just praise the tutorial, it does fall just a bit short. it explains how to play the game and it's mechanics very simply. we're told what to do and it makes us do it. we're then tasked with beating a character using what we know before moving onto learning something else. that's done great. the tutorial also introduces some of the home screen, as by completing different parts of the tutorial more of the game opens up and more icons appear on the home screen. But it doesn't explain all the buttons. the Challenge Mode needs a tutorial as, from what i played, it seems like that if you don't play on Monday, it's pointless to play the other days of the week because there's a weekly bonus. also, the eye symbol was very unclear and i wasn't impressed that it launched into an advert with no warning.
Other than that shortfall, it's hard to find much else wrong with Card Crawl 2. maybe those who are great at the game may feel like they're being held back by having to complete tasks before things are unlocked, but personally i appreciate this approach. i agree that it may feel like it artificially lengthens the game, but it opens up the game in such a way as to not overwhelm the player. the better a player gets, the more they can unlock. if things are tough, it'll take longer but the player is also able to replay the easier stuff whilst retrying the harder stuff.
the gameplay is a little different to other card games i've tried out. in Card Crawl 2, you have a hero card. the goal is to defeat all the tavern's cards whilst making sure your hero card has health. the Tavern's Cards consists of monsters you have to beat, shields and swords you're able to equip onto each of your two hands or put into your one backpack slot, health potions, coins, and there are spell cards. so simply, use the swords to attack enemies, shields to defend from them, and spell cards to do both. just remember to heal when you need to, there are times when your hero must attack the enemy themselves. The coins act like a high score, so the more you're able to collect the higher the score. But what's really interesting with Card Crawl 2 and that adds a lot of depth to the gameplay is that you're able to remove any of the non monster cards and get money from them. this means you can get a higher score, but it also means you have less cards to deal with the enemy so the risk reward is real for those chasing a high score.
Overall, i highly recommend this game for those looking for a card based game. i'd also recommend this for those looking for some strategy. the art is great and will appeal to gamers, too. some may not get much more out of the game than the easy levels, but there's a lot here to unlock and master for those who enjoy it.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Bubsy 4D from developers Fabraz.
I didn't enjoy my time with this DEMO. you'll hear me get ever more frustrated to the point where i can't recommend people get the game, let alone try the demo.
The Bubsy series of games isn't known for their amazing quality over the years, but i didn't go into this thinking that. i went in with hopes of having a good time. i've never played a Bubsy game before and i don't think this is the best one to start with.
It doesn't do a great job welcoming new players. there are mentions and call backs to previous games that i don't get and we start with a bunch of toxic individuals talking down to us in such a way it comes across like they're bullying us. The science guy is perhaps the worse but Bubsy himself doesn't come across as much of a likeable character either.
Nothing about the story is explained in much detail, we seem to accept it as it is. thankfully, the game does have a tutorial and it was here that i started having trouble with the feel of the game's platforming. unfortunately, the tutorial comes across as incomplete as in the first level we're faced with platforming that wasn't covered in the tutorial.
The platforming gets worse from here. at no point in this demo did i ever feel like i was in complete control. the feel of the platforming felt straight out of the PS1/PS2 era to the point where i actually wondered if it's a Call Back to the PS1 Bubsy game as modern platformers don't have platforming this bad. if it's all fixed in the retail version, then this demo does a disservice and should be removed entirely.
It's not just the platforming that's an issue as i was also fighting the camera at times. more than once i tried to move the camera to get a look as to where to go next and it failed to provide that information. with the camera and platforming in the state it's in, there are times when the controls don't feel great. there's a sense of inconsistency with the controls and it's impossible to know if there are bugs with them or if the platforming is the main culprit.
If i had to pick some good points from the demo, i may go with the music. but that's not enough to justify people try this demo, unless they're seeking out an unfun time. i found the upgrade system to be pointless. the game shows a video/gif of what the move will do, but for one of the videos it seemed to show Bubsy failing to make a jump. personally, i couldn't think of a time when the unlockable move was better than the better moves i already had. there are unlockable customs, too, but these seem to be purely cosmetic.
So the characters come across as bullys, the platforming is bad and feels outdated at best, the upgrade and unlock systems seem pointless, and the story is shallow at best. there are many more issues i have with the demo, so you'll have to watch the action unfold, but ultimately i wouldn't recommend this.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS4 version of Monster Hunter: Stories via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
Monster Hunter: Stories originally came out on the 3DS, which i got wrong in this video as i kept saying it originally came out on #Switch as the Nintendo Switch version was released alongside the the PS4 version. But my hope that a game built around a portable system might have design decisions that make it just a suitable for being stream from the cloud were still valid.
This coming out on 3DS does make my comments about the sparseness of the game more believable than if it came out on Switch first. it may help explain why some of the art design seems a little inconsistent with the monsters and cats looking great and the people characters looking weird and unpleasant.
Not too much happened in this part, the focus was the introduction of the characters. but the jumping around in time from the future to the past to a year ahead was a little rough. i'm not sure i fully understand the game's battle mechanics either. you'll see that after a couple of fights i try something different to what's been described in the tutorial and then i don't understand why it worked the same as the other battles. i'll need to check the video again to see where the misunderstanding came from. but as an introduction, i didn't have too much fun with this part.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Dicero! from HABBY on my iPhone14Pro.
Dicero! is a recent release on the Japanese App Store, but since it came out i've seen many adverts for the game, especially when it comes to adverts in other free to play mobile games. A lot of shovelware games have had similar advertising pushes so i came into this not really sure what to expect. the App store page has screenshots, but they're less useful than the adverts i had previously seen.
Unfortunately, Dicero! starts off with a bad first impression as it downloads data without warning, without permission, and it never says what it downloaded. it's not a big download, but it is there.
The game starts right away. there's no opening cinematic, there's no story, it's straight to gameplay. there is a tutorial that tells us what to do, but it doesn't really explain the why. before you know it, the tutorial is over and i found there to be many things left unexplained. the gameplay from this first hour is simple enough and with some reading and experimenting it's not too difficult to work things out. but again, it's the first impression that the game's stumbling with in a market where the really good games focus on the tutorial and explaining things. for example, there was a powerup using a term i hadn't read before. it would've been great to have a gif showing what it actually does so i could make a better informed decision about using it.
What i really liked about Dicero! was the artstyle. the characters and enemies looked fantastic and there were small animations everywhere. the boss monsters really stood out. graphically it maybe somewhat simple but it is really nice to look at. the general background music is also nice. the track that plays during most of the gameplay effortlessly loops without me noticing. but when it came to the boss music, it was very energetic and appropriate but it was also really noticeable when it looped.
Throughout the video, i kept on coming up with ways to enhance the gameplay. what i played was easy to understand, but there didn't seem to be much depth or strategy to it. Dicero! is very much a pick up and play game but it also came across as one where you don't really need to think much about what's happening.
On the whole, i did enjoy playing Dicero! there are good aspects of the game but there are maybe more average aspects of it. it may not make the best first impression, but if you play a couple of levels you'll get the hang of it and it seems fine for most people. being able to play the game with one hand makes it a fine choice for commuters and with things being as simple as they are it would help pass the time quickly.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation4 version of Etrange Overlord, from developers Gemdrops.
The PSN Store page for this demo doesn't have a lot of information and it has no screenshots. all i knew going in to this was that the save file would carry over to the retail version of the game, which the demo itself never said, and that there was some sort of musical aspect to this game.
Etrange Overlord starts with our death and with all things considered we seem to handle it well. we awaken in hell and it becomes clear quickly that the residents of hell should be the ones scared of me, not the other way round. this opening sequence acts as the game's battle tutorial and whilst it's light on information, it's not the only time we see this tutorial as more aspects of the game's battle systems open up as we play.
What struck me early on is how good the game looks. you may hear in the video that this demo was pushing my PS4 quite hard. all the enemies and characters we come across are vibrantly colored and whilst they may not have fine detail, they do look great. the art style used in this game throughout is nice. a good compromise was reached letting this game look as well as it does whilst also performing as well.
The biggest issue i had was that it was never clear when the game was saving. i admit i got the manual save wrong at the end of the demo, but up to then the only time i could say for sure i knew that game had saved was when i changed some options at the start of the demo.
the biggest, and pleasant, surprise goes to the game's musical aspect. at no point was i expecting the characters to burst out into song. what's impressive is that it fits well in to the game itself. it was surprising, but once i got over that, by the end of the demo i was looking forward to these little bursts of song. another aspect of the game's story telling that i enjoyed was the banter between our main character and some of the demons. they're not afraid to talk behind our main character's back, and she's not afraid to remind them who's the boss and that she can hear them. that sort of comedy wasn't over played and i feel like it worked well.
From the start of the demo, it suggests playing it on Sweets Mode, which makes the combat easier so the focus moves to the story telling. i'd suggest leaving this on as the combat, but the end of the demo, was starting to get a little difficult. the combat systems are good. i enjoyed how combat bonuses appeared and how they can help us. But what i wasn't expecting was when the game had a Capture An Area battle situation. our team had to battle to gain and hold parts of the battle world to win the fight. it was refreshing and i do wonder what other twists are instore later in the game.
I really enjoyed trying out this demo for Etrange Overlord. i never finished it so if you enjoyed what you see, i'd recommend trying the demo for yourself or just get the game. there's nothing here, in the demo at least, that comes across as hardcore. i think it's a decent introduction into RPG's for those who are a little older. i think some of the game's humour might be wasted on kids.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PS3 version of ToeJam & Earl. this version came out in 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection and was developed by M2. Prior to this playthrough, i hadn't played ToeJam & Earl before but on Mega Drive i had played ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
Part 4 ended with me dying and realising that i hadn't saved since i reached the previous level. that meant the first thing i had to do in this video was to, once again, complete the stage and take the elevator up. thankfully, this didn't take too long. i got the ship part and found the elevator up in just a few minutes. Stage 16 went even easier, especially considering it killed me in the last part, with the elevator going up being found quickly. But 17 took around 20 minutes to finish. i had some of the worst luck with enemy placement and random exits. i made an attempt at 18 in this part but once again i didn't have any luck so called it a day.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Wall-E via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
In Part 1, it was clear to see that these PS2 emulated games on PS4 and PS5 are a great fit for cloud streaming because you can press the Options button at any point and save. this is true for the PS1 and PSP emulated games, too. so with Wall-E is becomes more of a question if the game is worth playing or not.
For me, someone who is a fan of the movie, i'm going to say yes. the interactions Wall-E has with things it finds are just as endearing as they were back when i saw the movie in the cinema. when we met Eve for the first time it was a nice feeling. the game doesn't follow the movie's plot strictly, the start of the game works great as a tutorial for not only controlling Wall-E but also in how the game is built. but as soon as that lazer light appeared i was excited for the stories to converge somewhat.
The HD upscale helps with the graphics. they're not fantastic, but the upscale helps make them look clear and vibrant. the controls are perhaps the weakest aspect of the game. there are moments where they feel too sensitive and moments when they don't. i wonder if this is a result of the emulation, like the game used to run at 30fps on PS2 but now it runs at 60fps and the controls are also doubly sped up. that's just a guess but if you know please put it in the comments.
For me, Wall-E is a fine game to stream from the cloud. but for others, i think that it might be closer to a "Maybe". But these are my thoughts and that tips it into the "Yes" category.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch from PLAYHARD STUDIO on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I downloaded this game a while ago and it's been constantly updated ever since, so it does seem like the developers are supporting the game. the screenshots on the app store page seemed very accurate as to what the game is.
Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch is mix of tower defense, wave based shooting, merging, and idle. the game starts with a tutorial that takes things nice and slow. by the end of it i felt i had grasped how to play it. the tutorial is also extends to the game's home screen. but it's here that it falters. the game play mechanics are covered when they're unlocked, but the rest of the icons on the home screen seem to be ignored.
The game is free to play and there don't seem to be adverts inbetween stages. but it does have an energy mechanic. it costs 10 per stage you play. but what i really liked was how clear the game makes the recharge time. it says when the next charge is ready and when it's fully charged, each with their own countdown.
If i had to point to an issue it's the placement of your troops on the stage. before a wave starts, you're able to freely move your units, call new ones, and change your team. but moving them was tricky. when i record these videos i have the game playing on TV, via the HDMI out i record from, as well as my phone's screen and it was from this i realized i was having trouble moving characters. because of how zoomed out the camera is when moving them, i couldn't see the shadow under the characters so for a while i wasn't able to place them exactly where i wanted. in the end, i switched to watching the game play on tv so i could place the characters more accurately. i wonder if it's possible for the developers to zoom in the camera whilst you're moving characters around so it's easier place them exactly where you want.
From the time i played Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch, i think it's a great introduction to this style of game. i think the tutorial makes it easy for newcomers whilst the merge mechanics offer something new for more experienced players. i hadn't unlocked everything by the time i was finished so there's a good few hours of content at the very least. i'd recommend giving it a go.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PS3 version of ToeJam & Earl. this version came out in 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection and was developed by M2. Prior to this playthrough, i hadn't played ToeJam & Earl before but on Mega Drive i had played ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
i lasted around 4 minutes into playing Part 4 before i had to reload the save. i'm grateful that this feature is here as ToeJam & Earl continues to be a tough game. i don't know if there's an element of randomness about the game or if everything was specifically placed there by the developers. for example, i would get stuck dancing, hit by a cherub arrow, all the while trying to doge the mole. another example would be the tomato firing ducks being placed in areas where there isn't much space to avoid them. By saving and reloading i am making progress and getting ship pieces, but there are times when it feels like i have little or no luck.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS4 version of Wall-E via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
Wall-E is one of my favorite Pixar movies. i knew that there were video games, but i never looked to see what they were about. all these years later, Wall-E is now on the PSN store as a PS2 game emulated on #PS4. i was curious as to what kinda game this actually was and so far i enjoyed it much more than i did when i checked out Ratatouille.
With it being soo many years since i last watched Wall-E, things like the music seemed unfamiliar. there's a chance it's the same music in the movie but i don't remember it. The music didn't seem to match what was happening on screen, like they focused on the music being from a supermarket to fit the theme of the game/movie but not what was actually happening in the game. Though i did like that there was a button devoted to playing your own music. i accidently triggered it a few times and it was always nice to hear.
As a PS2 game, it was always going to look a little rough. the cutscenes, for example, don't appear to be full screen nor a particularly high resolution. the game itself is upscaled but not to 1080p on PS4. playing the game is a much more enjoyable experience than watching a cutscene as i think the graphics and art style hold up fairly well. the game, so far at least, is somewhat zoomed in to Wall-E so he's big and easy to see and so are the areas we've played in.
Controlling Wall-E isn't too difficult. there's a fantastic section at the start that uses a maintenance check to go through the game's tutorial. i really appreciate it when games are able to incorporate the tutorial into their story. going from tutorial to the games first level was a surprise as we're having to run away. the tutorial is nice and slow but suddenly the action ramps up and before we know it it's over and things have calmed down. it took me by surprise but it was fun.
I look forward to Part 2 where, hopefully, Wall-E will get to do more different things and perhaps we'll get to see EVE or even get to space. but so far, streaming Wall-E seems like a good way to play it.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Ariana and the Elder Codex, from developers Hyde, Compile Heart, and Idea Factory.
I didn't know anything about this demo going into it, but after playing it there's still more about the game i want to know. the demo shows one area not quite from the start of the game in what i assume to be a way to avoid story spoilers. but after playing it, i feel like we're not given enough information about the game's story and some of the game's mechanics. if this is a demo trying to sell itself to us, it falls short when it comes to the game's story.
Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO doesn't run perfectly on Switch. in the game's options, i had the option for the game to prioritise frame rate or resolution so i picked frame rate. but there were many moments in this demo where the framerate dropped a lot. if you tried it with the focus on resolution, it would be interesting to know if you had even greater issues with framerate than i did.
Other than the game's music, there's a lot to like with the demo. i appreciated that it's honest from the start that the save won't carry over to the retail release and that things may be different in the retail release. whilst we only get one segment to play through, it's about an hours worth of content. but it doesn't take place from the very start of the game so there were some gameplay mechanics not explained. but for the most part, enough was explained clearly for us to enjoy the demo.
I found the combat to be satisfying. it's pretty fluid and i found it easy to pull off different attacks. what's cool about this combat is how you can stagger the enemies with repeated hits of magic and when you defeat an enemy with magic they explode. this explosion can then stagger or defeat near by enemies in a cool looking combo system.
It felt like the area we got to play in has more secrets than i found, but because of the type of demo this is, there's no indication whether we would be able to go back and explore the level later in the game to get a 100% or if we only get one chance at it. it's just another example of how the game didn't quite sell to use the potential or the possibilities of Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO.
I did enjoy playing this demo and if you're interested in Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO it would be worth playing. but i don't think it's going to answer all the questions you'd have about the game. it would be worth checking out written or video reviews to get a better sense of what you'd get. at the very least, it does look nice on Switch. i just worry that performance wise, people should look at getting Ariana and the Elder Codex on Switch 2.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Final Fantasy VII: Remake via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
In Part 1, the streaming experience wasn't great. it frequently disconnected me. but, the game let me save manually so it wasn't a problem in that part and i slowly made progress towards the first boss of the game.
In this part, the first thing i had to do was deal with this boss. it's a long fight. there were moments of macro blocking and there was a warning about the connection. whilst the issues didn't get in the way of the gameplay, it did lessen the spectacle of it.
that's the main issue with Final Fantasy VII: Remake. streaming the game isn't an issue with how easy it is to save and how frequently the game auto saves. but streaming it seemed to lessen the spectacle. the music had occasional issues, the graphics did too. so if this is the first time you've played the game it might be best to download and install the game to ensure the most optimum playing experience.
There is a Maximus Cup this weekend in Tetris 99 on Nintendo Switch. The 52nd Maximus Cup is for the Wii games Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2. By getting 100 points, you can unlock it all.
Whilst i wasn't able to get my first win in Tetris 99, i did manage to get close to the top 10. i felt quite rusty and there were a few mistakes. Even though Tetris 99 had been updated, it did seem like there was a bug with the "Watch Out" warning at the bottom of the screen sticking around for longer than it should.
For this week's iPhone Friday i tried MOCHI-O from zxima on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I had previously played Flat Machine, https://youtu.be/Hob5TyE_BWE, and really enjoyed it so i was looking forward to trying something new from these developers. the app store page did make it look like the game was going to be very busy so i was also curious how the game would handle things when it got chaotic.
The answer to that question came immediately as when you start the game you're thrown into the action. it took a second or two to understand what to do, i would've liked it to pause, highlight what was being said in the bottom left, then the top right, and then started the action. but ultimately, the game takes over fairly quickly as we're not as yet playing as our character. from this bit we're introduced to our monster Hamster weapon and that's it.
Our character comes in and things are slower and much more manageable. we're introduced to the characters better and what our goal is. the menus are mostly clear to understand and so is how the upgrade mechanics work. but i didn't realise that the upgrade menu was scrollable, so perhaps that needs to be made a bit clearer. but other than that, the game looks great and even among the chaos things are still legible, with things like health big and clear in the top left, and the danger zone clearly labeled.
the gameplay and what you have to do is simple, but the controls may take a bit to get used to. thankfully, you're able to replay levels if you make a mistake or go back to them when Mochi-o is leveled up and has more weapons and abilities. this is a rail shooter game. we can move left to right and our goal is to aim a reticle at the enemies and Mochi-o will attack that space. when you defeat an enemy, or use an enemy's explosion to take out other enemies, sunflower seeds will be dropped. you need to take time out of shooting to suck these seeds up. regular black and white ones give Mochi-o experience and when it has enough you're able to pick from 3 upgrades. picking up the pink ones help level up Mochi-o back at base. and there are other items dropped you can suck up like money, health, and blueprints. each run i did were different lengths of time and had variations of enemies to defeat.
I really enjoyed my time playing MOCHI-O. it doesn't take itself too serious and yet built an interesting world. it looks great, sounds good, and the English translation seems fine. i would recommend this game, it's one of the best free to play mobile games i've played this year so far!
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rubato, from developer dconn.
going into this demo, i wasn't sure what to expect. the eShop page seemed to make it out to be a platformer where we have to collect stuff to rebuild the solar system. turns out, that's what we actually have to do. perhaps the eShop page revealed a little too much about the game as i was expecting something to happen at the start and instead we're shown something weird and i don't what it's for. that unknown aspect of the story, like there's something deeper or even a second story happening, was felt throughout this demo and i could only guess where things were going to go.
It took some time to get used to how this game plays. the jumping especially is an aspect of this game where i don't think i fully adjusted to it in this demo. i always seem to go further than expected and have less control than expected. another aspect that i struggled to adapt to was the tongue mechanic. i had full control of the tongue but my brain kept thinking that it would automatically face in the direction of the character whereas it didn't move unless i moved it. the rocket launcher i got later also did this but it was as expected whereas the tongue wasn't.
so the controls take sometime to get used to and the story is a little weird, but playing it went quite well. the stages are vast and the story seems to explain why we're able to play the same level again but with a new ability. having a rocket launcher really opened up new areas for us to go, but as i showed during the mid point i was able to take a projectile and carry it to a section and blow it up and get in. i can see how there's a lot of replayability in a level and the with the game's collecting nature it could be fun to go and explore these locations.
But it wasn't until much later that i found where the map is. the game has a good tutorial that's incorporated fairly well into the game's story but it never told me to press +. other than that, i found the tutorial and first area i was in to be appropriate for newcomers. the boss at the end took a bit if time and i liked how it smartly didn't do the trope of 3 hits and it's down. there is a message from the developers after the boss battle but no where does it say whether the save file from the demo will carry over to the final game.
Overall, it's a decent demo taken from the start of the game. using it a practice before getting the main game might be a smart way to play it. there are options to customise the difficulty and this demo offers the perfect place to practice and find what works for you before you decide to spend money on the game.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
Our new game is the PS3 version of ToeJam & Earl. this version came out in 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection and was developed by M2. Prior to this playthrough, i hadn't played ToeJam & Earl before but on Mega Drive i had played ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
Part 3 was tougher than i thought it would be. i just couldn't get past the 8th stage! i'd get there and end up getting knocked down, over and over again! i was having some bad luck with the enemies as well, especially with the bees, they'd chase me down and even knocked me off a stage. so in this part, not much progress was made but i did get another piece of my ship!
The new Stories on Tuesday game is the PlayStation 4 Disc version of Fatal Twelve from Sekai Project and aiueoKompany.
Week 5 was the longest part so far, but what happened in this week's video might be the most surprising and most significant so far. the week focuses on the school's culture festival, Yu, and at the end we had the IX talk for the first time. But it's what happened at the festival that completely caught me off guard. i'm not going to spoil it, but the next week is going to be very interesting.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Bubblegum Galaxy, from developer Smarto Club and publisher Astrolabe Games.
At the time of playing this demo, it looks like it might've been removed from the eShop, or at the very least it wasn't easy to find. the game itself is also out now. But i did find that the eShop page for this game to be quite revealing as to what the game is. to me, it came across something like a Katamari game, and with the unique art style i was genuinely looking forward to trying this demo.
Even though the eShop page spoils a little of the story, it was still told well. i enjoyed how they used the game's tutorial to tell the start of the story. playing through the demo, i got the feeling that there maybe more of a serious story behind the nice art. you'll have to let me know in the comments if there was or not.
I didn't find the tutorial to be as comprehensive as i wanted it to be. it explained the basics well, telling us about them, letting us use them, then having a video highlighting it, but there were other aspects of the gameplay that i didn't fully understand and had to guess. even now, after i've finished the demo, i'm still not sure how the game's score multiplier works or how i think i managed to turn the color of one plate into another.
the social aspect of the game seemed fine. each of the characters we met were very different and each had their own customised booth. though the way one of them talked to us did seem to be a little racist. it would be interesting to see a little bit more of this social aspect of the game as in the demo, the focus seemed to be more on the tutorial. but what was there was interesting.
as a demo, i think Bubblegum Galaxy is one of the better one's i've tried. it was clear when we started that the save file doesn't carry over into the retail game. this simple message is soo rare and yet soo important. i would say that the demo was also clear what was in it by calling the section of planets we made the demo section. we got a good bit of story, characters, tutorials, as well as a story hook at the end with the introduction of the managers.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf, from developers Wishfully Studios.
I hadn't heard of this series before so i hadn't played it. with it being a sequel, there's always the concern that you need to have played the first game to fully understand what's going on. but with this demo, that's not important as the developers have given us somewhat of a unique demo, or at the very least a style of demo i have rarely come across.
In the Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf DEMO, instead of spending a lot of time at a specific point in the game, we're treated to 5 segments from the game. the first four focus more on the game's puzzle platforming mechanics and are set outside but the final one has us using that knowledge and more in an indoor setting.
i thought it looked great and the music was nice too. the puzzle platforming wasn't too hard to work out either. often, things of interest are slightly highlighted by light. what also helps is that the section you're in is often small so there aren't too many factors to worry about. but as this demo isn't from the start of the game, there were a couple of times where it took a bit of time to work out what to do. i have to imagine those who played the first game and those who start this game from the beginning will have a greater understanding as to what both characters can do. as i didn't, there was a fair bit of trial and error and process of elimination. for me, it wasn't troublesome as the game has a very quick restart and very generous check pointing. but i wonder if an easy difficulty could be introduced that would offer more hints as to how to interact with the world. for example, i didn't realise my companion could use their powers and become/take over other animals but a prompt, perhaps shown as a memory, would've helped a lot.
I did enjoy my time playing Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf. the difficulty felt right and the characters and world were interesting. the demo ended with a trailer showing much more of the game. but i do come away with little to no idea what the game's story is all about but i don't think that detracts from the experience. i'd recommend trying this demo if you're interested in the game.
